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American Morning
Iraq Strategy Report; Gates Nomination; Midwest Power Struggle; Taking Their Advice?
Aired December 06, 2006 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: War report. New details overnight from the Iraq Study Group and what it is recommending to President Bush about troops in Iraq within the hour.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Urgent search. New clues this morning in the search for the father who has been missing in the snow for more than a week.
And lights out. Thousands of residents are still in the dark and in the cold days after that wicked winter storm with a big chill about to move in.
M. O'BRIEN: And another black eye for FEMA. How taxpayers got soaked after Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The staggering new numbers reviled on a special split edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: And good morning, everybody. Welcome. It is Wednesday, December 6th. I'm Soledad O'Brien. As you see right there, Miles is there. He's in Washington, D.C., this morning, waiting that report from the Iraq Study Group.
Hey, Miles, good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning, Soledad.
We're here on Capitol Hill where the report will be delivered within the next couple of hours. First, study group members will go to the White House to brief the president. Bottom line, a busy morning here in Washington with far reaching implications for the war in Iraq. After the White House, the report comes to Congress 8:30 Eastern Time. Sources who have seen it are telling us the report calls for a dramatic shift in war strategy, setting the target for bringing most troops home by 2008. More leaked details ahead.
Meantime, the full Senate could vote today to confirm Robert Gates as the next U.S. secretary of Defense.
Also, the White House is preparing for a visit from - President Bush with his staunchest (ph) wartime ally, Tony Blair. The British prime minister will huddle with the president in Washington tomorrow.
And fresh violence to tell you about in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The latest is coming up on that.
First, though, the Iraq Study Group. Eight months after the idea was hatched here on Capitol Hill, this group of seasoned, Washington players is weighing in on the war and they are a force to be reckoned with.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN, (voice over): The president may have been reluctant to ask for their advice, but now he is getting it, hand delivered to his West Wing doorstep. While its members may not have found a silver bullet solution, the Iraq Study Group brings some heft to the discussion on how to proceed with this war. Led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton, the bipartisan group is made up of wise men and one women, all of them well-respected inside the beltway and beyond.
For eight months now, they have tried to unlock the Iraq riddle, even as it became more difficult to solve. More than 2,900 Americans killed, 22,000 wounded, 140,000 still in the fight. A war that has cost taxpayers about $319 billion. The president is standing firm
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're winning and we will win unless we leave before the job is done.
M. O'BRIEN: But the president may be forced to temper his tough talk by the reality on the ground in Iraq and down the street in Washington, where his political foes will soon be in control.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, INCOMING HOUSE SPEAKER: During the election, the American people spoke out for a new direction and they said that no place was a new direction more necessary than in the war in Iraq.
M. O'BRIEN: In fact, only one in three Americans now support the war. And even the president's new man to head the Pentagon is says what is on many minds.
SEN. CARL LEVIN, (D) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Mr. Gates, do you believe that we are currently winning in Iraq?
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: No, sir.
M. O'BRIEN: So at this critical hour, the White House is getting some outside suggestions on what to do next in a war of its own choosing. Whether it chooses to heed the advice is something we will be learning soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Live special coverage here from Capitol Hill all throughout the morning. A series of special guests. We'll bring you the latest on the Iraq Study Group all throughout the morning.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks.
And as Miles mentioned just a moment ago, all 10 members of the Iraq Study Group are expected at the White House within the hour. CNN's White House correspondent, Ed Henry, first broke details from the report late last night. He's in Washington, D.C., live for us this morning with the very latest.
Good morning to you, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
You know, this is a highly anticipated report. As Miles noted, it will be delivered to the president this morning in the next hour by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, the co-chairman. Some of the details leaking out of this report from sources who have actually seen it, they're telling me that it does set a goal of getting most U.S. troops out of a combat roll by early 2008. But very importantly, it does not set a formal timetable for withdrawal.
But the report does say, "the primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq should evolve into one of supporting the Iraqi army" and also that "the U.S. must not make open-ended commitments."
Now the report also goes on to prod the administration to launch a new diplomatic initiative to solve the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says "the U.S. cannot achieve its goals in the Mid East without a plan, a comprehensive piece plan." This includes in the report a call for direct talks between the U.S. and Iran and Syria. Something the Bush administration has repeatedly rejected.
And I think what's also interesting, sources who have seen the report have told me, one big theme in there is raising concern that perhaps the American people are really losing interesting and support for this war and that it's critical now for both the Republican White House and the new Democratic Congress, taking power in January, to come together on a bipartisan basis. It says, and it concludes ominously, otherwise "foreign policy is doomed to failure, as is any action in Iraq if not supported by broad, sustained consensus."
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ed Henry for us this morning in Capitol Hill. We're going to have bipartisan reaction coming up in our next hour. Democratic Senator John Kerry's going to weigh in, as well as Republican Senator Susan Collins. That's straight ahead.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad.
More violence against civilians in Iraq today. At least eight people are dead, 40 wounded after a mortar round slammed into a busy Baghdad market. Four more died when a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus traveling through Sadr City. South of Baghdad, a bomb exploded killing four people. And gunmen killed the driver in an attack on a security chief.
Two American civilians, five Afghans are dead, victims of a suicide bomber outside a security company office today in Kandahar, in Afghanistan. The men all worked for USPI. That's a Houston-based security coming. This was the sixth suicide bombing in Kandahar in the last nine days. Robert Gates on a fast track to become the next defense secretary. After a day of questioning, he received a unanimous endorsement from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Full Senate confirmation could come as early as today. Our congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, is here. Or more accurately, I'm on her turf.
It's good to see you, Andrea, in person.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, welcome to Washington.
M. O'BRIEN: It's good to be here.
Everybody said it would be a cake walk. It was.
KOPPEL: It was. And you and I were talking about this yesterday, the fact that 15 years ago when Robert Gates last came before the Senate Confirmation Committee, he was -- and that's when he was up for the directorship of the CIA -- he went through a 10-day grueling nomination process. One of those who voted against him was Senator Carl Levin. Well, yesterday he and others were positively gushing about Gates' candid, honest realism about the war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL, (voice over): Moments after posing for cameras, Carl Levin, the incoming chairman of the Armed Services Committee, asked Robert Gates a direct question.
SEN. CARL LEVIN, (D) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Do you believe that we are currently winning in Iraq?
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: No, sir.
KOPPEL: That short, simple answer fast became a lead story. And after lunch, Gates felt compared to clarify.
GATES: While I was having lunch and eating my sandwich, and I was watching the news and I certainly stand by my statement this morning that I agreed with General Pace that we are not winning, but we are not losing. But I want to make clear that that pertains to the situation in Iraq as a whole.
KOPPEL: For five-plus hours, Republicans and Democrats alike pressed Gates to shed light on his plan for Iraq. And for more than five hours, the man set to become the next secretary of defense respectfully answered those questions without making any firm commitments. Connecticut's Joe Lieberman wondered about possibly boosting the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
GATES: That certainly is an option.
KOPPEL: While South Carolina's Lindsey Graham asked the former intelligence chief about the fallout if U.S. troops deployed in the region. Would terrorists follow them?
GATES: Probably so.
KOPPEL: Jack Reid asked Gates if the U.S. should emphasize stabilizing Iraq or shift to more training.
GATES: The honest answer to your question, Senator, is that I don't know.
KOPPEL: But when Ted Kennedy asked him about how independent he'd be, Gates was eager to answer.
GATES: Senator, I am not giving up the presidency of Texas A&M, the job that I've probably enjoyed more than any that I've every had. Making considerable, personal financial sacrifice and, frankly, going through this process to come back to Washington to be a bump on a log.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: That said, Gates also conceded there are no new ideas on Iraq. He said that the list of strategies and other points are already out there in the media. And as you know, Miles, he was also a member of the Iraq Study Group until recently, which is due to release its report today.
M. O'BRIEN: It's the five-hour cakewalk.
To what extend was it an embrace of Gates or was it a repudiation of Rumsfeld?
KOPPEL: Exactly. In fact yesterday senators in the days leading up to the hearing they were saying that it was anything but Rumsfeld -- ABR.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Andrea Koppel, good to be here.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Miles.
Happening this morning.
A development in the search for James Kim who's been missing since November 25th near Grants Pass in Oregon. Well, searches say they believe that they've found a pair of pants that belonged to Kim at the bottom of a canyon. They also think that Kim may have left those pair of pants to mark his path for his rescuers. He apparently had a pair of jeans underneath. His wife and two daughters were found alive and well on Monday.
The E. Coli outbreak now in Pennsylvania. Three of four people who got sick there from E. Coli ate at Taco Bells in Montgomery County near Philadelphia. All nine Taco Bells in the county are being inspected and sanitized as a precaution. Health investigators aren't sure if these cases are linked to the 42 E. Coli cases now in New York and New Jersey.
If you drink Jamba Juice, you might want to be ware. The company is warning that its strawberry smoothies could be contaminated with listeria, a potentially deadly bacteria. The bacteria was found in some frozen strawberries from one of its suppliers and used in the smoothies sold in Jamba Juice stores in Arizona, in southern Nevada, and in southern California.
Trans fat is on its way out. New York City, the board of health there, is the first in the country to make restaurants and bakeries and other food establishments eliminate trans fats, which can be found in cooking oils and in margarines and in some shortenings. Now, restaurants have until July of 2008 to get rid of them. Trans fats are said to be a cause of heart disease.
Possible problems with tomorrow night's shuttle launch. NASA's concerned about a power surge in one of the shuttle Discovery's systems. And also some adhesive on the reuseable rocket boosters. So far the first night shuttle launch in more than four years is still a go, though.
Those southern California wildfire's totally contained now. The fire began on Sunday, destroyed five home, 21 square miles in Ventura County near Los Angeles. Firefighters are warnings, though, there are still extreme fire conditions because of the low humidity there.
In Illinois and in Missouri this morning, tens of thousands of people still don't have power. This is after last week's deadly winter storm. And the bad news really just keeps getting worse. Another cold front is now headed to the region. CNN's meteorologist Rob Marciano is live for us this morning in Oreana, Illinois.
Good morning to you, Rob. How cold is it?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's cold. It's right around freezing right now, Soledad. But as you mentioned, it's going to get even colder. And the next cold front coming in could be as cold, if not colder, than the one that came in just a few days ago.
Seventy thousand people still remain without power. And neighborhoods like this, still dark, still cold. Utility workers and crews say that by the end of the day that number could almost be down to zero. But for people who have been in the dark and in the cold for almost a week now, that power can't come soon enough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO, (voice over): The Illinois National Guard rolled out across the icy streets of Decatur, checking on residents door to door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can help you out as far as like blankets or warmth or food.
MARCIANO: Some, like Lena Jones, have been without electricity nearly six days since a winter storm blew through the area, knocking down trees and knocking out power.
LENA JONES, DECATUR, ILLINOIS, RESIDENT: When we called the power, you know, they said it could be seven to 10 days. So we're just doing the best we can.
MARCIANO: She says her priority is keeping her grandson, Eric, warm in this frigid weather. That means relying on a last and sometimes dangerous resort -- a gas oven.
JONES: I know it's a risk, but also, you know, you have to -- if you've got a three-year-old running around, you have to keep him warm. You know, so you can't go with nothing.
STAFF SGT. ROBERT CHARLES SMITH, U.S. ARMY: It's disheartening that a family has to put themselves or they have to chose the lesser of two evils. Whether they want to have heat or they want to risk the gas fumes.
MARCIANO: As residents do what they can to stay warm.
Others, like George Diggs, are trying to help utility crews. He's clearing his alley, hoping it will pave the way to get power back.
GEORGE DIGGS, DECATUR, ILLINOIS, RESIDENT: They get their trucks down here, they get out stuff back hooked up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have lights.
MARCIANO: Tina Pressley got her power back.
TINA PRESSLEY, OREANA, ILLINOIS, RESIDENT: It's wonderful. You don't realize how much you miss it until you don't have it.
STEVE LASHMETT, AMEREN ENERGY DELIVERY SUPERVISOR: Hopefully we'll be wrapped up tomorrow or early into the next day.
MARCIANO: House to house and well into the night, utilities crews worked to restore electricity.
LASHMETT: Just the overall magnitude of this and how widespread it was, it just makes it very difficult.
MARCIANO: And with many more residents to go and temperatures expected to drop, it's not just a race against time, but against mother nature as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Believe it or not, though, this morning one of the more mild mornings that this thermometer's showing. The temperature's right around the freezing mark. Not expected to get a whole lot higher than that.
But look at some of this debris behind me. This story is echoed throughout central Illinois. Trees just snapped and splintered from the weight of an inch, two inches of ice at times caked on. And, obviously, those tree limbs taking down power lines.
Interestingly enough, when the day time highs were to get above freezing, sometimes when that weight was released, when that ice released off those limbs, they actually snapped back up and would take down more power lines. So it's been two steps forward, one step back, Soledad. But utility crews think that by the end of the day most of the power should be back on. But tomorrow the temps going to get down into the teens and not out of the 20s, so they certainly want that to happen very quickly.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely. Gosh, you know, I hope they move that along.
Rob Marciano for us this morning.
Thank you, Rob.
We're going to talk to Chad in just a few moments, too, and get a bigger forecast about this cold that's coming in.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: A government audit painting a shocking picture of how the Federal Emergency Management Agency misspent our money in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The report showing FEMA made more than a billion dollars in improper payments to Katrina and Rita victims. Apparently FEMA paid out $20 million in duplicate payments to people who claimed damages from both hurricanes for the same property, $17 million was spent on potentially improper rental assistance to people living in trailers, and another $3 million was given to non-U.S. citizens.
Coming up on the program, more on today's report from the Iraq Study Group. Now that the details are trickling out, we'll look at whether it will have any real impact on the war. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: It is 17 minutes past the hour. If you're about to head out the door, let's first check in with Chad. He's at the CNN Weather Center with the traveler's forecast and more.
Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: The Iraq Study Group's findings will no doubt have a big impact on how we view the war in Iraq and how we measure the president's performance. His willingness, or lack of willingness, to take its advice could say a lot about his legacy. CNN's Candy Crowley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, INCOMING HOUSE SPEAKER: The Iraq Study Group, who's report is anxiously awaited.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Talk about your great expectations.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: This report has the capacity to build the consensus, which becomes critically important to persuade the members of Congress and, therefore the American people, that we have to come together for a period of time, limited though it might be. We have to give this one last chance to see if we can't make this successful.
CROWLEY: Rarely do people in power look for answers from people out of power. But so it is with the Iraq Study Group.
WILLIAM BENNETT, HOST, MORNING IN AMERICA: No one else has a real answer other than quit or win. So it's pregnant with the expectations because there's no other game in town.
CROWLEY: This was not the president's idea. It came from Capitol Hill, but he gave it creds.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the fact that you are willing to lend your expertise to help chart the way forward means a lot.
CROWLEY: It could all come back to bite him, which may be why the president has been pretty definitive of late about what he will and won't do. Suppose, as expected, the group suggest talks with Iran. The president says not until they drop plans for a nuclear weapon.
BUSH: They know how to get us to the table. The choice is theirs to make.
CROWLEY: Suppose the group says there should be benchmarks set for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops.
BUSH: We're not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete.
CROWLEY: Suppose the commander in chief says no.
COHEN: I think if he would just sort of give the back of the hand to that report, you would see the presidential campaigns, that are only in their incipient stages, accelerate a great degree and you would see a battle that would take place over the next two years.
CROWLEY: Conservatives are fearful the Iraq Study Group is more concerned about a graceful exit than a way to win. They hope Bush is willing to pay the price of saying no.
BENNETT: What's the price? Approval ratings will go down. More bashing. More he's out of touch. He won't listen to anybody.
CROWLEY: On Capitol Hill, hope springs eternal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel confident that the president and his team will take into consideration that report.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: And that was Candy Crowley reporting. We'll hear from her a little bit later in the program as well.
If you want to read the Iraq Study Group's report for yourself, you can. A version of it will be available for download beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. There are about four websites. And one of the places you can go, probably the easiest place, is just to begin at cnn.com and it will link you to those sites and the report will be there as well. It's also being published today as a mass-market paperback under the title "The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward. A New Approach."
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Miles.
Coming up this morning, just about everybody takes credit cards these days, but there's been one really big holdout till now. Ali Velshi explains as we "Mind Your Business" straight ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Top stories we're following for you this morning.
Members of the landmark Iraq Study Group meeting with President Bush within the hour. They're expecting to recommend getting U.S. troops off the front lines in Iraq by 2008.
And only on CNN, Italian security consultant Mario Scaramella says he warned poisoned Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko people associated with Russia were planning to harm him. Doctors say there are low levels of radiation in Scaramella's body as well.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Salary increases are slowing down. Bad news for workers, good for stocks though as is often the case. Ali Velshi's "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
I kind of feel things that are good for workers should be good for stocks overall anyway. And the good news is that salaries do continue to increase a little bit, it's just that the latest report shows they're not increasing too fast. It's good for business because they don't have to continue to pay high salaries.
The bottom line is, they're going to have to eventually, but a slow salary increase also means probably a slow spending increase, which also means inflation will be under control. And if inflation is under control, the Fed probably won't raise interest rates any time soon. Obviously that's the thing that businesses are worried about, people who borrow money are worried about.
Right now we had a stock market yesterday that closed about 47 points higher, to 12,332 on the Dow. Look at that S&P, though. It's always interesting when you see all the markets moving up. The S&P is at 1,414. Why is that relevant? Well, that's the highest it's been in six years. The all-time high for the S&P is 1,527. That's 500 stocks. It's broader than the Dow.
Now one place where you may see some inflation is in the airline industry. Obviously when you travel on a route that's well traveled, your fares are lower. When you travel on routes that aren't well traveled, your fares are higher.
Well, the U.S. government has rejected a proposal to increase the foreign ownership in U.S. airlines. That deal would have also allowed American competition into other international routes. Because that deal isn't going through, the result is you might still see higher fares on some of those international routes.
Now, another thing that really sort of caught my attention today is the idea of utility companies -- you were talking about this earlier -- not allowing people to pay by credit card. In fact, it's one of the last industries to hold out against the credit card push. Part of that is because it costs them a little bit to use credit cards and they don't get any incremental sales as a result of it. You don't buy more of your utility because of the credit card. I'd switch, all things being equal, and increasingly 15 percent of people pay utility bills by credit cards. You're going to see that increase over the course of the next year because of competition.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Not a big surprise there.
VELSHI: Yes, exactly.
S. O'BRIEN: Tell me what you have coming up next.
VELSHI: I'm going to be talking to you next about Yahoo!. A big shakeup at Yahoo! that might affect the way you use the Internet.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Ali Velshi.
Thanks, Ali.
A look at our top stories are straight ahead this morning.
The Iraq Study Group presents its final report to the president. That's going to happen in just about 30 minutes. Some details already coming out. We'll take you live to Washington for more.
And the latest on the search for the father who went missing in the wilderness in Oregon. Authorities say they think they've found an important clue. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
It is a big day in Washington, D.C. It could be a big day for the country, too.
You're watching a special split edition of AMERICAN MORNING, and it is Wednesday, December 6th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien, reporting from Capitol Hill.
We're glad you're with us this morning.
A big day in Washington today. Far-reaching implications for the war in Iraq. That blue ribbon panel led by former secretary of state James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton releasing its findings this morning.
Here's how it will unfold.
In just about a half an hour, 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, President Bush will meet with all 10 members of the Iraq Study Group. And then at 8:30 Eastern the group will brief House leaders and key committee chairs.
At 9:30 a.m. Eastern, they'll be briefing Senate leaders and more committee chairs. And then finally at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time, all of us will get to see the full report as it is released to the public.
Later in the afternoon, 2:15 Eastern, President Bush will meet with key members of Congress in the White House cabinet room to discuss the group's findings.
CNN's political and security watch teams will bring you extensive coverage and analysis of the day's events as they happen -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks.
Happening that morning, a development in the search for James Kim. He's been missing for a week and a half, disappeared near Grants Pass in Oregon.
Searchers now believe they now found some pants that belonged to Kim. They discovered those pants at the bottom of a canyon. Apparently he had two pair of pants on him, and he think that he may have left one pair to mark his path for rescuers. His wife and two daughters were found alive and well on Monday.
E. coli outbreak now in Pennsylvania. Three of four people got sick there from E. coli, ate at Taco Bell in Montgomery County, which is near Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, rather. All nine Taco Bells in the county are being inspected and sanitized as a precaution. In New York and New Jersey there are now 42 E. coli cases reported. If you usually drink your Jamba Juice with strawberries, you might want to think about another flavor. The company is warning that some of the smoothies may be contaminated with Listeria, a potentially deadly bacteria. The bacteria was found in frozen strawberries supplied to Jamba Juice and sold in stores in Arizona and in southern Nevada, and in southern California as well.
Trans fat on its way out in New York City. The Board of Health voted to make restaurants and bakeries ban trans fats, which can be found in cooking oils, in margarines, and some shortenings, too. They have until -- restaurants, rather, have until July of 2008 to stop using trans fats. New York City is the first to ban the substance. Trans fats are believed to contribute to heart disease.
Southern California wildfire's now completely contained. Great news there.
The fire that began on Sunday destroyed five homes, scorched 21 square miles in Ventura County, near L.A. Firefighters, though, are warning of potential flare-ups because of the low humidity.
Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter and her partner are reportedly going to be mothers. "The Washington Post" is reporting that the openly gay Mary Cheney is pregnant. She and her partner of 15 years expect that the child is going to be born in the late spring. It will be the vice president's sixth grandchild -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Soledad.
More on our top story now, the report by the Iraq Study Group.
The group will meet with President Bush in about half an hour, and we expect a statement from the president after that.
CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry broke the details from the report late last night. He joins us live from another part of Washington, our bureau, with more on that.
Ed, tell us what we know.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Miles.
There's been a lot of anticipation, obviously, about the details of this report. Two people who have seen it have told CNN that the bottom line really here is that this group in the report will be calling for most U.S. combat troops to be moved out of Iraq by early 2008, moving them to more of a supporting role, and the report makes clear that they believe that the U.S. must not make "open-ended commitments" in Iraq.
It also prods the administration to launch a new diplomatic initiative to solve the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the U.S. cannot achieve its goals in the Mideast without putting in place some sort of a comprehensive peace plan. This includes a call for the U.S. to have direct talks with both Iran and Syria. As you know, that is something that the Bush administration has repeatedly rejected.
The report's bottom line also says that in order to enact these recommendations, it's going to take a lot of political will by a Republican White House and a Democratic Congress taking power in January, and it warns ominously, "Foreign policy is doomed to failure, as is any action in Iraq, if not supported by broad sustained consensus."
Obviously, there can be maybe some disappointment by critics of the administration's policy that this group, though, stop short of actually calling for a formal timetable to withdraw U.S. troops, but I'm told by people who are involved in the deliberations they just could not find consensus on an actual timetable, so this is what they came up with. It will obviously put pressure on the Bush administration, but the big question is whether or not the president will enact any of these major recommendations -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: That is the big question.
Ed Henry with the exclusive details.
Thank you very much.
Timetables, that is the big question. And joining us now is our CNN military analyst, retired Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks.
Good to have you with us, General Marks.
BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, Miles. Thanks. Thanks very much.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this notion of timetables.
On the one hand it says, let's get the troops largely out of Iraq by 2008, and yet does not set specific deadlines, benchmarks.
Is that the way it should be?
MARKS: I think it is. You know, frankly, I don't know what's magical about '08. If you look at the shelf life of insurgencies, they're about nine years long. We're about into the fourth year of this fight in Iraq. If you figure it out, we've got another handful of years, about five years to go.
So, my point is, is absolutely, the United States needs to get out of Iraq, and they've said that all along. This needs to be a Iraq solution. And it needs to be a greater Southwest Asia solution.
The challenge is, where do you put those U.S. forces? Certainly Kuwait is available, an over-the-horizon force that gives the United States and a larger coalition presence the ability to strike with some force and with some oomph and with some fanny, if you will, to make a solution available.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, the report talks a lot about this phased withdrawal, as we're hearing from the leaks, and it talks an awful lot about diplomatic efforts.
Is that an admission that there is no military solution there anymore?
MARKS: Miles, I think all along everyone has acknowledged this is not a military solution. You can't have an exclusive military solution to this problem set. It requires an infrastructure build, it requires aggressive diplomacy.
You also have to take an outside-in look. You must get Iran involved and you've got to get Syria involved. So there has to be a much broader perspective of what's going on inside Iraq and who are the -- who are the other players.
M. O'BRIEN: When the history books are written on this, will that be one of the key mistakes, do you think, that from the outset the region was not consulted, engaged?
MARKS: I think so. We looked at it, too, myopically. Truly, you have to understand the dynamics, what comes across the border, who really has a stake in what's going on in Iraq.
It's Syria, it's Iran. Certainly the Palestinian issue has a very -- I mean, that is the presence, that is the 800-pound gorilla that continues to exist in Southwest Asia. It must be addressed.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk about U.S. troops in a supporting role, over the horizon and then training Iraqi troops. Ed Henry, in his great reporting this morning, quotes one source who's seen the report, read the executive summary, saying this, "The primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq should evolve into one of supporting the Iraqi army."
You're former military. Is the U.S. military geared up for that sort of mission? Is that the mission it is ideally suited for?
MARKS: It is. Miles, we have a very long history of being able to support, to enable, and to empower friends and allies in order to do that. So that's clearly within the mission set.
We can do that. Our military can do that. What has to happen is you have to have a change in mission from primary combat role, where you're trying to identify, isolate, and kill bad guys, and you have to transition that into an advisory and training role.
You could do that with forces in country, give them a change of mission, train them up, let them get into an advisory role. And the United States Army is doing that right now with mobile training teams. They're being trained in the United States, shipped over to Iraq, embedded with Iraqi units.
You need to take those MTTs and get them down to the very lowest level. You can really make a difference in that advisory and training role.
M. O'BRIEN: General James "Spider" Marks, thank you very much. MARKS: Thanks, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.
The co-chairs of the Iraq Study Group, James Baker and Lee Hamilton, will be guests on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight, 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, kind of a lump of coal for a 12- year-old boy in South Carolina, arrested after he opened his Christmas gift early. We'll tell you what happened.
Plus, a routine traffic ticket case reveals what could have been a huge scam. We'll tell you why prosecutors say the defendant, who you can kind of see in this videotape, was faking mental retardation for decades.
Those stories and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Top stories we're following for you.
Members of the landmark Iraq Study Group meeting with President Bush in the next few minutes. They're expected to recommend getting U.S. troops off the front lines in Iraq in 2008.
And thousands of people in the Midwest still without power and heat after last week's winter storm. Another cold front heading their way right now, which leads us to Chad Myers in the weather center with a look at the forecast.
Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" this morning, a man in Tacoma, Washington, is accused of faking mental retardation for 20 years with his mother's help. Authorities were tipped off when they saw this videotape which is of the 28-year-old man contesting a traffic ticket in court. He and his mother allegedly collected more than $100,000 in disability benefits over all those years.
In Columbia, South Carolina, here's a lesson in tough love. A 12-year-old boy opened his Christmas gift early. It was a Game Boy, and his frustrated mother had him arrested on petty larceny charges. The mother said she needs help getting through to her son.
She's trying to scare him straight. Police say the boy has been suspended from school ever since he took a swing at an officer last month. In San Francisco, bus shelters never smelled so good. Folks behind the "got milk?" campaign kicked off scented ads in five bus shelters. The aroma was fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. But then those cookie ads crumbled after complaints from anti-allergy groups and anti-obesity groups. The scents had to be removed from the shelters.
San Francisco for you.
Coming up, tensions are rising in Lebanon. Could it escalate to a civil war?
We're going to take you live to Beirut straight ahead.
And new developments in the poisoning death of a former Russian spy. One of his contacts tells CNN just who he thinks did it.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look now at stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: I'm Brent Sadler in Beirut.
More anti-government protests peaceful in downtown Beirut here, but triggering more street clashes in neighbors that surround the capital. Tension escalated after the killing of a Muslim Shiite anti- government demonstrator shot in a Sunni Muslim district and buried Tuesday. The crisis is raising alarm in the Arab world and in Washington that Lebanon could erupt into another civil war. Western diplomats see the potentially explosive political deadlock as turning into a Middle Eastern battle for power in which U.S. prestige and influence faces another crucial test.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Ben Wedeman in Baghdad.
While Washington waits for the results of the Iraq Study Group, it's just another bloody day here.
In the northern part of the city, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus, killing four and wounding seven. In the central part of the city, four or five mortar rounds slammed into a commercial district, killing eight, wounding 40. And so far today, Iraqi police have found 10 bodies, the work of shadowy sectarian death squads.
Life is becoming so dangerous here, people are rushing for the exits. The airport is crammed with people trying to get on flights out. And the middle class is disappearing. Doctors are fleeing, and word is that the nearest dentist is in Damascus, the capital of Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alphonso Van Marsh, in London, where the mystery surrounding the radiation poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko deepens.
The man who met with Litvinenko on the day he fell ill, Mario Scaramella, spoke exclusively to CNN from his hospital bed. That's where doctors say they found traces of Polonium-210 in his system as well. He says he feels he was not a target of the poisoning, but he's pointing his finger at clandestine organizations in Russia. That's where British antiterrorism police are continuing their investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: For more on these or any of our top stories, log on to our Web site at CNN.com.
Ahead this morning, one of the biggest names on the Internet is about to undergo a major shakeup. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" straight ahead.
And cell phones and cancer. A huge new study examines whether there's really a link between the two.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Top stories we're following for you this morning.
Members of the Iraq Study Group arriving in the White House just moments ago. They're meeting with President Bush, expected to recommend pulling U.S. troops off the front line in Iraq by 2008.
And two Americans among those killed after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a security company in Afghanistan -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: "The Peanut Butter Manifesto" -- making some big changes at Yahoo!
Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
Remember when we were kids it was all about Yahoo!
S. O'BRIEN: Right. It was the first thing you did. VELSHI: Yahoo! was a place you went for kind of anything, whether it was weather or movies or, you know, search, and the Internet has changed so much over the last few years. There's a bit of an issue at Yahoo!
A senior executive wrote a memo that said -- it was called "The Peanut Butter Manifesto," where he said that -- he was criticizing Yahoo's strategy of spreading peanut butter across the myriad of opportunities that exist online.
S. O'BRIEN: Spreading themselves too thin.
VELSHI: Spreading themselves too thin.
First it was about being a portal, being the site you went to. Then it was about being -- it was about search, but Google is eating everybody's lunch there.
Then it was about social networking, MySpace and FaceBook. Yahoo! has been trying to buy FaceBook and that hasn't worked out for them.
Now it's about video, YouTube.
It's unclear what Yahoo! is in that space. So they've unveiled this massive restructuring. They're going to try and focus their efforts on the consumer and how their advertisers connect to that consumer.
S. O'BRIEN: Which means -- what's it going to look like?
VELSHI: Well, that's a good question. That's unclear in the memo that they put out.
What is it going to be? Why am I going to want to go back to Yahoo!?
You know, when Google bought YouTube for $1.6 billion, we're all scratching our heads saying, how does the advertiser make money out of that? I go to watch somebody's home movie, why do I want to advertise.
Google's trying to figure out how to make that work with YouTube. Yahoo's got to figure out how its advertisers benefit from you or me or anyone else being on their Web site.
What is it? Is it a place you go to check movies, or your maps, or your search, or your news? That's the question.
S. O'BRIEN: What's Yahoo's stock been?
VELSHI: Yahoo! stock has done very well since Terry Semel took over. It went from somewhere in the $4 range to the $40 range. But it's now stagnant. It's now stifling. And they need to do something else.
The good news is that will affect individual users. They'll come up with something that should be a better experience for us.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. That would be nice.
All right. What do you have coming up next?
VELSHI: The next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to talk to you about MySpace, the social networking site, what it's doing to fight off sex offenders to make sure it's not a predatory ground, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's an interesting story. All right, Ali. Thank you very much.
VELSHI: See you in a bit.
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look at some of the top stories on CNN.com this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN (voice over): Add Pennsylvania to the list of states where E. coli cases are being reported. Some of those infected ate at a Taco Bell.
In New York and New Jersey, new clues in the outbreak. According to Taco Bell, all 11 restaurants involved use the same food distributor.
A rare 1939 German sports car commissioned by Hitler is headed to the auction block in February. Christie's expects to sell it for $12 million. That would be the most ever for an auctioned car.
The car has a twin supercharged three liter V12 engine, 485 horsepower, and can go 185 miles an hour.
A new Danish study reports that cell phone users aren't any more likely to get cancer than people who don't use cell phones. The study tracked 420,000 cell phone users, including 52,000 who've had a cell phone for 10 years or more.
For more on these stories log on to our Web site at CNN.com.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: War report. The Iraq Study Group arriving at the White House right now to meet with the president. New details about what it could mean for U.S. troops.
There you see the chairman, James Baker.
We're live.
S. O'BRIEN: New clues and new hope in the search for the young father who's been missing in the snow for more than a week. And in the dark. Thousands of people in the Midwest are still without power and heat after that wild storm. And there's another big chill moving in.
We've got the forecast straight ahead on this special split edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back, everybody. It's Wednesday, December 6th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien. I'm in New York this morning. Miles is in Washington, D.C., where of course we're expecting to hear from the Iraq Study Group, revealing its recommendations.
Good morning to you, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning, Soledad.
We're on Capitol Hill. The sun just starting to come up. A momentous day here.
The Study Group's report will come up here to Capitol Hill in about 90 minutes or so. They will brief key members of Congress.
We've already seen some of the group members arriving at the White House. You saw just a little bit of that a moment ago. That meeting under way, or scheduled to be under way as we speak.
New details already coming out about their recommendations, though. Here's how the day will unfold for you.
Right now, 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the president slated to meet with all 10 members of the group at the White House.
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