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President Bush Defends Iraq War; Condoleezza Rice Fires Back at Bill Clinton; 300 Dogs and Cats Rescued From Lebanon; Controversial Ad Campaign at Dennis Mitsubishi; Chief Judge Orders Saddam Hussein Out of Court

Aired September 26, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Intel was at issue in the lead-up to war in Iraq, and it still is, specifically, a national intelligence estimate reportedly finding the war is only fueling, not fighting, the threat of terror.
At a news conference today with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Mr. Bush took aim at what he called a naive conclusion and a political leak. And he insisted the war is not a mistake.

White House correspondent Elaine Quijano was there, and joins us live with the very latest on this -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Don.

That's exactly right. From the formal setting of the White House East Room, President Bush launched into a full-throated political defense. He attacked what he called the politically motivated leaking of a classified national intelligence estimate dealing partly with Iraq. Now, that report made headlines over the weekend. It gave Democrats ammunition, Democrats who argue that the war in Iraq has made the United States less safe.

Well, President Bush today noted that that NIE was completed back in April, and leaked just weeks before congressional midterm elections. But he dismissed the notion that he was declassifying it for political purposes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will stop all the speculation, all the politics about somebody saying something about Iraq; you know, somebody trying to confuse the American people about the nature of this enemy.

And, so, John Negroponte, the DNI, is going to declassify the document as quickly as possible -- declassify the key judgments for you to read yourself.

And he will do so in such a way that we'll be able to protect sources and methods of -- that our intelligence community uses.

And then everybody can draw their own conclusions about what the report says. (END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, meantime, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a crucial U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, was very quick to defend President Bush.

He said, when it comes to Iraq, that terrorism certainly was hurting the U.S. and its allies long before Iraq and the September 11 attacks. Now, meantime, President Karzai is also looking to the United States for a continued commitment, a number of challenges facing President Karzai's government, including a resurgence of Taliban activity, as well as a burgeoning poppy trade -- all of those issues on the table today.

And they will likely be on the table tomorrow. The president is going to be sitting down not only with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Don, but also another critical U.S. ally in the war on terror, Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf -- Don.

LEMON: Elaine, thank you very much.

And, as you mentioned, and the president also mentioned, there is a Web site for all this. It's www.dni.gov. And, once that report is released, you can take a look at it right there on that Web site.

Later today, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will join Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." That's at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, here on CNN.

And, this weekend, CNN takes an unprecedented up-close look at Donald Rumsfeld. The defense secretary acknowledges, some things have not gone as expected in Iraq, but challenges anybody who questions his planning -- an exclusively interview, candid comments. That's "Rumsfeld: Man of War," only on CNN, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a former president, a current Cabinet member trading shots over the war on terror.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fires back at Bill Clinton, after Clinton's remarks to FOX News that President Bush had eight months to get Osama bin Laden before 9/11, but didn't even try. Rice tells "The New York Post" -- and we quote -- "What we did in the eight months was at least as aggressive as what the Clinton administration did in the preceding years. And we were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda."

She was then asked, "So, you're saying Bill Clinton is a lair?"

Her response: "No. I'm just saying that, look, there was a lot of passion in that interview."

Now, Clinton says he did leave a comprehensive anti-terror strategy for his successor.

Now, Bill Clinton's blowup over his terror-fighting record raises the obvious question: What went on in his White House prior to 9/11?

Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, joins us now for a little look back.

This is something we have been talking about since 9/11, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Well, Kyra, you know, one thing that President Clinton's spirited defense of his efforts to get Osama bin Laden illustrates is that his conclusion that he did everything possible is, at the very least, debatable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Back in August of 1998, the U.S. military insisted publicly the 62 cruise missiles it lobed into Afghanistan were aimed at terrorist infrastructure. The inside word at the time was infrastructure was simply a euphemism for Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants.

But, after the attacks of September 11, former Clinton administration officials wanted full credit for targeting the terrorist leader.

SAMUEL BERGER, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I assure you they were not delivering an arrest warrant. The intent was to kill bin Laden. That's number one. His overall intent was manifest in August '98.

MCINTYRE: Bin Laden escaped by hours, apparently. And in an impassioned interview with "FOX News Sunday," President Clinton claims, while he failed, no one has had a better shot since.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY")

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I worked hard to try to kill him. I authorized the finding 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 would have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Clinton argues his efforts were undercut by partisan sniping, including some critics who charged the cruise missile strike was a wag-the-dog stunt to divert attention from the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

And Clinton's own FBI director, Louis Freeh, charges, in his 2005 book, that the U.S. lacked the political spine to put its full force behind covert attempts to get bin Laden.

Former deputy CIA Director for Intelligence John McLaughlin says, from his inside perspective, it looked a lot different. JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: President Clinton did aggressively pursue Osama bin Laden. I give the Clinton administration a lot of credit for the aggressiveness with which they went after al Qaeda and bin Laden.

MCINTYRE: President Clinton also argues he was hampered by inconclusive intelligence. Bin Laden's backing of Muslim militants in Somalia in 1993 wasn't immediately clear. And the U.S. initially suspected Iran in the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

Even after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, he says, there was no consensus bin Laden was the mastermind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY")

CLINTON: We could not get the CIA and the FBI to certify that al Qaeda was responsible while I was president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: That assertion is backed up by the 9/11 Commission report.

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: We expected people to look at the facts, look at what happened after the Cole, why there was no response by the Clinton administration, which wasn't advised by CIA that it was an al Qaeda-sponsored attack until after the election of 2000.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: But, after that election, the CIA director, George Tenet, did tell the Bush administration that they believed al Qaeda was behind the attack on the Cole.

President Bush was asked today whether it was true, what President Clinton said, that they had no meetings about Osama bin Laden in the nine months after they took over. And President Bush said he would have no comment on that. He said it wasn't useful to look back. He wasn't going to engage in what he called finger- pointing -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now, Jamie, correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm trying to remember the discussion we had not long after 9/11. There was talk about some satellite pictures that existed and -- and that Bill Clinton had a -- had an opportunity to take out Osama bin Laden before 9/11, like actually make a hit, through military moves, possibly by the air.

Were those pictures ever confirmed? And, indeed, was it Osama bin Laden that they were tracking? And did they have a chance to take him out?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, they were -- they were looking for bin Laden the whole time. I'm not sure which instance you're referring to. There was one case where a Predator spy plane picked out a group of people, including one very tall man in white robes...

PHILLIPS: That's the one I'm thinking of. That's it.

MCINTYRE: ... which was suspected might possibly be bin Laden. It was never confirmed that he was bin Laden. And that spy plane, as I recall at the time, was not armed. It was one of the things that prompted the U.S. Air Force and the CIA to start putting those Hellfire missiles on the planes, so that, when they saw someone like that, they could take a shot.

But, you know, often is the case of something looks like something from the air, and, then, when they actually get on the ground and then check what's happened, it turns out that it's not as it appeared. It was never confirmed that that was bin Laden in the crosshairs, so to speak.

And one of the things that -- you know, that the war in Afghanistan has shown is, even if you do put a large number of troops on the ground, and you have a lot of intelligence coming from people on the ground, it's still very hard to -- to get a single person, particularly when that person is being sheltered or harbored by a large group of people who sympathize with him.

And that appears to be the best case, as the best U.S. intelligence indicates, that bin Laden continues to move back and forth across the border, from protected areas in Pakistan into Afghanistan from time to time -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre, thanks a lot.

Well, see more from the Pentagon in "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER," weekdays, 4:00 Eastern, and again in prime time at 7:00 Eastern.

LEMON: We haven't heard the last of Tony Blair, but this was the beleaguered prime minister's last official speech as head of the Labor Party. After nine years in power, Mr. Blair has agreed to step down next year, well before the next general election.

Blair told the party faithful it's important for Britain to remain a close ally of the U.S., but admitted it can be hard. Blair's die-hard support for the war in Iraq is largely to blame for his plummeting popularity.

In Japan, it's out with the old and in with the new, but the same party stays in control. Japan's parliament today elected Shinzo Abe, prime minister, an outcome preordained by Abe's landslide victory in last week's vote for leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Abe is the first Japanese prime minister born after World War II and a strong nationalist that could cause even more friction with China and South Korea. Both say Japan still hasn't taken responsibility for its wartime behavior.

Abe takes over from the flamboyant Junichiro Koizumi, Junichiro Koizumi, who is retiring. Like Koizumi, Aid -- Abe, rather, vows to maintain close ties with the U.S. He is also pledging to improve relations with China.

PHILLIPS: Now a clue in the hunt for an alleged killer.

This car left in a bus station parking lot in Knoxville, Tennessee, police say it's been there at least four days. They believe it was stolen by John Woodring eight days ago in Sylva, North Carolina. He is described as armed and dangerous, a man with a history of domestic violence, charged with first-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife, Bonnie. She was shot to death at a women's shelter where she and her son had sought refuge.

Well, a campaign to sell cars brings controversy, not customers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KURT LUDLOW, WBNS REPORTER: The ad said Dennis was launching a jihad on the automotive market, using ISDs, improvised sales devices, to sell trucks that can seat up to 12 jihadists, sales people wearing burqas, where every Friday is Fatah Friday, with free rubber swords for the kiddies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A big oops and a major apology -- the full story from the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Plus: happy landings for some refugees from the Mideast. They each hit the ground with all four feet. We will introduce you to the man who led a long journey to find them.

That's coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from one of our affiliates there out of Los Angeles, KCAL, once again, Los Padres National Forest -- firefighters still working to protect hundreds of rural homes in the path of this stubborn wildfire.

It has already burned for more than three weeks now in this mountainous area of Southern California. And we're told today that the fire jumped 60-foot wide bulldozer lines here in the national forest. It happened last night, and then burned another 2,000 to 3,000 acres, pushing its overall size now to more than 143,000 acres. That's about 223 square miles.

About two weeks ago, we were talking about the fact that these firefighting efforts cost about $15 million so far to fight this fire. Well, as you can imagine, two weeks later, that number has jumped tremendously.

Crews are trying to set backfires along a number of roadways here, hoping to serve as a firebreak, hoping that that will secure those flames -- still not anywhere close to being fully contained. We're following all the live pictures in that story out of Southern California.

LEMON: Kyra, thanks.

If you're animal lover, you want to pay attention. Even if you're not, you want to pay attention to this next story. The fur really flew a long, long way. Some four-legged refugees from Lebanon, they're getting a new home, thanks to some two-legged friends.

The Best Friends Animal Society rescued 300 dogs and cats from bombed-out shelters. And it wasn't easy -- easy. Loaded up in travel containers, they were flown from Beirut to Manchester, England -- there you go; you see the flight path they took -- then, across the pond to New York, then crosscountry to Las Vegas, and, then, they were driven the final leg to Kanab, Utah.

And leading this unbelievable rescue, Richard Crook of Best Friends Animal Society.

Very long journey, Mr. Crook. How you doing? And how are the animals doing, more importantly?

RICHARD CROOK, RAPID RESPONSE MANAGER, BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: I'm doing fine, thank you. The animals are doing wonderful.

LEMON: Yes.

So, tell me about this. Tell me about this experience, being in Lebanon, being on the streets there, seeing all the bombed-out buildings, and then, all of a sudden, you come across these animals. What -- what inspired you to go there and do this?

CROOK: Well, when you start to hear about the large numbers of animals displaced by the recent conflict and the difficulties in -- in receiving food for the animals, water, even electricity, and -- and knowing that there is something that we can do about it, it was nice that we had the opportunity to pitch in.

LEMON: What were the folks there -- I imagine -- you see the pictures there. They're just heartbreaking.

I imagine the folks there, a lot of people really had, obviously, their hands tied with what you -- with what was going on. But the reaction from the people in Lebanon to these animals?

CROOK: Well, it was mixed.

Some people, I mean, they were very curious as to why we were coming from the states to -- to help out. And others were just blessing us for being there.

CROOK: Yes.

Now, just reading some of your background here, they're saying that a lot of the volunteers were saying, you know what, they were glad to be there to help out, but one of the hardest things was actually seeing the destruction and -- and leaving some of the folks behind.

The hardest thing for you?

CROOK: The hardest thing is, I -- I was there for nearly three weeks. You get very attached to the -- to the area, to the local people, to BETA, and -- and knowing that now we have to -- we just happily -- you know, we leave, and leave them behind.

And, hopefully, we can continue our partnership and assist them in the future. It was very difficult to -- to -- to get that embedded into an operation like that, and then we -- you know, we -- we have to leave.

LEMON: Mmm-hmm.

Although Hurricane Katrina may have resembled a war zone, this was an actual war zone there.

CROOK: Yes.

LEMON: Can you talk to me about the similarities? Are there any similarities to Hurricane Katrina with -- we saw a huge output, a huge effort for all the animals left behind there.

CROOK: There were many parallels to Hurricane Katrina, getting on the ground and -- and realizing that we have difficulties in water, electricity, food for the animals. There were safety concerns, transportation issues, communication issues.

It was amazing, the similarities.

LEMON: Talk about that. Talk about all the issues, because you had to lug cat and dog food. And talk about keeping the animals safe and healthy, and -- and your experience that you were just talking about.

CROOK: Well, the communications and transportation were two big issues, just getting from point A to point B, communications between the locals, myself, between best friends, and our -- our team on the ground.

When it was 5:00 in the evening, Lebanon time, it was 8:00 in the morning, Utah.

LEMON: Mmm-hmm.

CROOK: So, our -- as issues would develop, our day was pretty much over. So, it was kind of taking us two days to get a day's worth of work done.

LEMON: Right. And you left, what, 1:00, a day ago, or noon there, a day ago, and your journey is -- is here.

CROOK: That's correct.

LEMON: Yes. And we want to point out. Tell -- tell our viewers why the animals are not with you -- very strict restrictions when you have to bring animals in from a foreign country.

CROOK: Absolutely.

You have to work with your state and local authorities. We have permission -- I believe we have permission, at the moment, to transport the animals to Utah. We were not allowed -- I would have loved to have had one of the animals with me today, but we were not allowed to let the animals basically step foot on ground here in Nevada.

So, you -- you have to work with -- leaving Lebanon, you have to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, the -- the Ministry of Health. We have to work with CDC. There's many organizations that play a part in this.

LEMON: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: These animals are kept -- they are not able to be in contact with other animals, because we don't know exactly the condition of their health, even though we hope they are OK.

How did they fare during this journey?

CROOK: They -- they did great. The animals were wonderful. I think they did better than we did.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: How so?

CROOK: They seemed very relaxed. And we were -- we were busy from start to finish. There was cages that we had to clean, watering. There was just a number of things that we had to do on the flight, and then try to get some rest at the same time.

And -- and, to walk by the animals, we were -- we were so worried about them, and we would do spot checks. Our veterinarian would, every couple hours, make his rounds. And the majority of them were just relaxed, just kind of hanging out.

LEMON: Richard Crook, they probably knew that they were in good hands. You know, animals can -- can sense those things. You know, they have sort of a sixth sense about...

CROOK: That's...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: ... about those things.

What is your hope for -- for these animals? CROOK: Well, that -- I -- I have every confidence that they will all be place in wonderful homes.

My understanding is that pretty much half of them are already spoken for. And, so...

LEMON: All right.

Richard Crook, thank you.

He's field commander for Best Friends Animal Society.

Nice job. We appreciate what you're doing.

And we want to tell our viewers that you can also help out. You can do it online or on the phone or by mail. Just log on to www.bestfriends.org, or call 1-800-919-KIND -- again, 1-800-919-KIND. And to donate by mail, make your check payable to the Best Friends Rescue Fund, c/o Best Friends Animal Society, 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, Utah 84741-5000.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead: in Iraq, another round in the trial of Saddam Hussein. Some will say it's another round of the circus act. Did he survive today's session without getting the boot?

You will see from the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Plus: narrowing the field in that deadly E. coli outbreak. Where did it start and when can you eat fresh spinach again?

That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Separated by state, but not by date, plant and shift -- E. coli detectives traced two contaminated bags of Dole baby spinach, one found in New Mexico, and one in Utah. It turns out both were processed at a natural selection plant in San Juan Bautista, California, on August 15 during the same shift.

Now, an aggressive search to figure out what else went through that plant on that date. So far, 175 confirmed cases of E. coli have been linked to the outbreak in 25 states. About two dozen cases are still awaiting confirmation. But health experts think we're seeing the tail end of this outbreak.

And, just a short time ago, we learned that a third bag of E. coli-contaminated spinach has turned up, this one in Pennsylvania. Again, it was packaged as Dole baby spinach. We are waiting to find out whether it was processed at the same plant as those other tainted bags.

PHILLIPS: Well, the conflict between oil exploration and the environment reaches pretty much of a boiling point in Alaska. LEMON: What do you say we head to New York and Cheryl Casone at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us all about the controversial court decision?

Hey, Cheryl.

CHERYL CASONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don and Kyra.

You know, a federal judge in Anchorage has stopped the government from selling oil leases on a portion of Alaska's North Slope. The Bureau of Land Management had planned to sell the 1.7 million acres which experts say contains -- get this -- more two million barrels of recoverable oil.

But this area is a home for migratory birds and caribou.

Kyra, Don, the judge said in the ruling that government studies don't address how drilling on the land would affect plants and wildlife there.

PHILLIPS: So, what do you think? How is the government responding to the ruling?

CASONE: You know, Kyra, they're trying hard to get around it, obviously. And the fight is far from over right now.

The Interior Department has offered to sell only certain parts of the site and leave others alone. The government is also planning to redo its environmental impact studies and attempt the sale again. But that process could take more than a year.

Don and Kyra, the environmental groups who brought the lawsuit, they are calling this ruling a victory. But, again, the government is going after this again.

LEMON: While I'm enjoying that cheap gas, it may not be good.

What about oil prices today?

CASONE: Oil prices, actually, they're -- they're down right now. They dropped about 44 cents, to close just above $61 per barrel.

And get this one on stocks today. We're -- we're having another rally, after a report on September consumer confidence came in stronger than expected. Right now, the Dow industrials are gaining about 82 points. Look at the number here. We're at 11658. We are within about 60 points of an all-time high for the Dow at this level. It could be the second highest close ever today for the Dow industrials. We could even have a record high by this week.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is gaining as well, almost a half-a-percent -- the S&P 500 up more than half-a-percent.

Well, that is the latest from Wall Street.

Don and Kyra, I'm going to send it back to you. PHILLIPS: Thanks, Cheryl.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Coming up: a loss that spans the generations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love is love, never dies. No matter what happens to a child, he is still in her heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A family grieves a fallen soldier who most of them never knew and some never new existed -- the incredible story ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD MAJEED AL-KHALEFA, CHIEF JUDGE (through translator): You're a defendant and I'm a judge. You have to respect the court. We should not allow you to speak. The court decided to remove Defendant Saddam. Shut up! No one is allowed to speak!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And he's out of there. The chief judge hears enough, orders defiant Saddam Hussein out of court again. It's the third time in a week the deposed Iraqi leader has been ejected from his second trial. He and six others are accused of killing about 180,000 Iraqi Kurds with poison gas in the late 1980s. After today's session, the trial was adjourned for two weeks.

Fighting words from President Bush aimed at critics of his war on terror.

LEMON: That's right. They came in a news conference with an ally on the frontlines, Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who's facing a surge in deadly attack by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters back home.

Here's part of what Mr. Bush had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, of course, read the key judgments on the NIE. I agree with their conclusion that, because of our successes against the leadership of al Qaeda, the enemy is becoming more diffuse and independent.

I'm not surprised the enemy is exploiting the situation in Iraq and using it as a propaganda tool to try to recruit more people to their murderous ways.

Some people have, you know, guessed what's in the report and have concluded that going into Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree. I think it's naive. I think it's a mistake for people to believe that going on the offense against people that want to do harm to the American people makes us less safe.

We weren't in Iraq when they first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993.

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: Yes, sir.

BUSH: We weren't in Iraq when they bombed the Cole.

KARZAI: Yes, sir.

BUSH: We weren't in Iraq when they blew up our embassies in Kenya And Tanzania.

We weren't in Iraq when they blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

My judgment is, if we weren't in Iraq, they'd find some other excuse, because they have ambitions. They kill in order to achieve their objectives.

KARZAI: Terrorism was hurting us way before Iraq or September 11. The president mentioned some examples of it.

These extremist forces were killing people in Afghanistan and around for years, closing schools, burning mosques, killing children, uprooting vineyards with vine trees, grapes hanging on them, forcing populations to poverty and misery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Tomorrow, Mr. Bush is a three-way White House meeting with President Karzai and Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf. He'll be trying to get those neighbors to work together in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda.

And later today, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will join Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." That's at 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Well, as the Afghan president at the White House, insurgents on the attack. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the compound of a provincial governor in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 17 people. Among the dead, Muslim pilgrims wanting documents to travel to mecca. In another attack just south of the Afghan capital, a NATO convoy hit a roadside bomb, killing an Italian soldier and an Afghan child.

Now almost five years into the Afghan war, a CNN poll by Opinion Research Corporation shows Americans are almost evenly split: 50 percent say they favor the war, 48 percent don't. At the time of the U.S. invasion weeks after 9/11, nine Americans in ten approved. Three years ago the approval camp held a two-thirds majority. LEMON: Home at last with full honors. An American soldier killed in World War I and buried just hours ago at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jay Warren from our Cincinnati affiliate WPCO has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY WARREN, WPCO REPORTER (voice-over): This is the Cincinnati 23-year-old Private Francis Lupo, left behind to go to war in about 1917. Lupo would join close to one million other American troops fighting the Germans in France.

RACHEL KLEISENGER, PVT. FRANCIS LUPO'S NIECE: For, a long, long time, in her mind, he was going to come home.

WARREN: As a girl in the '30s and '40s, Rachel Kleisenger remembers her grandmother's longing for her missing son.

KLEISENGER: She could never believe he was dead.

WARREN: In July 1918, Lupo, an infantry men with E Company, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, was killed during the second Battle of the Marne near Soisson, France.

Kleisenger remembers a picture of her uncle, now lost, which hung in her grandmother's parlor.

KLEISENGER: He had such a pride, so much pride in his face, you know? He had just such a shining glow of pride.

WARREN: It was 2003 when the remains of Private Lupo were found by developers near Soissons. With them were these personal effects: a boot fragment, a wallet bearing his name and a photo of Saint Theresa, the patron saint of missions. Lupo is the first soldier identified from World War I by search teams which were created to find Vietnam-era troops.

ROSE NICELY, PVT. LUPO'S GREAT-NIECE: It's gone from, you know, I never knew this fellow existed, to like it's become a part of us now.

WARREN: Kleisenger's grandmother never found out what happened to her son, but the little girl who listened to her would remember this lesson.

KLEISENGER: Love is love, never dies. I mean, it goes on, it doesn't matter. I got that from my grandmother, that no matter what happens to a child, he's still is in her heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And that was Jay Warren from our Cincinnati affiliate WCPO.

PHILLIPS: Well, a clever idea that allows soldiers to be two places at once -- sort of.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a simple idea, it's just -- but it means a lot to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A visual aide that eases a lot of emotional pain, coming up from the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: That's interesting.

And a campaign to sell cars brings controversy, not customers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ad said Dennis was launching a jihad on the automotive market, using ISDs -- improvised sales devices -- to sell trucks that can seat up to 12 jihadists. Salespeople wearing burkas, where every Friday is Fatah Friday, with free rubber swords for the kiddies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A big oops and an apology. The full story is coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Creative? Maybe controversial, outrageous, offensive, to be sure. Reporter Kurt Ludlow of CNN affiliate WBNS looks at an ad campaign you never heard and you never will.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KURT LUDLOW, WBNS REPORTER (voice-over): At Dennis Mitsubishi...

AAROM MATERSON, GENERAL MANAGER, DENNIS MITSUBISHI: I think people have to be able to laugh.

LUDLOW: Their radio commercials are supposed to be funny.

MATERSON: To be topical, to try to break through the clutter of everyday advertising.

LUDLOW: And they thought they had written a gut-buster.

MATERSON: In everyday life, we should be able to find humor in everyone's approach to life.

LUDLOW: Get ready for the most controversial commercial you've never heard. The ad said Dennis was launching a jihad on the automotive market using ISDs, improvised sales devices to sell trucks that can seat up to 12 jihadists. Sales people wearing burqas, where every Friday is Fattah Friday, with free rubber swords for the kiddies.

KEITH DENNIS, PRESIDENT, DENNIS MITSUBISHI: We made a decision not to run the ad.

LUDLOW: Keith Dennis says after putting the ad together, they realized they had gone too far.

DENNIS: We apologized for any offense that anybody might have taken to it. It certainly was not our intent. Our only intent was to write a chuckle in a time when I think we all could laugh a little more.

ASMA MOBIN-UDDIN, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS: We have accepted the apology and we don't bear any hard feelings.

LUDLOW: The Council on American-Islamic Relations says the ad was inappropriate on many levels.

MOBIN-UDDIN: It was making a mockery and maybe possibly provoking and making fun of issues related to religion, specifically Islamic culture, Islamic faith, as well as the pope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, council staffers say in their view, the matter is closed. And our thanks to Kurt Ludlow with affiliate WBNS.

PHILLIPS: So they're hiring another ad agency.

LEMON: Yes, funny not so much, right?

PHILLIPS: All right, take a look at this photo sent in to CNN's I-Report by Scott Smith from Florida. It gives new meaning to the phrase "a house on the water." Some home restores, George and Nancy Corbit (ph) paid to have this Victorian mansion floated up river toward the Tampa Bay shore and they could probably afford to. They bought the 1910 home for just a buck from developers who were planning to knock it down. Isn't that gorgeous? If you've got unique pictures, go ahead, send them to us. CNN.com/ireport. Send us what you had and join the world's most powerful news team.

LEMON: That gives new meaning to a house boat.

PHILLIPS: There you go, and only a dollar.

LEMON: Only one buck.

All right, well you've probably heard of Flat Stanley, haven't you?

PHILLIPS: Signed a few, taken pictures with a few.

LEMON: Well have you heard of Flat Daddy?

PHILLIPS: Well a clever little idea that allow soldiers to be two places at once. LEMON: Additional aid that eases emotional pain coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Separation and fear. Children often suffer when a parent goes off to war, but a clever idea is helping easing anxiety. CNN's Dan Lothian introduces Flat Daddy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a long way from rural Maine to the dangerous streets of Iraq, where Staff Sergeant Arthur Whitaker and Sergeant 1st Class Lee Vanadestine are serving with the 172nd Mountain Company, Maine's Army National Guard. For their loved ones the separation is painful.

DEB WHITAKER, WIFE OF SOLDIER: I want to say it gets easier everyday, but at the same time it doesn't.

ROXANA VANADESTINE, WIFE OF SOLDIER: It's hard to say, to tell other people what it would feel like unless you're put into that situation.

LOTHIAN: Strangers before their husbands were deployed, Roxanna Vanadestine and her four-year-old son, Stephen, have bonded with Deb Whitaker and her two children, seven-month-old Colby, and five-year old Michaela. They have a lot in common, right down to the way they try to ease the pain of separation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My "flat daddy."

LOTHIAN: They find some comfort in their "flat daddy", a life- size cutout of the Guardsmen in uniform.

WHITAKER: He's kind of like our little bit of sense of security. It's just nice to know that he really is still there. Just to have a visual picture of him, so you can look at him everyday.

LOTHIAN: A picture, a moment frozen in time, but now always on the move. Michaela has taken "flat daddy" to school.

VANADESTINE: Stephen took him everywhere, when he had to go the bathroom, Daddy had to go with him.

WHITAKER: We when to the fair and his two girls took him on every ride.

VANADESTINE: Daddy had to go with him and lay in bed with him.

WHITAKER: There's no place he doesn't go.

LOTHIAN: But "flat daddies: can only do so much.

(On camera): They can't talk. They can't do chores around the house, obviously, these families would much rather have the real thing, but for now, this is the only way these two fathers and husbands can be in two places at once -- well sort of.

(Voice over): With "Flat Daddy" at their sides, somehow their real daddy doesn't feel so far away.

VANADESTINE: I never would have thought a big piece of cardboard and a big picture would mean the world to myself, and my son.

LOTHIAN: The young children get a daily does of dad, in one dimension.

SGT. BARBARA CLAUDEL, MAINE NATIONAL GUARD: We use a foam board.

LOTHIAN: Sergeant 1st Class Barbara Claudel, with Maine's National Guard family support program, came up with the idea after seeing something similar at a national convention eight months ago.

CLAUDEL: This is very easy. It's a very simple idea. It's just -- but it means a lot to them. It becomes, you know, something that they -- you know, they are so proud of them.

LOTHIAN: Claudel takes the picture, enlarges it, glues it on a foam board and gives it away to the family, so far producing more than 200.

(on camera): Did you ever feel it would be this popular?

CLAUDEL: No, definitely not.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): The families do stay in touch with their soldiers in more conventional ways, like snail mail, email, or Internet webcams. But in an email from Iraq, Staff Sergeant Whittaker tells us, his life size cut out offers something more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said, I still get to go everywhere with the family. It's very cool.

LOTHIAN: And he gets to see where they take him. The family snaps plenty of pictures of Flat Daddy about town, then send them to the battlefield.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I tell him, see, you're still here even though you're not here.

LOTHIAN: They take so many trips and get so much attention, that often the Flat Daddies get worn out, literally.

Whittaker is cutting out a new picture just in from the National Guard program after the old one just fell apart.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Litchfield, Maine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Nice job, Dan. Of course, we wish all the mommies and daddies a safe home. You can see more of Dan Lothian's reports bright and early on "AMERICAN MORNING" weekdays beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

PHILLIPS: All right. Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, standing by in the Situation Room to tell us what is coming up at the top of the hour.

Hey Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi Kyra, thanks very much.

We're standing by to speak live with the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He's here in New York. We'll speak about the hunt for Osama bin Laden and whether Pakistan's new strategy is actually helping al Qaeda. We'll ask him some of the tough questions.

In rare move, President Bush makes a classified document public. will it show the war in Iraq is making the world more dangerous?

First the muttering of an offensive word, then questions about his religious roots. Now two men from Senator George Allen's past are coming back to haunt the senator with accusations of racism.

And now, it's Condoleezza Rice versus Bill Clinton. The secretary of state says the former president was wrong in his most recent and fiery interview.

All that, Kyra, coming up here in the "SITUATION ROOM".

PHILLIPS: We'll be watching. Thanks, Wolf.

Well, there's no place like home.

LEMON: Certainly. New Orleans rocks as it welcomes back the Saints at the Superdome. The celebration ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Great show, raising the roof, the newly repaired roof in New Orleans. Almost 13 months after Hurricane Katrina, the Superdome is back in business.

PHILLIPS: And last night's grand reopening was a concert and football game rolled in one. U2 and Green Day set the stage and the New Orleans Saints took to the field, bodyslamming their big rival, the Atlanta Falcons. A great night for a city still facing a tremendous recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BONO, U2 (singing): There is a house in New Orleans they call the Superdome.

CAROL DAVIS, SAINTS FAN: My brother down the block died here. We still got a lot to do, but this is a great big step.

BONO: Coming home to New Orleans the knights will rise again.

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY: This is the first big event to demonstrate to the world that the city is on its way back.

DORIS COOLEY, SUPERDOME EMPLOYEE: Just thought it was over. I thought it was over. But I'm happy that, you know, we back.

THOMAS PANER, SAINTS FAN: I never thought this would happen. I'm just so happy we're back here, rebuilding New Orleans.

BONO: It's a beautiful day.

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT MARLON DEFILLO, NEW ORLEANS POLICE: It's a touching feeling. It's and emotional feeling to see that so many people coming today, with a different attitude.

JEVAN DAVIS, SAINTS FAN: I've been waiting so long to be here. It's like, it don't matter what it is. Just as long as I'm here, I'm good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been building my whole week up for this game. I can't explain. I can't wait. I got my binoculars. I'm ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they had as many tailgaters as they had people trying to get in the door. You got tickets or not, everybody wants to be a part of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy. I see all of the faces and, you know, I'm happy it's back.

BONO: A beautiful day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Wow.

PHILLIPS: Ali Velshi.

LEMON: That was great. Did you see any of that, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I did. I actually think the whole thing was very emotional. Very well done. Good choice of performers, too.

PHILLIPS: We're were sitting here talking about, let's do your lighters. But you don't light the lighter anymore, you use cell phones now.

VELSHI: I was going to say, that's exactly what they did.

A beautiful day on the markets, too. I'm going to tell you about that in second. But we are on track, not for a record, for the second highest close ever on the DOW. I'll get back to that in a second. But you know, the news we've been talking about here is that Andy Fastow is going to jail. He was the chief financial officer of Enron. He has been sentenced to six years in jail. He had agreed when he pleaded guilty in 2004 to the maximum ten-year sentence, but agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He was deemed to have cooperated and helped this case. They agreed to a lower sentence. The judge says he has been persecuted enough, and that six years should be sufficient. He is going to jail, six years in federal prison and no chance for parole.

PHILLIPS: Well, do you think he'll actually spend six years in the tank? And also, will he pay a fine?

VELSHI: Well, he will go for the whole six years, because under the federal system there's no parole eligibility. But he had to give back, when he pleaded guilty, he had to give back about $24 million. He's not had any further fine imposed.

But you know, the tough part about this story is that his wife, who was also an Enron executive, she pleaded guilty to a sort of a minor charge and had to go to jail for a year, too. And they allowed her to do that earlier on so that both parents wouldn't be in jail at the same time. It's a sad story.

PHILLIPS: All right. It's time for the closing bell. We'll see you back here tomorrow, Ali.

VELSHI: Absolutely. You guys have a great afternoon.

PHILLIPS: Thanks.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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