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Intelligence Report: Terrorists Flourishing in Iraq; Unit's Time Extended in Iraq; Violence Continues in Iraq During Ramadan; Pope Meets with Muslim Leaders
Aired September 25, 2006 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips in the CNN NEWSROOM from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining us.
Has the Iraq war made Americans less safe? A leaked classified report reveals intel that Democrats are pouncing on and the White House is downplaying.
PHILLIPS: Andre Agassi, the tennis superstar, joins us live. We're talking greatest moments. His inspirational father, how his wife beats him at tennis and what he's doing now.
LEMON: And rebirth in New Orleans. The Superdome, it was Katrina's devastating symbol of what went wrong. But tonight what's right? The Saints march home, and the stars come out to celebrate. You're with us live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Unless you read the Internet and the blogs, we never really existed together. Here we are.
LEMON: This guy was imagined. When is he going to show up? When is he coming to work? I'm here.
PHILLIPS: Great to have you. I can't wait.
LEMON: It's great to be here.
PHILLIPS: It's been wonderful getting to know you. We're going to have a lot of fun.
LEMON: Yes, I watch you all the time. I'm excited to work with such a great professional.
PHILLIPS: The feeling is mutual. Shall we go?
LEMON: Let's get going.
PHILLIPS: All right. Here we go, Don and Kyra, starting off.
Well, the war in Iraq makes you less safe at home, and that's the finding of a five-month-old intelligence report, part of which have been leaked to the media. Democrats are pouncing but the White House says the headlines are not representative of the whole report.
Let's get straight to the White House and our Kathleen Koch -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that certainly is the point that the White House is making when it comes to this report by the 16 top government intelligence agencies, looking basically at the war in Iraq.
And according to portions leaked to "The New York Times", the report concludes that the war in Iraq has become the main recruiting vehicle for Islamic extremists worldwide.
There is no official reaction to this, though, from the White House. They say they don't comment on classified reports, though certainly these excerpts seem to contradict statements the president himself has made numerous times over the last month, that the U.S. is winning the war on terror. The Americans are safer now than they were before 9/11.
The nation's top intelligence official, John Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, said it's very important not to take these leaked portions out of context. In a statement he warned that any news report that includes, quote, "only a small handful of those judgments distorts the broad strategic framework the NIE is assessing in this case, trends in global terrorism."
He goes on to say, quote, "The Estimate highlights the importance of the outcome in Iraq on the future of global jihadism, judging that, should the Iraqi people prevail in establishing a stable political and security environment, the jihadists will be perceived to have failed and fewer jihadists will leave Iraq determined to carry on the fight elsewhere."
Now, Democrats have certainly been seizing on this report as proof that it's time for a new strategy, a new direction in Iraq. They insist they're the ones to bring to bring that new direction that the Bush policy there has failed.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying in a statement, quote, "Read the intelligence that" -- President Bush, quote, "read the intelligence carefully before giving another misleading speech about progress in the war on terrorism." So some harsh words, Kyra, from the Democrats.
PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch from the White House. Appreciate it.
KOCH: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Well, a lot of time, a lot of research and a lot of hands they all go into the National Intelligence Estimate that reflects the consensus view of America's 16 spy agencies, and it's the government's most comprehensive report on intelligence.
Work on the NIE began in 2004, was completed in April, and it's classified. It's the U.S. government's first formal review of the global terror threat since the Iraq war started.
LEMON: Well, whether you agree with the report or not, one thing is for sure. Thousands more U.S. troops are in for a longer haul in Iraq. Our Barbara Starr found that out today at the Pentagon. She joins us now with more on this developing story -- Barbara
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, hello to you.
The U.S. military and Pentagon officials confirming that a brigade -- now, that's about 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers -- of the 1st Armored Division, now on duty in Ramadi in western Iraq will be staying longer than they expected. The families of those soldiers getting notification today that the unit, which was expected to return to its home base in Germany after the first of the year, will instead stay for several additional weeks.
Why is that? Well, it's all about troop rotation. The unit that was coming into replace them, the 3rd Infantry Division out of Georgia, was not going to have 12 months at home with their family members before heading back into combat.
And that's something that the Army feels very strongly about. A soldier who has been in combat for a year should at least have a year home with the family before they have to go back to Iraq. So in order to give that to the unit in Georgia, the 1st -- the 1st Armored Division sort of drew the short straw, and they're going to stay in Iraq for several more weeks -- Don.
LEMON: Barbara, let's talk about the brass. General John Abizaid, the U.S. commander -- central commander, head of U.S. Central Command, is having a problem today?
STARR: Well, he had a little bit of a health issue, but, you know, generals are just like everybody else. His staff confirming he had a very serious case of food poisoning. So that catches people's attention, of course, because of the things that have been reported in the last several weeks about food poisoning around the country, spinach, beef, that sort of thing.
Not sure what made this happen, but General Abizaid's staff confirming that he spent two nights at Walter Reed Army Hospital here in Washington, D.C., after eating a meal here late last week in the nation's capital in a restaurant, apparently becoming quite ill. A doctor was called to his hotel, and the general was told that he need to be put in the hospital. He got fluids and what we are told is the typical treatment for food poisoning.
He's back at work today. We're told he's fine, but, you know, the old saying that the army travels on its stomach, well, sometimes their stomach is what stops you.
LEMON: Barbara, real quick. He wasn't the only one from that dinner, too, to get sick, was he?
STARR: No, as a matter of fact, another general, quite a well- known commander, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, also apparently ate the same meal, also became ill. But General Eikenberry powered through, didn't have to go to the hospital, perhaps not quite as stricken as General Abizaid -- Don.
LEMON: We're glad they're OK and hope it wasn't spinach. Thank you very much, Barbara Starr from the Pentagon.
STARR: Sure.
PHILLIPS: We've heard from the experts and we've heard from the Pentagon but what about ordinary Iraqis? CNN's Arwa Damon did a reality check on the streets of Baghdad. She joins us now with the details.
But first, Arwa, we are hearing that a top terror figure has been killed in southern Iraq. You want to start there?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. The British military has identified him as being Omar Faruk.
Now here's what's interesting. He was actually captured in Indonesia in 2002, was being held at a U.S. prison in Afghanistan. He escaped from there last year. British forces are now saying that they killed him in a raid in the southern city of Basra.
And Kyra, we are right now in the initial stages of the holy month of Ramadan. It is normally a time of peace for Muslims across the world, but here in Iraq, Ramadan weekend has only brought more violence and actually very little hope amongst Iraqis that there will be peace in the near days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON (voice-over): On the last Thursday before Ramadan, a wedding guest commented that it was celebrations like these that would eventually change the tide in Iraq.
DR. ALI HUSSEIN, BAGHDAD UNIVERSITY (through translator): The terrorists have to understand. All those that are detonating themselves let them look to Thursday, see someone getting married, see a man with his bride. They will remember humanity.
DAMON: But far from any act of humanity, the first Ramadan weekend brought more familiar Iraqi sights. Ramadan is normally a month of kindness and peace, a time of compassion.
As residents here try to salvage what they can from the aftermath of one of the attacks, frustration quickly turns into anger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): all the government cares about is their position, and it's the poor people trying to make a living who are paying the price. And this is a happy Ramadan?
DAMON: These images, now common, seared into Iraqis' minds, keep many at home away from crowds.
During better times this popular Baghdad marketplace would be packed with people. Now Iraqis only hit the streets out of necessity. This marketplace has been hit before, so it's not hard to imagine what a single bomb here can do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Ramadan used to be fun: families shopping. Now with no security, it's just like every other day in Iraq, bombs and death.
DAMON: Shop owners have noticed a significant change from Ramadan's past.
"Each Ramadan the shopping is less and less," he says.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: And, Kyra, just to give you an example of why Iraqis are so anxious about going about their day-to-day lives, in the last 24 hours, Iraqi emergency police say that there were 48 bodies found in Baghdad alone, all bearing signs of torture, all believed to be victims of sectarian violence.
And so as Ramadan moves forward, many Iraqis are going to be spending this time of celebration indoors, where they feel at least relatively safe.
PHILLIPS: What about you as a reporter? We've talked about this. A lot of times that tells us how dangerous it really is when you can go out and do your job and not have to worry as much versus being very restricted with regard to what you cover.
DAMON: Kyra, I can illustrate it best like this. I've been here for the last 3 1/2 years, ever since this war in Iraq started. And each time when I go out on a small break and I come back here, movement is even more restricted. Areas that weren't off limits before are now even more off limits than they were.
And even our Iraqi staff that is normally, you know -- and they're the ones going out, that are braving the streets a lot more often than we are. The areas that they're comfortable going to are getting less and less and each time it seems as though it progressively just getting even more dangerous.
PHILLIPS: Arwa Damon, we appreciate you covering the story for us -- Don.
LEMON: He spoke out again and got kicked out again. Saddam Hussein barred for the second time in a week from his genocide trial after telling a judge he didn't want to stay, quote, "in this cage."
Earlier the judge told two other defendants to stop referring to each other by their old titles. Defense lawyers didn't see any of this. They're boycotting over the sacking of the former chief judge, whom the government considered overly sympathetic to Saddam.
Osama bin Laden, have reports of his demise been greatly exaggerated? France's foreign minister is the latest to question the leaked intelligence report that suddenly -- or supposedly, rather, according to the French newspaper, said bin Laden died last month of typhoid. French authorities say the leaked intelligence was raw and unconfirmed. U.S. intelligence cannot confirm it either.
He missed but he tried. Former President bill Clinton's recollections of his attempts to take out Osama bin Laden, delivered with a big dose of resentment towards critics who claimed he did not do enough. Here's a portion of his fiery interview with FOX News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I worked hard to try to kill him.
I authorized the findings for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody's gotten since. And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him.
Now, I've never criticized President Bush, and I don't think this is useful. But you know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is only one-seventh as important as Iraq.
And you ask me about terror and al Qaeda with that sort of -- sort of dismissive thing when all you have to do is read Richard Clarke's book to look at what we did in a comprehensive, systematic way to try to protect the country against terror.
And you got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever, but I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried, and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it. But I did try.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, there you go. Clinton accused FOX's Chris Wallace of what he called a conservative hit job. He asked whether Wallace was challenged -- has challenged the Bush administration on its handling of the war on terror.
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM, Pope Benedict and the Muslims. The pontiff looks to calm waters to build bridges. A report from Rome straight ahead.
LEMON: The Saints are coming, and rock stars are coming, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THE EDGE, MUSICIAN: There's a lot of people concentrating on rebuilding the bricks and mortar, as it were, the body of the city. But we feel music is the spirit and the heart and the soul of the city, so that's what we're trying to work on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Celebrating the Superdome's return. Ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Hearts, minds and souls and cultural sensitivities, on the table, in the balance, in a meeting today among the pope -- among, rather, Pope Benedict and Muslim diplomats and dignitaries at Castel Gandolfo, just outside Rome.
It's the pope's latest and largest attempt yet at making peace with Muslims offended, in many cases outraged by a quote that he cited on Islam.
CNN's Alessio Vinci has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was not the full apology some Muslim leaders in the Middle East had asked for, but the pope mentioned what many moderate Muslim leaders wanted to hear: the need for reciprocal respect, mutual understanding and the necessity to work together in order to reject violence in the name of God.
POPE BENEDICT XVI, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH: (speaking a foreign language)
VINCI: "Christians and Muslims must learn to work together, as indeed they do in many common undertakings," the pope said, speaking in French, the official diplomatic language of the Vatican, "in order to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We'll get back to talking about the pope and the relationships among Christians and Muslims. We're going to get straight to Hamid Karzai and Donald Rumsfeld. Let's listen in.
DONALD H. RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Look at this. On a beautiful day. Welcome. Nice to see you all.
Mr. President, the microphone's yours. We're very pleased you're here.
HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: Thank you very much.
RUMSFELD: And thank you for coming, again.
KARZAI: Thank you. Good to see you again.
RUMSFELD: We hope your trip to the United States is an excellent one.
KARZAI: It's beautiful always...
RUMSFELD: And we brought good weather for you.
KARZAI: ... especially during the fall, and all the colorful trees. Secretary Rumsfeld, I'm honored to be in the United States once again, and on such a good day, especially to be meeting with you. And thank you, by the way, for the excellent honor guard. So I hope I can get a copy of the national anthem of Afghanistan that you played. So nice, and quite romantic, by the way, it was played.
Ladies and gentlemen, we had a very good conversation today with Secretary Rumsfeld about all the good that has been done in Afghanistan by the United States, from the day of liberation of Afghanistan from terrorism, to the reconstruction, to the institution building, to the elections, and to the constitution, and to the return of 4 million refugees from Afghanistan, and to the roads and all that.
We also discussed the problems that we have, the question of drugs, corruption and the continuation of the fight against terrorism. It was a productive full meeting.
And I thank you once again, Secretary Rumsfeld, for giving us this opportunity.
RUMSFELD: Thank you very much, Mr. President.
I might also add that President Karzai brought with him four or five members of his cabinet and senior officials from the presidential palace that are joining us today. And we welcome them, as well.
I don't know how many times that we've met now, Mr. President, but it's been many, many times.
KARZAI: Many times.
RUMSFELD: Here and there. And the progress that is being made in Afghanistan is notable. And certainly the leadership that you and your elected government, under your constitution that the Afghan people drafted, is encouraging for all of us who are engaged and wishing you success.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is engaged in what is for NATO a truly historic event.
For the first time in the history of that organization, they are engaged in a major military activity outside of the NATO treaty area, outside of Europe. And every country, every one of the 26 countries, plus a large number of the NATO Partnership for Peace countries -- I think it's a total of 42 countries now -- are engaged in one way or another in assisting in Afghanistan with the security activities.
And the leadership that NATO's providing is important, it's valuable, and it reflects a commitment on the part of those 26 countries to your success and to the success of the Afghan people.
We'd be happy to take one or two or three questions. Why don't we start with -- is there anyone from Afghanistan here?
KARZAI: Not today. RUMSFELD: Not today.
KARZAI: Good for me.
RUMSFELD: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
Yes?
QUESTION: Secretary, I'd like to ask you about the decision to extend the deployment tour of the 1st Brigade, the 1st Armored in Iraq. What is your level of concern that this reflects an army that is stretched too thin, that has too few resources to do what's being asked of it in Iraq and Afghanistan?
RUMSFELD: There's no question but that any time there's a war, the forces of the countries involved are asked to do a great deal.
And I will not get into a specific unit, because I don't believe the people there have been notified yet, although I'm told there's some speculation in the press.
But, as you know, from time to time there may be units that will be asked to increase the number of days in-country from what had been anticipated. On the other hand, we're also bringing you some other units in earlier, which is another way of dealing with that issue.
And I guess I would rather wait and let announcements take their time.
QUESTION: Mr. President, this is for you. With American forces in your country, what message would you like to get out to U.S. troops?
KARZAI: I was, yesterday, in the Walter Reed Hospital. Ma'am, I was -- let me find the right words.
I was taken by emotions there, to put it in simpler terms, of wounded soldiers and of a lady officer who had worked in Afghanistan, having six children, six boys; she was still helping the Afghan people.
So my message for the American soldiers in Afghanistan is that they have liberated us from tyranny, from terrorism, from oppression, from occupation, into a country that is now moving toward prosperity, that is once again the home of all Afghans.
I don't know if it resonates with you. It's a very important thing for Afghanistan. Afghanistan was not the home of all Afghans. Today, it is. Everybody's back in that country, with a parliament, with a constitution, with a market economy, with a free press, with all that.
Also, that the presence of the American soldiers in Afghanistan, while helping Afghanistan, is also providing security to the rest of the world. By fighting terrorism, it means also security for America and for Europe.
Therefore, the continuation of this fight in Afghanistan in which all of us participate is actually working for all of us around the world and in Afghanistan, for which we are grateful.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, on Capitol Hill today, again, there were several retired generals who called for your resignation. Are you considering resigning at all? And if so, why not?
RUMSFELD: I'm not.
Question?
QUESTION: Mr. President, what more would you like to see the international community do to combat the narcotics trade in your country?
QUESTION: Do you think, for example, that foreign military forces taking a more active role in eradication efforts would be helpful?
KARZAI: Narcotics is a menace to Afghanistan. It's also an embarrassment to us as a nation. We are ashamed of that terrible product hurting us and hurting young people around the world.
Afghanistan will have to fight it and destroy it, or we will not see the day that we are looking forward to: a strong, very prosperous Afghanistan on its own feet and an honorable member of the international community.
Therefore, whether the rest of the world will come to help us or not, it is first our job to destroy poppies and get rid of it.
Now, there are certain things that the world can do for us. There are certain things that we Afghans should do for ourselves. Poppies is one thing that we must fight and fight effectively. Along the way, of course, we will need backing from the international community because we cannot do it alone. But the responsibility is ours and we should do it.
RUMSFELD: Thank you very much, folks.
PHILLIP: President Hamid Karzai, alongside Sec. Def. Donald Rumsfeld there, talking about Afghanistan, progress made in addition to a number of the challenges that still exist.
Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon right now.
Barbara, I guess the first thing that grabbed my attention, the question thrown out to Rumsfeld about resignation. He didn't even want to go there. He just wanted to move on.
STARR: Yes, we got a very quick, you know, "I'm not" in response to a reporter asking about whether he had any plans to resign. The secretary gets asked this quite often, and he's making clear it's just not an area he's going to get into, that he serves at the pleasure of the president, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now the next move, taking down the Taliban. NATO chief talking about bumping up troops in that area. Obviously, a discussion among the two leaders here. With regard to, yes, there's parts of the economy going well, yes, there are efforts to take down the Taliban. Still strong but still a problem with opium, still a problem with the insurgency. What kind of resolution do you think these two will come to?
STARR: Well, you know, what struck me is President Karzai's remarks about being the -- the Afghan people being shamed and embarrassed, if you will, about the opium trade in their country.
Because it was just last week that the top U.S. commander for NATO, General Jim Jones, also was very hard-nosed about that question of the opium trade, saying that until that is addressed, there's a good sense -- growing sense now that they really can't deal with the Taliban and the terrorism issue.
By all accounts this bumper crop of opium is really one of the major funding sources for the Taliban and for the terrorists operating in Afghanistan. So a lot of attention, officials feel, needs to be paid to getting that opium crop under control.
But make no mistake, that is basically Afghanistan's entire economy right now. President Karzai may call it a market economy, but it is opium economy by any measure, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So the question is, if that goes away, what happens to that country? It may help the issue with the insurgency and with the violence, but then what does this country do to survive economically?
STARR: That is the significant question and one that has not been dealt with. Certainly, in some areas of Afghanistan, there's the possibility of agriculture, crops, small, light industry. That is something that they certainly are trying to develop in certain places like Kabul.
But this is a country that has suffered greatly for many, many years and really still, without opium, doesn't have the ability to stand on its own. And with opium it's a drug economy, and that is a major contributor to the terrorism there, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr from the Pentagon, appreciate it.
LEMON: Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, Pope Benedict and the Muslims. The pontiff looks to calm waters and build bridges. A report from Rome is just ahead.
PHILLIPS: Bagging some rules but keeping some others. Before you start carrying on, check in with the CNN NEWSROOM for the latest guidelines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Hearts, and minds, and souls and cultural sensitivities on the table in the balance in a meeting today between Pope Benedict and Muslim diplomats and dignitaries at Celgandafo (ph), just outside of Rome. Its' the pope's latest and largest attempt yet at making peace with Muslims offended, and in many cases outraged by a quite that he cited on Islam.
CNN's Alessio Vinci has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): It was not the full apology some Muslim leaders in the Middle East had asked for, but the pope mentioned what many moderate Muslim leaders wanted to hear, the need for reciprocal respect, mutual understanding, and the necessity to work together in order to reject violence in the name of god.
"Christians and Muslims must learn to work together, as indeed they already do in many common undertakings," the pope said, speaking in French, the official diplomatic language of the Vatican, "in order to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence."
In his brief address, which lasted five minutes, the pope outlined his platform on which he intends to continue his dialogue with Muslims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no great clarity among the Muslims as to what Benedict intends to do as pope. If he goes -- deviates from that, then they can point to him and say, you said you were going to do this. Now you're not doing it.
VINCI: But the pope's message to Muslim leaders wasn't entirely sweetness in light. He quoted his predecessor, John Paul II, a pope who made gigantic steps in bridging the two faiths, saying, "Respect and dialogue require reciprocity in all spheres, in particular religious freedom."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Benedict is saying, in countries where there is not such religious freedom, there should be. It should be possible for Christians to build churches, just as it is possible for Muslim immigrants when they move to Europe or other parts of the world to build their mosques and pray.
VINCI: And speaking of dialogue, this encounter wasn't exactly an opportunity to exchange views, since only the pope and the top Vatican officials in charge of inter-religious dialogue spoke. But at the end of the audience, the pope did greet every participant individually, briefing exchanging views, telling the Iraqi ambassador, for example, "I pray for your country."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He again emphasizes profound respect to the religion of Islam, and to all other major religions. So I think this is what we were expecting, and this is what he had. And I think we have to build bridges. VINCI: Vatican officials point out this meeting was just a first step towards reconciliation, and participants appeared to be satisfied.
(on camera): It will take some time to see the result of this newly restored dialogue between Muslims and Catholics, and the Vatican will make sure the door remains wide open, and the pope will have plenty of opportunities to readdress the issues when he travels to turkey in late November. His first trip as pope to a predominantly Muslim country.
Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Joining us now in Rome, the Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Yelda.
Mr. Ambassador, how did your time go with the pope? And were you able to talk to him one on one?
ALBERT YELDA, IRAQI AMB. TO HOLY SEE: Yes, it was very important meeting, and I think I was privileged that the holy father greeted me and greeted each one of us and, you know, it was very emotional when he say -- his holiness stated that I pray for your country, and I replied may god Bless you, your holiness. It was a very important meeting, and I think he emphasized on the issue of respect and mutual respect between Christians and Muslims.
And I'd just like to, you know, make it clear that Christians and Muslims lived in Middle East, and especially in Iraq, side by side for hundreds of years, and, you know, they shared happiness and joy, tragedies and misfortunes together, and they supported each other at the time of need.
So we do understand the mutual respect and we want the holy father to support us, to live peacefully and to live to our moral values. And just is as human beings we should respect each other and we should renounce violence, which is really affecting the Iraqi people on a daily basis, terrorists and evil people are killing innocent people in Iraq on daily basis regardless of their religion, culture or race and gender.
PHILLIPS: Mr. Ambassador, do you truly believe that members of that insurgency would listen to somebody like the pope, if the pope came forward and said -- and he has come forward and said, this must stop, the manipulation of the Muslim religion must stop, and the killing of innocent people must stop, but it doesn't seem that the insurgency listens to anybody but their own.
YELDA: I think I should make it clear once again that Christians in Middle East, and especially in Iraq, are protected by the Muslim leaders, Shiite, Sunnis and Kurdish leaders, so we are proud that we have such leaders who respect the mutual and do understand the mutual respect to each other, and to live together in peace and harmony and to co-exist peacefully, so I think this message of the holy father, it was very clear and sound, and I think, you know, the leaders in Middle East and especially in Iraq, Sunnis, Shiite and Kurds , do understand this message and I think we have...
PHILLIPS: So you're saying it was the minority? You're saying it was a minority population of Muslims that took what he said out of context?
YELDA: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: So you're saying it is not as big as it appears to be, as we've covered calls for the death of the pope. We've covered the protests. We saw what happened within the past two weeks. But you're still saying as much coverage as we gave it, it was a very small percentage of how Muslims feel about the pope and what he had to say?
YELDA: I think the majority of Muslim people were offended, and they have expressed their anger and their feeling freely, and this is the freedom of expression and, you know, people -- the minority of people who called for the death of holy father or attack churches and killed nuns, innocent nuns, they are minority and they have been condemned by the leaders of the Muslim nations, and this is why I'm very proud to state that we will live together. We lived in hundred years, we will live another hundred years together in peace and harmony and in peaceful coexistence.
PHILLIPS: Mr. Ambassador, let me ask you about the insurgents and the terrorists that exist out there, and continually kill innocent people and rage on with this jihad throughout the Middle East. Who do they listen to? Is there anybody that is a respected figure among all religions in this world that members of the insurgency would listen to? Obviously they won't listen to the pope. They don't listen to the newly elected leaders in Iraq, in Afghanistan, the president of the United States, they are operating within their triangle of terror.
YELDA: You know, I just want to mention that the great Muslim leader in Iraq, the Ayatollah Sistani, he stated when the holy father mentioned, you know, whatever he stated which offended the majority of Muslims, he stated that we should keep the brotherhood of Muslims and Christians, so I think he is talking for the majorities, and the minorities will listen to nobody. They have their own agenda, and that agenda is to create a sectarian war in Iraq between all religions, between all communities.
And I can assure you the Iraqi government will do everything possible to unite the people of Iraq. The people of Iraq are united behind their government for reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence and for rebuilding the once and most important civilization of the world, the Mesopotamian civilization, which is the new Iraq.
Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Yelda, thank you for your time, sir.
YELDA: Pleasure.
LEMON: The fight for Iraq in the war against terror. A leaked intelligence report makes a connection, but not the connection the White House has tried to make for three years. We'll a closer look ahead in the NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Plus, the Saints are coming, rock stars, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of people concentrating on rebuilding the bricks and mortar, as it were the body of the city, but we feel that music is the spirit, and the heart and the soul of the city, so that's what we're trying to work on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Celebrating the Superdome's return. We're live in New Orleans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A grim milestone in Indonesia that's already the world's hardest hit country in terms of bird flu. Now the World Health Organization confirms two more deaths pushing Indonesia's total to 51. Both victims were young boys, an 11-year-old from west Java and a 9- year-old from south Jakarta. They died last week after contact with sick chickens. Only 16 Indonesians with confirmed cases of bird flu have recovered.
Seven more people are sick. Two more companies issue recalls and another bag of bad spinach turns up in Utah. At least 173 people in 25 states have now been sickened by fresh spinach tainted with e. Coli bacteria, spinach that all seems to have come from California's Salinas Valley. Two more companies that use Salinas spinach are recalling it, S.T. Produce of Seattle, Washington and Pacific Coast Fruit Company of Portland, Oregon. Though the Food and Drug Administration says fresh spinach grown outside Salinas Valley is safe, it's hard for consumers to know where their spinach comes from. The Fed wants the produce industry to figure that out.
PHILLIPS: Well it's a super day in a city still down on its luck, part of the heart and soul of New Orleans. The city's famed Superdome is just hours away from opening. Our Susan Roesgen already inside, anticipation rising. Oh, Susie, it's a big day for many people, including you.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: It really is such a big day and such a difference, Kyra. I'm here in one end zone. Down in the other end zone, there's a whole group of VIPs, including the governor and they're here to celebrate the re-opening of the Superdome, eating little hors d'oeuvres off of fine china. I mean, what a difference between that and the 30,000 people who were in here after Katrina, scrounging for MREs. So when the Saints come marching in tonight, it's not going to be just a football game. It's a step, a big step in the city's recovery.
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ROESGEN (voice over): The repairs have gone on for more than a year, and almost complete overhaul, from the top of the roof, to the gold lettering in the end zone. The dome is almost like new.
DOUG THORNTON, SUPERDOME MANAGER: And it's hard for me to believe. You know, sometimes I come in here late at night by myself and I look around, and I just can't -- you know, I just can't believe what it looked like before.
ROESGEN: Both during and after Hurricane Katrina, the Superdome became a shelter for nearly 30,000 people. They never dreamed the power would go out and they'd be stuck in a place without lights, air- conditioning, or functioning toilets, with rain pouring down through holes in the roof.
THORNTON: It was a 50-foot gash that was created over here at one point in time. It was about a four foot by 50-foot hole. And the metal was just vibrating against the skin of the building. And it just created this enormous echo.
ROESGEN: For Superdome manager Doug Thornton, it was a nightmare, and it could have gotten worse. The numbers on this wall show how close floodwater got to the generator, the only thing that saved the last little bit of emergency power.
Now, a year later, with $185 million in repairs and improvements still ongoing, the Superdome is a stadium again, not a shelter.
THORNTON: It's really a very proud moment, I think, for all of us. And I'm very proud to be a New Orleanian. We certainly didn't want Katrina to be the last chapter in the dome's colorful history.
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ROESGEN: So here's what's going to happen tonight, Kyra. At 5:30, the first fans will be filing in here. The first 150 will be first responders, emergency workers who were here during Hurricane Katrina. And then around 7:00, the rock superstars U2 and Green Day will take the field. They'll have a pregame performance, right behind me, right in the middle of the field. And then around 7:45 right before the opening kickoff, former President George H. Bush -- I'm sorry, President H.W. Bush will be here for the opening coin toss and then, Kyra, I'm really sure he's going to go up to his nice box suite up there, where he can sit down and yell go, Saints. That's the only team you can root for today here, the Saints.
PHILLIPS: $185 million, right? Who picked up the tab?
ROESGEN: That's right. Well, FEMA picked up $115 million of that. That's federal money. The NFL put in about $15 million and the state will pick up the rest of it. But you have to remember, Kyra, when you're talking about taxpayers money in this country, this is such a moneymaker for this region. This is an economic engine, the Superdome here, all the T-shirt sellers, the concession stand workers, all the hotels that will welcome all the people that are coming to this sold out game, the airport. Everybody does well when the Superdome is open.
It's had not just football games like six Super Bowls, Pope John Paul held mass here in the Superdome and former President Bush was nominated for the presidency here at the Republican National Convention in the Superdome. So it's much more than just a football stadium. It's a real economic engine for this entire region.
PHILLIPS: Agreed. I remember my very first live shot leaving Green Bay coming to New Orleans, Susan. I don't know if you remember that day when we worked together and the first football game of the season, it was Green Bay and the Saints. It was hard for me, I didn't know which side to take.
ROESGEN: I know. Well today, listen, they're playing the Atlanta Falcons, big arch rivals, but you've got to root for the Saints today.
PHILLIPS: Amen. Thanks, Susie.
And just ahead in the NEWSROOM, Don's going to visit with a survivor of those desperate days at the Superdome, a man who is there to keep the peace, who goes back tonight to cheer on his Saints. You remember, you were there too.
LEMON: Yes, and not just an economic draw. I think it will be a morale booster for the folks down in New Orleans because it was such a horrible symbol after Katrina and now hopefully this.
Straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM, the war in Iraq -- has it increased the terror threat for the U.S.? Reaction to a leaked intelligence report and the political fallout straight ahead.
PHILLIPS: Plus, former President Clinton fires back at critics who claimed he let Osama bin Laden get away. His views straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.
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PHILLIPS: A ruling on a new cigarette lawsuit could be bad news for the tobacco industry. Cheryl Casone joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with all those details.
Hey Cheryl.
CHERYL CASONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra.
Well, a federal judge in New York has granted class action status to lawsuits by people who have smoked light cigarettes. He said the lawsuit is seeking to represent anyone who has smoked lights, potentially millions of people, actually, can go forward. The suit charges the big tobacco companies, including Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds deceived smokers by leading them to believe light cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes.
Now they argue cigarette makers earned as much as $200 billion in profits because of the deception. Not hard to believe, really, when you realize that light cigarettes accounted for 85 percent of industry sales in 2002 -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So what do you think? What will this mean for the tobacco industry?
CASONE: You know, it could have huge implications going forward, absolutely. And we've seen big settlements before coming through, and there's always appeals, of course. But if a jury ultimately rules against the cigarette makers, it would be a huge financial and P.R. setback for them.
It's uncertain whether jurors are going to buy the claim that many would have stopped smoking if they knew the so-called light cigarettes were not really a safer alternative. Even if they do find big tobacco guilty of the racketeering charges, the ruling, again, probably going to be appealed. As a matter of fact, the industry likely to appeal today's ruling granting class action status to the smokers group -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Cheryl Casone, we'll check in just a little bit on those numbers on Wall Street. Thanks.
LEMON: Well, the intelligence report is out. Violence in Iraq is up. Does that mean President Bush's approval rating is down? The latest CNN poll by Opinion Research Corporation came out minutes ago. Let's crunch the numbers with our senior political analyst Bill Schneider.
Bill, got a question for you. The leaked intelligence report is making a lot of headlines today, but will the findings really be a surprise for the American voter?
BILL SCHNEIDER, SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Actually, no, we took a poll a month ago and asked people if they thought the war in Iraq has made the United States safer from terrorism. And look at this. A majority of Americans said no, 55 percent no. Only 37 percent said yes.
Now, that national intelligence estimate makes the point, which is reported as the consensus of the intelligence community in the federal government, that the war in Iraq has actually made the terrorism situation more dangerous, worse for the world than for the United States.
That is not a surprise to Americans, because as you see there, a month ago, they suspected precisely that.
LEMON: We started out asking about President Bush's approval rating. Now, just because the violence is up does that mean his numbers are down?
SCHNEIDER: Well, actually no. Last week we reported that two polls showed President Bush's numbers up slightly into the mid 40s. Two polls showed them still in the upper 30s, but our poll now shows him at 42 percent, which, as you can see, doesn't show much change over the past month.
It is a little bit up from June and from the spring when his numbers were in the 30s, but at 42 percent we're not seeing any really big shift in President Bush's job rating. Forty two percent is still not a very strong job rating going into the midterm election. He'd have to be above 50 percent to really be of benefit to his party, so not many gains despite a month of focus on the war on terror.
LEMON: Yes, doesn't seem to be a big gain because the margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent, so it's really not that big of a difference.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. No real change. Things are pretty steady for the past month.
LEMON: And Bill, I have to be honest with you, I don't usually don't watch "Fox News", but happened to catch it yesterday because we got wind that President Clinton, former President Clinton, was going to have a tense interview. The media is abuzz with this interview on Fox, by "Fox News" anchor Chris Wallace.
What's behind the Clinton's -- his strong stance? Do you think it was a ploy?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think first of all, clearly he was defending his own record, which he claimed in the interview was under assault from conservatives and Republicans who are, he believes, trying to denigrate his record on terrorism and fighting Osama bin Laden. He was outraged by the question that was raised by his interviewer, Chris Wallace.
But there seems to have been something going on, as well, something political. He said in the interview , quote, "We too" -- meaning Democrats -- "care about the security of the country. We want to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations, which they haven't for four years," -- meaning the Bush administration -- "we want to intensify our efforts in Afghanistan against bin Laden."
President Clinton was using the opportunity really to rally Democrats, to rally his party to fight back against the administration's push on the war on terror, to give Democrats a rallying cry, really, to say, we have a strong record, the Democrats, that we can defend against the president's arguments.
LEMON: Bill, yes/no answer. Do you think this will help in November?
SCHNEIDER: It's not clear yet. We can't tell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
Thank you very much, Bill Schneider.
And we have this note for you. Today CNN debuts the CNN Political Ticker. It will send the biggest political headlines right to your email inbox every morning and afternoon. You can also click on CNN.com/ticker anytime, anywhere.
More from the NEWSROOM straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: War in Iraq and the war on terror. President Bush calls the former the central front in the latter. A sweeping new intelligence report says -- but a sweeping new intelligence report says war in Iraq is fueling terror around the world, recruiting extremists and heightening the threat to Americans.
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