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High-Profile Congressman to Introduce Legislation to Bring Back Draft; Abducted in Iraq; Security Whistleblower

Aired November 20, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM on this Monday, November 20th. Here's what's on the rundown now.

Democrat Barack Obama sitting down today with CNN. The senator's views on the Iraq war and hints about a possible bid for the presidency.

HARRIS: "Go big, go long, go home," the Pentagon's reported options on Iraq. We will talk live with two Washington journalists about the plans.

COLLINS: Protecting passengers. One air marshal trying to get his job back today, blowing the whistle in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Heading home. President Bush wrapping up his eight-day visit to Southeast Asia. Before departing for Hawaii, Mr. Bush paid a visit to Indonesia's president. The two men talked about a number of issues, including the nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran. Another key concern, American troop strength in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I haven't made any decisions about troop increases or troop decreases, and won't until I hear from a variety of sources, including our own United States military. As you know, General Pace, who's the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is in the process of evaluating a lot of suggestions from the field and from people involved with the Central Command, as well as at the Pentagon. And they will be bringing forth these suggestions and recommendations to me here as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Iraq a sore subject in Indonesia. That's for sure. It is the world's most populated Muslim country. President Bush's visit sent thousands of protesters into the streets.

COLLINS: 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 with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With Senator John McCain leading the charge for more U.S. troops in Iraq...

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Are we winning? And I think the answer is no.

MCINTYRE: ... Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel is renewing his call for a return to the draft.

REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Having our young people commit themselves to a couple years in service of this great republic, whether it's our seaports, our airports, in schools, in hospitals -- and at the end of that to provide some educational benefits -- it's the best thing for our young people and the best thing for our country.

MCINTYRE: While U.S. commanders insist sending more American troops is not the answer, they concede they really couldn't maintain a much bigger force in Iraq than the 150,000 there now. The U.S. military is simply too small.

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: When you look at the overall American force pool that's available out there, the ability to sustain that commitment is simply not something that we have right now with the size of the Army and the Marine Corps.

MCINTYRE: There are some 1.4 million active-duty troops in the U.S. military, but less than half, roughly 500,000, are ground troops. Of that, four-fifths, about 390,000, are either deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, returning home or getting ready to go back.

But the Pentagon, the administration, most members of Congress and virtually all U.S. commanders agree, a return to forced conscription would be expensive, unnecessary, and would undermine the all-volunteer force that's been performing superbly.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: We just need to get more people to join, better benefits, better pay. I think we can do this with an all-voluntary service, all-voluntary Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. And if we can't, then we'll look for some other option.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Jamie McIntyre joining us now live from the Pentagon.

Jamie, this isn't the first time that Representative Rangel has brought up the idea of bringing back the draft. Why does he think it's going to be successful this time around?

MCINTYRE: I'm not sure that he thinks it's going to be successful, but he wants to make a point. And that is that when there's a war like the one in Iraq, the sacrifice out to be shared across -- you know, across the country. And I think he thinks that that kind of universal service is something that makes that point.

Frankly, though, he has very little support in Congress and no support here at the Pentagon for the idea of bringing back the draft. But nevertheless, as he has in the past, he says he's doing to introduce that legislation when he takes over as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee next year.

All right. We'll be watching that.

Jamie McIntyre, live from the Pentagon.

Thanks.

HARRIS: 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 or pulling down the troop size but making them stay longer, or simply pulling out altogether. The newspaper 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 a day after gunmen abducted Iraq's deputy health minister, attackers strike again. The target this time, the other deputy health minister.

CNN's Arwa Damon in Baghdad this morning.

Arwa, good morning to you.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. And just imagine that, Iraq has two deputy ministers of health, both of them have been targeted in a time period of less than 24 hours.

At about noon this afternoon, gunmen opened fire on Hakim al- Zalimi's (ph) convoy. He was not in the convoy at the time, but two of his guards were killed, one was wounded in that attack.

And then yesterday evening, Iraq's other deputy minister of health attacked, kidnapped from his home by armed gunmen. Six vehicles with about at least two dozen gunmen in them masquerading as Iraqi police and government officials stormed his house and kidnapped him.

There really is no one who is safe in this country.

And Iraq's health industry has taken quite a blow from the violence. To date, officials estimate that in violence over the last three and a half years, they've lost at least 800 employees and doctors and have about 31 who are still missing, believed to have been kidnapped -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, Arwa, Syria's foreign minister is in country there in Iraq. This hasn't happened in a long time, certainly since the fall of Saddam. What's going on here?

DAMON: That's right, Tony. The foreign minister -- the Syrian foreign minister, Walid Malam (ph), arrived in Iraq late yesterday evening. He met with Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari.

This is the first official visit of a high-ranking Syrian official since the fall of Saddam Hussein. And the two met yesterday, the meetings continued today.

The Syrian foreign minister met with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, as well as with a number of other senior government officials. The main topics of discussion, security and securing the border between Iraq and Syria.

Both the United States and Iraq have long accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters, weapons insurgents to cross its border and come into Iraq. The two countries today pledging to work together to try to secure that border. And Syria's foreign minister also urging the Iraqis to put pressure on the United States for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

HARRIS: CNN's Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.

Arwa, thank you.

COLLINS: Four American contractors kidnapped in Iraq. Their families can do little but wait and hope.

CNN's Dan Lothian explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In suburban Buffalo and in Minneapolis, the families of two American contractor being held hostage in Iraq anxiously wait for good news.

Twenty-three-year-old Jonathon Cote, an Army veteran from the Buffalo area, served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had returned to the region as a private security guard last summer. In a statement, his father tells CNN, "We continue to request prayer and support from all concerned about Jonathan."

Thirty-nine-year-old Paul Reuben, a former police officer near Minneapolis, went to the war zone three years ago, motivated by a high-paying security job. Now his mother wonders, is he OK?

JOHNNIE REUBEN, MISSING CONTRACTOR'S MOTHER: I wonder if he's cold, if he's hungry, if he's injured or if he's here.

LOTHIAN: They were part of a security team, four Americans and an Austrian, abducted in southern Iraq last Thursday while escorting a convoy. All work for the Crescent Security Group.

Reuben had recently told his family that the job was becoming too dangerous and violent, and that he would soon be returning home.

REUBEN: I always saw his strength every time when he -- that part of that fear, that was the reality fear, but not let it overtake him.

REUBEN: Cote understood the dangers, too. In a past interview with "The Buffalo News," the Iraq veteran said, "You go into a village, and you didn't know who was who. The bad guys blend in with the good guys."

Dan Lothian, CNN, Buffalo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: War rages in Iraq. Battles intensify in Washington. Two Washington insiders join us in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: He's considering a run for the White House, and he says he has 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. .

HARRIS: And a gunman storms a German school. Several people are wounded. Late details in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: New video here to show you. You're looking at Majority Leader-Elect Steny Hoyer. He is meeting with -- on the other side of the room I'll be you we'll see -- Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi, talking about the Democratic legislative agenda -- and there she is -- and a little bit about how they will work together and how much they look forward to working together.

Of course, interesting in that just last week we learned that Steny Hoyer became the majority-elect leader after Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi talked about endorsing Congressman John Murtha for that position.

So we will continue to watch this, and probably the first of many, may appearances together.

HARRIS: A school standoff in Germany. Police say a masked gunman stormed a middle school in a small German town 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.

COLLINS: Fired for trying to save lives, the claim from a former air marshal now fighting to get his job back.

Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve explains. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Federal air marshals are law enforcement officers sworn to protect lives. But Robert MacLean believes upholding that oath cost him his job. In July of 2003, the nation was on edge because of intelligence that al Qaeda might attack airliners using weapons disguised as cameras and cell phones.

GORDON ENGLAND, FORMER DHS DEPUTY SECRETARY: They're going to try and do everything they can to defeat the systems we put in place.

MESERVE: At almost the very same time, the Department of Homeland Security was telling air marshals they would stop flying on nonstop long distance flights to save money.

ROBERT MACLEAN, FIRED FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL: I thought the plan was crazy. And suddenly, it was all of these planes that were -- that were targets were not going to have any protection.

MESERVE: MacLean says he was unsuccessful raising his concerns within his agency, so he leaked to MSNBC. There was an immediate uproar.

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Cuts in air marshals should not happen now.

MESERVE: The policy was reversed. The leak was traced to MacLean and he was fired for unauthorized disclosure of sensitive security information which could reveal vulnerabilities and endanger the public.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: If terrorists know that there is absolutely no air marshal coverage on long-distance flights, then obviously they're more likely to take those long-distance flights and to use those flights to perpetrate terrorist attacks.

MESERVE: Because MacLean is suing to get his job back, the Federal air marshals declined to comment for this story. MacLean supporters argue the firing was an act of retaliation by a embarrassed agency.

JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIV. LAW SCHOOL: This guy hit an artery. He revealed a policy which was incredibly stupid and put passengers at risk.

MESERVE: But did MacLean break the law? The government says the order about cutbacks was sensitive security information or SSI. But MacLean says it wasn't marked as such when he received it via text message on an unencrypted cell phone.

NICK SCHWELLENBACK, PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT: That's not a very secure way of communicating these messages if they are indeed legitimately secret.

MESERVE (on-camera): MacLean's lawsuit may clarify currently fuzzy rules covering the release of SSI and whether people in national security positions have whistleblower protection.

(voice over): MacLean says if he loses, the effect will be chilling.

MACLEAN: Nobody is going to come forward, everybody is going to turn a blind eye and ignore the oath that they took.

MESERVE: But the central question may be this: Did MacLean's actions make aviation more secure or less so?

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And this is interesting. This just in to CNN out of Baghdad this morning.

Four key Iraqi lawmakers are reporting that Iran has invited the presidents of Iraq and Syria to Tehran for a weekend summit with Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And the subject for the discussion for the summit? Curbing Iraqi violence, getting ahead of many calls here in the United States among congressmen for such a summit.

So here's what we have from the weekend, and even this morning.

We have the Syrian foreign minister in Iraq paving the way, it would seem, for this meeting. No doubt, hard to imagine that it didn't come up in the conversation with Iraq's prime minister, and now officially Iraqi lawmakers. Four of them reporting that Iran has invited the president of Iraq and the president of Syria to Tehran for a weekend summit with the president of Iran. And the topic of the discussion, curbing Iraqi violence.

And there you have it.

Still to come this morning, rages in Iraq. Battles intensify in Washington. Two Washington insiders join us in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Soldiers under stress, keeping them from breaking on and off the field. Details on this coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The fight for Iraq, it is not just about the boots on the ground. It is also about the political groundswell in Washington. With the balance of power about to change, new points are introduced, old ones, well, revisited.

The perspective of two veteran Washington journalists now.

Susan Page is the Washington bureau chief for "USA Today".

Susan, hi. How are you?

SUSAN PAGE, "USA TODAY": Hi, Tony. HARRIS: And frank Sesno is a CNN special correspondent and former Washington bureau chief.

Frank, good morning to you.

FRANK SENSO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, the news from just a moment ago, let me get your reaction to this. Four key Iraqi lawmakers saying that Iran has invited Iraq's president, Syria's president to Tehran for a snazzy little weekend summit with Iran's president to talk about curbing Iraqi violence, seemingly getting ahead of the political chatter here in Washington that in some corners is calling for this very thing.

Frank, what do you make of this development?

SESNO: Well, it shows both the stakes and the vacuum that are developing in Iraq. All of these parties are -- they have their ears to the ground and they hear what's going on in this country, and it's remarkable how quickly the political dynamic has changed here, from stay the course, to how do we get out? And so they sense a political vacuum.

Iran wants to have a role. Syria wants to have a role. And they're making noise and taking action. Or trying to.

HARRIS: And Susan, this is pretty adept politics on the part of Iran.

PAGE: You know, we haven't yet had President Bush endorse the idea of talking to Syria and Iran in terms of Iraq, but it's clearly one of the things that is in the mix as we look for a new path to take. And one of the things that we expect the Baker commission, the Iraq Study Commission to recommend when they release their report sometime next month, this probably increases the pressure on President Bush to agree to do that. We do not -- the United States does not want these talks to take place without the United States having a role to play in them.

SESNO: It shows how adept they are, Tony, doesn't it, though?

HARRIS: It really does.

SESNO: Because they want to get out in front of the Baker commission or any other recommendation coming from this country.

HARRIS: Well, let me have you both listen to -- changing the subject just a bit here to Charles Rangel, over the weekend talking about reinstating the draft. And then let's kick that around a little bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANGEL: There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right.

Susan, speaker to be, Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi not in favor of this. No one seems to be in favor of this. But as an argument, it gets us an opportunity to ask some interesting questions.

Would we have had, in your opinion, Susan, kind of a more spirited, more robust conversation about the war and the leadup to the war if everyone's sons and daughters were on the line here?

PAGE: I think that undoubtedly we would have. I mean, the fact that the armed forces are now all volunteer has played a big role in the debate. And that's one reason we haven't seen the big campus protests we saw during the Vietnam War.

So I think Charlie Rangel is making a substantively good point. Now, whether politically there's any chance of a draft, I'm skeptical. There's a bigger chance that Frank will choose to enlist next week, I think, than Congress would choose to reinstate the draft.

SESNO: How did you know, Susan?

HARRIS: Hey, Frank, what do you think of this?

SESNO: Well, I think Susan is right. I teach, as you probably know...

HARRIS: Yes.

SESNO: ... at The George Washington University. And I make a habit when I'm talking to university crowds of asking my students, how many of them have been in the military or how many of them have brothers or sisters who are in the military. And it's almost none. Almost none.

And it reinforces what Susan said. There is a very substantial disconnect in this country between those who are serving, who are in the all-volunteer forces, professional as they may be, and the rest. And it's one of the reasons that I think Charlie does -- Rangel does raise, as Susan says, some very interesting, substantive points. Ain't gonna happen...

HARRIS: Right.

SESNO: ... but he raises interesting points.

HARRIS: And Frank, but to that point, there is -- take this on. There is no shared sense of sacrifice for this war.

You talk to all the students and they're not -- they haven't enlisted, they haven't served. But there isn't a sense of shared sacrifice.

The Army, that is their job. That's what they do. So if the president calls, that's where they go and they fight the war.

We're not being asked to pay for it as we go. There is no -- no shared sacrifice for the consequences of this action.

What do you make of it?

SESNO: There certainly is very little shared sacrifice, Tony. We're not rationing, we're not buying liberty bonds or homeland security bonds or "free Iraq" bonds. And when you've got that kind of disconnect between different portions of the population, it can be an over there, sanitized, far away, somebody else's war, war. And I think that's what's happened, to a large extent.

That doesn't mean that people aren't plugged in or engaged. I think they are. But they aren't demonstrating, as Susan says.

PAGE: On the other hand, this war does not now have significant -- it doesn't have a majority of American support despite the fact that most Americans haven't been asked to sacrifice. I think the number of U.S. casualties has affected communities widely, that the use of the National Guard has meant that many communities have seen the effect at home for this war.

HARRIS: Yes.

PAGE: So I don't think there's -- it's not as though there's a complete disconnect, I don't think. But the fact that there's an all- volunteer force, that has done a lot to shape the debate, no question about it.

SESNO: And we should say that there are some communities who have felt this very deeply and very profoundly. And they don't need to be made to feel sacrificed or lectured about this because they're living it every day.

HARRIS: Yes. Let me ask you about some comments from General Anthony Zinni in "The New York Times" last week. And he mentioned this point: "There is this premise that the Iraqis are not doing enough now, that there is a capability that they have not employed or used. I am not so sure they are capable of stopping sectarian violence."

That's the statement. Let's explore that.

I wonder, Susan, first to you, to what extent is this kind of thinking factoring into all of the real analysis that is going on right now by the Pentagon, by the Iraq Study Group, by the Senate Armed Services Committee as they formulate their thoughts and plans moving forward?

PAGE: Well, you know, this has been the U.S. hope for some time, that Iraqi forces, as President Bush says, would step up so that we could -- we could step down. And that has not happened.

On the other hand, what is -- if the Iraqis aren't able to stop sectarian violence, what is the role of the U.S. forces there? I don't think Americans are generally comfortable with the idea that we're there to prevent a civil conflict. That was not the deal from the beginning. And if that's what is happening in Iraq, I think that reinforces the idea that whether Iraqi forces can stop the sectarian violence or not, that is not a role that we should expect the U.S. forces to be doing there.

HARRIS: And Frank, as all of these organizations, all of these outfits come up with plans moving forward, to what extent do you believe there is some real soul searching as to whether or not the Iraqis are capable of doing the job?

SESNO: Well, there better be real soul searching on that, because if that's where you're pinning your hopes, you better know what you're pinning them on to. And one of the big problems has been -- so far, has been overconfidence, overpromise and underdeliver.

And it's one of the reasons I spoke to -- I spoke to a retired general just this morning, Tony, who has seen a great deal of service in Iraq. And his, you know, prescription here is that you need tens and tens of thousands of additional forces. Many of them should be additional new coalition forces to include Arab countries, first and foremost, to seal the borders and to lock things down and to fundamentally change the dynamic on the ground.

That may be wishful thinking, because that may be a dynamic that's just too hard to change right now, a genie that just isn't going to go back in its bottle. But that is one thing that people are thinking. And it's not built around the Iraqi security forces, first and foremost.

HARRIS: And yet, Frank, we heard from General Abizaid last week that so much of the hopes for this operation -- and you just mentioned it a moment ago yourself -- is based on a feeling, a belief, beyond a hope, because hope is not a strategy, that the Iraqi people will be able to win this on their own.

What are your thoughts today?

SESNO: Well, if you want me to go first, I'll take a shot at it.

I wouldn't change a thing. I mean, I think the fact of the matter is that the situation now is being dictated by events on the ground.

HARRIS: Yes.

SESNO: The fact of the matter is that the situation now is being dictated by events on the ground. Events on the ground are murders and revenge murders. The numbers are up, not down. Events on the ground are communities turning against one another. And at some point, and we may be at that point, we may be past that point, maybe we're not at it yet. I don't know that, but at some point a dynamic takes over and a spiral, a cycle takes over. That's why some people say they just have to fight it out right now. I hope that's not the case. But nobody should lose sight of that, because that is what makes this so difficult. HARRIS: And Susan, the reality here is that it is very difficult to train up an army, security forces in the midst of a low-grade civil war, isn't it?

PAGE: Well, that's certainly true. And -- but at some point, you know, the American forces are not there to guarantee an outcome. I don't think American forces can guarantee the establishment of stability or democracy. They can provide an opportunity. And I do think it's up to Iraqis, the Iraqi government, the Iraqi people, to decide how to take advantage of that opportunity or whether or not to. I mean, there is a point where U.S. troops are going to come home, regardless of the situation on the ground there.

HARRIS: Very good. See, that was fun. That was fun. Susan Page is the Washington bureau chief for "USA Today" and Frank Sesno is our very own special correspondent and former Washington bureau chief. Thank you both.

SESNO: Thank you, Tony.

PAGE: Thank you, Tony.

COLLINS: Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel is once again vowing to bring back the military draft. It is not the first time the draft has triggered controversy. Here's a fact check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flutter of tens of thousands of troops on the battlefields of the civil war gave birth to the nation's first military draft. The south first implemented the draft in 1862. The north followed with its own a year later. Opposition triggered violent riots in New York, which were violently stamped out by regular army troops.

When the U.S. entered world war I in 1917, Congress passed a selective service act, which created the system of local draft boards. All men, age 21 to 30, could be called up to serve. Before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt created the nation's first peace time draft. The military also resorted to the draft during the Vietnam War. The system was altered in 1969 with a lottery system.

Generally, the higher number assigned to a person's birthday meant a lesser chance of being drafted. More than 200,000 men were accused of violating draft laws during the Vietnam War. Anti-war protesters were often marked by men burning their draft cards. An estimated 100,000 draft resisters fled the country, the vast majority to Canada.

In 1973 the draft ended and the U.S. implemented an all-volunteer military. Four years later, President Jimmy Carter declared an unconditional amnesty for draft resisters. Special restrictions applied to military deserters and those who went AWOL.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COLLINS: He is considering a run for the White House that he says he has 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)

COLLINS: President Bush's eight-day visit to southeast Asia draws to a close after a quick stop in Indonesia. The president is heading home. Right now, he's in the air and headed to Hawaii. Before boarding Air Force One, he met with Indonesia's president. Here's CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of protesters in the streets of Bogor (ph), Indonesia, a Muslim country seething about President Bush's invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

During a brief joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart, Mr. Bush tried to downplay the protest with a quip.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not the first time, by the way, where people have shown up and expressed their opinion about my policies.

HENRY: Perhaps a fitting end to a week long swing through Asia that highlighted the unpopularity of the war in Iraq. Attending the APEC summit in Vietnam inviting inevitable comparisons between two unpopular wars. The president's final day in the region began in Vietnam, banging the gong at the stock exchange in Ho Chi Minh city to highlight a former enemy's burgeoning economy.

After criticism, he had not been mingling with ordinary people on his trip, the president was bobbing to the beat as children performed traditional Vietnamese dances and songs.

But a much more hostile reception was waiting in Indonesia, where there's anger about the war in Iraq.

BUSH: I haven't made any decisions about troop increases or troop decreases and won't until I hear from a variety of sources, including our own United States military. So I haven't -- there's no need to comment on something that may not happen. But if it were to happen, I would tell you the up-sides and down-sides.

HENRY: And when the Indonesian was asked whether he had privately urged the U.S. president to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, Mr. Bush jumped in.

BUSH: I mean, I'll be glad to answer for him. No, he didn't, but he can answer for himself.

HENRY (on camera): There was so much concern here about the president's security that he would not even stay overnight in Indonesia. The White House choosing instead to fly him for 13 hours so he could sleep safe and sound in Hawaii.

Ed Henry, CNN, Bogor, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: He is considering a run for the White House and he says he has 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. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A rising star in the Democratic party weighing in on Iraq. Senator Barack Obama speaks in Chicago this afternoon. Obama, considering a run for the White House, also sits down with CNN's Don Lemon. Don is with us now from Chicago. Don, good to see you. Good get, sir.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, it's good to see you too. And Tony, this is a very, very important speech for the junior senator, who is trying to bolster his foreign policy chops before a possible, a possible, run for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): Even in his own city --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the guy that's going to help us get where we want to go.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: Have you guys already eaten?

LEMON: Some are as uncertain about him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he may need a little bit more experience.

LEMON: As he is about a presidential run.

OBAMA: So nice to see you.

(on camera): Barack Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No thoughts.

LEMON: You never heard of him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. What is it?

LEMON: Good question, what is it about him that has so many pining for an answer?

HERMENE HARTMAN, CHICAGO PUBLISHER: He has the intellect. He has the heart. He has the dedication.

OBAMA: A skinny guy from the south side with a funny name like Barack Obama.

LEMON: He's also had support from people who were there from the beginning when Obama was a community organizer, a civil right attorney, and a little known Illinois state senator, people like Chicago publisher Hermene Hartman.

HARTMAN: What he said to me is I need your help. I've got to get $50,000.

LEMON: So this is the office.

(voice-over): According to Hartman, that conversation took place one Friday evening in this office. The optimistic U.S. Senate wannabe had already begun organizing his campaign headquarters.

HARTMAN: I have the office, the phones and he had gotten all of these things and, I think, probably without the real money for it.

LEMON: Hartman says she came up with the money by calling a prominent African-American Chicago businessman. It was the beginning of a Senate race that played out like a soap opera.

(on camera): Barack Obama credits Chicago with fortifying his racial identity, but support for a Senate run didn't come easy, even from those who had been considered his base, African-Americans.

(voice-over): Just a few years before he ran for Congress against incumbent Bobby Rush. Obama admits in his new book that it was, quote, an ill-considered race and I lost badly. Many in the community resented him.

ROLAND MARTIN, CHICAGO DEFENDER: He ran for a congressional seat, very clear parameters, against a popular African-American candidate, who was a member of the Black Panthers.

LEMON: Chicago's oldest black newspaper, the "Defender's" publisher Rolen Martin says that earlier congressional run severely dwindled Obama's base support until the U.S. Senate race. A Democratic front-runner, Blare Hall (ph), lost his lead after allegations of abuse by his former wife. No charges were ever filed. The popular wealthy Republican candidate, Jack Ryan, succumbed to a sex scandal. Then the Republican party brought in Alan Keyes, an outsider who many believed didn't stand a chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next senator from the state of Illinois, Barack Obama.

LEMON: He won and instantly became the great black hope of the Democratic party. Writers like Mark Brown from the "Chicago Sun Times" began to hint at a presidential run.

MARK BROWN, THE "CHICAGO SUN TIMES": The night he was elected I believed that he had the potential to be the most important political figure to come out of Illinois since Abraham Lincoln.

LEMON: But some question his chances. Few senators have ever won the White House. Plus, he's only been on the hill for two years.

BROWN: He's going to have the problem of people who just think he's, you know, ambitious and overeager.

MARTIN: People are not picking apart where he stands because does he not have a lengthy record on so many different issues, which is a good thing, but it also can very well be a bad thing when you have to make that move, because people may say, yes, you're great, you sound wonderful, you look the part, you have the credentials, but do you have the chops to actually do it.

LEMON: And then there's the Hillary factor.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: God bless New York and God bless America.

MARTIN: What does she have in her favor? Money, people, infrastructure and you can not deny the reality that Bill Clinton is her husband.

LEMON: Regardless of Hillary or inexperience, in America it's up to the people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, sometimes it's just not all the experience. A lot of times it's what's in the heart. That's how this country was raised. This is where we came from. It was what was in our heart. We came in with not a whole lot of experience on how to make it work, and we figured it out. I think he's got it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And Barack Obama says he will talk it over, a possible run, with his family, with his wife and his kids over the holidays and then let us know after that. But many, to all political observers, Tony, many think that this speech today on foreign policy just might be an indication of his intentions.

HARRIS: Hey Don, a couple questions. What does Barack Obama mean when he says that he credits Chicago for solidifying his racial identity? What does that mean?

LEMON: Well, I think what he says in the book is that he credits Chicago with fortifying his racial identity, sort of building it up. And if you've ever been in Chicago, or lived in Chicago, there is a very strong African-American community here, wealthy, politically active, politically forceful. And Barack Obama comes from a mixed heritage. His mom is white, his dad is black. Much of his years were spent outside of the United States.

So once you're in Chicago and if you have any sort of professionalism or anything going on in that area, or in that arena, you are -- can't help but be sort of absorbed by the people here, the movers and the shakers and by the black community. So I think that that's what Chicago did for him, not that he didn't identify as black, but it sort of helped him to, as he says, fortify his racial identity. HARRIS: I have to ask you, should he decide to run, would he be running, as Jesse Jackson did, with no real chance of winning, but to put some issues on the national agenda? Or would he be running to win?

LEMON: I think he's running to win. I mean, you know, who would get into a presidential race, who would open their life up to that much scrutiny if they didn't want to win this. So I really think that he would be running to win. And I think if he does decide -- if he doesn't decide, I would have to say, just as a precursor, it's because his wife, Michelle, who is really the strong person in that family -- his wife, Michelle, doesn't want him to run.

But if he does run, again, I think he's running to win. And I think he's riding that wave. And, you know, now is the time. And as I mentioned in Chicago, Chicago's a black publishing capital of the world. You have got, you know, "Ebony Magazine." You've got, don't forget, the Oprah factor and you've got one of the oldest black newspapers here. So, he has a lost support in the community there. And then again, as I mentioned Oprah, Oprah has given him his blessing and that accounts for a lot, as we know, in America.

HARRIS: OK, Don Lemon, can't wait for the interview. Don thanks.

LEMON: I can't either.

HARRIS: Barack Obama will be a guest in THE NEWSROOM today at 3:30 Eastern. Hear his thoughts about the future of the United States right here on CNN.

COLLINS: I want to get over to Hala Gorani now and "YOUR WORLD TODAY," coming up in about ten minutes or so. Good afternoon there Hala.

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Oh hello Heidi. Hi Tony. It was interesting to hear the Oprah endorsement. Something around the world, that people perhaps aren't aware of, when a talk show host that's as powerful as her endorses you, you've got a good chance in politics.

Now, "YOUR WORLD TODAY" at the top of the hour, noon Eastern. Join Steven Frasier and myself. It sounds like something out of a cold war spy novel. An ex -- the fascinating case of a former Russian spy poisoned in a sushi restaurant in London. He was an open critic of the Kremlin. We'll have a report on his status and the Russian government's response.

Also, an Iranian man imprisoned in the U.S. flew back to Iran, sued the American government and could be awarded, get this, the old U.S. embassy in Tehran, scene of the hostage taking in 1979 that pulverized U.S./Iranian relations.

And finally, Beetle mania all over again. A new twist on old Beetles favorites with the release of a new CD. Some are saying why mess with perfection? We'll have a live report from London. Hope can you join us at the top of the hour. Back to you guys.

COLLINS: All right Hala, thank you. We will be watching.

Sick on the ship, illness sends the Carnival Liberty to port. We'll have the latest on this coming up right here 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, Florida, getting a massive cleaning. Almost 700 passengers and crew became sick on a trans-Atlantic. Preliminary tests point to norovirus (ph). It causes stomach flu and symptoms and is highly contagious. Carnival says several passengers were sick before they boarded the ship.

HARRIS: Well the government wants a piece of the action in your eBay transactions. It wants anyone who sells goods online to pay taxes on the profit. Susan Lisovicz has the -- Susan, I feel like I should be outraged for -- I don't eBay myself, but for anyone who does eBay.

(MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: Super size it. Cigar makers put the wraps on a possible record-breaker. Look at that thing.

HARRIS: Nice.

COLLINS: We'll have the story, coming up in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Rolling for a record and leaving nothing to chance. Cigar makers in Tampa topping off a 101 foot cigar. So why would you do this? Well they plan to submit the super-stogey to Guinness World Records. The current record a 66 footer made Havana last year. If you want to buy the Tampa cigar, you may need help picking it up, and picking up the check. Cost here 5,100 bucks.

HARRIS: Oh, so sorry, don't have it.

COLLINS: Yes, I don't know how you smoke that anyway.

HARRIS: All that second hand smoke. Sorry.

COLLINS: In the meanwhile, CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now.

HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next, with news happening across the globe and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great Monday everybody.

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