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U.S. Fighter Jet Crashed in Iraq; President Bush Tries To Rally Overseas Support For Iraq War; Pope Benedict Visits Turkey
Aired November 28, 2006 - 09:00 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 are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
For the next three hours, watch events happen live on this Tuesday, the 28th day of November.
Here's what's on the rundown.
President Bush rejecting the civil war label for Iraq. He's blaming al Qaeda for the constant violence.
HARRIS: When faiths collide -- Pope Benedict on his first visit to a Muslim country, trying to calm tensions between Islam and Christianity.
COLLINS: Ten people killed at a Missouri group home. Now, authorities want to know whether the fire was a crime. The investigation, in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A U.S. fighter jet down outside Baghdad. A scene of smoldering wreckage. The pilot nowhere to be found. Now, a military search is on to find one of their own.
CNN's Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon for us this morning -- Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
And, yes, military officials are still trying to piece together just what happened yesterday when this F-16 fighter jet crashed near Baghdad.
According to officials, at the time it was on a low level troops in contact mission being directed by the ground commander in the area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: The cause of the crash is unknown, but at this time, there is no indication suggesting the plane was shot down. For now, the Air Force has officially classified the pilot as duty status and whereabouts unknown. A board of investigation has convened to determine why the plane went down and information on the pilot's status will be made available as soon as we have further knowledge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: There was just one pilot aboard that aircraft. Military officials say that surveillance planes in the region, also other jet fighters, did spot insurgents near the crash site, so a quick reaction force was sent in immediately to secure the area. Investigators who have been on the scene through the night and then also all day today have been collecting evidence, including DNA evidence. Officials say that should take about two to five days to process.
They have also, very importantly, found the ejection seat. But, Tony, military officials say they couldn't tell whether or not it had been used or not. The crash -- the plane was so badly damaged.
HARRIS: Kathleen, has the pilot's name been released yet?
KOCH: No, Tony. Obviously the military wants to take great care to make sure that every single family member has been notified of what's happened. And, also, since there is this question about is the pilot dead or alive, certainly he is not with the aircraft. They don't want to put out any information that could potentially, you know, if the pilot is in hiding somewhere, could potentially be used against the pilot. So we want to keep him or her safe right now.
HARRIS: Kathleen Koch for us at the Pentagon.
Kathleen, thank you.
KOCH: You bet.
HARRIS: The bloodshed in Iraq now. The military says expect more in the coming days. This was the scene this morning in the city of Kirkuk. Police say a suicide bomber blew himself up near an Iraqi governor's convoy. The governor survived, but 18 people were wounded. A U.S. military spokesman said civilian casualties have spiked dramatically in Baghdad following the carnage in Sadr City on Thursday. Some 200 people were killed.
Many now say Iraq is in the middle of a civil war. But the military and President Bush still rejecting such a characterization.
COLLINS: President Bush trying to rally troops around the world. This hour, he's in Latvia for a NATO summit. He's asking allies to provide more forces for the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
But these days, the president's attention never strays far from the war in Iraq.
Let's talk with CNN European political editor Robin Oakley now -- Robin, what's the latest now?
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this is a big, big summit for NATO, a transformation summit, they're calling it, which is going to fix the role of the 26-nation alliance for the next 10 to 15 years. Also, a big focus on Afghanistan.
But a lot of the other 25 leaders here will be wanting to ask President Bush about the latest situation and the escalating violence in Iraq. When he was in Estonia earlier this morning, talking to the president there, he gave us a clue as to what he'll be pressing on Nouri Al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, when he meets him in Jordan later this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The bombings that took place recently were a part of a pattern that has been going on for about nine months. I'm going to bring this subject up, of course, with Prime Minister Maliki when I visit with him in Jordan on Thursday.
My questions to him will be what do we need to do to succeed? What is your strategy in dealing with the sectarian violence?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OAKLEY: But there have also been tough words from President Bush this morning about the fellow NATO allies, who aren't doing enough to step up to the plate in Afghanistan, some of them having caveats about what parts of the country their troops will fight in. And the NATO Secretary-General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer saying they're 20 percent short of the troops and equipment they need in the tough areas fighting the Taliban in the Helman Province in the south -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Robin Oakley, thanks for that.
We'll be checking back with you as the day goes on, I'm sure.
Meanwhile, bringing home the troops. Britain says it plans to withdraw forces from Iraq by the end of next year. Its defense secretary would not give a specific number of troops, but said it would likely be in the thousands. Any withdrawal depending on conditions on the ground.
Britain has about 7,000 troops in Iraq. Most are in the south, in Basra. That's Iraq's second largest city.
HARRIS: Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey and under heavy guard. The pontiff is making his first visit to a Muslim country and he is being met with high tensions.
He made a controversial speech in September that angered Muslims worldwide. Turkey has launched massive security operations to protect the pontiff. Turkey's prime minister says the pope reassured him today that he views Islam as a peaceful religion.
The pope reaching out after his controversial comments.
Is anyone listening?
CNN's Delia Gallagher reports. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pope Benedict XVI caused more than a stir when he quoted an obscure 14th century Byzantine emperor. It wasn't the first time he would speak so pointedly about Islam. And in the months since that now famous speech and the furor that followed it, he may have issued an apology of sorts, but he hasn't backed away from his message.
Vatican watchers say that's not unexpected. It says a lot about the man who made the comments.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: And I think if you read that 5,000-word speech in context, it's very clear it's not really about Islam at all, it's about the relationship between reason and faith. But what is characteristic is that this is a very tightly packed, academic argument and in that argument, he simply is not willing to observe the kind of P.C. taboos about things you're supposed to say and not say if he thinks it serves the point he wanted to make.
GALLAGHER: In his 1997 book, "Salt of the Earth," then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote: "We must recognize that Islam is not a uniform thing. In fact, there is no single authority for all Muslims, and for this reason, dialogue with Islam is always dialogue with certain groups."
He said those groups run-the gamut from noble Islam to extremist terrorist Islam. And in a meeting with Islamic representatives in 2005, he called on elders to teach their young tolerance and cooperation.
But he follows a pope who tried over and over again to befriend the Muslim community and Benedict's tougher talk has some wondering if John Paul II's hard work may be destroyed by Benedict's hard line approach.
ALLEN: No question that Benedict XVI has a slightly tougher message on Islam than his predecessor, John Paul II. John Paul was the great bridge builder with Muslims. He met with Muslims more than 60 times over the course of his pontificate. He was the first pope to go inside a mosque, which he did at the Grand Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in 2001.
I think Benedict believes that now that those bridges have been built, it's time for us to walk over them.
GALLAGHER: In the immediate aftermath of that speech in September, protesters filled the streets. Effigies were burned. A nun-and a priest were murdered.
But Benedict hasn't backed down. He called a meeting in Rome of Muslim ambassadors and religious leaders and apologized, not for what he said, but that his remarks spurred a violent reaction. The pope called for continuing dialogue with the Muslim community.
But he insists that dialogue cannot take place unless the issues he spoke about in Regensburg become part of a meaningful discussion.
ALLEN: It's got to be more than tea and cookies. We've got to be able to actually talk out real issues. And certainly the two issues, above all, that he wants to put on the table are violence and terrorism, and then also religious freedom.
GALLAGHER: Will Benedict's steadfast approach open that dialogue or will it burn the bridges built by his predecessor?
His reception on this historic visit to Turkey will go a long way in showing whether Muslims are ready to accept this outspoken pope as an ally.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Istanbul, Turkey.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: When faiths collide -- later this morning in THE NEWSROOM, we will talk about the pope's trip, the goals and expectations, with an Islamic scholar, Ingrid Mattson.
And Anderson Cooper is live in Turkey with Pope Benedict's first day and Muslim reaction. A special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360" tonight, live from Turkey. That's at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.
COLLINS: Numb in the Northwest -- a storm system blanketing the region with heavy snow. Look at this. About two feet of it in parts of Washington slowing travel and knocking out power to thousands of people there.
The Idaho Mountains have gotten several inches of snow since the weekend, too. That's leading up to some cleanup operations, but also a lot of fun.
Ski resorts are opening up. Good timing.
Also, stormy weather in Utah. It's the state's first big snowfall this season. It's made for a messy commute for some people, but no reports of serious accidents. So that's good news.
Rob Marciano taking a look at all of this.
It's beautiful, but sometimes it does really mess people up.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, with all of the weather situations, or most of them, there's a catch-22 -- there's a good side, and there's a bad side, a real double-edged sword.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Right.
MARCIANO: So with the cold air comes the headaches to drive, be it to work or to visit somebody or to get to the mountains. Once you get to the mountains to play, you've got some great snow. And that's what we're dealing with.
This is unusual for this time of year. Cold air driving out of the Gulf of Alaska, and, also, Arctic air driving down from Canada. And those two colliding across the Pacific Northwest and this storm continues to bring snow to this area.
These are record -- these are yesterday's snow totals in -- actually, two days ago -- snow totals. And these totals have continued to pile up in the mountains. Not so much at the valleys. If you watched the football game last night, you saw it piling up at the Seattle Seahawks game and then it ended about halftime.
There are still showers around here, but mostly the main energy has moved off into the mountains of Idaho, of Utah, and eventually into Colorado. But it's still 25 degrees. That could very well be a record low in Seattle. Thirty-three degrees in Portland. So it's certainly still cold enough to snow in areas that really, snow is a pretty rare event.
Not so rare in the Colorado and Wyoming Rockies, in the Tetons and the Bitterroots and the Wasatch. We could see, well, we probably will see over a foot of snow in some of these areas. And so the ski resorts will begin to pile that base up that they'll need going forward.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Meanwhile, a deadly fire at a home for the disabled. Investigators now looking for signs of a crime. The update on the case coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: An elderly woman killed in a shootout with police.
Was the drug raid a mistake? Is there a cover-up?
Tough questions in Atlanta today.
COLLINS: And soldiers in the shadows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've had to face public opinion. I've had to face disownment from my father. He told me I was dead to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: AWOL in Canada -- the story coming up right here in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: When faiths collide -- Pope Benedict XVI making his first visit to a Muslim country. He is greeted by tensions in Turkey.
Just two months ago, the pope offended Muslims all over the world with a controversial speech. Turkey undertaking a massive security operation to protect the pontiff.
CNN's Alessio Vinci is in Ankara and he joins us by phone -- Alessio, we understand there was one final massive security sweep just before the pope arrived.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is correct. And we saw evidence of it when we arrived on the papal plane at Ankara airport. We saw snipers on top of the buildings, on the airport buildings; soldiers on the ground carrying heavily -- heavily armed, carrying machine guns. All along the highway that linked the airport to the capital city, we saw, first of all, empty boulevards. Obviously, the traffic had been blocked. But also hundreds of policemen lining up on all the streets.
So clearly a massive security operation here in Turkey that not only included police, but also, we understand, the army.
We are currently, now, outside of the so-called directorate of the religious affairs. That's where earlier today a dozen or so people demonstrated against the pope. There are a lot of police here, including two armored personnel carriers. No sign of demonstrations at this time.
A lot of press, a lot of Turkish press. I mean, there must be at least 100 journalists here from local and national television stations.
So, clearly, there is a lot of attention and a lot of expectation -- expectations from this pope's trip -- Tony.
HARRIS: Alessio, just a quick question. In his live speeches today, later today, do you expect -- is the expectation that the pope will revisit his comments from September?
VINCI: No. As a matter of fact, he is going to try to move forward and we also understand that the person he is about to meet in a few moments now, the head of the religious directorate -- of religious affairs -- has said that now that is behind them and that it is time to move forward.
And, as a matter of fact, on the way here, even before the pope touched down in Ankara, the pope said to us, the reporters on board of his plane, that he was embarking on a trip of dialogue, brotherhood and reconciliation.
And, indeed, by the way, when he arrived here Ankara, the first person he met was the Turkish prime minister...
HARRIS: Yes.
VINCI: ... who was an outspoken critic of the people when he made those comments back in September. And during their meeting, we understand from the Turkish prime minister that the pope has basically said that he would welcome the fact that Turkey would join the European Union.
Now, that is significant because this pope, when he was a cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, he was a cardinal and he basically opposed Turkey joining the European Union, basically citing religious and cultural differences, those same religious and cultural differences that he's set out now to try to bridge together during his trip.
HARRIS: Alessio Vinci for us, traveling with the pope.
Alessio, we appreciate it.
Thank you.
COLLINS: A country at the crossroads -- a Muslim nation where East meets West. Inside Turkey, coming up here in THE NEWSROOM.
And Muslims in the U.S. military -- one former soldier claims they're fighting their own battle against fellow soldiers.
We'll take a look at that in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Back to the rubble -- investigators going through the site of a deadly group home fire.
CNN's Jonathan Freed reports from the small town of Anderson, Missouri, where 10 people are now dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fire broke out around 1:00 a.m. on Monday, shocking neighbors and passers-by with its intensity.
The building was the Anderson Guest House, a group home for the elderly and mentally ill. Thirty-four people were inside when it started, including two staff members on the overnight shift.
Steven Spears lives next door and says he saw flames erupt from the building.
STEVEN SPEARS, NEIGHBOR: It was just a big rush of fire, enough to either blow out the door or open the door in the front.
FREED (on camera): Did you hear an explosion of any kind?
SPEARS: No sound whatsoever.
FREED (voice-over): State police say firefighters pulled more than a dozen people out of the burning building. Eighteen were taken to area hospitals. Six were treated at the scene.
GOV. MATT BLUNT (R), MISSOURI: We're not ruling out a criminal investigation and, indeed, we're treating this as if it were a crime scene. We're not saying it's definitely a crime scene, but we're treating it as if it is and trying to determine if the fire was set by somebody that had a nefarious motive.
FREED: Anderson, Missouri is about half an hour south of Joplin and in a town of 1,800 people, a fire this big and this deadly will stay with you for a while.
Betty Wood lives across the street.
BETTY WOOD, NEIGHBOR: And I could see the building, that this happened, the north half, totally engulfed in flames. And you could hear screaming. It was -- it was horrible.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Jonathan Freed joining us now live.
And, Jonathan, we know that there was another fire on Saturday at this same facility.
What more do we know about that?
FREED: We were talking to investigators about that earlier today. And what they're saying at this point is that fire was in a resident's room at the opposite end of the building to where this fire appears to have started. And investigators are saying as of now, there is no indication that these fires are connected in any way.
They are still leaving open the possibility, of course, as the investigation continues. But they're pretty adamant about it for now, saying it looks like no connection.
COLLINS: And yet, as you say, this fire is being looked at as suspicious.
So we'll continue to follow this one.
Jonathan Freed, thank you.
HARRIS: And we want to take you now to Latvia, the site of the NATO summit. The president of the United States being introduced there and about to make some comments to an international conference organized by the German Marshall Fund and sponsored by the NATO host committee.
The president will be speaking about transforming NATO in a new global era. The German Marshall Fund releasing five policy papers that, in effect, set a framework for the discussion at the NATO summit, discussing the critical issues for all 26 nations to address, issues that are actually going to be on the agenda and some that aren't.
So there you see the president.
We will monitor that speech in Latvia for you at the Latvia University and bring you some of the president's comments a little later. Well, the FBI opening its own investigation here in Atlanta, looking into the death of an 88-year-old grandmother. She died in a shootout with police during a raid on her home. Narcotics officers say they were told by an informant that the house was a drug den.
That informant tells a different story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Had you ever, in your years as an informant for the Atlanta Police Department, have you ever made a buy at 933 Neal Street?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Had you ever, as your years as an informant for APD, ever even been to 933 Neal Street?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
I'm telling you all this story. I never went to the house. I'm telling you. I never went to the house. The police can't make me say I went to the house.
CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE: According to the informant after we brought that informant in, interviewed that informant, he told us that he had no knowledge of going into that house and purchasing drugs. That's what he told us. I don't know if he went in or not. We don't know if he's telling the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And the Atlanta police chief says the informant is being kept in protective custody. He will be interviewed by federal investigators.
Fifty shots fired -- were New York police officers just caught up in the moment when they shot three unarmed men?
The latest on the disturbing case straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And President Bush in Europe rejecting civil war as a label for Iraq. His explanation for the worsening bloodshed in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: When faiths collide -- Anderson Cooper is live in Turkey with Pope Benedict's first day and Muslim reaction to it. A special edition of "A.C. 360" tonight, live from Turkey. That comes your way 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific, here on CNN.
HARRIS: What do you say we wound that opening bell and get the business day off, hopefully, Heidi, to a better start than yesterday. We started the day down and it just continued to go from bad to worse.
There we go.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1 percent yesterday, with disappointing sales forecasts from Wal-Mart Stores, down 119 points.
We will check all of the day's business news with Susan Lisovicz a little later this morning.
COLLINS: Concerns grow and the search continues for a U.S. pilot in Iraq. The military says an F-16 went down Monday in a field outside Baghdad. Ground forces moved in to secure the scene, but the pilot was nowhere to be found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ SPOKESMAN: For now, the Air Force has officially classified the pilot as duty status and whereabouts unknown. A board of investigation has convened to determine why the plane went down and information on the pilot's status will be made available as soon as we have further knowledge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The military says the pilot was flying in support of combat operations and confirms that insurgents were in the vicinity of the crash site after the plane went down.
President Bush, he meets with NATO allies today, but an even more delicate alliance may be put to the test this week. The president heads to a meeting with Iraq's prime minister to discuss the escalating violence there. Today, Mr. Bush rejected claims Iraq has already spiraled into civil war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE. W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The bombings that took place recently was a part of a pattern that has been going on for about nine months. I'm going to bring this subject up, of course, with Prime Minister Maliki when I visit with him in Jordan on Thursday. My questions to him will be, what do we need to do to succeed? What is your strategy in dealing with the sectarian violence?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The bloodshed in Iraq, the military says expect more in the coming days. This was the scene this morning in the city of Kirkuk. Police say a suicide bomber blew himself up near an Iraqi governor's convoy. The governor survived but 18 people were wounded. A U.S. military spokesman says civilian casualties have spiked dramatically in Baghdad following the carnage in Sadr City on Thursday. Some 200 people were killed.
Revenge killings in Iraq on the heels of last week's bloodbath in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood -- a Shiite militia stronghold. As CNN's Arwa Damon reports, commanders fear the worst may be yet to come.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the religiously charged atmosphere of Baquba, blindfolded and handcuffed bodies, contorted in death arrive at the morgue. The local government said the dead were found scattered through the city. Most Shia, some Sunni. As bodies in this ethnically mixed city piled up for the second day, this man rages at anyone who will listen.
The government is responsible for this, he shouts. The criminals who are running the government. After Thursday's attack in Sadr City that killed at least 200 Shia, the government impose a three-day curfew in Baghdad, keeping the body count relatively low. But there was no curfew in Baquba, and the slaughter went on.
Why, why, this woman shouts. The Sadr City bombing, the single deadliest sectarian attack of the war, enraged Shia militias and sent the sectarian bloodletting to a whole new level. As one man told us, out here it's now each man for himself. Sunni websites urge their so- called brothers to carry weapons and share details about attacks in their neighborhoods. Residents and insurgents trade tips on defense against Shia militias. Prepare your weapons and ammunition, it says. With the first bullet you shoot, your fear will go away. Plant bombs and tactically position snipers at entrances to your neighborhoods. Fighters should not waste their bullets. Think about your family and remember that they, the militias, burn children with gasoline.
Fact or fiction, the internet traffic is fueling fear, hatred, and encouraging violence. In this video posted on an extremist jihadi website shows a new level of brutality. The Mujadhen (ph) army from Audamei (ph), a Sunni neighborhood, prepare to behead this man, who they claim is with the Shia Medhi militia. The killing, moments later, takes place as people record images.
And throughout Iraq, the agony of loss. The failures of the government now painfully obvious as the country comes even closer to full-scale civil war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Oh, boy. And Arwa Damon joins us from Baghdad. Arwa, sorry to come to you and ask you to give us the latest on even more violence there in Baghdad, but tell us about the attack on a Baghdad hospital that seemed very coordinated, very timed, one explosion followed shortly thereafter by a second.
DAMON: Tony, this violence that you are talking about, that incident is really just such an indication of what a tragic situation is here right now. Imagine you are at a hospital, at the hospital's morgue trying to collect the body of your loved one and then you, too, are the victim of an attack. That is what happened today.
This attack was targeting Iraqis waiting outside of western Baghdad's largest hospital's morgue. One car bomb exploded. And then as Iraqi police were rushing to the scene, within minutes, the second car bomb exploded as well. Four Iraqis lost their lives in that attack, another 40 were wounded.
And then earlier today, also there was another attack against the convoy of the Kirkuk governor, that oil-rich city province in northern Iraq that is highly contentious in and of itself. There, 18 Iraqis were wounded. The governor escaped unharmed. But innocent bystanders were the victims for the most part of that attack as well, Tony
HARRIS; Arwa, we just saw a picture of a woman just stricken by grief, just falling in the streets, just falling out in the streets, just so overcome by everything that's going on. I have to ask you, for the perspective of people you talk to there in Baghdad, they have to know that there's this meeting coming up on Thursday between President Bush and the prime minister, Iraq's prime minister.
Do they have any hopes, any expectations that something out of this meeting will improve the situation in their country?
DAMON: Well, quite frankly, Tony, few Iraqis here really have any hopes that that high level meeting between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President George Bush is really going to pull some sort of magic solution out of a hat. That's going to all of a sudden decrease the level of the violence here.
They have seen these meetings happen in the past, they have seen multiple meetings on multiple levels between all sorts of politicians and military commanders and none of them have done anything to decrease the violence here.
HARRIS: Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad. Arwa, thank you.
COLLINS: Meeting in the Mideast, Palestinian officials say President Mahmoud Abbas will sit down with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jericho Thursday. The meeting coming just days after Palestinians and Israelis call a new truce in Gaza. The U.S. hopes the truce could set the stage for new peace talks.
A country at the crossroads. A Muslim nation where east meets west, inside Turkey in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And 142 inches of fresh snow in a week? Is that correct? Is that the number there? The lure of one ski resort, of course, getting their could be a problem. The Northwest in white, ahead, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Bombings with al Qaeda's fingerprints, as they rocked Turkey three years ago. The suspects are now on trial.
CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with the defense attorney.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): November 20, 2003: Two suicide blasts, minutes apart, rock Istanbul -- the targets, the British Consulate and a London-based bank headquarters.
One week earlier, suicide attacks are launched against two Istanbul synagogues. In total, 52 people are killed, more than 400 wounded. The attacks had all the hallmarks and have been attributed to al Qaeda, coordinated blasts, targeting symbols of the West and Israel, a sign to many that extremists in Turkey were on the rise. More than 50 suspects are now on trial for the bombings.
"They fight for their beliefs," he says. "And America and the West are fighting against Islam."
Osman Karahan is an attorney for some of the alleged terrorists. He himself has been suspected of aiding terrorists by the Turkish government, an accusation he denies. But he does believe suicide bombings are permitted by the Koran and insists, Osama bin Laden is a freedom fighter.
"All holy warriors are seen as freedom fighters," he says, "and they're supported all around the world."
Karahan follows a radical and undeniably extreme form of Islam. Any pictures of people in his office have post-it notes covering their faces.
When we talked, our translator, a woman, had to sit behind a screen, so as not to be seen by Karahan. Throughout the interview, he wore a pistol strapped to his waist. He condemns any Muslim who does not agree with his interpretation of the Koran.
"We believe that a Muslim who accept as secular governing system becomes an unbeliever, and stays in hell forever," he says. "It's not acceptable for us. And, also, it's not enough to deny it. It's necessary to work for the creation of an Islamic state."
It's not likely Turkey will become an Islamic state, like Afghanistan under the Taliban. Support for a moderate form of Islam is strong here. And the economy is booming. But, according to author and professor Reza Aslan, there is cause for concern.
REZA ASLAN, AUTHOR, "NO GOD BUT GOD: THE ORIGINS, EVOLUTION, AND FUTURE OF ISLAM": If Turkey doesn't begin to really reconcile its relationship with Europe, and, if Europe doesn't do a better job of -- of making Turkey feel like it has a role to play in the continent, then, there is a fear that, maybe five, six, seven years from now, we may be talking about a larger number of extremists, a larger group of -- of jihadists here.
Anderson Cooper, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: We want to go straight to President Bush talking at the University of Latvia. Let's listen in.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: ... to assemble or to worship God in the way you see fit. It opposes the rights for women. Their goal is to overthrow governments and to impose their totalitarian rule on millions.
They have a strategy to achieve these aims. They seek to convince America and our allies that we cannot defeat them and that our only hope is to withdraw and abandon an entire region to their domination.
The war on terror that we fight today is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. And in this struggle, we can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren.
We see the struggle in Lebanon, where last week gunmen assassinated that country's industry minister, Pierre Gemayel, a prominent leader of the movement that secured Lebanon's independence last year. His murder showed once again the viciousness of those who are trying to destabilize Lebanon's young democracy.
We see the struggle in Syria, where the regime allows Iranian weapons to pass through its territory into Lebanon and provides weapons and political support to Hezbollah.
We see the struggle in Iran, where a reactionary regime subjugates its proud people, arrests free trade union leaders, and uses Iran's resources to fund the spread of terror and pursue nuclear weapons.
We see the struggle in the Palestinian territories, where extremists are working to stop moderate leaders from making progress toward the vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.
In each of these places, extremists are using terror to stop the spread of freedom. Some are Shia extremists, other are Sunni extremists, but they represent different faces of the same threat.
And if they succeed in undermining fragile democracies and drive the forces of freedom out of the region, they will have an open field to pursue their goals. Each strain of violent Islamic radicalism will be emboldened in its efforts to gain control of states and establish new safe havens.
The extremists would use oil resources to fuel their radical agenda and to punish industrialized nations and pursue weapons of mass destruction.
Armed with nuclear weapons, they could blackmail the free world, spread their ideologies of hate, and raise a mortal threat to Europe, America and the entire civilized world.
If we allow the extremists to do this, then 50 years from now history will look back on our time with unforgiving clarity and demand to know why we did not act.
Our alliance has a responsibility to act. We must lift up and support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the broader Middle East. We must bring hope to millions by strengthening young democracies from Kabul to Baghdad to Beirut. And we must advance freedom as the great alternative to tyranny and terror.
I know some in my country and some here in Europe are pessimistic about the prospects of democracy and peace in the Middle East. Some doubt whether the people of that region are ready for freedom or want it badly enough or have the courage to overcome the forces of totalitarian extremism.
I understand these doubts but I do not share them.
I believe in the universality of freedom. I believe that the people of the Middle East want their liberty.
I'm impressed with the courage I see in the people across the region who are fighting for that liberty.
We see this courage in the 8 million Afghans who defied terrorist threats and went to the polls to choose their leaders.
We see this courage in the nearly 12 million Iraqis who refused to let the car bombers and assassins stop them from voting for the free future of their country.
We see this courage in the more than 1 million Lebanese who voted for a free and sovereign government to rule their land.
And we see this courage in citizens from Damascus to Tehran who, like the citizens of Riga before them, keep the flame of liberty burning deep within their hearts, knowing that one day its light will shine throughout their nations.
There was a time not so long ago when many doubted that liberty could succeed in Europe.
Here in the Baltics, many can still recall the early years of the Cold War when freedom's victory was not so obvious or assured.
In 1944, the Soviet Red army reoccupied Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, plunging this region into nearly five decades of communist rule.
In 1947, communist forces were threatening Greece and Turkey, the reconstruction of Germany was faltering, and mass starvation was setting in across Europe.
In 1948, Czechoslovakia fell to communism, France and Italy were threatened by the same fate and Berlin was blockaded on the orders of Josef Stalin.
In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded a nuclear weapon and weeks later, communist forces took control in China.
And in the summer of 1950, seven North Korean divisions poured across the border into South Korea, marking the start of the first direct military clash of the Cold War. All this took place in the six years following World War II. And today, six decades later, the Cold War is over, the Soviet Union is no more, and the NATO alliance is meeting in the capital of a free Latvia.
Europe no longer produces armed ideologies that threaten other nations with aggression and conquest and occupation. And a continent that was for generations a source of instability and global war has become a source of stability and peace.
Freedom in Europe has brought peace to Europe, and freedom has brought the power to bring peace to the broader Middle East.
Soon after I took office, I spoke to the students at Warsaw University. I told them America has learned the lessons of history. I said, "No more Munichs and no more Yaltas." I was speaking at the time about Europe, but the lessons of Yalta apply equally across the world.
The question facing our nation today is this: Will we turn the fate of millions over to totalitarian extremists and allow the enemy to impose their hateful ideology across the Middle East, or will we stand with the forces of freedom in that part of the world and defend the moderate majority who want a future of peace?
My country has made its choice, and so has the NATO alliance. We refuse to give in to the pessimism that consigns millions across the Middle East to endless oppression. We understand that ultimately the only path to lasting peace is through the rise of lasting free societies.
COLLINS: You are listening to President Bush at a speech at the University of Latvia. The speech, we are told, entitled "Transforming NATO in a New Global Era." This is sort of the kickoff, if you will, to the two-day summit. Tonight there will be quite a formal dinner between the NATO heads of state beginning in Riga tonight. Then moving on to many other activities where the entire NATO summit begins on Wednesday. And a very important meeting, as you well know, coming up between President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq. That will also happen Wednesday in Amman.
The president saying not going to be pulling out any troops before the mission is complete. Also very much looking forward to the meeting with Prime Minister Maliki. And many more things, basically his whole thought on freedom in the world. If you would like to see more of President Bush -- as you know, he's still speaking -- you can go to CNN Pipeline for more on the speech.
HARRIS: And still to come, studying the situation in Iraq. What recommendations should the president expect from the Iraq Study Group? Some options in the NEWSROOM.
Fifty shots fired. Were New York police officers just caught up in the moment when they shot three unarmed men? Some moment. The latest on the disturbing case, in the NEWSROOM. COLLINS: And a reminder, "When Faiths Collide": Anderson Cooper is live in Turkey with Pope Benedict's first day and Muslim reaction. A special edition of "AC 360" tonight. That will be live from Turkey at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific here on CNN.
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