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Violence in Iraq; Al Qaeda Central; Unruly Passenger
Aired September 13, 2006 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Spend a second hour in the newsroom with us this Wednesday morning and stay informed.
Good morning. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Destination: Pakistan. A terror group on the move. Is Pakistan becoming al Qaedastan?
HARRIS: The army's 25th ID takes charge in northern Iraq. Live to Tikrit for a chat with the general in charge.
COLLINS: And high drama on a cross-country flight. Somebody suddenly tries to open the airplane door.
We'll tell you about it in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Charred wreckage, dozens of bodies dumped across Baghdad. It has been yet another gruesome day of violence in Iraq.
The latest from the capital now and CNN's Cal Perry.
Cal, how bad was it this time around?
CAL PERRY, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: It was a pretty bloody day, Tony. Good morning to you.
We have two attacks to tell you about, insurgents striking early and often. Their target today, Iraqi police.
The first attack at about 8:30 this morning. A roadside bomb -- that is, an improvised explosive device -- exploding near a police patrol. Fourteen people killed in that attack, some 67 others wounded.
About two hours later, shortly before noon, a car bomb. Again the target, Iraqi police. Eight dead there, 19 others wounded.
It's also worth mentioning the U.S. military taking its fair share of attacks this week. They now announced today that two U.S. soldiers were killed in the past 48 hours. The first, a Marine who was killed in the Al Anbar province on Monday during combat operations, and a U.S. Army personnel was killed yesterday in Baghdad due to small arms fire -- Tony.
HARRIS: Cal, are we talking about sectarian violence again? It sounds like it.
PERRY: We are, indeed. And, in fact, we heard from Iraqi police that in the past 24 hours 64 bodies have been found across the capital.
This is a growing and disturbing trend. We heard last month, 1,500 bodies found across the capital. Morgues are tallying the bodies.
The situation does seem to be getting worse. We know that 3,000 people died last month here in the capital alone. About half of those numbers killed in sectarian violence -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Cal Perry for us in Baghdad.
Cal, thank you.
COLLINS: The Taliban more dangerous than al Qaeda? Pakistan's president says so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: The center of gravity of terrorism has shifted from al Qaeda to Taliban. This is a new element which has emerged, a more dangerous element because it has roots in the people. Al Qaeda did not have roots in the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Even so, al Qaeda may be on the rise right under Pakistan's nose.
CNN's Nic Robertson has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And our words have no impact upon you. Therefore...
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With chilling premeditation, London bombers London bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer rail against the West. They were British born, but their terror attack in London last July was to leave a trail that led right back here to Pakistan, a trail that reveals how this country has replaced Afghanistan as al Qaeda central.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the (INAUDIBLE), you may wonder what you have done to deserve this.
ROBERTSON: There are few details of what they did, but this is what we know. Pakistani immigration takes their pictures. They pass through the airport and almost disappear.
Just how Pakistan became the new center of gravity for al Qaeda has to do with history. Pakistan was founded on Islam. It is the only Muslim country with a nuclear bomb. Afghanistan is on one border, and the disputed region of Kashmir, which Pakistan wants back from India, is on the other.
Kashmir is where many young Pakistanis seek to do their jihad. And the country's political leaders have long been content with letting extremist groups openly train and then fight against India.
AMIR MIR, JOURNALIST: These jihadi organizations are the civilian face of the Pakistan army, which are being used by the Pakistan army to advance its strategic agenda.
ROBERTSON: But these same Kashmir jihadists are the brothers in arms of al Qaeda. They've long shared training camps and recruits.
It was into this Kashmir and al Qaeda nexus that the two London bombers came. Western intelligence sources say they originally came to fight in Kashmir but were convinced to turn their anger on Britain. They got explosives training and other instructions here from al Qaeda's senior leaders, now using Pakistan as their base, relying on Kashmiri groups for help.
MIR: They are now training people in small groups.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Where would they do that?
MIR: At most of their -- you can say most of their offices, most of their headquarters.
ROBERTSON (voice over): The picture that's emerging is not pretty for Pakistan's Western allies, like the U.S. Al Qaeda seems to hide out here. It's where most of them have been captured since 9/11. And today's new terror attackers seem to gravitate here.
Pakistan, not Afghanistan, is now al Qaeda's country of choice.
(on camera): Pakistan appears to have become al Qaeda central.
SHAUKAT AZIZ, PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me say that nothing is farther from the truth.
ROBERTSON: In this scorching, sun-baked cemetery, I'm reminded of just how deep the ties are between al Qaeda and Pakistan. This is Shehzad Tanweer's grave, one of the London bombers. It's got his date of death down here: the 7th of July, 2005, the day he blew himself up.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Chak 477 Village, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Nic will have another report from Afghanistan tonight for "Anderson Cooper 360." You can watch "AC 360" at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
HARRIS: Well, you know, it's not something you're used to hearing, a thank-you to Syria from the White House. The Bush administration thanked Syria for foiling that attack on the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, but a presidential spokesman says that doesn't mean Syria is an ally. Sources in Syria now say the four men who tried to storm the compound were Syrian. Authorities say three of the men were killed by Syrian forces guarding the embassy. The fourth died later at a hospital.
COLLINS: A big worry this hour for California firefighters. This blaze north of Los Angeles still spreading, and it's threatening to shut down one of the state's busiest freeways, Interstate 5.
The fire has scorched about 2,500 acres in two national forests. And right now only about a quarter contained. The blaze broke out on Labor Day, and officials say someone burning debris started the fire.
HARRIS: New developments this morning in the trial of former House majority leader Tom DeLay, and they add up to, well, another delay. The highest criminal appeals court in Texas has agreed to hear an appeal from prosecutors in the case. The prosecution wants to reinstate a conspiracy charge against DeLay.
A grand jury indicted DeLay and two others last year on charges stemming from fund-raising in the 2002 legislative races. A state district court judge threw out one of the two conspiracy charges. Prosecutors want it back in. DeLay has denied wrongdoing in the case.
Well, a man in military fatigues creates quite a ruckus on a cross-country flight. Passengers, Heidi, take matters into their own hands.
COLLINS: The story now from reporter Rebecca Cooper. She's with our Washington affiliate WJLA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REBECCA COOPER, REPORTER, WJLA (voice over): Naomi Rodriguez was in the back of the plane waiting to use the restroom, along with several other passengers. One man had been inside the restroom approximately 20 minutes.
NAOMI RODRIGUEZ, PASSENGER: This man came out of the bathroom. He was dressed, like, in an Army suit. Full Army gear.
COOPER: The passenger was wearing dark glasses and appeared to be speaking Portuguese. He dashed to the back food service area and tried to break open the plane door.
RODRIGUEZ: It happened so quickly. There was a passenger about 6 feet tall. He, like, just jumped on top of him.
COOPER: Another passenger helped hold the man down, and then an air marshal moved in, pinning the man until another air marshal arrived to cuff him. They brought him to the front of the plane as he continued to yell loudly.
RODRIGUEZ: I felt like crying because I was thinking of my daughter, but I didn't cry. I was trying to compose myself, because I thought, "Just, you know, calm down. It's going to be OK." COOPER: Shaken passengers expected the flight to be diverted to a different airport. But after clearing seats in first class, the passenger was held there as the flight continued on another hour and a half to Dulles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Got to love those federal air marshals.
HARRIS: You really do.
COLLINS: Scary, though.
HARRIS: And the passengers who decide, you know, enough of this. Enough of this. You know? Hearkening back to United 93, "Let's roll."
COLLINS: Yes, right.
HARRIS: Let's take care of this. Yes.
COLLINS: Right.
Spacewalking subcontractors. Another day on the job.
HARRIS: Yes. A live report on the eye high-flying construction team.
And have you heard of pretexting? It's at the source of a big business scandal. And we're talking about it with Ali Velshi.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of America's best-known names, they were trying to do a good thing, they ended up doing it the wrong way. Might have even gotten themselves into hot water criminally.
The NEWSROOM is going to have that story.
Stay with us. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The perils of pretexting. Here's how the scam works.
Someone poses as someone else in order to get private information, like your phone records. Hewlett-Packard wanted to trace the source of news leaks from the boardroom. Apparently, their investigators reported to actually resorting to pretexting.
The company's chairwoman is being forced to step down. Now the attorney general in California says there could be criminal charges both inside and outside the company.
The latest now from CNN's Ali Velshi.
Ali, I didn't know anything about this whole pretexting thing until this blew up. How big a deal is this, and why did HP turn to pretexting?
VELSHI: Well, it's a stealth thing. And we don't hear about because we worry about credit theft and identity theft.
HARRIS: Right.
VELSHI: This is sort of the first step. And in many cases, like in the HP case, you wouldn't know anybody's been in your phone records. And they're not stealing money and they're not going into an account, and your phone records are often not kept as securely as your bank account is. So it's kind of a silent crime.
It's typically the kind of thing that's been used by either private investigators maybe working for a divorce lawyer or a debt collector or somebody who wants to find out if somebody's cheating. That's why you try and get into somebody's records.
Why HP thought that this would be OK is beyond me. And HP is not a board and a company that's been laden with problems and bad judgments, Tony. This is a -- this is a good company.
Patricia Dunn was widely regarded as a good administrator. She was a good woman. It's a tragedy this has happened. You know?
HARRIS: Right. So I've got to ask you -- you mentioned a silent crime. Let me just put a fine point on it. Is this illegal, or is it just unethical?
VELSHI: Well, here's the thing. The Federal Trade Commission -- and there are laws that make it a civil crime -- however, that's hard to enforce. It's hard to prove. And in some states it's a criminal offense, in other states it's a civil offense. But what part is the offense?
In the case of HP, who, if the California attorney general lays charges, is it somebody at HP? Is it the private investigator? Is the crime impersonating someone or actually getting information or selling that information?
Now, we've heard from Senator Chuck Schumer's office. They have passed a bill -- they've not passed a bill, but it's gone through the House, it's gone through committee, and they're asking Senator Frist to call for a vote on it in the Senate. There's a likelihood that it will pass.
That would make pretexting, impersonating someone and getting their phone records, absolutely illegal. It would make it a felony. And, you know, frankly, Tony, it seems obvious, right?
HARRIS: Makes sense. Right. Right. OK.
So give us a bit of a back story on this. How far does this story go back with HP?
VELSHI: Well, you know, it's funny. January of this year, there had been leaks. It's been known that there have been leaks. And the story showed up on CNET, on the Internet, about some stuff that had happened at HP's meeting. So Patricia Dunn, the chair of the board, said, "I want to get to the bottom of this leak."
Strangely, they didn't just sit with the board members and say who's leaking, maybe even give us your phone records, which would have been entirely legal. They engaged HP's lawyers, ended up with a security firm, who then got somebody else and they started pretexting.
They found the leaker. The leaker resigned yesterday.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: But they ended up checking into journalists who report on the company. Nine of them, including people from "The Wall Street Journal" and "The New York Times." They claimed they didn't know this was illegal, HP.
They apologized. They said it went further than they had thought. You know, it is muddy ground, but they should have just asked and maybe dealt with this differently.
HARRIS: And Ali, this a tricky question, but I need to ask it. Is this in any way -- you mentioned Patricia Dunn is out. Is this in any way a bit of a setback for women who aspire to the top offices in these companies?
VELSHI: Well, at HP, I've got to tell you, applying to top office -- aspiring to top office at HP hasn't been the most successful thing lately.
HARRIS: Right.
VELSHI: Carly Fiorina was ousted, Patricia Dunn now stepping down as chair. I don't think so. I think this is not -- remember, the one difference here -- and I hate when scandals come out in corporate America, because, as you know, I like corporate America.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: I think it's a great opportunity for people to make money.
This wasn't driven by malice and greed and trying to line your pockets. This isn't the scandals that we had a few years ago. This was some very bad judgment, and if they need to be punished for it, they will be.
I'm hoping this doesn't carry any further than exactly where it is today. Certainly the response to the stock has been that most people think the worst is probably behind HP now.
HARRIS: Good information, Ali. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.
VELSHI: Good to see you. OK.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: Oops, they did it again.
HARRIS: What?
COLLINS: Two more spacewalking astronauts lose a bolt while on construction duty. But how big of a deal is it really?
HARRIS: Good question. We'll pose it to CNN Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg. He joins us with more.
COLLINS: Hi, Daniel.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Here's the best way to think about it, OK?
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: Next time you do your home improvement project, put on some ski gloves, your parka, and go underwater.
COLLINS: No kidding?
HARRIS: Are you suggesting that would be difficult?
SIEBERG: It would be pretty tough, I think. So you can forgive these guys for having a little case of the where did it go?
You know, we've got some live pictures here.
HARRIS: Oh, good.
SIEBERG: Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean and Dan Burbank are up there right now, about 220 miles or so above the Earth. They're basically up there working on preparing the SARJ for duty. That would be the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. It's going to be part of these massive solar arrays.
COLLINS: A part.
SIEBERG: Everybody knew that, right? It's got an acronym for NASA.
These guys have both been up in space before but they are rookie spacewalkers. They have run into a couple cases of losing -- lost track of where things went. A little space physics for you here.
You see the pistol grip tool that they have to use for a lot of this work. When you're up in space, if you go to turn the bolt and you're not anchored down, guess what's going to turn? You, not the bolt.
COLLINS: Sure.
SIEBERG: So there's a lot of tricky -- you know, you have to sort of think about that when they're doing a lot of this work up there. They've got to be anchored either by their feet or to something that's more solid, the International Space Station, or somewhere else.
So, anyway, we've got some video we can show you that illustrates what happened earlier today with Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean. He was taking off some of these launch restraints, putting in what they call the trash bag here. You see some of those restraints just going into his bag right down here.
And then look. Did you see that?
COLLINS: Yes.
SIEBERG: It just went right off the screen there. They're not sure what it is exactly. They believe it's something like perhaps a piece of grease. They were calling it little black bits at one point.
But nothing serious, they believe, at this point. It hasn't gotten into anything.
And we can also tell you about something that happened with Steve MacLean a little earlier today. And he remarked on losing track of this other bolt.
COLLINS: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE MACLEAN, ASTRONAUT: OK. On cover eight (ph) a bolt is missing. Bolt 1 Alpha (ph). I did not see it go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, Steve. I copy that Bolt 1 Alpha (ph) is missing. (INAUDIBLE) the washer is still there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEBERG: So I think we've got a still image we can show you of what we're talking about here. This is the bolt in question. It's sort of a spring-loaded bolt. It's got a washer as part of it as well.
Yesterday, you'll remember that Joe Tanner, one of the other astronauts, also lost one of these similar bolts and washers, a combination. So they might have to think about redesigning that particular part of the cover (ph).
COLLINS: And then put it in perspective for us. I mean, my guess is, you lose something like this, they're talking about 17.5-ton addition basically that they're building.
SIEBERG: Right. COLLINS: Mammoth. A little tiny bolt. But the problem becomes, does it not, for an object debris, it could go into another aircraft at some point as it comes out of gravity?
SIEBERG: It's possible. I mean, the problem is not so much that it's going to pierce anything, because it's basically floating up there. They're all moving at roughly the same rate. So it's not like it's going to go shooting through their space suit...
COLLINS: Right.
SIEBERG: ... or shooting through into anything, but it could get caught up in some of the machinery, as you pointed out, and other spacecraft up there. So they have to at least go through all the steps to try and see where it went, try and track it down.
And there's some more live pictures here. You can see again Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean up there right now.
They should be close to wrapping up, actually. And tomorrow the big highlight will be unfurling these massive solar arrays. I think we've got an animation. We can show you what that looks like.
COLLINS: They're just huge.
SIEBERG: They are enormous. These are 240 feet long, just shy of a football field when they're fully unfurled.
These are going to contain about a quarter of the power for the International Space Station. It's doubling what they've already got up there. And they're going to be unfurling those tomorrow. It's going to take a few hours to do it, but it's going to be a pretty impressive sight.
Then a final spacewalk on Friday. A very front-loaded mission. Very busy in the first few days...
HARRIS: Yes.
SIEBERG: ... as far as...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And you need those arrays because there are additional modules that have to be flown up and attached to the space station, and they have to be powered.
SIEBERG: That's right. There are some science modules that are going to be coming up. They need power for just about everything they do up there anyway.
They've already got one of these solar arrays up there. There are actually going to be three more total. This one being the next one. These are sets of two.
Again, some more live pictures. Some amazing stuff that they're able to do up there, given the conditions and how they're able to move around.
COLLINS: Yes. And we'll take those live pictures any chance we get them. I just think that is incredibly cool.
HARRIS: Good stuff.
SIEBERG: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: That's great. Thank you, sir.
SIEBERG: You bet.
HARRIS: Good to see you.
SIEBERG: All right. You, too.
COLLINS: Thanks, Daniel.
You know what else is incredibly cool?
HARRIS: What's that?
COLLINS: Miles in a suit, our space guy. He's getting into gear. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to feel some metal rings there at the ankles that you need to get past and then stick your toes up, wiggle your toes up in there.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: This is not made for -- I can tell you that right now. Not even close.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, exactly.
O'BRIEN: And now the hard part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Suck it in, Miles. Just kidding.
HARRIS: More of this straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Also, controlling Iraq. The country is still in U.S. hands. Still up in the air, too. When the Iraqis step up.
HARRIS: And when we come back, we will talk live with the U.S. general taking the reins in northern Iraq today.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, we always wonder about the fuel for these storms and these systems, La Nina, El Nino.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Right.
HARRIS: Either of those a factor of what we're seeing in the weather?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Struggling for control of Iraq's wild west.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): American soldiers in al Qaeda's heartland in Iraq. And a gaping black hole in Washington's global war on terror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Michael Ware reports from the front lines in Ramadi.
Also ahead in the NEWSROOM, we talk live with the U.S. general taking the reins in northern Iraq today. That transition happening as we speak.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Al Anbar province in western Iraq, where U.S. troops battle daily with insurgents, but is the military spread too thin to defeat the growing threat there?
CNN's Michael Ware reports from the front lines.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American soldiers in al Qaeda's heartland in Iraq. And a gaping black hole in Washington's global war on terror. Ramadi, where U.S. forces suffer as many as two combat deaths a week, battling daily with insurgents coordinated by Osama bin Laden's commanders.
COL. SEAN MACFARLAND, CDR. BDE., 1ST ARMORED DIVISION: And Al Qaeda, as you probably know, they want to establish a caliphate basically from Pakistan to Spain, with its heart here in al Anbar Province. And of course the capital of al Anbar is Ramadi.
WARE: President Bush himself points to al Qaeda's claim on al Anbar.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We see the strategy laid out in a captured al Qaeda document found during a recent raid in Iraq which describes their plans to infiltrate and take over Iraq's western Anbar Province.
WARE: It's from here in this farmland called Jazeera (ph), on the opposite bank of the Euphrates River from Ramadi that U.S. military intelligence believes al Qaeda in Iraq runs the headquarters. MAJ. MATT. EICHBURG, EXEC. OFFICER, 1ST INFANTRY: When they come to do their command control, they're planning their resupply, if you will, and then their transit. A lot of the guys that are responsible for some of the bigger attacks, they live out here.
WARE: Jazeera (ph) is the size of New Hampshire, but the Pentagon posts just a few hundred soldiers here. The military term, economy of force applies. American officers say that means they only have one-third of the troops needed to quell al Qaeda's stranglehold.
But a new rotation in the battle-scarred city brings new tactics. Until now, the southern suburbs barely saw a U.S. boot on the ground. But by thinning troops in outlying areas, he U.S. military is building outposts in suburbs once owned by insurgents.
LT. JASON RICHARDSON, BRAVO Correct., 1ST INFANTRY: Our intel told us that insurgents would gather out here in numbers from 10 to 50 and meet up and rally, get in their cars and move on and execute missions.
WARE: This mosque was an Iraqi al Qaeda base. Home to the group's local leader. And now, this U.S. outpost sits next door. From here, infantry patrols push out with lists of the wanted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the one that hit my brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sure?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WARE: His patrol goes into what locals dub the Mujahadeen village. But now Al Qaeda adjusts its tactics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, they'll fire random mortars, develop and adjust sneaky ways to put in IEDs. It's a dangerous, it's a very difficult war to fight, but it's not -- I don't know how to put this.
WARE: And now a sniper war. This U.S. soldier looking for targets as al Qaeda does the same.
RICHARDSON: We saw a car pull up, a guy get out the front seat, climb into the backseat, remove a panel from off his car and aim from the car to our rooftop position, which unfortunately resulted in the death of one Marine who was on the rooftop. So -- but, I mean, we can't shoot every car that comes by but.
WARE: Though the attacks and U.S. deaths continue, the new plan is having an effect. Al Qaeda still dominates the insurgency, but it's had to adapt.
MACFARLAND: And we're seeing a steady decline in the types of complex and the size of the types of the attacks that we have experienced here in the past.
WARE: But the Marine general commanding al Anbar says, right now he does not have enough troops, U.S. or Iraqi, to win against the al Qaeda-led insurgency. A reality Colonel MacFarland faces on the ground.
MACFARLAND: The folks that we are fighting are the same kind of folks that took down the World Trade Center and drove an airplane into the Pentagon. And these people here want to turn al Anbar into what one smart guy called al Qaedastan. And right here, this is our opportunity to stop that vision in its tracks.
WARE: But to the soldiers and Marines here, there's a fear, that without reinforcement, that opportunity could be lost.
Michael, CNN, Ramadi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A changing of the guard in Iraq. Today the Army's 101st Airborne handed over control of northern Iraq. The new command, the Army's 25th Infantry Division. But what about the Iraqi security forces? When will they assume control of their own country?
Joining us from Tikrit is major general Benjamin Mixon. He is the commander of the 25th Infantry Division. Thanks for being with us, sir. I want to begin by asking you, as you transfer power, if you will, from the 101st to the 25th, what will the mission be? Will there be any changes as you and your men and women take over?
MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN MIXON, COMMANDER, 25TH INFANTRY DIV.: We will continue with our strategy to turn over control o security to the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police.
COLLINS: And as you do that, assuming that they are becoming more up and ready to protect themselves with every day that passes, what will be the role of the 25th in all of that?
MIXON: The 25th will continue to work and train the Iraqi security forces, while at the same time, we're going to put emphasis on governance and rule of law within our area of operations.
COLLINS: But the 25th is about the same size, wouldn't you say, as the 101st? You're down a little bit, though, in particular, down from six brigade combat teams to four, and you have one less headquarters element. Does that speak, sir, to the capability of the Iraqis?
MIXON: Yes, it does. The Iraqis are becoming more capable. When we talk about numbers of soldiers in the area, we must include the numbers of Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi police involved in this fight.
COLLINS: Let's talk about that. Can you give us some of those numbers, a little bit of a better sense?
MIXON: Yes, I can estimate for you when I count the numbers of police, the numbers of soldiers, and we must include the border security forces. We're talking well in the numbers of 30,000 to 40,000 easily. COLLINS: All right. I'm sure you've heard the concerns of areas like Ramadi. We just heard another report from Michael Ware, who's familiar with that region. About the size of New Hampshire, as I understand it. The area that you and the 25th Division will be protecting is about the size of Pennsylvania. Do you feel like you have enough people and a good grip on an area that large?
MIXON: Well, it's a little bit larger than the state of Pennsylvania, and it's a very dynamic region with the Sunnis, Shiite, Kurds, Turkamen all being in our particular area of operation.
COLLINS: And we are, in particular, talking about Tikrit and Kirkuk. These are hotspots certainly in the past, looking at a map of the region now. What is the threat level at this time from those areas?
MIXON: Well, the threat level is still high. We have a determined enemy in this area. But I'm convinced, as the Iraqi security forces continue to develop, and we earn the confidence of the Iraqi people, we will be more and more successful in defeating this enemy.
COLLINS: So even though you have assumed control today -- it may be way too early to ask you this -- but is there any way to tell at this point of when the Iraqis can assume control of 100 percent of their own security?
MIXON: Well, we plan on, at this time, the other two areas of my responsibility of the Iraqis assuming control by the first of the year. We'll continue to work with them and develop their capabilities, and we'll see how they come along as we end our tour next year.
COLLINS: General Mixon, we certainly appreciate your time today on this very day, a busy one for you, and the men and women of the 25th Infantry Division. Thank you for your time.
MIXON: Well, thank you very much.
HARRIS: And coming up in the NEWSROOM, take a look. This man has had a lot of close shaves since 9/11. This one has not. What links a Washington teacher with the world's most wanted man? That story still ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: In our "Daily Dose" of health news, multiple doctors, different medicines. For seniors, it can be a prescription for disaster. Prescription drug errors are a leading cause of death and injury in the U.S. and a new study says older patients are most at risk.
In the analysis, patients over 65 were seven times more likely to have a medicine mix-up. That's because many have chronic conditions and see different doctors for treatment. The study was done by one of the country's largest prescription benefit managers. To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.
COLLINS: No bin Laden, no shave. A Washington state teacher vows to keep blade from cheek until Osama bin Laden is caught or killed. There he is, Gary Weddle. His beard is more than a foot long and growing. It seems he was so caught up with the events surrounding 9/11 he forgot to shave. And then one week after the attacks, he made his pledge. He says he'll be buried with his beard if it comes to that.
HARRIS: Lights, camera, terror. How al Qaeda gets its message out. That story, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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COLLINS: One of our favorite shots to take.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: All of the people who makes us look -- well, as good as we can look.
HARRIS: Mmm hmm!
COLLINS: We want to get to Jim Clancy, working very hard at this hour to bring us YOUR WORLD TODAY, coming up in 15 minutes or so.
Hi, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, how are you today, Heidi?
COLLINS: Good.
CLANCY: Listen, as we look here, we're asking the question, is it real or is it just evil fantasy? Anderson Cooper is going to share with us a videotape purportedly from al Qaeda that alleges to show a suicide bomber on his way to his mission.
Plus, musical chairs at the security council. Not uncommon for non-permanent members, but right now there's a very uncommon battle under way. Washington trying to prevent Venezuela's leftist leader, shown here, from gaing a bully pulpit.
And the South Korean man who wrote his guitar riffs to fame on the Internet. All that and more, coming up from all around the globe on YOUR WORLD TODAY.
Back to you.
COLLINS: He's pretty good, isn't he, Jim?
HARRIS: Yes, that's not bad.
CLANCY: He's excellent. HARRIS: OK, Jim, thank you. See you at the top of the hour.
From their hideout to your TV. Al Qaeda's pitch. It is quite a production. CNN's Nic Robertson has the story.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's Osama bin Laden in a now all-too-familiar al Qaeda message. But look at the logo at the bottom of your screen, Al-Sahab, Arabic for "The Clouds."
It screams al Qaeda, just as the roaring lion heralds an MGM movie.
Check out these other al Qaeda releases, this time, Ayman al- Zawahri -- again, Al-Sahab is in the corner -- same here with one of the London subway bombers.
Al Qaeda has corporate P.R., even using English subtitles...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't talked about American and British atrocities in the two Iraq wars.
ROBERTSON: ... and, sometimes, an American to get their message across.
The question is, just how and where on earth are they getting away with it?
(on camera): The where, now, they probably do it close to where they are. The Al-Sahab logo used to have location Pakistan on it. The how, now, that is the easy bit. All they need is a little camera, a laptop computer.
After all, that is how we put our reports together, throw in some fancy graphics. Then, all you got to do is print off the C.D. or tape.
(voice-over): Then, al Qaeda hands off the tape to someone it can trust to get their message out.
Ahmed Zaidan was working for Arabic-language broadcaster Al- Jazeera in its Pakistan office when someone called offering a news story, and set up a meeting.
AHMED ZAIDAN, AL-JAZEERA: Somebody called us to a very busy market, you know? And he gave us a tape, and never, ever thought that it's Osama. I never, ever expected that it would be Osama bin Laden tape. But that man who deliver this tape, he was half-covered face, and he told me, look, this is Osama tape.
ROBERTSON: In its relentless drive to self-promote, al Qaeda had suddenly, for a moment, made itself vulnerable, starting a trail that could lead to bin Laden. But finding that trail has not been so easy. (on camera): And, even if they had been here, intelligence officials say it would have been nearly impossible to track the person handing off the tape. They could have disappeared into the crowds, gone into a tiny alleyway.
(voice-over): Over the years, Al-Jazeera became a favorite outlet for bin Laden and Zawahri, because it was nearby, with offices here in Pakistan, because it aired more of the tape than Western networks did, and did so in the original Arabic, and because, apparently, it didn't work with the authorities to help track them down.
(on camera): On another occasion, al Qaeda came right here, into the heart of Islamabad, the capital, went to the Al-Jazeera office up there, dropped off a tape in an envelope, with a guard outside.
ZAIDAN: And he brought the, you know, envelopes. And we open it. And it was -- the tape was inside. When we -- what you call -- play it, we came to know that it was Osama bin Laden tape.
ROBERTSON: Not just any tape. It was late October 2004. Bin Laden had recorded a special message to release before the U.S. presidential election, and trusted Al-Jazeera to get the message out.
Over time, Al-Jazeera got more picky about the clips it broadcast. So, al Qaeda turned to the Internet. It was to be easier and safer than handing tapes to Al-Jazeera, just find an Internet cafe -- there are plenty in Pakistan -- and upload your C.D.
(on camera): OK. So, imagine that I'm al Qaeda. I have just uploaded my disk. The guy behind me can see it now. The guy in the corner over there can see it. The guy down at the Internet cafe down the street can see it. The guy at the Internet cafe across the town can see it. They can see it at the other end of Pakistan. They can see it in London. They can see it in Washington.
Within minutes, it is distributed on multiple Web sites. They get global coverage almost instantly.
(voice-over): Al Qaeda's new electronic trail is harder to trace. We may never know the intelligence opportunities lost before the terror network went high-tech. But some messages, it seems, still come the old-fashioned way. This one appearing before the fifth anniversary of 9/11 once again showed up on Al-Jazeera. No one is saying this time either how al Qaeda delivered the tape.
ROBERTSON: Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Nic Robertson will have another report from Afghanistan tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Watch "AC 360" 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, only on CNN.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES) COLLINS: We continue to bring you this story and the very latest developments happening in California, fires there, big fires there. Those are the flames that we've been watching pretty much all morning, getting closer and closer to Interstate 5, incredibly busy highway out in the California, Los Angeles area to be specific. These pictures from our affiliate KTLA.
On the phone with us, I want to get a better idea of the picture. Daniel Berlant is with the U.S. Forestry Service to update us on what's happening.
Daniel, what can you tell us about the situation now?
DANIEL BERLANT, DEPT. FORESTRY/FIRE PROTECTION: Well, you know, here in California we're having some hot, dry weather. You know, combine that with the dry fuels that we've created after a really heavy rain season, and we're getting some extreme fire behavior, and that's what we're seeing now in Ventura County with the Day (ph) Fire, which is actually burning on the Los Padres National Forest. It's already burned over 27,000 acres, and you know, continues to burn right up to I-5, and that's what's causing some of the concern there in Los Angeles.
COLLINS: All right. Daniel Berlant, thanks for updating us on that. We'll continue to follow it throughout the day. Thank you.
And this just in from CNN, from Nassau, Bahamas, the coroner's chief inspector is calling the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son, Daniel, suspicious, and a formal inquiry is being scheduled. Daniel Wayne (ph) Smith was 20 years old. He was visiting his mother in her room at a hospital in Nassau where she was giving birth last week. We can also tell you that an autopsy is under way.
Once again, the coroner's chief inspector telling us that the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son, Daniel, is suspicious. And an autopsy is under way and a formal inquiry is also being scheduled.
COLLINS: Here now, Carol Lin with a preview of what's happening this afternoon. Hi to you, Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Heidi. Hi there, Tony. We're going to have a lot to cover this afternoon. The Pentagon, for example, under fire for the war in Iraq. Outspoken critic of the war, Congressman John Murtha, is releasing a report on military readiness in the 1:00 hour. We're going to bring that to you live. He's also calling for the secretary of defense to resign.
Also, a feminist icon and an activist actress are teaming up and hoping women will tune in. Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda are going to join me to talk about their new radio network targeting women. That's this afternoon. We'll see it.
HARRIS: Love that.
LIN: All right, Tony.
HARRIS: I love that.
LIN: Well, maybe you'll be our first male listener.
HARRIS: OK, see you at 1:00.
COLLINS: YOUR WORLD TODAY is next, with news happening across the globe, here at home as well. Have a great day, everybody.
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