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President Bush Meets With Top Generals About Iraq; Electronic Voting Machines
Aired October 21, 2006 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News" on this Saturday morning, President Bush has just now wrapped up his face-to-face meeting with some top generals. Here's some new video of that. The generals, as well as top national security and defense officials, were at the White House to discuss the situation in Iraq and the calls for a strategy change there.
We'll have more on that meeting. That is straight ahead.
Plus, we will bring you the president's radio address on Iraq.
In the meantime, skepticism this morning from the secretary of state over reports about North Korea. Condoleezza Rice says she has no confirmation North Korea pledged not to conduct any more nuclear tests. She also says that -- she's raising some doubts about whether North Korea even expressed regret over the first test. Rice is in Moscow meeting with Russian leaders.
Word now that a U.S. Marine will plead guilty to charges linked to a killing of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdaniya. The Associated Press reports that Private John Jodka's father says a plea deal is done. Jodka is expected to plead guilty next week to assault and obstruction of justice. Murder charges would be dropped.
And an admission to tell you about from New York Senator Hillary Clinton during last night's Senate debate. She said a presidential bid in 2008 has been on her mind quite a bit but she is focusing as much as she can on the Senate race at hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: I said I haven't made any decisions. You know, it's hard not...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you have thought about it?
CLINTON: Dominic (ph), it is hard not to think about it because people talk to me about it all the time. But I have not engaged in any planning or serious thought about it. And I've certainly made no decisions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right.
In almost 12 hours after derailing, a freight train here continues to burn this morning in southwestern Pennsylvania. No reports here of any injuries.
The train was carrying ethanol, leading to the evacuation of at least 50 people as a precaution. The cars were burning over the Beaver River, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
And a dose of thrill-seeking to wake you up this Saturday morning.
NGUYEN: Oh, look at that.
HOLMES: This is coming out of West Virginia, happening today, where they're celebrating 27 years of what they call Bridge Day.
NGUYEN: So they jump off of it?
HOLMES: They jump off of it.
NGUYEN: But they have a parachute, so that's a good thing.
HOLMES: Yes they do. So far, so good. Everybody is landing where they're supposed to. More than 200,000 people actually come out to watch these base jumpers leap about 900 feet from the bridge to the rapids of the New River below.
Reynolds, we have to mark our calendars. We've got to go do that next year.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. I'll follow you. You jump first, and I'll go right...
NGUYEN: Yes, you go first.
HOLMES: Yes, good plan.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: And of course we run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN NEWSROOM, with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at 10:15 Eastern.
A dream come true. He started college as just another ordinary fan in the stands and became a hero on the field. A very cool story you're not going to want to miss.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM. And it is Saturday, October 21st, 10:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 5:00 p.m. in Baghdad.
Hello everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: And good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
We want to thank you for starting your day with us.
What to do about Iraq, that was the major topic this morning at the White House. President Bush taking time for face-to-face meetings with some of his generals and other officials. The president wrapping the meetings up just moments ago.
Well, critics say the increased violence and insecurity in Iraq means a strategy review is overdue. But the administration seems to be standing firm so far.
Earlier this morning we posed the strategy change question to our military analysts, Brigadier General David Grange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They know that it has to be some type of change. There has to be something to be done with the militias, something to be done with the -- the way forward, because right now the status quo, troop-on-troop, attrition- type war is just going to continue to have casualties and continue to reduce America's resolve to stay in -- stay in the fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We head now right to the White House and our Elaine Quijano, who is keeping an eye on that -- that big meeting happening this morning.
Hello again, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J.
Well, I can tell you, the president's radio address here is coming up very shortly. And certainly the White House is under considerable pressure politically not just from Democrats, but from Republicans to change its strategy, change course in Iraq. Now, the White House insists that it will keep its overall goal the same, but that it's always been open to changing its tactics.
Now, this meeting that took place earlier this morning involving some top generals is one that the White House is trying to downplay the significance of, saying that it usually happens every week. But T.J., what's unusual is that these generals were actually meeting with the president in person. Two sources tell CNN that General John Abizaid, U.S. commander for U.S. Central Command, was asked to come to Washington specifically for this meeting.
But now let's take a listen to President Bush as he delivers his radio address, centering on Iraq.
ANNOUNCER: And now a message from the president of the United States, George W. Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning.
Earlier this week I spoke with Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq. We discussed the recent increase in violence in his country. Attacks have grown significantly during the first weeks of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. There are a number of reasons for this increase in violence. One reason is that coalition and Iraqi forces have been conducting focused operations to bring security to Baghdad. Side by side, Iraqi and American forces are operating in the city's most violent areas to disrupt al Qaeda, capture enemy fighters, crack down on IED makers, and break up death squads. As we engage our enemies in their stronghold, these enemy are putting up a tough fight.
In a briefing in Iraq on Thursday, General William Caldwell said the operation to secure Baghdad has not met our overall expectations. He also explained it's no coincidence that the surge in attacks against coalition force coincides with our increased presence in the streets in Baghdad.
Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging. Our goal is victory. What is changing are the tactics we use to achieve that goal.
Our commanders on the ground are constantly adjusting their approach to stay ahead of the enemy, particularly in Baghdad. General Pete Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, recently put it this way: "From a military standpoint, every day is a reassessment day."
We have a strategy that allows us to be flexible and to adapt to changing circumstances. We've changed the way we train the Iraqi security forces. We have changed the way we deliver reconstruction assistance in areas that had been cleared of terrorist influence. And we will continue to be flexible and make every necessary change to prevail in this struggle.
Iraq's new leaders are beginning to take the difficult steps necessary to defeat the terrorists and unite their country. The prime minister recently met with tribal leaders from Anbar Province who told him they are ready to stand up and fight the terrorists. He's also taken action to clean up the Iraqi national police.
His government suspended a national police unit after allegations that some of its members were linked to militias and death squads. A battalion commander was arrested for possible complicity in sectarian deaths. And early area this week, two of Iraq's most senior police commanders were reassigned as part of a major restructuring of the national police force.
Another reason for the recent increase in attacks is that the terrorists are trying to influence public opinion here in the United States. They have a sophisticated propaganda strategy. They know they cannot defeat us in the battle, so they conduct high-profile attacks, hoping that the images of violence will demoralize our country and force us to retreat.
They carry video cameras and film their atrocities and broadcast them on the Internet. They e-mail images and video clips to Middle Eastern cable networks like Al-Jazeera and instruct their followers to send the same material to American journalists, authors and opinion leaders.
They operate Web sites where they post messages for their followers and readers across the world. In one recent message, the Global Islamic Media Front, a group that posts al Qaeda propaganda on Web sites, said their goal is to "carry out a media war that is parallel to the military war."
This is the same strategy the terrorists launched in Afghanistan following 9/11. In a letter to the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden wrote that al Qaeda intended to wage a media campaign to create a wedge between the American people and their government.
The terrorists are trying to divide America and break our will. And we must not allow them to succeed.
So America will stand with the democratic government of Iraq. We will help Prime Minister Maliki build a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself. And we will help Iraq become a strong democracy that is a strong ally in the war on terror.
There is one thing we will not do. We will not pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete.
There are some in Washington who argue that retreating from Iraq would make us safer. I disagree. Retreating from Iraq would allow the terrorists to gain a new safe haven from which to launch new attacks on America. Retreating from Iraq would dishonor the men and women who have given their lives in that country and mean their sacrifices has been in vain. And retreating from Iraq would embolden the terrorists and make our country, our friends and our allies more vulnerable to new attacks.
The last few weeks have been rough for our troops in Iraq and for the Iraqi people. The fighting is difficult, but our nation has seen difficult fights before.
In World War II and the Cold War, earlier generations of Americans sacrificed so that we can live in freedom. This generation will do its duty as well. We will defeat the terrorists everywhere they make their stand and we will leave a more hopeful world for our children and our grandchildren.
Thank you for listening.
QUIJANO: So President Bush there trying to sound publicly resolute about the overall goal of his Iraq strategy, insisting that it is not changing. The overall goal being to see an Iraq that can sustain itself, govern itself, defend itself, and also be an ally in the war on terrorism.
At the same time, though, you heard very clearly the president trying to emphasize as well that he remains open to changing whatever tactics might be necessary to accomplish that goal.
This is a result really of the political pressure that is mounting on this Bush White House coming not just from Democrats, but also from some of the president's fellow Republicans. Of course we're in the middle of an election season. Those congressional midterm elections right around the corner on November 7th.
Many Republicans feeling gloomy. Their approval ratings certainly not helped by the Iraq war.
So President Bush there trying to sound resolute, maintaining that the overall strategy will not change, but insisting as well that all along the tactics have been adjusting to the situation on the ground -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Strategy, tactics, it's all so confusing sometimes, Elaine.
QUIJANO: Absolutely.
HOLMES: But thank you so much this morning from the White House.
And Connecticut congressional candidate Diane Farrell will deliver the Democratic radio address later on this morning. CNN will bring you portions of that address right here in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Well, all of this does bring us to our e-mail question this morning. Here it is.
Should the U.S. change its strategy in Iraq? Would you stay the course? Would you withdraw troops? Or would you just trying something completely different?
E-mail us, weekends@cnn.com. And we'll read some of those responses throughout the morning.
HOLMES: Electronic voting, political progress or democracy at risk/ In 10 minutes, find out if your vote will actually count this midterm election.
NGUYEN: But first, did you hear about Seattle's new slogan? Well, the tourism bureau tries again.
We'll have the details ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: "Now in the News," Condoleezza Rice says she is doubtful of reports that North Korea plans to stop its nuclear tests. And she says she has no confirmation that North Korea expressed regret over the October 9th test. Rice is in Moscow meeting with Russian leaders there.
We'll hear from our correspondent in the region in about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, President Bush has wrapped up this morning's high-level meeting on Iraq. Some of his top generals and other officials came to the White House to discuss the situation there. The White House says meetings like this, well, they're pretty much routine, but this comes amid increased calls for a change of strategy in Iraq.
A major meeting to tell you about that's going on in Najaf, Iraq, as well. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- you see him there in the center of the picture dressed in black -- well, he is meeting with Iraq's interior minister right now. They're discussing the two days of blooding fighting in Amara and ways to derail further clashes.
HOLMES: A renewed effort to find human remains at Ground Zero. This after workers pulled several bones out of an abandoned manhole on Thursday. Crews will search about six more manholes in the next few days. Families of 9/11 victims want construction stopped at Ground Zero until all human remains are recovered.
California begins shipping thousands of inmates to prisons in four other states next month. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says the transfers are needed to ease overcrowding. The program is expected to involve more than 22,000 inmates and will cost California more than $51 million a year.
Of course we run down the top stories for you every 15 minutes here on CNN NEWSROOM, with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at 10:30 Eastern Time.
NGUYEN: All right. Take a good look. High above the city of Seattle, written in 18-foot-tall letters, perched atop the Space Needle, it's the Emerald City's new slogan: Metronatural.
Say what?
Many in Seattle are asking that very question. And when they say, "Say WA?" they're actually using the state of Washington's latest, newest, recently dropped slogan.
Are you following now? "Say WA" -- WA -- you get it? You know, from the state of Washington...
HOLMES: Yes, I got it. I got it.
NGUYEN: All right. Maybe you had to be a metronatural to understand it all.
By the way, listen to this. Seattle paid $200,000 for the "Metronatural" slogan and plans to pay another $300,000 to market the idea.
I'm still saying, say WA?
HOLMES: Say WA?
I'm sure it will catch on. It will work.
NGUYEN: You're so positive.
WOLF: They spent how much? How much was it again?
NGUYEN: Two hundred thousand to begin with, and they're going to spend another $300,000 for the "Metronatural" slogan.
WOLF: We are...
NGUYEN: First of all, what does it mean?
HOLMES: We're helping them. We're promoting the idea right here and talking about it.
WOLF: It doesn't matter what it means.
NGUYEN: So does that mean we're metronatural?
WOLF: It doesn't matter what it means. It matters how you say it. You have to use jazz hands. You've got to go, "Metronatural."
NGUYEN: Wait, wait. We need you on camera to say that.
Can you do that one more time?
WOLF: Metronatural. You have to do jazz hands.
NGUYEN: You're scaring me. All right?
WOLF: There's plenty to be scared of, trust me.
NGUYEN: Way too metronatural for this show.
WOLF: But why go with that? Why not go with, you know, a slogan like, "Seattle, mmm. We love coffee." You know, that kind of thing.
That to me -- I don't know. Anyway...
NGUYEN: You know, you might get paid big bucks for that one day, Reynolds.
WOLF: Jazz hands.
NGUYEN: Jazz hands.
WOLF: There you go.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Splitting Iraq into three parts, some say it could stop the violence. Others say it may make things worse. Problems with partitioning in about 15 minutes.
HOLMES: And could this selection be a repeat of 2000? Certainly hope not. Delaying results for days or weeks?
Up next, an expert will tell us why electronic voting machines may not be the cure for the hanging chad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, you remember those dimpled ballots, hanging chads? Sound familiar? Of course they do. That was about six years ago, and now, with only 17 days until the midterm elections, some are feeling a bit anxious about the vote counting that lies ahead. Across the nation nearly one-third of registered voters will use new voting equipment. Almost 40 percent will count their ballots on electronic voting machines. Many of those machines have no voter- verified paper trail.
So, just how safe is your vote?
Earlier, I spoke with Avi Rubin, author of "Brave New Ballot: The Battle to Safeguard Democracy in the Age of Electronic Voting".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AVI RUBIN, AUTHOR, "BRAVE NEW BALLOT": What we have is a voting system that is vulnerable in an unprecedented manner to all sorts of problems. Voting systems should be transparent. It should be clear to people exactly what's going on in the voting apparatus.
And when you have fully electronic voting machines like we have in many, many places in this country, then there's no transparency. There's no way for the voter to know what's happening in the machine. And something as common as a software bug could cause votes to be flipped form one candidate to another.
If that were to happen, we would have no way of knowing it. There are bound to be many very close races in the upcoming election, and the losing candidates will have a legitimate claim that, you know, how do they know that they really lost. And if they want to have a recount in many places, like in my state of Maryland, that won't be possible.
HOLMES: Now, is that your biggest issue there, is that there's really no paper trail and no way to go back and check and get a good recount?
RUBIN: Well, the paper trail is not necessarily the issue. The issue is that fully electronic systems are untrustworthy, unverifiable, nontransparent. We can't perform audits.
Paper is what we view right now -- and we being accurate (ph) and the computer science community in general -- as the way you deal with that. I mean, I'm not a big fan of paper systems. I'm a computer scientist, and I like to automate as many things as possible. But I think that right now we don't have the technology yet to have fully electronic elections in a secure manner.
HOLMES: And of course no system is going to be -- no matter what it is, going to be absolutely perfect. So, given that, isn't the electronic voting -- do you not think there is an acceptable level, I guess, of flaw in there? You're surely going to have some mistakes, but do you think the mistakes with electronic voting are just too great?
RUBIN: Well, you're absolutely right that there's no way to count, you know, over 100 million votes across the country in a reliable and accurate manner. But I think that having a fully electronic system is almost the ideal platform for election fraud, because one is that the attacks can scale and that the attacks are undetectable.
I think it's very important to be able to audit a system as sensitive as an election system. And these electronic systems do not provide any audit capability whatsoever.
HOLMES: Now, who messed this up then? Is it the voting machine manufacturers messed this up, or did -- not enough checks and balances put in place by lawmakers to make sure these things were OK before we started using them?
RUBIN: Well, you know, assigning blame is always a complicated task. I think what happened after the 2000 election was Congress moved very quickly towards electronic voting. They appropriated almost $4 billion to the states. And you can't really be surprised that vendors popped up with systems that weren't quite ready yet, ready to sell and trying to get a piece of that $4 billion.
HOLMES: Well, finally here, do you think we're at least on the right track, maybe work out some of the kinks, and then maybe in 2008 we have this grandiose, victorious showcase for e-voting and it works beautifully in the presidential election in 2008.
Is that possible?
RUBIN: That's not the way I would put it. I think that we really are on the order of 10 to 15 years, if not more, from developing technologies to actually do e-voting securely. And I think from a public perception and a transparency point of view, maybe we should never do fully electronic voting.
I can't really say because we haven't developed the technology yet. I'm hopeful that in 2008 every single voter's vote will exist on a piece of paper somewhere so that if we need to recount it we can do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And we contacted Diebold, the largest maker of electronic voting machines, for comment. They gave us the following statement, which says, in part, "Diebold Election Systems have dramatically reduced voter error and confusion like we witnessed in Florida in the 2000 presidential election."
It goes on to say, "Voters and election officials that use Diebold Election Systems voting machines -- optical scan and touch screen -- can be confident on that Election Day votes and totals will be safe, secure and accurate."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, skepticism from the secretary of State over reports about North Korea. Condoleezza Rice says she has no confirmation that North Korea pledged not to conduct any more nuclear tests. She also is raising doubts about whether North Korea ever expressed regret over the first test. Rice is in Moscow meeting with Russian leaders there. We'll have a live report shortly.
In the meantime, President Bush wrapping up a face-to-face meeting with some of his top generals just about 30 minutes ago. The generals and other Defense Department officials came to the White House to discuss the situation in Iraq and the calls for a strategy change there.
Access suspended. That's what the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Hokster (ph) did to a Democratic staffer. The reason, the staffer may have leaked a classified report on Iraq and terrorism. The classified report leaked to the "New York Times" stated the Iraq war had become a rallying cry for terrorists around the world.
TJ HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Seventeen days before the election, and it's getting a little testy in Tennessee. Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. showed up without an invitation at a campaign event for his Republican opponent Bob Corker in Memphis. When Corker decided to come out to greet him, well, things weren't so pretty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB CORKER (R) SENATE CANDIDATE: I came here to talk about ethics and I have a press conference. And I think that it's a true sign of desperation that you would pull your bus up when I'm having a press conference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir. I can never find you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: He found him. Corker is the one who is desperate in that campaign. And we run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN newsroom. (INAUDIBLE) coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines is coming up at 10:45 Eastern.
NGUYEN: Let's talk now about shoring up support for sanctions against North Korea. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting with Russian leaders to discuss the North Korea nuclear threat. And CNN's Zain Verjee is the only television correspondent traveling with Secretary Rice. She joins us now by phone from Moscow with an update. Hi there Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Betty. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Moscow as you say. It's actually her last stop on her trip. It's aimed essentially at getting action taken on a resolution imposing sanctions against North Korea since its nuclear test. At a briefing we reported on the plane over here, we pressed her for a little more on the meeting between the Chinese state (INAUDIBLE) who went over to Pyongyang and met Kim Jong-Il. We asked her this, did Kim say he regretted the test? Did Kim say he would not test again?
She essentially down played it, poured cold water on it saying (INAUDIBLE) did not tell me that Kim Jong-Il either apologized for the test or said he would not ever test again. She also went on to say that she wants to discuss what practical steps Russia would take to implement sanctions against North Korea. She said look, I'm not coming with a list of demands. I'm here just to listen. Two other points Betty, she says that they want to discuss the tension between Russia and Georgia. She said the rhetoric between those two countries needs to be lowered. She also said she was going to Iran's nuclear program with Russia. Betty.
NGUYEN: To understand the significance of her trip there in Moscow, talk to us about how much influence Russia has in the whole situation in dealing with North Korea.
VERJEE: Russia and North Korea really had a strong relationship back in the Soviet days. Recently, Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia has been trying to rekindle that relationship. But Washington recognizes that Russia is really not that influential with North Korea. It doesn't have that much leverage. It shares a short border though. It's involved in six-party talks. Russia also has a veto at the U.N. Security Council. It also doesn't want the nuclear North Korea (INAUDIBLE) China, it's worried if you squeeze it too hard also, North Korea could collapse and that could be a major problem. So it is influential in the sense that it has that connectedness to North Korea, but really China is the country that's the most influential on Pyongyang. Russia is a bigger player when it comes to Iran.
NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Zain Verjee traveling with the secretary, joining us by phone from Moscow. Zain, thank you for that.
HOLMES: President Bush says no big change in strategy is coming for Iraq, even with growing violence and increased calls for a course change. What the president does say the military's approach on the ground is constantly under review. The Iraqi government is also trying to decide what's next, and that could include carving up the country. CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at what that could mean for Iraq's future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the fighting grinding on and on, some leaders inside and outside of Iraq believe dividing the country into autonomous states could be a reasonable idea. Right now the Shia primarily occupy the east and south. The Sunnis are in the west and the Kurds the north and old ethnic differences between these groups have produced some support for official state borders between these regions. But some foreign affairs analysts warn splitting up Iraq will almost certainly lead to more trouble. Why?
(on-camera): One reason lies beneath the ground. Look at where the oil is. These deposits which could make Iraq a very wealthy nation if peace ever comes are located primarily under Shia and Kurdish land. So unless there's a strong plan to assure nationwide sharing of oil revenue, the Sunnis could be cut out of the windfall.
(voice-over): Even some supporters of a partitioning plan who say a little independence for each region could quiet bitter rivalries, say the Sunnis must be guaranteed a fair share of the oil money.
LES GELB, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: And you've got to tell -- we've got to tell the Shiites and the Kurds, look, you're not going to get anything out of the oil you have if there's civil war in that country.
FOREMAN: But the White House vigorously opposes partitioning. Among the apparent fears, if the Sunni becomes effectively their own country, they could join forces with Syria, a Sunni neighbor and no friend of the United States. And the same holds for the Shia. They could cozy up to neighboring Iran, expanding that country's already substantial and growing influence in the region. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So what's happening online this morning? A lot. And Veronica de la Cruz is here to show us what's going on at cnn.com.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot is happening. You're right about that. At cnn.com, we've been asking you to send us your pictures, your video in a special section that we're calling I- exchange. And as the earth shook in Hawaii last Sunday, some of you were there with camera in hand to capture the action for us. Check out this video from Hien Tran. He takes us on a tour of the damage the earthquake did to his home. You see the books, the pictures, the CDs scattered across the floor. But then check this out. In the middle of recording, an aftershock from the quake rattled his house and he got it all on tape.
We got this one in from Ruth Smith. She is the vice principal at an elementary school there. You can see the ceiling tiles that have fallen down on desks. And here's a great picture from Erin Baldwin Brown. She pulled over to take this shot of cracks in the highway. Look at that damage.
And now we want to highlight our best I-report submission of the week. You saw it moments ago. Can I get a drum roll, please. The video is from Hien Tran, Hawaii. It's his aftershock video. He's our pick for I-report of the week.
NGUYEN: Are you sure he's not just shaking the camera?
DE LA CRUZ: It's great. If you really, really listen to the sound on this tape you hear him kind off very anxious. He runs out the door as you see right there. And he has won our pick for the I-reporter of the week.
NGUYEN: This is the granddaddy of them all.
DE LA CRUZ: ... grand prize. TJ will do the honors for us.
NGUYEN: TJ is going to model the illustrious prize.
DE LA CRUZ: Put it on. NGUYEN: He's not going to put it on.
HOLMES: Does he get this very shirt?
DE LA CRUZ: He gets that very shirt right there. (CROSSTALK) Everybody can sign it. So we can sign it for Hien Tran, who is our winner this week.
NGUYEN: Congratulations. Thanks for sending that in. You now report for CNN. You've got proof. Thank you very much.
HOLMES: We're going to get that washed for you before we send it to you. Congratulations.
NGUYEN: All right, Veronica, thank you for that.
HOLMES: Coming up, we got a sports fan's dream come true. College student we're talking about here who went from being a fan in the stands to that guy, the man on the field. His incredible story is ahead in the newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Now in the news, President Bush has wrapped up meeting with some of his top generals. They gathered at the White House this morning to discuss Iraq. The White House says meetings like this pretty much routine, but this one comes amid increased calls for a change of strategy in Iraq.
Meanwhile, more violence in Iraq to tell you about this morning. Four people were killed in a bus bombing in Baghdad. And southeast of the capital, militia loyal to cleric Muqtada al Sadr are again battling with Iraqi police. As many as nine people have been killed there. This comes on the heels on similar fighting in Hamara (ph) that killed as many as 25.
Condoleezza Rice says she's doubtful that reports that North Korea pledged to stop its nuclear tests and she says she has no confirmation that North Korea expressed regret over the October 9th test. Rice is in Moscow meeting with Russian leaders.
NGUYEN: There's now a fear this morning that derailed train cars could explode and here's why. Look at that. The freight train car carrying ethanol derailed over night in southwestern Pennsylvania. The cars still burning as you see there. No injuries to report but about 50 people were evacuated as a precaution. The derailed cars were burning over the Beaver River near Pittsburgh.
You need a little thrill seeking this Saturday morning? Here you go. Check it out. Fresh from West Virginia they're celebrating 27 years of bridge day. What do you do on bridge day? You jump off of one. So what is bridge day? It's one of the biggest extreme sports events you'll ever find anywhere. More than 200,000 people come to watch these base jumpers as they leap almost 900 feet from the bridge to the rapids of the New River below them. Sounds like a lot of fun to me, not really, too scary for that. We run down the top stories every 15 minutes here on CNN newsroom with in-depth coverage all morning long. Your next check of the headlines coming up at the top of the hour.
HOLMES: Well, you hear people talk all the time about you just got to get your foot in the door. This kid you're about to meet got his foot in the door and then he got it on the field. Boston College's football team has got a new rising star. CNN's Dan Lothian has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Steve Aponavicius is a kicker with the Boston College Eagles, a major leap from where he sat last season in the stands as a bare-chested super fan.
STEVE APONAVICIUS, BC FOOTBALL KICKER: No one even knew who I was. I was just a kid with a long, European name. To go from that to this is really just crazy.
LOTHIAN: Crazy, because this rookie kicker had never played a down of football, only soccer. But to unwind, the sophomore would often practice making field goals out there, using an old ball snatched from his former high school. A BC assistant football coach spotted him last year.
APONAVICIUS: I thought he was going to kick me out of the stadium.
LOTHIAN: Instead he was invited to try out and then became a walk-on. Last week with the starting kicker suspended, number 83 got his big break against Virginia Tech.
APONAVICIUS: I felt like time stood still for that three seconds when the ball is snapped and I had to kick it.
LOTHIAN: Imagine the pressure being in here with the loud crowd on national television, prime time, kicking a football in your first game from this spot through the uprights. His coach never lost faith.
TOM O'BRIEN, BC FOOTBALL HEAD COACH: And once the snap was good, I knew he would get the ball up.
LOTHIAN: Aponavicius drilled two field goals from 36 and 20 yards out and made two extra points to help the Eagles win. Fans and teammates went wild.
JOLOON DUNBAR, BC FOOTBALL CO-CAPTAIN: He's worked hard and he's done well for himself. We're glad we're a part of him.
LOTHIAN: A super fan's fantasy come true. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
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NGUYEN: That is such a great story. What are the chances of that? Way to go.
HOLMES: His parents were in the stands. First football game he ever played in his life.
NGUYEN: There is tiger fever in the motor city.
HOLMES: The city is getting decked out for baseball's biggest show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Time for you to talk to us and here's how. All morning long we've been asking you for your thoughts on our e-mail question. Here it is. Should the U.S. change its strategy in Iraq? And we got some really good responses. Trevor from North Carolina writes, as a military police lieutenant who has not yet been deployed to Iraq, but will soon, I believe that we as a nation should rally behind our troops and stay the course.
HOLMES: Next we heard from Jackson who tells us, I think our military leaders are being forced into making decisions based on political objectives instead of battlefield conditions. Until they are allowed to say and do what's necessary to win this war, nothing will change.
NGUYEN: And Tony from Florida writes, I believe we should pull out, exclamation point. The best thing to do is apologize to Saddam and give him his rifle back and then give him a couple million dollars and he will straighten Iraq out in one month. And of course, Tony is being facetious here. But we do love those comments. Do send them in and you know what, tomorrow we'll have another e-mail question for you. So stay tuned for that.
Other stories across America. In California, the 89-year-old man who crashed his car into a crowded Santa Monica farmer's market three years ago - here's a video of that. Do you remember this? Well, he's going to be sentenced next week. George Russell Weller was found guilty of killing 10 people. Prosecutors say Weller was negligent and showed no remorse.
HOLMES: In Maryland this morning, investigators are trying to learn what caused this fire in an office building on the Fort Meade army base. It took hours to put it out. The six-alarm blaze started sometimes after 3:00 yesterday afternoon.
NGUYEN: Police are looking for a teenage boy suspected of car jacking New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's vehicle. The say the suspect and a 17-year old girl assaulted a personal employee of the mayor and then took his car. Bloomberg was not in it. The female is in custody. Both teens face theft and aggravated assault charges.
HOLMES: The spirit of Detroit statue getting some new gear. Of course, the Detroit Tigers jersey. The statue was at the center of a pep rally we saw not long ago.
NGUYEN: ... shirt right there. HOLMES: You can't get that one at the store. Just how much polyester, as you're probably wondering, Betty, did this 26-foot tall...
NGUYEN: Go ahead TJ, tell me.
HOLMES: Three hundred square feet.
NGUYEN: That's a big man.
HOLMES: That's a lot of polyester.
NGUYEN: Reynolds Wolf is wearing a little polyester today. No, I'm just kidding. That's a silk suit, right Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Polyester all the way, absolutely. No question about it, I'm definitely a polyester kind of guy. The thing you're really going to need to wear tonight if you happen to be in Detroit is rain gear. There are going to be some scattered showers thunderstorms, probably not, but still some soaking rainfall. Right now, we're seeing some rainfall that is stretching just from the thumb of Michigan as they call it, kind of like the state's in the shape of a mitt if you will. This being the thumb, up here the fingers and that's where we're seeing the rain fall, mainly east of Detroit also some forming into the west. Scattered showers popping up on and off. The reason why we're going to see it is because this area of low pressure and this trailing cold front is going to be moving right behind it.
Now back out to the west, we're going to see some precipitation but of an entirely different variety. We're not talking about raindrops, but rather snow flakes. Some places just west of Denver right on I-70 in the higher elevations, they could see some decent snowfall anywhere say from just a few inches to up to 18 inches in the high spots. This is really great news for people up in Telluride and also for people say Vail or Aspen. And out to the west, you're not see much at all except plenty of sunshine, should be absolutely sly lovely for the west coast.
Also pretty nice in the northeast as well. In New York and Boston, your high temperatures for the day will warm up into the 60s, the 70s from Washington, D.C., 68 in Atlanta, Georgia, 72 in Dallas and 52 in Minneapolis, the twin cities. That's a look at your forecast. Let's send it back to you.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds. We'll talk to you shortly.
Open adoption. Some people support the idea. Others criticize it.
HOLMES: That's coming up at 11:00. We'll explore whether adopted children should have a relationship with their birth parents. Keep it right here in the newsroom.
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