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Bush To Meet Shiite Leader, First Winter Storm Thrashes Midwest, More Than Fifty Slain in Baghdad
Aired December 02, 2006 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
I'm Carol Lin.
And here's what's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
More than 50 killed in Baghdad today. And tonight we have a special edition of THE NEWSROOM. We are going to examine the options for U.S. troops -- send more, bring them home or stay for the long haul?
There is, however, a fourth choice, and we are going to examine them all.
And there's a noticeable no-show as Cuba celebrates Fidel Castro's birthday. His daughter joins us live in about 10 minutes.
First, a quick look at some of the other headlines.
There was unrelenting violence across Iraq today and at least 100 people were killed in various incidents in and around Baghdad. More than 100 others were wounded. One Iraqi official says three car bombs went off at nearly the same time in central Baghdad.
Now, just two days before quitting his job as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld raised the idea of looking at troop reductions in Iraq. The "New York Times" says it was one of several options he sent in a classified memo to the White House.
And fanning the flames of discontent in Lebanon -- thousands of protesters remain on the streets of Beirut, as opposition grows against the prime minister there. Demonstrators want more Shiite participation and voting power in the Lebanese cabinet.
And there's an amber alert in Florida for a newborn. In Fort Myers, a one-month-old baby and his mother were kidnapped yesterday afternoon. Police say the mother was released. They say the suspect is a woman driving a dark, two-door SUV with peeling window tint.
The Midwest is trying to dig out after a major winter snowstorm dumped a foot or more of snow across the region. The storm hit with blazed force in Milwaukee and other parts of Wisconsin. Hundreds of thousands in several states are now without power.
More now on the intense violence across Baghdad. There were nearly simultaneous car bombings. They happened near a busy market. One appeared to target an Iraqi Army patrol.
This violence comes days before a senior Shiite leader travels to Washington to meet with President Bush. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is scheduled to be in Washington Monday.
Now, the president and al-Hakim have a full agenda -- security, for one; development; the political crisis in Iraq.
Here is a preview.
Our Kathleen Koch now live at the White House -- good evening, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Carol.
It's important to point out that Iraq's fledgling democratic government is very fragile, made up of competing alliances, competing divisions there. And so what the Bush administration is trying to do is to carefully walk a fine line, influence the parties involved to try to committing to end the violence there.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): It's a new strategy, reaching out to the multiple players in Iraq's complex government. A senior administration official says President Bush has extended an open invitation to all senior Iraqi leaders to meet with him at the White House.
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're ready to make changes to better support the unity government of Iraq.
KOCH: Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is particularly important, since he is the chief rival of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. If Hakim could be persuaded to throw his party's backing behind Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, that would lessen Maliki's reliance on Al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army.
Al-Sadr tried to quash Maliki's meeting with President Bush earlier this week by having the delegates in protest boycott the Iraqi parliament.
KEN POLLACK, SABAN CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST POLICY: We need to keep in mind that Nouri Al-Maliki is not in a very strong political position and one of the greatest objectives for U.S. policy in Iraq moving forward is that the U.S. needs to start doing things to create the political space in which Nouri Al-Maliki might be able to do something that his militia bosses don't want him to do.
KOCH: But Hakim backed his own candidate, not Maliki, for prime minister. And his party, The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution In Iraq, is closely affiliated with Iran.
Hakim has disputed U.S. claims Iran is interfering in Iraq and has calling for direct talks between Tehran and Washington.
That's one proposal expected from the Iraq Study Group's final report, due out Wednesday.
President Bush hinted in his radio address that its advice will be but one factor he'll consider.
BUSH: I look forward to receiving their report next week. I want to hear all advice before I make any Democratic Senator about adjustments to our strategy in Iraq.
KOCH: The White House is also awaiting Iraq policy reviews from the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council. And Mr. Bush will get more ideas on Iraq next month, when he meets with Tareq al-Hashimi, Iraq's Sunni vice president.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KOCH: But Vice President Hashimi is no fan of the Maliki government. He wants to see it be dissolved. Still, that meeting and the meeting Monday with Hakim clearly do position the Bush administration to have some influence no matter who comes out on top in Iraq -- Carol.
LIN: And, Kathleen, the eternal question, I mean what was the planning for Iraq?
And we have just reported from a "New York Times" article that Rumsfeld was considering a change of strategy in Iraq.
what are you hearing about that in Washington?
KOCH: We have calls in right now to the Pentagon to confirm the existence of the memo, the content of the memo. Also, Tony Snow, at the White House, we did hear from him. Snow saying we neither confirm nor deny stories about alleged classified documents.
The president and Secretary Rumsfeld both have said repeatedly that the situation in Iraq is not getting better enough fast enough.
So that's all we have right now, Carol. But we're working to see if we can get the content of that memo.
LIN: OK. Because what left off the pages of the "New York Times" is that Rumsfeld actually said that things were not going well in Iraq, it was a full blown admission that things were going badly.
So I know you're working on it.
KOCH: That's so.
LIN: We appreciate it.
KOCH: You bet.
LIN: All right, so what are the options for Americans in Iraq?
Well, in about 25 minutes right here in THE NEWSROOM, we are going to look at the real world choices that U.S. troops and their leaders face.
In the meantime, angry and upset, New Yorkers remember Sean Bell. Near a strip club in Queens, hundreds observed a moment of silence for the young man shot and killed last week.
And in Long Island, Bell was laid to rest. He died on November 25th, after police opened fire on a car he was in with two friends. Both of them were wounded. An investigation into what led to the shooting is still underway.
The 23-year-old Bell died on what would have been his wedding day.
The young woman planning to marry Sean Bell shares her feelings on the shooting. Exclusively Monday, the bride-to-be and the Reverend Al Sharpton on "LARRY KING LIVE." That is only on CNN, Monday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
In the meantime, another fatal police shooting is fueling anger in Georgia. Atlanta's police chief promises to review the use of no knock warrants. Police had one when they entered Kathryn Johnston's house. That means they didn't have to knock before they entered.
Our Rusty Dornin speaks with a family who says that they were terrorized by such a use of that kind of a warrant.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For three years, Tia Carter and Alphonso Howard lived in this South Atlanta house not far from the home of Kathryn Johnston, the elderly woman shot dead by police as they served a no knock search warrant after she fired at officers.
The couple didn't know Johnston, but they say they do recognize the names of the three officers wounded in the shooting at Johnston's house. They were the same officers they say crashed into their home last year, also armed with a no knock warrant.
TIA CARTER, ATLANTA RESIDENT: They had the guns and my kids' room was right there. And the guns could have, you know, went off and they, you know, would have been murdered.
DORNIN: The search warrant says an informant told police he'd bought $30 of marijuana at Howard's house and there were weapons. The informant's words were enough for the magistrate to grant a no knock warrant, the same magistrate who granted the no knock warrant at Johnston's house.
It took five days to serve the warrant at Howard and Carter's house. Officers say they yelled, "Police!" before breaking down the door with a battering ram.
ALPHONSO HOWARD, ATLANTA RESIDENT: You look here and you can see that I was in the front master boardroom. DORNIN: Howard says he ran down the stairs to get his three young children. Guns drawn, officers handcuffed him. The informant had described the drug dealer as a big man with a gold tooth.
(on camera): The suspect didn't look anything like you.
HOWARD: No, ma'am.
No ma'am.
This was a guy that was with faded hair, gold teeth, a young little guy about 35. I'm 44 years old.
DORNIN (voice-over): Howard says the police refused to show him the warrant, thoroughly searched the house then left three hours later. Police took away his legally registered guns and noted in an incident report that traces of cocaine were found.
A private investigator hired by the couple's attorney says no drug connection was ever made.
JAMES MERCIER, RANDALL STROZIER LAW OFFICE: He was never charged. He was never arrested. No drugs were found in the house.
DORNIN: Howard filed a complaint with the city two days later. That was 18 months ago. Now, he says, he plans to sue.
Atlanta police declined an interview, citing the pending litigation, but issued a statement saying, "Howard's complaint was investigated and there wasn't enough information."
Howard still wonders about how good the police work was given how long it took them to serve the warrant.
HOWARD: They would have seen there was kids. No, there wouldn't have been no reason to come in here at 10:00 at night. Them drug dealers don't go to bed at 10:00 at night.
(LAUGHTER)
DORNIN: No laughing matter for Atlanta's African-American community. People are still angry about what happened to Kathryn Johnston and where the police chief is now promising to review no knock warrants.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LIN: Well, from the Midwest all the way into the Northeast, hundreds of thousands of homes have no heat or lights today.
Take a look at the weather there. The season's first big winter storm dropped heavy, wet snow from the Great Plains to the Great Lakes yesterday. And hundreds of flights were canceled.
The storm is now blamed for at least 11 deaths.
All right, serious business out there and the temperatures are getting even colder.
Jacqui Jeras watching all of this from the CNN Weather Center.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: Well, a grand celebration in Cuba today to honor Fidel Castro.
(VIDEOTAPE OF THE CUBAN CELEBRATION)
LIN: But the Cuban dictator was a no-show.
His daughter joins us live to talk about her father's health.
Plus, a special look at the options for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.
Should they stay or should they go?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: As you can see, the festive celebrations in Cuba this week marking the 80th birthday of Fidel Castro. Well, the Cuban leader was a no-show, apparently too ill to attend. Castro hasn't been seen in public since before having surgery in July.
Now Castro's health, of course, is the subject of a great deal of speculation. One person who has a unique perspective on the ailing Cuban leader is his exiled daughter, Alina Fernandez.
She joins me now from Miami.
Alina, a pleasure to have you.
Were you surprised that your father did not make a public appearance at this event?
ALINA FERNANDEZ, FIDEL CASTRO'S EXILED DAUGHTER: I wasn't surprised. This has been the subject of a lot of speculation, as you say. But he's 80 years old. He had an enormous surgery who always leaves physical effects. You'll never be able to have your physiology coming back properly.
So I think it's wise not to show publicly. He looks very weak and it's my understanding that the family asked him to stay peacefully resting.
LIN: Alina, how are you getting news about your father, updates, if at all?
FERNANDEZ: Hearsay. Hearsay. LIN: That's as good as it gets, then.
There must be...
FERNANDEZ: Not any inside privileged information.
LIN: How is that for you, I mean to watch the news as everybody else does, but yet have this personal connection to him?
FERNANDEZ: Sometimes I can talk to you about it. But the fact is that as every Cuban exile knows, this is the price of leaving the country and becoming a traitor of the regime. You break all your familiar and emotional ties.
LIN: Because as you get the news, you see the celebrations in Cuba for his body and he's not there, it has to cross your mind, what if he is so ill that he may be dying?
FERNANDEZ: Everybody has to die.
LIN: And that is how you will take the news when the day comes?
FERNANDEZ: That's -- that's the only way I can do it. And one of the Cuban tragedies is that the families split because of ideology and these are the consequences and I assumed them when I left the country.
LIN: And you look at these pictures, the flag waving, the parades, the public adulation for the man.
Do you believe that that is sincere, that that is how the people of Cuba still feel about him?
FERNANDEZ: I imagine that half can be sincere, half not. You have to understand that four generations are already born and some of them died under this regime. So they don't know anything different.
But I can tell you that these huge mobilization are mandatory.
LIN: Mandatory but certainly by all appearances they certainly appear to be heartfelt there.
FERNANDEZ: Yes.
LIN: Alina Fernandez, a pleasure to talk to you.
Thank you.
FERNANDEZ: Thank you.
LIN: A very public power play in Lebanon this weekend. And the U.S. government is watching. Up next, I'll talk to a man with an interesting vantage point -- Beirut in the blogs, next, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Plus, a medical miracle in the making. The surgery in Saudi Arabia, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Checking news around the globe now, a delicate surgery is underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Doctors are separating a pair of conjoined Iraqi twins. The 11-month-old girls are joined at the chest and abdomen. It's expected to take at least 20 hours to separate them.
And you are looking at some of the thousands of Hezbollah supporters crowding the streets of Beirut again. They are calling for the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, to step down. He says that they're trying to stage a coup and that he refuses to resign.
Christopher Allbritton is a freelance journalist and blogger in Beirut.
He joins me now with more on the situation.
Christopher, tell me what it's like to be there right now.
CHRISTOPHER ALLBRITTON, BLOGGER: Well, downstairs from us, as you can probably hear, it's a very festive environment. There's several thousand people down there burning, you know, with little fires lighting, beating drums. They're calling out of loudspeakers for lost children.
It's a little like Woodstock without the sex and the drugs.
LIN: Yes, really. And the prime minister, though, saying that he is not going to resign.
So where does this leave him?
ALLBRITTON: Well, it leaves us in a bit of a standoff. Hezbollah and the March 8th people, who comprise its political allies, have, you know, shown a great show of strength yesterday with, you know, hundreds of thousands, some numbers have put up to a million people in the streets. And now they've pledged to stage a sit-in until Siniora resigns.
Siniora has said he won't, he's democratically elected and he will stay put.
It's a standoff at the moment and both sides have a great deal of backing behind them. Hezbollah has Iran and Syria behind them. Siniora is backed by the U.S. and France, by and large.
LIN: Ah.
ALLBRITTON: We'll get to see who blinks first.
LIN: Well, but is -- do you have a sense, though, that Lebanon could face the crisis that it faced between the '70s and the '90s? Are they on -- is Lebanon on the brink, potential, of a civil war? ALLBRITTON: I don't think it is. Here in Lebanon, people will go out into the streets and they'll demonstrate, but only on the say- so of their leaders. People really follow what the leaders of their particular sect tells them to do.
Right now, none of the leaders want to go back to those days. The stakes are way too high and the appetite for that conflict is just not there.
LIN: It's not...
ALLBRITTON: So, at the moment, we're going to have street demonstrations. We're going to have a lot of blustering. We're going to have a lot of posturing, a lot of proclamations that no one will be going anywhere until this is resolved, whether it's the prime minister or the protestors. But I don't see it coming to violence any time soon.
LIN: All right, Christopher Allbritton, thank you so much.
So, when it comes to Iraq, should they stay or should they go?
A simple question with no easy answer when you're talking about U.S. troops in that country.
Up next, an in-depth look at the options.
Plus, we all remember the damage to the acclaimed horse, Barbaro. He certainly isn't the only thoroughbred to be hurt in a race. And now, for the first time ever, a new track that promises to limit nagging injuries.
But does it work?
But first, in tonight's Fit Nation, could where you live affect your health?
Simple things like sidewalks and parks sure can make a difference.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE LEAVE IT TO BEAVER SHOW)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave it to Beaver.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If we all lived in TV land, kids would walk to school on quiet streets and play in the front yard. But suburban sprawl has replaced many traditional neighborhoods and sidewalks, kids playing outside, or even people, can be difficult to find in the 'burbs.
It's a disturbing trend that's challenging growth and development expert Catherine Ross to rethink the way communities are built.
CATHERINE ROSS, GEORGIA TECH: We are a nation of auto drivers. And so you get in your car and you drive home and you get out and you're kind of home. And nothing happens in between and, too, often, not much has happened on either end.
GUPTA: According to the surgeon general, those changes in our communities are playing a key role in America's sedentary lifestyle. Americans say one of the main reasons they don't exercise is the lack of a place to do so, such as sidewalks or parks.
TOM GLEASON, FOREST CITY STAPLETON, INC.: If you build a community right, if you make it possible for people to walk and to be very active, they're going to take advantage of that.
GUPTA: Just 15 minutes south of Denver, Colorado, a new smart community is creating a lifestyle that's healthier for kids and adults on land that used to be Stapleton Airport. It's one of a growing number of similar developments across the country.
GLEASON: The sidewalks out here at Stapleton are broad sidewalks, so it's a very conducive place to walk, to take your children in the stroller, to walk your dog, that kind of thing.
GUPTA: Gleason says young families are moving to Stapleton to take advantage of what's being called a new urbanism.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We mainly moved here because all of our friends were already here.
ALTARA WU, STAPLETON RESIDENT: It's tons of kids. You can walk everywhere. Lots to do. And it just makes it easier. You don't have to hop in the car and pack them up.
GUPTA: Stapleton is based on old style neighborhoods, with big front porches and homes within walking distance to shopping and restaurants.
ROSS: I think a neighborhood could help you stay healthy by allowing you -- providing access to places where you can engage in physical activity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, that's thing, if you can integrate it into your life, then it becomes much easier and much more just of a lifestyle change.
GUPTA: So, it may not be just like The Beav's neighborhood, but these smart communities could be a step in the right direction in fighting obesity.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Especially deadly car bombings on an especially violent day in Baghdad and beyond. At least 51 people were killed by a triple car bombing in this market alone. In all, more than 100 people were killed and another 100 hurt across the country.
We are going to take a closer look at four possible plans for Iraq's future, straight ahead.
Two days before his resignation, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld proposed a major change in Iraq war strategy. That according to the "New York Times," citing a classified Rumsfeld memo. The "Times" says it's unclear whether Rumsfeld knew he'd be leaving his post when he submitted it to the White House.
And five years later, a new view of the 9/11 attacks. The government has just released this video from a nearby hotel security camera that captures the explosion when American Flight 77 crashed -- there you see it -- into the Pentagon.
goober
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Five years later, a new view of the 9/11 attacks. The government just released this video from a nearby hotel security camera that captured the explosion when American Flight 77 crashed -- there you see it -- into the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EVAN BAYH, (D-IN): Thank you very much, John, for your gracious introduction --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: That is Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. He is considering a presidential bid right now. Sources close to him tell CNN the Democrat will file papers for a presidential exploratory committee.
"Go big, go long, or go home". Those are said to be the Pentagon's suggested options for the U.S. in Iraq. Go home, obviously is the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Go big means adding more American troops to overwhelm the insurgency. Go long, equates to the long haul. Cutting troop numbers, but making a commitment to stay in Iraq.
There is a fourth option, pushed by some, partitioning Iraq along religious and ethnic lines. We will take a look at all four.
First, let's begin with go long. That is the more patient approach to Iraq. While it may have fallen out of favor with the American public, it hasn't within the ranks of the U.S. military command. Here is CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): He hears the chorus demanding a change in Iraq, but General John Abizaid is singing a different tune this. Those Harvard-educated, Four-star general in charge of U.S. forces in the Middle East says the U.S. should stay the course.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ): I respect you enormously, I appreciate your service, I regret deeply that you seem to think that the status quo, and the rate of progress we are making, is acceptable. I think most Americans do not.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CMDR, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Senator McCain, I've met with ever divisional commander, General Casey, the corps commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. I said, in your professional opinion if we were to bring in more American troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve successful in Iraq? And they all said, no. The reason is because we want the Iraqis to do more.
KAYE: That was General Abizaid testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month. His key point? The U.S. needs to help Iraq help itself.
ABIZAID: Do we need more troops? My answer is, yes we need more troops that are effective that are Iraqi.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC): Do we need more American troops, at the moment, to quell the balance?
ABIZAID: No. I do not believe more American troops right now is the solution to the problem.
KAYE: General Abizaid's solution would be to embed more U.S. military training teams with Iraqi forces, but doing so, he admits could be beyond the Army's capabilities.
(On camera): More American troops long term, Abizaid argues, would only increase Iraq's dependence on the U.S. military and prevent Iraqis from taking responsibility for their own future. Abizaid resists the idea of a staggered withdrawal, which he fears would further increase sectarian violence. And partitioning the country? Forget it.
ABIZAID: I believe partition is not viable for Iraq. I can't imagine, in particular, how a Sunni state could survive. I believe it would devolve into an area where Al Qaeda would have safe haven, where they would export their terror to the surrounding countries.
KAYE: Abizaid envisions a non-sectarian armed force, strong on the battle field and loyal to the Iraqi government. He says only an army representing all the people of Iraq, that respects the people of Iraq, will move the country forward. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Just as we heard, General Abizaid is against splitting Iraq into three separate states, but the idea has many proponents. In fact, the Iraqi Kurds already have a semi-autonomous region, which could serve as a template for Sunni and Shia states. But critics say dividing the country could multiply the problems, as you heard. So, here is our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, CNN SATURDAY: The first thing Senator Joe Biden wants to you know about his plan for saving Iraq and salvaging U.S. credibility, is that it is not partition.
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D-DE): The fact of the matter is partitioning is not a good idea, but autonomy is necessary. It's called for in their constitution.
MCINTYRE: The autonomy plan first outlined by Biden and Leslie Gelb, of the Council of Foreign Relations, last May has five points. The main one being a version of divide and conquer. Iraq's three rival groups would each get a part of the country.
(on camera): The Kurds would get the north, Shia the south, and the Sunni would have the central part of the country. They'd all be able to form regional governments. The central government in Baghdad would be responsible for border security and making foreign policy.
That leaves one big problem: Oil.
(Voice over): Here is where the oil is. Every place the Sunni minority is not. Which brings up point two: guaranteed 20 percent of oil revenue to the Sunnis because they make up about 20 percent of the population.
LES GELB, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: And you've got to tell -- we've got to tell the Shiites and the Kurds, look, you are not going to get anything out of the oil you have, if there is civil war in that country.
MCINTYRE: Next, the U.S. would have to get Iraq's neighbors to buy into the plan and pledge to support it.
BIDEN: You have to have the international community get together all the neighbors, including Iran and Turkey, and all the areas -- the neighbors -- to agree on a hands-off policy with regard to Iraq.
MCINTYRE: That what allow, under point four, all but 20,000 U.S. troops to withdraw by the end of next year. Lastly, the Biden plan calls for oil-rich Arab Gulf states to take the lead in funding reconstruction and providing jobs. The lynchpin is focusing on political power sharing, instead of military fire power.
BIDEN: The fact of the matter is, absent a political solution, none of this matters. In a political solution requires more autonomy in the regions, that they already voted for in their constitution.
MCINTYRE: Biden's plan has gotten a cold reception from U.S. military commanders. And in the end it will likely be the Iraqis, not the U.S., who decide whether breaking up is the way to go. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Another option for the next chapter in Iraq: troop withdrawal. It's not exactly cut-and-run, but it would work? Then, the course of the extreme opposite. Send even more U.S. Forces to Iraq. Both the pros and the cons straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Welcome back to our special coverage. Too many, too few, or just right? U.S. troops in Iraq caught up in a Goldilocks dilemma, to which everyone has the same answer, it seems, just not the same one. For now, the popular answer seems to be the first one, too many. As CNN's Gary Tuckman reports, the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee agrees.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCKMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: Carl Levin will soon be the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has thoughts for George w. Bush.
CARL LEVIN, (D-MI) CHAIRMAN-ELECT, SENATE ARMED SVCS. CMTE.: I would like the president to tell the Iraqi leaders we are going to begin a phased redeployment of troops from Iraq in four to six months.
TUCKMAN: The Michigan Democrat says as early as April it's time to start bringing American troops home.
LEVIN: I urged the president to quit counseling patience, to quit saying to the Iraqi people, and American people, that we are patient. We are bloody impatient. The problem is Iraqi's political leadership.
TUCKMAN: Illinois Senator Barack Obama is also advocating a four- to six-month timetable.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL): For only through this phased redeployment can we send a clear message to the Iraqi factions that the United States is not going to hold together this country indefinitely.
TUCKMAN: So how would this plan work? How many troops would leave? What parts of the country, if any, would they abandon? Many Democrats say they can't and shouldn't answer those questions now.
LEVIN: I think it's a mistake to focus on the specific numbers. The debate should be, should we tell the Iraqis we cannot save them from themselves? I believe we must.
TUCKMAN: Obama has proposed redeploying some of the troops to Afghanistan.
OBAMA: Where our lack of focus and commitment of resources led to an increasing deterioration of the security situation there.
TUCKMAN: But if tens of thousands of American troops start marching out of Iraq, wouldn't that increase the turmoil there?
LEVIN: It's not as though chaos will result if we leave. It's that chaos is there right now.
TUCKMAN: Levin says an international conference, inviting all the regional players, could lead to a playing solution. As for criticism he heard and undoubtedly will continue to hear that this is a cut-and-run strategy, Levin says:
LEVIN: This is not a precipitous proposal. It is something which would allow for planning, and so it's not an accurate description.
TUCKMAN: Levin does say troops will have to remain in Iraq to train Iraqi security forces and protect Americans against attacks. But he says troop reduction should be significant.
LEVIN: The president cannot any longer get away with the status quo and stay the course, stay the course, stay the course.
TUCKMAN: So, Levin now leads the fight for a new course out of Iraq. Gary Tuckman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: As for the call for more U.S. troops to help stabilize Iraq, Senator John McCain has been beating that same drum dating back to the first Gulf War, now there is data to back him up. CNN's Tom Foreman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): Relentlessly, unflinchingly, like a broken record, John McCain has beaten the drum on Iraq. In 2003 --
MCCAIN: The dirty little secret is, is we don't have enough troops. We need to enlarge the size of the Army and the Marine Corps.
FOREMAN: In 2004?
MCCAIN: We needed more troops, we need it very badly.
FOREMAN: 2005?
MCCAIN: We'd love to see more troops there.
FOREMAN: This year, too.
MCCAIN: I always said we needed more troops in Iraq.
FOREMAN: But how many? The Brookings Institution uses this formula based on historic attempts to stabilize places like Japan, Germany, and Bosnia after war. Assume it will take at least 15 troops to protect neighborhoods, stabilize services, and control crime for each 1,000 Iraqis. There are around 27 million Iraqis, which means you'll need about 400,000 American troops. People argue about the specific numbers.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: But certainly that's two to three times where we've been, which suggests the current presence, and previous presence, have been small by the standards of history and of successful operations.
FOREMAN: The problem, according to many critics, is that America just doesn't have enough troops to double the current force of around 140,000 in Iraq. At best, they say, 20,000 or 30,000 troops might be available and might be able to stabilize Baghdad.
SEN. JACK REED, (D-RI): A third of our brigades in the United States are reporting non-deployable because of personnel and equipment shortages. So, the prospect of a magic bullet with just more troops, I don't think is there.
FOREMAN (on camera): There has been talk of a new draft, but most politicians here are running away from that idea. Even if a draft were approved immediately, it would take longer than year for more young Americans to be rounded up, trained, and sent to Iraq.
(Voice over): Despite all of that, many who are studying the war say more troops might still help, if they could simply contain some of the violence, encourage Iraqis to take on more of the burden.
O'HANLON: If Iraqi security forces were performing better, for example, we might not need to have this debate over American numbers.
FOREMAN: For now, however, the debate and the war keep marching on. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: "This Week At War" focuses on the ongoing debate of the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, also whether Iraq is in the midst of a civil war. Join John Roberts for that and more tonight at 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
You remember Barbaro, the acclaimed thoroughbred hurt in the Preakness? Some think his injury could have been prevented. We're going to show you how. How the track had something to do with it.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: The suspense is beginning. The editors the "Time" magazine are winnowing down their list of contenders for "Time's" Person of the Year. This year's recipient will be announced on CNN, December 16th. Our Soledad O'Brien looks at one woman, some see as a shoo-in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice crisscrossing the globe as the diplomatic sands shift in Iraq , and in Washington, D.C. The top U.S. diplomat lands a nomination as "Time" magazine's Person of the Year. ROMESH RATNESAR, WORLD EDITOR, "TIME": Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of State, I think has emerged as the pivotal figure in the Bush administration's national security team.
As secretary of State she's come onto her own, and she's developed a level of influence within the administration that I think only the vice president possibly can match.
Her main accomplishment is sort of shifting the rhetoric of the administration's foreign policy away from this kind of unilateralist, with-us or against-us approach, that we saw in the first term. We could see next year or the year after Condoleezza Rice really being thrust to the forefront as the U.S. tries to deal both with managing some kind of withdrawal from Iraq, and also dealing with the threats from Iran and North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: People are digging out from the Midwest's first big winter storm and it muscled its way across the region yesterday cutting power to tens of thousands of people. Some utility companies warn electricity could be out for several more days. Can't imagine what they are going to do, Jacqui. It looks cold out there.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Going to have to get creative, I think, because that snow is not going away any time soon with the cold temperatures that have moved in. In fact, it's going to be colder tomorrow than it was today.
We have creative I-Reporter who has some ideas about what you can do in some of this snow. Great pictures here from Jack Barry, from Columbia, Missouri. He's a University of Missouri student, MISZU (ph), out there. This is just outside of his window, outside of the campus lodge. Look at that door. Good thing that didn't come in when you opened the door.
We've got a picture of Jack, right there in the snow. He's got a measuring stick right there. Measuring that snow! They had nearly 20 inches of snow in Columbia, Missouri. That was a record. That was a record for you. For the storm total. No more snow at least not in the near future -- just the cold temperatures.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: Supporters will say it will make racing safer for the horse and the jockey. It's new technology that could create a whole new angle for handicappers. But are traditionalists, ready for artificial race tracks? Here's our Kareen Wynter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): An unforgettable photo finish, Barbaro's life-threatening injury in this year's Preakness not only captured the hearts of Americans, it highlighted the need for change in an industry measured by speed. Where the only thing to cushion the pounding hooves of the horse is hard layer of dirt. The Kentucky Derby winner's suffered a career- ending hind leg injury during competition. California has mandated a switch to synthetic surfaces for horse tracks by the end of next year. An $8 million artificial racing surface called Cushion Track.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're off.
WYNTER: It was just installed at the Hollywood Park Race Track. It's a change that sparked mixed reviews.
GARRETT GOMEZ, JOCKEY: Some racetracks I don't think are going to want to change. Some racetracks are going to be forced to change. Our racetracks in California do get hard in certain times of the year. It's just a matter of what the racetracks are made out of out here. Back East they have a lot of sand. The sand doesn't get hard.
WYNTER: Unlike the traditional dirt tracks, Cushion Track can withstand temperature changes, drains easily after it rains, and requires less maintenance. That's because of its composition which includes natural and synthetic fibers, with a light coating of wax.
DOUG O'NEIL, TRAINER: Since they've added the Cushion Track, there have been a lot less injuries from our barn. That's the key. Again, without these animals being cared for topnotch, we've got no sport.
DR. GARY BECK, VETERINARIAN: If you watch the horses move here, you'll notice when they put their foot down, there is an area around the foot that just seems to sink in. In other words, it's kind of like a mattress would, where it sinks in.
WYNTER: While this new surface may not totally protect the delicate limbs of 1,000-pound thoroughbreds, experts say it could reduce the number of those that need to be euthanized each year, as a result of an injury in their quest for victory. Kareen Wynter, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: There is still much more ahead here on CNN. Up next, "Lou Dobbs This Week." And, Lou is going to examine the issues that affect your life every day. A check of the headlines in about three minutes, and then "Lou Dobbs This Week".
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