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White House Backpedals on Pakistan Comment; Hugo Chavez Gives Press Conference; Charges Filed in Nursing Home Deaths; Navy Retiring F-14

Aired September 21, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, HOST: Hello. I'm Carol Lin at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Hunting bin Laden. President Bush says he'd send U.S. troops into Pakistan to capture the terror leader. Pakistan's president says not so fast.

And al Qaeda in Iraq. Scenes of the darkest core of the insurgency. Why the U.S. military is far from crippling the deadly network.

And support for Chavez. A celebrity introduction, a standing ovation. The Venezuelan president, still on U.S. soil, speaking out, this time with support.

Details on all this and much more, straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the naval station here at Oceania, where for the last time you're hearing the engines of an F-14 Tomcat. It's the end of an era. Sure, you remember "Top Gun" and the movie with Tom Cruise. That made this aircraft famous.

But the two men that are in this aircraft, the pilot and the RIO, are just two of hundreds of men and women that have taken this aircraft into combat to protect the freedom of the United States. We're going along for the final flight, this hour, right here live on CNN. More coming up from the CNN NEWSROOM.

LIN: That's Kyra Phillips out there. She is going to be flying in an F-14, the last journalist to do so today. Kyra's going to be with us throughout the next three hours. I know it was really hard to hear her there, but she's coming back in about 20 minutes to show us what she can do.

In the meantime, we're going to focus on the war on terror. Where in the world is Osama bin Laden? And what happens if and when he's spotted? President Bush and Pakistani President Musharraf are heavily invested in that debate. And well, frankly, they have very different answers.

So for more on that let's go to our Kathleen Koch. She's traveling with Mr. Bush today in Florida for a fund-raiser -- Kathleen. KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, Carol, the president is here for two fund-raisers, one for the Republican candidate for governor and for Republican candidate for Congress.

But the White House is very busy today right now doing a little back-pedaling, a little explaining, a little damage control for the president's very blunt statement in his one-on-one interview with Wolf Blitzer yesterday.

Wolf asked the president what -- how the U.S. would respond if it had actionable intelligence that Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants were in Pakistan, and obviously, the explanation was not taken very well by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: If you had good actionable intelligence in Pakistan where they were, would you give the order to kill him or capture him...

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Absolutely.

BLITZER: ... and go into Pakistan?

BUSH: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Even though the Pakistanis say that's their sovereign territory?

BUSH: We would -- we would take the action necessary to bring him to justice.

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: My response would be that we know we are able to do everything. We have been able to locate anybody, and there have been many such occasions where we have located al Qaeda or Taliban activity. We have struck, and we have struck with good force, very successfully. We will carry that on our side of the border.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you allow the U.S. to do that?

MUSHARRAF: No, we wouldn't like to allow that at all. We would do it ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: The two leaders will be able to share their views in person tomorrow when they meet in the Oval Office of the White House. They will also be having a joint press conference.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino this morning told reporters that Pakistan is, quote, an excellent ally and cooperative in the war on terror.

You'll recall it was back in January that the U.S. -- an air strike against some suspected al Qaeda figures on the Pakistani side of the border prompted very angry protests from the Pakistani government. Also, protests by tens of thousands of citizens there.

As much as the United States wants to avoid future incidents like that, the administration is certainly under a lot of pressure right now. Osama bin Laden is still at large on more than five years after the 9/11 attacks. And that certainly could be what is perhaps behind the tougher rhetoric from the White House, Carol.

LIN: You bet. All right, Kathleen Koch, live from Orlando, appreciate it.

Now Kathleen was talking about attacks on the Taliban. Well, there was a photo that we shared with you last week showing a Taliban funeral. It was spied from above by a military drone. But you see nobody fired. Today, the Pentagon is saying it could have taken a shot but it didn't. So to tell us why, our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Carol.

Well, everyone I think may recall this photograph taken from a U.S. spy plane overhead in Afghanistan several weeks ago. Now that photo, according to the military, did in fact, show a gathering of suspected Taliban at the funeral of what they believe was a Taliban commander, a midlevel commander in Afghanistan.

The question always has been, why didn't the U.S. military take a shot? Why did it not fire on this gathering of Taliban?

Well, today, we learned the answer from the top commander in Afghanistan. Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry was here in the Pentagon for a press conference. He was asked, and he offered a very detailed explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. KARL EIKENBERRY, COMMANDER, COMBINED FORCES, AFGHANISTAN: What's not shown in the picture, just off the picture, is a village. It also is reasonable for the commander to conclude from that village that there were probably innocents, maybe sympathetic to Taliban, but innocents, noncombatants that had moved to participate in that funeral.

It was also questionable whether there were women that were standing there. It was also questionable whether there were children that were standing there. So that commander made a decision, based upon our values as a people, based upon our values as a nation, that he would not strike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: General Eikenberry making it very clear when you look at that picture, again, Carol, with a fresh set of eyes, there are things in that picture that you don't see, things just off the frame of that photograph.

On this question that is brewing today about the debate, if you will, between President Bush and Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf about U.S. troops going into Pakistan if they had a lead on Osama bin Laden, all General Eikenberry would say is that military commanders understand that President Bush is intent on that matter -- Carol.

LIN: So the bottom line is if there was actionable intelligence, the U.S. military, what -- would it first consult with the Pakistanis, and if the Pakistanis said "no, no go," the U.S. would strike anyway?

STARR: Well, I think most military experts and most experts in the intelligence community believe if the U.S. had actionable intelligence -- and that means a very significant piece of information that they could act on rapidly before it became outdated.

In other words, could they capture or kill Osama bin Laden before he moved his location? I think it's very safe to assume that either U.S. Special Forces or U.S. intelligence operatives would simply cross the border into Pakistan, would launch air strikes perhaps or some kind of Special Forces, and they would explain it to the Pakistanis after the fact, Carol.

LIN: All right, Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon, thank you.

The headline out of Iraq: Italians out, Iraqis in. Italian troops today gave control of southern Dhi Qar province to the armed forces of Iraq. Iraqi troops now control two of their country's 15 non-Kurdish provinces. The 1,600 Italians are pulling out for good over the next eight weeks.

But there's also the headline of torture in Iraq. And it may be worse now than during the brutal reign of Saddam Hussein. That is the bottom line of a U.N. report released today.

CNN's Arwa Damon standing by in Baghdad to tell us more.

Arwa, it just seems like an unprecedented summer of death there in Iraq.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really does, Carol. And if we just look at the numbers in this report and then the facts alongside them, the numbers being for July and August, 6,600 Iraqis, civilians were killed in violence.

But half of that, over half of that actually are unidentified bodies that showed up at Baghdad's morgue. And these are bodies that bore signs of torture with chemicals, bore signs of acid burns, had their eyes gouged out, tortured with electrical cables, had skin missing.

And when you really think about it, it's gruesome, it's chilling, and that is what is going on here right now.

And bearing in mind, too, that this number of 6,600 does not include deaths of Iraqi security forces and does not include bodies that were found outside of Baghdad.

And when you go out in the streets and you speak with Iraqi civilians, they say that their No. 1 concern is the sectarian violence. They fear that. They fear being victims of sectarian violence, of having a gruesome death more than they fear being victims of these bombings or other attacks that we're seeing around here, Carol.

LIN: Arwa, in taking a look at some of the video from the morgue, those bodies are covered, but there was one you couldn't help but ignore. It was a small bundle; it looked like in a cradle. Was that a baby?

DAMON: It could have been. It's hard to tell at this point. I really only can see the pictures that you're seeing. But children are not spared this sort of violence. They're not spared this death. We hear countless stories of children also being victims of brutalness, brutality.

There is one story that stands out in my mind that was told by a senior U.S. official who had heard it from an Iraqi colleague of his, of a 13-year-old girl who was beheaded and then a dog's head was sewn on to her body...

LIN: Oh, gosh, oh, no.

DAMON: So really there is no one that can avoid anything that's going on here, Carol.

LIN: Only an animal would do something like that. Arwa Damon, live in Baghdad, thank you.

One day after dressing down the United Nations and taking shots at President Bush, the president of Venezuela had, well, a different face on today. Frankly, a more generous face.

Hugo Chavez here, visiting a low-income Harlem neighborhood, following up on last year's promise to provide poor New Yorkers heating oil at a discount.

For more reaction to that Chavez press conference this morning, let's go to Fredricka Whitfield with more details from the newsroom.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Carol, while the words of the Venezuelan president yesterday were far from minced and it took place at the U.N., already Chavez continues with his dialogue there in New York, as you mentioned there, speaking at an engagement in Harlem.

And while members of the Bush administration are trying to brush off his comments, at least one member of Congress is saying "not in my backyard." New York's Charles Rangel had this comment on Chavez's comments yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: You don't come into my country, you don't come into my congressional district, and you don't condemn my president. If there's any criticism of President Bush, it should be restricted to Americans who either they voted for him or not.

And I just want to make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any other president, don't come to the United States and think, because we have problems with our president, that any foreigner can come to our country and not think that Americans do not feel offended when you offend our chief of state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, Chavez does continue to make his stay well known there in New York. You're looking at live pictures there, now, of his speech or his press conference still going on there in Harlem.

Now, the comments from Chavez, whether it be at the U.N. or even during this press conference, is all part of Venezuelan campaign to try to win support for that Latin American seat on the U.N. Security Council -- Carol.

LIN: Taking advantage of a free press, wouldn't you say, Fred?

WHITFIELD: I think that's, indeed, what's happening.

LIN: An American value. All right, Fred, thank you very much.

Got a story out of the Gulf Coast. Negligent homicide charges and cruelty charges, 99 counts in all, against a Louisiana couple blamed for the deaths of nursing home patients in the onslaught of Katrina.

CNN Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen has more details from New Orleans.

Susan, we were horrified by that story during the storm last year and now this outcome.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, it really was a terrible story. I have, in fact, a copy of the grand jury indictment. It lists the 35 names of the 35 people who were killed. And as you mentioned, an additional 64 counts of cruelty to the infirm, facing the owners of this nursing home.

The question is, was that nursing home and the deaths there just a tragic outcome of Hurricane Katrina or should the owners be held criminally responsible?

The owners of St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish are Sal and Mabel Mangano. And they have said all along that it would be just too difficult, too dangerous to have evacuated the frail and elderly nursing home residents there.

But the son of one the victims says his mother should have had the chance to get out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RODRIGUE, MOTHER DIED AT ST. RITA'S: She may not have been able to survive the ordeal at her age, even if she would have evacuated, but she deserved a chance. And she deserved not to drown like a rat. And that's exactly the way I look at it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: That was Tom Rodrigue. His mother was 92 years old. He says that he went back to that nursing home after the hurricane just a few days later and was shocked to see that there would have been nine or 10 feet of water in his mother's room.

Now, since then that whole nursing home has been treated as a crime scene. The sheriff's office has sealed it off. And the Manganos, the nursing home owners, will be in court, Carol, in October to face the charges.

LIN: Any idea what kind of defense they're going to put forward?

ROESGEN: Well, yes, we know, at least initially, that they are going to try to rope in federal, state and local officials. Because in this state, in the state of Louisiana, nursing homes are considered private institutions, responsible for their own evacuations.

What the owners are arguing is, yes, we -- we refused to evacuate on our own, but we could have used federal, state and local help. And as it turned out, Carol, actually there were some neighbors and some firefighters who were able to get some of the staff members and their families out and some of the residents out. But they said the water just came up too fast to get everybody out.

LIN: Wow, it sounds like the government's going to be on trial, as well, in a sense, at least in the court of public opinion. Susan Roesgen, thank you.

Well, you might remember that horrific fire at a Rhode Island nightclub. A plea deal for the owners of that nightclub, where 100 people died in a fire now.

Jeffrey and Michael Derderian will plead no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter resulting from an inferno in early 2003 when a rock band's pyrotechnics ignited the club's ceiling. Victims' families are outraged one owner will serve only four years in prison. The other won't go to prison at all.

CNN also has learned that the judge in this case will make a statement this hour. We're going to listen in to that and bring it in to you right here in the NEWSROOM.

In the meantime, Iran's president, from mayor of Tehran to a major player on the international stage. We're going to take a closer look at his political pedigree straight ahead.

And we're going to go back to Kyra Phillips live at the Oceania Naval Air Base. She is the last journalist to fly in an F-14 today, right here on THE NEWSROOM.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: From the skies over Vietnam to the caves of Tora Bora to "shock and awe" in Baghdad, the F-14 has served the United States for more than 30 years. This week, the supersonic war bird is ready to retire.

And CNN's Kyra Phillips shows and knows these awesome jets. The Navy picked her as the last journalist to fly in the Tomcat before it's grounded for good. She's at Oceania Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Kyra, I always see you on a landing strip. Why is that?

PHILLIPS: Maybe because I'm addicted to it, and I just can't get enough of it. I feel like this is my life in another lifetime, Carol.

But it's been -- I tell you what, it's a piece of history, happening right here before our eyes. I mean, naval aviation goes back decades. It's participated in all the major wars.

And if you talk to any aviator, any crew member that helps get an aircraft together and get it off the deck of a carrier or off a flight line, it's all about safety. It's all about, well, freedom. Those are the two words you always hear. But it takes a special gift to be able to not only take care of an aircraft but also to fly it.

Now let me tell you, coming up right behind me is the pilot that's going to fly me today in that final flight, Lieutenant Commander Dave Fanley, call sign "Superfly." We'll tell you about that later.

In the back seat, the RIO, the radar intercept officer. We've got Lieutenant Commander Fitz Gentry (ph). I'm going to try to get them on the coms right now, because they're gearing up for our flight, the final flight, that I feel very lucky to be a part of, to be able to take you inside the cockpit and see it first hand, and tell you about the history of the aircraft, how it works and why it's been so important in naval aviation.

Let me see if I can get them on the line. Supa, this is Kyra. Do you have contact with me?

LT. COMMANDER DAVE FANLEY, U.S. NAVY: This is Superfly. We're coming back in to pick you up.

PHILLIPS: Fantastic. I'm just curious as you're coming down the flight line, this is your second to last flight. I'm lucky to be with you on one of them. What's going through your mind as this is one of your final flights?

FANLEY: Well, it's a very (UNINTELLIGIBLE) moment. I've had a lot of good times on the Tomcat. It's been a good plane for us. We've done a lot of good together. But I'm looking forward to the new airplane and the new technology and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So I'm really disappointed to be giving up my old friend, but there are some great times I can remember.

PHILLIPS: I can see you guys coming in now. Why don't you give our viewers a taste of what we're going to do once we're airborne?

FANLEY: We'll take off and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) head out over the Atlantic Ocean. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) maneuvers, some turns (ph). We'll try to get it to some Gs. We'll do some tight turns about six Gs. We'll go up and do some vertical maneuvers, loops and things like that. I'll show you the pitch capability of the Tomcat, move around, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We'll take it down to a low speed, show you the after-burners, about 500 miles an hour, climb up at about a 50 degree angle, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and hang it back, for super sonic.

PHILLIPS: All right, we might lose contact here with regard to the audio, but we hear you loud and clear. Not sure if you're going to be able to hear me. I heard 6 1/2 G's. I thought you're going to push this aircraft to 8 G's with me, because I know this aircraft could do that.

FANLEY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) About 6 1/2 is the max I can do today, show you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) might be a little extra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to power down and I'll talk to you in a second.

That's my pilot, Lieutenant Commander Dave "Superfly" Fanley in the front. In the back seat is the RIO, the radar intercept officer. He's basically the second eyes and ears for the pilot in the F-14, and he monitors and looks for the threat.

Like for example, over Baghdad, the RIO is in charge of looking for surface to air missiles or enemy aircraft to help the pilot control that aircraft and be able to drop those bombs on target.

Anyway, you're going to see it more in depth as we get ready to fly, and I'm going to have to sign out, because I'm not going to be able to hear you guys from here.

So coming up in about 25 minutes, we'll be strapping in and we'll talk again. Carol, I'm going to -- actually, I might be able to hear you. Let me step away.

LIN: OK, go for it, Kyra, as we're watching in the split screen...

PHILLIPS: Do you hear me OK?

LIN: Yes, you can hear me now?

PHILLIPS: Can you hear me OK?

LIN: I can, I can. So what's going to happen in the next 25 minutes?

PHILLIPS: So basically coming up in about 25 minutes, the RIO, as you see in the back seat, is going to jump out and I'm going to go into that position. I'll get strapped in. We'll talk more about what you're going to see inside that cockpit and how the F-14 works. We'll talk a little bit about the design of the aircraft. And then we're going to launch.

And the next thing you'll see is videotape of us on the outside and on the inside. You'll be able to hear our communications and see our maneuvers from the ground and from the air. And that will be coming up within the next two hours.

LIN: Kyra, what are you hoping to take away from this experience today?

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, Carol, when I first got here to the flight line and I saw a lot of the members of the squadron from the war and I saw this aircraft, a lot of memories came flashing through my mind.

I just thought about the planning for Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom. This was the aircraft that flew over Afghanistan and took out the Taliban. When September 11 happened, these were the fighters that were some of the first jets out to respond to Osama bin Laden and what happened on U.S. soil that day.

And then of course we saw what happened with "shock and awe" and Operation Iraqi Freedom. These are the aircraft that led that fight, as well, in addition, of course, to the F-18 and all the other important aircrafts, the fuelers, the F-2s, the prowlers, the radar jammers. I mean, there's so much involved. It's not just the strike fighters, but all the different aircraft and crew that make it possible for naval aviation to even function.

So there's a lot of emotion going through my mind, a lot of thoughts, a lot of memories from four years ago. So the best thing, I guess, for me is I'm able to be here for -- I guess you could say the end of an era. And be able to take that last flight as this aircraft retires, an aircraft that goes all the way back to Vietnam and the evacuation of Saigon.

That's when it -- we first really learned about it, Carol. And its last war, Operation Iraqi Freedom.

So you're going to see -- you see my pilot up front there, Superfly, the RIO stepping out. I'll come to you in about 15 minutes. I've got to go suit up, get in, and hopefully, we'll be talking in about the next 15 minutes or so.

LIN: You go, girl. Have a great time, Kyra. We'll be checking back in about 15 minutes. What an exciting adventure.

PHILLIPS: All right, Carol, thanks.

LIN: In the meantime, we want to bring you some more news here, stateside. It is the clue investigators have been looking for, narrowing the search in the spinach scare. Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Getting a lock on lethal leaves. Spinach sleuths turned up a tainted bag of Dole baby spinach in the fridge of an E. coli victim in New Mexico, and now investigators are zeroing in on three counties in Salinas Valley, California that could have grown or processed the spinach in that bag. At least 23 states reported E. coli outbreaks linked to fresh spinach. The FDA is still warning consumers to stay away from all fresh spinach until further notice.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

LIN: The president and public opinion. Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, new poll numbers on the president's standing with the people. Our Bill Schneider joins me to break it all down for you straight ahead.

And we're going to go back to Kyra Phillips live at the Oceania Naval Airbase. She is the last journalist to fly in an F-14, and she is suited up, ready to go. She's going to be in the NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, here's a quote for you -- "We are not seeking the nuclear bomb." Do you believe that? Those words today from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, insisting his nuclear program is innocent and transparent and, frankly, a sovereign right. Well, he took reporters' questions at the United Nations. .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): We have not hidden anything. We are working transparently. We are working within the framework of the NTP. And according to NTP provision, every country has the right to enjoy the fuel cycle.

Our response is clear. We believe that all nations have the right to live in a dignified manner. And we believe that the American nation is a great nation. We've never had problems with the American people. The problem comes from the American government, directed towards the people of Iran really. Our people don't have any problems with the American people, because our people, too, seek justice and peace, just as people in the United States.

BLITZER: Well, Ahmadinejad said the United States should destroy its own nuclear arsenal, which would make it less suspicious of others. So who is this guy? Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Well, a year ago, the name would have brought blank stares. Today, the whole world -- or at least the world's governments and media -- know the outspoken Iranian president who either wants nuclear power or wants to be a nuclear power.

CNN's Anderson Cooper looks at the leader who now, more than ever, has the world's attention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): He defies the West, doubts the Holocaust, is determined to build a nuclear program, and wants Israel wiped off the face of the Earth. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad knows how to get attention.

And it's not just what he says that raises eyebrow. Standing just 5'4'', the son of a blacksmith never wears a tie, often appears scruffy, and is prone to wearing what has become his trademark sports jacket.

He may be amusing to some, but, of course, very dangerous to others, like Israel, President Bush, and the president's top advisers in the White House.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran is obviously part of the -- part of the problem. They sponsor Hezbollah. They encourage a radical brand of Islam. Imagine how difficult this issue would be if Iran had a nuclear weapon.

COOPER: President Bush fears, the 49-year-old civil-engineer- turned-savvy-politician is hoping to turn the Islamic Republic of Iran into a superpower, equipped with weapons of mass destruction.

Ahmadinejad insists, that's not true.

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are no threat for anyone. The issue of making nuclear weapons has no place in Iran's policy. Making nuclear weapons is not on Iran's agenda.

COOPER: If the West fears him, millions elsewhere embrace his ideology. Ahmadinejad's followers are many. And so are his infamous friends, like American foes Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro.

It seems, the more he angers the U.S., the more popular he gets.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He's becoming some sort of an international figure. The anti-American elements around the world, which, unfortunately, because of our policies, are becoming more numerous, are beginning to recognize him as one of the top leaders.

COOPER: And there is no doubt that he is a top leader for anti- Americans. But it's unclear if his standoff with the U.S. will end peacefully or not.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Anderson Cooper is keeping a close eye on the situation in Iran. You can watch "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern.

OK, bounce or no bounce? Throw the bums out or give them another chance? A new poll -- well, several polls in fact, offer a glimpse ahead at November, and at the last two years of the Bush administration. Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, joins me from Washington.

Bill, we're just trying to surmise whether the Democrats are going to take over either the House or the Senate or the GOP stays in place, and how the president's doing. So what do you read into these polls?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, confusion is the word. There have been three polls taken since the president addressed the country on the fifth anniversary of September 11, and here they are. You can see they're all since September 11.

Two of them show Bush's approval rating going up about five points. The "L.A. Times"/Bloomberg poll shows it at 45 percent. The "USA Today"/Gallup poll down there at the bottom is at 44 percent. But the CBS/"New York Times" poll that just came out today shows really no change, the president's job rating down, staying in the 30s, 37 percent, not much changed since last month.

But keep this in mind: all three of those polls continue to show a majority of Americans disapproving of the president's job performance and even in the mid-40s, that's a relatively weak standing in historic terms. If he's going to save or help save his party's majority in Congress, his ratings -- his positive ratings would have to be over 50 in just about all the polls.

LIN: What about the numbers on Congress? I mean, it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement by those who were surveyed.

SCHNEIDER: No, Congress is very poorly rated. Only 25 percent of that CBS News/"New York Times" poll said they approved of the way Congress was handling its job. Look at the number -- 61 percent disapprove of Congress. Only 12 percent thought most members of Congress deserved to be reelected.

There is a lot of anger out there, all of -- some of it directed at Bush, a lot of it directed at Congress which, of course, is controlled, both Houses, by Republicans. It's the Congress that's on the ballot. President Bush's name will not appear on the ballot this year. So as a referendum on Congress, it looks like the incumbents, and particularly the Republican majority, remains very much in trouble.

LIN: Is there a 9/11 effect, Bill? I mean, it's been five years. The anniversary got a lot of press coverage.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, well, at least of two the polls do show some lift in the president and the Republican Party's ratings on handling terrorism and on national security. That "L.A. Times"/Bloomberg poll shows the Republicans 17 points ahead of the Democrats when it comes to handling national security and terrorism.

It appears that the president's sequence of speeches on this subject, his address to the country, the commemorations of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, may have had some impact in giving both President Bush and the Republican Party a rebound on the terrorism issue.

But there are two questions that it's difficult to answer. Number one, is it temporary? Well, we don't know that yet. And number two, will it be enough to save the Republican majorities in Congress? Given those numbers we just saw in Congress, that looks doubtful.

LIN: Bill Schneider, thank you very much. Bill is part of the best political team in television.

Now, straight ahead, we're going to go back to Kyra Phillips live at the Oceania Naval Air Base. She is the journalist to fly an F-14 and she is suited up, ready to go, straight ahead on the NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: A court appearance today for Shannon Torrez, also known as Shannon Beck. She's the Missouri woman accused of attacking a new mother and stealing her baby and trying to pass the child off as her own.

Well, Torrez-Beck was arraigned on four felony counts, two of which carry the possibility of life in prison. Her lawyer entered pleas of not guilty. Newborn Abigale Woods was returned safe and sound to her family after Torrez-Beck's sister-in-law noticed makeup covering the baby's distinctive birthmark.

A suspect jailed is named, jail and held without bail, but the victim's identity and a possible motive are still unclear in a gruesome Colorado killing. 36-year-old Jose Luis Rubi-Nava is being held on suspicion of first degree murder. Authorities believe he is an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Police say tips came from the public after they released copies of a photo found next to the victim's battered body. An autopsy showed she died of asphyxiation and head injuries after being dragged behind a vehicle for more than a mile.

Well, justice delayed but apparently not denied. Authorities in Michigan say they have cracked a murder case from 1979. Now, the victim was Janet Chandler, a 23-year-old college student. She was kidnapped 27 years ago while working as a night clerk at a Holland, Michigan, hotel. She was beaten and raped and strangled, and then her body was dumped along a highway.

That was all anyone knew until cold case investigators reopened the probe. Well, today six suspects are in custody, charged with premeditated murder. The first arrest came in February. This week, five more arrests in three states. Prosecutors say all six suspects, five men and a woman, were working as security guards at the time of the killing. Now, if convicted, all face life in prison without parole.

Straight ahead to Kyra Phillips, live at the Oceania Naval Air Base. She is the last journalist to fly an F-14 and she is suited up, ready to go. Straight ahead on the NEWSROOM.

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LIN: Delays flying out and delays flying back. Otherwise, a productive mission for Space Shuttle Atlantis. It ended early this morning, and it ended safely.

CNN's Daniel Sieberg reports from Kennedy Space Center.

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DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Atlantis' first flight since 2002 was a mission full of ups and downs, but Thursday's landing brought it all to a flawless close.

BRENT JETT, SHUTTLE COMMANDER: It was a pretty tough few days for us. A lot of hard work. A great team effort to get the station assemblies off, restarted on a good note.

SIEBERG: The problems began during preparations for the launch, interrupted repeatedly by a lightning strike, Tropical Storm Ernesto and two technical glitches. Finally, though, liftoff went off without a hitch on September 9th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three main engines up and burning. Two, one and liftoff of Space Shuttle Atlantis.

SIEBERG: After docking with the International Space Station, the middle part of the mission smoothed out for a while. The prime goal of Atlantis' crew of five men and one woman was to install massive new solar panels to provide extra juice at the ISS. Three spacewalks were needed to complete all the tasks, though the astronauts, just like earth-bound do-it-yourselfers, managed to drop a couple of bolts along the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bolt is missing, bolt one-alpha. I did not see it go.

SIEBERG: On Tuesday, as astronauts were going through standard landing checks, mysterious debris was spotted near the shuttle. What was it? Well, one possible candidate is a small plastic spacer left in the heat shield tiles, which may have shaken loose after test- firings of the shuttle's jets.

Hours later, Astronaut Dan Burbank took this photo of another item, believed to be of a plastic bag. Then Wednesday morning, more unidentified flying objects, described as two rings and a piece of foil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doesn't look like anything I've ever seen on the outside of the shuttle, that's for sure.

SIEBERG: Because the floating debris almost certainly came from Atlantis, there was another full inspection of the shuttle's protective heat shield, ensuring no repeat of the Columbia disaster from 2003. No problems were spotted, though the case of the strange stuff remains under investigation.

(on camera): Despite the book-ended delays, NASA calls it an overall success, which paves the way for more assembly of the space station, with about 15 more missions scheduled between now and when the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010. The next one scheduled for launch in December.

Daniel Sieberg, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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LIN: Speaking of taking off, you don't get into a jet fighter, you strap it on like a gun. And our Kyra Phillips is at the Oceania Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, about to strap into an F-14. The Tomcat is retiring this week, and Kyra gets to be on board one of their last flights.

Who are you with, Kyra?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this is the final flight. We're just a couple minutes away. Fitz (ph), you ready to strap me in?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most certainly.

PHILLIPS: Superfly, you ready to give me the ride of my life?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You bet, the jet's ready, it's a beautiful day. Let's go flying.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to do it. We're making history in just a couple of minutes. The last flight of the F-14 coming up, just after a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM, straight ahead.

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