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Wildfire Rages in California; Iraqi Shiite Leader Meets with President Bush; leaked Rumsfeld memo Makes Waves

Aired December 04, 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 from New York.

For the next three hours, watch events happen live on this Monday, the 4th of December.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Surging firestorm -- an unpredictable blaze. Wind gusts near hurricane strength. A California town's desperate and dangerous day.

HARRIS: A key Iraqi political figure at the White House today for talks, part of a critical week for President Bush's war policy.

COLLINS: Using race to achieve diversity in the classroom -- is it constitutional?

The Supreme Court hears a major part of this case this morning. Beyond the briefs, in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: We begin this morning with a raging wildfire in California. Hundreds of homes near Los Angeles threatened this morning by a fast moving inferno. Some people have already lost everything.

CNN's Chris Lawrence joins us from Moorpark. That's about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles -- and, Chris, for folks just joining us this morning, bring us up to speed on this wildfire, which, at this point, continues to burn out of control.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, the thing about this fire that kind of sets it apart from a lot of the other wildfires that we have seen out here in southern California is the wind. You know, this is -- overnight is usually when the wind dies down. The firefighters are able to get a real handle on a fire at that point.

It was not the case with this fire. The winds were ferocious.

Right about now, they're still blowing about 30 miles per hour. But you get these gusts that will kick up to 50 miles per hour or even higher. And that just makes a tremendous amount of problems for the firefighters.

Some of them say so much smoke and ash is blowing around, they can barely see what's in front of them. Other times, the firefighters have told us that the winds -- the gusts kicked up so high that they could barely even stand up straight, even with all of their equipment.

So what they said now is it's forced them to be more in a defensive posture, which means they are mainly just trying to save homes. They are not trying to get containment on this fire right now, not trying to knock it down. The winds are just too fierce. And some of the fire commanders say there is just not a whole lot you can do with winds blowing that fast.

This is a heavily populated area, as well. Firefighters are telling us probably up to 3,000 homes could be in danger at some point. Hundreds of people have evacuated, but yet hundreds more have been staying here, standing on hills (AUDIO GAP) their homes, trying to spray down (AUDIO GAP) trying to help firefighters save (AUDIO GAP) a really good job so far. But five homes have been completely destroyed by the fire.

HARRIS: Boy.

OK, Chris Lawrence for us there in Moorpark. That's in California.

Chris, thanks for monitoring that situation for us.

COLLINS: And, boy, what a situation it is.

Our Chad Myers has been watching it and joins us now from The Weather Center to tell us more about this -- it's not looking good, Chad.

A little bit better, though, I think you said, than yesterday?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. A little bit better today. We lose a little bit of the high and the low difference, the pressure difference, so we lose some of the wind. Yesterday, those winds were 70 miles per hour.

Now, it's all relative. If you get a wind gust to 50 and even right now, the critical number is usually around 30, those sparks will jump from fire to fire, or those sparks will actually move forward.

And we have bigger winds than that, even, across the area. Some of the wind gusts reported sustained there, 16 miles per hour.

Now, here's San Bernardino. Here's Riverside, Moorpark right there, just to the east of Riverside. It is going to be a gusty day. There's a lot of high pressure out to the west that is pushing through the area, the same as this probably here, to the east, pushing around.

It's actually such a large bubble, it's affecting almost the entire part of the country, the central part of the country, with high pressure. There are a few highs and lows in between, but the center part of the country is being dominated by a wind event. Even windy here in Atlanta this morning. But the wind, as it blows offshore, goes downhill, heats up, dries out and then picks up speed as it does go downhill in some spots.

And you could just see the sparks in that live shot.

COLLINS: No question.

MYERS: And we've been losing that live shot on and off. I was mentioning talking to Miles O'Brien about it. You know, we get live shots from hurricanes with wind gusts to 70 and 80, and it's very difficult, because this is just a wide open area there and there are an awful lot of homes in the way of this fire later today.

COLLINS: Well, obviously, that's the big question and something that firefighters are really going to be watching out for today, as the day continues.

Chad Myers, thanks for that.

We'll check back later.

MYERS: Sure.

HARRIS: A desperate search underway this hour for three missing U.S. troops. They were aboard a Marine helicopter that made an emergency water landing in Anbar Province. One Marine was killed, 12 passengers survived. The U.S. military says it's not clear whether the chopper went down in a lake or a river. The military says it doesn't appear enemy action is to blame for the emergency landing.

COLLINS: Charting the course for Iraq's future -- it is a critical week at the White House now.

President Bush today welcoming the leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite party. Their meeting will set the tone for what may be a pivotal week for U.S. policy on Iraq.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us now with more on that -- good morning to you, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

His name is Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and he is the leader of the largest bloc, a Shiite bloc, inside of Iraqi's parliament. He also is in charge of a militia group. He is arguably more powerful than Iraq's prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, who President Bush met with last week.

Now, the significance of this meeting not only face-to-face with a very powerful Shiite leader, but also the fact that he is a rival to the Shiite militia, Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American militia leader. He is also, as well, he has very close ties with Iran, which essentially gives Bush administration officials a chance to try to influence Iran's impact on Iraq without having those direct one-on-one talks that the administration has been very hesitant about.

Now, Heidi, as you know, all of this comes at a time over the weekend when there was a leaked memo by the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, just two days before announcing his resignation, that called, essentially, for a major adjustment in U.S. policy in Iraq.

This is dramatically different than what White House officials were saying publicly about stay the course. We heard over the weekend from National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who was trying to downplay the memo as any kind of endorsement of one option or one policy change over another.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It was a useful memo and we used it in that way, to trigger discussions. But there was not a game plan or a set of -- an effort to try to set out the way forward in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But, Heidi, it really is significant that you have that memo and you have the secretary of defense outlining some of those particular options, saying that some, he believed, were good ideas; others not so good; that they're clearly trying to come up with some sort of way forward, as National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said. And, of course, we're going to be hearing from the Iraq Study Group, that bipartisan commission that's going to be releasing its own recommendations on Wednesday -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, I read that memo. I mean it is pretty fascinating. He says some things were below the line options, though. So interesting there. We will continue to follow that.

Meanwhile, any indication at this point, Suzanne, whether or not President Bush will follow some of these recommendations of the Iraq Study Group?

MALVEAUX: Well, the only thing that we heard from Hadley over the weekend was the fact that significant changes would be made when it comes to U.S. policy in Iraq. But we're getting signals from the White House here that already the president has started to play down accepting -- sorry about that wind there -- but play down accepting some of those options. The partitioning is a no starter. And, again, President Bush, when he was overseas in Jordan, saying pulling out, even a gradual pulling out U.S. troops automatically is also a no starter -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Windy times at the White House.

MALVEAUX: Sorry.

COLLINS: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much for that.

MALVEAUX: Thanks. HARRIS: Well, President Bush is meeting with a top Shiite leader, underlining the precarious balance of power in Iraq. Some fear today's talks could damage Iraq's prime minister, Nouri Al- Maliki.

But why?

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has the answer.

But first, a closer look now at Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abdul Aziz al- Hakim, a powerful leader of Iraq's largest Shia party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution In Iraq, is friendly to the United States. How much of that warmth is political maneuvering is hard to fathom.

Hakim, a quietly spoken Shia cleric, spent decades in exile in Iran, only returning when Saddam was overthrown. He wants Iran to help out in Iraq.

ABDUL AZIZ AL-HAKIM, SCIRI LEADER:

(THROUGH TRANSLATOR): They can help Iraq and the Iraqis a lot. They can participate in solving security and economic problems.

ROBERTSON: Hakim still has strong ties with Tehran. His party has an Iranian trained militia, the 25,000 Badr Brigade. Many have joined Iraq's national police service. Others pleading to disarm. But the militia, whose commanders got top jobs in the police force, have yet to shake well-founded accusations they are running death squads killing Sunnis.

Hakim came to leadership by default. His elder brother, Mohammed Baqir Hakim, was blown up by Sunni insurgents.

Since then, Hakim has publicly, at least, preached against retaliation and steered the Shia toward unity, maximizing their political clout.

But divisions are opening up. Hakim opposed fellow Shia Nouri Al-Maliki for prime minister, preferring a candidate from his own party. Now, the prime minister is on the political ropes, under intense American pressure to disarm his most powerful backer, firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.

Hakim could benefit if the prime minister fails.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: Nic Robertson joins us now from Baghdad -- and, Nic, my first question, to tell us a little bit more about al-Hakim's policies. What are some of the defining features, if you would?

ROBERTSON: Well, I think we can say one of the defining features, Tony, just by the very fact that he is in Washington meeting with President Bush. If you look back to last week, this firebrand cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, with his militia, fired a warning shot, if you will, across the prime minister here, warning him -- telling him not to and meet with President Bush in Jordan.

That was last week.

Now you have this other Shia leader going all the way to the White House. So I think the symbolism and the policies here are clear, that this particular leader is much more willing to deal with the United States.

You might also consider him just more pragmatic because he realizes that's the way to get what he wants -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, and, Nic, the news out this morning is that a U.S. helicopter went down in Anbar Province.

What's the latest on the missing crew?

ROBERTSON: Well, three people are still missing. One person is confirmed dead. We have seen, so far this month, 11 deaths of U.S. servicemen. That's it in the past three days.

This does raise concern already that perhaps the death toll this month, unlike November, will be higher. Helicopter crashes, in the past, have obviously contributed to larger numbers of deaths. But at the moment, these people -- three service members are still noted as missing. We don't know anything more about the hunt for them. The search for them is underway right now, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. And as you mentioned, one Marine confirmed dead.

Nic Robertson for us in Baghdad.

Nic, appreciate it.

Thank you.

COLLINS: Bussing, quotas and race -- should skin color determine which school your child attends?

The Supreme Court taking it up this morning.

HARRIS: It is a page out of a spy thriller. Off to Russia in the hunt for the killer of a former Russian spy. That's ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And Donald Rumsfeld -- was he ready to abandon stay the course before the president abandoned him?

The Rumsfeld memo, straight ahead. HARRIS: Will he speak truth to power or is he a yes man?

Divided opinions about the defense secretary nominee.

You are in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Black and white issues -- they're in front of the Supreme Court this morning. Two cases look at race and whether it can be used to decide where your child goes to school.

Our Gary Nurenberg live outside of the Supreme Court -- Gary, good morning to you.

I have to ask you, what kind of a balancing act is the court being called upon to perform here, because on the one hand, the court is not being asked to rule on the merits of desegregation, but rather on the methods used in these two cases?

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, you've really zeroed in on the question here. These are cases that could have an impact on school districts across the country, as the court hears argument on affirmative action cases in public schools for the first time in years and really has to focus in on what role race can play in assigning students to public schools.

Demonstrators arrived at the court this morning to support plans in Louisville and Seattle, where race is a factor. Louisville is trying to make sure that its schools have at least 15 percent, no more than 50 percent, African-American representation in the schools. Seattle has a tie-breaker, where race is used as a deciding factor to determine what kids can get in magnet schools, for example.

That's what the court has to balance. As these school districts try to make sure their schools are actually integrated more than 50 years after "Brown vote. The Board of Education."

What role does race play in making assignments to schools to make sure that they can achieve the goal?

The court has said the goal is an admirable one, but it looks with skepticism upon quotas. That's the kind of balancing that we'll be seeing here today.

HARRIS: CNN's Gary Nurenberg for us, outside of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

Gary, thank you.

COLLINS: Forget diplomacy -- Britain wants answers. The investigation into the death of a former Russian spy moves to Russia today.

CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is in London now with the latest. MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been confirmed that British investigators have been given visas to travel to the Russian capital to continue their investigations there.

It's believed they'll interview witnesses, possibly identify some suspects, but certainly try and bring together all the disparate strands of evidence that they've managed to gather so far.

Britain's press is swirling with rumors and speculation about what may be involved in this case. One British newspaper suggest that Litvinenko had many potential enemies, not just the Kremlin, who he accused of, as I say, ordering his killing.

"The Observer" newspaper quotes a Russian academic who met Litvinenko several times and exchanged more than 100 e-mails with him. She says the former agent was planning to blackmail several Russian tycoons and government officials with incriminating evidence of how the stole millions from Russian coffers and companies.

Again, Litvinenko accused the Kremlin of orchestrating his poisoning. That's something Russian officials have denied.

British investigators hope they'll be able to turn up some crucial evidence. But what the government is saying here is that they won't let any kind of politics, no matter what the sensitivities, or even diplomacy, stand in the way of getting to the truth.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

COLLINS: And a program note now. Tonight at 10:00 Eastern on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," an in-depth look at the poison plot -- "The Killing of A Spy." So watch for that.

HARRIS: And, you know, critics say it's about more than missing a flight when travelers are on the losing end of a terror risk score. That story, we'll explain it in THE NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And signals from the senator -- looking more and more like Hillary Clinton will try to keep the White House all in the family. Politics ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Fire and wind and a dangerous combination in the hills north of Los Angeles. Fighting the inferno in THE NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And we are Minding Your Business, as well.

Ali Velshi is here with a preview.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, we are going to be looking at Pfizer when markets open this morning. A big decision on the weekend to pull away from what could have been a blockbuster drug.

I'll tell you about that when we come back in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: This information just in to us here now at CNN.

The Associated Press is reporting that President Bush has accepted the resignation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, when his recess appointment expires, that is.

Once again, President Bush has accepted the resignation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton when his recess appointment expires. You see him there. What this all means, we'll likely be getting to our Richard Roth with more information on this a little bit later on. But we want to make sure we bring that context to you.

Again, President Bush accepting John Bolton's resignation.

We'll bring more to you as soon as it comes our way.

HARRIS: Drug giant Pfizer facing some, well, more troubling times, this time with a new drug.

Ali Velshi is Minding Your Business in New York with -- and keeping tabs on Heidi Collins right next...

VELSHI: She's right here in front of me.

HARRIS: She's right there.

VELSHI: She's right in front of me.

HARRIS: Good morning, Ali.

VELSHI: I know you can't see it in the shot, but I've got Heidi -- you see, you do what you were going to do.

HARRIS: Yes...

VELSHI: There you see it. That's Heidi.

HARRIS: Hi, Heidi.

COLLINS: Hi, Tony.

VELSHI: Tony, Pfizer, on Saturday, withdrew of its, what was going to be its big blockbuster drug. It's called Torcetrapib. Now, you remember many years ago, they came out with a line of do you see -- Pfizer's was Lipitor -- that fight cholesterol. And I mean there are probably endless -- countless numbers of people who are alive today who, you know, otherwise cholesterol may have killed them or had -- made them go to surgery.

So cholesterol drugs were used until now to lower your bad cholesterol.

Torcetrapib is one of a class of drugs that actually raises your good cholesterol, your HDL cholesterol, by up to 60 percent.

But in Pfizer's own tests, it was also shown to raise blood pressure a little bit, which obviously is a heart disease risk. And an independent monitoring board cited what they called increased death and heart problems in the test patients.

So Pfizer pulled the plug on this thing on Saturday. And this is huge. This was going to be a big, big blockbuster drug. And, you know, the entire drug industry is suffering from what are the next group of blockbusters? We had the Viagras and the Lipitors, those kind of drugs.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: This was going to be the next generation.

HARRIS: Well, Ali, investors invest money into companies based on their prospects.

VELSHI: Right.

HARRIS: So what is Pfizer going to do about this?

VELSHI: Well, in about six minutes when we see the stock market open...

HARRIS: Yes?

VELSHI: ... you can expect a drop. When Vioxx pulled its -- when Merck pulled Vioxx off the market, they saw a 27 percent drop right after that.

Now, some people are saying it might be as much as 5 percent all the way to 25 percent. But Pfizer is saying that what it's going to do is unveil six drugs a year over the next few years.

It also has a lot of cash, so it might buy somebody else's drug in development.

Remember, Lipitor, which is a $13 billion drug, Tony, is going to lose its patent protection in 2010/2011. This was supposed to move into that position and be that big seller.

So Pfizer has got some problems. We'll see how the -- what the market thinks of it in a few minutes. But there are other drugs like this in development. So you're likely to see -- this is the next frontier -- drugs that raise your good cholesterol along with drugs that lower your bad cholesterol. And we're all, hopefully, going to live to 150.

HARRIS: Right.

VELSHI: But we've got a bit of a setback today.

HARRIS: But this is not the kind of news the market necessarily needed...

VELSHI: Not at all. Not at all. We...

HARRIS: ... when it was trying to come off of last week.

VELSHI: We really want -- this is the one thing people really want. They want the drug companies to find new drugs.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: The drug companies say they charge a lot of money because they look for new drugs. We want them to find them.

HARRIS: Yes.

Ali Velshi Minding Your Business this morning.

Ali, good to see you.

COLLINS: And we want to remind you, once again, this information just coming into us here at CNN.

The Associated Press now reporting that President Bush has accepted the resignation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. We have said that will happen when his recess appointment expires. Just to be clear, that means January. This will not be happening before his appointment expires in January.

We'll bring more of that story to you in just a few minutes.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles suburb under attack today by fire and wind -- jeopardy for homeowners, ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

And Donald Rumsfeld and a parting shot heard around the world. Just before his resignation, a secret memo to the White House. Details coming up. You are in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: CNN now confirming this news just in to us here, that President Bush has accepted the resignation of John Bolton. We have confirmed it here at CNN, that President Bush has accepted the resignation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton when his recess appointment expires. What that means is January.

You may remember back on August 1 of 2005 was when President Bush first installed John Bolton as ambassador to the U.N. There was a little bit of criticism and quite a bit of sharp protest, actually, from Democrats. A bit of a mixed response from the foreign diplomats, as well, working with him at the U.N. headquarters.

We are going to be hearing a little bit more, I believe, from John Bolton, coming up.

Is that a news conference that we're hearing about?

Actually, there's an appearance right now from President Bush and John Bolton that we are going to try to take a shot of.

Excuse me, it will be later today. It will be later today. President Bush and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will be appearing together.

We will hear more of what they have to say about what this means. Again, going to be happening in January. That is when the recess appointment expires. We will bring more of that to you just as soon as it comes in.

(MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: It is fierce, raging and wild. Take a lock at these pictures now. The wind-driven wildfire in Southern California that we've been showing you all morning long. It's now burned thousands of acres, just north of Los Angeles. Five homes already destroyed. Hundreds of others, as you can see there -- wow -- are being threatened. An evacuation order is in effect. But some people have decided to stay and try to beat back the flames, protect their homes. The fire started yesterday in Moorpark. That's about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and just exploded with this near hurricane- strength wind gusts.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

COLLINS: President Bush focusing on Iraq this week, but it begins under the cloud of another damaging leak. Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld called for a major adjustment in Iraq.

Jamie McIntyre, our senior Pentagon correspondent, live now with the story.

Jamie, what was the thinking here?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, apparently under some direction of the White House to come up with new ideas for Iraq, fired off a memo to the president just one day before the November election. As you said, he called for a major adjustment and conceded that things weren't going well enough or fast enough. That was the same statement he made publicly, along with President Bush at the time that he stepped down. But he did not endorse any of the options. He just put them into two categories, ones that he thought might be useful and ones he didn't.

For instance, providing security only for those provinces or cities that openly request U.S. help. That is sort of a tough love policy, of only going in where the U.S. was invited. He also talked about stop rewarding bad behavior. No more reconstruction assistance in areas where there is violence. This is classic Rumsfeld who's fond of saying if you want more of something, reward it. If you want less of something, penalize it. He also talked about positioning U.S. forces near the Iranian and Syrian borders, been a lot of talk about the infiltration from those two countries, and instead of advocating diplomatic engagement, he's sort of advocating beefing up the border security. And then, you know, interestingly, he talked about perhaps beginning modest withdrawals, taking hands off the bicycle seat, as he put it, so the Iraqis have to pull their socks up and step up. And that is very in line with one of the recommendations of one of Rumsfeld's chief critics, Congressman John Murtha, who's been talking about a strategic redeployment of U.S. troops away from the front lines for almost a year now. So, it's interesting to see Rumsfeld sort of embracing these ideas. As I said, he sent these to the president without endorsing any particular option -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, it's fascinating. It's five or six different options here, I was looking at. They're calling this memo, as you say, "Iraq, the illustrative new courses of action."

But the question would seem to be why did he wait until now or then to write the memo? And then why was it leaked?

HARRIS: Well, it does appear that he wrote this memo because President Bush was getting frustrated and as part of the overall review that the entire administration was doing to sort of come up with new ideas. It's interesting because it shows once again that Rumsfeld, in private, has a much more candid assessment of what's going on than what he admits publicly. And you know, we don't know why it was leaked, but you know, it just seems to be another case where somebody who wants to show that Rumsfeld is not as disengaged as some people might say. You know, you called it a damaging memo. At one point, you could argue that this memo actually tries to make Rumsfeld look better, because it looks like he has a pretty firm grasp of the problems that they have in Iraq despite his positive public pronouncements -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, I think you're right about that. Jamie McIntyre for the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks.

HARRIS: Let's get more information on the news we've been reporting that u.n. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his recess appointment expires soon. That word coming to us from the White House, so let's get to White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

And, Suzanne, it sounds like in the final analysis, John Bolton just didn't have the votes to win confirmation.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tony, you're absolutely right. But the White House nevertheless still disappointed. I spoke with Dana Perino. She's the deputy White House press secretary, who said that this letter came from Bolton to the White House on Friday, that it was submitted to the president, and that he was surprised by the news, and that he was also disappointed that the White House had not yet made up its mind in terms of what kind of maneuvers they could use to try to keep Bolton in place, although those maneuvers, those options, were really quite frankly, running out, Tony. It was back in 2005 during the recess -- Congress was in recess, President Bush pushed forward and appointed this temporary position for Bolton, because he couldn't get the support of the Senate.

But really the nail in the coffin was when Democrats took over. And you heard from Senator Joe Biden, who's slated to take over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to head up his nomination, said it was a non-starter. Also that Republican Lincoln Chafee from Rhode Island essentially saying that, look, at least during the lame duck session, he lost the election, it wasn't going to move from committee to the full Senate, so essentially it was going to be considered now, wasn't going to be considered in January, so his recess appointment ends late this week, we're told. And that is when Bolton said, look, he didn't believe that he had a chance, so he sent the letter to the president.

We expect to hear a formally and officially from the president. He's going to be meeting with Bolton in the Oval Office about 3:10 we are told this afternoon, and that is when the formal announcement will be made -- Tony.

HARRIS: White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux for us on top of the latest, breaking development there.

Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

COLLINS: They vowed to rebuild after Katrina, and they kept their promise. But this couple still missing something in their new life. The story ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: The Taliban still a force to be reckoned with. Bullets still flying in Afghanistan. The video in the newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: They are the first to rebuild on one stretch of Mississippi's Gulf Coast Highway after Katrina. They love their new home, but there's something missing.

CNN's Sean Callebs reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lee and Chi Chi Bryant just couldn't walk away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sand looks nice, doesn't it, nice and smooth?

CALLEBS: Reporter: They are the first people on Highway 90, Mississippi's Gulf Coast, to rebuild after months, trading in their 400-square-foot trailer for a 3,300 square-foot home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the hurricane hit, it made me appreciate what I had had before the hurricane and what I had lost, and I vowed to rebuild.

CALLEBS: The Bryants say people cringe when they explain they're building on exactly the same slab where the old home stood and was washed away, and didn't build it any higher off the ground. But Lee says his new home is safer, with steel rods running from the foundation to the rafters ever two feet throughout the home.

Was there ever any thought to not rebuilding?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None at all. I mean, I didn't hesitate one time. I knew it was going to be difficult to do.

CALLEBS: Like a lot of Gulf Coast homeowners, the Bryants believe they've been shorted by their insurance company. They rebuilt after getting nothing on a $100,000 policy for contents. Money for wind damage is in litigation. So they scrimped and saved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Took about 35,000 bricks to rebuild our home and 10,000 of those bricks are from our old house.

CALLEBS: That saved $7,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This can be cleaned up, and it will look nice and pretty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Chi Chi is still finding her old knick- knacks Katrina washed away. But what the Bryants really miss are neighbors. Now just slabs and weeds to the left, rubble and more overgrown fields to the right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're rebuilding on the back of us on 2nd Street, but I wish more people would take the initiative like we have and rebuild.

CALLEBS: Until then, they'll be virtually alone on their patch of Highway 90, alone with a view and the hope that others will follow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Sean Callebs live now in Gulf Port.

CALLEBS: I'm sorry, Tony, live now in Gulf Port. This is where they have the view from every morning. And Lee and Chi Chi They told me this past weekend they drove the 26 miles of highway 90 and they are still the only house that has been built from the ground up since the hurricane, 15 months.

But there are a couple six or seven blocks away where some neighbors are close to being done, but that's not the whole story. I want to show you. We have a couple of cameras set up here. Here's the view next door, what they look at. And this is basically the story of the coast. Just these slabs and there's a FEMA trailer. and I want to show you right here you can see how the floor buckled on this house. The wood in that area.

But here's the reason that they came. If you look out here and you get the view of what it's like every day, you can see the sun peaking through the live oak trees down there. There's our cameraman and producer doing their job as well. They do have as much insurance as they could get. They have flood insurance, they have fire insurance and they also have wind insurance. But for that wind insurance they are paying 400 percent more than they did before Katrina.

HARRIS: Wow. Well, I was about to ask you what's happened to the rates but I guess we know now.

You know what, Sean, that storm surge was, what, about 30 feet high. Any thought given at the time about putting the house -- I guess you can put the house on stilts, but I guess they didn't do it.

CALLEBS: That's what -- that is the big holdup for so many of the other people building. What do they need to do for insurance purposes? What do they need to do for their own safety? And you are right, it was 28 feet high. So think about it. As high as I am now, the water came washing in over this area.

Now, they say that they're prepared for another storm surge with those bolts that go through the home. But, boy, another storm like Katrina comes through and they would probably be picking up the pieces once again.

HARRIS: Sean Callebs for us. Boy, nice people. Sean, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's take you back to New York City now. Heidi Collins is there and I'm not quite sure -- I haven't received a suitable explanation yet as to why you are not sitting next to me, why you're in New York. I didn't get the memo.

I didn't of course, didn't sign off on anything. So, Heidi, explain, please.

We forgot to ask because you were off on Friday. But I'm just saying -- you know what, Tony, it really is, it's going to be pretty exciting. I'm up here because tomorrow is the day that the Intrepid, you remember the ship, there she is now.

Stuck, if you will, to be fair, at Pier 86 where she's been for 24 years. Back in November, on the 6th, as they tried to move the U.S. Intrepid over to Bayone New Jersey, they were going to travel five miles down the Hudson River for this massive renovation project and, unfortunately, the way the tide was and the way that the sludge was dredged up underneath its propellers, the ship did not go very far. Tomorrow is the day that it will go.

HARRIS: Oh.

COLLINS: I will be onboard.

HARRIS: Get out of here.

COLLINS: Yep, and we're going to be broadcasting live from onboard to watch how it all goes down. But I'll tell you what, Tony, they have removed 35,000 cubic yards of muck.

HARRIS: I can't even imagine.

COLLINS: I think that's the technical term, yes, to try and get this thing going. So it's going to be a fascinating day and a lot of significance here as to what will happen when the American flag is unfurled as it passes ground zero, and they'll be remembering all the servicemen and women and all the innocent victims as well of the World Trade Center.

HARRIS: Hey, Heidi, what are the chances that we actually get some movement tomorrow?

COLLINS: I think the chances are very high. Obviously, I am not an engineer of any kind, but I have been keeping very close tabs and talking a lot with the president of the Intrepid, Bill White, and he assures me that through this massive workings of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Navy because they are the ones who went in there and ended up doing all the dredging, they feel very, very confident it's going to be a big day and a special day, and we'll have it here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Hey, I know that we can do anything around here, but you're actually going to be broadcasting live?

COLLINS: I will be broadcasting live. We're going to see how that signal goes, but I am told -- again, I am just the person in front of the camera -- but they tell me that the microwave signal is how that will work. I'll be able to get most of our shots for most of the ride.

HARRIS: Nice. All right, beautiful.

COLLINS: So it's going to be a long, cold day, but it will be very exciting.

HARRIS: All right, Heidi. Can't wait.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, more on this situation we just told you about. CNN confirming President Bush has accepted the resignation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. It will happen in January. We'll have more on that.

And the Taliban still a force to be reckoned with. Listen to that. We'll show you the video of a firefight in Afghanistan. That is coming up in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: A story we are following here in the NEWSROOM. Let's get you to T.J. Holmes now with the story of an apartment fire in Maryland -- T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, this is in Rockville, Maryland, where we are keeping an eye on this. Just got word of an SUV that has actually run into a townhouse in Rockville, Maryland and set off some kind of an explosion.

You are looking at the live pictures here of the aftermath. Can't see -- haven't been able to see from the pictures we have been seeing from this chopper, from our affiliate WTTG there in Rockville. Where exactly the SUV is, where it ran into the building, why it ran into the building, we don't know either. But this is the aftermath of it. Don't know how major of an explosion, but apparently, blew a pretty good, put a pretty good hole and looks like a hole in the roof there, smoke coming out. No flames at this time.

Also need to tell you that we are getting word that no injuries after this crash as well, which is a good thing. At least no major injuries. We are still working to find that out as well. But, a lot of the smoke was reportedly being seen from downtown Washington, D.C. Rockville, of course, just outside D.C., about the northwest side of Washington, D.C. But a good thing, no injuries here, trying to get more information about exactly what might have caused the SUV to run into this home and the aftermath. But we are keeping our eye on this.

You can see that smoke. It looks like quite a mess, maybe looking at it worse than it turned out to be. And hopefully we're not going to hear about any major injuries or anything like that. We don't know too much about the building either, how many might have been inside. It certainly looks like townhomes, certainly a few of them attached there next to each other. So, just something we are keeping an eye on here. We will continue to monitor and bring you those updates -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right, T.J. We appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Also want to get this to you now, we are learning that British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be making a visit to the White House December 7th and apparently will be speaking with President Bush about Iraq, free trade and Darfur. Once again, British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be visiting the White House. You see a live shot there. Coming up on December 7th. Going to talk about Iraq, free trade and Darfur. We will get more information on that and bring it to you as soon as it becomes available.

Meanwhile, he has a date on Capitol Hill tomorrow, Defense Secretary nominee Robert Gates faces questioning from the Senate Armed Services Committee.

CNN's Gary Nurenberg reports Gates' long history in government will be on the table.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When Ronald Reagan wanted to elevate then deputy CIA director Robert Gates to replace William Casey as CIA director in 1987, Gates was accused of having slanted intelligence to reflect administration preconceptions.

MELVIN GOODMAN, FORMER CIA ANALYST: Under Bob Gates, and Bill Casey, the CIA became a corrupt organization.

NURENBERG: Some 1987 Senators were skeptical Gates had told the truth about his knowledge of arms deals that were the basis of the infamous Iran-contra scandal.

ROBERT GATES, CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR: We had a very intensive series of questions over a long period of hours.

NURENBERG: The criticism became so intense, Reagan withdrew the nomination, Gates went to work at the White House under first President Bush and national security adviser Brent Scowcroft who sings his praises.

BRENT SCOWCROFT, FMR. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He is a dedicated patriot. He has served this country for decades.

NURENBERG: President Bush nominated Gates for CIA chief again in 1991. That time he was confirmed and served as CIA director until 1993. Urging employees to refrain from slanting intelligence.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, FMR. CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR: He was deeply affected by the perception that he had slanted intelligence and that he then as director lived the credo of speaking truth to power.

NURENBERG: But long time congressional critics are skeptical.

SEN. CARL LEVIN, (D) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Is he willing to speak truth to power, he is willing to tell the president what the president might not want to hear?

NURENBERG: His supporters say yes.

SCOWCROFT: I think that Mr. Gates follows the adage that he needs to tell the president what he thinks the president needs to know.

NURENBERG: Gates has recently served as president of Texas A & M University.

PROF. DOUG SLACK, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: One of the hallmarks of his presidency is he expects alternative views before he makes decision.

NURENBERG: But a former colleague who has clashed with Gates says:

MELVIN GOODMAN, FMR. CIA ANALYST: He is a political windsock, he serves his master. No one serves a master better than Bob Gates.

NURENBERG (on camera): Senate critics of administration Iraq policy may not exactly like Bob Gates as secretary of defense, but he may well get their support this week because they don't dislike him as much as they dislike the current occupant of the office.

Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Coming up, we will have the very latest on this man, President Bush has accepted U.N. Ambassador John Bolton's resignation to happen in January. The president will host Bolton and his wife at the Oval Office today, coming up around 3:00. We will have that for you. HARRIS: And he holds no elective office, but wields great influence in Iraq's fragile balance of power. He is meeting today with President Bush. A closer look in the NEWSROOM.

Racing flames, gusting winds, a deadly pair on the run. California wildfire in the NEWSROOM.

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