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American Morning

Time Frame for Iraqi Troops to Take Full Control of Security; Active Duty Opposition; Republicans in Danger of Losing One or Both Houses of Congress

Aired October 25, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is Wednesday, October 25th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

Lots happening. Let's get right to our news wall.

A violent day in Iraq. Four civilians killed this morning as U.S. and Iraqi forces clash with a Shiite militia. The troops storming an area trying to find a man suspected of organizing death squads.

S. O'BRIEN: Also happening this morning, more testimony about just who knew what and when in the Mark Foley e-mail scandal. A key aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert goes before the House Ethics Committee.

M. O'BRIEN: The Federal Reserve will decide today whether to raise interest rates. Likely there'll be no change.

S. O'BRIEN: And Paul has been downgraded to a tropical storm. The streets, though, in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico are flooded, schools are closed, and one U.S. tourist is presumed dead.

Chad Myers is watching all of that and more at the CNN weather center.

Good morning to you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

Good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: In Iraq, the talk of "stay the course" now replaced by word of "timetables" and "milestones". Iraqi leaders are agreeing to specific benchmarks, hoping to stabilize the country. The hope, Iraqi security forces can take the reins from the U.S. forces in a year, or perhaps a year and a half.

So does this mean U.S. troops are coming home?

CNN's Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon with more on that.

Good morning, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

And the answer is not any time soon, I'm afraid. The U.S. military, both in Iraq and here at the Pentagon, is standing by that possible time frame of 12 to 18 months before Iraqi troops can take full control of their country's security on their own. But at the same time, the U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, is saying that more U.S. troops might be needed still in the interim to help quell the increasing violence in Baghdad.

So, U.S. commanders are looking for signs of improvement, but they're still very, very far from even discussing whether or not the U.S. is winning the conflict there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PETER PACE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: People talk about, "Are you winning?" First you have to define, what is winning? And I don't mean to be glib about that. Winning in this war on terrorism is having security in the countries we're trying to help that allows for those governments to function and for their people to function.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, does insist that progress is being made in Iraq, but it's certainly not enough for some frustrated Republicans struggling to hang on to control of Congress. Thirty-three House Republicans sent a letter to President Bush on Tuesday asking that the military immediately send more Iraqi battalions into the heart of battle in Iraq -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon.

Thank you.

As the military and political leaders re-evaluate strategy in Iraq, there's new opposition from an unexpected source.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN (voice over): Calls to end the war in Iraq are nothing new, but now those calls are coming from a surprising source.

SGT. LIAM MADDEN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I adamantly oppose the war in Iraq. I don't feel American people, Iraqi civilians or American service members benefit from it.

M. O'BRIEN: Marine Sergeant Liam Madden is home from a seven- month tour of duty in Iraq. He's still on active duty and he's one of 118 active duty service members speaking out against the war. BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: For active duty members, I think it's very unusual. The 30 years I served in the military, I don't recall that ever happening.

M. O'BRIEN: Military rules prohibit active duty soldiers from lobbying in uniform or denouncing elected officials.

GARY SOLIS, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER: If they were to insult the president personally or the secretary of defense personally, yes, they could face charges, particularly, most clearly, if they were officers.

M. O'BRIEN: They say they're shielded by whistleblower protection laws that give soldiers the freedom to file complaints with members of Congress. Senators in both parties are denouncing the protest, but the White House is downplaying the opposition.

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's not unusual for soldiers in a time of war to have some misgivings.

MADDEN: There are some important issues that people need to raise. And this is one very close to my heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Now, Madden is trying to recruit more troops to join his campaign. He's launched a Web site to get the word out -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Some confusion and anger about a raid against an Iraqi death squad today. Iraqi troops, with American support, went after a militia commander. The raid targeted the forces of the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and four people were killed in that firefight. But now, according to The Associated Press, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is distancing himself from the raid.

He says he wasn't consulted. He's also criticizing the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and also U.S. commander General George Casey. Al-Maliki says no timeline is going to be imposed on his government.

Yesterday, Khalilzad and Casey, you'll remember, endorsed the idea of a timeline. We were carrying their press conference on our air yesterday morning.

Also, a missing American soldier not yet found, despite a massive search that's been under way. U.S. troops are searching a Baghdad neighborhood house to house now. The soldier is an Iraqi-American. He disappeared on Monday. The Army has been told apparently that he was kidnapped by masked men while he was on an unauthorized visit to his family in Baghdad. There has been no word about any demand for ransom.

Spanish photographer Emilio Morenatti, kidnapped in Gaza, has now been released.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILIO MORENATTI, FREED PHOTOGRAPHER: I am OK. I am OK. Everything is OK. They treat me well and everything is finished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: He's OK. Morenatti, who works for The Associated Press, was abducted yesterday morning as he left his temporary apartment. And his translator saw what happened, said that Morenatti was taken at gunpoint.

After his release, Morenatti was taken to the office of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Morenatti is based in Jerusalem but often works in the West Bank. He said he was tired, but he was unharmed.

Thirteen days until Election Day, and Republicans are in danger of losing one or both houses of Congress. Their leader, President Bush, not on the campaign trail.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is live at the White House for us this morning.

Elaine, good morning. Why not?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well -- good morning to you, Soledad.

Publicly, President Bush's aides insist that despite the fact we're less than two weeks out now from those all-important congressional midterm elections, they say that the president is not shying away from hitting the campaign trail. But as you noted, just one event on the president's public schedule today so far, and that is a meeting later on in the Oval Office.

Now, they say that the president has continued to campaign quite hard and vigorously and that he'll will continue to do so. In fact, the president was on the campaign trail yesterday in Florida.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto insisted that the president is not focusing on a possibility that Republicans will lose control of Congress. He said the White House is confident about the outcome of the midterm elections, saying, "We're still in the game. And if you're in the game, you're in it to win."

But, of course, this election is coming at a time when the president has certainly watched his approval ratings continue to hover in the 30s, weighed down in large part by Iraq. His fellow Republicans are quite nervous about the effect that the war will have on their re-election prospects, so Mr. Bush is finding himself having to walk that very fine line between defending his Iraq policy, trying to remain resolute, while at the same time, as we've seen in recent days, Soledad, trying to send the message as well that his administration is remaining flexible in its tactics -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Well, the first lady's got great approval numbers, so she's hitting the road, isn't she? What's she going to be doing?

QUIJANO: Yes. You know, it's interesting, because that's certainly a fact that is not lost on this White House.

While the president might be staying home today, the first lady is out on the campaign trail. And she'll be heading to Pennsylvania -- or to Minnesota, rather, and Indiana, following up on yesterday. She was out in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Now, polls consistently show that her approval ratings are much higher than her husband's. Sometimes twice as much.

The White House really is hoping that by having her out there in a very public way, she'll be able to reach out, perhaps, in a way that her husband can't, particularly to moderates. And so for those Republicans who are moderates facing some tight elections this year, they are hoping that, in fact, Laura Bush will be able to bring some of that campaign luck their way.

President Bush likes to joke about it all the time, Soledad, as you know, how he always says that the first lady, of course, is the first choice. But certainly a ring of truth to that now as we're heading into the home stretch.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely a ring of truth. And those low numbers nothing to laugh at. It might be the case after the election.

All right. Thanks.

Elaine Quijano at the White House for us -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A Republican congressional candidate in California is staying the course, ignoring calm calls from his own party to bow out. Tan Nguyen says he won't withdraw even if he's charged with a crime. Nguyen denies he approved an intimidating letter to voters. The FBI raided his campaign office for evidence.

That letter, you'll recall, implied that naturalized citizens, not just illegal immigrants, could be jailed if they tried to vote. And, of course, that's not true.

More testimony today about who knew what and when in the Mark Foley page scandal. A counsel to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Ted Vandermeade (ph), will go before the House Ethics Committee. The speaker himself testified yesterday, made a short statement as he left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), HOUSE SPEAKER: I thank the committee for prompt action, for moving forward on this committee, on this inquiry. They did so.

I answered all the questions they asked to the best of my ability. I also said that they needed to move quickly to get to the bottom of this issue, including who knew about the sexually explicit messages and when they knew about it. So they needed to do make sure that they ask all the questions of everybody.

Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Hastert has said he did not know about the e-mails until one month ago when Foley resigned.

Illegal immigration a divisive subject for voters heading to the polls in less than two weeks. Check out the latest numbers in our CNN Opinion Research poll.

More than two-thirds, 67 percent, say the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. should be decreased, but 53 percent are opposed to building a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Fifty- eight percent are in favor of large fines for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

And once again, that poll done with the Opinion Research Corporation.

All this week, the best political team on television is looking at America's "Broken Government" Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, Lou Dobbs to host a town hall meeting on our broken borders.

And stay tuned. After "Broken Borders" for "CNN PRESENTS," "Immigrant Nation" -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Some of the stories we're following for you this morning.

The civilian death toll climbs in Baghdad. One family shares their painful story with CNN straight ahead.

And Rush Limbaugh accuses Michael J. Fox of faking symptoms of Parkinson's in a new political ad.

That story, much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Some of the top stories we're following.

Breaking news from North Korea. The country saying South Korea's participation in sanctions against the north could lead to war. That's coming from the Reuters news service.

We'll be watching it for you.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez may stop trying to get a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Venezuela has failed to win the seat after 35 votes. The last time Chavez made news in the U.N., you remember, he was calling the president the devil. Let's get a check of the weather a quarter past the hour. Chad Myers looking at that for us.

Hello, Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: The month of Ramadan was a bloody one in Baghdad for American soldiers and for Iraqi civilians as well. Today, the story of one Iraqi family that was hit hard by the violence that has plagued that nation over the last few weeks.

CNN's Arwa Damon has the story.

Good morning, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

For many people this should have been a time of celebration. This is Eid, which is the most significant religious celebration for Muslims. It marks the end of the fasting that happens during the holy month of Ramadan. But this year sorrow is overshadowing celebration for many here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice over): Policeman Mohammed al-Mashadani (ph) left his home at 8:00 a.m. four days into Ramadan. An hour and a half later, his body was found dumped next to a kindergarten just outside his neighborhood.

GHANIYE NASIR, VICTIM'S MOTHER (through translator): They dumped him on the sidewalk, pouring blood. They shot him here and here and here, pouring blood and dead in the street.

DAMON: No one knows why he was killed. All the family knows is their grief. Saher's mourning veil hides her tears, but nothing can hide her pain. Mohammed (ph) was her childhood sweetheart.

Theirs was a marriage that bridged sectarian divides. His family Sunni, hers Shia.

SAHER SABAH, VICTIM'S WIFE (through translator): For three days I was in shock. I only knew how to breathe. What are my children's crimes? Eid is coming and their father is gone.

DAMON: Holidays and celebrations will never be the same.

Five-year-old Yusef (ph) and two-year-old Hassan (ph) are too young to understand what happened to their father. From the little ones' perspectives, Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan, still means time at the park with the neighborhood kids.

Residents say, safe enough, thanks to the Mehdi militia pulling security. Militias and toy guns just a part of Iraqi society.

Hassan (ph) still runs after cars he thinks are his father coming home.

NASIR (through translator): It's like I'm looking at him when I'm looking at his children. I was always affectionate with him, but now even more.

DAMON: Ghaniye has buried her son. Saher will live without her husband. The boys will grow up without their father.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: In the past two years, some 4,000 Iraqi policemen have been killed in violence. Mohammed al-Mashadani's (ph) story that we just brought to you is only one of them.

S. O'BRIEN: And it's a sad story, too.

Arwa Damon for us this morning.

And what's more sad about it, of course, is it's not only the Iraqi civilians, but also American soldiers as well. Terrible.

Arwa Damon in Baghdad -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thirteen and 15, those are the numbers you are focused on this morning if you are a political pro. Thirteen days until the election, 15 seats, the Republican margin over Democrats in the House of Representatives. Add up the numbers, you end up with a negative, as in some nasty negative campaigning.

Our chief national correspondent, John King, back for more today.

It's good to see you again, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I was thinking 15 days until a day off, maybe.

M. O'BRIEN: Maybe so the way you're going. That's exactly the way it's coming up. The cable mule today, John King, joining us.

Let's talk -- before we get to the negative stuff, which is interesting stuff, I want to talk about Michael J. Fox. But first, "The New York Times" this morning endorsing Christopher Shay's opponent in the Connecticut race for that seat.

Chris Shays a moderate Republican. That's a rare bird, indeed, these days. And in the past has been endorsed by "The Times". Diane Farrell gets the nod.

This is an important race, isn't it?

KING: It's a very important race. It's one of the tightest congressional races in the country, and it's a sign of how the moderate northeast wing of the Republican Party is struggling, increasingly because of the war in Iraq. There are some others issues as well.

This is significant because "The Times" has endorsed him against this very same opponent two years ago. In all his other races, they're saying, look, we disagree with him on a lot of issues, but he's a moderate voice. We need that in the Republican Party.

Now they say he's moved too far to the right. But I also think we can -- shouldn't overplay this. You can probably count on one hand the number of voters in that district who are going to wake up this morning and change their mind because of the newspaper. But it is a sign of the national mood.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a good point.

Dennis Hastert, the House speaker, testifying yesterday before the House Ethics Committee. His seat is safe, but some of the Republican leadership around him in this Foley scandal, the page scandal, may not be so safe.

What is the latest on what the Foley factor will really be?

KING: Less of a national impact than some of us initially thought. But you're right, it is affecting some races. And with the narrow margin, it will only take a few.

Another member of the leadership is another northeast moderate, Tom Reynolds, of the Buffalo area. He is in trouble because of this, because there's a question of whether he had information about Mark Foley and whether he acted urgently enough on it.

Are we seeing a giant national impact? No. But you don't need much in such a competitive year.

If it's a little percentage of a conservative vote here, or a little backlash by Independents -- and so far that's -- we all thought at the beginning it would be about values and about conservatives. Pollsters are saying it's about in races where Independents matter. It has become more proof to them that Republicans just will do anything to keep power. There's a bit of a disgust level there. So worth watching, but not the broad national impact many of us thought at first.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

It was radio day at the White House yesterday, and the administration team was out there doing their best to spin. It's all about spin, after all. And I thought one of the most interesting things -- there was a lot of things you might predict, but one of the most interesting things was the vice president on Sean Hannity's radio program, in a sense endorsing Hillary Clinton. Not quite, but anyway, saying, "She has a good chance, I think she could win."

What do you make of that?

KING: I think that they believe it. I think if you ask the vice president, ask anybody serious in Republican politics -- I know Karl Rove has studied this question -- they think she would be a very formidable candidate.

They look at it this way: there's no reason they say that Hillary Clinton can't win every state Al Gore won. The Supreme Court had to decide that election. There's no reason she couldn't win every state John Kerry won. It was a very competitive election; the president just barely got a majority.

And Republicans use this not only to warn the conservative base, do not underestimate Hillary Rodham Clinton, but they also do it to try to fire them up, because if there's anybody who makes the Republican base a bit angry, it's a reminder of the Clintons, Hillary and Bill.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Michael J. Fox versus Rush Limbaugh here. Michael J. Fox suffering from Parkinson's Disease, it ruined his acting career essentially. He's weighing in on the issue of stem cell research in a couple of races.

Let's look at the commercial for just a moment here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: As you might know, I care deeply about stem cell research. In Missouri you can elect Claire McCaskill, who shares my hope for cures. Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Clearly suffering the effects of Parkinson's Disease there as he makes his pitch for stem cell research. But then on Rush Limbaugh, a little later in the day, he responds with this.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: This is really shameless, folks. This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication, or he's acting, one of the two.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Is that a new low?

KING: Well, it's certainly distasteful in the eyes of many, and it will cause a debate about the nasty, negative tone of the campaign. It will also, though, have us talking about the issue at the center of that ad, the stem cell research issue, which is an issue, again, not nationally, but in a few races, that Missouri Senate race, the Maryland Senate race, a few other places.

And Rush Limbaugh did say that he would apologize if it turned out that Michael J. Fox was not acting. But a lot of people, especially in the Parkinson's community, in the advocacy community, are saying, wow, maybe you want to keep your mouth shut on that one.

M. O'BRIEN: Does he have to prove it to Rush Limbaugh? I mean, is that it? I mean...

KING: Rush Limbaugh, he may have a different agenda, too. Again, trying to motivate the other side in this debate.

Thirteen days out, Miles, you're going to hear things like this on the radio, you're going to see it in the advertising. And if you open your mailbox, you're going to see even more nasty stuff in the mail.

M. O'BRIEN: The gloves are off and the brass knuckles are on, I think. All right.

KING: That's the stakes, very competitive.

M. O'BRIEN: John King, you have a long day ahead. Thanks for dropping by.

KING: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Appreciate that -- Soledad.

Oh, John will continue with us all week at this time, by the way -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Wonderful. We love to see him.

Some of the stories we're following for you right this morning.

Is 7-Eleven yanking Cocaine, that drink off of store shelves?

And Major League Baseball reaches a new labor deal. Will it keep fans happy for at least a few years? Andy Serwer's got more on that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Top stories we're following for you.

More human remains discovered at Ground Zero in new York City. Dozens of bones possibly belonging to 9/11 victims have been found in recent weeks.

And the Fed likely to stand (INAUDIBLE) this afternoon. Experts predicting interest rates will not be changed, remaining at 5.25 percent.

We'll see -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Big win for baseball. And we're not talk being about the World Series, at least at this moment we're not.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business".

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Soledad. A couple sports business stories to tell you about this morning.

"Labor Peace for Baseball" is the headline. Yesterday players and owners agreed to a five-year deal right before game three of the World Series last night.

Easy to make a deal these days because both the players and the owners are making money. And that always helps.

You might remember between 1972 and 1985, there were eight work stoppages which turned many a fan off. And yes...

M. O'BRIEN: A euphemism there, work stoppages.

SERWER: Strikes out.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Emotional, terrible strikes.

SERWER: They really were.

And it still pays if your son is out there playing baseball. It pays...

S. O'BRIEN: Or daughter.

SERWER: Well, there are no women -- no women in Major League Baseball.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: It pays to have your daughters play sports, too, but in this instance it pays to have your son play baseball because the minimum salary for a Major League Baseball player is going up from $327,000 to $380,000.

M. O'BRIEN: Should be able to get by on that.

SERWER: Yes.

Now, moving over to football, NFL owners have agreed to have at least two regular season games outside of the United States. This starting in the next year or so. Mexico, Canada -- they already have a football league there -- England, Germany will be the sites of some of these games. And here's why.

It's popular. And last year, you may remember there was the first NFL regular season game between the Cardinals and the 49ers was in Mexico City in Azteca Stadium, the largest crowd ever to see an NFL game anywhere -- 103,000 people showed up.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

SERWER: So you can see there's some money floating around there.

Now here's a headline: 7-Eleven is banning Cocaine. They won't sell it anymore. Of course, we're talking about that new drink.

M. O'BRIEN: They got busted.

SERWER: Yes, they got busted.

S. O'BRIEN: You've been waiting to say that all morning.

SERWER: It really happened, Soledad.

This drink that's been garnering all this attention for its ridiculous name, ridiculous, ludicrous marketing campaign that encourages drug use -- yes, that's my personal opinion.

M. O'BRIEN: I think we are unwittingly a part of the marketing campaign.

SERWER: Yes, we are.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: You see how the lettering is spelled out in kind of white powder? Very cute.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Anyway, there's no cocaine in the drink. 7-Eleven says they're not going to let their franchisees sell it anymore, but there's a lot of caffeine, more than a cup of coffee.

S. O'BRIEN: Four times.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Yes, a lot of it.

S. O'BRIEN: Four times a cup of coffee.

SERWER: That's right. Great stuff that Cocaine.

M. O'BRIEN: Staying away from that stuff, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles and I gave up coffee. That's why we're...

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: You're on Cocaine now. I see. OK -- the drink.

S. O'BRIEN: No, and no.

SERWER: No, and no. Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Some stories we're following for you this morning.

The four-way governor's race in Texas, have you guys been following this?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. It's heating up...

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll introduce you to them just ahead.

And it's day three of our special series called Prescription: Iraq. What would you do to fix what's happening in Iraq? We'll take a look at what U.S. military families think would help. That's straight ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: As the president backs away from "stay the course" in Iraq, the question remains, what exactly is the best strategy there? Our special series, Prescription:Iraq continues this morning, as we ask experts to come up with ways to turn the tide in Iraq. Today's expert is Sarah Smiley. She's a Navy wife, and also a syndicated columnist, writes about military families.

She's in Pensacola, Florida this morning.

Hey, Sara, nice to see you. Good morning.

SARAH SMILEY, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST, "SHORE DUTY": Hi, good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Is there any overwhelming sense of agreement on what's happening currently in Iraq right now among your readers? Do people support it overwhelmingly, or are they against it overwhelmingly?

SMILEY: I think you would find that military families, they have just as many opinions on the policies as the general public does, but I think that we are used to a different type of lifestyle, and we're more accustomed to the idea of war, and long deployments and separations probably than the rest of the country is.

Let's take a look at what some of your readers have been sending to you, some of your feedback. This one comes from someone who calls herself "military girlfriend." She writes this, "I don't think it's reasonable to expect our men and women to put their lives on the line for a cause and not to be shown a plan."

It sounds, to some degree, that there are these confusing messages coming from Washington D.C. At least, that's the way military families feel about it. Is that fair to say?

SMILEY: Well, again, I would agree with her that we should not send our troops out without a clear mission, but I think the troops do have that. We don't necessarily. And I think one thing that military families are very used to is that we won't have all the information. Even when there's not a war, military spouses are taught that on message boards, and e-mails and so forth that operational security, or OP-SEC, that, you know, we're not allowed to say my husband is coming home in two weeks, or my husband is leaving next month, because they don't want that information to get out.

So this whole idea that the public needs to know exactly what the military strategy is, is kind of ridiculous to some military families because war or no war, we usually don't have that kind of information. But our troops do.

S. O'BRIEN: A reader named "military wife" writes this -- "Multiple deployments take such a toll on the member and families involved on every level, so much so that some spouses tell their soldier, get out now or we're going to have some issues ourselves."

It must be so incredibly difficult. I hear you laughing at that. It must be so incredibly difficult, though, seriously, for families when you hear about these, and report on for us, at least, the second and third deployment, not only for the soldier, but the family, too.

SMILEY: Right, and, you know, actually my first book "Going Overboard" was about a time when my husband deployed unexpectedly right at the start of the war, and it was very difficult. That's what my whole book is about, is how hard that was on my family. But you know, that's just part of the military, and sometimes I think people are misled to think when we bring the troops home that means our spouses won't deploy anymore. And with the exception of the Reservists, the active duty military, war or no war, they're deploying all the time anyway, and so this idea that if we bring the troops home, that they'll never miss another Christmas, or birthday or anniversary is kind of a fantasy, because war or no war, my husband is still serving in the military.

S. O'BRIEN: So troops home doesn't necessarily, mean the troops home.

SMILEY: Right, it's not a happily ever after, right.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question, if you were the president, if you were the person who got to draft the policy in Iraq, I mean, sketch out for me, what would you do? What are the issues that you think your ideas could fix right now?

SMILEY: I just think that, you know, the biggest prescription for the situation is just the resolve of the Americans. I think that as a military daughter and spouse, I've been taught to have faith in the leadership, and I do. And I think that I don't have all the information and answers to answer that question. But I have the resolve and the patience to know that the people that do are looking at that, and that they wouldn't put my husband in harm's way, or I hope they wouldn't, without a worthy cause.

S. O'BRIEN: Sarah Smiley is a Navy wife. She's also a syndicated columnist. She writes a column called "Shore Duty." Thanks, Sarah. Appreciate your time this morning.

SMILEY: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: We continue on series Prescription: Iraq all this weekend. On Friday, each expert is going to return for a final discussion on just how the tide could be turned in Iraq -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: This just in -- you probably saw it on the bottom of your screen there -- the president is slated to hold a news conference in the White House East Room at 10:30 Eastern Time, a little less than two hours from now. And of course CNN will bring it to you live. Once again, a White House news conference with the president, 10:30 Eastern Time.

It's been a colorful campaign for governor in Texas, thanks largely to a candidate named "Kinky."

Kinky Friedman unlikely bid to run the state has made this one of the country's most closely watched races.

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken live from San Antonio with more.

Hello, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

And we are here with the CNN Election Express, because as you point out, this is a race with lots and lots and lots of personality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Musician, satirical writer, comedian Kinky Friedman has gotten a huge amount of attention with what he calls his 'why the hell not' campaign. But he's under 10 percent in most polls, fourth, way behind the leader.

KINKY FRIEDMAN (I), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know I've always had a good opinion of Rick Perry and I think he's always had a bad opinion of me, and perhaps we've both been mistaken.

FRANKEN: That would be Governor Rick Perry who is about as opposite a personality from Friedman as you might find.

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: And Texans understand that anger is not an agenda for the future.

FRANKEN: Why would he be angry, he's leading, but with under 40 percent of these polls, and that's because this is one crowded race.

At 20 percent, Democrat Chris Bell, the former congressman who filed the first ethics complaint against Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay, now former Congressman DeLay. In the only debate of this campaign, he made sure that Democrats did not forget.

CHRIS BELL (D), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: When I was a member of the United States Congress, I stood up to Tom DeLay because it was the right thing to do and because it was important for our future.

FRANKEN: And then there's grandma in third place.

CAROL KEETON STRAYHORN (I), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

FRANKEN: Carol Keeton Strayhorn is the state controller. She's running as one-tough grandma and as a Republican turned Independent.

STRAYHORN: We've got to set aside partisan politics, listen to the people and do what's right.

FRANKEN: President Bush is expected to appear at a rally for Governor Perry, even though some worry that Perry's biggest threat is dissatisfaction with Republicans. There's also talk of former President Clinton coming to Texas for the Democrat Bell.

As for Kinky Friedman, Jesse Ventura is a big supporter, the professional wrestler who became one-term Minnesota governor, with every indication that Kinky will remain a no-term governor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: And we remember the good old days when character was the issue in campaign. Well, here, Miles, it is definitely characters, plural.

M. O'BRIEN: You sure would know that. Let's talk about the possibility when all is said and done here nobody has a simple majority after Election Day. Is there a runoff likely?

FRANKEN: No, there is no runoff. They don't provide for one here. Whoever would get the plurality, under 50 percent, would win, and there's precedent for that one. Ann Richards was elected governor here. She, too, won without an absolute majority.

M. O'BRIEN: Boy, that would be an interesting -- whoever wins with that kind of numbers might have a hard time governing. That will be very interesting.

All right, Bob Franken, with the Campaign Express there in San Antonio, appreciate it.

All the day's political news available on CNN.com/news ticker. It's there all the time for you. Any time you need a political hit, just go there, it's there for you.

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S. O'BRIEN: Here's a story that really is about as callous as you can get. When your money runs out, so does the compassion. At least that's what police are saying is happening in L.A., where some clinics are dumping patients who can not pay, and they're dumping them on Skid Row, one of the city's worst area.

AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors say these pictures show ambulance drivers dumping five patients into one of the most dangerous areas of L.A.

JEFF ISAACS, DEP. CHIEF ATTY.: Skid Row is something akin to Dante's Inferno, not the place you want to be discharging patients, especially elderly patients, or patients who are disoriented.

LAWRENCE: Police say none of them wanted to go to skid row. In fact, this patient asked to be taken home.

CAPT. ANDREW SMITH, L.A. POLICE: He just happened to go to a medical facility whose discharge apparently is when you run out of money, your insurance will take you to skid row.

LAWRENCE: Prosecutors say they're considering felony charges of fraud and dependent abuse. In a statement, APT Ambulance says it, quote, "only transports patients to the specific locations as directed by the hospital." The L.A. Metropolitan Medical Center says it conducted its own thorough investigation of these incidents and found the allegations were unfounded.

Accusations like these are not isolated. In March, cameras caught a cab driver, called by another hospital, dumping this woman on Skid Row. Carol Reyes (ph) was disoriented, wondering around in her hospital gown.

(on camera): Were you angry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, and I still am.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Homeless advocates say the city's recent attention to this problem has a lot to do with the gentrification of the area around Skid Row.

(on camera): On any given night in Los Angeles County, there are 90,000 homeless people on the street. That's more than twice the number in New York City. Or to put it another way, more than the entire population of Santa Monica.

(voice-over): Now they have thousands of new neighbors. Professionals are moving downtown, and they're paying well over half a million dollars for new lofts like these. While the city attorney and LAPD are defending the homeless against dumping, they've also started arresting those who violated a daytime ban against sleeping on the sidewalk.

CAROL SCHATZ, CENTRAL CITY ASSOC.: Why should you have to step into the street itself and off the sidewalk because somebody is sprawled out on the street? It's not right.

LAWRENCE: Carol Schatz is a downtown business advocate who approves of the new patrols. She says dumping the homeless is morally wrong, but so is dumping the homeless problem on one downtown neighborhood.

SCHATZ: And don't tell us to shoulder this burden unless you yourself are going to say, fine, set up a tent in front of my house too.

LAWRENCE: Dumping the homeless may be a black and white issue. But like the overcast view from this downtown loft, housing them is a hazy shade of gray.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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O'BRIEN: CNN NEWSROOM is just a couple of minutes away. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center with a look at what they've got ahead for you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad, and good morning, everybody. Here's what we're looking at in the "NEWSROOM" today.

Less than two weeks until the midterm elections. The war in Iraq, GOP scandals making House and Senate races tighter than ever expected. We'll focus on two states where the voters could swing the balance of power.

And the debate over stem cell research in the Heartland. Actor Michael J. Fox makes a pitch for a Democrat, and gets a controversial review from talk show host Rush Limbaugh. We'll have that.

Also, an incredible escape. A woman's close call with death -- look at that car -- in the form of a beer truck. Her amazing story. We will also have a live press conference coming to us from the White House at 10:30, and President Bush speaking to the press.

We'll have that for you when join Tony Harris and me in the "NEWSROOM." We get started at the top the hour.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Heidi Collins, just a few minutes ahead. Thanks, Heidi.

And straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, JetBlue under fire for testing pilot fatigue while passengers are on board the plane. Those stories and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. O'BRIEN: JetBlue, one of the few success stories in the airline business these days, a little red-faced this morning. The airline staged some tests on its pilots to see how well they perform when they're too tired with paying passengers on the airplane.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): JetBlue says it was merely gathering information about pilot fatigue. In a DVD prepared for its pilots and obtained by CNN, the airline explains how it will study alertness using a wrist monitor and this in-flight performance test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the bull's eye comes up, it will be counting in milliseconds. As soon as you push the button it measures your reaction time.

MESERVE: On about 50 JetBlue flights in May of 2005, data was collected while pilots flew 9.5, sometimes 10.5 hours a day, instead of the eight hours the government usually allows. There was a third pilot on board to take the controls if needed, but there were also passengers who were never told about the special circumstances.

CAPT. PAUL RICE, AIRLINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION: The regulations are clear. We don't do test flying with passengers on board.

MESERVE: The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington didn't know about the data collection either. JetBlue had sought and obtained permission only from the FAA regional office in New York.

MICHAEL GOLDFARB, FMR. FAA CHIEF OF STAFF: Ought they have gone to Washington for approval? Yes. Should they have known that? Absolutely.

MESERVE: The FAA in Washington reprimanded both the regional office and JetBlue and says if asked it would have rejected the airlines' request.

(on camera): JetBlue, which turned down a request for an on- camera interview, insists it was flying within legal limits. The information it collected hasn't been released but is being analyzed and will be published in a scientific journal in December.

(voice-over): JetBlue also says passengers were not on an experimental flight, that it was doing data collection, not testing. But its own DVD contradicts this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also on the PDA is a special performance test. It's a very simple reaction time test, or measure of sustained attention.

MESERVE: Pilot scheduling is a hot issue in aviation, as airlines struggling for financial survival seek ways to run their airlines more efficiently. Pilots argue safety could be compromised. RICE: It's a money issue. It's simply a money issue.

MESERVE: There is consensus that pilot work rules do need to be re-evaluated. But some experts say JetBlue's move to do it unilaterally was an effort to get an edge on its competitors, and may set back an industrywide government-sanctioned examination of the issue.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: You know what's interesting, of course, the airlines use simulators a lot to train the pilots. The first landing they do is actually with paying passengers aboard. Couldn't they have simulated this entire experience, you know, in a simulated cockpit, making the pilots tired, putting them through that drill, without having to deal with passengers?

S. O'BRIEN: There's got to be a better way to do it, I think, or at least you have to notify the passengers, I would imagine, right?

M. O'BRIEN: And, of course, the passengers would make haste for the exit at that point. I'm going to take the...

S. O'BRIEN: I think I'll take another flight. You go ahead with your test.

M. O'BRIEN: Enjoy your test.

S. O'BRIEN: I'll be on that flight.

A reminder for everybody. President Bush is holding a news conference. It's happening in the White House East Room this morning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. CNN's going to carry it for you live when it happens.

Short break. We're back in just a moment.

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