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American Morning

Bush's Indonesia Visit; 'Draft' Resolution; Falluja: Two Years Later

Aired November 20, 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: On alert. President Bush wrapping up a visit in Indonesia, responding to protests and possible terror threats.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the draft. Just one of the ideas coming out this morning in the fight over the fight for Iraq.

M. O'BRIEN: No laughing matter. The actor who played Kramer on "Seinfeld" under fire for racial slurs in his standup act.

S. O'BRIEN: And the buys holiday travel rush takes off today. We'll tell you where the gridlock could be the very worst straight ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Welcome back, everybody, Monday, November 20th.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: We begin with what was a tense and a kind of brief visit to Indonesia by the president amid protests and threats. President Bush and the Indonesian president, Yudhoyono, wrapped up a news conference in just the last hour. Mr. Bush shrugged off the protests, saying they were a sign of a healthy democracy.

Let's get right to CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's traveling with the president in Bogor.

Elaine, good morning to you.

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

President Bush on a quick visit, as you pointed out, to this Muslim nation of Indonesia. Wrapping up that news conference just a short time ago.

Now, this is a critical ally -- Indonesia is a critical ally for the United States in the war on terror. It is home to the world's largest Muslim population, some 190 million Muslims. But there have been, of course, protests marking President Bush's visit here.

There has been strong opposition to President Bush's policies, notably in the Middle East and particularly on Iraq. Thousands of demonstrators, in fact, taking to the streets here in this country. But just a short time ago, the president essentially said that demonstrations were a good sign of a healthy society.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, President Bush was also asked about what the possible downsides might be of adding more troops to Iraq. President Bush responded by saying that he hasn't made any decisions about increases or decreases in troop levels. Of course, the speculation about what course the United States might take next, certainly running high.

Now, in the meantime, President Bush this hour is sitting down for dinner with the president of Indonesia. He will be wrapping up his visit here this evening, heading back to U.S. soil, going to Hawaii, actually, to have some breakfast with troops there before returning to Washington.

And Soledad, this, of course, wrapping up ape lengthy visit for President Bush. Some seven or eight days now on the road -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: He seemed -- he seemed a little tired in that news conference. He seemed a little slow from all that travel, that long, long trip.

Elaine Quijano is traveling with the president. She's in Bogor this morning.

Thanks, Elaine -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In Iraq, here's what's new this morning. Human Rights Watch calls the Saddam Hussein trial "fundamentally unfair." That's a report that came out today. It says the Iraq court was not capable handing such a complex case -- handling such a case.

Syria's foreign minister is calling for a timetable for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. This comes on his groundbreaking Syrian diplomatic mission to Iraq.

And a violent weekend is spilling over in to this Monday morning. The handcuffed bodies of 14 men found this morning in Baghdad, police say the men appear to have been tortured and shot after being kidnapped from their homes in a Sunni neighborhood.

Coalition forces are staging raids throughout Sadr City, searching for those kidnapped from Baghdad's Higher Education Ministry building last Tuesday, while families have come forward identifying two of the four American contractors kidnapped in a roadside ambush. Jonathan Cote of Buffalo, New York, and Paul Reuben from the twin cities area, Minnesota, are missing now since Thursday.

And a second attack on an Iraqi health official this morning. Deputy health commissioner Hakim al-Zamili (ph) escaped unharmed when gunmen attacked his convoy in Baghdad. Two guards were killed in the attack. The search is on for another health minister kidnapped over the weekend.

And former secretary of state -- secretary of state Henry Kissinger is now saying that an all-out military victory in Iraq is simply not possible. Kissinger spoke out on the BBC, saying that the kind of win President Bush has been hoping for more than likely will never happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY KISSINGER, FMR. 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 processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Kissinger says that the choice is no longer between one of the two extremes, all-out military victory or complete withdrawal -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The Pentagon, in fact, is said to be considering three possible plans in the fight for Iraq. A Pentagon panel, according to this morning's "Washington Post," is debating the plans called Go Home, Go Big and Go Longer.

The Go Home option is this: pull out and redeploy the troops. The Go Big option is this: send in even more troops to Iraq. And the Go Longer option is this: shrink the size of the force but stay longer.

Defense Department sources tell "The Post" that this third choice is the one most likely to be recommended.

And there's more talk about troop levels overall. Given the strains of the war in Iraq, Senator John McCain is once again saying that more troops are needed there. And a congressman with new influence is again raising the specter of the draft.

CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre is with us this morning.

Good morning, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Well, this new talk about reviving the draft is partly fueled by the speculation that the new strategy for Iraq may call for an increase in forces.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (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)

MCINTYRE: Congressman Charles Rangel, who is scheduled to take over as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee next year, says he'll introduce that bill to reinstate the draft next year. He sees it as a way to discourage politicians from getting involved in unpopular wars. But hardly anyone gives that bill any chance of passage -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Jamie McIntyre for us this morning at the Pentagon.

Thanks, Jamie -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, coming back to life in Falluja. CNN pays a visit to the city that saw one of the fiercest battles of the Iraq war to see how people are coping there today.

Plus, the U.S. government ordered to pay up. Why an Iranian may soon own the historic site of the hostage crisis ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Here's a look at the day's top stories.

President Bush's choice to lead the Pentagon heads to Capitol Hill today. Robert Gates will meet with Senator Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.

And the British prime minister, Tony Blair, making a surprise trip to Afghanistan. He says British troops are committed to their mission despite the increasing violence.

Eleven minutes past the hour. Before you get out the door, let's first get a check of the traveler's forecast for you. Rob Marciano has got that. He's in for Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Amid the seemingly endless reports of violence in Iraq, the name Falluja stands apart. Two years ago, that city the scene of some of the fiercest fighting by American troops since Vietnam. The city in central Iraq was once a stronghold of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

CNN's Arwa Damon recently went back to Falluja to see what life is like there now.

(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's hard to focus on learning.

"I only remember the killing and destruction and how they forced us to leave our city," Mohammed (ph) says. "They killed my two uncles."

In spring of 2004, Falluja was an Al Qaeda in 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 a 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.

"It is very difficult to leave and enter the city because of the checkpoints," Grosir Abuwali (ph) complains. But the checkpoints have succeeded in stemming the flow of insurgents and weapons, though the wait for residents can take hours.

Falluja's Sunni population accuses the predominantly Shia army of abuse and trusts the homegrown police force vying for power against the insurgency.

(on camera): The U.S. military says that attacks against the Falluja police force really intensified towards the end of July, not just bombs and ambushes, but targeted assassination.

(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.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Falluja.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: So what should the U.S. do now? Not just in Falluja or the Sunni-strong Anbar Province, but all across Iraq? A lot of smart minds looking in to ways for the U.S. to get out and safe face right now.

John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org joins us now with his take, among the smart minds looking at this.

JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: Good morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning, John. Good to have you with us.

Let's talk, first of all, about what's going to happen in the Anbar Province, where Falluja is. Anbar -- as we see, it's there in yellow, largest province, a Sunni-strong province. And we just last week reported that a 2,200-strong Marine contingent unit called a MEU, that's a...

PIKE: Marine Expeditionary Unit.

M. O'BRIEN: ... Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is vertically integrated. It's got fighter pilots, helicopters, ground troops going to that location.

What good could 2,200 Marines do there?

PIKE: Well, it's going to be 10 percent more combat power than they had there. That's going to be 10 percent less stress on the Marines that are already there. Hopefully that's going to make a small difference in a very long process in eventually pacifying this area.

I think that Al Anbar Province -- you know, I mean, the Marines, they name their amphibious assault ships after their great battles. Give it enough time, and there's going to be an Al Anbar Marine assault ship.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

PIKE: This is one of their great battles.

M. O'BRIEN: It is.

So would you put them along the border with Syria, that porous border which a lot of people say is a real problem?

PIKE: Well, they move them around. They've reinforced the border at times, they've sent them into Falluja at times. Over the next six months that they're there, I think they're going to move them around a bunch, basically send them where they need to be.

M. O'BRIEN: It's got to be a key to the whole big picture here. "The Washington Post" this morning out with a leaked document as to what's going on in the Pentagon right now with some of the planning.

PIKE: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: And there are three options basically considered. You can probably figure this out.

PIKE: Well, this is not rocket science.

M. O'BRIEN: It isn't rocket science. It's only about three ways to go: status quo, less or more. That's what they are.

PIKE: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: So, what are your thoughts right now? One of the thoughts is to go with several hundred thousand more troops right now. In other words, a huge escalation.

Does that have any sort of traction? And logistically, can the Pentagon support it?

PIKE: Well, the Pentagon can certainly support it for six months or a year. The challenge, however, is that once those troops have deployed over there for six months or a year, they're going to come back, they're going to have to recuperate. And if you needed them in the future, they wouldn't be available.

The commanders on the ground have already asked for an extra 15,000 troops. They got that request. I think that if they were to ask for more, they would get them, one way or the other.

M. O'BRIEN: So, the other options being considered are to sort of decrease the combat troops, increase the training force, and stay longer. That seems to be where things are. Does that make sense?

PIKE: Well, that's where -- yes. That's where we've been for the last while or so.

I think the bottom line is that eventually Iraqi security forces are going to have to secure their own country. The frustration, of course, is that police are not doing a very good job. The Army is doing a somewhat better job. It's a frustratingly protracted process.

M. O'BRIEN: Henry Kissinger, on the BBC, saying that at this point a military victory is not an option. Once again, that's -- you know, kind of -- the debate has already kind of passed by.

PIKE: Yes, that's obviously true.

M. O'BRIEN: But when he speaks -- when he speaks and says that, it carries a lot of weight, doesn't it?

PIKE: Well, the bottom line is that you can't have a military victory alone in a situation like this. The bottom line is that eventually the Sunni are going to have to reconcile themselves to the new political order. The Shia are going to have to cut them some slack. And the Kurds are going to have to decide that they want to be part of Iraq rather than a separate country.

So those are given.

M. O'BRIEN: So does it lead inevitably, when you call it a breakup or federalism or whatever, to some sort of partitioning of some kind of Iraq?

PIKE: That's going to be very difficult to do, because the problem is that if you're looking at a map of Iraq that's any bigger than your thumb nail, you immediately realize that Iraq is not evenly divided between those three groups.

Very large mixed areas. If you're talking about partitioning, you're talking about genocidal ethnic cleansing.

M. O'BRIEN: Boy, we'll have to leave it on that note.

PIKE: We'll leave it on that.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Thank you. John Pike, with GlobalSecurity.org.

Thanks for coming in.

PIKE: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Boston's skyline may soon get an extreme makeover. We'll explain as we mind your business straight ahead.

And then Michael Richards. Remember he was in "Seinfeld"? Well, now he's accused of a racist tirade on stage. We'll tell you what happened from the folks who were there straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Scotland Yard is looking into the poisoning of a former Russian spy. It happened at a London sushi joint. Now, the former spy has been an outspoken critic of the Russian government.

And Mothers Against Drunk Driving is launching a new campaign. It wants to put more breathalyzers in the cars of repeat drunk drivers.

The Boston skyline could get a very tall new edition.

Eamon Javers of "BusinessWeek" is "Minding Your Business" for us this morning.

Good morning.

EAMON JAVERS, "BUSINESSWEEK": Well, things are about to get a little bigger in Boston, where Steve Belkin (ph), a businessman there, is proposing a 1,000-foot 75-story glass and steel office tower in the heart of the financial district in downtown Boston. That's going to be 200 feet and maybe 15 stories higher than the John Hancock Tower, which is currently the tallest building in all of New England.

So that's a dramatic change for the skyline there in Boston.

M. O'BRIEN: I should say. Hopefully they'll be able to keep the glass on this one as they build it. But I know that in Boston, they've been reluctant to have big, tall skyscrapers like that.

JAVERS: Well, it's a colonial town, right? And it's got that old world charm. And here we've got something that's right out -- almost right out of New York's financial district going right in to the heart of Boston.

There's going to be some resistance. But the mayor, who is really supportive of this project, thinks that they need a 21st century skyline and to move on with business.

S. O'BRIEN: What's that walking tour you do right downtown through that area?

M. O'BRIEN: The Freedom Trail.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. The Freedom Trail goes right through that whole area. And you have that giant...

JAVERS: You have to take an elevator.

S. O'BRIEN: They didn't have that back then. That's interesting. I could see people not loving that, though, there.

M. O'BRIEN: They are tradition-bound in Boston.

JAVERS: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: What else you got?

JAVERS: Well, also, right here in New York, MetLife is finishing up a the sale of $5.4 billion apartment complex. It's called the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, originally built in the 1940s to house returning veterans. And they are selling it to Tishman Speyer Properties in BlackRock Realty.

It's one of the largest apartment complexes in the world. And that's going to be something that beat back a tenant bid, where the tenants there were trying to buy this thing for themselves. That's not happening.

S. O'BRIEN: So wait a minute. So they're selling -- they're going to sell Stuyvesant to this real estate developer? Is that's what's going to happen?

JAVERS: That's right. And there's some questions there with the current residents. Are they going to be forced out? Are they going to make this a whole thing, a luxury development? This has been traditionally a middle class place to live, and now we're looking at the possibility...

S. O'BRIEN: Well, and one of the rare places for affordable housing in that part of town.

JAVERS: You talk about this city, it's really impossible to find good housing here.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

JAVERS: And so the residents there are really concerned, and they tried to buy it themselves. That's been beat back. And $5.4 billion will do a lot of talking for you.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's like luxury -- if that doesn't luxury condos coming soon, what does?

JAVERS: Question mark.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Eamon. Thank you for dropping by.

JAVERS: Hey, thanks a lot.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Coming up on the program, get back. Get back. Get back to where you once belonged. Is that it?

There's something new from the Beatles this morning. We're live along Abbey Road with the new LP from the Fab Four. Yes, you heard me right.

Plus, before you pack your bags, some tips to make your flight hassle-free. No liquids. Remember, no liquids.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My body and all my organs inside are the same as anybody else's. I just look a little bit different on the outside.

When I was 6 years old, I stepped on a downed power line. As a result, I lost my left leg and both of my arms. I basically had to learn how to do everything over again.

I now where 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.

M. O'BRIEN: 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.

(voice over): 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, UNIV. 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?

M. 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, the 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 corner from that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. O'BRIEN: Protests and possible terror threats, they're part of President Bush's trip to Indonesia. It's unfolding as we speak, and we're there live.

S. O'BRIEN: Ultimatum. Iran is threatening to give away America's old embassy. So why is the site of the 1979 hostage crisis going to be potentially a backdrop for a new diplomatic flare-up?

M. O'BRIEN: And it's wheels up on the holiday travel rush. Where you'll see the biggest delays as you make your way to Grandma's house. All that and more, ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: And welcome back everybody. Monday, November 20. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.

S. O'BRIEN: We begin this morning with this tense and brief visit to Indonesia by the president, amid protests and threats. President Bush and the Indonesian President Yudhoyono wrapping up a news conference just about an hour ago. Mr. Bush shrugging off the protests, said they were a sign of a healthy democracy.

CNN's Atika Shubert is in Bogor this morning.

Atika, good morning.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

President Bush is at the moment attending a state dinner hosted at the presidential palace behind me, hosted, of course, by Indonesian President Bambang Yudhoyono. The two held bilateral talks on very wide-ranging issues, everything from bird flu to security issues and bio fuels.

But what the president specifically and repeatedly said was that Indonesia was an example of how democracy and modernization was an alternative to extremism.

Now that that democracy was also being exercised on the streets here in Bogor. Hundreds of protesters, more than 1,000, tried to march towards the presidential palace to deliver a message to President Bush. They didn't get very far. Riot police were there to stop them about a mile away from here.

What they said is they wanted to tell President Bush that he was not welcome in Indonesia for a variety of reasons: human rights abuses, they said in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. They also cited civilian deaths in Iraq. They also cited the issue of Palestine. All of these, they say, hurt the world's the Islamic community. And Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim nation.

And this was certainly an expression of Muslim solidarity on their behalf and a clear message to President Bush.

S. O'BRIEN: Atika Shubert for us this morning. She's in Bogor. Atika, thanks for the update -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A dark chapter of American history is at the center of a surprising legal fight. It involves the U.S. embassy in Iran, site of the hostage takeover 27 years ago.

CNN's Aneesh Raman joining us from Tehran with more -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning.

The embassy is still here. It's still owned by the U.S., and it could prove another hitch in relations between the U.S. and Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (voice-over): November 1979, the beginning of the end for U.S./Iran relations. Amid the Islamic revolution, hoards 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.

(on camera) Nearly three decades later, the embassy is now home to a government-backed militia. They rarely let 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 protests. It's barely visible, but there it is: "Embassy of the United States of America."

(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 in Libya. But the sanctions didn't apply to the 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 their list of assets or they have to prove that they have nothing.

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

GONZALO GALLEGOS, STATE DEPARTMENT 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE) RAMAN: Miles, Americans can and have sued Iran. The country has no immunity, since it's deemed a state sponsor of terror. Americans have won millions in suits following terrorist attacks. That is why Alikhani says he decided to follow suit -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Tehran, thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, some Thanksgiving travel tips for you. You already know you're supposed to get to the airport early. What else can you do to try to make your trip as stress free as possible? Stay home? No, outside of that. Take a look at that, straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the program. Let's check the grid, see some of the stories we're following for you right now, some of the feeds we're taking in.

Look up on the top, APTN. There's the first lady in Indonesia. She's at a school, part of the brief visit by the president and the first lady to Indonesia. Part of that Pacific Rim tour.

Incoming 12 right below it, that's KSDK's helicopter there. That little drum there, that's part of their microwave capability for feeding in the live pictures you see right now. They are returning from that scene over there, incoming 18. That's some tape from KSDK.

Baldwin, Missouri is the dateline, southwest of St. Louis. Big fire there, three alarm at a restaurant. Started in the seventh inn on Seven Trails Road, if you're familiar with the area. Happened 6 a.m. local time. That would be 7 a.m. Eastern Time.

And then incoming 301 over there is the United States Capitol today where we will see a couple things happen. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, her new lieutenant, meeting to discuss legislative agenda.

And Robert Gates, the Pentagon chief to be, or nominee, I should say, is to meet with Senator Carl Levin, who will take over as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and new Congress. Likely he'll have his hearings, though, in December before the new Congress convenes -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thank you very much.

If you're about to head out the door, let's get a quick check of the forecast for you. Rob Marciano is in for Chad.

Good morning to you, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's a quick peek at what's going to happen.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and it doesn't...

MARCIANO: Update things for you, of course.

S. O'BRIEN: Eek, and it doesn't sound so great on both coasts.

MARCIANO: It could be worse, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it could always be worse. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The busiest travel period, as Rob is sort of telling us there, is right now. And things really don't calm down until after New Year's. Twenty-five million people, more or less, are expected to fly during this Thanksgiving holiday alone.

And the November issue of "Travel and Leisure" lists the best and the worst U.S. airports for delays.

Nilou Motamed is the travel and leisure features editor. Nice to see you, as always. Thanks for coming in to talk to us.

The best is Cincinnati Airport; the worse, no surprise, O'Hare.

NILOU MOTAMED, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE": O'Hare. Twenty-eight percent delays in their flights. We...

S. O'BRIEN: Rob was just talking about the weather there. You know why.

MOTAMED: That's actually what causes it. That's what causes -- two-thirds of delays are caused by weather. So that's something that you should keep in mind if you're going to connect at all.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but what can you keep in mind? I mean, if your family lives somewhere where you're connecting through O'Hare, you're kind of stuck. How do the numbers compare this year as to last year? More people flying now?

MOTAMED: More people flying.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

MOTAMED: Two point seven percent more people flying. That means two million people each day flying from Friday, last Friday, through this coming Monday.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. That's a lot of people.

MOTAMED: That's a lot of people.

S. O'BRIEN: So I've read that the numbers are up for Thanksgiving Day. More people are flying literally on the day, the Thursday of Thanksgiving. Why is that?

MOTAMED: It's so clever of them, because especially if you fly out early that morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Better deals.

MOTAMED: You're going to get not just better deals, but you're going to get a little bit less chaos. The airport is, as we all know, going to be mobbed on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. And if you just wait till the morning of, it does seems to be a little bit better.

I really recommend flying early that day and, if you can avoid it, not to need a connection. It really makes a difference.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but that's not always...

MOTAMED: Not always the case.

S. O'BRIEN: ... the case. There are a lot of things you have to remember if you're flying. Sometimes there are people are flying who don't fly a lot, don't fly for business. There are all these little changes that they may not know about. So let's walk through them.

First of all, how much time do you recommend now that people leave when they're at the airport?

MOTAMED: Especially for people who have not been traveling since August when the new safety restrictions were put into place, definitely keep in mind if you're flying domestically, an hour and a half to two hours. I know it seems like a lot, but...

S. O'BRIEN: Remember the days when you could just run to the airport and hope on a plane?

MOTAMED: Those days are gone.

S. O'BRIEN: So two hours, you think, during the holiday?

MOTAMED: Especially because the worst thing that can happen to you is you're stuck at the airport and you're missing your turkey...

S. O'BRIEN: Because you're not.

MOTAMED: ... because you're in the security -- security line.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Now, these rules about what you can carry.

MOTAMED: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I know you brought a little plastic bag. They say you can have liquids on the plane, but they have to be like this.

MOTAMED: Which is phenomenal. Also, keep in mind that if you want to buy water at the airport, you are now able to do that in some of the airports, which is terrific. If you're flying domestically, it's easier than when you're flying internationally. But this is an important rule to keep in mind, the 3-1-1 rule. And that basically entails you can carry on things that are as big as three ounces of liquid. You get one quart-size bag. This is actually a little smaller than a quart-size bag, and you can have one per passenger. Make sure to take this bag out and you put it into the screening bin the way you would any of your metal objects or your computer.

S. O'BRIEN: What are the rules now for formula? Remember, there was someone coming through with a baby, and they didn't know what to do. So now you can -- if you have a child, you can bring formula.

MOTAMED: You can take it. Medications also. But also, again, you have to present it to the screeners, because there's nothing worse, and it really slows down the line if people don't take things out of their bags and they have to open the bags. Everything just gets slowed down.

S. O'BRIEN: Security lines are completely out of control these days.

MOTAMED: They're absolutely out of control. But what's really important is they're doing it for our safety.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Remind yourself of that when you want to scream. You've got to probably take your shoes off. You've got to take your laptop out. You know all that.

MOTAMED: And if you don't know what you need to be taking, if you are going to carry on your bag, go to the TSA web site, which is great. It's www.tsa.gov. And they have all the guidelines there.

S. O'BRIEN: And they're really aggressive about how much luggage you can carry on.

MOTAMED: That's something to keep in mind. Don't think you can squeak by. If you think your bag is going to be too big, make sure to make it safe to be checked in.

S. O'BRIEN: You have a couple other tips, as well. What do you recommend?

MOTAMED: Well, I would say one important thing is to book -- when you're booking your flight, you can also actually print out your -- your boarding pass online before you get to the airport, which means you avoid a lot of those lines, which is phenomenal. As I said, if you can't avoid connections, do avoid connections. If you can carry on, carry on, because actually -- because so many more people are checking their bags, misplaced bags are becoming something that's a little bit more common.

S. O'BRIEN: Which means tons of people will be carrying on their luggage, which also slows down boarding the plane. Gut that's another story.

If I hadn't gotten my tickets yet, I mean, if I hadn't gotten my tickets yet, do I have a chance to get a good deal or no?

MOTAMED: Well, one thing to keep in mind is a good deal this year is going to be something that's a little bit relative because prices are higher. Fuel prices are lower, but prices on the airplane are still higher.

But you can go -- there are a couple of web sites I would recommend: Kayak.com, SmarterTravel.com.

Another really important tip is go to a secondary airport. If you can't get to LAX, maybe think about Long Beach.

S. O'BRIEN: And then drive.

MOTAMED: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, go to a secondary airport and then drive from that airport.

MOTAMED: Yes. Or get picked up.

S. O'BRIEN: Or get picked up.

It's always nice to see you. Are you traveling for the holidays?

MOTAMED: I am. Taking the train.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I see. You're too smart to fly. Thank you very much.

She, of course, is the -- the features editor for "Travel and Leisure" magazine.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, go shopping with Dr. Sanjay Gupta for your Thanksgiving dinner. Going to have the inside story on finding safe ingredients. That's tomorrow, right here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Soledad. Thank you.

Coming up, a racist rant from Kramer? We'll tell you why some people are not laughing after hearing a recent standup routine by Michael Richards.

And music to the ears of Beatles fans. We'll go live to London and find out how folks are reacting to a brand new album from the Fab Four. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A new Beatles album goes on sale today. You don't have to drag out your turntable. What's a turntable, Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Why, that's something you put your LP on.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, an LP. And what's that, kids? CNN's Jim Boulden is live in Central London to explain.

Jim, hello.

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Good morning, Miles.

Yes, this is quite interesting. This is a new Beatles album but with a twist of the 21st Century.

The album is called "Love", and it was put together by the Beatles' legendary producer, George Martin, and his son. It was done for a Cirque Du Soleil musical show in Las Vegas.

The twist here, though, is that the songs have been matched together, as they kids would call it. They put different songs together you wouldn't expect. They put home recordings. They put studio outtakes and little jingles, things that the Beatles did while they were recording. And put this all together in these new -- this new album.

And they said they did it, of course -- they wanted to bring Beatles music into the 21st Century.

Now, you might have thought that some people would criticize this. But Paul McCartney himself said it was a great idea. And here's why he says it's OK to mess with Beatles music.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MCCARTNEY, MUSICIAN: I would liken it to great people like Churchill and, you know, great writers, Tolstoy. Their original papers are in museums. They're only getting browner and more crinkly. But the Beatles stuff is getting shinier and newer and cleaner. It's like magic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOULDER: Shinier and newer, but some bloggers aren't so happy with this. But just to sort of relay their fears, there is no distortion on this. There are no other recordings. You're not going to hear Michael Jackson, of course, mixed in with the Beatles.

And it's all original 60s recordings. It's just that it's been updated and digitized. And just to make it a little more fun, give a new generation of fans some taste of what the Beatles are all about -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So they're sampling, essentially. But there's no rap involved.

BOULDEN: No rap, indeed. One of the good ones is you get "Strawberry Fields Forever", and inside of it, you start to hear "Hello, Good-Bye" mixed in underneath. You hear "Penny Lane" mixed in underneath. You actually have a home recording that John Lennon did of one of his favorite Beatles songs. And they put that back into a song. Ringo Starr said, you know, you'll hear him playing drums where he might have done it in the studio but didn't actually do it in the release. So you'll hear his drumming on songs that you didn't hear until this album came out.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I can imagine why purists might be upset with this, on the face of it, but the Martins are as talented as anybody. And certainly, we'll have to give it it's due.

All right. Thank you very much, Jim Boulden -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, absolutely nobody's laughing after Michael Richards' standup act over the weekend. You know him -- probably know him best as Kramer on "Seinfeld", but during his recent act the audience says that Richards lashed out in a racist tirade.

Brooke Anderson has our story, and we should warn you that it does contain some offensive language. But listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST, HEADLINE NEWS' "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" (voice-over): 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)

S. O'BRIEN: Sounds like it was pretty shocking, if people -- 300 people, dead silence, according to the guy who was there.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, and some of -- definitely not funny. We can say that for sure. Whatever...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's not a funny joke.

Let's take a quick look at what they're working on for THE NEWSROOM this morning at the top of the hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Coming up in the "CNN NEWSROOM", the Iraq war's heavy burden, a congressman's call to reinstate the military draft.

Cold War intrigue. A former Russian spy says he was poisoned at a London sushi restaurant. The Kremlin accused.

And gas prices pumped up again and just in time for holiday travel.

Those stories in THE NEWSROOM, 9 Eastern, 6 Pacific.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, take a look at this. Yes, it's a big, giant pillow fight. Hundreds of people got together this weekend in Buenos Aires in Argentina for a big, giant pillow fight. They picked up a pillow, went on a little smacking frenzy.

The event was arranged by bloggers, who got the idea from similar events in San Francisco and Madrid, Spain. And everybody who showed up heard about the event either through the Internet, by text messaging or by word of mouth. Big success, said the organizer.

M. O'BRIEN: Those flash mobs are something. But I'd never seen a flash mob pillow fight.

S. O'BRIEN: No. No.

M. O'BRIEN: New take.

And smoke it if you can lift it. How about lighting up the world's longest cigar, 101 feet long, 53 pounds. How would you take a drag on that thing?

S. O'BRIEN: You'd need a lot of friends to hold it up for you.

M. O'BRIEN: It just would be kind of hard. Anyway, and what about the humidor?

It took 75 hours to roll it in Tampa, Florida. Beat the old record, which was only 66 feet, which was stuffed in Havana last year, which means, of course, the Cubans will have to respond now.

S. O'BRIEN: You think? Maybe?

M. O'BRIEN: Tit for tat.

S. O'BRIEN: You could smoke it in the house but be outside of the house. See?

M. O'BRIEN: I like that idea.

S. O'BRIEN: I always kick my husband out.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. Sandy would like that very much.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm thinking, see.

M. O'BRIEN: But the -- the exhale, you'd start to funnel that out.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. We have to work on that.

M. O'BRIEN: Nice thought, though.

S. O'BRIEN: And we're out of time, so it's going to end right there. That's it for us on AMERICAN MORNING. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.

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