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American Morning
Fight for Iraq: Bush's New Plan; Touched by War; Million-Dollar Dilemma; 'MLK: Words That Changed a Nation'
Aired January 10, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: War report. President Bush addressing the nation on Iraq tonight. He's expected to deploy thousands of new U.S. troops and set a date for Iraqi soldiers to take charge.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An exclusive look this morning inside one of history's most important moments -- Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. What inspired it? And those unforgettable words, "I have a dream," did you know they were almost never said?
M. O'BRIEN: And opportunity's knocking at a Florida trailer park. But will residents turn down millions of dollars to keep that beautiful double-wide ocean view?
It's ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody, Wednesday, January 12th -- I'm getting ahead of myself. It's the 10th, not the 12th.
M. O'BRIEN: Give or take.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
We're glad you're with us this morning, whatever day it is.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, let's begin with President Bush, who's finally revealing his new plan for Iraq tonight. It's a plan he's been talking about since the November election, but some of the details are out already.
CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House for us.
Good morning, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Well, we've heard the number now, some 20,000 additional U.S. forces for Iraq. And a U.S. official tells CNN, while most of the 20,000 additional forces will in fact be sent to Baghdad, President Bush is ready to send roughly 4,000 of those troops to the volatile Anbar province. Now, the administration's hope is that this time, Iraqi forces will stand up and take over security responsibilities for the entire country by November. But there certainly have been other past failed attempts to secure Baghdad, most recently Operation Together Forward.
White House counselor Dan Bartlett outlined this morning why the administration believes that this attempt to pacify Baghdad will work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: There will be two clear differences. We brought troops to Baghdad, but the Iraqis did not bring troops. Secondly, and just as importantly, the rules of engagement, where they could go, where they couldn't go, more importantly, was severely restricting the type of operations that make it effective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, tomorrow, the president will begin trying to sell his plan. He'll hit the road and travel to Ft. Benning, Georgia, to talk to troops there.
Also, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, starting Friday, will travel to a number of capitals in the Middle East and in Europe to try to garner support for the plan among U.S. allies -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano for us at the White House this morning.
Thank you, Elaine -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: More troops will inevitably lead to more casualties. Are Americans ready and willing to see more of our young men and women killed or maimed in Iraq? And what is it like to hear about an escalation of the war for families who have already paid a permanent price?
John King is in Covington, Kentucky, this morning with some gold- star parents.
John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.
And you see the city of Cincinnati behind me. Ohio has paid a high price in this war. So as we await the president's speech and we track the debate in the Congress about whether a troop surge is a good idea, about whether the Democrats will take the bold step of actually trying to cut off funding for the war, we thought it also important to touch base with some people for whom Iraq is not such a faraway place. And for them, the war is intensely personal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KING (voice over): The heroes of Lima Company are remembered in somber public memorials, and remembered 17 months later in the private shrines of parents who still gasp when the doorbell rings, still hesitate to watch the news.
JOHN DYER, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: Every time I hear another casualty report, it's just -- it's like a knife going through me, because I know what that serviceperson's family is going to feel like.
KING: Lance Corporal Christopher Dyer was 19 when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Haditha. Back then, the U.S. death toll was at the 1,800 mark, and his father, who had questioned the war, wrote the president, urging him to win it.
DYER: But if that could happen, then I might be able to reconcile myself to seeing that my son's death had contributed to something.
KING: Dyer still feels that way but worries Iraq has become too political and the war itself off course.
DYER: Because I don't think we're any better off in Iraq than we were a year and a half ago with another 1,200 servicemen killed. In some ways, we're worse off.
KING: Isolde Zierk's son Gus (ph) is a Lima Company staff sergeant, back home and married now. So talk of a troop surge, it's hard.
ISOLDE ZIERK, MOTHER OF LIMA COMPANY MARINE: My son could be another one that's -- you know, has to go back, even though we are not slated to go. But you have to find 20,000 or 30,000 people somewhere.
KING: Zierk supports the war, but knows Democratic gains in last year's elections proves she's outnumbered.
ZIERK: The majority is not satisfied and wanted a change.
KING: The Lima Company deaths were a turning point for public opinion here in Ohio, the state where Mr. Bush began the march to war with such certainty.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The threat comes from Iraq. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons.
KING: Four years later, 72 percent of Americans disapprove of how Mr. Bush is handling Iraq, and 61 percent in a "USA Today"-Gallup poll oppose increasing troop levels.
JEREMY ROSNER, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: The man giving that speech is in a lonely position and one of the loneliest jobs in the world.
KING: John Dyer keeps thinking it's time to put most of this away.
DYER: This is obviously not even close to what we had in our dreams, or in his dreams.
KING: But he wants to believe Chris's death was not in vain and will be listening to see if the president gives him hope.
DYER: Obviously, it's very depressing. Sometimes I can't even watch the news because of what's going on. But I just don't see an alternative to not staying and seeing it through. I'm trying to be hopeful and optimistic, but it is very difficult.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Spend time with an anguished parent like John Dyer, Miles, and what is most striking is that the conversation is much less black and white than what you get back in Washington. There you have the Democrats and the Republicans positioning over just how to react and how to handle the president's speech.
Speak to a parent like John Dyer, who has suffered the ultimate loss, and what you hear is someone who says, yes, the president has made a lot of mistakes, yes, the president should probably candidly acknowledge those mistakes in his speech tonight. But Mr. Dyer also says look, Mr. Bush will be president for two more years, there will be tens of thousands of troops in Iraq for more than that, and he wishes the politicians in Washington would discuss this, debate their ideas, but be much less partisan -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's such a tragedy to lose a child, but then to think that loss was in vain, it's hard to comprehend, isn't it, John?
KING: It sure is. I spoke first with Mr. Dyer a year and a half ago, just after he buried his son. He's a very thoughtful man, and you can see him wrestling.
You had the shrine in his house -- and we've seen this in the parents of other children who have lost their lives in Iraq, two young men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq -- and he has all this stuff out, and knows it's time to put it away. But you can tell he's waiting for a turn for the better in Iraq.
He'll feel much better putting it away if he believes Iraq is headed in the right direction. And he's hoping, hoping, although he's a bit skeptical, to get some of those answers from the president tonight.
M. O'BRIEN: A lot of shades of gray there.
John King in Covington, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati.
Thank you -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. And then multiply it by 3,000, plus.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, a report out of Somalia that a top al Qaeda leader, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was killed in a U.S. air strike. The Pentagon is not confirming this report yet.
Investigators in Malibu are combing through the ashes of some pricey real estate. They're trying to find the cause of that big wildfire.
Five seaside mansions burned to the ground on Monday night. An estimated $60 million worth of property went up in smoke as Santa Ana winds fanned the flames. Actress Suzanne Somers is one of the victims, and she says she's going to rebuild.
Relief could be on the way for workers who are earning minimum wage. The House plans on boosting the federal standard from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. Now, if the increase is approved, it's going to be phased in over the next two years -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: In Briny Breezes, Florida, they're facing a dilemma that hits close to home quite literally today. Folks in that mobile home park there are sitting on a beautiful piece of Florida beachfront. A developer is willing to make them very rich if they will pack up and move on. The big vote is today, but it's not all about the Benjamins.
John Zarrella joining us live with more.
Good morning, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
And this is Briny Breezes, and Briny Breezes is not your typical mobile home park. Take a look here behind me.
You can see the marina with about 100 boat slips in it. Beyond that, the Intracoastal Waterway, the well-kept mobile homes. In just a few hours, the people here are going to decide whether to vote and whether they will be millionaires.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice over): For a quarter of a century, Warren and Pauline Bailey have lived in this quaint, neatly-kept mobile home park. Now their double-wide on a tiny parcel of land is worth more than they could ever have imagined.
WARREN BAILEY, MOBILE PARK RESIDENT: Just under $1.5 million.
ZARRELLA: The reason is simple: location, location, location. Just ask the developers, Ocean Land Investments.
LOGAN PIERSON, OCEAN LAND INVESTMENT INC.: I would say this is a -- the prime piece of real estate in Florida and perhaps in the Southeast.
ZARRELLA: The 488 mobile homes in Briny Breezes sit 15 miles south of West Palm Beach. On the west side of the park, the Intracoastal Waterway. On the east side, just past the pavilion, on the other side of the dune, is the Atlantic Ocean.
The developers offered half a billion dollars for the 43 acres. The individual owners would get varying amounts based on location.
But some folks like the Baileys...
PAULINE BAILEY, MOBILE PARK RESIDENT: I'll miss all this. Oh, honey. All my yard and all my garden.
ZARRELLA: ... aren't so eager to cash in paradise.
(on camera): The money wasn't that attractive to you?
P. BAILEY: Not at all. What we -- it wouldn't change our lifestyle one iota.
ZARRELLA (voice over): Bob Zavitz will have plenty of memories, too.
(on camera): Are you going to miss it here?
BOB ZAVITZ, MOBILE PARK RESIDENT: I certainly am.
ZARRELLA (voice over): But unlike the Baileys, Zavitz is ready to relocate and take the $800,000 he'll get for his sliver of sand.
ZAVITZ: I won't be on the ocean, but I can still access the ocean. And have half a million dollars in my pocket! You know? And now I can send my grandchildren to college and my wife and I can take a couple of dream trips.
ZARRELLA: The deal will go through if two-thirds of the residents vote in favor. Then they'll have two years to move.
For some, a dream come true. For others...
W. BAILEY: That's all right. We'll be together wherever we are.
ZARRELLA: ... it's paradise lost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: The vote starts here at 9:00 a.m., and if it's approved, the developer plans to put in a five-star hotel, $903 million condominiums, and an upscale yacht club.
And Miles, pardon the pun, but by then, around 2012, the people here may be leaving with boatloads of money -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Boatloads of money.
What's your sense of how it's going to go? Have you been taking an informal poll yourself? ZARRELLA: Yes, we have, and most -- it's funny, because the people who are voting in favor of it think it's going to be defeated, and the people who are voting against it think it's going to pass. So right now, nobody knows.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Hopefully, there will be no dangling chads or anything there. We don't want any of that, John. It is Florida, after all.
All right -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Probably brought you back to Washington, D.C., didn't it?
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, this morning we're talking about four words that changed a nation -- "I have a dream." The inside story of Martin Luther King's speech at the march on Washington and how it wasn't the one he was actually supposed to give.
And then later, managing menopause with hormone therapy now discouraged for long-term use. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at some other treatment options.
Those stories and much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: A couple of developing stories we're watching for you this morning.
President Bush expected to deploy 20,000 troops to Iraq as part of a new war plan that he's announcing tonight. Some troops could ship out by the end of the month.
And The Associated Press reporting an al Qaeda leader killed in a U.S. air strike in Somalia we first told you about yesterday. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed is expected in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.
Fifteen minutes past the hour. If you're headed out the door, you need a traveler's forecast, don't you? Chad Myers has it.
Hello, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: We're going to take a break.
When we come back, we'll they you about the "I Have a Dream" speech. What an amazing speech. A speech that might not have happened, were it not for a couple twists of history.
Soledad will explain as she continues her fascinating series on Dr. Martin Luther King's papers, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: It's a sad day on college campuses all across this great land. They are mourning the loss of an inventor who changed their lives. We're not talking about the inventor of the cinderblock book shelf or the NoDoz, or the bong, for that matter. This is -- we're talking -- by the way, it's five minutes before 25 minutes past the hour.
Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This report couldn't wait.
The inventor of the ramen noodles has died at the age of 96. A gentleman in Japan -- and, you know, after I did butcher that beer name yesterday, I'm going to read this one -- Momofuku Ando.
M. O'BRIEN: What was that beer name again?
VELSHI: Buja (ph) -- something or other.
Momofuku Ando passed away. He was 96 years old.
He -- during wartime in Japan, he -- you know, was looking for ways to have affordable food. And by the way, we got these two for a buck and change, or something, these two six-packs.
S. O'BRIEN: I love ramen.
M. O'BRIEN: You could eat for two weeks on that. Two bucks.
VELSHI: Yes. I mean, this is really good stuff. A little high on the sodium. In 1971, he came out with the one in a cup, which I was definitely some sort of aficionado of.
There's a museum in Japan dedicated to the -- it's the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. I'm definitely doing better with his name than I was with the beer yesterday.
And there's a book. I don't know if we've got this, but there's a book I found with 101 things to do or 100 things to do with ramen noodles, most of which we could actually discuss -- "101 Ways to Make Ramen Noodles."
M. O'BRIEN: Some we can't?
VELSHI: Yes, well, it's a family show. Perhaps later tonight we'll have the noodle things that you can do that you can't discuss.
But we're mourning the passing of the inventor of ramen noodles. Soledad's giving me a look.
S. O'BRIEN: I love that stuff.
VELSHI: OK.
S. O'BRIEN: A little high in sodium. I do.
(CROSSTALK)
S. O'BRIEN: Can I have the chicken?
VELSHI: It has saved many a student, and it's good to have in your -- in your cupboard. So...
S. O'BRIEN: And many a working mom.
VELSHI: That's right.
S. O'BRIEN: Add a lot of water, don't put the stuff in, the high sodium. Kids love that stuff.
VELSHI: Yes, just keep the powder out.
There you go.
M. O'BRIEN: There you go.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, good.
VELSHI: Don't say I don't bring you the good stuff.
S. O'BRIEN: Ali, you are the man.
Today we're going to take you behind the scenes of one of the most memorable moments in the civil rights movement, the march on Washington. And we're learning that four simple words, "I have a dream," weren't meant to be spoken that day.
The inner circle of Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. had prepared a different speech. And as the King estate is granting us some very rare access to Dr. King's private papers and his speeches, his advisors are bringing those words to life.
Words, of course, that changed a nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a dream...
CROWD: I have a dream...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... that my four children...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... will one day live in a nation...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... where they will not be judged by the color of their skin...
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: ... but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
S. O'BRIEN (voice over): Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech at the march on Washington on August 28, 1963, is one of the most important in human history.
DR. ANDREW YOUNG, FMR. U.N. AMBASSADOR: It has become the defining moment of the human rights movement of our time. They know it in Russia, they know it in South Africa, they know it in China.
CROWD (SINGING): We shall overcome
S. O'BRIEN: But the words "I have a dream" almost didn't make it into the speech.
DR. WYATT TEE WALKER, KING'S CHIEF OF STAFF: The inner circle of Dr. King felt that the "I have a dream" portion was hackneyed and trite because he had used it so many times in other cities.
S. O'BRIEN: Dr. King had been writing about this dream for decades. His inspiration can be traced back to these books from his library, now kept in this vault near Morehouse College, king's alma mater.
In his well-worn copy of "The Christ of the American Road," Dr. King underlined...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "America is a dream unfulfilled, a place where race and birth and color are transcended by the fact of a common brotherhood."
S. O'BRIEN: In this book, 'Horns and Halos," he pencils this note...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "A dream that did not come true."
S. O'BRIEN: Dr. King makes this message his own in the late '50s. In his speech "Shattered Dreams," he advises a crowd...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "You must honestly confront your shattered dream."
S. O'BRIEN: In the months before the march on Washington, Dr. King starts to focus on a positive dream.
KING: Don't even be afraid...
S. O'BRIEN: A dream that could be realized through the civil rights movement. He toys with this idea in an address to the National Press Club. But before the speech, he crosses out the paragraph.
The night before the march, Dr. King's inner circle wants a new message.
WALKER: I remember very vividly Andy Young and I going up there on the steps of the (INAUDIBLE) hotel, taking drafts of what we thought should be a new climax. S. O'BRIEN: Staying up into the early-morning hours, they write and rewrite the speech. Dr. King wanted it to be a kind of "Gettysburg Address."
Then he tells them...
CLARENCE JONES, SO. CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONF.: "Thank you for your counsel. Thank you for your suggestions, all your help. I'm going upstairs to counsel with the lord."
S. O'BRIEN: The next day, Dr. King takes this only known copy of his speech called "Normalcy - Never Again" with him. Nowhere does it mention his dream.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have the pleasure to present to you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
S. O'BRIEN: With the Lincoln Memorial behind him and facing a quarter of a million people, Dr. King delivers his speech.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was standing up and to the side.
KING: Now is the time...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And after he went through all this stuff about what we're here today, and so on and so forth, he paused. And what I did see him do...
KING: I still have a dream.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... he turned the text over. He grabbed the podium. And he leaned back and looked out.
KING: I have a dream.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was out in the crowd somewhere, and when he swung into "I have a dream," I said -- all expletives deleted -- after all that work that night before up and down the steps, and then he went onto the "I have a dream" section.
KING: Because I have a dream!
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: He transformed those marble steps into a modern-day pulpit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I said to whoever that person sitting next to me was, I said, "The people here today, they don't know it, but they're about ready to go to church."
KING: Free at last! Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last!
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE) S. O'BRIEN: And Washington became a big turning point for Dr. King. It transformed his civil rights crusade from sort of a scattering of protests against racism in the South, to a powerful, national movement.
Tomorrow we're going to take a look at how the world was taking notice of King's message of nonviolence. And if you want to read more on the life and works of Dr. King, or explore some of the documents from his private papers, you can go to CNN.com, also to thekingcenter.org.
But, you know, interesting background that Andrew Young told us. Keep in mind, a lot of these civil rights organizations were very competitive. So they finally get access for the march on Washington, and one of the things they do is put Dr. King at the end of the day.
Why? Because the leaders are all very competitive. And at the end of the day, the news reels would have left.
They would go, they would shoot, and then in order to turn it around to make the evening news...
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: ... they had to leave kind of early. So he's put at the end of the day, given nine minutes for the speech, says Andrew Young, and they said go as long as you want. And the legend goes that Mahalia Jackson, the great singer, yells out, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" At which point he turns over and he launches...
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, and that's what triggered it?
S. O'BRIEN: That -- no one can -- everyone will say, "Well, I was right there and I don't know if that's true or not."
Interesting that, while people in the crowd, you can see from some of those shots where he just transfixed during that speech, when it came out on the news, it was no big deal, because there was no real transcript of the speech. The news organizations, to a large degree, some of them, had missed it.
They weren't rolling on it. You know, they didn't turn around like we did today. And it wasn't until the transcript, the actual transcript of the actual speech came out and started making the rounds that people realized what an amazing speech it was.
M. O'BRIEN: So it's not really accurate to say if came off the top of his head. It was a career in the making, wasn't it? It was a speech that just kind of happened.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, I mean, yes. I mean, he was a man who was great at speaking off the top of his head.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: So, yes, he definitely -- it was an idea that he had been toying around with, but the actual launching into the "I have a dream" was an adlib.
M. O'BRIEN: It still gives me goose bumps to see it. It really does.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, amazing, isn't it?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: It's amazing stuff.
We've got a look at our top stories coming on AMERICAN MORNING.
We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush addresses the nation tonight. It won't be the first time he tries to mark a turning point in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.
(CHEERING)
M. O'BRIEN: Since the now-infamous speech, 2,875 U.S. troops have been killed, more than 20,000 wounded. And then there was this, purple fingers filled our television sets in early 2005. The president touted the Iraqi elections.
BUSH: The new political situation in Iraq opens a new phase of our work in that country.
M. O'BRIEN: After that, the violence dipped briefly, but by the fall of that year, it was on the rise, with the number of Iraqi civilian deaths estimated at 1,000 a month. In November, the White House rolled out a new war plan, a 35-page, glossy book with a series of four presidential pep rallies.
BUSH: We will increasingly move out of Iraqi cities, reduce the number of bases from which we operate, and conduct fewer patrols and convoys.
M. O'BRIEN: In early 2006, the United Nations estimated the Iraqi civilian death toll had risen to more than 2,000 a month, while the president hinted U.S. troops could be leaving Iraq.
BUSH: As more Iraqi forces stand up, American forces will stand down.
M. O'BRIEN: But by the summer, U.S. troop levels in Baghdad went up, along with the violence. And just days before the elections, the president was offering a more somber assessment.
BUSH: I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq. I'm not satisfied either.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: So tonight the president will once again lay out a plan about the single issue that will no doubt define his presidency -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, tonight President Bush is going to make what could be his last best case to the American people when it comes to the war in Iraq, and as we mentioned during this morning, he's expected to propose measures that would include the surge of, it's estimated, 20,000 more troops to Baghdad and the Anbar province.
Republican Senator Gordon Smith has opposed a surge like that. He was among lawmakers who had a chance to meet with the president this week, ahead of tonight's speech. Senator Smith is on Capitol Hill.
Nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us.
SEN. GORDON SMITH (R), OREGON: Pleasure to be with you.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
You were among a select few who had an opportunity to spend a little time with the president before he gives his speech. I'm curious to know what you told him, since you've been so opposed, certainly vocally in recent months.
SMITH: Well, I've been very clear with the White House, my own concern is that this latest surge just simply exalts hope over experience. And the missing ingredient is Iraq is American military force; it is frankly the Iraqis showing up to work and making political decisions that will allow them to have a future as a country. It's their country, and what they need to decide is the nature of their federalism between their three tribes. They need to decide how their oil is distributed. They need to decide what human rights are for minorities within their country. These are their decisions, not ours, and those decisions, once made, will produce security, not the other way around.
S. O'BRIEN: Back in December on the floor of the Senate, as I'm sure you well recall, you made a speech, including these words. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: So now the policy, looks like it's going to add 20,000 U.S. troops. When you say criminal, are you saying what President Bush might be doing here is criminal, in your own words?
SMITH: No. I was referring to a strategy that did not equal victory, as he's defined it, to tactics that have unnecessarily put our kids in harm's way, and 3,000 dead, 20,000 and more with missing limbs. You know, eventually, doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result to me just doesn't add up to smart. And it seemed incredibly wrong. And that's what I was saying. I was referring rhetorically, not in a legalistic sense.
But I'm afraid what we're now proposing to do with this surge of 20,000, if you're going to actually clear, hold, and build these areas of Iraq, it probably takes more like 200,000.
Now I'm not a general, I don't know the numbers, but we've done 20,000 before -- it has made no difference, because the Iraqis, whom we have trained, have simply not shown up for the fight. This is their fight, it's not our fight. What we voted to go and do, we have done. We have toppled a tyrant, and we have rid him of weapons that, obviously some he had, others, the more lethal types, he did not have.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. So as you well know, Senator Kennedy is proposing legislation that would force the president, basically, to come to Congress to vote on the plan that the president's expected to announce tonight. Would you support president -- rather Senator Kennedy's proposal?
SMITH: Well, you know, we have only one commander in chief at a time. He's going to have this surge accomplished before the Senate ever gets around to voting on this next week.
I actually do support Senator Kennedy in this respect. I do think the time has arrived, if we're going to stay and continue to escalate this, for another authorization. My problem, my dilemma, the war powers debate that has gone on since the beginning of our country is simply this -- do you -- is it right, is it honorable to defund the troops when they're ordered to stay in place, and we then budget away their bullets? That, to me, seems dangerous and deadly to our troops, and that is the crossroads that we're at, and it's a real dilemma.
S. O'BRIEN: Senator Gordon Smith is a Republican from Oregon joining us this morning. Nice to see you, sir, and thank you for your time.
SMITH: You're very welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, doctors are rethinking hormone therapy for women in menopause. So what's the alternative. Sanjay Gupta in the house with the answer.
And where's the beefcake? If the race for the Oval Office had a swimsuit competition, one U.S. senator would win it, pecs down.
Jeanne Moos with that. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Each month about 150,000 American women enter menopause, and that can come with a series of just miserable side effects. With long-term hormone therapy now linked to breast cancer, women haven't really been left with many options for relief, but that's changing.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in the CNN Center in Atlanta. Sanjay, good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. This is probably one of the most confusing health topics that we've talked about for a lot of women out there.
But getting a better understanding of what exactly a woman's going through as they go through menopause gives a better understanding of what treatment options are out there as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Most see Pat Dodson living a charmed life. Her 60th birthday last year at her home, an old San Francisco speakeasy. Her life, a whirlwind of political campaigns and parties, a stark contrast to 14 years ago, when her mood crashed.
PAT DODSON, SYMPTOMS OF MENOPAUSE AT 47: I was scared and I was very irritable. I was like being a different person.
GUPTA (voice-over): Throughout her 30s and 40s, Dotson juggled family life with career. At 47, she began having problems sleeping. Her tipping point, the day she confronted her husband with a list of his flaws.
DODSON: I was feeling alone. I was feeling angry. I was feeling sad. I was feeling as though I should get a divorce.
GUPTA: While there is no research suggesting a solid link between divorce and menopause, after the age of 50, 65 percent of all divorce papers are filed by women.
But luckily for Dodson, before it went that far, she found neuropsychiatrist Dr. Louann Brizendine, who told her, like 30 percent of all women, her trouble sleeping was an often missed sign of menopause.
DR. LOUANN BRIZENDINE, NEUROPSYCHATRIST: The biggest complaint in my office is often intense irritability, decreased libido, and lots of times mood fluctuations.
GUPTA: Brizendine says that when women reach 51 years old, they experience a seismic shift in hormones.
BRIZENDINE: Our estrogen and progestrogen starts to have our brain fluctuating on a wave up and down, estrogen, progesterone, through our menstrual cycle. So that changes our reality as we go through our cycle.
GUPTA: How do you manage menopause? Citing a recent breast cancer study, the FDA's revised guidelines state "hormone therapy should be used for short-term relief of menopausal symptoms."
GUPTA: Brizendine says she prescribes hormones just to get over the transitional bump of menopause, but she also prescribes anti- depressants.
BRIZENDINE: Small doses that just take the irritability off and rebalance in the brain the things that estrogen usually does most of our lives, but is now becoming erratic.
GUPTA: Dodson now exercises daily and briefly took hormones and anti-depressants. Now at 61, she's experiencing menopausal zest.
DODSON: It's not something to look at, you know, with any kind of fear. It's something for women just to make sure, I think, that they get the right kind of care.
GUPTA: And with the right information, women can have a new mindset toward menopause.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: You know, it's pretty remarkable. So many different things are happening in a woman's body. Certainly we know the estrogen levels are falling, but the levels of oxytosin, another hormone also falling. That sort of the cuddling hormone -- may make people less affectionate. They're less likely to be caretakers as well.
That's a change in hormones, rather than a change in attitude. Also, a very interesting fact Soledad -- menopause as strictly defined actually lasts just one day. It's defined as the day 12 months after a woman's last menstrual period. Very long day as it turns out for some women.
S. O'BRIEN: If that's a day that lasts a year, I'm sure. Can I ask you a quick question, so how long does that sort of time when the women are clearly like this, I mean, erratic and miserable and almost like crazy in some cases, it sounds like, how long does that last? Can you take hormones for just a little while and actually get over that bump?
GUPTA: Yes, you can, and that's a very important point. It's obviously very different for different women, which is why it's so difficult to target a one size fits all therapy.
It was believed that the hormone levels dropped, replace them. It made theoretical sense, but obviously, as you pointed out, there are risks. Doctors advise, as you say, take it for the shortest amount of time, the smallest dose possible.
S. O'BRIEN: Well I'll be fun to work with, right, Miles? Woo- hoo!
M. O'BRIEN: Just one day. It's just one day. You thought D-Day was the longest day, boy.
S. O'BRIEN: The day that lasts forever. Sanjay, thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Wow. That day is a long one, for sure. "CNN NEWSROOM" just moments away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Hi, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there Miles and good morning everybody. Sanjay is really choking over here, still laughing at the last comment.
These are some of the stories we're working on this morning in our rundown this morning.
New Iraq strategy. As you well know, President Bush will be laying out his plan tonight. We will preview it in the NEWSROOM. CNN live coverage of the speech and analysis throughout the evening as well.
And a new year, time to take stock. Personal finance editor Gerri Willis stops by. She's got tips to tune up your retirement portfolio. Good idea.
And speeders, beware. A Florida woman hangs on a yellow, flashing light and a traffic camera. Guess who's in trouble with police now? Whoops.
Tony Harris is with me in the NEWSROOM -- top of the hour right here on CNN -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: You mean it's illegal to do that?
COLLINS It might be a little bit.
M. O'BRIEN: Really?
COLLINS: And dressing up like a police officer not a good idea either.
M. O'BRIEN: That idea would be bad. Thank you, Heidi.
Coming up, a U.S. senator, possible presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama making a splash, and we're not just talking about politics here. AMERICAN MORNING will be back shortly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: We've been seeing a lot of Senator Barack Obama lately, nothing quite like this, though. Making a big splash in "People" Magazine. CNN's Jeanne Moos has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sorry, but we refuse to obey the headline, quote, "Stop looking at it."
It being Barack Obama in a swimsuit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little flabby, I'm sorry to say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looks gorgeous.
MOOS: There he is in a two-page spread in "People" entitled "Beach Babes". The babes range from Jessica Alba in a bikini to actor Hugh Jackman with his six-pack abs.
The senator's inclusion led to this "Washington Post" headline: "The Honorable Beach Babe from Illinois.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would vote for her, to be honest with you.
MOOS: That would be Penelope Cruz.
How did a possible presidential candidate get mixed in with the beach babes? In the words of Senator Obama himself: "It's, uh, paparazzi... Stop looking at it!"
"It's embarrassing," he told the "Washington Post".
The pictures were taken while the senator was vacationing in Hawaii. Watery shots can come back to drown a politician.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry, which ever way the wind blows.
MOOS: The first President Bush wasn't afraid to take off his shirt and dive in.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's wonderful!
MOOS: But George W. Bush was smart enough to know what not to wear at a summit in Cancun.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No Speedo suit here. Thankfully.
MOOS: This image of Arnold Schwarzenegger ricocheted around the web, temporarily terminating his pumping iron image.
Even the woman running president of France got nabbed in her bikini. Segolene Royal weathered the exposure well.
But when LBJ revealed his surgical scar, it left a mental scar on many.
As for Obama:
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has rolls. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rolls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looks pretty good to me.
MOOS: She left, then came back to add:
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn't look so good that he's spending all his time working out. He's probably paying more attention to policy matters.
MOOS: Obama is known for working out at a Chicago club. A columnist who happened to run into him in the locker room memorably said, "Obama doesn't have enough fat on his body to make a butter pat."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to see Ted Kennedy in the same pose.
MOOS: And then there's the shot of the Clintons dancing on the beach that ended up on the front page. Boy, did they look white as ghosts.
Funny how a guy who looks a little like he's swimming in his business suits looks not so skinny when he's actually swimming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Buy big, look small. Buy big, look small. That's what I say.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: I've got to try that buy big thing.
S. O'BRIEN: He doesn't have rolls.
M. O'BRIEN: No, there's no rolls there. Those pecks are those ...
S. O'BRIEN: He's in good shape.
(INAUDIBLE)
M. O'BRIEN: Here's a quick look at what "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
President Bush spells it out tonight in a live prime time speech. We preview his new Iraq strategy.
U.S. air strikes in Africa. A Somali official says one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists was killed.
Actress Suzanne Somers pledging to rebuild after Malibu's spectacular fire. Michigan gas station fire. The driver gets back in the burning truck. You're in the NEWSROOM, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Quick note to our viewers, CNN will have live coverage tonight of the president's prime time address of course, before, during, and after.
A special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn begins at 7:00 Eastern. Then the speech at 9:00 Eastern. And stay with CNN for special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE" and "ANDERSON COOPER 360" afterward.
That's all from here for AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
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