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American Morning
State of the Union: Bold Proposals; New Bush Polls; Petraeus Testifies: Confirmation Hearings
Aired January 23, 2007 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Big and bold -- the president promises for tonight's State of the Union Address, even though his poll numbers are sinking.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Passports, please, even if you're going to Canada or coming home from the Caribbean. The new rules you need to know.
S. O'BRIEN: And gold rush. We'll take you live to Hollywood for the 2007 Oscar nominations on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back, everybody, Tuesday, January 23rd.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: President Bush is going to look out on a Democratically-controlled Congress and a skeptical American public as he makes his State of the Union speech tonight. The White House says he's going to make bold proposals on Iraq and healthcare, education, immigration, and energy. He's expected to reach out to Congress to get bipartisan work done in the time that the has left in office.
He's going to talk between 45 and 50 minutes. The speech has actually been getting longer each time they make a revision.
We begin our special coverage at the White House this morning. That's where CNN's Elaine Quijano is for us.
Good morning, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Well, aides do say that a significant portion of President Bush's State of the Union Address tonight will, in fact, be devoted to Iraq. Nevertheless, at the same time, the White House, ahead of the State of the Union, is aggressively pushing the president's domestic agenda.
Aides say that his speech will not be a laundry list of initiatives, but rather will be more thematic, they say, focusing on issues including immigration, energy, education and healthcare. At the same time, the White House is facing deep bipartisan skepticism over the president's plan for more troops in Iraq.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow defended the president's decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think anybody at this point thinks that the Iraqis right now have the capability all by themselves. On the other hand, we're spending a lot of time developing that capability, on-the-job training for Iraqi forces, so they are able, and so our troops, when they return home, not only can get the appreciation for a job well done, but we will have sent a message to terrorists that they can't succeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And as you noted, aides say that the president's speech right now is running roughly 45 to 50 minutes long. As for his domestic agenda, tomorrow the president will begin traveling the country to sell his initiatives -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House for us this morning.
Thank you, Elaine -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: We have new numbers out this morning showing the president's challenge. A new CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll showing his fellow Americans are increasingly unhappy with his presidency and with him.
Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider live in Washington with a look at numbers.
Bill, what are the special challenges the president faces?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: A skeptical audience. Not just the Democrats in Congress, who now control, but also the American public. He enters this State of the Union with the lowest approval rating, 34 percent, of any president going into his next to the last year in office, at least on record.
And most Americans say when we asked them, "Is his presidency a success or a failure?" Fifty-five percent of Americans say Mr. Bush's presidency has been a failure. It's not the economy. That's what brought down his father.
Sixty percent of Americans, more than that, say the economy's doing well. It's Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Sixty percent say they disapprove of the troop buildup and they want Congress to stop it.
M. O'BRIEN: This disillusionment, does it spill over in other issues?
SCHNEIDER: It does. What we're seeing is that only 28 percent of Americans believe that the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror. As you can see, most people say neither side is winning. That number who say the U.S. and its allies are winning, 28 percent, that, Miles, is the lowest number we've ever seen.
M. O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider in Washington.
Thank you.
CNN, of course, has the best political team on television. Mr. Schneider a key member of that team.
Our live primetime coverage of tonight's State of the Union Address begins at 7:00 Eastern, and that will of course carry into the next AMERICAN MORNING. We begin at a special time, 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
We hope to see you then, dark and early, as they say -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, a warning from al Qaeda's second in command on a new videotape. Ayman al-Zawahiri ridicules President Bush's plan to send more troops into Iraq, predicting a fate worse than anything America has seen, he says.
In Houston, a Texas man is going to spend 15 years in prison for his role in the nation's deadliest case of human smuggling. Prosecutors say that Freddie Giovanni Garcia Tobar (ph) helped recruit the trucker who smuggled 70 immigrants into Texas in 2003. Nineteen of them died in that sweltering tractor-trailer. The driver has been sentenced to life in prison.
The government is considering setting higher standards for birth control pills. The Food and Drug Administration says newer pills don't appear to work as well as those which were approved decades ago. Officials say it's most likely due to those lower doses of hormones that stop ovulation.
Natural gas prices are rising as prices fall across the country. Prices are up 16 percent since the new year alone. Analysts say homeowners probably will not see an immediate impact.
And he could be the next commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, but first he's got to get past the Senate Armed Services Committee. Confirmation hearings beginning today for General David Petraeus, who's been named to replace General George Casey.
Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us live with a preview of what we might see today.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Just about an hour and a half from now, General Petraeus will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has his work cut out for him.
It's a busy day in Washington with the State of the Union. A lot of focus on Iraq.
General Petraeus will make clear in his testimony that it will not be business as usual in Iraq. One of the things he will tell the senators is that he wants U.S. troops out of their heavily-protected bases, he wants them right in the neighborhoods. According to the testimony he submitted, he says, "I plan to ensure that some of our forces locate in the neighborhoods they protect."
That means right in Baghdad. Not clear how the forces will be able to protect themselves against attacks if they are right in Baghdad.
General Petraeus also lists almost three pages of mistakes that he believes the U.S. made both during the invasion of Iraq, right after that in the following years. Some of them sound pretty familiar -- that the Iraqis did not resume their government functions after the invasion; that the resistance, the insurgency was underestimated all along the way; disbanding the Iraqi army, of course that's one we've heard before. But General Petraeus also will tell the committee that not enough attention was paid to the sectarian violence that emerged after the bombing of the Golden Mosque in February, 2006. In retrospect, many people believe that was a turning point downward for the United States, when they didn't recognize that the sectarian violence really was beginning to take hold in the country.
General Petraeus is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, but as you mentioned, he is replacing General George Casey, who was supposed to come back and get confirmation hearings himself to be the next chief of staff of the Army. General Casey's nomination may be in trouble -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon watching it all for us.
Thank you, Barbara -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Flying to Canada or Mexico or the Caribbean today? You'd better pack a passport, or you will have some explaining to do when you come home.
CNN's Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve live at Reagan National Airport in Washington with more.
Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. Driver's licenses, birth certificates, they just won't be enough anymore. It's a big change. It takes effect today, and it's all in the name of security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): This land was made for you and me
MESERVE (voice over): No passport, no problem. A new selling point for the U.S. Virgin Islands. But as of today, people flying from many other Caribbean destinations, Mexico and Canada, will need a passport to enter or re-enter the U.S.
Recent five-hour waits at Canadian passport offices a sign the public has gotten the message. Passport demand in the U.S. has surged as well. And U.S. government statistics on air travelers suggest the passport change will go smoothly.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: For the last week, Americans coming back to the U.S., 94 percent, came with a passport. Canadians were 96 percent. Mexico was 100 percent.
MESERVE: But if you don't have a passport, will you be turned around?
STOCKWELL DAY, CANADA MINISTER OF PUBLIC SAFETY: We've got a commitment from the U.S. government that if people show up, they don't have their passport, they have other documents, that they don't pose a risk, that it might be a little slower for them, but they will move through.
MESERVE: Canada is much more worried about damage to trade and tourism when the U.S. requires people entering by land and sea to have passports. That could happen as early as January, 2008, but Canada is asking for a delay. The U.S. goal is to tighten security.
BOB JACKSTA, U.S. CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION: Today we have people arriving at our ports of entry with a number of different type of documents -- birth certificates, driver's licenses, thousands of different types. And we think this is going to bring it down to one consistent uniform form or document.
MESERVE: But at least one security analyst thinks the security payoff isn't big enough.
JAMES CARAFANO, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I really think that we ought to be looking at harmonizing our policies, creating a common perimeter, creating a Western Hemisphere that's safe, rather than trying to wall American off like an imaginary line.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: For now, U.S. officials are going to show some flexibility in enforcing the new rule, but down the line you can expect to hear, "No passport, no entry."
Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve in Washington.
Thank you.
A trip to the Caribbean might sound pretty good today, as a matter of fact. Chad has the forecast coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
And the president will lay out his proposals tonight in the State of the Union, but can he get it done in his dwindling days in office?
And look out below. High anxiety for neighbors of this Kentucky dam.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
Happening right now, two separate raids in northern England net five terror suspects.
And envoys from North and South Korea are meeting in Beijing. It's an effort to restart those six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear program -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: When you watch our coverage of the State of the Union speech tonight, you won't miss a thing. All the movers, all the shakers, they'll weigh in, but we aren't stopping there.
Larry King is going to give you a chance to weigh in as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Tonight, "LARRY KING LIVE" presents a special at midnight Eastern, 9:00 Pacific, following the State of the Union message. We'll have lots of guests giving their thoughts, but we also thought you might like to hear the opinion of people on the street, or at Nate 'n Al's famous deli in Beverly Hills.
Tomorrow night's the State of the Union. What do you expect?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I expect to hear a lot about Iraq. That's what I expect to hear, or I hope to hear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I expect that he's going to talk about what he's going to do in Iraq, and I know that that's, you know, a negative for some people. But I have to admire someone who is willing to go against public opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you guys like a refill of coffee?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to hear that the security situation in Iraq is going to get better.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will the president be doing and what will Congress be doing to address the deficit, Social Security?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He really cares about how this country is going to become a safer, better place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to be infused with hope right now as a nation. I think everyone is feeling very down about what's going on.
KING: Do you think he'll give that message? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he will.
KING: Join us tonight, midnight Eastern, 9:00 Pacific, for a "LARRY KING LIVE" special, where you come first.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: CNN has the best political team on television, including Larry. Our live primetime coverage of tonight's State of the Union Address begins 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, right here.
Just keep it here, will you? And just keep it on tomorrow morning, too. AMERICAN MORNING begins at a special time. Special, that's a nice way of saying early, real early, 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll have a complete wrap-up of the president's address for you. So even if you fall asleep, we'll have it for you the next morning -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Special, as in, isn't that special.
Chad, want to give us a check of the traveler's forecast? 5:00 a.m. tomorrow, we'll see you, too.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. All right, I'll be here.
Good morning, guys.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thank you very much.
MYERS: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: While President Bush sketches out his new ideas for America tonight, he is also facing a war, a herd of candidates who are jockeying to replace him and the clock. He may not be a lame duck yet, but there are some people who say, what do I hear? Is that quacking?
Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley is part of the best political team on TV. She's in our Washington bureau this morning.
Hey, Candy. Good morning.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad. Good morning.
You're right, tonight the conversation will be about what the president would like to do, but thereafter, the question's going to be, what is he able to do?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice over): It is the worst of times, it is the worst of circumstances. ROBERT DALLEK, HISTORIAN: There's an old saying in American history that war kills reform, or, more generally, undermines the president's ability to get anything done in domestic affairs.
CROWLEY: George Bush is in the twilight of his presidential years, at the dawn of the next presidential cycle. This evening's State of the Union Address finds him weaker and his critics stronger than at any other point. It is time for the lame duck question -- Is he or isn't he? Watch for members of his own party to answer.
DALLEK: More and more you're going to see him on the margins of influence because you have 21 Republicans or Republican seats up for grabs and only 12 Democratic seats up for grabs in the U.S. Senate.
CROWLEY: You can tell in the nuances of even the most loyal Bush supporters that the pulling away has begun.
(on camera): Do you consider yourself a Bush Republican? Or are you going to need to distance yourself from the president?
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: I'm supporting the president on a number of issues, but I think we've got to go further, and I think we've got to get more bipartisan.
CROWLEY (voice over): Social Security, immigration, energy, healthcare, the list of things in need of fixing is lengthy and difficult, maybe impossible for a lame duck. Or maybe not.
LANNY DAVIS, FMR. CLINTON LEGAL ADVISER: I remember President Clinton in 1998 had so many ideas for the last two years of the Clinton administration. He was almost a liberated human being, because you're not running for re-election, you're running for history.
CROWLEY: And even if Republicans leave him in droves, there are some politicians with a vested interest in seeing that the next two years are as productive as possible.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: We vote Tuesday at noon.
CROWLEY: Remembering how politics makes for strange bedfellows.
MARY MATALIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The Democrats can't afford to do nothing for two years. This last midterm election was not about being in a free-fall or a stall for two years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: Bottom line here, Soledad, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it doesn't necessarily have to be a duck.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. So then what legislation, theoretically, could be accomplished? What could be done in that two-year window?
CROWLEY: The one that everyone almost always mentions is immigration, because the president is more in line with Democrats in the Senate and the House than he was with Republicans when they were in control of Congress. So that's one of them.
A lot of people think there is something that can be done about energy, because there is this new recognition that it is so intertwined with our national security.
There are some other things, you know, sort of minor things. What everyone thinks won't get done is major reform on some of the really tough issues -- Social Security, Medicare. Any kind of major legislation or major reform probably is going to have to wait until the next president.
S. O'BRIEN: Anything that's kind of contentious. All right.
Candy Crowley for us this morning.
Thank you, Candy.
CROWLEY: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, live to the Oscar nominations. We'll take you to Beverly Hills. That's just head.
Also, another huge wildfire threatening homes not far from Beverly Hills. We'll have latest on efforts to contain it.
And the former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson appears in court to enter a plea on drug charges.
That story and more, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: You're watching the most news in the morning.
Happening right now, tens of thousands joining a funeral procession in Istanbul for the journalist Hrant Dink. He was shot to death last week. A teenager in custody. The murder has sparked an outcry over rising nationalism in Turkey.
And burning barricades all over Lebanon. Several people injured. It's a major anti-government protest by Hezbollah supporters. The country virtually paralyzed this morning -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: In America this morning, divers in New Philadelphia, Ohio, have recovered the bodies of a 16-year-old girl and her grandmother. Their car apparently skidded on icy pavement, broke through a guardrail, and landed in a river on Sunday night.
In southern California, a wind-whipped wildfire threatening more than 20 homes in Thousand Oaks. That's northwest of Los Angeles. More than 200 firefighters are working to contain that fire. It's burned at least 30 acres so far, and so far the cause is unknown. In Arizona, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is pleading not guilty to drug charges. Tyson was arrested last month after he left a nightclub in Scottsdale. Police say they found bags of cocaine in his back pocket, another in a pack of cigarettes in his car. Prosecutors say they're going to look for prison time for Mike Tyson.
In Kentucky, fears of a dam break near Frankfort. The Army Corps of Engineers taking emergency action, lowering the water level of Lake Cumberland to reduce some pressure while they repair that dam that's 240 feet high. Apparently, the water's been seeping right underneath that dam.
And in Tracy, California, which is just east of San Francisco, folks are scratching their heads over how a sea lion ended up on a dairy farm on Monday. There have been other stories like this, yes.
It's crazy, isn't it? The farm's a mile away from the nearest body of water. Animal experts are examining the little sea lion before they send him back into the wild. Hopefully, back into the wild, that's not farmland, but water.
This happened a couple of times when I was in northern California. Sea lions would just...
M. O'BRIEN: Sea lions just -- maybe he thought it was seal test milk. Ever heard of that, seal test?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but no.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Anyway -- OK.
Imagine plugging away at your current job for, say, another 50 years. That's just what the world needs, isn't it, a 97-year-old morning news anchor talking about seal test milk, you know?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You might be able to get away with it, though.
M. O'BRIEN: Twenty-five minutes past the hour, girlie.
Stephanie Elam is here with a novel way to take a look at what lies ahead.
It's actually kind of scary. It is.
ELAM: Well, it's interesting, if you think about it, for what we do. You know, we have makeup, we have all sorts of things that can help us out. But for most people...
M. O'BRIEN: Makeup? Do you use makeup? Oh, I didn't know.
ELAM: No. This is how I naturally look. Can't you tell?
No. Anyway, if you take a look at what we do, you might think we have some advantages, but careerbuilder.com is helping you think about, what would you look like if you stayed at your job for a year on year on year, and it was a dead end job?
So you go to the Web site, upload a picture of yourself, answer a few questions, and then they'll help you, you know, see what you look like. You can type in some words and send a verbose image of you that is now aged on to your friends. And so we took the liberty of seeing what Soledad would look like if you went to Career Builder...
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I was like, oh, this will be so interesting to see how Stephanie looks!
M. O'BRIEN: Not me.
ELAM: Well, we want to see what you look. So here's Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Is this with the plastic surgery that I have, or...
ELAM: There you go. That would be you in 50 years if you had a job...
M. O'BRIEN: Well, she's got a mustache. She looks like Salvador Dali. What is that?
S. O'BRIEN: What is that?
M. O'BRIEN: What is that?
S. O'BRIEN: You know, if you don't -- OK, like Botox, have you people not heard of that? Come on!
ELAM: There's Miles. Miles gets a mustache. So, you know...
M. O'BRIEN: Oh my god.
ELAM: And just to be fair...
M. O'BRIEN: I'm sure I would be on some kind of watch list with a look like that.
ELAM: Just to be fair, there's me, which, I have to say, Soledad and I...
S. O'BRIEN: We look a lot alike.
ELAM: We kind of look the same as we get older through the years.
So it's kind of scary. But it's kind of funny. You can add in text, have it say something, send the e-mail on to your friends. Obviously it's all just for fun, but the idea...
S. O'BRIEN: Another way to waste time at work.
ELAM: Exactly. But also, Career Builder really wants to get traffic to their site. So that's one of their ways.
M. O'BRIEN: You've got to fill the 50 years up with something, and this is one of the things you should be doing.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. No matter what, I'm still not going to have a mustache.
ELAM: I'm going to try to do something about the age spots. I'll see if I can -- you know...
S. O'BRIEN: They have stuff for that. A good dermatologist can fix that.
Please.
ELAM: Exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, no one ever looks that way in Hollywood.
Oscars' gold rush is on this morning. We're moments away from the announcement of the nominations for this year's Academy Awards.
Stick around. We're taking you live to Hollywood, next.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning for the next 50 years, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The race for the White House is on. Hillary Rodham Clinton saying she's ready to take her plan to the people. You'll hear it.
S. O'BRIEN: And the race is on for Oscar gold, too. We're minutes away from the nominations from the Academy Awards.
Those stories and much more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back, everybody. It's Tuesday, January 23rd.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
We're glad you're with us.
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush is fighting an uphill battle, sending more troops into harm's way from a nation weary of war. In the past he could count on support from military families, but now some of those troops are going on their second, third, and sometimes fourth deployments to the war zone.
Our chief national correspondent John King is near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina with word on the weary troops.
Good morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.
They'll certainly be watching the president closely tonight, and you're right, there is more skepticism, even more opposition here. We're just up the road a bit from Camp Lejeune. The Army's Fort Bragg is a few hours away. The Air Force Base, the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, another of the many military installations here in North Carolina. There's a reason they'll be listening closely to the president -- when the nation goes to war in North Carolina it's often more personal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Live fire drills at Camp Lejeune, anxious faces so young.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check every single quarter.
KING: The lesson here, door-to-door urban combat, preparation for battling insurgents in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open our ears and our mind to your word.
KING: There is a lesson, too, in Pastor David Shirk's Sunday sermon.
PASTOR DAVID SHIRK, U.S. NAVY: Find ourselves in the middle of the desert. We can sit there and go, you know what? I don't deserve this. I don't deserve to be in this situation. This is unfair.
KING: Duty and honor are more than words in a state that honors its deep military tradition, yet for all the pride, there are also increasing signs of stress as repeat deployments strain military families, and more bloody days send the U.S. casualty count still higher.
SHIRK: You can choose to wallow around in self pity and say this sucks, I don't really like it and just kind of wallow around in it, or you can sit there and say, look, this is the reality; how am I going to make the best of it?
KING: Frank Hurley knows the strain first-hand. His 26-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, did an Iraq tour with her army unit two years ago, made it home, and received an honorable discharge.
FRANK HURLEY, FATHER OF CAPTAIN HURLEY: She had accepted a job, she had left town.
KING: But just before a summer deadline, the Army invoked its power to call Elizabeth back to active duty, and shipped her out for a second Iraq deployment.
HURLEY: I don't think that the president is evil in any way, or even uninterested in the sufferings of the military families; I think he's perhaps shown that he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to formulating methods of managing the war. KING: Retired Marine Colonel Jim Van Riper is somewhat more optimistic now that the Pentagon in is under new leadership, but says the president ultimately is responsible for strategic blunders in Iraq and for war opposition here at home.
COL. JIM VAN RIPER (RET.), U.S. MARINE CORPS: He has not articulated the policy, he's not articulated the strategy, he's not brought the country along. Most of the American people are just going about their normal business.
KING: Van Riper teaches a military strategy class full of officers who have been to Iraq twice or more. and know they will go again, especially now that the president is increasing troop levels.
RIPER: Like most Rangers, you're ready to go. That's what they signed on for. But you know it's there. I mean, when you talk to families, you see them, there's plenty of strain.
KING: And a mix of duty and worry as Iraq veterans prepare to deploy again and as new recruits train for their first taste of a controversial war now approaching the four-year mark.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And one sign of the increased skepticism compared to, say, two or three years ago here in these military communities, more and more, especially of the retired military officers who call this home, Miles, are saying that if it doesn't work this time, if the Iraqis don't hold up their end of the deal, and two or three months from now there are not tangible signs of progress in Iraq, then maybe the Democrats are right, some of these retired officers say, maybe they should put a cap on troop levels, not send more Americans into risk, if the Iraqis won't do their part -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: John King, who will be watching the speech with troops tonight. Thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: New this morning -- Lebanon is paralyzed, littered with burning barricades manned by Hezbollah protesters. Dozens of people have been injured, some by gunfire, and random skirmishes. And Hezbollah is calling for a general strike, hoping to topple the U.S.- backed Lebanese government.
Anthony Mills is live for us in Beirut this morning with the very latest.
Anything, good morning.
ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
A very serious escalation of protests that have gripped the heart of downtown Beirut since early December of last year. Today's general strike called by protest leaders are seeking to topple this U.S.- backed Lebanese government and gain a veto power share of seats for themselves and their allies. Now, today here in Beirut, burning barricades, cars on fire at key intersections and on key roads, overturned trash cans, rocks in the road. Impossible to pass major thoroughfares in Beirut, and indeed across the country.
So really a great state of paralysis here in Lebanon. And amid all of that, violence reported. According to the head of Lebanon's internal security forces, as many as 50 people have already been injured today in Lebanon in gunfire. Gunfire reported in Beirut and also elsewhere in the country. Sectarian tensions are very high here, and there's real concern on the street here and among ordinary Lebanese that with every hour that this crisis continues, that these barricades stay in place, the threat of civil war grows.
S. O'BRIEN: Anthony mills is in Beirut, Lebanon for us this morning with that live report. Anthony, thank you -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: The nominees for this year's Academy Awards about to be announced in Beverly Hills. How do you get a star up early? You have a show like this. You can see there's a stage...
S. O'BRIEN: We might win an Academy Award!
M. O'BRIEN: There's the stage at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. There it is, right there behind us. Anyway...
S. O'BRIEN: Oscar-nominated actress and Academy Member Salma Hayek, along with the MPAS president, Sid Ganis, are going to be reading out the nominations for the 10 categories. I love Salma Hayek. This will be fun to watch.
M. O'BRIEN: Leah Rozen apparently got on the wrong airplane. She's 700 miles away. She's in Park City, Utah at Sundance, which does connect the dots here a little bit, because this year's Sundance buzz will be next year's Oscar buzz, right, Leah?
LEAH ROZEN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE MOVIE CRITIC: Absolutely. I mean, you're probably going to see "Little Miss Sunshine" get nominated this morning, and that started at Sundance a year ago.
M. O'BRIEN: What else are you looking for this morning?
ROZEN: The nominations?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, what do you think? What's the buzz?
ROZEN: Well, the buzz is that probably "The Departed" is going to do well. "Little Miss Sunshine" is going to do well. In the female best actress category you're going to see the age range go way up, with Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep and Judi Dench probably all getting nominations, you know, striking one for women above a certain age.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, they seem younger every day to me, I'll tell you that. They look great! They look marvelous, as a matter of fact.
ROZEN: They look fabulous!
S. O'BRIEN: You mentioned...
ROZEN: So I think that's -- we're also going to see Brad Pitt, the real star power of Brad Pitt, how well "Babel" ends up doing.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that will be interesting to watch.
All right, Leah, we have Sid Ganis about to come Salma Hayek, of course, as well, so let's listen in to the announcements.
SID GANIS, PRESIDENT, MPAS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Sid Ganis, president of the Academy, and I'm joined this morning in our announcement by a very talented performer and producer. Please help me welcome to the podium, the Oscar-nominated actress, Salma Hayek.
SALMA HAYEK, FMR. ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE: Thank you, Sid. Good morning, everybody.
GANIS: The 2006 nominees for best performance by an actress in a supporting role are -- Adriana Barraza in "Babel," Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal," Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine," Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls," and Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel."
Selma?
HAYEK: Thank you.
For best performance by an actor in a supporting role, the nominees are -- Allen Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine," Jackie Earl Hailey in "Little Children," Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond," Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls," and Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed."
GANIS: For best performance by an actress in a leading role, the nominees are -- Penelope Cruz in "Volver."
HAYEK: Yes!
GANIS: Judi Dench in notes on a "Notes on a Scandal," Helen Mirren in "The Queen," Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada," and Kate Winslet in "Little Children."
HAYEK: The nominees for best performance by an actor in a leading role are -- Leonardo Dicaprio in "Blood Diamonds," Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson," Peter O'Toole in "Venus," Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness," and Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland."
GANIS: In the category of best achievement in directing, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel," Martin Scorsese for "The Departed," Clint Eastwood for "Letters From Iwo Jima," Stephen Frears for "The Queen," and Paul Greengrass for "United 93."
HAYEK: For best original screenplay, the nominees are -- Guillermo Arriaga for "Babel," Iris Yamashita and Paul Hagis for "Letters from Iwo Jima," Michael Orange for "Little Miss Sunshine," Guillermo Del Tormo for "Pan's Labyrinth" and Peter Morgan for "The Queen."
GANIS: For adapted screenplay, we have Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Heinz, Peter Barum (ph), Dan Maser (ph) and Todd Phillips (ph) for "Borat," Alfonso Karen, Timothy J. Sexon (ph), David Arata (ph), Mark (ph) Fergus and Hawk Asvay (ph) for "Children of Men," William Monahan (ph) for "The Departed," Todd Field and Tom Perota (ph) for "Little Children," and Patrick Marbar (ph) for "Notes on a Scandal."
HAYEK: For best foreign film language, we have from Denmark, "After the Wedding," from Algeria, "Days of Glory," from Germany, "The Lives of Others," from Mexico, "Pan's Labyrinth," and from Canada, "Water."
GANIS: And for animated feature film the nominees are -- "Cars," John Lasiter, "Happy Feet," George Miller, and "Monster House," Gill Keenan.
HAYEK: And finally, I am pleased to announce that the films nominated for best picture of 2006 are -- "Babel," Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, John Killic (ph) and Steve Gollin (ph) producers. "The Departed," nominees to be determined. "Letters From Iwo Jima," Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lawrence producers, "Little Miss Sunshine," nominees to be determined, and "The Queen," Andy Harris, Christine Langden (ph) and Tracy Seward producers.
GANIS: The envelopes will be opened and the winners revealed on Sunday, February 25th. See you then!
S. O'BRIEN: All right, that's Sid Ganis and Salma Hayek.
M. O'BRIEN: Selma! I would like for her just to say Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: I love that accent. That is beautiful.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and she is beautiful, too.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, that too.
S. O'BRIEN: Leah Rozen is still with us. She's in Park City, where it's a little chilly. It's not like where it is in Beverly Hills, where they're much warmer. Are there any big surprises in that list you just heard?
ROZEN: Yes, there are a couple really big surprises. "Dreamgirls" did not get a best picture nomination. That has to go down as a big disappointment for them. Brad Pitt did not get a best supporting actor nomination, and there had been a big campaign for him. And personal disappointment, Sacha Baron Cohen did not get a best actor nomination for "Borat."
M. O'BRIEN: Now Leah, do you really think he deserves best actor for "Borat?"
ROZEN: Well, that was quite a performance. You know, there was sort of talk, could he possibly get a nomination?
M. O'BRIEN: yes. ROZEN: And once he got a nomination from the Golden Globes, it sort of started to seem more of a reality.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: You see "The Departed," so Marty Scorsese, they haven't quite listed for best picture who they're going to put in that nomination, but I guess they say, you know, sort of to come, but Mary Scorsese, it's amazing to think that he has not got an Oscar. I think that's just shocking.
ROZEN: Well, I believe it's 13 nominations. I mean, he's had four nomination for best director. He's never won.
M. O'BRIEN: So he's like the Susan Lucci of this realm.
ROZEN: Exactly, and I think everyone's feeling is this is going to be his year.
M. O'BRIEN: It's got to be, don't you think? I mean, that's probably the safest money, if you're putting money -- and we're not encouraging wagering, of course, but if you were to put a little money on it, that's what you would do, right?
ROZEN: I would put there, yes. If you were betting, Miles, put it there. Just don't hold me to it.
S. O'BRIEN: Can I ask you a question, because you're in Park City and you've been at the Sundance Film Festival, tell me a little about this controversy behind this movie "Hounddog," which stars Dakota Fanning. Some of the stuff you read, it's very, very controversial, but you've seen it, right? I mean, how is it?
ROZEN: Yes, they showed it last night for the first time, 8:30, completely sold-out screening. You know, it's always referred to as the controversial rape film with Dakota Fanning. It's really not that controversial. Yes, her character is raped, but the way it is shown on the film, it's sort of, you know, you really, you see nothing. It's not -- it's very tastefully shot. The director got up afterwards, and she said, OK, isn't it nice to be able to talk about it now that you've actually seen it?
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's a little...
ROZEN: You know, so much exaggeration going on. The film itself is this sort of a Southern Gothic tale. Dakota Fanning is pretty much in every frame, gives an amazing performance.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, well I guess, you know that, was part of the criticism. They kept saying everyone's criticizing it, no one's actually seen it yet, so that's a little slap at them. Leah Rozen for us this morning.
Thanks, Leah. Thanks for talking with us.
ROZEN: You're welcome. M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Leah.
S. O'BRIEN: Enjoy the rest of Sundance. That's where she is this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Nice work if you can get it, I guess.
S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
So who do you think's going to take home an Oscar? You can make your predictions.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, I already told you, Marty Scorsese.
S. O'BRIEN: But I meant everybody. I don't mean -- and I know probably Salma Hayek is who you're rooting for.
M. O'BRIEN: Anything Salma.
S. O'BRIEN: You can go to CNN.com's "Inside the Envelope Game," correctly guess the most winners, and you can get a chance to win a home theater system. It includes a 42-inch plasma, high-def TV. Just go to CNN.com.
M. O'BRIEN: Are we disqualified from that? Because I could use that.
S. O'BRIEN: It doesn't say it. I did really well when we did this. Before they were giving out prizes, I used to do really well in the competition. Maybe I'll win this year.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, a former Marine hoping to walk again travels all the way to China for an experimental treatment. We'll tell you his story, straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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S. O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" just a couple of minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a little look at what's ahead this morning.
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad, and good morning to you everybody. We have these stories on the "NEWSROOM" rundown this morning, man with a mission. General David Petraeus on Capitol Hill next hour for Senate confirmation. President Bush wants him to put his new Iraq War plan into play on the ground in Baghdad.
And wildfire rampaging in Southern California again today. The blaze threatening several homes outside of Los Angeles. Plus, a sign of the times. A gas station pumping petrol from countries that don't dabble in terror. What station managers are calling terror-free oil. Talk about that alongside Tony Harris, coming up at the top of the hour right here on CNN.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Heidi, thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Heidi.
With limits on stem-cell research here in the states, some people are looking for highly-experimental and often unproven treatments elsewhere. But that could turn out to be a dangerous decision. Dr. Sanjay Gupta with more.
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JIM DUNN, QUADRIPLEGIC: I believe I'll walk again. I believe this very firmly.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six years ago, Jim Dunn, a former Marine and one of the most active guys you'd ever meet was walking down the street. He was violently struck from behind on the spine with a steel rod by an unknown assailant. Suddenly, he was paralyzed from the neck down. His doctors didn't offer any hope, so Dunn turned for help where many turn in desperation, the Internet. He found a Web site offering an experimental procedure he saw as his own option. It would involve a trip from California to China and $40,000. A neurosurgeon there, Dr. Huang Hongyun, using olfactory ensheathing (ph) cells. They are not stem cells, but they do come from aborted fetuses, which are readily available in China.
Huang believes these nose and brain cells can help nerve fibers recover and repair themselves. Dr. Huang says he's performed more than a thousand operations, directly injecting these cells into the brain or spinal cord. He has done it for ALS, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, strokes, cerebral palsy, and yes, spinal cord injuries. Dr. Dobkin, a UCLA neurologist, who's examined some of Huang's other patients, criticized his lack of clinical trials and follow-up with his patients.
DR. BRUCE DOBKIN, PROF. OF NEUROLOGY, UCLA: These patients that I saw came back with holes in the brain, holes in different parts of the spinal cord and no improvement.
GUPTA: CNN got an exclusive interview with Dr. Huang this past summer.
DR. HUANG HONGYUN, NEUROSURGEON: I never tell patients all treatment, all procedures can cure them. I never tell them.
GUPTA: In China, dr. Huang told the 68-year-old Dunn he would receive an injection of one million nose and brain cells into his spinal cord. Before Dunn's surgery, hospital nurses shot this video of him. He had a hard time doing simple tasks. According to his sister's journal, the operation was dicey. Dunn stopped breathing. He flat-lined, almost died. He was resuscitated. Awake, he reported feeling sensations in both arms that he didn't have before, and later, some in his hands and fingers. Several months later, though, he still can't walk. Huang says he's not surprised.
HUANG: For Jim Dunn, I don't think he can recover to walk.
GUPTA: Jim was stunned.
DUNN: He never told me that. It seems kind of incongruous to think that he would take my money knowing that he wasn't going to be able to do anything for me, doesn't it?
GUPTA: Still, even today, Dunn holds out hope.
DUNN: I'm always going to believe that this venture that I have embarked upon is going to pay the dividends that I want it to.
I got two parachutes left with about 6,000 jumps still left on them, and I intend to get every one of them.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Now Jim receives intense therapy, so it's hard to say if any movement regained from the experimental surgery was from that or from his hard work during rehabilitation -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: That's such a tough story. Why would the doctor not tell him at the get-go? He just wants to walk.
M. O'BRIEN: Fighting hard, isn't he?
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look at what "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for you for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM," President Bush wants him to carry out his new Iraq strategy. General David Petraeus on Capitol Hill for confirmation, next hour.
Strong winds pushing a Southern California fire too close to home for some.
An Aussie diver's incredible claim. His head locked in the jaws of a great white shark.
You're in the "NEWSROOM," 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.
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