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American Morning
October Now Deadliest Month For U.S. Troops So Far This Year; Barack Obama For President?; Mitt Romney Appealing, Political Experts Say, To Far Right; Dan Bartlett Interview
Aired October 23, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For American forces this year. This as the White House denies a "New York Times" report saying that the U.S. now wants a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also happening this morning. There's 15 days until the '06 elections. Political pros looking over the horizon, though. A lot of buzz about who will make a bid for the Oval Office.
S. O'BRIEN: New challenge to Madonna's attempt to adopt an African boy. This time it's coming from the boy's father. Now he says he didn't understand that the adoption would be permanent.
M. O'BRIEN: Another hurricane could hit Baja, California, as early as tomorrow. Hurricane Paul expected to strengthen a little more before landfall. Chad Myers at the Weather Center. He's watching that, of course. But also it's kind of chilly in parts of the U.S. this morning.
Good morning, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: In Iraq now, the holy month of Ramadan will be remembered for its terrible violence. As we've been telling you, October has now become the deadliest months for U.S. troops so far this year. CNN's John Roberts is imbedded with U.S. troops in Taji, Iraq. Kathleen Koch is at the White House for us this morning. Let's begin with John.
John, good morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been a particularly deadly month here for U.S. forces. Eighty-six have died so far in the 23 days of October. That surpasses the 76 who were killed in April of 2004. And it puts it on track to be the deadliest month of this engagement so far, on track to surpass the record that was set back in November of 2004 during that massive battle for Fallujah.
We spent some time over the weekend with the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division. It's been a particularly tough month for them. They've lost at least 15 men. Most of those to those improvised explosive devices, the roadside bombs, which continue to be the major threat to U.S. forces here.
The U.S. forces are also facing a growing problem with the sectarian violence that threatens to envelop the entire country. It started in Baghdad, but now it's spreading. The area of operations that we're in, the Camp Taji services. It's about a 500 square mile area north of Baghdad. There are towns that are predominantly Sunni, towns that are predominantly Shiite, towns that are mixed.
Those towns now can't really say that they're at war with each other, but certainly the tensions are much greater than they were before. But there are some mixed villages now that are either empty because the militias have decided to make that their battleground, or Shiites are pushing Sunnis out, Sunnis are pushing Shiites out.
It's a particularly difficult challenge for the U.S. military to engage and to solve as well because this is not something they were trained for. They were trained for frontal assault, to deal with an enemy, not to get in the middle of this sectarian violence. So what they do is they try to spend a lot of time in these towns and villages talking to the elders, talking to other people there, saying, what do you need?
And what we keep hearing from all of these people, the ones, at least, who are not trying to foment the violence, not the radical elements, but the normal towns folk is, they need more security. And the problem is, that in the Sunni towns, they don't trust the Iraqi police. They don't trust the ministry of the interior. And the Shiites, on the other hand, think that the Sunnis are always trying to them.
So this is a particularly difficult challenge for the U.S. military. One that it appears the current plan may not be able to solve. Major General William Caldwell, the chief spokesman for the multinational forces here, said last week that they are disappointed, dismayed with the amount of violence that continues in Baghdad despite this clear hold and build strategy that they've been engaging in for the last couple of months. That the strategy needs reviewing. Perhaps it needs changing altogether.
That big meeting at the White House over the weekend failed to come up with any definitive plan. The people on the ground here, Iraqis, are desperate for some sort of change and that's something that the U.S. military will urgently need to address in the weeks to come.
John Roberts, CNN, at Camp Taji with the U.S. forces.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: An update for you. Since that report was filed, the death toll has been lowered to 85.
The White House denies that it's working up a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq. That contradicts a report in Sunday's "New York Times" that says that the administration will call on the Iraqi government to set its own timetable for withdrawal. CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House this morning with more.
Good morning to you, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Yes, that story appeared on the front page of "The New York Times" Sunday. What it did basically saying was that the Bush administration was drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government within which it had to basically address the sectarian violence in Iraq and then assume a larger control in securing the country, obviously then freeing up U.S. troops.
A senior administration official tells CNN that that report is "overwritten." And that official insists that the U.S. and the Iraqis have been working for months on a series of, "benchmarks" and "milestones." Benchmarks would include goals when it comes to the training of Iraqi police, reconstruction, reconciliation.
This official goes on to say that this notion that there is a specific plan for penalizing the Iraqi government that's, "signed off on" and that corresponds to then a reduction in U.S. troops is simply, "not the case." Going on to say that such a plan has not been given to the Iraqi government.
Now, at the same time, the official says that's not to say that if the Iraqis didn't make progress, didn't start meeting some hard and fast goals and benchmarks, that the U.S. would not adjust and adapt to that. And it's important to point out the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in a press conference Friday, did hint that General George Casey is working on a set of "projections and goals" within which certain provinces in Iraq could be turned over to the Iraqis -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, Kathleen, President Bush has met with key players over the weekend. Was that a fruitful meeting? What happened?
KOCH: That was a meeting, a rare Saturday meeting, that the president had with his top military officials. And they also included Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, again, top military officials in Iraq, top White House officials. And the White House really wouldn't characterize what was accomplished at the meeting, how productive it was.
But they did put out a statement saying, "the participants focused on the nature of the enemy, the challenges in Iraq, how to better pursue our strategy and the stakes for succeeding for the region and the security of the American people."
But, Soledad, as you mentioned, hitting this milestone of 85 U.S. deaths in Iraq, the most this year, the American people certainly are going to be wanting to start seeing some progress there very soon.
Back to you.
S. O'BRIEN: And at the polls. All right, thank you, Kathleen Koch for us at the White House.
KOCH: You bet.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we're going to talk Iraqi strategy with the counselor to President Bush, Dan Bartlett. That happens at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Just about 20 minutes from now.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: A high-ranking U.S. diplomat apologizing for saying the U.S. displayed stupidity and arrogance in Iraq. Alberto Fernandez is a State Department spokesman fluent in Arabic. On Saturday, he told the Arab television network Al-Jazeera history could show the U.S. displayed arrogance and stupidity in Iraq.
Yesterday Fernandez did a 180, saying, "Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the U.S. in Iraq. This represents neither my views nor those of the State Department. I apologize."
So did Fernandez's bosses get to him? It's anyone's guess. But interesting to note the diplomat was defending those comments as late as Saturday night right here on CNN.
Taking a look at some stories around the world for you.
Sudan is kicking out a top United Nations official after some blunt comments about Darfur. Sudan is expelling the Dutch Diplomat Jan Pronk, giving him three days to leave. Pronk wrote in his blog that Sudanese government forces suffered heavy losses in battles with rebels in the Darfur region. The U.N. would like to put 20,000 peacekeepers in place to end what's essentially a genocide there, but Sudan's government won't allow that deployment.
Israel is suspending its flu vaccine program. This after four men who had been recently inoculated died. The vaccinations were halted yesterday, although Israel's health minister says that he sees no connection between the vaccines and the deaths. He wants a full investigation. More than 140,000 Israelis have received the vaccine so far. Three of the victims inoculated at the same clinic.
The people of Panama have voted for a plan to widen the Panama Canal. About 80 percent of the voters approved the referendum. The $5 billion project would accommodate a new generation of cargo ships to big to use the current canal. Supporters argue that the cost of widening the canal will be offset by a hike in transit fees -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.
In Florida, one person is dead after a head-on crash between a pickup truck and a tour bus. Police say the driver of the pickup died after he crossed the median and then hit the bus. Four of the passengers on the bus suffered minor injuries. In southwest Pennsylvania, families evacuated after a train derailment are now returning home. They had to leave on Friday. Police were worried that grain alcohol being carried by the train would explode. It now looks like there's a problem with the breaks and that's what's to blame for the derailment.
In New York, more human remains have been discovered at Ground Zero. The medical examiner is now testing 18 bones. Crews have been combing Ground Zero for remains since last week when bones were found at a nearby construction site. It's still unknown if those remains belong to 9/11 victims.
In Colorado, authorities now identifying a man who turned up in Denver suffering from amnesia. Couldn't remember anything. It turns out he's 40-year-old Jeff Ingram. His fiance spotted his picture while she was watching the news. She says Jeff disappeared six weeks ago while he was on a trip to Canada. Doctors say Ingram still has a long ways to go before he regains all of his memory.
In California, a television legend is dead. Actress Jane Wyatt, known for her role as the adoring housewife and mother in "Father Knows Best." Well, she died of natural causes over the weekend. Jane Wyatt was 96 years old.
In Houston, sentencing day for former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling. Skilling is facing more than 20 years in prison for insider trading. The scam that caused the company's collapse and left thousands of Enron employees with no jobs, worthless pensions. Skilling was convicted, along with Enron founder Ken Lay, but Lay died earlier in the year before he could be sentenced.
And in Chicago, take a look at this. It was a beautiful run, but then watch the fall. Ouch. Nasty ending there. You're looking at Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya coming across the tape, 2 hours, 7 minutes, 35 seconds. He's the winner of the Chicago Marathon over the weekend, then he slipped, slammed his head. Turns out he's going to be fine. They took him to a hospital as precaution and, hey, he won.
M. O'BRIEN: I think that looks a little bit like Sandy O'Brien in San Francisco yesterday. She had a tough marathon, hurt her knee.
S. O'BRIEN: Same -- no.
M. O'BRIEN: I don't think she fell flat, but it was a slow finish.
Anyway, some of the stories we're following this morning.
Senator Barack Obama now says he's thinking about running for president in 2008.
And you've heard of "Fantasy Football." What about fantasy Congress? More on that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Here's a look at some of the stories we're following for you this morning.
The White House is denying that there's a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq. That's contradicting a "New York Times" piece that ran yesterday. The Bush administration says its constantly developing new tactics in Iraq.
And the White House also saying that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was well received during her trip to east Asia. The trip's goal was to forge a united front and put a little pressure on North Korea.
Thirteen minutes past the hour. If you're heading out the door, let's get a look at the traveler's forecast for you. Chad's got that.
Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Fifteen days now until the midterm election and political pros are checking, rechecking polls to see which party might control Congress. There's a lot a lot of talk about the race for the White House in '08. And one name that keeps cropping up is Barack Obama, the freshman senator from Illinois who wowed the 2004 Democratic Convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: I think that the speculation is more than I would have anticipated. Right now my focus is on the election that's three weeks away. And that's what I'm spending my time doing is campaigning on behalf of other candidates. I'll have time to think about it after November 7th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: It is still early, but the presumptive Democratic frontrunner is Hillary Clinton. She has another election, however, to consider first. She is running for re-election for Senate in New York 15 days from now. And so the talk about '08 is providing some ammunition for her Republican opponent in this race and putting her a little bit on the defensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: I have made no decisions about any future plans. And if that is a concern to any voter, they should factor that into their decision on November 7th.
JOHN SPENCER (R), NEW YORK SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm the only one standing here today that wants to be a United States senator for the next six years for the people of New York. Senator Clinton has been given the welcome mat by the people of New York six years ago, and I believe she's using us as a door mat.
(END VIDEO CLIP) M. O'BRIEN: Now, on the Republican side of the race for the White House, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney thinking hard about that. AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian looking at that potential run.
Dan, good morning.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, polls seem to favor Senator John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the nomination in 2008. But Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney seems to be carving out his base by appealing, political experts say, to the far right.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): It might feel like he's running for president in 2008, but Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney insists he's just doing his homework.
GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), MASSACHUSETTS: That's not a passive activity. To keep one's option open, you have to be seen in the early primary states. You need to put together a fund raising network and see that you have individuals who might support you if you decided to get into it.
LOTHIAN: From New Hampshire to Iowa to South Carolina, Romney, whose chairman of the Republican Governor's Association, has been raising money and his profile.
RON KAUFMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The more he's out and about traveling for candidates, the more people see him, the more people think this man is a leader for the future.
LOTHIAN: But critics say the process of becoming that leader and the effort to win the hearts of evangelicals is pushing Romney away from the more moderate candidate than he was four years ago.
JEFF SANTOS, TALK SHOW HOST: He has played around with the choice and life issue.
LOTHIAN: Jeff Santos is a liberal Boston radio talk show host.
SANTOS: Taking that hard right turn and somebody thinking that he's believable on that part. I have a hard time with that.
LOTHIAN: Romney admits he now takes a harder line against abortion than he did in his gubernatorial campaign. But he disagrees he's toughened his stance against same-sex marriage.
ROMNEY: I'm in the same position I was before.
LOTHIAN: He shared that position with evangelicals in Boston at a recent nationally televised rally against same-sex marriage.
ROMNEY: Every child deserves a mother and a father. LOTHIAN: A warm welcome from a key voting block. But political analysts say some may ultimately be reluctant to embrace him as a presidential candidate because he's a Mormon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are people in his own party, his won conservative base, the social conservatives, evangelical conservatives, some of whom see the Mormonism as an errant, a deviation from the word of God.
LOTHIAN: Romney says everyone is on the same page when it comes to values, and that is what motivates voters. Republican Adviser Ron Kaufman agrees.
KAUFMAN: People are voting for the commander in chief, I think, not the pastor in chief.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Political analysts say that the Mormon factor is difficult to really measure right now. But it has been getting more attention and it's believed that he is quietly rising to the top tier of potential presidential candidates. And the spotlight will intensify this issue will only get bigger.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Still kind of scratching my head, Dan, about a conservative guy from Massachusetts coming to the fore as a presidential candidate. Bit of a contradiction there on the face of it at least.
LOTHIAN: Well, true. I mean, and I think that goes back to what I said in the piece that, you know, when he was running for governor here in the state of Massachusetts, many say that he was much more moderate in this state because that's what it took to win in a state like this. But what you've been seeing lately is that Romney has been taking some of the more sort of to the right conservative views in order to get that vote that he believes is out there if, indeed, he does run for president.
M. O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian in Boston, thank you very much.
As the election gets closer, CNN will give you a special series of prime time reports all week. It's called "Broken Government." Look for those reports from the best political team on television beginning tonight 8:00 Eastern Time.
Well, you probably heard your friends and co-workers talk about fantasy sports team. You know, you pick a bunch of pro players, a team. The better those players do in real life, the better your team in the fantasy league does. Well, this morning, four young political junkies are putting a new twist on that concept.
The students at McKenna College in California created the Web site FantasyCongress.US. People log on, pick a team of four real life senators and 12 House members. The lawmakers get points for introducing legislation and getting it signed into law. The site's free and so far has about 600 real political wonks playing along at home.
S. O'BRIEN: Room for many more to join in.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, they do. Join in if you'd like.
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look at some of the stories we're following for you this morning.
That man from Malawi who gave his son to Madonna says he never knew that the adoption would be permanent. We'll tell you what's going on in that.
Plus, President Bush is turning his attention to the economy as the midterm elections get closer. Andy will join us with more on that story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The father of that little Malawi boy whom Madonna was hoping to adopt, well now he says he didn't understand that he was permanently signing away custody of his son. He says he wouldn't have agreed to that. Jeff Koinange is CNN's Africa correspondent. He's in Johannesburg this morning.
Hey, Jeff, good morning.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Soledad.
Looks like it's getting messier by the day. The biological father of little baby David says, had he known that Madonna was going to, in his worlds, take his child forever, he wouldn't have agreed to it. He says he was coaxed into signing these adoption papers by government officials, local Malawi officials, and he didn't realize, because apparently when he had signed off the young toddler to the local orphanage, the orphanage would have raised the son, educated him and eventually send him back to him. This is what he thought Madonna was going to do. He didn't know he was literally signing his life away -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Jeff Koinange. One has to imagine, Jeff, that this is going to be fodder for lawsuits all over the place. What happens now?
KOINANGE: Oh, well, immediately right now, this coming Friday, there's a court case in the Malawi high court, in the capital there, where 67 human rights groups have formed an alliance to try and argue the case against international adoptions, especially those of celebrities. But you can just imagine, just like you said, this adds so much fodder.
It gives the people who are advocating against international adoption, gives them a lot of ammunition. And also, at the end of the day, it will discourage a lot of potential celebrities from adopting children in Africa. So you name -- no matter how you see this, it's a lose-lose situation -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: That's really, really tough.
Final question for you. The baby now is in London. What's the expectation? Is Madonna going to have to bring him back until he's resolved? Or does he stay in London till they work out the legal details?
KOINANGE: Good question. That's probably what's going to happen. Because she has an 18-month window right now. But depending on how this court case goes in this high court in Malawi, she may just finally have to give him up because there's been so much publicity, so much negative publicity. This one-year-old probably doesn't even realize how much controversy he's generated. But at the end of the day, it's not -- it doesn't auger well for people intending to adopt children or children who are looking for potential parents outside the continent.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It's tough.
All right, Jeff Koinange for us this morning.
Thanks, Jeff.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Soledad.
President Bush will be talking a lot about the economy this week. Andy Serwer is here to tell you why.
Hello, Andy.
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
You remember that old line, it's the economy stupid. I think that's what President Bush is going to be acting upon over the next couple days. As you suggest, he will be talking about the economy instead of the war in Iraq and the war on terror. And there's good reason to do so. Number one, his ratings are higher when it comes to how he's perceived handling the economy as opposed to handling the war in Iraq. And, number two, the economy's doing pretty well.
Eighty-eight percent of voters say the economy is an important issue. That's about the same number who say that the war in Iraq and the war on terror is an important issue. But then you get to the 42 percent approve of the president's handling of the economy. That's higher than the 37 percent who approve of his handling of the war in Iraq.
The economy's growing. The gasoline prices are falling. The stock market is rising. And inflation and interest rates are fairly benign right now. So you can understand why the president is turning that way. M. O'BRIEN: Are consumers confident though do you think?
SERWER: I think they are. I mean, the stock market and gas prices are really helping that out. And these things can change rather quickly. I mean, if you had asked people over the summer, I think less so, but now more so because of those two factors.
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
SERWER: Very important heading into the elections.
One company that is in the swim right now is Halliburton. It just reported third quarter earnings and they're up 22 percent. A couple of reasons for that. Number one, hurricane season, a bust, which is a good thing for everyone, basically, of course. And that means that their oil service business is doing very well down in the Gulf of Mexico.
Also, the company continues to benefit from work in Iraq. Twenty-one percent of Halliburton's revenues, or $1.2 billion, comes from contracts in Iraq. Seven percent of its income, or $45 million. So someone's making some money there helping out our troops.
M. O'BRIEN: What's next?
SERWER: Next we're going to be talking about charities. And it's been a record season for philanthropy, which is also some good news.
M. O'BRIEN: Glad to hear that.
Andy Serwer, thank you. See you in a minute.
The stories we're following for you right now.
A surge in violence forces the White House to rethink its strategy in Iraq. We'll ask Bush adviser Dan Bartlett about that.
Plus, we'll look at Capitol Hill's incredible shrinking work week. Why your elected representatives aren't exactly working overtime.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us. Let's get right to the news wall for some of the stories we are following this morning.
S. O'BRIEN: The October death toll for U.S. troops is rising now to 85. This as the White House plays down a "New York Times" report that says the U.S. has given Iraq a new timetable for withdrawal. The counselor to the president, Dan Bartlett, will join us just ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling will learn his fate today for his role in the biggest corporate scandal in U.S. history. Skilling could be sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
S. O'BRIEN: Hurricane Paul is churning toward Baja California and Mexico. Could make landfall as early as Tuesday. At 32 minutes past the hour let's get right to Chad who is watching Paul and some cold temps too. Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad. That's a 100-mile-per-hour storm out there. Now we have winds some across the Northeast, not nearly that strong, but they will cause problems, LaGuardia, JFK and Philadelphia. All between an hour and probably an hour and a half. Even Dulles as well. Atlanta with some crosswind, Chicago and LAX. Now, that's almost every major airport in the country today with some type of airport delay and then they start to feed on each other.
Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Chad. Appreciate that.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is over. And in Iraq is ended as it began, with unrelenting violence. Eighty five U.S. troops dead, Iraqi civilians dying at a rate of 40 a day in sectarian violence. President Bush met with his top generals and advisors over the weekend. No major changes in Iraq strategy announced so far. Dan Bartlett, counselor to President Bush joining us from the White House.
Thanks very much for being with us, Dan.
DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Morning, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: What can you tell us about these meetings?
BARTLETT: Well, these meetings take place constantly. And what President Bush is doing is meeting with his top commanders on the ground, as well as our diplomats on the ground to ensure that we are adopting the right tactics and strategies to impress upon the Iraqi government to take more control of their own country.
As the president and many of our commanders have said, we're not going to solve this problem just from a military standpoint. We must also solve is from a political standpoint.
So what President Bush and our team on the ground in Baghdad are doing is constantly finding new ways to impress upon the Iraqis to take more control of their country, to make sure that we have the right tactics in place to respond to the enemy's own actions. And we've seen that in Baghdad recently. As we had an initial success in the Baghdad security plan, they then, the enemy changed their tactics. And now we're having to adapt to fight back.
And it's a very important fight there. And it's important that we support this Iraqi government to ensure upon a victory there for them. Because 12 million Iraqis stepped up and said they want to have a representative government, they want peace and stability in their country. And it's important to the security of our country for them to succeed. And it's been a very difficult month as the statistics you've just said, Miles, but it doesn't make it any less necessary that we prevail.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about definitions of success.
BARTLETT: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: And part of defining success is creating benchmarks, timetables.
BARTLETT: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: "The New York Times" yesterday reporting that the administration is putting forth timetables that the Iraqis would set forth and try to meet in order to move forward. Are there timetables? Are there benchmarks and do you think that's appropriate?
BARTLETT: It is appropriate to have benchmarks and milestones. I think the story was a little bit overwritten, claiming this was a new strategy. This is something that we've been working for months with the Iraqi government on. Both on the security front, as I mentioned earlier and on the political front because it's important that the Iraqi government have very understandable goals for them to reach over the period of the coming months, and we've been negotiating with them to discuss what exactly those goals and milestones would look like.
M. O'BRIEN: Can you tell us -- Can you give us some specifics on it?
BARTLETT: Well, a lot of it is like we described in the past, when you talk about capabilities of certain units and brigades of the Iraqi police and security forces. As we've described many times, the Iraqi army is much more advanced than the Iraqi police. The police has had some problems and has been exposed to be complicit in some of the sectarian violence.
Prime Minister Maliki in recent weeks has taken some steps to address that by taking units off of the streets as well as taking some top commanders out of control, command and control responsibilities. Those are the types of things we're going to want to see. On the political front, there would be benchmarks to say how long would it take them to resolve the oil issue, for example, how long it would take them to resolve reconciliation issues such as de-Baathification.
These are all very thorny issues that the Iraqi government recognizes they have to confront. The question is how can they do it, in what type of timetable or benchmarking should we expect them to do that? It is important to understand, Miles, they want to have this benchmark and milestone process just as much as we do. They want to take over as much control as they are capable of doing and as quickly as possible. So it's in both of our interests that we set out and map out how we can achieve a mutual goal.
O'BRIEN: Are there corresponding timetables and benchmarks which would lead to a withdrawal of U.S. troops?
BARTLETT: I think that's where the story could leave somebody confused exactly what we're doing. We will constantly assess troop strength and troop presence in Iraq, in Baghdad, in other aspects of the country, based upon the conditions on the ground.
These benchmarks will very much influence the thinking of a commander or thinking of the Iraqi government. But to link the two directly I think is where the story left the wrong impression. The president has constantly said that it's going to be up to the commanders and our diplomats on the ground to give him advice about what our troop strength ought to be in order to prevail in this conflict.
And it's important we do it in a way that doesn't prematurely pull our troops out before we're able to succeed.
O'BRIEN: But look at the numbers, though, Dan.
BARTLETT: Sure.
O'BRIEN: Since July the U.S. forces put a big focus on Baghdad, 13,000 troops, almost doubling the number of troops there. What we've witnessed is a tremendous upsurge in violence. I guess you've come to the conclusion that perhaps U.S. troops are not part of the solution, but part of the problem. Does that lead you to believe that pulling out U.S. troops sooner rather than later is a good idea?
BARTLETT: Well, I don't think that's the case. In a sense -- There's no question it's almost a fact of nature in modern warfare that if you engage in the enemy more, you're going to take more casualties. We've, in fact, had more U.S. forces on the ground engaging the enemy. Therefore, unfortunately, we have taken more sacrifices.
But I think most people would argue we are part of the solution in Iraq, not part of the problem. Although we have to understand about our long-term presence in that country and that's something we're constantly talking to the Iraqi government about.
But the fact of the matter is that our commanders are there on the ground, seeing the situation play out hour by hour, are constantly evaluating that very question. Where is the best and most appropriate use of U.S. forces whether in Baghdad or outside of Baghdad. That is what we're constantly adapting.
But I must say, just because we have taken some serious sacrifices this month and that the fighting has been remarkably violent, that doesn't make it any less necessary for us to be there and to make sure we prevail. Because if we do, as some suggested, let's just set a timetable and get out as quickly as possible, that can only embolden the enemy, it can only provide sanctuary for terrorism and that is going to be a situation that makes our country less secure. And that's something that the president is not going to accept.
M. O'BRIEN: White House counselor Dan Bartlett, thanks for your time.
BARTLETT: Thanks, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Americans go to the polls in two weeks, going to decide which party is going to control Congress. One thing is clear, voters are very unhappy with their elected leaders. In our latest poll done for CNN by the Opinion Research Corporation, 78 percent of people polled say they think our system of government is broken. White House correspondent Ed Henry is with us in person this morning. It's nice to see you. Good morning.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Good to see you.
S. O'BRIEN: Does that number shock you?
HENRY: Not really. Because Congress is held in pretty low regard right now. It's a place that I covered a long time and I'm working on a one-hour special that's going to appear tonight.
And one of the big reasons they're held in such low regard is their light work schedule. In fact, a lot of lobbyists like to joke, What do Congress members whisper to each other on Wednesdays? Have a good weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM DASCHLE, FORMER SENATOR (D), SOUTH DAKOTA: Senator Lott and I used to joke that if we really wanted everybody here for every important vote, the only time we could actually schedule it was Wednesday afternoon.
HENRY (voice-over): The Congress has become the Tuesday through Thursday club, with lawmakers enjoying a work schedule most Americans can only dream of, pulling in $165,000 for what's essentially become a part-time job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're looking good. Keep those arms moving.
HENRY: Former majority leader Trent Lott recalls senators routinely lining up in front of his office begging for their four-day weekends.
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: Oh, yeah, they'd just -- please, let me get out of here on Thursday night. I'd rather stay until midnight on Thursday so I can catch the 7:30 flight out. Or please don't have votes after about 7:30 so I can catch that -- and some of them would get pretty aggressive about it.
HENRY: A recent "New York Times" poll found most Americans can't name a single piece of legislation that made its way through this Congress. Social Security reform? Didn't happen. Tougher immigration laws? Nope. Tighter ethics standards? Not a chance.
In the 1960s and '70s, Congress met an average of 161 days a year. In the '80s and '90s, that number dropped to 139 days. This year Congress will probably end up working just about 100 days.
DAN ROSTENKOWSKI, FORMER REPRESENTATIVE: It isn't a legislative process anymore. Work one day a week? Work a day and a half a week? I mean, it's crazy. It's just crazy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (on camera): Now, the smart money says if Democrats take control of Congress, gridlock will get even worse in the president's final two years, and it may. But in the 1980s, divided government actually produced better results because there is a check and a balance. The catch, though, is that people like Dan Rostenkowski that you saw there and Ronald Reagan, they had genuine respect for each other.
It doesn't really seem like Nancy Pelosi, who would be the speaker of the House and President Bush really have that respect. But Democrats are going to have a lot of pressure to produce results if they take control of Congress. They've had funs throwing stones at the president, but now they are going to have to produce show results.
S. O'BRIEN: And if in fact they do take control, suddenly the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak.
Corruption. What kind of role do you think the sense that Congress has a lot of corruption in it, certainly, is playing in all of this?
HENRY: Especially given the Mark Foley scandal that we've seen play out recently.
S. O'BRIEN: And the DeLay scandal.
HENRY: Sure, there's a whole pile. And on the Democratic side as well, you had William Jefferson, the Democratic congressman, they found $90,000 in his freezer.
S. O'BRIEN: He still doesn't account for it.
HENRY: Insists no wrongdoing at all and he hasn't yet been charged with anything and he says he didn't do anything wrong. But the fact of the matter is we point out in this piece tonight the Democrats were arrogant and they got corrupt when they ran the place. And I think in the last 12 years it's pretty clear the Republicans now have problems of their own. I think it will be a big factor.
And I always remember what a conservative activist told me when I was working on a story about the Jack Abramoff -- the lobbyist, that scandal. He said a lot conservatives go to Washington thinking it's a cesspool and they wind up believing it's a hot tub.
S. O'BRIEN: There they are swimming in it. Ed Henry, always nice to see you in person.
HENRY: Good to see you.
S. O'BRIEN: You have got that special series, a primetime report that's going to be happening all week. It is called "Broken Government." Look for reports from our best political team on TV. That begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Stories we're following this morning, the United Nations is expected to come up with a draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program this week.
And is lethal injection cruel and unusual punishment? We'll look at a growing death row debate in California. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Some stories we're watching for you this morning, the former Enron chief Jeff Skilling is going to be sentenced today, could get more than 20 years in prison and he faces $18 million in fines.
And Senator Barack Obama now says, in fact, he is considering a run for presidency in 2008. Originally he said he wasn't going to run.
Forty six minutes past the hour. If you're about to head out the door, wait, stop, let's get a look at the traveler's forecast for you from Chad. Good morning.
MYERS: Good morning, Soledad. Some snow across parts of Michigan, light rain across parts of New York and New England this morning but that all really moves out as the cold front pushes all of the potential moisture away. There still could be light lake-effect snow.
And what a change in the pattern now that we're seeing with the colder air working its way through the Great Lakes and then it comes down as snow in the higher elevations, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus County, all the way down into Pittsburgh. That really ends tomorrow and a warming trend begins in the Plains that it will be a fairly chilly week all week across the New York/New England region.
Back to you in New York.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad. A quarter century after a brutal murder in California, a legal fight is being waged over how the killer should be executed. Defense attorneys say that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment, which is unconstitutional. More from CNN's Thelma Gutierrez in Lodi, California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA CHRISTIAN, VICTIM'S MOTHER: My heart is buried here. THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than two decades, Barbara Christian has had no peace.
CHRISTIAN: When I go to bed at night the murder scene flashes before my eyes.
GUTIERREZ: A horrific site. It was 1981. Barbara's daughter, Terri Winchell (ph), just 17, a straight-A high school student, is kidnapped by 21 year old Michael Morales and his cousin, Ricky Ortega. While Ortega was driving down the highway, Morales placed a belt around Terry's neck and tried to strangle her according to court testimony.
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM'S FAMILY ATTORNEY: She fought so hard that that leather belt broke. And then Michael Morales took out a claw hammer and beat her at the base of her skull 23 times.
GUTIERREZ: The men then drove Terri to a desolate area outside of town where Michael Morales raped and stabbed her multiple times and then they ran her over with the car.
(on camera): Twenty five years after Terri Winchell was murdered in this vineyard here in Lodi, California, there is now a constitutional battle being fought over exactly how her killer will die.
(voice-over): Michael Morales has been sitting on San Quentin's death row for 25 years. Just hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection, his execution was halted.
DAVID SENIOR, MORALES' ATTORNEY: The Eighth Amendment says you can't torture somebody to death.
GUTIERREZ: Morales' attorney David Senior says death by lethal injection at San Quentin violates his client's constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. That the execution team at San Quentin lack the skill, competence, professionalism and training to do the job.
SENIOR: The person that administers the lethal chemicals has no medical training, actually has no medical understanding of really what's involved. They couldn't even identify what the drugs were that were being used.
DANE GILLETTE, SR. ASST. ATTY. GENERAL, CALIFORNIA: That's just flat-out absurd.
GUTIERREZ: Dane Gillette with the California attorney general's office says the syringes are clearly marked one, two and three. That the team has never botched one of its 11 executions. But David Senior says if the inmate is strapped down and paralyzed, there's no way to know.
SENIOR: It's injecting huge quantities of a substance that will burn you from the inside out. GUTIERREZ: The lethal cocktail begins with a painkiller and then a drug to cause paralysis and finally, potassium chloride to stop the heart. Senior says some members of the execution team hadn't even read the state's protocol for administering the lethal injections.
GILLETTE: It is not necessary for every member of the team to read the protocol nor to understand how the drugs work or to understand all of the procedures, so long as they understand their role and their responsibilities.
GUTIERREZ: But legal experts say this case is about checks and balances and accountability.
JODY ARMOUR, LAW PROFESSOR, USC: We believed or assumed to this point that lethal injection is a humane alternative to hanging or even to gunshot blasts. This case is making us wonder whether we really have found the way.
CHRISTIAN: Full of pain and heartache.
GUTIERREZ: Barbara Christian says for her it's about justice.
CHRISTIAN: It was all planned. And she got in like an innocent lamb and they brutalized her. And after doing all that and raping her, they threw her out in the vineyard like used garbage and ran the car over her.
GUTIERREZ: She wonders how much pain her daughter felt.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Lodi, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: A look at some of the stories we're following for you this morning. North Korea may be ready to return to six-party nuclear talks if the U.S. lifts sanctions.
And hackers attack a pair of online brokers. Andy's got that story straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Some of the top stories we're following for you this morning, the Bush administration talking with the new Iraqi government about a new set of specific goals it wants to accomplish, but it's not calling it a timetable.
And the mother behind "Father Knows Best" has died. Actress Jane Wyatt died yesterday in her sleep in Beverly Hills. She was 96.
Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Business news now. Two crimes kind of coming together. Identity theft and stock pump-and-dump schemes. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning. ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. This concerns online brokerage accounts. This is disturbing news for any of you all out there who have those. You might want to be checking your statements over the next couple weeks and months. Because computer hackers from Eastern Europe and Asia have hacked into customers' accounts at online brokerage firms, including e-Trade and Ameritrade. The FBI and the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission are both on the case here.
E-trade recently disclosed that it had to spend $18 million to make its customers whole again.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow.
SERWER: Ameritrade also said that it had to do that but it didn't say how much. Charles Schwab indicating there may be problems there as well.
Now what was going on here, a variety of schemes. In some instances, the thieves were merely taking money out of accounts. In some, as you said, Soledad, they were pumping and dumping, which is jacking up the price of a small stock and then selling it out and making money that way, manipulating shares of a small company to make money.
All of this stuff, of course, is illegal, and these companies are liable for it because their security procedures are such that the hackers are able to come in. So if you have an account where the money was taken out, the brokerage account will, in almost every case, make good on that.
Now, some happier news, Americans are very, very charitable. In 2005 we gave $62.7 billion, up 13 percent from the previous year from 2004, which is nice to see.
You know, some of that might be obvious because, of course, we had the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.
S. O'BRIEN: Big disasters.
SERWER: But even without those relief funds, charitable giving still up nicely in 2005. The Salvation Army, for instance, this is kind of a one-off, doubled -- got double the amount that it did the previous year. A lot of it had to do with a gift of $1.5 billion from the Joan Kroc, the late widow of Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's. But all kinds of good stuff out there.
S. O'BRIEN: That will help boost your bottom line numbers, won't it.
SERWER: Sure will.
S. O'BRIEN: That's good news across the board. Andy, thanks.
What's coming up? SERWER: Coming up we have Kim Il-Jong (sic) from North Korea and -- Kim Jong-Il, excuse me. What exactly does he spend his money on? So it's a good little breakdown there.
S. O'BRIEN: Now, that is going to be interesting.
SERWER: Yep.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Andy, thanks.
SERWER: Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: A look at some of the stories we're following for you this morning. That guy from Malawi that gave his little boy to Madonna, well he says he never knew the adoption would be permanent. We'll take a look at that story just ahead.
And are more U.S. troops the answer to the rising violence in Iraq? That story and much more as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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