Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Bush Meets With Yet Another Islamic Leader From Iraq Today
Aired December 12, 2006 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Dozens killed by a car bomb. We ask an adviser to the Iraq Study Group, how its plan can stop the carnage?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: And lost on Mt. Hood. Searchers hope to find three missing climbers today. The weather, a big factor in this story, coming up in the NEWSROOM.
Family and friends are mourning the deaths of a South Carolina couple missing for days. The bodies of Wayne and Diane Guay were found in their car. They were traveling to visit their daughter in New York. Our Jason Carroll picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEGAN GUAY LIENDO, DAUGHTER: They were a perfect people. We always said we loved each other, we gave each other hugs. And I'm thankful that God gave them to me.
CARROLL (voice over): A daughter's pain after learning her parents died, apparently when their car swerved off a North Carolina interstate, into a swamp.
Police discovered Wayne and Diane Guay's white Mazda submerged Monday afternoon, near Rocky Mount, North Carolina. They had left early Thursday morning from their Myrtle Beach, South Carolina home, up Interstate 95, bound to visit family in New York, a 12-hour drive they've taken many times.
Family members were active in the search, passing out flyers, checking out hospitals, even paying for the helicopter that spotted their car near the interstate. South Carolina police say they checked by patrol vehicles and helicopter the routes the Guays may have driven. But one daughter said she begged the local police to more actively search for her parents, and if not for family efforts, they might still be missing.
LIENDO: I'm upset because it was my brother and my uncle who found them.
CARROLL: Because the Guays were traveling with a car full of gifts, family members suspect foul play. Police are still investigating that possibility. Police also say they're looking at another possibility, a report of a traffic collision near that location Thursday.
LISA EDGE, WBTW REPORTER: There was a call made to 911 in Nash County, saying there was a traffic collision in that same area. EMS and fire officials got out to that scene but they weren't able to find anything.
CARROLL: In the end, it may have simply been a car accident that took their lives, little comfortable for a grieving family. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Time running out for three missing mountain climbers. The men somewhere on Mt. Hood in Oregon. Last heard from two days ago. Dangerous weather sidelined searchers yesterday. Search crews are hoping today brings another chance to find them -- well, before it's too late.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF PRICHER, HOOD RIVER SEARCH & RESCUE: Their biggest danger is hypothermia, and the weather, you know, same as ours. If they're hunkered down, and at some point, if we don't find them that's -- you know, the hypothermia takes over. We need to find them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And a hike up Mt. Hood is unusual for this time of the year, mostly because of the weather. We'll get some pictures and get an opportunity to show you Mt. Hood, coming up in just a couple of minutes.
Right now let's get to Betty in the NEWSROOM. And Betty, you're following a story, it looks like an emergency landing in the Knoxville area is coming up pretty soon.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR, CNN AMERICAN MORNING: Yes, in fact we have some pictures to show you right now of this plane that just keeps circling and circling to burn some fuel.
This is a traffic reporter for affiliate WVLT. His name is Pete Mickeals. And he's been pretty calm throughout this whole event. As you can see, he's trying to get the landing gear to work. It's moving but not staying in the place it needs to be in order for him to come down in a safe landing. And not have to do an emergency one, which is likely what he'll have to do.
Essentially he was doing the aerial reports this morning. As he headed home to the Island Home Airport there in Knoxville, Tennessee, he noticed that the plane's landing gear just would not come down. So, he tried a secondary landing gear, the backup system. Well, that didn't work either.
The plane, as we saw moments ago, is a Cessna 182 turbo prop. He's flown this route many, many times. In fact, he went by the tower so that that they could see what the problem was. And we understand that he just cannot shake that landing gear down.
So what he's doing is, he's circling and he's been circling for quite some time. We've been watching this. He's trying to burn off all that fuel. We understand that he is going to try to make this emergency landing, in about 40 minutes from now, at 11:45 Eastern. He'll try to bring the plane down on the grass there at that airport. A little bit of a soft landing, hopefully.
But just in case, the fire department is standing by to assist. Hopefully there won't be any injuries involved in this. This man is a professional. And he's trying to burn off as much fuel as he possibly can before he has to come to an emergency landing.
Again, landing gear not doing what it needs to do. As you can see there. It's just moving back and forth. Not staying in a position that is going to be safe for him to come down.
HARRIS: We know, Betty, how skilled these pilots are. We know they're trained in this, and that these are common occurrences. And probably too common for the pilots' liking. But it happens and these pilots know how to handle it. So, we'll continue to follow it.
NGUYEN: We'll just keep an eye on it for you.
HARRIS: OK, Betty. Appreciate it.
COLLINS: A developing story out of Massachusetts. Police in New Bedford investigating a deadly shootout at a strip club early this morning. Three people are dead. Police saying two of them were shot by a heavily armed gunman, who was wearing body armor. He died during a shootout with police. Two security officers inside the club were among the injured. The club's owner says the shooter had been banned from the Foxy Lady strip club because of his past relationship with one of the bartenders.
A big security breach at UCLA and warnings today for some 800,000 current and former students, along with faculty and staff. The university says a hacker broke into the campus computer system, Social Security numbers, home addresses and birth dates all exposed. The chancellor says there is no evidence the information has been misused, but still, those affected are being urged to check in with credit reporting agencies.
HARRIS: Horror in Baghdad today. Bodies, literally blown apart, families left to grieve, dozens of deaths after another suicide bombing. Today's target, Iraqis simply looking for work. And north of Baghdad, police find a bomb at a holy shrine. Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is in the Iraqi capital.
Nic, hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM; Hello, Tony. When police found that bomber, at the Shia shrine in the town of Samara, a place where the bomb went off in February of this year, triggering massive sectarian violence, they called the U.S. military EOD team, who came, they took the fuse out of the bomb, disconnected some of the wires.
But as they were removing it, it went off. It caused minimal damage, no casualties as far as we know. A clear effort at sectarian violence.
In Baghdad, this morning at 7 o'clock, a much more powerful, effective bomb went off, 200 kilograms of explosives, according to the police, packed onto a flatbed truck. The police say what happened is a suicide bomber drove his explosives into an area where men were gathering to try and find work for the day. He called out to the day laborers that he had some work, everyone gathered around the vehicle, and then he triggered the explosives.
We're told 60 were killed, 220 wounded. They were taken to different hospitals throughout the center of Baghdad. This coming very early in the morning. A blast that could be felt more than a mile away -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Nic, certainly don't need an attack on people who were simply looking for work, with inflation running by some estimates at 80 percent and unemployment in the low double digits. Talk to us about how attacks like this impact the local economy.
ROBERTSON: Well, day laborers we've talked to say they won't even go to spots like this now. This isn't the first time. There's been an attack in this area before, not very long ago. There was an attack on day laborers in a town just south of Baghdad, about a month ago.
The day laborers we talked to say they try to do business by phone. If they get telephoned for a job, they'll go. If they don't get the phone call, they won't go. It's critical. People here rely on the state for handouts of basics like oil, rice, sugar and tea. Most people who are unemployed -- and the estimates run from 20 percent up to about 60 percent, have no other income. There's nothing for them to fall back on. Families here typically can be very large.
So, people -- particularly these day laborers -- a critical need for them to get this daily work that they were trying to secure this morning, Tony.
HARRIS: Nic, moving to the political front, the Iraqi vice president is meeting in Washington with President Bush today. What is the significance, he's a Sunni, what is the significance of this meeting?
ROBERTSON: He is a Sunni. He's from the largest Sunni political block. They have 44 seats out of the 275-member parliament here. We're told from his office, Tariq al-Hashimi, his office tells us that what he wants to focus on is the sectarian violence, and the Sunni community that feels disenfranchised by the current political make up here.
They feel they've missed out on the elections through their own -- the decisions not to take part, but now they're frustrated. Now they feel left out. There's efforts to try and include the Sunnis more.
No doubt, the president will get a very detailed and gritty assessment from this politician about the Sunni community here, who really feel at this time in Baghdad in particular, very much under threat, Tony.
HARRIS: Nic Robertson for us in Baghdad. Appreciate it. Thank you.
The violence in Iraq, seemingly a constant here at home, the search continues for solutions. President Bush holding a teleconference with top military commanders in Iraq, later today. At the White House, the president meets, as you heard from Nic Robertson, with Iraq's vice president, a Sunni leader. And tomorrow, President Bush will hear from senior defense officials at the Pentagon. It is all part of the effort to find a way forward in Iraq.
COLLINS: This just in now to CNN. Apparently some activity with a major immigration raid, Betty Nguyen, that is covering several different states.
What's the latest here?
NGUYEN: Yes, this is a pretty big operation, as you mentioned, it's an immigration raid. We understand from the Associated Press, you're looking at video of the scene there, you see Customs agents working this plant.
In particular, let me tell what you happened. There are six of these different plants belonging to the Swift & Company, the processing plants, in six different states that have been raided today. They've arrested an unknown amount of suspected illegal immigrants. What they're looking at is an identity theft investigation.
Now, ICE agents executed the search warrants in -- as I mentioned in six different states. Let me tell you what they are. They are Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa and Minnesota. And these Immigration & Custom Enforcement officials, ICE, agents as they are called, didn't have an arrest total as of yet. They are arresting folks on immigration violations, in some cases, and also existing criminal arrest warrants.
They also said that some criminal charges of aggravated identity theft and other violations, well, they were possible as well.
Now, to give you perspective here, some context, this investigation began back in February. And it indicated that a large number of illegal immigrants may have used the Social Security numbers of U.S. citizens, or maybe even residents in that area, to get jobs at Swift. Again, six Swift & Company processing plants have undergone this raid today.
We don't know how many people have been arrested. But as can you see in that video, those agents are on the scene. And we do want to tell you one other thing that Immigration officials and the Federal Trade Commission have identified at least hundreds of potential victims in this investigation.
So once we get the numbers, we'll have a better idea of how many people could be involved. But this is a big operation. As you mention, Heidi, six different plants in six different states. We'll keep on top of it.
COLLINS: Terrific, Betty. Thank you.
Mistaken or misspoken? The incoming House Intelligence's answer to a reporter's question, prompting more questions today. Here's CNN Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): He'll soon head the House committee that oversees U.S. intelligence agencies and authorizes their money. When he got the job as chairman, Congressman Silvestre Reyes was confident.
REP. SILVESTRE REYES (D) HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: I felt that I had very strong credentials, credentials that could stand up to anybody.
TODD: But Reyes's basic knowledge of who's waging this war is now in question. Speaking recently with the "Congressional Quarterly", Reyes is asked is Al Qaeda Sunni or Shia?
"Predominantly -- probably Shiite." Analyst Derek Chollet says he is a smart guy who probably just got tripped up. But shouldn't the man, who in nearly six years on the Intelligence Committee, has already gotten several classified briefings, know that the world's best known terrorist group is mostly Sunni?
DEREK CHOLLET, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC & INT'L. STUDIES: We should expect all of our public officials, particularly those in positions that are responsible for overseeing and conducting the war on terror, to know as much as they possibly can about the threat that we face.
TODD: Reyes also couldn't identify Hezbollah. Long considered a terrorist organization by the State Department. The reporter, Jeff Stein, was accused of cheap shots when a previous article by him pointed out that top FBI counter-terror officials didn't know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite. Was he ambushing them, or Reyes?
JEFF STEIN, "CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY": No. I don't sneak up on them at all. I'm not there to ask them this question. I go to ask them what their policies are, what they think about certain intelligence issues, counterterrorism issues.
TODD: Silvestre Reyes was Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi's safe choice when she had a falling out with long-time ranking member Jane Harman.
(On camera): An aide to Pelosi tells CNN she does not regret choosing Reyes and has full confidence in him.
(Voice over): Reyes' office issued us this statement, quote, "The CQ interview covered a wide range of topics other than the selected points published in the story. As a member of the Intelligence Committee since before 9/11, I'm acutely aware of Al Qaeda's desire to harm Americans. The Intelligence Committee will keep it's eye on the ball, and focus on the pressing security and intelligence issues facing us."
It should be pointed out, when he got the job, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and CIA Chief Michael Hayden praised Silvestre Reyes for his grasp of intelligence issues. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Looking for the way forward. The Iraq Study Group gave its recommendations and President Bush is getting plenty of other advice. Ahead in the NEWSROOM an adviser to the study group offers his opinion.
COLLINS: It's a CSI for e. Coli. Doctors work as detectives to get to the bottom of a medical mystery.
HARRIS: And buying a car: Most of us zero in on the stereo system, leather and power everything. You ever think about the roof? It's what's on top that counts in a rollover crash. That story, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Every year thousands of people die in rollover crashes. Experts say, whether you live or die may largely depend on the strength of your roof. That word today from safety advocates. They demonstrated a new system to measure roof strength and other safety devices during a rollover crash.
The test shows this SUV's roof collapsing. I guess so. Some vehicles like the Volvo XC-90 come equipped with stronger roofs. The public safety group says rollovers account the for only 4 percent of crashes, but represent 40 percent of highway fatalities.
HARRIS: It is a fingerprint and it could help medical detectives someday solve a mystery. Scientists have found a potential biomarker of Alzheimer's disease in patient's spinal fluid. Biomarkers are signs of the disease in areas other than hard to test brain tissue. Now, right now, doctors diagnose Alzheimer's mostly by symptoms. The hope is spinal tap tests may someday make early diagnosis possible, but doctors say much more research is needed.
COLLINS: A new outbreak of e. Coli linked to a different taco chain, Iowa health officials say about 40 people have reported symptoms consistent with e. Coli. The Associated Press reporting those people became ill after eating a Taco John's Restaurant.
Earlier this morning, I spoke with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the e. Coli outbreak in the Northeast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: The latest is we don't know exactly where the e. Coli is coming from. They know it's coming from Taco Bell. They've been able to say that with some declarativeness, but not specifically green onions.
And 64 people between November 20 and December 2 have been affected. Many more suspected cases. Five states, you can see them there, on that map. South Carolina, there was one case incidentally. Turns out that person probably ate at a Taco Bell in Pennsylvania. So, really, still those four states. They are trying to pinpoint exactly from where this e. Coli is coming.
It is sort of a fascinating medical investigation. What they have to do, Heidi, they actually take these people, who are sick, and first they determine their sickness was caused by e. Coli. And then they figure out, what did they eat?
COLLINS: It's forensics.
GUPTA: Where did they eat?
Yeah, it is. It is kind of like a CSI for e. Coli, trying to figure out where they eat, what they ate. And see what common denominators there were. They realize it was Taco Bell, the preliminary tests showed green onions, but subsequent tests showed not. Then they said white onions. White onions does have e Coli, but guess what? It's not the same e. Coli. So, it gets somewhat confusing here. A lot of work to be done.
COLLINS: Yes, this is almost exactly what we saw when we had the bagged lettuce and the spinach issues.
GUPTA: That's right. This takes a while. People expect instantaneous answers when it comes to something like this. They should get answers question because this is a particularly severe bacteria. But it does take time to figure it out.
COLLINS: How do they determine the source? That's the first thing you have to do. Right? As you say, the investigation is lengthy.
GUPTA: Yes. After they determine the specific location, a place like Taco Bell, which has several different food groups, they test the various food groups. What they are looking for, specifically, is that in fact bacteria exists and that it is the same strain of bacteria as the one that got people sick. They actually do this with a DNA match. Just like you said, Heidi, it is a sort of forensics thing, finding that DNA match like you would at a crime scene. They're doing this for e. Coli.
COLLINS: So, how can you make sure, though, that the fruits and vegetables you prepare at home -- I mean, we hear about this stuff in the marketplace, if you will, or at restaurants. You think, if I do it on my own, it will be much, much safer.
GUPTA: One thing that's important to point out here, sometimes a little confusing is that most times the contamination occurs because of contaminated water that is used to irrigate the fruits and produce. It's on the surface of these things, as opposed to actually within the vegetable or produce itself; an important point. The reason that's important is because it can be washed off.
Sometimes we feel silly talk about washing your hands and washing your fruits all the time, but it works. That's the reason we mention it. Washing fruits and vegetables under running water, removing the outer leaves of the leafy vegetables. But also making sure to wash your hands after you touch the thing. Because you go home, you touch your son, he could touch his mouth, and he could get subsequently get infected. Touch a countertop, that could be a problem as well. So, you have to make sure that you wash the produce and wash your hands as well, after that.
COLLINS: Now, remind me real quickly, what's the distinction? Because when we dealt with the spinach, we said you couldn't wash it off.
GUPTA: The thing with the spinach, that typically is triple washed spinach in bags. And the concern they specifically had wasn't so much you couldn't wash it off, is that just handling it possibly got your own hands infected.
COLLINS: OK.
GUPTA: And there you touch the countertops, you touched your kids' mouth, something like that. That's why I point out the extra things -- even after washing the vegetables --
COLLINS: And it was already -- we knew it was already tainted or contaminated.
GUPTA: Exactly. In that case you knew. Always wash your hands after you touch the produce. Assume that it's contaminated. You have a better chance of not getting it.
COLLINS: Excellent. We are all going to be very, very careful with everything we eat, I guess.
GUPTA: Absolutely.
COLLINS: That's the best way to be.
GUPTA: Always.
COLLINS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, logon to our website. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. That address, cnn.com/health.
HARRIS: Lost on Mt. Hood. Three hikers missing. Search crews battle dangerous weather conditions. We'll go there live, in just a couple of minutes. First, we are following the plight of this pilot and his plane over Knoxville, Tennessee right now.
The pilot, a traffic reporter for one of the local stations there, WVLT having problems with the landing gear. He's going to have to make a belly landing at Island Home Airport in about 20 minutes from now. We'll follow this story in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A desperate search in the pacific northwest. Three mountain climbers missing. Last heard from two days ago on a cell phone. Weather has been hampering rescue efforts. We want to get more on this story now.
And for that we turn to Debra Gill of CNN affiliate KPTV at the Cooper Spur ski area in Oregon.
Debra, what's the latest?
DEBRA GILL, KPTV REPORTER: Heidi, good morning.
Well, a fresh crew already headed out this morning before daybreak. Three men and a Snowcat headed up to the mountain. And we're told that in the next 15 minutes to a half hour, another crew -- or more crews will head out in Snowcats again. Weather is definitely holding up this morning, and they're hoping for those improved conditions to last.
Take a look. As you can see, on the mountain, the wind has died down. Yesterday, it was raining at this level, which we're at 4,000 feet elevation. There is no snowfall right now. The cloud cover ceiling has lifted. So they're really enthusiastic about the weather.
Yesterday, the weather was completely abysmal. Five teams returned last night after spending time in whiteout conditions and battling 80 mile-an-hour winds, and also with the fear of avalanches with absolutely no sign of the three men. Kelly James, Brian Hall of Texas and Jerry Cook of New York are the ones that have been missing. Spending several nights now here on the mountain.
Fresh help arrived here last night. A crew from the Corvallis Mountain Rescue is now here to join the teams from Portland and Hood River County, and we're told that these crews will head out shortly. Yesterday, the weather kept them from doing more. Some of the crews, even if those conditions, were able to make it to the 9,000 foot level, and they covered about a 3 1/2 square mile area, and they feel with those conditions, as bad as they were, that that was quite a feat for them to be able to do. Obviously, this morning, they're hoping to cover far more ground.
The plan last night is they were going to start at the 6,000-foot level, which is at the tree line level, and then, of course, if the weather conditions held up and improved, which so far they have, they could go higher up the mountain. They're also hoping to get a helicopter in the air for the first time in the search.
Heidi, back to you. COLLINS: All right, Debra Gill, thanks for the latest on that. We certainly hope they have the right gear and that the weather holds. Thanks again, Debra.
And let's get to Betty now in the NEWSROOM for an update on this plane, this pilot in trouble over the skies of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Betty, what's the latest?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he's still circling the airport there, looking to burn some fuel so that he can make an emergency landing. He plans to land in the grass here at this airport in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Right now, the problem is, he can't get the landing gear down. He's been trying to get this landing gear down for sometime. And I say he. He's got a name. His name is Pete Mickeals, and he is a traffic reporter for WVLT. And what he was doing earlier today was his job. He was giving the traffic reports, he was flying around, and then he determined that he could not get his landing gear down as he was headed home for the airport. So then he tried a backup system, a secondary landing gear. Well, that wouldn't work either. And you can see right now, well in that video that you just saw moments ago, the landing gear was just moving up and down, up and down, as he's trying to get it to lock in its position.
Fire crews and emergency crews are on the scene, just in case they are needed in this. But hopefully he can get this gear down and if not, he can burn enough fuel so that he can land on the grass. But I have to tell you, throughout all of this, and this can be a very difficult situation, extremely stressful, but Pete Mickeals has been doing very well.
In fact, take a listen to what Darrell Whitaker has to say about his experience. Darryl is the public information officer for the Knoxville fire department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRELL WHITAKER, KNOXVILLE FIRE DEPT.: Pete's a very experienced pilot. And we all know that he's got years of experience. He knows what's going on. He's talking very calmly and he doesn't appear to be upset about it. He's treating this almost like it's routine. So, I'm very impressed with the way he's handling things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Not only is he calm, he has flown by the tower a few times now so they can observe the problem. But it's very evident what the problem is -- you can see it right there. That landing gear just not staying in a locked position so that he can come down in a normal fashion. So, he might have to do an emergency landing here in just a few minutes. We're thinking around 11:45 Eastern, about, I don't know, 14 minutes from now.
And of course, we're going to be watching this very closely. But this is an experienced pilot. Here's another live picture. Well, it looks like the landing gear is down right now. Don't know if it's in the locked position that it needs to be in. But it's not moving up and down. I'm being told now that this may not be the exact plane.
So, needless to say, is he still burning that fuel, Tony. Again, passing by the tower. Everyone's awatch and we'll stay looking at it and making sure that hopefully he lands this safely. Maybe we'll have a landing on CNN in about 12 minutes from now.
HARRIS: A successful, safe landing.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. He's an experienced pilot.
HARRIS: He's trained, he's trained. He knows how to do this.
NGUYEN: He knows what he's doing. We have confidence in him.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Betty.
Still to come, looking for the way forward. The Iraq Study Group gave its recommendations. The president is getting plenty of other advice to be sure. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, an adviser to the study group offers his opinions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The listening tour. President Bush doing a lot of listening with regard to the Iraq war. We want to get straight to our Elaine Quijano at the White House now.
Elaine, any idea at this point when the president will actually address the nation about any or all of the decisions he might have come to after hearing these different reports on Iraq?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you Heidi. We are now hearing from a senior administration official that in fact it will be quote "more likely in the new year" end quote, that we will hear from President Bush about changes that he may be looking at with regard to his Iraq policy.
Now, of course, all along, senior administration officials here have said privately and publicly, including as late as mid-morning today in the off-camera briefing, that the hope was to get an announcement out there before Christmas in a speech. But they also made very clear that nothing was set in stone. Certainly no decisions had been made yet.
And now we are hearing the reason behind this, really, is because the president in one official's words is asking a lot of tough questions. A lot of detailed questions and he quite simply needs more time.
These questions, of course, are being asked by his -- of his top military commanders as well as senior diplomats. In fact, just this morning, the president took part, of course, in that secure tele-video conference here at the White House, asking what officials describe as very detailed questions. And they say, bluntly, he needs answers to those questions before making any kind of final decisions.
Now, when pressed on whether or not there was some sort of event that perhaps might have triggered this decision to perhaps wait until after the new year, they simply said no, it's just that he needs more time essentially to talk to the officials and get their views -- Heidi.
COLLINS: I would imagine he would want to have some sort of agreement as well amongst those groups and those advisers, if you will, before coming to the nation and making his decisions public .
QUIJANO: Absolutely. In fact, we heard the president yesterday at the State Department essentially say that. Any strategy that would be announced would be in fact a result of coordination between the State Department and the Defense Department.
We should note tomorrow the president continues with his consultations He's going to be going over to the Defense Department to hear from officials there as well. This afternoon also, some diplomacy at hand, he'll get some input from a politician in Iraq, a top Sunni politician to hear his views, but this, the news now from a senior administration official saying that it will more likely be in the new year that we will hear from the president on changes he wants to make to Iraq policy -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Elaine Quijano, live from the White House. Elaine. Thank you.
HARRIS: Coming up with a new strategy for Iraq, the Iraq Study Group shared its report with President Bush and the rest of us last week. The president says he's considering the recommendations but he is still getting advice from other sources.
Our guest was an adviser to the Iraq Study Group. James Dobbins is a former assistant secretary of state who now works for the Rand Corporation. James, good to see you, thanks for the time this morning.
JAMES DOBBINS, RAND CORPORATION: Thank you, pleasure.
HARRIS: They call you Mr. Post-War in some circles don't they?
DOBBINS: Yes.
HARRIS: So, I have to ask you, where were you at the time when Iraq was starting to go sideways. Were you still working in Afghanistan? Were you on the phone to someone? Did you write a memo and say, hey look out, this is going badly in Iraq.
I had left the government by then. I did Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. But I left before we got involved in Iraq. I spoke, as did others, expressing some concerns about the direction events were heading in Iraq.
HARRIS: Yes, what did you say? DOBBINS: Well, I thought that the chances of sectarian conflict in the aftermath of the electoral process were pretty high. And I thought we were putting too much emphasis on democratization as a device for stabilizing the country.
Earlier than that, back in 2003, I was arguing that we probably needed a much larger troop presence to establish security in that country than we were in fact planning on providing.
HARRIS: All right. We mentioned that you were an adviser to the Iraq Study Group. You were with the strategic environment working group. What were you charged to discover, to research, to uncover?
DOBBINS: Well, we were looking at the geo-politics of Iraq, of its neighbors, of the impact of neighboring governments and neighboring populations on the situation in Iraq. And of course, the impact of the situation in Iraq on those governments and societies
And I think our working group did help shape one of the two main recommendations of the Iraq Study Group which was to propose a much more comprehensive and vigorous campaign of regional diplomacy, designed to draw the neighboring states into an effort to hold Iraq together.
HARRIS: Well James let me stop you there and ask you -- any real reason to believe that engaging the neighbors, let's talk about it specifically -- we're talking about Syria and Iran, would get us anywhere useful?
DOBBINS: Well, we're talking about all of them, but we're talking about including Syria and Iran. We do think that the ones that are least helpful are the ones that it's most important to engage. I mean, if you remember back in 1995 when we wanted to stop the civil war in Bosnia, who did we invite to the Dayton Conference? We invited the presidents of Serbia and Croatia, Milosevic and Tujamen (ph), the two men who were personally responsible for the genocide we were trying to stop. We didn't say we're not going to talk to you, you're guilty of genocide. We said, you're responsible for this civil war, you have to come to Dayton and help us end it, and then we have to work with you to implement that agreement. And in 2001 when we wanted to install a successor government to the Taliban, we invited the governments who had been promoting a proxy war in Afghanistan for 20 years, Pakistan, Iran, Russia and India. to join us in forming a new government.
HARRIS: Let me ask you, do you think the president -- he's getting advice from all corners, it looks like. Do you think the president is just talking about Iraq and fixing Iraq? Folks would say that should be priority one, or do you believe that he is also talking about fixing Iraq in the realm of fixing the broader Middle East?
DOBBINS: Well, a lot of the rhetoric has been how a Democratic Iraq would transform the Middle East.
HARRIS: Yes. DOBBINS: I think that particular aspiration is now pretty much by the board. Iraq certainly isn't a model that any of the neighboring countries are likely to aspire to. And the reverse is probably the real concern, which is that a fragmenting Iraq is going to destabilize the rest of the Middle East and give Democratization a bad name. I do think that the administration was insufficiently aware of the regional implications of its intervention originally. I think they're probably increasingly aware of them today.
HARRIS: What do you expect to hear from the president when he finally makes his announcement of his plan moving forward I guess next year, early in January. And specifically, what would surprise you? What would you -- what could you hear that would represent a real departure? And it may not work, but at least some creative, out-of- the-box thinking for Iraq.
DOBBINS: Well, I'm hoping that, obviously with some degree of modification, he'll embrace the basic recommendations of the Iraq Study group, which is to say, a broader and more comprehensive effort at regional diplomacy, and a move to reduce the American combat strength in the country and turn the street fighting and patrolling increasingly over to Iraqis while Americans concentrate on advising and enabling that government.
I suspect that there will be elements of that, but he'll be cautious. I doubt he'll embrace any particular deadline. He probably will express some reservations about the likelihood that Syria and Iran will respond positively, but I do believe he'll embrace a regional effort, including regional conferences, in which those governments would be included.
HARRIS: James Dobbins, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.
DOBBINS: Pleasure.
COLLINS: I want to get you back to the NEWSROOM now. Betty Nguyen has been following a small aircraft that has been having trouble with its landing gear over Tennessee.
Betty, what's the latest now on this?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he's still trying to make that landing, again, flying around the airport there, trying to burn off fuel flying before he does make an emergency landing, hoping that his landing gear will come down.
Here's another live look at the plane here from our affiliate WBIR. But I will tell you, this plane is carrying a traffic reporter from affiliate WVLT. Now he is an experienced pilot, and he noticed earlier today, after he finished all his traffic reports and he was headed home to the Island Home Airport, noticed that his landing gear would not come down. And then he tried a secondary system, the backup system, well that wouldn't work.
But if you look very closely, you see the landing gear appears that it's down, but it's not. It's not in a locked position. It's kind of leaning toward the back of the plane. That would need to be kind of in a forward locked position. And right now, looking at that right there, he's moving up and down, up and down, trying to get it to lock, but it's just simply not doing that.
So his next (INAUDIBLE) is to burn off fuel, so that he can make an emergency landing, and this pilot's name is Pete Mickeals. He's every experienced, and this plane that we've been watching is a Cessna 182 Turboprop. In fact this pilot has been calm very throughout all of this. We've heard that from the fire department officials there. Also, he's flown by the air control tower many times, obviously in trying to land this.
But on top of that, he wanted them to get a look at what's going on with the landing gear. Perhaps they can provide some additional information.
But, Heidi, I will tell you this. About an hour ago on the Web site for WVLT, which this traffic reporter works, we were told that he had about an hour, oh, and a half of fuel left. So we were under the understanding that he would land in about a minute. So we're going to watch it closely. But from that Web site, we learned that he should have maybe a half hour of fuel left. So I understand that he's trying to get this to the ground, Going to make a soft landing, hopefully in the grass. But no less, an emergency landing if he can't get the landing gear down.
COLLINS: All right, Betty Nguyen, we know you have been following this for us. Once again, looking at these pictures of a Cessna aircraft, Cessna 182, usually a four-seater here that we're looking at. A traffic reporter onboard, trying to bring this plane down safely. Some issues, as you see very clearly there, with the landing gear.
I want to go ahead. I believe we have Miles O'Brien able to speak with us at this time?
Miles, can you hear me?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I sure can, Heidi.
COLLINS: Hey, Miles, I had a chance to look at this airport, this Island Home Airport that probably you're familiar with, too, in Tennessee. It looks like it has 3,500 feet of runway. What will that mean when this plane tries to come down? I imagine a belly landing is anticipated?
Yes, if all goes well, he'll use a small fraction of that 3,500 foot runway for sure. It's a Cessna 182. I believe he's trying it right now. Is he coming down right now? Yes, there he is.
HARRIS: Beautiful.
O'BRIEN: He's doing it perfectly. He's killed his engine, which you're supposed to do, turn off the electrical system. Of course the fuel is located in those wings up top there. COLLINS: Wow.
O'BRIEN: The 182 RG is -- you know, the landing gear is kind of like legs in a folding card table, they kind of flip down.
COLLINS: Like a tripod, right?
O'BRIEN: Look at him, he's raising his hand up like, hey, not bad. I think he did that real well. It goes down with a -- it has an electrical motor with hydraulic system. My guess is the hydraulic system had some sort of leak which made it impossible, you know, to get the gear down and locked, as you saw. He was trying -- he kept trying to pull back on the wheel, trying to jerk it down into the locked position. Obviously that wasn't going to work out. But it looks like he pulled that one off well.
COLLINS: Hey, Miles, talk to us, if you would, as the fire truck unfortunately is in the way. Look at him. He's just standing there chatting with the folks. This is important to point out, when we show pictures like this -- you're a private pilot -- you go through training, and lots of it, to be able to handle emergency situations like this.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And one of the first things you learn when you get checked out of an airplane like this, is what do you do if the landing gear does not come down as you expect. This is slightly tricky because his nose gear, you notice his nose gear is down. It's kind of an interesting scenario. You would he would have raised the nosegear, so obviously there is something wrong with the mechanical system there that made it impossible for him to do that, would have probably been -- ideally you'd want to do it with the nose gear up. Looks like he landed on the grass by the way, which was probably a smart move as well.
And one of the things you do, is you practice, you actually go through the process of pumping the gear down manually. Any time you get checked out in an airplane like this. And I'm sure he went through all that procedure, including one of the things you can you do on this airplane, it's very interesting, it has a little reservoir, and there's access to the reservoir for the hydraulic fluid besides the passenger seat, you can actually put any old liquid you like in there to charge the system to make up for the loss of hydraulic fluid, just water or whatever you have, iced tea, whatever, just put it in there.
COLLINS: This is not recommended, however.
M. O'BRIEN: No, no. It's a maintenance problem later. You have to strip it down later, but it's the least of your worries. But in this case, there must have been something else going on.
COLLINS: All right, I think that you are right about that. The best picture of the day, though, him coming out of the Cessna 182 with his hands in the air looking very triumphant, as you would imagine. Here, once again, the landing now, just a few moments ago. This is a traffic reporter with WVLT, coming in for a safe belly landing, as we call it, as Miles just reported, sort of a tricycle-type landing gear. The nose gear stayed deployed. The rear two wheels, or spindles as I should say, did not. So he was able to be successful.
Take a look at as he gets out of the aircraft, puts his hands in the air and the fire trucks arrive. It's a picture-perfect scene, if you have to go through something like that.
My thanks again to Miles O'Brien for helping us out on that one.
Meanwhile, we want to go now to our Jim Clancy. He's going to bring us up to speed on what "YOUR WORLD TODAY" will be covering in just a few moments.
Hi, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Heidi
Well, you know, as we're looking at all of the world around the globe, with an international perspective on "YOUR WORLD TODAY," we'll be focussing on an all too familiar scene in Baghdad. Some men, all they wanted to do was a job. Instead, they found death. More than 60 killed, more than 200 wounded.
We're also going to take you live to Moscow for some of the special coverage that goes beyond the headlines for a close look at Russia's economy. What moves it? Why the high rewards are there for investors but they're haunted by high risks.
And the son's tribute, what two young men, two princes are planning to mark next year's 10th anniversary of their mother, Princess Diana, the 10th anniversary of their death. All of that and much more coming up at the top of the hour.
Back to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Jim. Thank you.
A couple heading for a happy holiday with family: Today investigators try to figure out how their trip ended in tragedy. More on that story coming up here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A Pennsylvania high school student is dead after an apparent suicide on campus. Authorities say the boy took a rifle to his school this morning and then shot himself. No other injuries are reported. The school is in Springfield township near Philadelphia. After the incident students were moved to a middle school and all schools in the district were locked down.
COLLINS: Well, it looks like it'll be take two for Dennis Kucinich. The Ohio Congressman expected to announce his candidacy for president today. He launched a long-shot bid back in 2004. Kucinich says he is running again because he disagrees with some of his fellow Democrats on Iraq. He'll be the second Democrat to officially announce his candidacy. (WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Kyra Phillips joining us now.
HARRIS: Kyra!
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Sunni, Shia, got to remember the difference between the two, the majority, minority, al Qaeda, Hezbollah. You might not expect the average American to know which group is Shia or Sunni, but shouldn't the incoming head of the House Intelligence Committee be able to tell you. Wait until you see what the national security editor at "Congressional Quarterly" found out again.
Plus this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; They were perfect people. We always said we loved each other, we gave each other hugs, and I'm thankful that God gave them to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A heartbreaking resolution for the search for a South Carolina couple who went missing on a road trip to New York. Now troubling questions about a 911 call that could have led police to their crash site days ago.
And in Florida, a mother says someone kidnapped her baby boy at knifepoint, but police fear the crime is a lot more sinister. We're expected a live news conference on this case. This afternoon. Lots of news coming your way on the CNN NEWSROOM, starting at 1:00 Eastern.
HARRIS: See you then, Kyra.
COLLINS: All right, see you.
Meanwhile, you already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 to noon Eastern, right, Kyra? But did you know you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod. So as you come in, Kyra, just plug it into your iPod.
PHILLIPS: No problem.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7 right on your iPod. CNN NEWSROOM continue just one hour from now.
HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Have a great day, everybody. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
