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Bring Back The Draft?; The Fight For Iraq; President Bush In Indonesia; Dealing With Deployment; Welcome To The Future; Gerri's Top Tips

Aired November 20, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Spend a second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the rundown.

Stretched thin by Iraq. One congressman calls for the U.S. to bolster the ranks with a new military draft.

COLLINS: Gas taking motorists for a seesaw ride. Pump prices heading up again just in time for holiday travel.

HARRIS: And "Seinfeld's" Kramer, comedian Michael Richardson, let's loose on stage. Some in the audience calling him a racist on this Monday, November 20th. You are in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: This news just into us here at CNN. A story coming to us out of eastern India. Five people dead, 50 more injured in an explosion. Two passenger cars in this area. Again, five people dead, 50 people injured. You can see the area on your screen there. It's about 345 miles north of Kolkata. At this point we are learning from police there that there is no known cause of this blast. But, of course, we are looking into it to try to bring you some pictures and more information just as soon as we learn them for you.

HARRIS: Forced to wear the uniform. It hasn't happened in this country since the Vietnam era. Now against the backdrop of Iraq, a high profile congressman says he will introduce legislation to bring back the draft. Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is live with details.

And, Jamie, give us those details and I guess the real question is, is this likely to go anywhere?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's not really likely to go anywhere. But it's really -- the reason that we're hearing so much about it now is because of the discussion of troop levels in Iraq with Senator John McCain pushing for more U.S. troops to be sent to Iraq. And just last week, the top U.S. commander there saying that while he didn't advocate that, he didn't think the U.S. could sustain even 20,000 additional troops over time because of the size of the Marine Corps and the Army.

And here's the problem. There's 1.4 million members of the active duty U.S. military. Even more if you consider reserves. But of that number, only about 500,000 are actually ground combat troops. Ground troops. And if you take that number, almost four-fifths of them, 390,000 at this point, are either in Iraq, coming back from Iraq or getting ready to go to Iraq. That doesn't give you a big pool to draw from.

Congressman Rangel believes that it may be time to return to conscription. Not necessarily that everybody would have to serve in the military. They may be able to serve in other places as well. I have to tell that you that that idea is not something that U.S. commanders advocate. They believe such an idea would be expensive to start up the selective service process again. You get a lot of people who didn't want to serve. They believe that the U.S. all volunteer military is serving well. And, in fact, they say that recruiting and retention numbers are actually quite good despite the fact that there is deadly and dangerous duty that has to be performed in Iraq.

So they don't believe that mixing force conscripts with volunteers is a good idea. They believe if they need to increase the size of the U.S. military, it can be done voluntary. And if a war is so unpopular that you can't get anyone to volunteer, than that perhaps raises questions about the war itself.

Tony.

HARRIS: And our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre with us.

Jamie, thank you.

COLLINS: Charting the course in Iraq. The Pentagon completing a secret military review and coming up with three options. According to "The Washington Post," they are pouring more troops into Iraq, pulling down troop size but making them stay longer or simply pulling out all together. The newspaper says insiders have dubbed the three alternatives, go big, go long and go home. Each choice has prominent supporters in Congress. Lawmakers are awaiting suggestions on the war from the blue ribbon panel, the Iraq Study Group.

In Iraq, proof that no one is safe. Less than one day after gunman abducted Iraq's deputy health minister, attackers strike again. The target this time, the other deputy health minister. CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad this morning.

Arwa, what's the latest now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning.

Two of Iraq's deputy health ministers attacked within a span of less than 24 hours. Hakim al-Zamily was the luckiest of the two. His convoy was attacked in central Baghdad. He was not present in it at the time, but two of his guards were killed and a third one was wounded.

And less than 24 hours prior to that, Iraq's other deputy health minister, Ammar al-Saffar, was kidnapped from his home. Six vehicles pulled up to his house. Over two dozen gunmen stepped out. They were masquerading as Iraqi police and as government officials and kidnapped him.

Really no one is safe here. In fact, Iraq's health care industry has taken quite a blow from this violence. It has lost at least 800 workers and another 31 are still missing, believed to have been kidnapped over the last three years.

Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow.

Arwa, we also know that the Syrian foreign minister was in the country. This is something like the first time since the 1970s that there has been an official visit. How rare is this and what happened?

DAMON: Well, Heidi, you just said it right there. It is very rare. This is the first official visit since the fall of Saddam Hussein and since, as you just mentioned, the late '70s.

Now he arrived in Baghdad late yesterday. He met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and then met today with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as well as a number of senior government officials. Their main topic of conversation was security and an increased cooperation between both countries.

Also increased efforts to try to control the Syrian/Iraqi border. Remember, both the U.S. and the Iraqi government have long accused Syria of allowing terrorists, foreign fighters and weapons to move across its border into Iraq. The Syrian foreign minister also urged the Iraqis to push the U.S. for a timetable for U.S. troop withdraw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALID AL-MOALLEM, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, (through translator): We believe that a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq will help in reducing violence and preserving security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: Both governments vow to continue their cooperation together. Also emphasizing that this was the reestablishment of ties between Iraq and Syria.

Heidi.

COLLINS: Arwa Damon live from Baghdad today.

Thank you, Arwa.

HARRIS: Well, the world's most populous Muslim nation, the last stop on President Bush's visit to southeast Asia, a six-hour stop in Indonesia. On the agenda, a meeting with the country's president and a state dinner. In the streets, rowdy demonstrations. President Bush's Iraq War policies are immensely unpopular with Indonesians. CNN's White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is on Bogor, Indonesia, near Jakarta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In an effort to deepen ties with this country, President Bush made a quick visit here to Indonesia. Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population with some 190 million Muslims living in this country. Indonesia is a critical U.S. alley, but there is also strong opposition in this region to President Bush's Iraq policy. And today here in Bogor, south of Jakarta, we saw thousands of protesters expressing that opposition.

Well, President Bush, when asked about that later at a news conference with Indonesia's president, said that he took the protest to be a good sign of healthy society.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I applaud a society where people are free to come and express their opinion. And it's to Indonesia's credit that it's a society where people are able to protest and say what they think. And it's not the first time, by the way, where people have showed up and expressed their opinion about my policies.

QUIJANO: President Bush was also asked about the possibility of sending more U.S. troops to Iraq. The president answered that he had not yet made a decision on whether to increase or decrease troop levels in Iraq.

In the meantime, the president wrapped up his visit here in Indonesia with a state dinner with Indonesia's leader. He will head to Hawaii, making a brief stop to have breakfast with the troops there, as well as meeting with military leaders before returning to Washington later this week.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, with the president in Bogor, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the war zone. Not Iraq, Afghanistan. Mr. Blair visiting British troops in southern Afghanistan. Telling them their country is committed to fighting insurgents for as long as it takes. Later he met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. Mr. Blair says preventing the Taliban comeback is vital for international security. Britain has about 6,000 soldiers in Afghanistan.

COLLINS: War rages in Iraq. Battles intensify in Washington. Two Washington insiders join us coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: The fight for Falluja two years later. Back to a bloody battle ground.

COLLINS: And a federal agent in the hospital, shot while breaking up a mall fight. Could it be part of a bigger problem? Violence in schools. A closer look at that right here in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Staying strong on the homefront while your loved ones are on the front lines. With the holiday season upon us now, military families are feeling the stress. Our guest know all about it. Meredith Leyva is the author of "Married to the Military: A survival Guide For Military Wives, Girlfriends and Women in Uniform." She is also the founder of cinchouse.com, an online community of military wives and women in uniform.

Thanks for being with us, Meredith. We appreciate it.

Go ahead and take a moment, if you would, to tell us a little bit about the mood among military families at this point.

MEREDITH LEYVA, FOUNDER, CINCHOUSE.COM: Well, it's definitely a very stressful time and that is amplified by the holidays. You know, we have a whole new Congress, a whole new secretary of defense. Many families are on their third or fourth deployment to Iraq. And the holidays are a particularly lonely season. Not only are a lot of military families financially strapped for cash, but, you know, with so much time alone and this is supposed to be focused on your family, it's hard to be home for the holidays with a service member deployed.

COLLINS: Yes, you and I are both military wives. My husband is now retired, but -- and I remember very well going into when we learned that we were going to deploy -- this was after the first Iraq war for Operation Provide Comfort -- going into a big lecture hall and the first thing that you learned about it was very eye opening and sobering was power of attorney and writing a will. I mean, I don't think that people understand, you know, right off the bat how this all comes very clear very quickly.

LEYVA: Oh, absolutely. And it is a little difficult power of attorney to even pay off his credit card bills or things like that. But, you know, it's just as hard, and I know you know this, Heidi, you know, having him miss your first anniversary or the birth of your child or things like that. Very stressful during the holidays.

COLLINS: Is there enough support among the military wives and friends within the community for these people?

LEYVA: Well, it's very difficult. With so many military wives working, we are professional women on our own these days. We are not the World War II era sweethearts that everyone likes to thinks of. But, you know, everybody can show their support by getting involved with charities that help military families.

You know, there's a lot of adopt-a-family programs going on this holiday season, inviting families over to your house. A lot of the Operation Home Front chapters are doing those. There's also a program called ecarepackage.org that allows to you send care packages to families and to troops overseas while still maintaining the operational security of care packages. A lot of care package programs have been shut down because of the operational security issues. COLLINS: So quickly, Meredith, tell us how people can get involved in that. Because the holidays are a really, really great time to be thinking this way.

LEYVA: Absolutely. There's a lot of programs you can see at americasupportsyou.mil, which is the Defense Department sort of charity organizer. And you'll see things like ways you can donate to holiday gift baskets. There's a surprising number of families that literally can't afford to have a full Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Operation Home Front gets a lot of requests, believe it or not, for just Christmas trees because they're so expensive. So there's a lot you can do. And again, using that online service like ecarepackage.org or Operation Dear Abby where you can send e-mail cards to troops and families, those are very powerful things you can do right from the convenience of your desk.

COLLINS: How do people get through it when they have a family member overseas, you know, during the holidays?

LEYVA: You know, honestly, it's a lot of tears and it's a lot of reaching out to other military families. But you'd be surprised how powerful it I, you know, receiving a kind word, you know, in the grocery store or in a parking lot because somebody saw the decal on your car. Those things help get military families through the holidays and as well as helping out with the kids, making sure they get toys and have a wonderful holiday to distract them from the stress at hand.

COLLINS: Yes, certainly something to think about at this point in time. Thanksgiving this week. Meredith Leyva, we appreciate your time here today. Thank you.

LEYVA: Thank you, Heidi.

HARRIS: CNN has a team member on the road. Warrior One, a totally overhauled hummer. It is making the rounds to military bases and special events. Then it will be auctioned off to raise money for the Fisher House Foundation. Here's a peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN's Warrior One. It broadcasts from battlefields in Iraq. Now it's overhauled and on the road for the Fisher House. A home away from home for the families of our wounded vets. A place to stay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're 800 miles from home and so it's not a familiar place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time to heal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she wasn't here, it would be a lot harder on me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The care they need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found that that support that comes really does aid in the positive power of healing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN's Warrior One, on the road and on it's way to the Barrett Jackson (ph) Car Auction January 20th, where every nickel this Hummer commands will be donated to Fisher House. Check out cnn.com/warrior one. This Hummer saw war. Now it will help those who fought it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: From "Seinfeld" to a stage shocker. Comedian Michael Richards and a racial rant. We'll tell you about it in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And Gerri Willis to get us to and fro this holiday season.

Gerri, good morning.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Tony. Good to see you.

Hey, beat your turkey day travel stress. We'll tell you the best strategies whether you're flying or driving over the river and through the woods. Top tips is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Gene therapy studies show the genetic makeup of humans is quite similar to other species on our planet. So what does this mean to you? CNN's Miles O'Brien explains in today's "Welcome to the Future."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH SMITH: My body and all my organs inside are the same as anybody else, but I just look a little bit different on the outside. When I was six years old, I stepped on a downed power line. As a result, I lost my left leg and both of my arms. And I basically had to learn how to do everything over again. I now wear a c-leg, which stands for computer leg. But even with that, there's still frustrations and limitations with it. It's just never going to be as good as having your own.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But what if Elizabeth could have her own limbs? In response to the hundreds of troops returning home from Iraq as amputees, the U.S. government is spending millions on research that could change their lives in ways we never imagined.

Believe it or not, all humans carry the genes needed to regrow body parts. But for some reason those genes get switched off at birth.

DR. STEPHEN BADYLAK, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: How can we reset that switch so that the body thinks its job is to regrow a body part rather than to simply form scar tissue to heal the wound.

O'BRIEN: University of Pittsburgh Professor Dr. Stephen Badylak and a team of scientists from across the country are working to answer this question. They are studying regenerative species, like salamanders, to figure out the specific sequence of events that makes the regrowth process occur so it can be mimicked in humans. If successful, Badylak says the future possibilities are endless.

BADYLAK: If we can understand how to send the right stimulus, right initiating signals to make the body believe it needs to regrow rather than to heal, I think that the chances of us identifying those signals for virtually any tissue or organ -- a kidney, a liver, a heart -- are just around the corner from there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You know, I feel the need to check the big board. How about you? OK. Inside the first hour of the trading day and the Dow, OK, down 11. Let's call it flat. The Nasdaq even flatter. Maybe down just a tick. We will check the entire business day. Get a preview of what's to come -- is this another merger Monday we're talking about here -- with Susan Lisovicz in just a couple of minutes.

HARRIS: Thanksgiving travel crush. Twenty-five million people are expected to get away by air. Another 38 million will hit the road for the holiday. Here with travel tips, CNN personal finances editor Gerri Willis.

Gerri, good morning to you.

WILLIS: Hey, Tony. Good to see you.

HARRIS: I love this. I love this. First of all, let's talk about ...

WILLIS: I'm telling you, you need help when you're traveling, right?

HARRIS: Yes, yes,. Air travel first of all. This is great. You know, the rules have changed a bit. You need to be current. You need to know the rules.

WILLIS: That's right. You know, and a lot of people are forgetting them. You've got to play it safe. If you want to pack carry on liquid, gel or aerosols, you've got to put it in a plastic bag. Now I know people have heard this before but everybody forgets. The containers holding the liquid can't be larger than three ounces.

Look, even if there is less than three ounces of liquid inside your bottle, you still can't carry it on. Of course, you can still pack it in your checked luggage. To brush up on what you can take on board, check the TSA website at tsa.gov. But the devil's in the details here.

HARRIS: I tell you what, your second tip I love as well. You know, but I've got so many lists this time of year. I've got lists of food items that I have to take to grandma's house. I have lists of the gifts that I need to go and start purchasing on the day after Thanksgiving. But you're telling me it's important to keep a list of my luggage.

WILLIS: Well, look. Yes, you know, 30 million pieces of luggage will be lost or stolen on flights this year worldwide. So you don't want to be part of that group. Make sure you make a list of everything you've packed and keep it with you if you're flying. That's because if your bags are lost, you'll have to file a claim and that includes an itemized list of what you packed. Keep those more expensive and sentimental items at home because lots of bags are going missing.

HARRIS: And, Gerri, let's take it to the street now. Good advice to sort of give your car a once over, get a little inspection, get the oil gauges checked before you hit the road?

WILLIS: The last thing you need is a breakdown on the way to grandma's. That means checking the tire pressure, your car battery and your roadside assistance policy makes a lot of sense. You know, you just don't need the hassle of having a broken down car in addition to trying to get to grandma's.

HARRIS: Thirty-eight million of us hitting the highways. There is no way, Gerri, to avoid traffic jams.

WILLIS: I'm telling you. Well, you can get some help here though.

HARRIS: OK.

WILLIS: All right. Prices at U.S. pumps rose about a nickel a gallon over the last two weeks. So don't waste your precious time sitting in traffic burning off fuel. Instead, go log onto traffic.com and you'll be able to see any congestion or accidents that will clog your route. You can also call 1-866-my-traffic for realtime traffic information. It will tell you where the clogs are, what to avoid. It's really easy to follow.

HARRIS: Hey, Gerri, what do you mean when you say that there is a way to escape it all?

WILLIS: All right. So, you know how nerve-racking the holidays are. Well, you may need a vacation to recover from all of that.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

WILLIS: It's a good time to take advantage of the good prices available. What the travel industry calls the dead weeks. That's from just after Thanksgiving to mid January. They have great deals. London, Cancun, Florida, it's all on sale at that time. So you definitely want to check that out if you've got a little too much anxiety in your life.

And, of course, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions to toptips@cnn.com. We answer them right here every Friday. And we love to hear from you.

HARRIS: Gerri, great tips. Have great day. We'll see you tomorrow.

WILLIS: That's right. Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Iraq, more bodies, more fear of civil war. Today authorities say they found the bodies of more than a dozen men. Some of the gunmen that kidnapped them from their Baghdad homes were disguised as Iraqi policemen. The victims appear to have been handcuffed and tortured.

Also killed today, a well known comedian on Iraqi TV. Walid Hassan routinely criticized the government and joked about terrorists.

And gunmen have again targeted a government official. The deputy health minister was not in the convoy that was attacked, but two of his guards were killed. Just yesterday gunmen abducted Iraq's other deputy health minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ: Ultimately, everybody wants a safe and secure Iraq. I mean that's exactly what the vast majority of the Iraqi people want. And that's exactly what the security forces, the Iraqi security forces and the coalition forces are working diligently to achieve. And there are those forces, that extremist elements that exist out there that would want nothing more than to disrupt that entire process, to discredit this government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, a new take on the Iraq debate from an old hand at war politics. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says a U.S. victory in Iraq is no longer possible, at least under the conditions the Bush administration hopes to achieve. Here's what he said during a BBC interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY KISSINGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: If you mean by clear military victory, an Iraqi government that can be established (INAUDIBLE) across the old country that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control, in a time period that the political process is what (ph) the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Kissinger also says withdrawing troops now would have disastrous consequences. He says the U.S., its allies and Iraq's neighbors need to find what he calls a legitimate outcome for the war.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Afghanistan today, but it is his comments about Iraq that have people talking. In an interview on Al Jazeera's new English language channel, Mr. Blair agreed, well appeared to agree, with the interviewer's assessment that the war in Iraq has been a disaster. The prime minister's office later says he was simply acknowledging the question in a polite way before going onto explain his view and that Mr. Blair did not use the word disaster.

COLLINS; The fight for Falluja two years later. Back to a bloody battleground ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Embassy takover? How an Iranian businessman may become the new owner of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran. That story in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: School standoff in Germany. Police say a masked gunman stormed a middle school in Emsdetter this morning. They say he wounded several people before he was killed. No firm number but police believe eight people were injured. It is not clear how the gunman died. German TV identified the gunman as an 18-year-old former student.

HARRIS: A shooting at a mall. The suspect hospitalized this morning as is the federal agent who intervened. It started Saturday night in a mall in Annapolis, Maryland. Police say an off-duty Secret Service agent stepped in to break up a fight among a group of teens. The agent was shot in the leg. He pulled out his own gun hitting the suspect twice. The teen is under police guard at a hospital. He's expected to face charges. The agent is hospitalized in stable condition. A third person was also shot and was treated and released. Police believe the incident may have been connected with a series of fights at an Annapolis high school.

COLLINS: In Detroit, police have a suspect in a deadly shooting spree in custody now this morning. They say Contrello Harman (ph) has been charged with murder after a series of random attacks last week. Two people were killed. Three others injured. We told you about it on this show. One of the alleged victims identified the suspect in a police lineup. Authorities are still investigating whether there was a second shooter.

HARRIS: Falluja. To Americans it means insurgency. Two years after U.S. troops dropped the hammer on the Iraqi town, markets are packed, schools are open, but violence remains. Here now is CNN's Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's recess, Falluja style on top of the kids' bombed out school. Classes take place among the ruins and it is hard to focus on learning.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD (Damon translating): I only remember the killing and destruction and how they forced us to leave our city, Mohammad says. They killed my two uncles. DAMON: In spring of 2004, Falluja was an al Qaeda and Iraq stronghold, home to foreign and local fighters with one goal, to kill Americans. In November of that year, 10,000 U.S. troops fought battle so harsh some called it the fiercest fighting involving American troops since Vietnam.

Today Falluja is coming back to life. The downtown market is thriving. Few complain about a lack of basic services, but life here is far from perfect.

ABU ALI (Damon translating): It is very difficult to leave and enter the city because of the checkpoints ...

DAMON: ... grocer Abu Ali complains. But the checkpoints have succeeded in stemming the flow of insurgents and weapons though the wait for residents can take hours. Fallujah's Sunni population accuses the predominately Shia army of abuse and trust the homegrown police force vying for power against the insurgency.

DAMON (on-camera): The U.S. military says that attacks against the Falluja police force really intensified toward the end of July. Not just bombs and ambushes but targeted assassinations.

DAMON (voice over): For the average Fallujan the biggest danger today is being caught in the crossfire. Just about everybody in this Sunni city believes that the biggest obstacle to a better life is Iraq's own Shia-led government. At the weekly city council meeting the mayor tells us that Falluja is increasingly marginalized by Baghdad.

JASSIM MUTHAIR, FALLUJA MAYOR (Damon translating): It is because the ministries and government were built on sectarian lines ...

DAMON: ... the mayor says, and its sectarian violence these people are fleeing. All are afraid to appear on camera. They are waiting for permits to enter the city, seeking sanctuary in Falluja. They say they are angry at the Americans for starting the war. But that they hate the Shia government even more. The Americans know maintaining stability in Falluja is not enough.

COL. LARRY NICHOLSON, U.S. MARINES: I think we all realize it doesn't matter how well we do in Falluja if this government falls, Falluja will not be safe.

DAMON: If the Sunnis aren't a part of Baghdad there will be no peace, this man says. It is one of the few things the Americans and the citizens of Falluja agree on.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Falluja

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Embassy takeover? How an Iranian businessman may become the new owner of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran. That story in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Suing the U.S. and winning an embassy?

HARRIS: Yes. An Iranian businessman is looking to collect. CNN's Aneesh Raman has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (voice over): November, 1979, the beginning of the end for U.S.-Iran relations. Amid the Islamic revolution, hordes of students took control of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage, and within months, the U.S. broke off all diplomatic ties with Iran.

RAMAN (on camera): Nearly three decades later, the embassy is now home to a government-backed militia. They rarely let any cameras on the inside, but there's plenty to see on the outside. This is the main gate. And you can still make out America's seal, battered by age and by protest. It's barely visible, but there it is: Embassy of the United States of America.

RAMAN (voice over): Walls which once protected American diplomats are now canvasses for anti-American banners. An odd exterior given the U.S. technically still owns the embassy. But now even that last link could vanish.

This is the Iranian man who may soon hold the deed to the American Embassy. In 1992, Hossein Alikhani spent 105 days in a U.S. jail after being captured in the Bahamas for allegedly violating sanctions on Libya. But the sanctions didn't apply to non-Americans living outside the U.S., so he sued and was awarded more than $500 million by an Iranian court, which just a few days ago gave this option to the U.S...

HOSSEIN ALIKHANI, IRANIAN PLAINTIFF: If they don't pay, OK, then either they have to come up with a list of assets or they have to prove that they have nothing.

RAMAN: The U.S. has something, its old embassy, which could, in a matter of weeks, being handed over to Alikhani in lieu of payment. A prospect the State Department is warning against.

GONZALO GALLEGOS, STATE DEPT. ACTING SPOKESMAN: Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, even where there are no diplomatic relations, states have an obligation to respect and protect embassy premises from actions such as these.

RAMAN: Iran has no immunity in U.S. courts from prosecution because it is deemed a state sponsor of terror. It is because of that that Alikhani brought his case.

ALIKHANI: If Iran has to pay a penny, the U.S. has to pay as well.

RAMAN: And now U.S. could end up paying with the very place where things first soured between Iran and America. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: A rolling for a record and leafing nothing to chance. Cigar makers in Tampa topping off a 101 foot cigar. They plan to submit the super stogey to Guiness World Records. The current record, a 66 footer made in Havana last year. hey look, if you want to buy the Tampa cigar, you may need help picking it up and picking up the check -- it costs a cool 5,100 dollars. Hello.

COLLINS: I wonder who has a record for smoking like that. From "Seinfeld" to a stage shocker. Comedian Michael Richards on a racial rant. It is in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A Carnival cruise ship should be on a Caribbean voyage right now, but instead the Carnival Liberty is anchored off Fort Lauderdale getting a massive cleaning. Almost 700 passengers and crew became sick on the transatlantic cruise. Preliminary tests point to norovirus. It causes stomach flu symptoms and is highly contagious. Carnival says several passengers were sick before they boarded the ship.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: You know, he's best known for comedy but what this "Seinfeld" star said was no laughing matter. Some of the language you are about to hear we should warn you may disturb you. Here's entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: The laughing stopped abruptly Friday night at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles when renowned actor and standup comic, Michael Richards, best known as Kramer from "Seinfeld", veered from his act and allegedly spewed the "N" word at audience members in an expletive-laden tirade.

DARRYL PITTS, AUDIENCE MEMBER: He goes on a whole diatribe and just goes on and on and on about, you know, using the "N" word. And basically, "I'm rich. I don't care what you think. I don't give an 'F' what you think. I have enough money to have you arrested. 'F' you, nigger,' again."

ANDERSON: Darryl Pitts was in the audience and says Richards was shaken by a group of people who were disruptive and told Richards he wasn't funny. Richards' response:

PITTS: He said 50 years ago you would be hanging upside-down from a tree.

ANDERSON: According to Pitts, Richards launched a venomous personal attack against the rowdy group that stunned the 300 in attendance.

PITTS: Just got totally silent. It just took all of the air out of the room. He dropped the mic and just walked off. There was never any "I'm sorry for what you just saw."

ANDERSON: Comedian Paul Rodriguez was also on the bill Friday night.

PAUL RODRIGUEZ, COMEDIAN: Once the word "nigger" comes out of your mouth, and you don't happen to be African-American, then you have a whole lot of explaining.

ANDERSON: But Richards, who was back onstage at the Laugh Factory 24 hours later, didn't explain, refusing to talk on camera. He told CNN off camera, he felt sorry for what happened and he had made amends. To whom or how he made amends, Richards didn't say.

PITT: Even if he found those particular guys that he offended, he offended everyone that was in that club that night. So he didn't make amends to me. And that's not something that I can forget or forgive.

ANDERSON: Comedians are known to sometimes cross the line of good taste within their acts. But Pitt says Richards' actions far exceeded the boundaries of what's acceptable and that he should take responsibility.

PITTS: He needs to make a public apology to everyone, because he offended every African-American in this country with what he did.

RODRIGUEZ: Freedom of speech has its limitations, and I think Michael Richards found those limitations.

ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Bringing back the draft? One Congressman says it is time. Will Charles Rangel manage to push his plan through the new Congress? We'll take a look in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And he's considering a run for the White House and he says he's got a plan for Iraq. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, CNN's Don Lemon will fill us in on a speech today by a rising star among Democrats.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And good morning everyone, you're with CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming into the NEWSROOM on this Monday, November 20th. Here's what's on the rundown.

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