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Two Suicide Bombers Strike Patrol Base in Diyala, Killing 9 U.S. Soldiers; Georgia Wildfire; Food Safety

Aired April 24, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, everybody.

I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Heidi Collins today.

You'll want to watch events come in to the NEWSROOM live on this Tuesday, April 24th. Here's what's on the rundown.

They patrol some of the most dangerous real estate in Iraq. Now nine members of the 82nd Airborne killed in a suicide attack.

HARRIS: The risk of dangerous weather running high today. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas could get hit with powerful tornadoes.

NGUYEN: He wasn't playing in the game. A sideline slam gets a little boy two dozen stitches.

HARRIS: Wow.

NGUYEN: Ouch. And a day in the spotlight. Hard tackle in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: At the top of the hour, two suicide bombers, one common mission, and they achieved horrific success. Nine U.S. soldiers killed, 20 wounded. It is the single deadliest attack on U.S. ground forces in a year and a half. And for their base back home, the worst losses yet of the war.

CNN's Rusty Dornin has the reaction at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

But first, Arwa Damon on the ground in Baghdad.

Arwa, good morning.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

That's right, as you just mentioned there, that devastating attack that took place yesterday at a patrol base in the Diyala River Valley, that is just north of the capital, Baghdad. The double suicide bombing killing nine U.S. soldiers and wounding another 2, and really re-emphasizing what many people already know, and that is that Diyala Province is becoming the new frontline for the fight between U.S. forces and al Qaeda and Iraq.

Over recent months we have seen al Qaeda increasingly establishing its presence in that area as there have been the crackdowns in Al Anbar province just to the west, and in the capital, Baghdad, as well as the shifting of U.S. forces. We have seen the fight intensifying in that province between al Qaeda or al Qaeda elements and the U.S. troops that are operating in that area.

Both sides really taking the battle to each other. And as the U.S. military will tell you, it is very difficult and it is not pretty -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. So, Arwa, just to add a little bit more to that, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said it wasn't that long ago that he was more concerned about Diyala than Baghdad. Why is that? And is it more than just insurgents under pressure from this new increase of activity and the new Baghdad security plan moving east?

DAMON: Well, Tony, the prime minister's really underlying concern for Diyala Province is that it is, in many regards, considered an ethnic microcosm imof the entire country, given its ethnic breakdowns in terms of Sunni, Shia and Kurd. It also has all of the -- most of the insurgent groups and militias and operate throughout the country also have some sort of presence in that area. And much of the underlying concern that was voiced by the Iraqi prime minister to a senior military commander a few months ago is because of fear that what happened in Diyala could eventually happen in the rest of the country.

It is a very frightening prospect of what happens when al Qaeda takes hold and when there are not necessarily enough U.S. military personnel on the ground to be able to fully fight back -- Tony.

HARRIS: CNN's Arwa Damon for us on the ground in Baghdad.

Arwa, thank you.

NGUYEN: Well, the attacks thunder through Ft. Bragg, home of the Army's 82nd Airborne. And CNN's Rusty Dornin is there.

Rusty, we want to talk to you about how this has affected the mood on the base.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, things are very somber here, Betty. For the 82nd Airborne, this is a horrible tragedy.

This is the single worst loss of life that they have had in the five years beginning with the Afghanistan and Iraq war. Beginning, as I said, five years ago. They lost six men in March, but the loss of nine for an elite division like this, where they are like a band of brothers, and losing this many of their own, is devastating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. TOM EARNHARDT, U.S. ARMY: We're coping. Paratroopers have an indomitable spirit. Our families tend to adopt that same spirit. And you know, this is time to band together, and we'll hug and we'll cry and we'll get through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Apparently, the notification to the families went out about 4:30 yesterday afternoon. They are followed up by what they call family assistance teams. They help with the funeral arrangements and that sort of thing. And just help the families cope with what's going on.

Apparently, only three of the families of the soldiers killed live here in the Ft. Bragg area. The rest of them are scattered across the country. And as of yet, Betty, we don't know exactly where those families are.

NGUYEN: And then I imagine sometime in the near future we're going to get a list of those names, of those killed in this.

DORNIN: What -- officially, what they tell us is, after they have notified all of the family members, they wait 24 hours, and then they release the list. And they will not say as of this hour as to whether all of the families have been notified or not.

NGUYEN: Yes, that's very key.

Rusty Dornin, we appreciate your time. Thank you.

HARRIS: The truth as a casualty of war. Democratic lawmakers say military misinformation is the focus today of a Capitol Hill hearing. It gets under way in less than an hour from now. At issue, what the Defense Department reported in the aftermath of two high- profile incidents.

First, the friendly fire death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. An Army investigation found nine high-ranking officers made critical errors in reporting Tillman's death. The Army had originally said Tillman was killed by enemy fire.

The rescue of Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq four years ago also under review today. The military has been criticized for how it handled the account of her videotaped rescue. Lynch is scheduled to testify today, as are Pat Tillman's mother and brother.

NGUYEN: Well, homes destroyed, schools closed, and a community on edge this morning. You can see right there a massive wildfire is still raging in southeast Georgia. Firefighters battling to get it under control.

CNN's Sean Callebs joins us now from Waycross, Georgia.

Sean, how widespread is this fire at this hour?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, this fire has just been huge by the standards here in the state. It is the single largest forest fire to hit Georgia in more than half a century.

More than 500 firefighters have been out. It is, get this, 56,000 acres. That's about 86 square miles. So crews are just pushed to the very limit.

And here's some disappointing news. You can see on the horizon behind me -- you see those plumes of smoke, the grayish, whitish plumes pushing their way into this blue morning sky here in Georgia? That's disappointing news, because yesterday was a very good day for the fire fighting teams.

They knocked the blaze down significantly, felt they had it more than 50 percent contained. But this cropped up this morning. The winds are picking up, so they are very concerned about the way this fire could play out the rest of the day.

If there is a hint of good news in all this, it is in a very rural area. So far, 18 homes have been devastated, but some of those were simply vacant.

We did have a chance to speak with one family who lost everything. And we're hearing the same story from so many people in this sparsely-populated piney woods area.

They say the fire creeped close to their homes, the fire fighting crews, the emergency officials would come by, tell them to evacuate. They would leave. Then the wind would change, the fire would moved direction. They were able to come back in.

So, it has been a very hectic week. This fire has gone on more than nine days here, Betty. And even once they say they get it contained and they feel comfortable, they are going to be worried, because it is simply bone dry here.

You know how it is up in the Atlanta area. We're about four and a half hours to the southeast of you. So even once they get it contained, they're going to have to worry about the hot spots, Betty, for the foreseeing future until, until they get some significant rainfall.

NGUYEN: Well, there is a lot of work ahead, no doubt. But I want to ask you about firefighter fatigue, because as you mentioned, this thing has been going on for about a week now.

CALLEBS: Yes. We had a chance to talk with the crews about that a short while ago. A couple of things come into play.

First, there's a standard. The fire fighting teams can only work 14 days, then they have to get pulled off the line. So, they are about into day nine right now, so they're getting close to that edge.

Now, secondly, for so long it was just simply a losing effort. They'd come out and do everything they could day in and day out, but 500 people for an area of this size, they can only do so much. So people would work 12 hours, they would come home, sleep, and they would be somewhat despondent that they weren't able to get a better handle on this fire.

So that's why yesterday was good news. But the smoke that has really haunted this area, moving all the way up into Tennessee, all the way down into Jacksonville, Florida -- in fact, it could be seen from space. But now they believe they are getting the upper hand. So, if indeed they can hold off today, that's going to be good news for very tired crews.

NGUYEN: Well, we hope they can. Sean Callebs, thank you.

HARRIS: How about this? Kansas bracing for bad weather again today. Strong storms with funnel clouds tore through the state Monday. Man, is that dramatic video.

NGUYEN: My goodness.

HARRIS: It is in the aptly named town of Protection, Kansas. Yes.

Authorities say they lucked out, no injuries reported. All in all, damage amounted to a broken window and some uprooted trees.

Look at that.

NGUYEN: Look how clear and distinct that funnel cloud is right there.

HARRIS: Yes.

NGUYEN: Kind of just going round and round.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come this morning in the NEWSROOM, hiding in plain sight. Nic Robertson goes looking for signs of the Taliban in Pakistan. What he found may surprise you.

NGUYEN: And a little girl fights for her life after eating tainted spinach. This morning her mother is testifying before Congress. And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the family story.

HARRIS: Russia mourns. Former president Boris Yeltsin lying in state, but not within the Kremlin walls.

Live from Moscow, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Plus, too much texting? Well, some states are taking a closer look at the latest activity keeping drivers dangerously preoccupied. Hope you don't do this, but you might. We'll tell you more.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

I'm Tony Harris. A British man bet he'd live to be 100, and he did. So now he is cashing in on the bet big time. That, plus his secret to long life, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We want to welcome you back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

This hour, Congress opens hearings on food safety. And lawmakers will hear from victims who ate tainted lettuce, peanut butter spoiled by salmonella, even people touched by pet food poisoning. But the first witness, a mother whose daughter nearly died in last summer's E. coli outbreak. The culprit, bad spinach.

Here is our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A year ago, Ashley Armstrong was a healthy, rambunctious 2-year-old. Some kids won't eat vegetables. But Ashley, no problem.

ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG, ASHLEY'S MOTHER: We are very healthy eaters. We love lots of salads, lots of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits.

GUPTA: Then last September, after a family dinner of lasagna and spinach salad, Ashley got sick with vomiting and diarrhea.

(on camera): Well, what happened next with Ashley?

ARMSTRONG: We found blood in her diaper, and that didn't seem right. It started getting worse. More frequent. That's when they saw her kidneys were failing.

GUPTA (voice over): The culprit, E. coli, 015:H7, the bad kind. Once it was a problem in tainted hamburgers, but since 1995 there have been more than 20 outbreaks linked to fresh greens, like the baby spinach in the Armstrongs' salad.

After weeks of fighting for her life and months of dialysis, Ashley is home again, but life will never be the same. She's on several medications, doctors say she will need a kidney transplant in a few years. Fresh vegetables are strictly limited.

ARMSTRONG: We thought it was safe. It says wash three times. We put it in a bowl and we ate it for dinner. And our lives were changed forever.

I was pretty angry, actually. Especially after I found out this is a known problem. They came back and said, even two or three weeks after the outbreak, it's fine now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spinach is fine. You can eat it. It's back on the shelf. What did they do differently? What did they change to make it safe?

GUPTA: Most spinach growers are now taking voluntary steps to keep their spinach safe. Today, Mrs. Armstrong tells Congress that's not enough.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Fishers, Indiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And Sanjay is taking a closer look at spinach and food safety.

Hi there, everybody.

HARRIS: Hi.

NGUYEN: Are we any safer than we were a year ago? That's what he is going to be exploring. So, you'll want to stay tuned to that special documentary coming to CNN next month.

Hi there, Tony

HARRIS: A good thing I wasn't up to no good, because I usually am at this desk.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, Thomas Edison invented it. Now it may be lights out for the good old light bulb. We will shed some light on the story straight ahead for you this morning in the NEWSROOM.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business" from New York.

Toyota outsold General Motors worldwide in the first three months of this year. Is it on its way to becoming the world's biggest automaker? I'll have more on that in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So how about this? Manual typewriters, telephones with cords. Now it is the traditional light bulb about to join the scrap heap.

California is considering phasing out standard incandescent light bulbs. A bill would ban stores from selling them in five years. The goal to slowly replace them with these compact fluorescent bulbs.

Are you using these?

NGUYEN: I have them in my house. I love them. They are so bright and they use so much less electricity.

HARRIS: OK. Well, obviously Betty is one of the supporters who say the new bulbs save energy and cut pollution.

NGUYEN: It's a two-for-one. HARRIS: Yes.

NGUYEN: Well, there is a number one in town. For the first time ever, Toyota beats out General Motors in worldwide car sales. So, what's behind all of this success at Toyota? Well, Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business".

A lot of people looking at this thinking, you know what? I kind of figured this might be coming

VELSHI: That's right. A lot of people have been watching this. This, in fact, might be the year that Toyota overtakes General Motors as the biggest car maker in the entire world.

Now, that -- just to get an idea of the significance of this, General Motors has been the biggest car maker in the entire world since the 1930s. So the numbers that we're talking about today are the first three months of this year. Around the world, Toyota seemed to have sold about 90,000 more cars than General Motors did in the first three months, and that means they could be well on track to be the biggest car maker, because Toyota is actually ramping up its production, while the Detroit automakers are pulling it back.

Now, what's behind this? Well, there's been a sense of more efficiency in the way non-American automakers build cars, but, you know, you combine that with fuel efficiency and, you know, Toyota has got a bit of a reputation, both for reliability and the more fuel- efficient cars, including the Prius, the hybrids, things like that.

It coincides with a report from the U.S. government that of all of the cars made in the United States -- this is not just Detroit automakers, this is anybody, Honda, Toyota, all of them who make cars in the United States -- on average in 2006, we gained no fuel efficiency over 2005. Not a single whit of fuel efficiency. We're not any better at this.

So, for all the talk, Betty, about high gas prices...

NGUYEN: Right?

VELSHI: ... we're fundamentally still buying big gas-guzzling vehicles.

Now, fuel efficiency, just so you know, by manufacturer is across all of their products that are made. So it's a -- it's a weird measure, but fundamentally, we're not -- you would think that we're getting more fuel efficient as gas prices were going up...

NGUYEN: You would think, yes.

VELSHI: ... and as we're getting more conscious. And we're not.

NGUYEN: Well, here's the thing that interests me. OK, this is no small feat whatsoever...

VELSHI: Right. NGUYEN: ... the fact that Toyota is now the world's top automaker.

VELSHI: No, not at all.

NGUYEN: But the thing is, you would think that most companies would want to sell this to everyone, just to yell it from the top of the mountain.

VELSHI: Right.

NGUYEN: But I understand Toyota is really kind of keeping low key on this because they are afraid of backlash?

VELSHI: Yes. I mean, there are still people in the United States who say they want to buy an American car.

And this is something we have to figure out, because many cars that say GM or Ford or Chrysler on them are not built in the United States, or partially not built in the United States. And many cars that say Toyota or Hyundai or Honda or Nissan are built in the United States.

So, what an American car is, is unclear these days. But Toyota does not want to boast this around, because they don't want people saying, hey, well, listen, we're contributing to the Detroit automakers' decline by buying what we call foreign cars.

So Toyota is trying to manage this. They are doing a lot of ads about how many jobs they create in the United States and where they open factories, and how sort of Toyota is a good neighbor. They don't want a backlash.

NGUYEN: Yes. And I guess you could understand why.

Now, fuel efficiency gains, something we talked about.

VELSHI: Yes.

NGUYEN: And I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about that.

VELSHI: Yes. Well, the government wants to sort of push further on fuel efficiency gains. But you know what the automakers continue to say? Is that in America, first of all, the most -- the top-selling vehicles in America are in fact pickup trucks. We really like these SUVs.

So, as we get into a world where more SUVs are perhaps hybrids, or buying smaller cylinder cars, Americans like big, powerful cars, and car makers are saying we're building the cars that Americans like to drive. So, it's a double-edged sword.

If Americans start buying more fuel-efficient cars, and the government sort of pushes those -- those fuel efficiency, those CAFE standards, we might see that move in the right direction. But for now, no major gains on fuel efficiency. NGUYEN: Very interesting.

Ali Velshi, as always, we appreciate it. Thank you.

VELSHI: Good to talk to you.

HARRIS: Well, call it the bet of a lifetime. A British man wagered that he would be alive at 100. Well, that was 10 years ago, and today Alec Holden (ph) celebrated his 100th birthday with his winnings of $50,000.

The retired engineer says he got 40 birthday cards, including one from the queen. Holden credits his long life to eating porridge.

NGUYEN: Really? Is that we all have to do?

HARRIS: Well, play some chess.

NGUYEN: OK.

HARRIS: And, of course -- how about this one -- I love this one -- remembering to breathe. Breathe, everyone. Breathe.

NGUYEN: I kind of do that automatically. I think we've got that down, right?

HARRIS: Exactly.

So, here's the thing, Betty. Bookies say bets like Holden's (ph) seemed a sure thing for them years ago.

NGUYEN: Right?

HARRIS: But they are costing the bookies plenty now. That's because more people are living to be 100 years old. Bets made today now include an age of 110.

Everyone's chasing life.

NGUYEN: Yes.

HARRIS: I worked in that plug for Sanjay's book.

NGUYEN: Sanjay? You know what? You may get a cut out of it.

HARRIS: We're working for Sanjay. That's what we do around here.

NGUYEN: You just might, Tony.

HARRIS: Still to come this morning in the NEWSROOM, Russia mourns. Former president Boris Yeltsin lying in state, but not within the Kremlin walls. Live from Moscow straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, again, everyone.

I'm Tony Harris.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

Thanks for joining us.

Well, there's two suicide bombers in a car and on a mission. That is a strike that occurred at a patrol base in Diyala Province and inflicted as many casualties -- or, actually, that strike caused many casualties as possible. And they did succeed in that because nine U.S. soldiers killed. Twenty others have been wounded in that, all members of the Army's 82nd Airborne based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. ROM EARNHARDT, U.S. ARMY: This is the worst incident we've had in the whole global war on terrorism. We're -- we're coping. Paratroopers have an indomitable spirit. Our families tend to adopt that same spirit. And, you know, we're -- this is a time to band together and we'll -- we'll hug and we'll cry and we'll get through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Now, this attack is also the single deadliest one on U.S. ground forces in Iraq in almost a year-and-a-half. And the number of U.S. casualties in Iraq is climbing. With these most recent American deaths, the number of U.S. personnel killed in the war, military personnel, that now stands at 3,331. The official number of Americans wounded is almost 25,000, and that's as of last Tuesday, when the Pentagon updated its figures.

HARRIS: War funding fights -- a $124 billion spending bill approved. It calls for U.S. troops to start coming home from Iraq in October.

But President Bush says no timetables. He's going to veto it.

So, for the Senate's top Democrat, it is on.

Here's our Congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Senate majority leader opened a showdown week in the Iraq political debate by mocking President Bush's suggestion the surge in U.S. troops is beginning to show positive results.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: He further said, "So far, the operation is meeting expectations." The White House transcript says the president made those remarks in the state of Michigan. I believe he made them in the state of denial.

BASH: In his speech, Reid promoted a Democratic plan he says will starts bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq and away from policing a civil war.

Reid's new attack did not include his controversial comments last week, that when it comes to the military mission in Iraq.

REID: That this war is lost.

BASH: Republicans pounced, calling it defeatist, like waving a white flag.

In an interview with CNN, Reid studiously avoiding repeating the war is lost phrase but didn't take it back either.

REID: General Petraeus has said the war cannot be won militarily. He said that. And President Bush is doing nothing economically. He's doing nothing diplomatically. He's not doing even the minimal requested by the Iraq Study Group. So I -- I stick with General Petraeus. I have no doubt that the war cannot be won militarily, and that's what I said last Thursday, and I stick with that.

BASH: Reid also brushed aside Republican accusations that his war is lost comment is insulting to troops in combat.

REID: General Petraeus has told him that.

BASH: How has he said that?

REID: He has said the war can't be won militarily. He said that. He said it. He's the commander on the ground there.

BASH: But, sir, there's a difference between that...

REID: Are they critical of him?

BASH: ... and saying the war is lost, don't you think?

REID: Well, I -- as I said, maybe it's a choice of words. I mean General Petraeus has said the war cannot be won militarily.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes, there's a difference.

Dana Bash joins us live from Capitol Hill -- Dana, that was a great follow-up.

So Harry Reid there sounds like he is listening to General David Petraeus, pinning his war is lost comment to Petraeus' assessment on the ground. OK, the general will be on the Hill tomorrow.

Will Democrats listen?

BASH: You know, that is the most interesting thing to watch out of this interview, and also in terms of the dynamic here on the Hill, Tony, because the answer to that is no. They're not going to listen.

General David Petraeus is somebody who the president has brought back to Washington on this -- in this critical political week here in Washington, when it comes to the Iraq War, to make the case to Democrats in Congress -- and, as you said, he's going to be doing that tomorrow -- that he wants patience. That he is going to say that the so-called surge is working, at least in some parts, but he needs more time.

He's going to say that a timetable is absolutely the wrong thing for him militarily.

But Harry Reid told me in this interview yesterday that he simply doesn't believe him when it comes to that. He's pinning this idea that the war is lost on General Petraeus' assessment that it can't be won militarily.

But when it came to the so-called surge, Harry Reid -- and not just him, other Democrats -- say that despite David Petraeus' trek back here, his attempt to talk to them here tomorrow, they're not really going to -- going to listen very much to what he's saying.

HARRIS: Well, I hope they do.

Congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us.

Dana, thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Well, we do want to get you an update now.

Remember our Sean Callebs standing tall on a huge pile of peanuts?

Money for peanut growers part of the war spending bill.

Well, now, poof -- it is gone. House and Senate negotiators yanked $74 million for peanut storage facilities from the war bill. Funding for spinach, sugar, even Christmas tree farms, also erased. The bill still has billions for other projects that have nothing to do with the war.

HARRIS: And let's get another check of weather conditions. Much to talk about this morning, Betty.

Chad Myers right there in the Weather Center.

NGUYEN: Oh, what a day it's going to be -- Chad. CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, beautiful in New York City.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Mourning in Russia -- people paying their last respects to former President Boris Yeltsin. The public viewing in Moscow is underway and CNN's senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, is there live -- Matthew, I want to ask you, have large crowds come out to pay their respects?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, about a couple of hundred people so far, but the cathedral in the center of the Russian capital, Moscow, has only just opened. But it will be opened throughout the course of this evening, right through into Wednesday morning, after which there'll be a state funeral for Boris Yeltsin, the first democratically elected president of Russia.

His body, his coffin, will be carried on the back of a gun carriage to a prominent cemetery on the outskirts of Moscow. There will also be a ceremony for foreign dignitaries. And we understand a number of VIPs are expected there, including a couple of former U.S. presidents -- George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, both of whom, of course, worked during their political careers with Boris Yeltsin, when he was the Russian president.

And I think, Betty, that really underlines just what a crucial pivotal figure Boris Yeltsin was during his period in officials. This is the man who essentially dismantled the Soviet Union. He brought democracy to Russia and brought the market economy, as well.

Had a massive impact, of course, on politics in Russia and around the world -- Betty.

NGUYEN: So have you been able to speak with -- as this news has really disseminated -- speak with the people on the street? I mean what are they saying about how they're going to remember Yeltsin?

CHANCE: Yes, I have. I've been talking there are a lot of Russians about that and it's -- he's got a very complex legacy. I mean this is a man, as I just said, you know, who did bring the sort of freedoms to Russia that people enjoy now.

But he's also a man that, during the 1990s, the way democracy was implemented, the way the sort of economic reforms were implemented, it brought poverty to millions of Russians and brought a great deal of instability. And I think in the minds of the vast majority of Russians, he's remembered for that, a period where Russia lost its superpower status and became basically a matter -- a sort of basket case in the minds of many Russians.

And they're very angry toward Boris Yeltsin for that.

NGUYEN: Which is why I want to ask you this.

How has Russia developed with the democratic policies and how is that country faring? CHANCE: Well, under Vladimir Putin, the current Russian president, Russia is a very different country, indeed, to how it was in the 1990s. Boris Yeltsin handpicked Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, to be his presidential successor.

But what Vladimir Putin has done since he's been in office, since the year 2000, he's really turned around that period of instability. It's a much more stable country now. The country is undergoing a degree of economic prosperity because they've got so much oil and gas here.

And, really, you know, that's why Vladimir Putin is so popular compared to the memory of Boris Yeltsin.

NGUYEN: CNN's Matthew Chance.

Thank you, Matthew.

HARRIS: And we're getting some news here into CNN that we want to share with you right now.

We just received a call a short time ago from Megin McGinn, from the vice president's office, who called to tell us that the vice president, Dick Cheney, will be going to George Washington Medical Center at some point today to get his left leg checked out by his doctor.

It is a new appointment, we understand, just put on the vice president's schedule this morning. The vice president, as you know, is being treated for a blood clot in his left leg. As you know, the vice president is 66 years old, has had a history of heart problems and continues to be treated with blood thinners.

But, again, this news just in to CNN, that the vice president is heading back to George Washington Medical Center today for an unscheduled appointment put on the vice president's schedule this morning to be treated and have that left leg, that lower left leg, checked out.

We will continue to follow developments on this story for you right here in THE NEWSROOM this morning.

NGUYEN: Also, hiding in plain sight -- Nic Robertson goes looking for signs of the Taliban in Pakistan. What he found may space you. That's ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And they're high tech keys to danger -- texting while driving. Several states may just ban it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT SINCLAIR, JR. AAA: You need two hands to operate the device. So automatically one hand is not going to be on the steering wheel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Typos that spell crash in THE NEWSROOM.

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NGUYEN: Looking for signs of an insurgency and finding another rebellion.

Our Nic Robertson traveled to Quetta, Pakistan.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you?

How are you, sir?

Nice to meet you.

Are you looking after us on this journey?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The police escort is for our protection. A mix of rebelling tribesmen and Taliban can make this city dangerous.

(on camera): Quetta looks and feels different from other parts of Pakistan. We just passed a few women on the street. They're wearing a burkha, very reminiscent of Afghanistan. We're very close to the border here. We passed some men on the other side of the street. They had black turbans on, just exactly the sort of turbans that the Taliban wear.

(voice-over): I've been here a few times since 9/11 and security is worsening.

Now, international journalists are routinely banned and some have been beaten or intimidated. No one knows by whom.

In late 2001, the U.S. was defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan was joining the fight. Many Taliban came from Quetta and their supporters were angry. As the war ended, many Taliban fighters slipped back into civilian life, but they didn't go away. And Western intelligence officials say Taliban leaders, including Mullah Omar, have been hiding here, though the Taliban deny it.

Today, on the streets of Quetta, locals mix almost indistinguishably with an estimated one million Afghan refugees. Government officials are escorting us everywhere -- even when we go to interview the police chief. He dismisses talk of Taliban here.

CHIEF TARIQ KHOSA, BALOCHISTAN POLICE: There is absolutely, there is no truth in this thing, that there is some kind of hub of Taliban leadership or Taliban is taking it as a sanctuary, staying here, planning their movements or going across.

ROBERTSON: That night, the police chief arranges for us to go on a patrol with his men where Afghan refugees live. (on camera): It's after 11:00 at night and the police are taking us on patrol through Pashtunabad. It's an area that people in the city have told us is where the Taliban live. What the police want to show us is that they don't see the Taliban, don't have any problems from them here.

(voice-over): But the police patrols can't and don't go up the back alleys. Privately, they admit Taliban do live here and what they do is off limits to the police. But, the police say, they don't cause trouble. When they do get tip-offs about Taliban, they say they act, arresting several dozen at hospitals last year.

(on camera): We're going into a hospital now right on the main street in the center of Quetta. And this is a hospital where Taliban or alleged Taliban members were being treated for injuries sustained in Afghanistan. We're going in now to try and find out how come they were getting treatment here.

(voice-over): Inside, the doctors show me medical records of Afghan patients.

(on camera): Splinters in body. Splinters in stomach. These all seem like injuries sustained in -- from some sort of combat. (voice-over): They say the patients were transferred by the International Red Cross and they had no way of knowing they were Taliban, until the police arrested them.

Now, they say, Afghans are banned from treatment. Away from the camera, as we toured the ramshackle clinic, the doctors freely admit despite new regulations, it is still easy for Taliban to get treatment by posing as Pakistanis.

(on camera): I'm within here now for almost 24 hours. A lot of people have come up and said, look, there are a lot of Taliban here. But nobody really wants to tell us this on camera. And I'm getting the impression that because we have government official security around us, people really don't want to come and open up and tell us everything on camera while we have this kind of government protection around us.

(voice-over): We came looking for Taliban in Quetta, but find President Musharraf's government faces a much bigger problem here -- the Baloch tribes of this region, almost the southern half of Pakistan, are waging a growing rebellion for independence.

This student tells us the city is far from safe, but is cautious after our government minder talked to him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again and again, rockets have been firing into the city some -- we are not sure about the people who are making these problems.

ROBERTSON: Just three days before we arrived, Baloch nationalists blew up the train track, rocketed the radio station and downed power cables, cutting electricity to the whole of Quetta. Attacks on infrastructure across the province occur almost daily. The police chief plays down the Baloch rebellion.

KHOSA: Well, Balochistan, or in Quetta, particularly, we are going through a phase where there is a lower intensity sabotage activity going on. And that, too, there's some pockets of resistance which comprise of sub-nationalists who are against the progress and prosperity.

ROBERTSON: But off camera, people here tell us many support the Baloch revolt. Word quickly gets out that we're in town.

(on camera): Hello.

How are you?

Nice to meet you.

Hello.

(voice-over): Just minutes before we leave, with government officials gone, a group of Baloch students find us at the hotel. They say some of their friends have disappeared, seized, they believe, by Pakistani authorities, and they fear they, too, will be kidnapped for what they're about to tell us.

SHAZEB BALOCH, BALOCH STUDENTS ORGANIZATION: Balocha is struggling for their independence and Taliban are struggling or they are being supported by the Pakistani government.

ROBERTSON: That's a view we've heard from dozens of people in Quetta. While President Musharraf is battling the Baloch rebellion, the Taliban are operating freely here.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Quetta, Pakistan.

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HARRIS: And still to come this morning, take a look at this -- taken down. A college football player versus a 4-year-old boy.

NGUYEN: Ooh!

HARRIS: Ouch!

What went wrong?

NGUYEN: Poor kid.

HARRIS: How did it all turn out?

Dad!

NGUYEN: Ooh, he's bloody, too.

HARRIS: That story coming up in THE NEWSROOM this morning.

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HARRIS: High tech distraction at the wheel. Drivers not paying attention.

CNN's Alina Cho that's a look at the dangers of texting.

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ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators say it's possible the driver of the SUV carrying New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was text messaging at the time of the crash, in addition to speeding.

SINCLAIR: Well, imagine what you have to do when you're texting. You need two hands to operate the device. So automatically one hand is not going to be on the steering wheel.

CHO: AAA's Robert Sinclair, Jr. says divers only can be distracted safely for two seconds -- just two seconds. We've seen drivers doing all sorts of crazy things at the wheel -- applying makeup, eating, reading, writing. Now drivers are reading and writing at the same time, a relatively new problem, but potentially a deadly one.

SINCLAIR: If you're on the highway doing 60 miles an hour, you're traveling at 88 feet per second. So if three seconds go by, you've traveled the distance of nearly a football field. So anything that takes your attention away, for even a second or two, can lead to disaster.

CHO: Like in Washington State, where a man caused a five car pileup after he was distracted by an e-mail on his Blackberry. That was December.

As early as next month, Washington State will become the first in the nation to make it a crime to text while driving.

Arizona and Oregon are considering similar measures. Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. have de facto bans on driving while texting under broader measures that ban hand- held cell phone use in the car.

Sinclair says drivers should use common sense regardless of the laws.

SINCLAIR: My dear old grandfather used to say common sense isn't common. And as more of these devices proliferate, I think we're going to see a lot more trouble.

CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

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NGUYEN: Well, one of the great stories of the Iraq invasion, but was it too much of a story?

Jessica Lynch live today on Capitol Hill. Hear her testimony in THE NEWSROOM.

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