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President Bush Back From Surprise Trip to Iraq; New Iraqi Government Launches Biggest Security Crackdown Since U.S. Invasion

Aired June 14, 2006 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is being treated like a convicted murderer. He's not being treated like a potential murder. Potential murders are often out on bail, and most often are not in solitary confinement.

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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, we hear from the father of one the Marines under investigation for murder in Iraq. Those stories are all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Good morning to you.

President Bush back at the White House now. He has been there for a little more than three hours now, back from that surprise trip to Iraq early this morning. His firsthand impressions of Iraq's new leaders will influence the strategy his own advisers are working on now. The trip was a total surprise to all but a few.

CNN's John King one of the few. He was one of the reporters aboard Air Force One.

What a long wild trip it was, John King. How was it?

JOHN KING, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it was an interesting trip. Obviously, the questions about secrecy, whether journalists should agree to have such secrecy, will be debated beginning today, if not even already during the trip. But as the president said, it was a trip he needed to take to look in the eye of the new Iraqi prime minister, Mr. Maliki. And Mr. Bush said he found him to be a quiet man. He said he found him, though, to be quite a confident man. This is a president who likes to set out goals for himself, and he says Mr. Maliki has done that.

And quite interesting, the president told us in a conversation on the flight back on Air Force One, that Mr. Maliki had described to him the security crackdown you see under way in Baghdad today. He said Mr. Maliki is very determined to quickly show the Iraqi people this new unity government will bring them tangible results -- better security, better electricity, better other services. He says he found Mr. Maliki to be a man of action, and he the says key test, of course, Miles, will be in the days and weeks ahead. But the president was quite impressed that one of the first new things that the prime minister would do is this security crackdown.

M. O'BRIEN: John, tell us what it was like when you get on the ground. What were your impressions?

KING: Well, you get on the ground and you're told as your landing, first, it's Air Force One, it's a 7474, and it takes a very unconventional landing. It banks in a bit over the airport, and then, whoomph, quickly to the ground in the broad daylight. They told us this is a secret, but you could see cars on the road outside the airport. Many of us were thinking, well, they know we're here. If they didn't we were coming, they know we're here now. They tell you to put on flak jackets. The tell you to run to the helicopters. The helicopters take off quickly. Three gentlemen with machine guns leaning out, looking down quite urgently at everything moving below them. You fly in very low over the rooftops of Baghdad into the fortified Green Zone. So it's very tense. At the same time, nothing happened. There were no incidents at all. You hit the ground, you get in a quick motorcade, and you're at what is now the temporary U.S. embassy.

So extraordinary security for the president of the United States, obviously. That makes you quite tense when you get these briefings. But the trip went off without incident. As we were leaving to leave in the dark, there was a radio report of some fire, some indiscriminate gunfire, random gunfire. We didn't see or hear any, but there was the Secret Service and the other military guards guarding us as we rushed out. We're told there were reports of gunfire.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let me ask you this, did you tell anybody? I mean, Did you call the boss? What were the rules?

KING: The rules were that we were supposed to keep this as secret as possible. I was approached on Sunday by Dan Bartlett, counsel to the president. I told him I had to tell my boss. I told him I had to get a crew, or else there was no purpose in taking a TV correspondent with you. I did tell my boss and the deal was we were supposed to keep it secret until we hit the ground. That is always the source of some controversy. It will continue to be. The White House perspective on these trips is if this gets out in any way, they said they would cancel the trip. They said if it got out while we were on the way, they would turn the plane around because of the security concerns for the president.

As for me personally, I told my children I was going on a trip I couldn't talk about with the president, and my 9-year-old daughter looked at me and said, daddy, you're going to Iraq.

M. O'BRIEN: She had it figured out, didn't she?

KING: She did.

O'BRIEN: In the final analysis, do you think this meeting was worthwhile, or was it more about the symbolism of the president going? KING: Well, there's obviously two tracks here, Miles. The president is in a political rut here at home. The Republican Party is in a political rut here at home, Because the American people are worried, opposed, doubtful. You add the question, if you will, about the war in Iraq. So the president has been trying and trying and trying to show the American people he is on top of this, and that we are about to turn a corner. So there's a political factor to this, without a doubt.

At the same time, Iraq does have a new unity government. Al Zarqawi was killed last week, and you could hear from the president's voice, the tone of his voice in the conversation back home, he thinks perhaps after all these years of fits and starts, little progress, lots of frustration, that perhaps there's a turning point here.

He is a president, we know from his personal style dating back to his days of governor, when he deals with people he likes to look them in the eye. So if he said this was critical for him to do. He said he leaves impressed. He said he leaves very hopeful. And of course as the president always says, developments on the ground will determine whether or not he's right this time.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, John King, fascinating trip. That's one for the book. Thank you very much, chief national correspondent John King, part of the best political team on television -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The new Iraqi government is trying to take back Baghdad, launching the biggest security crackdown since the U.S. invasion. Operation Advancing Forward Together is what it's called. It's under way right now.

CNN's John Vause is live for us in Baghdad.

Hey, John, good morning.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

That crackdown began just after dawn, going on to about nine hours now. We're approaching evening rush hour just a few hours away. So far, though, has been mostly quiet here in the capital, especially compared to the last few days here. This operation seems to be a little less than what we were originally told by the government yesterday, mostly limited to checkpoints in and out of the capital, as well as very high visible Iraqi forces on the streets, but also cars being searched. Last report police say they discovered three Katyusha rockets and they defused two roadside bombs. But for now no activity in the Sunni neighborhood, which is seen as a stronghold for the insurgency, and also those neighborhoods controlled by the militia. The prime minister, though, says it is an open-ended operation.

But still not enough to try to stop at least one car bombing. Earlier today, in the northern part of Baghdad. Police say the explosives were set off by remote control, killing at least two people. Also in the same area. a police patrol came under attack by a roadside bomb. In that case no one was hurt -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: John, earlier we were talking about anti-American demonstrations that were taking place in Baghdad. How big were they, and how much momentum did they have, do you think?

VAUSE: Well, in the scheme of things, it was just over 2,000 people, not small, but certainly not big either. This was organized by the firebrand cleric, as he's know, Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite. He basically controls Sadr City. He's often run up against the American administration and officials here before in the past. During this demonstration, they're protesting the visit here by the president and also the ongoing U.S. occupation. They're saying Iraq for Iraqis.

But in the scheme of things, not big. What we have heard from a lot of Iraqis over the last 24 hours very pleased with the visit by the president, seeing it as certainly a vote of confidence in the new national unity government -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: John Vause in Baghdad for us this morning. John, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: FEMA money meant for Hurricane Katrina victims spent on strippers. A government watchdog report coming out today detailing massive fraud in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That fraud in the neighborhood of a billion dollars.

CNN's homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve in Washington with the details.

Jeanne, good morning.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

An all-inclusive one-week resort vacation in the Dominican Republican, divorce lawyer fees, erotic adult products, five New Orleans Saints season tickets. Those were some of the things your taxpayer dollars bought for purported victims for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A devastating audit by the General Accountability Office says 16 percent of the payments made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to victims of the storms, about $1 billion worth, were improper and potentially fraudulent.

Among the findings, millions were maid to prison inmates who registered as displaced persons. Over $20,000 went to one inmate who listed a post office box as damaged property. Other people registered cemeteries and nonexistent addresses as damaged. FEMA also provided rental assistance to people who were already in hotel rooms, for which FEMA was footing the bill. In one instance, an individual received more than $2300 in rental assistance and simultaneously was paid $8,000 to stay in a $100 a night Hawaiian hotel.

Horrifying? Well, consider this. The report didn't even look at insurance fraud and bogus damage claims, which could boost the estimated fraud figure significantly -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It makes your stomach turn, Jeanne.

What is FEMA saying about all of this?

MESERVE: FEMA says, hey, we were overwhelmed by Katrina; we had to rush to get assistance to victims. They do say they've revamped the system, that they're going to be verifying identity, verifying ownership and occupancy of property, that they're going to prevent duplicate applications, and they also say with the Justice Department, they are trying to recoup the money that they've lost. Thus far, though, they've recovered $16.8 million, just a small fraction of the one billion the GAO estimated they paid out to fraudulent claims.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's hope they've learned the lessons for the next time were the season upon us. Jeanne Meserve, thank you.

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S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, some lawmakers want to give folks who are working for minimum wage a raise. Could be a roadblock in the way. We'll tell you what's going on, coming up.

M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead, actress Daryl Hannah out of jail and out of the tree. This morning, we'll tell you about her run-in with police over an urban garden.

S. O'BRIEN: And comedian Jerry Lewis is recovering. He's in the hospital this morning. We'll tell you what happened, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

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S. O'BRIEN: An urban garden in the heart of south Los Angeles has left actress Daryl Hannah up a tree, literally, and eventually under arrest.

Carol Costello is live in the newsroom with more on this story. It's kind of a strange one.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is a strange one. I mean, imagine sitting in a walnut tree for almost a month, eating nothing, drinking only water. Some protesters for a sort of paradise lost did this and more to save a 14-acre community farm. It's in one of L.A.'s poorest neighborhoods, and this morning there are no more tree- sitters, because police took care of that.

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COSTELLO (voice-over): Angry protesters lined the streets as police moved in to evict farmers and their supporters from a community site in South Central Los Angeles, an urban garden in the midst of a concrete jungle.

RUFINA JUAREZ, SOUTH-CENTRAL FARMS: It's a place where families supplement their meals. It is a place for families to get their traditional medicine for their children. Where are the families going to go? What is going to happen?

COSTELLO: Some 350 people have been working this South Central farm, growing produce and flowers on 14 acres of privately owned land. They've waged a bitter fight with the property owner Ralph Horowitz, who wants to build a warehouse in its place.

TEZOZOMOC, SOUTH-CENTRAL FARMS: We are very distraught. The community is hurt, that even though there were negotiations, and money wasn't the issue, the developer has a kind of spirit that would break the heart of the city of L.A.

COSTELLO: The fight to save the farm has drawn lots of celebrity support. Actress Daryl Hannah was shouting her support perched in a walnut tree, when police came to execute the eviction order.

DARYL HANNAH, ACTRESS/ACTIVIST: We are completely surrounded by officers and sheriffs. I can see one pointing a tear gas gun at us right now, and there's (INAUDIBLE) going down, down below.

COSTELLO: Inside the garden, people chained themselves to trees, picnic tables and concrete-filled steel barrels, hoping to save the farm. Dozens were arrested. Daryl Hannah among them.

Despite being forcibly removed, supporters vow to continue the fight and are directing some of their anger at the mayor of Los Angeles.

JUAREZ: He publicly come out and stated that he supporting the (INAUDIBLE) farmers, he supported the farmers being here and (INAUDIBLE) could benefit all the community, but yet we get the police and we get the sheriff, so what kind of support is that?

DARYL HANNAH, ACTRESS/ACTIVIST: I'm hoping that Mr. Horowitz will still come to his senses, and the city there step up to the plate and still save this farm.

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COSTELLO: I know what some of you are thinking. Morally, Mr. Horowitz should just let the farmers stay on that land. But let's look at it from his side. He paid $5 million for that 14 acres, and if he builds a warehouse on that patch of land, do you know how much money he expects to make? A lot. Some are saying that the city should step in and compensate him appropriately or provide another place for those farmers to go. So, as you can see, this isn't over yet --- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, so has he been -- is he going to build a warehouse because he needs the money, or is he going to build a warehouse because he's sick of the people -- you know, it's gotten so nasty and so contentious. COSTELLO: Probably the latter, because the people there say he doesn't need the money, but the fight has become so contentious and so nasty, he wants nothing of it anymore.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting.

All right. Thank you, Carol.

You can hear more about Daryl Hannah and her protest tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. She is his guest. That' right here on CNN.

People who are struggling to scrape by on minimum wage could soon get a raise, but the lawmakers who want to give it to them are facing an uphill battle. We'll explain what's going on.

And President Bush back home after his surprise trip to Baghdad. Did his visit signify a turning point in Iraq? We're going to talk to Presidential Counselor Dan Bartlett ahead this morning. That's coming up next.

Stay with us.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNTIED STATES: My message to the Iraqi piece is this: Seize the moment. Seize this opportunity to develop a government of, and by and for the people.

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S. O'BRIEN: President Bush going all the way to Baghdad to drive home his personal message to Iraq. He met with the Iraqi cabinet, could have done it on a video link back to Camp David.

So today the question about the trip. Was it necessary in order to plan U.S. strategy?

Presidential Counselor Dan Bartlett was on the trip. He's with us from the White House.

Hey, Dan, nice to see you, as always. Thanks for talking with us.

DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: You were part of a very small and select group of people who got to go on this trip with -- along with the president that was kept very secret, even though it was planned for quite a while. What did the president want to accomplish, or hope to accomplish, and actually accomplish with this trip, do you think?

BARTLETT: Well, Soledad, it was two things. First and foremost, there is a new permanent sovereign government in Iraq. They are there for four years. It was important for President Bush to go look these leaders in the eye and really find out personally if the commitment is there to take the very difficult decisions that are necessary to move this country in the right direction.

You're right, it could have been done by a video conference, and we could have accomplished a lot. But I think there's more to be said with such big and grave decisions to be made, and the partnership we now have with this new government to have them come together personally, so he could see the real unity that is forming around this government. All factions of Iraqi society were represented around that table, and it gave the president an opportunity to see personally if they had that commitment.

Second, it's also important for the commander in chief to go there and say thank you, thank you to the tens of thousands of troops we have on the ground, the civilians there who are working day and night, separated from their families, to say what you're doing is necessary for our security. And it was a real honor for him to do that.

S. O'BRIEN: At the same time, when we hear details about the security that had to be in place for the president's visit, I mean, John King was talking about basically sprinting to the chopper so you guys could then, you know, get up in the air as fast as possible, it's really a clear indication of how unsafe the area is still is and how insurgents are very much entrenched in the area.

Fourteen-hundred people -- the most violent month in Iraq was last month; 1,400 people died. And that's not soldiers. That's not people who died in explosions. When is there going to be an actual turnaround on the ground?

BARTLETT: Well, Soledad, you're right, there's a lot of bad guys throughout that country that are trying to do everything they can to stop this government from forming.

And what you saw is, for example, Zarqawi, after the Golden Mosque bombing that he orchestrated, to really try to foment sectarian violence, and we're seeing a troubling trend of sectarian violence.

And Prime Minister Maliki spoke directly to the president about this concern and about security. And in Baghdad today, they are implementing a new security plan throughout that city. It will take time. It won't happen overnight. Over the next weeks and months you will see an increased stabilization of the security situation in Baghdad.

But make no mistake about it, every bad element in the Middle East is betting against this government and they're acting against it. And what we have to do, not only the coalition, but the Iraqi people, and Iraqi government and the neighborhood, is to rally behind this new unity government and do everything we can to make sure they succeed, because it's a clear path. One of two ways can -- we can head down. One is in which this government fails, and this state becomes a failed state in which terrorists and others use it as a launching pad for further attacks throughout the world, including our country. Or it can be a shining example of what democracy can do to meet the needs of the Iraqi people, send a very powerful signal throughout the region and be a secure ally in the war on terror.

It's not going to be easy, Soledad, and President Bush understands that. And in his conversations with this new government they understand it. But the stakes are high, and it's critically important that we succeed. And this trip drove home the fact that we're there to make sure they succeed.

S. O'BRIEN: We've been talking to John Vause in Baghdad this morning, our correspondent there, and he's been telling us about that security situation that you've talked about, the 70,000 troops or so mobilized, most of them, the bulk of them apparently, Iraqi troops.

BARTLETT: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: Here's what the retired Army General Barry McCaffrey (ph) has to say about the Iraqi troops. He says, they're very badly equipped with only a few light vehicles, small arms, most with body armor, one or two uniforms. They have no mortars, heavy machine guns, decent communications, artillery, armor, IAF, air transport, helicopters, strike support -- kind of a list of all the stuff they don't have, all the stuff they lack. Until all of that is fixed, U.S. troops aren't going to be able to come home, right?

BARTLETT: Well General McCaffrey met with President Bush about two weeks ago when we discussed this very topic, and General Casey has subsequently provided the plan forward to make sure that the Iraqi security forces do have the equipment they need. This is something that the president spoke directly with Prime Minister Maliki.

But make no mistake about it, this specific operation in Baghdad, these Iraqi security forces will have what they need to help secure Baghdad.

We are still there to help them, no question about it, Soledad. They are growing in strength. And as the president has said, as they stand up, we will stand down.

But one thing is important to understand, is that if we stand down too quickly, we will leave them out there to fail; and if they fail, we fail. So it's important that we have this continuum of them growing in strength and us taking a step back, and we're doing that in many parts of the country.

The final aspects of doing that will be to make sure they have the equipment, the logistical capabilities, the transportation capabilities to move their resources around the country so they can respond to violent activities or to sectarian violence, whatever it may be. So that is a final component of this training of the Iraqi security forces, and it's something that our commanders on the ground are on top of.

S. O'BRIEN: Dan Bartlett is counselor to President Bush. Dan, nice to see you as always.

BARTLETT: Thanks, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: For the first time in a decade, the minimum wage could go up. A House panel voted yesterday to raise the current $5.15 per hour minimum wage to $7.25. But the effort may face some hurdles, including possible efforts by some Republican leaders to block it, so don't spend it just yet.

Lawmakers believe they are entitled to a pay increase. Congress accepted a two percent cost of living raise yesterday. That translates into an additional $3,300, increasing their salaries to $168,500 per year. It is the seventh straight pay increase for Congress.

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