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New Iraq Plan; Somalia Airstrike

Aired January 09, 2007 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

For the next three hours, watch events as they come into the NEWSROOM.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Firepower in the skies, firefight on the ground -- U.S. troops tangling with insurgents today. We'll take you to the battlefield in Baghdad.

HARRIS: Pacific blues -- oceanside homes of the rich and famous up in flames. Malibu fire danger high again today.

COLLINS: Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill pledging a 100 hour legislative blitz.

But where is everybody?

Our Joe Johns in search of the five day work week in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: It may be one of the most fierce firefights of the entire war -- 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces battling insurgents in the heart of Baghdad. The running gun battle has lasted more than 10 hours now, so intense our camera crews kept at a safe distance.

U.S. military sources say dozens of insurgents have been killed or wounded. We will go live to Baghdad and our Ryan Chilcote in just a couple of moments.

COLLINS: A nation at war, a president geared for battle -- President Bush today preparing for tomorrow night's prime time address. Even before he unveils his expected plan to send thousands more troops to Iraq, Democrats are vowing a challenge.

CNN White House correspondent, Elaine Quijano, begins our coverage.

Good morning to you on a busy day -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.

That's right, well, even as Democrats are voicing their opposition to an increase in U.S. forces in Iraq. Some Republicans are now very openly expressing their skepticism about the president's plan to send in some 20,000 U.S. troops to quell sectarian violence.

Now, President Bush yesterday met privately with some Republican senators, trying to build support for his ideas. One of those GOP senators, Gordon Smith, who sharply criticized the president's Iraq policy last month, expressed doubts that 20,000 more troops would be enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. GORDON SMITH (R), OREGON: If this is an insurgency, and if it's our business to fight it, then the way you fight it is to clear an area and to hold it and rebuild it. I have no idea how many troops that would take. But I know it's more than an additional 20. And I know it may take a decade and more to do it. And I don't see America as being that vested in the politics of the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, a senior Bush administration official insists that the White House views a so-called surge as not a strategy in and of itself, but rather part of a broader political and economic strategy.

And, as we know, sources familiar with President Bush's deliberations have told CNN that policy includes economic steps and also a focus on reconstruction.

Now, meantime, President Bush continues his outreach to members of Congress today, one day, of course, Heidi, before he is set to unveil that plan in a prime time address to the nation -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Elaine, we already know a little bit about some of the wording of this. I believe there have been some changes as far as what he's calling the troop surge. He has changed that wording to troop escalation.

How else is the president planning to sell his plan?

QUIJANO: Well, the president is going to be hitting the road starting Thursday. In fact, one of the first moves he'll be making is to visit with troops at Fort Benning.

Certainly, the White House understands this is going to be a tough sell, this idea of sending more troops into Iraq. There is, of course, strong opposition already being voiced by Democrats.

But at the same time, we can expect to see not only the president trying to get out there and drum up support for this plan, but also other administration officials, as well -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Elaine Quijano watching it for us today.

Thanks, Elaine.

And the White House has scheduled a briefing now for noon. Our crews will monitor that and bring you any new developments.

HARRIS: A stark reminder of the instability in Iraq. U.S. military jets and helicopters swoop in to a raging gun battle in central Baghdad. About 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces locked in a fierce firefight with insurgents.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote is about a half mile away and he joins us with the very latest -- Ryan, we understand that this is a firefight of at least 10 hours in duration.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is some of the fiercest fighting we have seen in the Iraqi capital in months. We understand that several hundred U.S. and Iraqi troops have been battling an unknown number of insurgents that the U.S. and Iraqi military said included some Baathists and also some members of Al Qaeda.

Now, the area where this fighting has been take place is known as Haifa Street. It has long been known as a stronghold for the insurgents and there was very heavy fighting in that area up until just about an hour ago, when that area went quiet.

One of the most unusual things about this fighting is the support we have seen from the air. We have seen both U.S. fixed wing attack aircraft in the skies over Baghdad and Apache attack helicopters. Very unusual to see such a large number of aircraft working in support of those ground troops. And a sign, really, of the intensity of the fighting.

We did see one of those Apache attack helicopters fire.

Again, the fighting just within the last hour, we understand, has gone quiet. The Iraqi Defense Ministry has provided some details on casualties. They are saying that the troops killed at least 50 insurgents. They're also saying that they detained 21 insurgents, including some Syrians and Sudanese -- Tony.

HARRIS: Ryan, do we know how all of this actually began?

I understand that it may have begun when an Iraqi Army patrol was ambushed last evening.

CHILCOTE: That's correct. Actually, conflicting reports. This all really began back on Saturday, when the Iraqi troops were trying to recover some of those bullet-ridden bodies we're all hearing about. They were trying to recover 27 bullet-ridden bodies in that area. They came under fire and they asked for support from Iraqi troops.

The U.S. troops got involved just last night. The operation that they began started just before dawn, responding to the Iraqi troops' that had been there in battle for two days request for more support.

That's how this began. We understand that this is basically a reaction to a battle that was already in progress. The U.S. military didn't necessarily plan on going there until the Iraqis got in trouble -- Tony.

HARRIS: And maybe you can update us on the number of forces involved, U.S. and Iraqi. Some of the numbers we're getting, 400 U.S. troops, 500 Iraqi troops involved?

CHILCOTE: That's right. We understand at least several hundred troops involved, about 400 U.S. as you say; 500 Iraqi. It would have begun as a mainly Iraqi operation, but just before dawn the Iraqis requested support from the U.S. military. That's when they sent in this -- what sounds like at least a couple of companies of U.S. troops in to support the Iraqis, battling what, at this point, is an unknown number of insurgents. All we know is from Iraqi Defense Ministry, saying that they've killed at least 50 of those insurgents in that area and detained a couple dozen more fighters.

This is some of the fiercest fighting we have seen. It's taking place right in the heart of the Iraqi capital. It's quite significant that this is happening, together with those aircraft we saw in the skies over the Iraqi capital today -- Tony.

HARRIS: And, Ryan, there is other news in Baghdad.

We understand that a plane carrying workers, a group of workers into Baghdad, has crashed.

Can you update us on that story?

CHILCOTE: Tony, actually, yes.

A plane carrying about 30 Turkish workers, we understand from the foreign ministry of Turkey, went down not in Baghdad, however. It went down about two-and-a-half -- or a mile-and-a-half short of an airport in Balad, Iraq. That's about 50 miles north of the Iraqi capital.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry telling us that this plane was carrying Turkish workers who were going to work here in Iraq when it went down about a mile-and-a-half short of the runway, they say, in heavy fog. We still don't know the exact cause of that crash. Thirty, presumably, Turkish workers, the people on board, were killed in that crash, another two injured -- Tony.

HARRIS: Ryan Chilcote for us in Baghdad.

Ryan, appreciate it.

We will be talking about all of this, the implications of today's violence and what it portends for the much talked about troop surge into communities, as many as 23 communities in and around Baghdad, around the green zone and the Baghdad International Airport, with our CNN military analyst, retired general David Grange.

That's coming up in THE NEWSROOM.

In the meantime, target? Al Qaeda.

Location? Somalia.

A senior Pentagon official says the U.S. launched at least one air strike in the African nation close to the Kenyan border. The official says the targets were Al Qaeda operatives. The U.S. has been looking for suspects in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Islamic extremists in the region are accused of giving them safe haven. It is unclear whether there were any casualties.

Meanwhile, a Pentagon official says the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has moved within striking distance of Somalia, but its jets have not been put to use. This is the first reported military action by the U.S. in Somalia since the deadly Black Hawk Down incident in the early '90s.

COLLINS: A fierce firestorm ripping the Pacific hamlet of Malibu. The star-studded community devastated. Now, the investigation. The possibility that the raging fire along the beach was not an accident.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Malibu.

He's joining us now live with the very latest -- good morning, Chris.

This is disturbing, at best.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Heidi.

Investigators are on the scene here and when the sun comes out in just a couple of hours from now, they will begin to try to determine the point of origin for this fire and how it started.

Right now it is 100 percent contained, but the embers are still smoldering. And, you know, whether your home is worth $200,000 or $2 million, no family would want to see this -- your home burned down so completely that there is really very little evidence to prove that it was even here at one point.

Last night, we saw large flames just blowing right down the slope, right down here to the shoreline where the homes were. And then within a few minutes after that, just flames boiling inside the skeletons of what was left of those homes.

Some of the residents say they could see the flames shooting as high as 100 to 150 feet in the air.

In all, the fire completely incinerated four of these seaside mansions, seriously damaged four more. Malibu is an area that can be susceptible to wildfires like this one.

And just within the last 30 minutes, even though no people -- no -- were seriously hurt in this, which is the most interesting -- we saw an animal, we saw a dog that was rescued by some of the firefighters. And it was a little heartbreaking just to see. It's hard to tell just by looking, but we could hear him just wheezing and coughing and coughing up all kinds of phlegm and stuff out of his mouth. And we could see he had a burn or a cut on his leg.

Firefighters were able to rescue him, but the woman who was watching him is really upset because she says she had another dog and the firefighters are still out there trying to find him. But that is a big danger when you get wildfires like this, when sometimes the people get out, their pets sometimes aren't quite as fortune -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy, that's for sure. And, Chris, it's just amazing -- I was watching some of those flames, some of that video earlier this morning -- just so fast and so furious.

What does make Malibu so susceptible to these wildfires?

This is not the first time that we've seen them there.

LAWRENCE: No. Malibu has some of the most combustible brush anywhere in the country. It's very oily. It's very susceptible to ignite and it's got a very unique kind of a -- the way they come together between the coastal canyons, the location of the coastal canyons with those dry, hot Santa Ana winds. So those winds just push right through there. They ignite the fire.

Malibu gets fires about every two to three years and about every 10 years they can expect to have a major firestorm here.

COLLINS: Oh, looking at those flames now.

All right, Chris Lawrence, thanks so much for the update, coming from Malibu.

Chad Myers standing by now to talk more about this -- and, Chad, it seems like boy, if that's the situation with the brush, you've really got to -- as a homeowner -- learn how to keep it away from your house, I guess.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know what, Heidi?

The whole area here always susceptible when the winds come rushing down the hill, come rushing down the mountains. You heat up, you dry out and then all of a sudden anything that's on fire -- and they think this started right by a highway -- anything that's on fire just gets pushed along at a very rapid rate.

Here are some of the I-Reports that we actually had from yesterday. Some dramatic pictures from two Pepperdine students. Here's one here. You can see the firefighter with the hose through the palm trees trying to make this. This is from Paul Clark from Malibu.

The next one, actually, they were standing on the beach. They walked down to the bottom and then looked up at it. That's what the firefighters were seeing. Boy, what a storm there.

How do you attack that fire? That's from Dustin Long, shot there.

And we'll go back to both of them, Paul and Dustin, for this photo here. The helicopter flying in, trying to put down either the retardant or maybe some water. I'm not sure. It looks like retardant from that picture, because it is so dark and retardant is usually a very dark red, a maroon color.

And then the last photo here, you know, this almost looks Photo Shopped and, boy, it just isn't. This is one of the turrets that was on one of the homes there as the wind was blowing down the mountain. The wind was just blowing that smoke completely offshore.

The good news is today the wind does die down and there's no real Santa Ana wind for that area for the next few days. But, you know, you get this kind of weather, every once in a while you get weather that moves from west to east.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: And the clock starts ticking today for House Democrats. A 100 hour blitz, stunt or strategy, ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Also, if your iPod rings -- if your iPod rings, you should answer it.

Tecchies chirping about an iPod phone.

Steve Jobs expected to make the call today. MacWorld in THE NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Plus, battling childhood obesity -- one school takes the challenge and that has some parents fighting mad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're saying children are obese that are not obese.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Heated debate, ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And now one of Oprah Winfrey's best and brightest. But this South African girl has come a long way to study at the new academy. And her story, straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The clock starts ticking today. House Democrats aim to pass six major pieces of legislation in 100 hours. A live shot there of the Capitol.

First up, a bill to implement recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. A couple of caveats to that 100 hour pledge. The Democrats will run the clock only when debating or voting on legislation. And whatever passes the House must still get through the more slowly moving Senate.

The 100 hour clock stopped before it started? Was it a football time out?

CNN's Joe Johns is keeping them honest.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No House members here. Not here either. Let's check out this hallway. Nope, not here.

So what was all that talk about Congress working five days a week and what about the start of that first 100 hours of legislation being pushed through by the new Democratic majority?

Time out. Literally, time out. It's as if the House was called on account of an away game today.

(VIDEO FOOTAGE OF FOOTBALL GAME)

JOHNS: Closed for the hottest sports event in America -- the Bull championship series title game between Ohio State and Florida in Arizona.

It proved so tempting to a handful of members of Congress that plans to do any legislative work on the House floor this evening had to be scrapped. So that much ballyhooed first 100 hours of the new Democratically controlled Congress won't start until Tuesday. In other words, after the game.

Though the new speaker of the House tried to put the best face on it.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER ELECT: Those 100 hours will begin tomorrow, so that we could have given a three day layover, as we promised we would, so that everyone would have a chance to see the Bulls.

JOHNS: That does mean more time to analyze legislation before them. But behind-the-scenes, the decision to hold no votes on Monday was bipartisan. In fact, the House Republican leader, John Boehner, who's from Ohio, asked House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer to forego votes. And Hoyer's office said he agreed in the spirit of good relations.

(on camera): Democrats promised that this would be a hard- working Congress, even suggesting they'd be on the job five days a week. So for some Congressional accountability watchdogs, it was a little surprising that they were already taking a day off.

GARY RUSKIN, CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: Members of Congress, they get paid $165,200 a year. And for that, they ought to work a five day week, and especially when they promised to work a five day week.

JOHNS (voice-over): It's not clear how many members actually went to the game, but keeping them honest, we did learn something about more than a few of them who got tickets for the game.

Ohio State told CNN about half a dozen House members and two senators purchased tickets from them at a face value plus service charge of about $185 apiece. Florida said it sold tickets to three House members for about the same price.

By the way, the average online ticket resale price approaching game time was over $1,000. Both Democrats and Republicans got tickets, admittedly, members from the home states of the college teams playing in the national championship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Panthers (ph), meet Senator John McCain.

JOHNS: But the host state, Arizona, was represented, too. Senator John McCain front and center.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, Senator?

JOHNS: But not all of the people who were offered a face value ticket took it. Congressman Trent Franks happens to represent the district in Arizona that is officially hosting the game. We found him in his office in Washington. Franks, a Republican, said he was grateful for all the money football fans were spending back in Arizona, but whacked the Democratic leadership for not doing what they promised.

REP. TRENT FRANKS (R), ARIZONA: When the Democrats took over this place, they said that we were going to have that first 100 hours, that they were really going to show us how they were going to lead this place in the right direction. And it seems astonishing to me that the first legislative day, that they would set that aside to -- so that members could go to a football game.

JOHNS: So there's a Republican whacking the Democrats for helping out Democrats and Republicans alike. File it as business as usual, but a fact of life on the Hill that no deed, good or bad, goes unpunished.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: One issue lawmakers won't be discussing, the president's new plan for Iraq. Democrats are considering one of the oldest weapons in Washington to stop it -- the power of the purse.

CNN Congressional correspondent Dana Bash explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats opposed to sending more troops to Iraq are now openly considering using a controversial Congressional tool -- withholding funding for what they call an escalation of the war.

QUESTION: If the president wants more troops, might Congress consider not allowing the funding for that?

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: We're going to keep a look at everything.

QUESTION: Including that? Including that?

REID: Yes. There -- we're going to take a look at it, of course.

BASH: That is a significant shift. Until now, cutting off any funding for troops has been the third rail of Iraq War politics. Even Democrats who want the U.S. out of Iraq now have drawn the line at withholding money for the mission, for fear it would endanger troops and cause political backlash. But Democrats now in control of Congress are under intense pressure to use their new power, and the power of the purse, to stop the president from sending more troops to Iraq.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: My office is now investigating what tools are available to us to condition or constrain appropriations. But what I've also said is that I'm not willing to create a situation in which troops who are already in Iraq might be shortchanged, a critically difficult situation for Democrats.

BASH: Difficult, indeed. The tension ripping through the new Congress about how to respond to the president's revised Iraq strategy is palpable.

The House speaker was more cautious, but promises the president's plan will be heavily scrutinized in oversight hearings across the Capitol.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER ELECT: Democrats will not cut off funding for our troops. What the president needs to know, and that's what I was telling him yesterday, is that Congressional oversight is alive and well.

BASH: Short of choking funds for a troop surge, Democrats are also considering a resolution capping the number of troops in Iraq and a symbolic resolution calling a troop surge a mistake.

Republicans who support beefing up forces in Iraq warn Democrats are treading in dangerous territory.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The stakes are extremely high. Please, Congress, understand what you're proposing when you say cut off funding or capping troops. You're proposing defeat.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: And Dana Bash joins us now -- Dana, you mentioned that several Democrats are looking at options to impact the Iraq War. Now we're hearing that Senator Ted Kennedy is ready to announce a resolution and pursue other options.

What's that all about?

BASH: Well, we're going to hear from Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts later today. He's going to give a speech where he is going to talk about this idea of sending more troops to Iraq as an immense new mistake. And what he is going to say is that it's not just enough for Democrats to talk about that, but they actually have to do something about it, use their new power here. And that has really been the debate here.

But specifically what Senator Kennedy is going to propose is a resolution saying that no additional troops can be sent to Iraq, no additional dollars can be spent on the mission in Iraq unless Congress approves it first.

Now, we've seen many resolutions on Capitol Hill, on the Senate side and on the House side. Most of those have been non-binding or symbolic, since the Congress originally approved the war several years ago, almost four years ago. This would not be. This would be an actual resolution.

It is, as you said, one of what we expect will be many ideas coming from Democrats...

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: And it's certainly not being embraced yet by the Democratic leadership. And it's unclear when he will ever do that. But it certainly does ratchet it up yet again from, especially when you're looking at the Democrats, from an influential member of the left, a part of the left of the party, Senator Ted Kennedy, who voted against the war to begin with.

HARRIS: Our Congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

Dana, thank you.

And we will bring you portions of Senator Kennedy's speech on Iraq this afternoon, 1:00 p.m. Eastern right here in THE NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: The possibility of more U.S. troops to Iraq -- insight into their role and where they'd likely be sent from a former commander.

That's ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And we are Minding Your Business this morning.

Ali Velshi is here with a preview -- Ali, good morning.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, I think it's an exaggeration to say they're giving it away, but oil is down to prices before, well before Hurricane Katrina. I'll have more on what this means to you if you stay with us and continue to watch THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: It may be one of the most fierce fire fights of the entire war, 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces battling insurgents in the heart of Baghdad. The running gun battle lasted more than ten hours. So intense our camera crews, of course, kept at a safe distance. U.S. military sources say dozens of insurgents have been killed or wounded.

The president expected to call for more troops in Iraq. Where would they be sent, and what will they do when they get there? These are all questions for CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Army Brigadier General David Grange.

General Grange, nice to see you today.

Talk about this plan for us a little bit. As we know, there are many meetings taking place. President Bush talking with some House Democrats, and White House briefing Congress on this new plan. There's a lot to understand, a lot to absorb.

Is 20,000 troops, as far as what the recommendation that we have heard, enough?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, those that did the troops at task. In other words, what are the requirements? What are the tasks for the military part of this, and how does that equate to how many troops are required for those tasks? If they say it's 20,000, then it's 20,000. The guys on the ground made that assessment, those commanders, and I'm sure they know what they're talking about.

COLLINS: Well, I think that's a great point. And talk to us a little for people who don't understand the process of how you go about determining how many troops would be needed in a case like this?

GRANGE: Well, for an example, right now there's several major operations going on in Iraq. You have what's known as holding operations with some offensive moves on a counterinsurgency front. In other words, trying to either contain or hold down the insurgency while Iraqi military are being trained. Which is the other task -- training the Iraqi military to a level of proficiency where they can take over many of these duties, realizing that many of them are infiltrated or have loyalties to militia instead of the local government.

But now we have a situation where more offensive operations must take place to gain superiority on the adversaries where they have the upper hand. Anbar province is an example, and the other is the city of Baghdad. That's going to require more troops, used in offensive operations, in order to handle that threat.

COLLINS: Right. And Baghdad being where we just saw video from this morning. Very fierce gun battle there. Let's talk about this "Washington Post" report. I'm talking about the mission that includes the understanding that joint U.S. and Iraqi forces will confront the Mehdi Army that you just spoke about. What kind of army are we talking about here? And how do you flush them out? GRANGE: Well, we're talking about an enemy that's grown considerably in size. Several years ago, there was only a few hundred militiamen. Now there are 40,000 or whatever the case may be. It's hard to count, of course, because one could join tomorrow, one can leave today. Who knows. But the point is, something must be done at the militia, or you're going to have a situation in Baghdad similar to the Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. So they have to take on the militia if the militia will not work with the elected government. And that's going to require going in to built-up areas in the city and taking out, in other words, eliminating, the core militia, hopefully a lot of the periphery militia will then decide it's not the way to go, and that's going to take offensive operations with additional troops to do that properly.

COLLINS: What about intelligence on that? How do you learn who's the right guy?

GRANGE: Well, there's intelligence on core leaders, there's intelligence on Iranian influence inside Baghdad as an example. Many of these targets are not approved by the elected Iraqi government for U.S. or Iraqi forces to go after. That's one of the issues that we have. Since it's a sovereign nation, we need to do this together with the Iraqi government. But most of the information and who the insurgent -- the militiamen are comes from Iraqis themselves, because many of the Americans, of course, don't know, cannot tell.

COLLINS: And I know you're not the political man on this, and in a few minutes I'll speak with someone who is, but as a military man here, we've been reporting this morning, if Democrats continue to want to send more troops, and they don't want to send more funding to the Iraq war, what is the way to win?

GRANGE: You know, this bothers me, and it's OK that I'm a military guy, because, you know, war's an extension of politics anyway. But the issue here is, if you cap the force -- and I remember this happening to me in Bosnia. When you cap the force, you do it regardless of the tasks required to, and troops to do those tasks to accomplish the mission. You put those soldiers in harm's way. If you cut the funding, the resources, you put those soldiers and Marines in harm's way.

Look, if we want to win this thing, if we want to leave honorably, if we want to leave with conditions that are acceptable to the United States of America, you must let those running the war have the resources and the personnel needed to be successful. If you cap it, you ensure defeat.

COLLINS: CNN military analyst and U.S. Army retired General David Grange. Nice to see you this morning, General Grange. Appreciate it.

HARRIS: And still to come, Islamist fighters flushed out of Mogadishu. Now the U.S. strikes suspected Al Qaeda operatives in Somalia. That story next in the NEWSROOM.

One of Oprah Winfrey's best and brightest. But this South African girl has come a long way to study at the new academy. Her story, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We take you now to a live shot there. We see Senator Joe Lieberman. This is the Senate committee's -- they're holding their hearings on implementing the 9/11 Commission Report. This is some of the first hour legislation at the 100-hour legislative agenda we've been talking about. That clock begins ticking sometime today. I believe around noon is when they are starting that tick tock, if you will. But some of this legislation, lots of support for it from the Democratic side. Some Republicans saying that it might be a little too expensive and might be enacted a little too swiftly. So we will continue to talk about this and what exactly those recommendations that they're trying to implement are as the day goes on here.

HARRIS: Hunting Al Qaeda in Somalia. A senior Pentagon official says the U.S. attacked targets in the southern part of the African nation. This is the first report of U.S. military action in Somalia since the deadly "Black Hawk Down" incident in the 1990s.

More now from Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr in neighboring Kenya.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): U.S. officials are privately acknowledging at least the C-130 strike against the Rascamboni (ph) terrorist training camp deep in southern Somalia near Kenya's border. In fact, the U.S. military and African Intelligence Services have been on a manhunt for Al Qaeda here in East Africa for some months. Although Al Qaeda is on the run from the capital of Mogadishu, the U.S. is still very much hoping to capture or kill some of those top al Qaeda operatives.

(voice-over): U.S. officials here in East Africa tell CNN that Al Qaeda operatives were developing the ability to attack U.S. targets just as they did in 1998 when U.S. embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania, killing hundreds. Intelligence shows that after an Islamic militia took power in Somalia in June, Al Qaeda stepped up its operations there. Camps taught radical Islam to young men. Weapons flowed in from East European arms dealers and money from the Middle East. One official said, "We just couldn't live with it anymore. We were worried."

REAR ADM. RICHARD HUNT, TASK FORCE HORN OF AFRICA: And that's what we were really concerned about, there seemed to be much more recruiting, much more training going on. They were positioning themselves to expand their area of influence beyond the Somali borders.

STARR: Three Al Qaeda operatives accused in the embassy bomb having been hiding in Somalia for years. The U.S. believes they were closely tied to the Islamic group the ICU. Neighbors Ethiopia was also worried by the prospect of a hardline Islamic regime next door. Its invasion to oust the Islamic militia met with no objections from Washington. The new Somali foreign minister says his country now wants U.S. troops back, more than a decade after they withdrew.

ISMAEL HURREH, SOMALI FOREIGN MINISTER: More than anything else, we want the Americans to help us to train an efficient security force.

STARR (on camera): Kenyans here so far today largely seem to be very pleased with the U.S. bombing action in southern Somalia, just over Kenya's northern border. This, of course, is a city, Nairobi, that is well aware of the Al Qaeda threat. We are just a short distance away from the former U.S. embassy bombed in 1998, when hundreds of Kenyans were killed and thousands injured. This is a city that knows Al Qaeda well, and Kenya is very clear that it would like the East African Al Qaeda cell put out of business once and for all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Now one of Oprah Winfrey's best and brightest, but this South African girl has come a very long way to study at the new academy. Her story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Also oceanside homes overrun by flames. Hollywood's powerful and prominent, in the line of fire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hey, Heidi.

COLLINS: Uh-huh?

HARRIS: Take a look at this.

COLLINS: I'm looking. I'm waiting.

HARRIS: Well, here's the thing, we developed a little gizmo, because everybody knows that you can catch us right here in the NEWSROOM weekday mornings, right, 9:00 a.m. until noon Eastern. Take a look, there it is, there it is, there it is.

Now you can take us along with you anywhere on your i-Pod, the CNN NEWSROOM. What do you think, Heidi, we're growing?

COLLINS: Is that the actual size? Is that actual size?

HARRIS: It's the size of a podcast. Not a podcast, the size of an i-Pod, right.

COLLINS: Do you have one?

HARRIS: I have a little shuffle, which is a little smaller than the -- wow, look at that.

COLLINS: Does it do that for people at home?

HARRIS: Let's hope so because that's kind of cool.

COLLINS: Terrific. HARRIS: So, there you go. The size of your i-Pod. You can download us 24/7, take us anywhere. And now when they come out with the phone on the i-Pod, you can call us and tell us how we did.

COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE) that's great. That's going to be happening, apparently.

On to a more serious story and a fascinating one, too, from a one-room shack to a state-of-the-art campus. Life has definitely changed for South African girls attending Oprah Winfrey's new academy.

Take a look at this now from CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE (voice-over): Mbali Meyers has never thought of herself as a lucky girl. Her name means flower in the local Zulu language.

She lives with her mother and younger sister in this one-room shack in Alexandria, one of Johannesburg's poorest neighborhoods.

Anushka Meyers had Mbali when she was just 15 years old and had to drop out of school. She suffers from chronic chest infections, and can only afford to work part time as a domestic. Money is hard to come by. The family often goes to bed hungry in a house without lights or running water.

MBALI MEYERS, STUDENT: This house is a mess and my other is not working. (INAUDIBLE) and we don't have many food. Sometimes, we sleep without not eating, because my mother's not working and we don't have food inside here.

KOINANGE: The Meyers share this broken-down water tap with 30 other people in the neighborhood, where they hang their washing in a public walkway.

The same 30 families share just one outdoor toilet.

MEYERS: This is my clothes and this is my (INAUDIBLE). And this is my plain clothes. I put them here because I have no (INAUDIBLE). I use this and this is where I make my hair and (INAUDIBLE).

At night, Mbali burns the midnight oil by candlelight, doing her homework on her knees. There's no room here for luxuries like chairs.

ANUSHKA MEYERS, MOTHER OF MBALI MEYERS: We sleep here. We bathe here. We make food in the same room. We do everything, actually, in this one room, this small place, yes.

KOINANGE (on camera): Life is tough here?

A. MEYERS: It's very, and when it rains, the water get too much inside, you can even see -- we don't sleep bedtime. We put bags and big dishes because it gets too much water inside.

KOINANGE (voice-over): At Mbali's former school, her teacher says, with conditions like these, it's a miracle Mbali has consistently been at the top of her class.

He had heard Oprah was looking for a few good girls, and persuaded Mbali to apply. But she was not alone. More than 5,000 girls had similar dreams. But Mbali's consistent hard work and leadership qualities won Oprah over. And she was selected to be part of the talk show host's best and brightest.

CHRISTOPHER MOROPA, FORMER TEACHER OF MBALI MEYERS: It was as if it was meant to be like that. It was a God-given opportunity. I felt, we felt as teachers, that this was lovely for her.

KOINANGE: On Mbali's last day at her old school, she wrote these words on the board for her classmates.

M. MEYERS: To become a leader and an example to all of you.

MOROPA: She's aware that she won't be coming back. She's missing, but (INAUDIBLE) there's that positiveness. She's aware that she'll be moving in -- to a new ground, but then she's happy.

KOINANGE: Two days before the start of school, Mbali gets a taste of things to come, picked up by a school bus for the very first time in her life, and joining her new, equally excited classmates.

A half-hour later, they arrive at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, and the beginning of a life this little flower could never have imagined.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The changing face of adoptions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

The regulations will limit some families that I believe would make good parents.

COLLINS: New rules could limit options for Americans wanting to adopt orphans overseas.

HARRIS: The political plan for Iraq. 2008 presidential hopefuls are coming up with their own strategies, as the president pushes his new strategy.

COLLINS: Well, whatever it was, the media ...

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: Is that us? Was all over it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That odor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This foul odor,

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A suspicious odor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This strange odor, whatever it may be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gas, whatever it might be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gases, if they are gases.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever it is.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: The smell ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh, man.

COLLINS: Sniffing it out. Sniffing out the stink that is, in Gotham. You are in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM. the mission in Iraq. What Baghdad hot spots will U.S. forces target? We will take a look, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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