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American Morning
Congress to Pass 9/11 Commission Recommendations; Spinach Could Prevent Variety of Illnesses
Aired January 09, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Most racially divided city. A page from his private library only on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back everybody. Tuesday January 9. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us this morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's begin with some breaking news. A massive firefight to tell you about right in the middle of Baghdad.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael Holmes has just driven through there. He joins us live to tell us what he has seen, as he is now in the relatively safe confines off our bureau in Baghdad -- Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Hi, Miles.
Yes, I just arrived back in Baghdad, just literally a couple of hours ago, and headed to the bureau from the airport. We had to take a different route from our normal route because of this firefight that's been going on for about nine hours now. Literally, a kilometer behind us here.
Now, went within a few hundred meters of where the fighting was this morning, which was in that direction, Haifa Street. Now, Haifa Street is a hotbed of former regime elements, Ba'athists, if you like, and is a Sunni area. We're told by U.S. military sources that the fighters involved in this firefight are a mixture of former regime elements, Ba'athists, if you like, foreign fighters, and also Al Qaeda in Iraq. At the moment -- and this firefight is still going on, Miles.
There have been Apaches, a couple of hundred feet over our heads, here. We have been hearing more gunfight behind us in the last few minutes. So far there are 400 U.S. troops involved, 500 Iraqi army troops involved. As I say, this began about nine hours ago. Casualties, obviously, very difficult to determine because the fighting is still going on. But the Iraqi army says nine of its troops have been killed, 23 insurgents have been killed.
We're hearing from U.S. sources actually on the ground there that the killed and wounded among the insurgents is between 30 and 50. An Iraqi government official went on television just a short time ago and said that the Haifa Street area must be cleansed. He said that it's full of what he called terror dens that are a threat to Baghdad. That is sort of indicating perhaps this operation is far from over, Miles. Certainly a very dramatic day and a very dramatic city at the best of times. More Apache helicopters coming into our earshot now, and let's make this clear, this is right in the heart of downtown Baghdad -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael, just briefly, is there a sense that this was, in essence, an ambush on the part of these insurgents?
HOLMES: Well, what happened, Miles, was that there was an Iraqi army patrol through there last evening, and they were ambushed, and they were pinned down, and there were casualties taken. This resulted in the Iraqi army going in to try to tackle those insurgents. They found that they were getting a bit overwhelmed and they called in for U.S. backing.
The U.S. has been involved in its own operation in that area purely by coincidence, and they've now been brought into this firefight as well. American military sources have told us that this is a very sophisticated group of insurgents. They are going around in pairs. There are snipers in well-positioned places. They are falling back, regrouping and attacking again. This isn't a ragtag bunch of insurgents running around trying to make trouble.
This is a very coordinated operation in what has been a bit of a hotbed area, but not an area that I can remember ever seeing this type of sustained firefight in the years I have been coming here, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael Holmes in Baghdad, thank you -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All of this happening, of course, while President Bush is preparing to unveil his plans to send thousands more troops into Iraq. The new Congress is spoiling for a fight as they begin their first 100 hours on the agenda today. Clock starts ticking at noon.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is hinting that there will be talk of cutting off funding for a troop increase, and the president is talking to members of both parties today trying to build support for his strategy. Senator Ted Kennedy is planning a preemptive strike today, a bill that would block sending more troops without authorization from Congress. We have complete coverage this morning. Elaine Quijano is at the White House. Brianna Keilar is on Capitol Hill. Let's begin with Elaine.
Good morning, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Even as Democrats voice their opposition to an increase in U.S. troops in Iraq, some Republicans are openly expressing their skepticism about the president's plan to send some 20,000 additional troops to quell sectarian violence. Now, President Bush yesterday met with a group of GOP senators trying to build support for his ideas. One of those senators, Gordon Smith, who was sharply critical of the president's Iraq policy last month, expressed doubt that 20,000 more troops will be enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. GORDON SMITH, (R-OR): 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, hold it, rebuild it. I have no idea how many troops that would take, but I know it's more than an additional 20,000, and I know it may take a decade and more to do it. 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 a so-called surge is not a strategy, in and of itself. That it is tied to a larger, broader political and economic strategy. Now, sources familiar with the president's deliberations say that includes a jobs program and an emphasis on reconstruction as well.
Meantime, today President Bush continues his outreach to members of Congress. One day, of course, Soledad, before he unveils his policy in that primetime address to the nation -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House for us. Elaine, thanks.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: And as that clock starts ticking for those first 100 hours, CNN is keeping track of just what Democrats can get done. In the corner of your screen you can watch CNN's first 100 hours clock. It will be starting up about noontime today. As soon as the 100 hours begins. Right now let's go to Washington. CNN's Brianna Keilar with more -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Well, Miles, Democrats are united in their opposition to an increase this troop levels in Iraq. But they're fractured on just how far they should go to prevent it.
Now, Senator Edward Kennedy is expected to announce legislation today requiring President Bush to seek Congress's OK to increase troop levels, but he keeps referring to this not as a surge, but, rather, as an escalation, drawing comparisons to the Vietnam conflict.
In his speech at the National Press Club today he is expected to say, "An escalation, whether it's called a surge, or any other name, is still an escalation, and I believe it would be an immense new mistake. It would compound the original misguided decision to invade Iraq. We cannot simply speak out against an escalation of troops in Iraq. We must act to prevent it."
And also, other Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and also Senator Harry Reid, hinting at the fact that perhaps using the power of the purse, to prevent that increase in troop levels in Iraq, could be a possibility, but certainly not all Democrats have signed on to this plan. In fact, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has not endorsed the idea.
Meanwhile, Iraq is eclipsing right now, the Democrats push a legislative blitz that they are planning, as you said, to begin today at noon. They're calling it the First 100 Hours, and they're tackling six domestic issues in six days. Among them, today, they will start with passing or trying to pass some 9/11 Commission recommendations, as well as increasing the minimum wage, tomorrow, and then moving towards funding for stem-cell research later in the week.
The clock on that legislative blitz, as we said, begins at noon today, but Democrats finding themselves upstaged by President Bush's looming announcement on his new Iraq strategy, tomorrow night, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Brianna Keilar in Washington. Thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Another story that is developing this morning, the U.S. targeting suspected Al Qaeda operatives in Somalia. The first acknowledged military action in Somalia since that deadly Black Hawk down incident back in 1993.
Now, at least one American air strike in southern Somalia on Monday happened near the border with Kenya. The Pentagon correspondent Barbara Star is in Nairobi, for us, which of course is bordering Somalia.
Barbara, good morning again.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning to you, Soledad, from Nairobi.
A U.S. Air Force special operations AC-130 gunship, indeed, launched a near strike against a known Al Qaeda training camp deep in southern Somalia quite near to Kenya's northern border. The target? Five top Al Qaeda operatives associated with attacks here in East Africa, including the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy here in Kenya. They had been on the run from Mogadishu, the Somali capital, for some days since Ethiopian forces had moved in and driven the Islamic militia from power.
In that time frame the U.S. military, U.S. intelligence, and African intelligence services had been keeping a very close eye, looking for the men. The manhunt was on. We spoke just before the attack to the top U.S. military official in this region about the growing concern about Al Qaeda here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADM. RICHARD HUNT, CMDR., TASK FORCE OF AFRICA: That's what we were really concerned about is 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STARR: Now, of course, what Admiral Hunt is referring to is the time frame of this past summer, while the Islamic militia was in power. What U.S. intelligence saw was money coming into Al Qaeda in Somalia from the Middle East, weapons coming in from Eastern Europe, and multiple Al Qaeda training camps springing up in Somalia offering radical Islamic education to young Somali men that they were trying to recruit into the militia movement. So the U.S. had growing concerns throughout the summer and fall.
Now that the militia is out of power, the men are on the run. The concern is not over, even if this strike proves to be successful. There is pretty much a significant U.S. military presence here now. Their Aircraft Carrier Eisenhower has moved south into the waters off of Somalia. There are two U.S. Navy warships off the coast, as well keeping a watch -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr is in Nairobi, Kenya this morning. Thank you, Barbara.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Firefighters in Southern California working this morning to keep more of the nation's most expensive real estate from going up in flames. Take a look at these pictures. It's happening right now in Malibu. The fire destroyed four beach-front mansions outright, including one owned by actress Suzanne Somers. AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence live in Malibu with the latest on this.
Hello, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Miles, whether your home is worth $200,000, or $2 million, this is a sight that no family would ever want to see. Your home burned so completely that there is barely any record in the foundation to prove it was ever here.
This fire incinerated four of the seaside mansions here in Malibu, seriously damaged four others. One of those was actress' Suzanne Sommers.
Yesterday, we saw these flames as they literally just shot down the slope toward the seaside homes on the shoreline. And then just a few minutes later, you could see the smoke just -- and the fire just boiling out of the skeletons of what was left of the homes. Some of the residents told us they saw the flames shooting as high as 100 to 150 feet into the air.
Two things about Malibu that have remained constant, and will probably continue to do so. One, that movie stars are going to live here. Back in 1993 there was a huge firestorm. It destroyed the home that belonged to actor Sean Penn and another home that belonged to actress Ali McGraw.
The second constant here in Malibu is that these fires will continue. Malibu has some of the most combustible brush anywhere in the country. And it's got a unique alignment of the coastal canyons with those hot, dry Santa Ana winds, almost like a chute where the winds blow just right through. So every two to three years you get a fire. Every 10 years you get a major firestorm here in Malibu -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Amazing pictures there. Chris Lawrence in Malibu, thank you very much.
Some alert-eyed reporters took amazing photos of the Malibu fire. Dustin Long and Paul Clark, students at nearby Pepperdine University -- beautiful campus there -- they grabbed their cameras, ran down to the beach, and they got these spectacular shots you see here.
As firefighters fought the northern edge of the wildfire closest to the Pepperdine campus. As you can see, the turret of one of the mansions -- Not in that particular picture -- there you go. There's a turret of one of the mansions in flames. There's a skeleton there.
Is news happening right before your eyes? Well, we invite you to get your camera, video or still, and send it into iReport, iReport@cnn.com is the place. Of course, don't want you to put yourself in any danger to get those pictures.
S. O'BRIEN: Those guys are kind of close to that fire.
M. O'BRIEN: Hopefully it's a telephoto lens.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, certainly hope so.
Ahead this morning the Democrats say they want a change of course in Iraq, but there's a big problem in Washington they'll have to overcome first. We'll explain.
And forget Google Earth, get ready to set your sight even further. Google takes on the universe! That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: We have a lot on our plate this morning. A couple of the big stories we're tracking for you; the new Congress starts the clock on its First 100 Hours. They waited until after the football game to do that. Starts about noon today. House members are trying to pass six major pieces of legislation in that time, including one that enacts all the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
And actress Suzanne Sommers is one of several well-heeled people losing their homes. Palatial, in some cases, in a wildfire in Malibu, California.
A quarter past the hour. Let's get a check of the "Travelers Forecast". Chad Myers with that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: The clock starts ticking this morning for House Democrats on their 100-Hour agenda. In that time they plan to pass some major domestic legislation, but as Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider tells us, Iraq is also looming large for the new majority.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST, AMERICAN MORNING (voice over): Iraq is like the elephant in the room. Democrats can't ignore it even if they want to talk about other things, like their domestic agenda for the First 100 Hours. Democrats knew the elephant was there.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: Nowhere was the call for a new direction more clear from the American people than in the war in Iraq.
SCHNEIDER: Democrats are enraged by reports that the president will call for a buildup of U.S. Troops, and it's not just Democrats.
REP. CHARLES RANGEL, (D-NY): I believe that the American people are way ahead of the Congress.
SCHNEIDER: But democrats have a problem. There is not a lot Congress can do.
REP. DAVID OBEY, (D-WI): Congress is not the commander in chief. The president has the authority, I suppose, to expand involvement if he wants to.
SCHNEIDER: The first thing Democrats will do is exercise oversight responsibility on the war, which they say Congress has ignored for years.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, (D-DE): No foreign policy can be sustained in America without the informed consent of the American people, the informed consent.
SCHNEIDER: The Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees will begin hearings this week, as will the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and other House committees soon. The House speaker made this pledge.
PELOSI: Democrats will not cut off funding for our troops.
SCHNEIDER: But when the Senate majority leader was asked about funding for additional troops, he said Democrats would --
SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV) MAJORITY LEADER: Take a look at everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Including that?
REID: Yep. We're going to take a look at it, of course.
SCHNEIDER: Suppose Congress cuts off funding for additional troops?
OBEY: The president would simply veto it. SCHNEIDER: In a war, the powers of Congress are limited, but a president will have great difficulty pursuing a policy in defiance of the people.
RANGEL: No president can be successful in the conduct of any war without the support of the American people.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): The people spoke in the election. The establishment spoke in the Iraq Study Group report. Now the Democratic Congress is speaking. What will it take to persuade the president? Probably pressure from his own Republican base, if they see political disaster looming. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: A lot of eyes and ears on the Mac World Conference, kicking off today. And just what will Apple founder Steve Jobs announce? Could the best of Apple's best-selling iPod be combined with the cell phone? This has been rumored for, what, since the mid- 1950s, I think? You might think they call it the iPhone, that would be logical, but that one is already taken by another company, an Internet telephony company. How about Mac phone? Mac call? Just my thoughts.
Also, from the geek desk this morning, more proof Google won't be satisfied with mere global domination. Jacki Schechner is here with the Google-actic news.
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Geek desk, I like that.
M. O'BRIEN: Geek desk, yeah.
SCHECHNER: It has a good ring to it.
Well, we've got Google Earth, Google Mars, Google Moon. Now we're going to have Google Universe.
M. O'BRIEN: That's big.
SCHECHNER: It's really endless.
M. O'BRIEN: This is why they joined up with NASA, right?
SCHECHNER: It has something to do with it. Google is now partnering with scientists who are building what they call a wide-field telescope. And that is going to be able to give the public access, eventually, to digital footage of the entire universe. It's called the large synoptic survey telescope.
M. O'BRIEN: Easy for you to say.
SCHECHNER: Actually not. They call it the LSST. It will be mounted in the foothills of the Mountains of the Andes. It's a place called Cerro Pachon, in Chile, north of Valparaiso. It's going to take time-lapsed digital images of the entire sky, in multiple colors, every week. It will be like watching a movie of space, which will be something you'll love.
M. O'BRIEN: It's possible that somebody sitting at home at a computer could make contact, so to speak, or find another planet -- or find a comet for that matter?
SCHECHNER: They could find something. They will be able to see exploding super novas, distant galaxies. You'll be able to see asteroids, even some of the ones that are close to Earth. They say they can see an asteroid as small as 100 meters, which is about 300 feet. I did the math.
(LAUGHTER)
The LSST will generate 30,000 gigabytes, they say, of color images a night.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow! That's some data.
SCHECHNER: The telescope -- that's a lot of data. It will survey the sky every night for a decade. Now, here's where Google comes into play, because this is a consortium of scientists who are doing this. Google will help organize that data and they're going to figure out how to make it accessible to the public.
M. O'BRIEN: So we can all become armchair astronomers. That's truly astounding.
SCHECHNER: You can at least take a look. The pictures are really amazing, what you can see. And that's not even as good as it's going to get, at that point. But you've got to wait until 2013, and I will tell you --
M. O'BRIEN: 2013? I was thinking when do I get this? I want to get it now.
SCHECHNER: Until then go to Google Earth and you look for your house, like everybody else.
M. O'BRIEN: Like everybody else, exactly.
SCHECHNER: That's all we use it for now.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Jacki, we'll see you in just a little bit.
SCHECHNER: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
SCHECHNER: That's from the geek desk.
M. O'BRIEN: Yeah.
S. O'BRIEN: Straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina, there's some new hope for some of the folks whose homes were destroyed. We'll tell you what's happening straight ahead.
AMERICAN MORNING the most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Breaking news out of Iraq this morning. U.S. troops and attack helicopters involved in a major gunfight against insurgents in Baghdad. It's happening right now.
Wildfires rage across Malibu's pricey beach front, and the home of actress Suzanne Sommers is one of four destroyed.
M. O'BRIEN: A year and a half now since Hurricane Katrina, and finally, finally, the check may be in the mail for some homeowners in Mississippi, who suffered big losses. It's 25 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi is here with that.
Hello, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: How are you, guys?
There is this report swirling now, and we can't get confirmation from either party, which is interesting, it suggests there might be something to this. That State Farm, the largest property insurer in Mississippi, is in negotiations with the attorney general of that state to come to some sort of a mass settlement for those Mississippi claimants who said they didn't get proper payouts, or any payouts, because the insurer, State Farm -- and others, by the way -- claim their house was damaged by water, by a storm surge, as opposed hurricane winds. And that distinction has caused a lot of people not to get the money they thought they were entitled to.
Now there's been no mass claim. There has been no mass settlement, even though we sort of hear references sometimes to class- action suits. There are no class-action suits. There are a few lawyers that represent hundreds of claimants, but the insurance companies, like in many of these types of things, have chosen to fight each one of these cases individually, saying that they are individual policies, they're individual contracts. There is no class action.
That, of course, makes it difficult for claimants because when it's a class action, someone else puts up the money, someone else fights that case, and you get your settlement, albeit a smaller one. In this case there have had to be hundreds and hundreds of individual claims against State Farm, or others. If this is true -- and neither State Farm nor the attorney general of Mississippi will tell us about this -- this could be massive.
It would be the first of its kind. It does not right now involve anybody claiming against the other insurers, nor does it involve anybody claiming against State Farm in Louisiana or Alabama, this is just Mississippi.
M. O'BRIEN: As I understand it, the stuff that has leaked out, indicates that State Farm will make no admissions. It will just be a check, and so, in other words, there won't be any sort of official precedent in writing.
VELSHI: Correct. I think there are probably some people who would like an admission, but I think most people need to get on with their lives. And they would like to be able to rebuild their homes, and that would be a big step forward. And I think everybody in this country who has insurance will now realize that -- make sure you read it, the company is clear, you're clear, put everything in writing that if a storm comes, am I covered? If a flood -- if a hurricane comes and causes a flood, am I covered?
S. O'BRIEN: Why in Mississippi, but not in Louisiana?
VELSHI: Because they -- insurers are covered state by state. So it may well be that if this happens, Louisiana could follow, or some other kinds of deals could follow. The insurance companies have had a lot of bad press in the last year and a half because of this. They may want to move on.
M. O'BRIEN: This is a case where there's a lot of political clout. Among them, Senator Trent Lott, who is one of the victims.
VELSHI: He is one of the claimants.
M. O'BRIEN: One of the claimants in this group, so this group --
VELSHI: They could get a check out of it.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, potentially.
S. O'BRIEN: It's hard to do, the "you're in good hands" --
VELSHI: Yeah.
S. O'BRIEN: But we're not sending you any money. That's a tough sell.
VELSHI: These guys are "a good neighbor". State Farm is it's "a good neighbor".
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, All State is the "good hands".
(CROSS TALK)
VELSHI: Yeah, same issue.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, same difference, right?
VELSHI: Yeah, yeah.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Ali, thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Ali. S. O'BRIEN: The air is clear in New York City this morning. Did you guys smell this yesterday? That smell?
M. O'BRIEN: I never smelled it. I tried as hard as I could.
S. O'BRIEN: Really?
M. O'BRIEN: Yeah.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. This is live pictures, of course, of our skyline this morning. Yesterday morning, you guys were out there, you smelled that, right? That smell, smelled like natural gas wafting through -- I could smell is here in the building.
M. O'BRIEN: Really?
S. O'BRIEN: A huge utility company actually said that, in fact, it wasn't a gas leak. Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference to say it wasn't a public health threat. It did smell stinky kind of the way that natural gas smells, although what you are smelling is not the natural gas. You are smelling the additive to the natural gas, but, of course, it was all good fodder for the late night comics. Here's what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN: Welcome to New York City, the city you can smell!
The smell was so bad the Statue of Liberty, instead of holding the torch, holding her nose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god, New York's pilot light is out!
Very disturbing. Normally the city smells like lavender and cinnamon.
My god, the terrorists have odors!
JAY LENO: Went to New York for the weekend. Had a gas! Oh, it was unbelievable! It was a gas.
Shows you how strong the odor was. When you can smell it over the stale urine of the subway.
In fact, Kevin, you know what they call a bad smell in New York?
KEVIN EUBANKS: What's that? What?
LENO: New Jersey -- hey!
LETTERMAN: On the bright side, it's nice to have something in New York City that smells worse than the Jets and Giants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Pretty funny, actually, wasn't it?
M. O'BRIEN: Yeah. It was good. The mayor got off a good line, in his news conference. Mayor Mike Bloomberg said, "We'll just wait for the gas to pass." I thought that was good.
(LAUGHTER)
Top stories of the morning are coming up next at the. At the top of the list for House Democrats kicking off what they're calling their First 100 Hours today. All that and more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Breaking news from Iraq, U.S. troops in a major gunfight with insurgents in Baghdad this morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Start your clocks, Democrats leading the new Congress kicking off their first 100 hours today. Are they serious about getting something done?
M. O'BRIEN: And something you likely eat almost every day could help prevent Alzheimer's Disease. Dr. Sanjay Gupta with the latest research ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, Tuesday, January 9th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
Happening this morning, President Bush is working on his plan to change strategy in Iraq. He is going to announce that plan on national TV tomorrow night. He is meeting today with Republicans and Democrats. Both sides of the aisle, though, voicing concern about sending more troops into Iraq.
At noon today the clock starts ticking on the Democrats' first 100 hours in Congress. During last year's election campaign, they promised to pass six major pieces of legislation in 100 hours. First up today, a bill to implement some of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. We're going to talk to 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman coming up.
The U.S. is going after al Qaeda operatives in southern Somalia. American forces attacking suspected al Qaeda operatives. No confirmation at this hour yet of what was or who was hit.
And from North Korea, news that another nuclear test is likely. The U.S. military commander in South Korea would not say just how soon it could happen. South Koreans noted activity near one of the North's suspected nuclear test sites.
Firefighters and arson investigators too, are now on the scene of a destructive wildfire in Malibu, California, this morning. Four seaside mansions burned to the ground. One of them was the home of actress Suzanne Sommers. The fire moved fast last night. People had just minutes to escape as flames, 150 feet high, incinerated everything in their path. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: A fierce firefight is raging all morning in Baghdad. 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops are battling insurgents on Haifa Street. That's right in the heart of the city. CNN's Arwa Damon is live on the phone in Baghdad. She's embedded with some of those troops? Arwa, what's the latest?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, relative to this morning, when the gun battle was at its most intense, lasting in its intensity six hours of literally non-stop fire fighting. What we are hearing right now on this phone line is relative calm. It gives you an idea of the intensity of the firefight that took place here throughout the morning. Now U.S. and Iraqi troops arrived here under cover of darkness, on to Haifa street.
This is an area in central Baghdad that has been pretty volatile and violent in the past. It came under relative control, and now, as you can hear, the gun battles are raging once again.
Now, the U.S. military believes that here they are fighting the type of enemy that will fight to the death. They believe them to be a combination of former regime elements, former Baathists, as well as elements of al Qaeda. There are still Apache gunships circling overhead. Earlier they were firing Hellfire missiles into buildings where the U.S. military said that they were receiving fire from.
Now, this is an area that is still under Iraqi army control. For the operation they requested U.S. military backup, and, in fact, received some from U.S. Strikers. They have been moving throughout this entire area, house by house, trying to clear it of insurgents. It's been incredibly intense, 10 hours now, Miles, 10 hours this gun battle has been going on for all the Iraqi and American troops involved.
The U.S. military unit that we are covering was saying that this is the most intense fire fights -- fire fighting that they have seen in their entire tour in Baghdad. The Iraqi army also saying that this is one of the fiercest battles that they have been in. In fact, (INAUDIBLE) fiercest fighting that the capital has seen in quite some time. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Arwa Damon, embedded with U.S. troops there in Baghdad, thank you. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: As part of the 100 hours agenda, Democrats are vowing to pass more recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. Here's Nancy Pelosi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: Let us be the Congress that strongly honors our responsibility to protect the American people from terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP) S. O'BRIEN: John Lehman is a former commissioner of the 9/11 panel, also former secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration. He joins us this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
JOHN LEHMAN, FORMER 9/11 COMMISSIONER: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: So that's sort of hopeful words from Nancy Pelosi early on, but in reality what we have seen over the last two years is slow, or really more like no progress, in implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations. Of all the recommendations still outstanding, what do you think should be the number one priority?
LEHMAN: Well, this is a terrific development because it's not just posturing. I believe the speaker is really serious, and one of the indicators of her seriousness is that she's taking on the barons of the big committees, particularly Appropriations, in recommending the creation of a select -- a permanent select committee that will have real legislative power, which has never been the case before. It's been divided up among many committees, which means there's been no coherence to either the oversight or the programming and budgeting of the intelligence community.
So, those with the most lobbyists, i.e. the hardware contractors, get all the money, and the area specialists, the Arabic speaker programs, the human spies have been starved for funding, and the technology, most important of all, to detect nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, which is the real threat we face, let no mistake be perceived here, because virtually every other terrorist we capture, in Afghanistan or here in the U.S. or in Britain, is involved in trying to get nuclear materials and get them into the United States, and especially New York and set them off.
S. O'BRIEN: So when you see this list that Nancy Pelosi has promised -- and she promised it before the midterm elections -- improving first responder communications, base security funding on risk, all air cargo screened within four year, and the one you mentioned, creating that select committee for intelligence oversight. Is there something not on this list that you think needs to be?
LEHMAN: No, because she's -- she's really taken on the pushing of all 41 of our recommendations, and the remarkable thing about the unanimous recommendations of the 9/11 commission is they're not pie in the sky. They're all easily achievable, and it's not going to take a huge amount of money. It just means putting the money where it should be, rather than pork barrel.
S. O'BRIEN: You saw what happened at the port of Miami over the last couple of days, and even the natural gas smell wafting across New Jersey, where everyone is sort of like we don't really know where it's coming from. Does that make you feel good about the security of our nation, or do you think that shows big holes?
LEHMAN: Well, there's good news and bad news in it, because, number one, as we found in our investigation, the people -- the men and women on the frontlines in the customs and in the inspection teams of Homeland Security, they get it. They're really looking, and they're playing it smart. It's remarkable and encouraging to see.
S. O'BRIEN: They blow up sprinkler parts at the Port of Miami.
LEHMAN: The problem is they don't have the technology because there are no big contractors pushing it. They want the money for satellites and things like that. The physics and the technology is available to detect nuclear weapons and to detect biologics and the things that al Qaeda is trying to put into this country, but we have not, because of the dispersal and pork barrel of the Congress, funded the programs to give these guys on the frontlines the tools to detect and not get all these false positives.
S. O'BRIEN: Of all the changes we've seen from President Bush in the last several days, what do you think are the best?
LEHMAN: I think the best --
(CROSS TALK)
LEHMAN: Well, that is a good change. First of all, the president's approach to intelligence reform, I think, is a disaster. Instead of doing what we had recommended, which is tearing down bureaucracy, tearing down the stove pipes, he has created a whole new bureaucracy.
Now, John Negroponte is, I think, one of the best diplomats we have had in this era, and he is finally going to where he should be, which is the number two at state, and one day he will be a fine secretary of state. But I'm afraid intelligence reform is going to have to await the next president to do that. The most positive thing that the president has done in the past few days is to put Fox Fallon (ph) as Centcom. Here is a guy who really is experienced. It's not just --
S. O'BRIEN: Navy admiral replacing --
LEHMAN: He is very experienced in combat, in the Persian Gulf. He has been in Bosnia. He is very savvy, very intelligent, and he takes a broader view. You are putting Petraeus, who is the best ground commander, in charge of the war, and you are putting the most experienced and savvy officer in charge of the theater, because you've got -- he has to integrate not just Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, but the threat from Iran.
S. O'BRIEN: So you like him?
LEHMAN: And the naval threat of closing off oil. So it's a terrific assignment.
S. O'BRIEN: You like that change. All right, nice to see you. The former 9/11 commissioner John Lehman joining us this morning. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you Soledad. Coming up, a developing story, the latest on U.S. air power targeting al Qaeda in Somalia. Plus, what might prevent Alzheimer's. Dr. Sanjay Gupta pays a House Call with the latest research. You might want to each your spinach. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning.
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S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Two developing stories we're following for you this morning. At least one U.S. air strike against al Qaeda operatives in Somalia. While in Iraq, right now, U.S. troops and attack helicopters are in a major fight with insurgents in Baghdad. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Able to fight cancer and heart disease, a defender of birth defects, a fighter against depression. Look, in the medicine cabinet. It's super supplement Folic Acid. But wait, there's more. Folic acid may now be something that can battle Alzheimer's as well. Our medical cape crusader is Dr. Sanjay Gupta with more. Good morning, Sanjay.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Miles. That's quite a lead-in. I hope I can live up to that.
M. O'BRIEN: Take it away. It's all yours.
GUPTA: There's been a lot of attention, no doubt, focused on Alzheimer's Disease. We're going to see an explosion of this disease over the next few decades, a quadrupling perhaps in the number of people who have this. So there's been a lot of attention focused on how to prevent Alzheimer's in the first place. There are certainly a lot of medications out there, billions of dollars worth of research. But researchers at Columbia University decided to look a little closer to home at something known as Folate or Folic Acid. This is one of the B vitamins.
What they wanted to find out is they followed people, nearly 1,000 of them, who are about 75 years of age and tried to figure out what was it about their diet, what was it about their lifestyle, that actually reduced their risk of Alzheimer's, and something started to emerge, and that thing was the amount of Folic Acid in their diets.
Now you typically need about 200 micrograms a day. What they found was that people who had less than 1/3 of that -- so it was a pretty small concentration in their diets -- tended to have the highest risk of Alzheimer's, and also the people that were getting it both in their diet and taking supplements had the lowest risk of Alzheimer's. So this is something that they started to find out about and they started to write about.
It's still early, in terms of the number of people and the amount of time they followed these patients out, but it looks like Folic Acid might have some preventive effects against Alzheimer's, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, do we have any idea? Are they still trying to figure out what exactly Folic Acid might do that helps prevent Alzheimer's? GUPTA: Yes, and, you know, I found this very interesting. There's a compound that I think we're going to hear a lot more about over the next several months and years. It's called Homosystine (ph). And a lot of people have already heard about this with relationship to heart disease and with relationship to stroke. Your doctor may have told you that if you have too much of this Homosystine in your blood, you're at higher risk for those things. It appears to be that Homosystine also increases your risk of Alzheimer's.
What Folic Acid does, it tends to process Homosystine a little bit more efficiently in your body, getting rid of it. So that's probably the mechanism, again, a little more work is going to be needed to be done before they can say that for sure.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, we are really out of time, but just quickly, what should people be eating or taking, a pill, whatever, to provide some help for Folic Acid?
GUPTA: What they found was really a combination of both, both the food and the supplements seemed to be the best. But the foods, spinach, turnip greens, about a cup of spinach, also oranges, bananas, breakfast cereals often fortified with Folic Acid as well, and it's worth pointing out that pregnant women who are watching need to be taking double the concentration of normal, which is 400 micrograms a day, instead of the 200.
M. O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta, our cape crusader, thank you very much.
GUPTA: Thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: 47 minutes past the hour. Let's get a quick check of the traveler's forecast from Chad this morning. Good morning.
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S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thank you. Ahead this morning, more on that breaking news out of Baghdad this morning. Fierce gun battles going on right now. CNN is there embedded with U.S. troops. Plus, that U.S. air strike in Somalia. Some key al Qaeda targets may have been hit. We have a live report straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Back in just a moment.
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(NEWS BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, President Bush is trying to sell lawmakers on his new Iraq strategy today. Already one top Democrat is fighting back. We'll tell you what's happening there.
Plus, words that changed the nation and the images that shook the civil rights movement. More from the private papers of Dr. Martin Luther King and what prompted his famous Letter From Birmingham Jail. All that straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
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M. O'BRIEN: Here's some good news for you, oil prices are plunging. Fifty six minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi is here with that. Hello Ali.
(MARKET REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: We're coming up on the top of the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center with the latest on what the weather story is. Good morning, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you Chad. Developing story, the United States launches an attack against al Qaeda militants in Somalia. We're live with more on the prime suspect.
M. O'BRIEN: Devastating flames, a wind-driven wild fire destroys beach front mansions in California, including one owned by a famous actress.
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