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American Morning
War of Words; Who's in Control in Iraq?; Newark Plane Incidents
Aired November 01, 2006 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Senator John Kerry handing his opponents more ammo. He calls it a joke gone bad, but Republicans say he owes an apology to American troops.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A potentially troubling power shift in Iraq. More and more people say the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, not the elected leader in Iraq, is now calling the shots.
M. O'BRIEN: And some new questions following some scares at the nation's airport. A plane lands on a taxiway, not a runway. Another takes off from the wrong runway, and a collision on the ground as well.
Those stories and more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's November 1st.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
Thanks for being with us.
Senator John Kerry trying to explain himself to all of us this morning. His party keeping himself -- keeping him at arm's length. And President Bush calling on him to apologize for insulting U.S. troops in Iraq.
CNN's Ed Henry is live at the White House with more -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
That's right, the White House reacting almost as if this flap is manna from heaven. They obviously have an uphill climb heading into these midterm elections. They think having John Kerry front and center in this final week will help rally conservative voters.
At his daily briefing, spokesman Tony Snow oftentimes will not jump into the fray when we throw out questions about various controversial things of senators that either party have said, but yesterday he was clearly armed and ready when he was asked about it. He fired away, demanded an apology from Senator Kerry.
That was almost a trial balloon for the president himself. When he went to a rally in Georgia last night, he also went right at Kerry. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The members of the United States military are plenty smart, and they are plenty brave. And the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, Senator Kerry initially put out a written statement yesterday insisting his words were distorted, that he was referring to the president, not to soldiers out in the field with those comments in California. Then Senator Kerry had a press conference in Seattle and said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: My statement yesterday -- and the White House knows this full well -- was a botched joke about the president and the president's people, not about the troops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, what's really at work here for Kerry is that he wants to run for president again in 2008. He's haunted by the fact that two years ago he did not push back against Republican attacks hard enough, so he's trying to do that now. But a lot of Democrats want him to leave the stage.
CNN confirming this morning that two different Democratic House candidates, one in Iowa, one in Minnesota, have now canceled appearances with Kerry. The Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, Jr., also canceling an appearance with Kerry. They do not want him to be a distraction.
Senator Kerry, for his part, this morning appearing on the Don Imus radio show, trying to spin this as an effort by himself to try to get out of it and not be a distraction. He says that he is now headed back to D.C., getting off the campaign trail for the final days here. In his words, Senator Kerry saying that the White House is distorting his remarks and he does not want their fear and smear to win out -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Ed Henry at the White House.
Thank you very much.
Well, it may not be up there with the classic "I voted for it before I voted against it" line, but John Kerry has handed yet another bit of ammo to the other side. Clearly a self-inflicted wound, but is there collateral damage?
Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider is here with more on that.
Hello, Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: This is an interesting statement at this point. It takes us back to 2004 in a way, doesn't it?
SCHNEIDER: Yes, it does. A foolish statement by John Kerry which gets him into a bind, just like his statement about "I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it." Now he says that you can -- if you don't do well, you can get stuck in Iraq, which appears to be an insult to American troops.
He said he misspoke, but this diverts the whole campaign on the path it doesn't want to be on, and it runs the risk of firing up a lot of Republican voters, making them angry. You know, the angry voters here are supposed to be the Democrats. But if the Republicans get juiced up, they could come to the polls in big numbers.
M. O'BRIEN: Do you think that really could happen?
SCHNEIDER: It could in some key districts, yes. If they're angry and they see this stereotype of the Democrats, condescending, arrogant, elitist, reinforced, it could bring more Republicans out to vote. I don't think it's going to change any minds.
Big events have big causes, and this is a small event. So I'm not sure it's going to change minds, but it could make some marginal differences.
M. O'BRIEN: And while he was the Democratic nominee in 2004, he's on the margins this time. He's not even running. So, you have to wonder how much people will factor this in.
SCHNEIDER: Well, he's not on the ballot. And you've got all these Democratic candidates out there with no ties to Kerry. And they're rushing to disassociate themselves with him.
So I think the damage will be limited, but they've got to get off this story. And yesterday Kerry kept trying to drive it forward.
M. O'BRIEN: And Kerry, of course, may be one of the few people in the world who thinks he has a good chance to run for election in 2008.
This morning, what are his chances?
SCHNEIDER: Less. They're diminishing rapidly.
These kinds of statements, I think, confirm a damaging image of Kerry and of the Democratic Party that they can't afford to have: elitist, arrogant, condescending, the very thing that got him in trouble in 2004.
M. O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, thank you very much.
A plan to boost Iraqi security forces will cost at least $1 billion of your money. The Pentagon will ask Congress to approve it. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld likes the plan but he isn't saying how many Iraqi troops will be added or what it will cost.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The Iraqi government and General Casey have made their recommendations -- and General Dempsey. And that I'm very comfortable with the increases they've proposed and the accelerations in achievement of some of their targets that they've proposed. And the question -- and I understand that the Iraqi government is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Secretary Rumsfeld says he doubts more American troops will be needed to train the Iraqis or that U.S. units will have to stay in Iraq any longer to get it done -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Just who's in control of Iraq? The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, ordered the U.S. to take down those roadblocks, but the hero in Sadr City is the Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, who is increasingly a power player in the fight for Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN (voice over): They're shouting, "No one can conquer the son of al-Sayyid!" It's a reference to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
These residents of Sadr City, a giant Shiite slum in Baghdad, say al-Sadr is the reason Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, ended a week-long U.S. roadblock around their homes. The Americans continue to look for a missing U.S. soldier.
RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN, FMR. BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF, "WASHINGTON POST": Certainly there's a perception on the streets of Sadr City that this was a victory. Clearly, the perception there is that Muqtada won.
S. O'BRIEN: The former Baghdad bureau chief for "The Washington Post," Rajiv Chandrasekaran, believes al-Maliki ordered the Americans to open the checkpoints after al-Sadr called for a general strike and threatened possible violence.
CHANDRASEKARAN: He was getting a lot of pressure from Muqtada al-Sadr. And Sadr's -- Sadr's political party is an important part of the governing coalition in Iraq. And Sadr himself is a -- is a potent political force in the country.
S. O'BRIEN: Prime Minister al-Maliki cannot afford to make al- Sadr an enemy. Al-Sadr's political party holds at least 30 seats in the 275-seat government. One of the largest voting blocs in parliament. It also controls several ministries, including transportation and health.
CHANDRASEKARAN: He realizes that going up against Muqtada al- Sadr right now would be incredibly detrimental to his own interests and that of his government. S. O'BRIEN: Perhaps, most importantly, al-Sadr controls the Mehdi militia, which is well armed and could number in the thousands. So al-Maliki chose instead to avoid conflict with his fellow Shiite leader while thumbing his nose at the Americans.
CHANDRASEKARAN: Clearly trying to show that he's not a pawn, that he's not going to do the White House's bidding. He's trying to show that -- that he's his own man.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Just days ago al-Maliki said he wasn't America's man in Baghdad. And this latest incident allowed him to make some much- needed concessions inside his own country, yet at the same time sending some important messages outside his country as well -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: This morning federal investigators looking into two airplane mishaps at Newark International Airport in just the past few days. The latest incident, a slow-speed ground collision on Tuesday night.
A more troubling one ver the weekend. On Saturday, a Continental Airline 757 loaded with passengers landing on a taxiway instead of a runway.
CNN's Allan Chernoff at Newark with more.
Hello, Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Hi, miles. Good morning.
And in fact, that incident could have been catastrophic. It involved, as you said, a Continental 757 coming from Orlando packed with 157 passengers.
This happened Saturday night at about 6:30 in the evening, so just after it turned dark over here. The plane got the go-ahead from the control tower to land, and it was approaching from the north. But instead of landing on a runway, it landed on a taxiway, which was about half the width of a runway.
Now, fortunately, there were no other planes on that taxiway, because if there had been, this would have been a complete disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.P. TRISTANI, RETIRED PILOT: It tells me that Continental Airlines has a breakdown in its training procedures that it has to address immediately. And that in any case, the port authority, Continental and the pilot should be grateful that there was no one else taxiing around that ramp area, or any vehicles, because it would have just been an unmitigated disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Continental has grounded the pilots on that plane. Now, another incident yesterday involving an empty Continental jet that actually was being pulled along on a taxiway. On an adjacent taxiway, there was a Lufthansa jet preparing to take off for Frankfurt. That jet had more than 300 people on board.
As the Lufthansa jet was moving along, it clipped wings with the Continental jet. The Lufthansa jet was turned around, brought back to the terminal. The flight was canceled.
Both planes are now out of service. And fortunately no one was injured in either incident -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff at Newark.
Thank you -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, new developments in that arson wildfire to tell you about in southern California.
Firefighter Pablo Cerda has died from his injuries. He suffered burns to over 90 percent of his body. He is the fifth firefighter to die in the line of duty fighting that fire, and his colleagues are honoring his sacrifice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABE GARCIA, SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST RANGER: We just paid tribute to our fallen brother, Pablo, in a procession. It included every firefighting agency, law enforcement agency in the area. It's been a difficult few days, and we lost our last brother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Also a development to tell you about in the fire investigation. A person of interest is now being questioned, and he faces charges of arson from two different fires this summer.
Six-nation talks about North Korea's nuclear program could soon start again. President Bush says, though, this won't stop U.S. efforts to enforce U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear tests. North Koreans say they're coming back to the talks because they want to access frozen bank accounts overseas.
Israeli forces are defending their actions in northern Gaza today. They've launched air and ground attacks, they say, to take out the rockets that are being fired into Israeli. At least 10 Palestinians have died. An Israeli soldier may have been killed in the Israeli pushback.
And it looks as if that salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 170 people across 18 states has now been contained. Massachusetts was the hardest hit, with 51 cases reported there. People generally get salmonella by eating contaminated food or undercooked meat and poultry -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, Senator Kerry's so-called botched joke. Will it give new life to Republicans less than a week before Election Day?
Democratic strategist James Carville will join us. You're going to hear what he has to say.
And North Korea coming back to the table for those six-party talks, but there's no real plan to end its nuclear program. At least not yet.
A closer look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. The day's top stories now.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld supporting a $1 billion plan to train more Iraqi troops.
And China is getting the credit for helping North Korea return to talks with the U.S. and four other countries. It's all an effort to get North Korea to end its nuclear program.
A quarter past the hour. If you're heading out the door, let's quickly check in with Chad Myers for a look at the traveler's forecast.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.
A political brouhaha this morning over something that was supposed to be a joke on the campaign trail, Senator John Kerry talking to college students in Pasadena, California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: Well, you know, education, if you make the most of it and you study hard, and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you -- you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: This morning Democrats are running for the exits and President Bush and other Republicans demanding an apology to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor James Carville joining us from Washington with more on this.
James, if it was meant to be a joke, it wasn't a very good joke, was it?
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It probably wasn't. It did come off -- it was a botched joke. That's probably not the first line or joke that Senator Kerry has ever botched. You know, what do you say? This month we'll have been in Iraq longer than we were in World War II. And the American people understand that, and they understand that their politicians can be inarticulate or botch jokes from time to time.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk about damage control for just a moment. Let's listen to what Senator Kerry has said since that botched joke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The members of the United states military are plenty smart, and they are plenty brave, and the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, we do know the difference between Senator Kerry and President Bush. Obviously, that was President Bush demanding an apology.
Now let's listen to what Senator Kerry has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy. If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the president and his failed team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Why didn't he just come out and outright apologize to the troops?
CARVILLE: Because how do you apologize for botching a joke? He said -- he gave an explanation.
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
CARVILLE: He said I meant to say something else, it came out the wrong way. He did owe an explanation. He gave one.
And he's exactly right. The apology should come -- President Bush can't campaign anywhere but Georgia. He should apologize to the American troops and American people for getting us into this war without a plan, for not adequately (INAUDIBLE) the troops, having no idea what a strategy is.
Senator Kerry is absolutely right. President Bush owes a large apology to the men and women in uniform in the United States.
M. O'BRIEN: But I guess -- I guess the point would be, I mean, you know, if you were a campaign adviser, advising Senator Kerry, wouldn't you tell him to express a little more contrition for -- and humility for a mistake he made, as opposed to lashing out that way?
CARVILLE: Well, I would say -- I would say, "Senator Kerry, say what you meant to say and move off on this."
I think what happened is we're getting distracted. In this morning's "New York Times" there's a chart that shows that Iraq is moving toward chaos. And I think that we deserve a better debate. You know, Senator Kerry, like I say, this is not the first time he's ever botched a line or something like that. Give the explanation.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It doesn't seem like he has the self- deprecating gene.
CARVILLE: Probably not. But if you don't Senator Kerry, I suggest that you don't vote for him.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
CARVILLE: He's not on the ballot.
M. O'BRIEN: He's not on the ballot. And Democrats this morning are kind of running from him. Some campaign events already canceled.
Look at this statement from Jon Tester. He's the Democratic senator in Montana. He said this -- "Senator Kerry's remarks were poorly worded and just plain stupid. He owes our troops and their families an apology."
And then check out "The Wall Street Journal" today -- let's move on to the next graphic. "The Wall Street Journal" says this: "Mr. Kerry has been acting as if he intends to run for the White House again. We've long thought that Democratic donors would soon enough convince him otherwise, but his behavior this week may speed up the reckoning."
"Congratulations, Senator Clinton. Another competitor bites the dust."
That's well-written stuff. What do you think?
CARVILLE: You know, again, there are people going to not like this, and I suggest that you don't vote for Senator Kerry. He's not on the ballot.
If anybody has botched up anything, it's President Bush and his policy in Iraq. And people are smart enough to see this.
This is all a sideshow. And whether or not it's going to hurt his presidential campaign in '08, Miles, most people understand we're in the middle of a ill-conceived, ill-planned-out, ill-strategized war, and they're not going to be distracted by this kind of foolishness that John Kerry can't deliver a line. This month, again, our people are going to be in Iraq longer than World War II.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. But let's -- final thought here.
CARVILLE: All right.
M. O'BRIEN: John Kerry, by all accounts, aiming once again for a presidential run in '08. What do you make of his chances?
CARVILLE: They're a little less today than they were at the beginning of the week.
M. O'BRIEN: Where were they at the beginning of the week? I mean...
CARVILLE: You know, I know Senator Kerry would like to run for president again, and he probably was not the frontrunner at the beginning of the week, and he's certainly not the frontrunner today.
M. O'BRIEN: James Carville, thank you very much.
CARVILLE: Thank you, Miles. Good to see you.
M. O'BRIEN: Good to see you.
Our CNN political contributor extraordinaire -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Some of the stories we're following for you this morning.
Police question a person of interest in that deadly arson fire in southern California.
And researchers find the strongest evidence yet about the cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
More news in just a moment.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Some of the top stories we're looking at.
A couple of incidents at Newark International Airport to tell you about.
Yesterday, a couple of planes clipped wings on the tarmac. No one hurt in that thing. But much more seriously over the weekend, a plane full of passengers, a Continental Airlines 757, landed on a taxiway, not a runway.
Another American soldier killed in Iraq. The GI died yesterday, bringing October's U.S. death toll now to 104.
Well, if you like college football, you might want to consider moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, or Muncie, Indiana.
Andy Serwer is here to explain why.
Hello, Andy.
ANDY SERWER, MANAGING EDITOR, "FORTUNE": Hello, Miles. Some folks at Coldwell Banker decided to take a survey of some of the big college football towns across the United States and find out which the most affordable and which were the least affordable in terms of home prices. And as you suggest, Tulsa, Oklahoma, the home of the Golden Hurricanes, is the most affordable place to live.
So, if you want to watch college football, and you want to move somewhere, I guess the thinking is you're going to look to buy a 2,200 square foot single family dwelling, four beds, two and a half baths, Tulsa, Oklahoma, a house there would cost you $148,000.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow. Four bedrooms? That's nice.
M. O'BRIEN: There you go.
SERWER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: And all the football you'd like to see.
SERWER: And then number two is Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. There's the Golden Eagles. I see a theme here.
And then after that would be Ball State in Muncie, connected to Ball Jar Company, right?
M. O'BRIEN: I didn't -- I never made that connection.
SERWER: Yes. Ball Jar's there and...
S. O'BRIEN: That's interesting.
SERWER: ... and those are the people involved. And they are the Cardinals.
Now, when you switch over to the most expensive places to live in terms of college football, not a surprise. How about Palo Alto...
M. O'BRIEN: Ah, yes.
SERWER: ... home of the Stanford Cardinal, singular.
M. O'BRIEN: Not plural. It's a singular thing.
S. O'BRIEN: Cambridge, Massachusetts is ridiculous, too.
SERWER: But that ain't real football. OK?
S. O'BRIEN: I didn't say it was.
(LAUGHTER)
S. O'BRIEN: But there are college students there who play football.
SERWER: You can say New York has Columbia University. That's not real football either. S. O'BRIEN: It's a cocktail party is what it is.
SERWER: And then also UCLA and then San Jose State. So you can see.
It's sort of -- I'm not quite sure of the point of the survey except that it's fun to talk about.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Well...
SERWER: Would anyone really move just...
S. O'BRIEN: And also, just imagine, a four-bedroom house for $140,000.
SERWER: And you get to see the Golden Hurricanes play on Saturday afternoon a couple times a year.
S. O'BRIEN: Whenever you want, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: More proof they're running out of good survey ideas.
SERWER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Anyway...
SERWER: And we're still talking about it.
M. O'BRIEN: Where...
SERWER: Well, we're going to just talk -- well, we don't have any time to talk about this. We'll talk about it at some other point
M. O'BRIEN: Never mind. All right.
SERWER: All right.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll see you.
SERWER: Never mind.
M. O'BRIEN: Keep it in the file.
SERWER: That was a real deep tease.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, the never mind tease.
SERWER: Serious stuff.
S. O'BRIEN: Lost a lot of people on that one, Andy.
SERWER: Sorry.
S. O'BRIEN: A look at the stories we're following for you this morning.
A new study out could help some of the millions of people who are suffering from depression.
And we're talking about Senator John Kerry. He's standing firm. Some people in his party, though, trying to keep their distance from him.
What all the impact will be on your vote in six days straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Weeks after testing a nuclear bomb, North Korea agrees to talks aimed at ending its weapons program. What exactly has changed Kim Jong-il's mind?
M. O'BRIEN: Six days until the voters go to the polls. In Ohio, an unlikely shift in focus. Democrats and Republicans talking more about I.D. cards than things like taxes and Iraq.
S. O'BRIEN: And Actress Reese Witherspoon and her husband Ryan Phillipe are calling it quits. We told you that yesterday, but Witherspoon is far from the first best actress winner to end up in divorce court. We'll take a look at those statistics and those stories straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you, Wednesday, November 1st. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning in Seattle they're trying to find out how an Air Alaska 737 bound for Juno took off on the wrong runway. It happened Monday at Seattle/Takoma International airport. No one was injured in that. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Republicans this morning are jumping on remarks made by Senator John Kerry. He told some California college students to study and do their homework or, quote, you get stuck in Iraq. He said he was making a joke about President Bush. Republicans say it's a slam against the troops. Some Democrats are now keeping their distance from the senator. Senator Kerry has canceled a campaign event today.
Overnight there was news that that fifth firefighter who was injured in the arson wildfire in California, news that he died. His name is Pablo Cerda. He suffered burns to over 90 percent of his body. Authorities say they are questioning a person of interest in that fire. That person faces charges of arson for two other fires back in June.
Federal health officials say the Salmonella outbreak is not spreading to other states. It's taken more than 170 people across 18 states. Nobody is sure yet exactly what was the cause of the outbreak.
In Gaza, ten Palestinians and an Israeli soldier are dead after clashes in a Palestinian controlled area. Israelis say they're trying to clear out militants who have been launching daily rocket attacks.
M. O'BRIEN: As November begins American forces in Iraq are looking back on October as the fourth deadliest month since the war began. On the final day of a month plagued with violence one more U.S. soldier died yesterday. CNN's Barbara Starr joining us from the Pentagon with more, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. Well, in the month of October, it is now so clear that the insurgents were targeting U.S. troops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): In Alabama, hundreds paid their respects to 19-year-old Private First Class Steven Biknell (ph). Among the mourners, his pregnant 18-year-old widow. He was killed in an IED attack north of Baghdad.
One hundred and four Americans lost their lives in Iraq during October, the fourth deadliest month of the war. Across America, there are hundreds, if not thousands of grieving families, friends and neighbors. Why was last month so deadly? Commanders believe the rise in attacks was tied to the holy month of Ramadan.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ: Traditionally this is a time of great celebration. It has, instead, been a period of increased violence.
STARR: All of it leading to this admission.
CALDWELL: The violence is, indeed, disheartening.
STARR: About twice as many army troops as Marines died in October. It's the army that has been in Baghdad on deadly patrols, mainly against Shia death squads and militias. The Marines are in western Iraq's al Anbar province, where Sunni insurgents are also carrying out lethal attacks.
How are the troops being killed? In Baghdad, sniper attacks are on the rise. Lieutenant general Peter Chiarelli (ph), the Corp commander, says the total numbers are elevated and the effectiveness has been greater. Troops are also being killed by catastrophic IEDs, roadside bombs that kill three and four troops at a time. Some are filled with chemicals that result in fire balls on impact.
Twenty-year-old Lance Corporal Eric Hurtzburg also died in al Anbar province in October. Still, his mother is unwavering in her support.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war was going on when he joined. He knew what he was going to get into. I am so proud to have him for 20 years. Everybody should go home and hug their kids tonight because they're lent to us for a very short time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And Miles, consider this, over 700 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq in October. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Barbara Starr. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: North Korea is going back to the bargaining table, agreeing to sit down for six-party talks again. It's been three weeks since the North claimed it tested a nuclear weapon and that drew criticism and U.N. sanctions too.
Sean McCormack is a spokesman for the State Department. He is with us from Washington, D.C., talking about North Korea and Iraq this morning, as well. Nice to see you, sir, as always. Thanks for talking with us.
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: Good to be with you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Little bit of good news to share there. North Korea back at the table. The bad news, of course, is that it's a table that North Korea has been to before, September 2005, sort of vaguely worded agreements about nuclear disarmament fell apart. What makes you think it works this time around?
MCCORMACK: Well, our expectation is that North Korea Will come back to the table and engage in a serious manner. That's the message that we delivered to them when Chris Hill met in Beijing with them. The real difference between then and now is that they are also under U.N. sanctions. These are the toughest sanctions that the U.N. has ever imposed on North Korea.
And I think that the North Koreans have made a calculation here, that they are in a qualitatively different political environment. You have the Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans all enacting these sanctions and enacting tough measures designed to not allow North Korea to traffic WMD and to further develop those programs.
S. O'BRIEN: In a way, though, aren't they in a better negotiating position? You no longer can say give up your nuclear ambitions. They've proven they've got them.
MCCORMACK: Well, let's be clear here. They had this capability for quite some time, years. It's just that they have chosen to test a nuclear device. They crossed the red line. And now that they have crossed that red line, they have faced international condemnation. You had a 15-0 vote in the U.N. Security Council to impose these sanctions. You go and check any place around the globe and this action by North Korea was condemned.
So, they find themselves actually in a qualitatively worse place than they did a year ago. They are now under intense scrutiny and intense pressure, not only by their neighbors, but the entire world to change their behavior. And we hope they take up the international committee and the other members of the six-party talks on the offer that has been laid before them, to discuss and try to work out any issues that they may have.
The objective here is to get a de-nuclearized Korean peninsula. We don't believe that -- We believe that this situation is reversible, as does China and Japan and other countries.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's turn and talk a little bit about Iraq now.
MCCORMACK: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: It sounds like the Americans and the Iraqi prime minister Nuri al Maliki aren't quite seeing eye to eye. We General Casey say the timeline is between 12 and 18 months so the Iraqi forces could stand up on their own. And then you heard Mr. Maliki just days later saying specifically no one has a right to set a timetable for his government. They're completely contradicting each other, aren't they?
MCCORMACK: Well, Soledad, they work very closely together. I know General Casey and Ambassador Khalilzad work very closely with Prime Minister Maliki, who is the prime minister of a sovereign Iraq. I think General Casey was talking about possibilities. He was talking about possible timelines. All of this will be based on the conditions, based on the security conditions on the ground and the capabilities of these Iraqi forces.
So there's quite a bit of communication going on here, and, of course, Prime Minister Maliki is going to have his own opinions and his views. We respect those views. What we do is we work together to sort through these things and make sure that we work together in an effective manner to achieve a common objective here.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, if everybody is working together so nicely, why did it seem like such a big surprise when they shut down those security checkpoints in Sadr City? I mean it seemed like it took certainly the Americans by surprise.
MCCORMACK: Well this is an interesting story here. As I understand this, actually Prime Minister Maliki was meeting with Ambassador Khalilzad and General Casey, and they agreed on these measures. And we were in the process of -- The military was in the process of issuing the proper orders so it went down the chain of command to make this happen. While that was happening, Prime Minister Maliki talked about this. So, there was, in fact, coordination. I think it may have just been a matter of timing, as I understand it.
S. O'BRIEN: The way I understand it is that at 1:00 p.m. they had this meeting and 1:20, the prime minister's office was putting out a press release saying that the prime minister was issuing an order, that my understanding is he doesn't really have the legal right to issue. Is that not correct?
MCCORMACK: Well, the fact of the matter is this is a decision that General Casey had taken, who is responsible for the American multi-national troops there. So, it was a decision that he had taken in concert with the Iraqi prime minister. So, there was plenty of coordination. There was agreement prior to this announcement. And I think it was really just a matter of the timing of the press release, vice the actual dissemination of those military orders down the chain of command. S. O'BRIEN: As you're well aware, there are people who say that's a good example of how Moqtada al Sadr, the Shiite cleric, is really pulling the strings here. He says, you know what, we're going to have a strike if you don't stop this siege, is what he was calling those checkpoints. He says that and the next thing you know the prime minister issues this statement saying shut down the checkpoints.
MCCORMACK: Well, I can't speak to the Iraqi internal politics, as to cause and effect. Moqtada al Sadr and his group is a part of the Iraqi parliament and they have a voice in the Iraqi political system. We hope that that is a responsible voice. Now, there's a separate issue of the militia related to Moqtada al Sadr's party and that needs to be dealt with by the Iraqi political body. You can't have these militias existing outside the chain of command of the Iraqi government, which goes from Prime Minister Maliki all the way down. Now, the Iraqis need to deal with that. They know it's a problem and they -- I know that they are working hard on a plan to come up with a way to address that problem.
S. O'BRIEN: Sean McCormack is a spokesman for the State Department. Nice to see you as always. Thanks for talking with us.
MCCORMACK: Good to see you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program November is here. The Flu season is in full swing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will stop by and tell us who should be getting Flu shots.
And is Oscar a home wrecker? The remarkable number of best actresses moving on with their statues but without their Hollywood hubbies. That and more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the program. Let's go to the grid and see some of the feeds we're monitoring for you. Look at the upper mid left region. Incoming 85 right there, that's a tape being fed in from Somalia, some flooding there with some heavy seasonal rains. Seventeen people killed so far in that flooding In Somalia. we're watching that as well.
I want to show you incoming 18. You see that. It's just a slight. It says Kerry political flap. That's our news source feed. That's how we get material to our affiliates all throughout the country, at least 800 of them. So your local station frequently using CNN material. At the White House today, give you a sense of the schedule, President Bush, no public events; Tony Snow expected to weigh in on this Kerry flap, Senator John Kerry's statements; the First Lady campaigning in Kentucky; the vice president in Montana on the hustings (ph).
And over there in incoming 17, that's an affiliate reporter from KTTV, who you are going to here from very shortly with more on that Esperanza fire near Palm Springs, California. Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: All right, let's do a follow up now on the story, in fact. Another death to tell you about in that huge arson fire that happened near Palm Springs, California. The fifth fire fighter is now dead and a person of interest is now being questioned, faces charges of arson from two different fires this past June.
Rick Lozana from our affiliate KTTV joins us from the Sheriff's headquarters in Riverside, California this morning. Hey Rick, good morning.
RICK LOZANO, KTTV NEWS: Well good morning and here at the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, they're referring to this man only as a person of interest and not as a suspect at this time. Although Raymond Lee Oiler (ph), 37-years old, of Banning (ph), California is considered a suspect in two other wildfires that occurred here in southern California back in June. And the word of his arrest came just about an hour after it was revealed that a fifth firefighter had succumbed to his injuries as a result of the Esperanza fire.
For five days 23-year old Pablo Cerda had clung to life with the help of medication and countless prayers. Cerda was severely injured when he and a team of U.S. forest service firefighters were overrun by the Esperanza fire shortly after it had broken out. Fellow firefighters died that day, four of them, Daniel Najaro of San Hasinton, 23-year-old Jason McKay, Mark Lotzenhizer (ph) and 23-year- old Jess McLein (ph) of Bowmont.
Late yesterday, a very difficult decision for the Cerda family. Doctors at a local hospital said that instead of more surgery for him, they had opted to let the young hero go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE WADE-EVANS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Today more sadness is added to our almost unbearable grief. It's with great sadness that I confirm the passing of forest service firefighter Pablo Cerda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOZANO: And once again, a person of interest has been identified in connection with this case, although he is under arrest, but not considered a suspect in this case. However, he does have ties to two other wildfires in the southern California area that occurred back in June. And so this intense investigation continues.
I'm Rick Lozano reporting live from Riverside. Miles, we'll send it back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Rick and KTTV. We do appreciate that.
In this morning's House Call, first of November, heading into the peak flu season. So far it hasn't been so bad. So the question is, do you still need a flu shot or maybe not. That's a question for who else, our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who makes House Calls for us, or at least NEWSROOM calls any how, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey good morning -- and I recommend Flu shots for everybody.
M. O'BRIEN: You do? Everyone?
GUPTA: This is something that goes back and forth. We talk about this a lot. Not everyone, not babies underneath six months, but let me tell you a few things about this particular Flu season. It has been pretty mild so far, just 12 states reporting any kind of activity, sporadic activity, with regards to the Flu. But now, October, November, best time to get your Flu shot. Flu season lasting from about now until well into the spring time.
You can get your Flu shot now. You can get them up into December. You'll still be OK, but get those flu shots. It's important. We talk about this every year. Really important to do so. Flu can be a very devastating problem, causes 36,000 deaths. A lot of people can get the Flue, about 20 percent of the population. And there are certain populations that are just much more likely to be significantly affected by this.
Now, if you're watching this and saying, well I tried to get my Flu shot and couldn't do it, especially for my kids, there was some problems with getting some particular Flu vaccines, specifically FluZone (ph), which is recommended for children, getting it over from Synopi Pester (ph), it is the makers of that, to the United States. It is here now though. You should be able to get the Flu shot for everybody who needs it, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so who is on the list? Kids, older folks, me?
GUPTA: Yes, well here's the thing. You know, people say, first of all, do kids really need Flu shots. And the answer is yes. First of all, a lot of times they live in facilities where they can easily spread the virus back and forth. But also they are more likely to suffer from complications of the Flu.
So children, aged six months to five years, pregnant women, people 50 or older with chronic medical conditions, nursing home residents and caretakers. They are the most susceptible. But really, if there is enough Flu vaccine, the more people that get it, the less likely you are to have a bad Flu season because you are going to stop the spread.
M. O'BRIEN: And who is -- you alluded to very young children at the top there -- but who is on the list that should not get one of these shots?
GUPTA: Well yes, so children under the age of six months. Also interestingly, Flu vaccine is made from chicken eggs. Part of the broth is actually chicken eggs. So, if you're allergic to eggs, you should not get the Flu shot either. Also, at the time you're actually going to get the Flu shot, if you have a fever or a cold, you should probably hold off as well. M. O'BRIEN: Well you mentioned colds. There's so much misunderstanding about what the Flu is. People say they have the Flu all the time and I would bet nine times out of ten, they probably have a cold, right?
GUPTA: Right, the virus that causes the cold is much more likely to be a problem.
M. O'BRIEN: But how do you know? How do you know the difference?
GUPTA: You can tell the difference to some extent. I mean you could get tested, although that's not practical, to get the whole country tested every time they have the sniffles, but there are certain characteristics: very quick onset of high fever, usually 100 plus, in terms of temperature, more indicative of the Flu, headaches and that fatigue, you know, with muscle pain, usually much more indicative of the Flu as well, the cough, the sore throat and congestion, that can go either way, but if it's more severe than normal, you're talking about probably the Flu.
Also you can get some of the GI stuff too, the diarrhea and the vomiting, again more likely with the Flu than the cold.
M. O'BRIEN: So that achiness is usually -- that's the one thing that probably really separates it from the cold, that really ache in your muscles.
GUPTA: Yes, I say with a cold, usually you have it all right up here, the nose, the congestion. But once it starts to get down in the lower part of your body, you're probably dealing with a more virulent virus, we call it. That's probably the Flu.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so go get your shots.
GUPTA: Go get them.
M. O'BRIEN: All right Sanjay Gupta, thank you.
GUPTA: Thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: It is now about 10 minutes before the hour, let's get a quick check of the travelers' forecast. Chad Myers with that. Hello Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you Chad. CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Tony Harris at the CNN Center with a preview of all of that. Tony? Tony is not there, but we promise NEWSROOM will be.
Still to come in the program, Reese Witherspoon becomes the latest Oscar winning actress ending her Hollywood romance. What's behind all these break-ups? We'll take a look, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Is Oscar a home wrecker? This year's best actress Reese Witherspoon and her movie star husband Ryan Phillipe are ending their marriage. She joins a growing number of Oscar winners, like Halle Berry and Julia Roberts, who thanked their husbands or their boyfriends in their acceptance and then said hello, we're breaking up. Here's CNN Sibila Vargas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REESE WITHERSPOON, ACTRESS: I've been really, really lucky to have such a wonderful family support me and believe in me so much.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After seven years of marriage, two children and an Oscar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe are calling it quits.
WITHERSPOON: I really feel like that's the reason I'm here.
VARGAS: It seems to be a common occurrence, win the coveted statue, thank the man in your life instead of the world, then splitsville.
JULIA ROBERTS, ACTRESS: Life's too short.
VARGAS: Of the last nine best actress winners, six have ended their relationships with the man they thanked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you realize that you forgot to thank your husband, who was crying in the audience, all the ladies noticed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, how can you not thank that?
VARGAS: Or didn't thank on Oscar night.
YVONNE THOMAS, LOS ANGELES PSYCHOLOGIST: It's really hard if you stop feeling like you're part of the couple and just part of the entourage.
VARGAS: Los Angeles Psychologist and columnist Yvonne Thomas says many factors can cause couples to separate, but when it comes to extremely successful women, she has noticed a pattern.
THOMAS: I've seen it too many times, and it's very disturbing for the couple. Unfortunately, the man can start to feel resentful, jealous, hostile, competitive with his loved one. These are all very high-profile, very successful women. And I think it's really hard to be known as -- if you're the guy, you know, the significant partner of this acclaimed woman, as Mr. my wife.
VARGAS: However Thomas says it takes more than a best actress statue to ruin a healthy relationship.
THOMAS: What happens with the Oscar situation is that maybe it expedites and it quickens what might have happened.
VARGAS: Thomas says it's likely feelings of resentment and jealousy were already there.
THOMAS: Whatever cracks were there to begin with, whether you know it or not, under pressure, under stress, even the good stress, will start to come out.
VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: CNN NEWSROOM, just minutes away. Tony Harris, I think he's there this time. Yes, there he is.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: My apologies for what we call missing slot. There was a bit of a line, a traffic jam at the seat to join the big AMERICAN MORNING program.
M. O'BRIEN: It was Sanjay. He was sitting in your seat.
HARRIS: That's right.
M. O'BRIEN: I know what happened. Kick him out of there and get in there. You're the anchorman.
HARRIS: Well, you know, we do what we can, but it's Sanjay. We have got these stories on THE NEWSROOM run down this morning, from the politics of John Kerry's so-called botched joke to the latest deadly attacks. Iraq is in the spotlight today. We are live with all the angles.
Parents, listen up. We have news about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome you won't want to miss. And those of you who know me, know I love good smackdown video. This is top notch. Find out what all the insanity is all about when you join Heidi and me in THE NEWSROOM. We get started in just a couple minutes, at the top of the hour, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Who says politics is not a contact sport?
HARRIS: There you go. Well said.
M. O'BRIEN: All right Tony, we'll see you in a bit. More AMERICAN MORNING coming up in just a bit. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: That's it for us here on AMERICAN MORNING. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
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