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American Morning
Iraq Progress Report: Petraeus, Crocker Testify Today; Protecting the Cockpit; Pakistan Power Play; Britney Spears Bombs at VMAs; Explosions in Mexico; Sen. Hagel to Retire
Aired September 10, 2007 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked the members of Congress to just sit back and listen to what we all had to say.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back. Thanks very much for joining us. It is Monday, the 10th of September.
I'm John Roberts on Capitol Hill as we await the Petraeus-Crocker hearings, 12:30 Eastern Time today.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, about four and a half hours from now.
I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
You know, we've already heard from Iraq's prime minister this morning. He says that Iraqi forces are not yet ready to take over security from the U.S. military.
ROBERTS: Sorry. What did you say?
CHETRY: And within hours we're going to hear from America's top commander in Iraq, as John said, General David Petraeus. We're also going to hear from the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, Ryan Crocker. They will both be testifying before Congress. It's going to be televised, of course, here on CNN, on the war, its progress, and possible plans, future plans for the troops.
CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon.
And Barbara, you have a bit of a preview because we've heard some of the reporting leading up to today coming out. What are we expecting to hear from General Petraeus?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, I think everyone watching these hearings is going to be looking for one fact: what will General Petraeus recommend about when the first U.S. troops can come home from Iraq?
First up, the surge. Thirty thousand troops, extra troops in Iraq since February or so. Will he say that at least one of the brigades, 4,000 troops, can come home before April? Will he allow that token withdrawal perhaps as soon as Christmas or January? That's the first thing everyone is going to be looking for.
When will the surge itself begin to end? The surge begins to run out in April. General Petraeus well knows that and knows he has to begin drawing down in April no matter what. But will he allow some sort of early withdrawal beyond that?
What about the 130,000 U.S. troops, the baseline force that has been there now for years? What is the security situation? What will he recommend about when they can come home? That is much more problematic. That is much further down the road.
And you are going to hear a lot of statistics throughout the day, Kiran. How many attacks -- are attacks up, are attacks down? How many Iraqis have been dying in this terrible sectarian violence? Everybody's got their own set of statistics, their own set of numbers.
General Petraeus well expects a grilling on the Hill about all of it -- Kiran.
CHETRY: It's interesting, because, you know, as you talked about, everyone's going to have their own numbers, it's going to come down to credibility. And this "New York Times"-CBS poll out says that 68 percent of Americans think it's the military that can come up with a solution for Iraq. They only believe -- only 21 percent of people believe Congress has the answer. And five percent believe the Bush administration has the answer.
What does that say about how General Petraeus' testimony will be received today?
STARR: Well, you know, it's so interesting to look at these public reaction in these polls. So many people, so many Americans turning to the uniformed military to look for these answers. But, of course, under the U.S. form of government, the military is under civilian control. And it will actually, of course, be President Bush's decision when he addresses the nation later this week about what to do and what the way ahead is.
And all of this confidence in General Petraeus reflected in that one poll also comes at a time we are seeing other polls where people are critical of the military. And many Democrats on Capitol Hill expected to give General Petraeus quite the grilling, asking him if he can really independent independently evaluate the progress in Iraq, because, of course, the new strategy is really all his, and many people feel he will be very optimistic about it all -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon.
Thank you.
So what are the soldiers saying about the mission in Iraq? CNN's Anderson Cooper is on assignment in Iraq. He's reporting live from Camp Victory.
Here's Anderson now with a preview.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Kiran, while General Petraeus is testifying in Washington, we're here in Iraq, checking the facts, "Keeping Them Honest". A special "360" report live from Baghdad tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We'll be watching, Anderson.
And CNN will also carry the testimony from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. It's all happening live 12:30 Eastern this afternoon. We'll also be comparing notes from what's being said today to what's been reported before, all from CNN's Iraq Fact Check Desk throughout the day here on CNN -- John.
ROBERTS: New this morning, Kiran, Senator Larry Craig is expected to file papers to try to take back his guilty plea. Craig's attorney says he'll argue that the Idaho Republican suffered a "manifest in justice" at the hands of the police officer who arrested him in a men's room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY MARTIN, SENATOR CRAIG'S ATTORNEY: Under Minnesota law, intelligence is defined by having a crime to which you know you've committed and that conduct constitutes a crime.
Here, Senator Craig admits to going into the bathroom. He admits to moving his foot. He admits to reaching his hand down.
That's all. That is not a crime. So what we're alleging, that it's not intelligent and knowingly to enter a plea to conduct that does not itself constitute a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Craig may decide to stay in office if the court clears his name.
Democrats running for president held the first-ever debate in Spanish last night at the University of Miami. Anchors from Univision asked questions in Spanish. The candidates war ear pieces, heard a translation of the question in English. Their answers were given in English and then translated into Spanish for viewers.
Immigration reform was one of the biggest topics. .
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do favor much more border patrolling and much more technology on both of our borders. And in certain areas, a physical barrier, because I think we've got to secure our borders. That has got to be part of comprehensive immigration reform.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This wall is a horrendous example of Washington misguided policy. The Congress only funded half of the wall. And in addition to that, if you're going to build a 12-foot wall, you know what's going to happen? A lot of 13-foot ladders. This is a terrible symbol of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The two presidential candidates who can speak Spanish, Governor Richardson and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, were not allowed to speak the language in the debate. Richardson complained about it but didn't get anywhere -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks so much.
Well, we're tracking some weather now. And Gabrielle no longer a tropical storm, just a tropical depression. And she's headed out to sea today. There are no more watches or warnings in effect for coastal areas like the outer banks in North Carolina. Gabrielle caused a few problems Sunday as it passed over the outer banks.
ROBERTS: IT has been almost six years since terrorists stormed their way into cockpits on September the 11th, 2001. Security at airports and on airplanes is much tighter today than it was back then. But are there still vulnerabilities, especially when it comes to keeping cockpits secure?
Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is in our Washington bureau with more.
Jeanne, after 9/11, doors on airliners were reinforced. What else is new?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, reinforced cockpit doors have greatly increased the security of the flight deck, there's no doubt about it. But there are times when the door is opened in flight, for a change in crews or to allow a pilot to use the lavatory.
Congressman Steve Israel will be introducing legislation to require a second barrier at the front of an aircraft.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVE ISRAEL (D), NEW YORK: I wasn't sure this was as much of an issue as some pilots told me until I saw a cockpit door open, a member of the crew leave the cockpit, and a 110-pound flight attendant stand in front of the cockpit guarding it from terrorists who would be slightly heavier. That's when I realized that this bill was urgently necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: A secondary barrier would look something like this -- I think we have some pictures here. It would be closed only when the cockpit door is opened to slow down any would-be terrorists. The Airline Pilots Association says it's an absolute no-brainer, a cost- effective way to further improve aviation security -- John.
ROBERTS: How much would the extra barriers cost, Jeanne? Is it a real cost factor here?
MESERVE: Well, estimates vary widely from $3,000 per plane to $50,000 per plane. The Transportation Security Administration is not requiring that airlines install them, though some airlines have. An industry group says there should be a risk analysis, though to pilots the risk is pretty clear. They say just remember 9/11 -- John.
ROBERTS: And it would appear that not all cockpit doors are secure either, Jeanne. I was recently on a commuter flight and the cockpit door popped open when they were taking off. So, still some work to do there.
Jeanne Meserve for us this morning in our Washington bureau.
Jeanne, thanks.
MESERVE: You bet.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, it's time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for some other stories new this morning.
A high-stakes political drama playing out overnight in Pakistan. Monita Rajpal live in London at the World Update Desk.
Hi, Monita.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran.
In less than 30 minutes, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Not his intended destination today. Now, earlier today, Nawaz Sharif had landed in Islamabad, where he had finally decided to land after being in exile for about seven years.
The airport itself was a destination of a few altercations, as well as an arrest for Nawaz Sharif. He was handed arrest papers for money laundering and corruption charges, charges from a few years ago.
He had -- again, as I said, he had been in exile for about seven years, but two weeks ago, the Pakistani high court had said that Nawaz Sharif could return to Pakistan. But, again, he is now back -- heading his way to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
His arrival in Pakistan had been intended -- he had intended to challenge Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf's -- his title as president, calling him -- his methods as undemocratic and calling him also a dictator. So we'll have to see exactly what happens from now on -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Monita. Thanks so much for that update.
Well, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen asked pediatricians for the five most common mistakes parents make with their newborns. She joins us now from our medical update desk.
Five? I mean, sometimes you feel like you're making 500. You know, when you bring that little thing home in a blanket, you have no idea what to do.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. It does not come with a book of instructions. That's absolutely right, Kiran, and that's why we asked pediatricians, you know what? Just give us the five most common ones so we can help people avoid them.
And the list of five actually is up right now on CNN.com/health. It's called "The Empowered Patient". And what you want to do is go to that page, CNN.com/health, and scroll down until you see my picture. And there it is.
But in the meantime, Kiran, we're going to give you a quiz. You're a mom. And I know that you will get many of these right. And so we're going to give you a quiz about some of these mistakes.
Let's take a look at the first one. And Kiran, you can tell me, true or false?
The first one is, it's great if your newborn sleeps through the night. Is that true or false?
CHETRY: First of all, show me someone whose does. Secondly, probably not. They've got to eat. Their tummies are little, right? And they have to eat more often than you think.
COHEN: You are right, Kiran. But I was so surprised that pediatricians said to me, you know what? We do get a fair number of parents who come to us and say, it's great, we brought her home from the hospital and she slept through the night, and we were so excited. And the pediatrician say, not good, wake them up every four hours to eat.
They are just too little. They need to eat at least every four hours.
All right. Well, we have a second question for you.
True or false, you should not bring your newborn to church? What do you think, Kiran?
CHETRY: Do they mean just in general, in public places? You worry about taking your kids outside.
I would say false.
COHEN: Actually, that one is true. The pediatricians we talked to said that for the first six weeks or so, you don't want to bring your newborn to a place that is as crowded as a church.
The guy in the next pew over sneezes, your newborn can get a fever. And no matter what the cause of that fever, it automatically guarantees you a two-day hospital stay with a spinal tap and all sorts of other unpleasant tests. So, do not bring your newborn to a place that's as crowded as a church.
CHETRY: All right.
COHEN: And we have a third question for you -- last one. Don't leave the house with your newborn for at least six weeks. We were just talking about germs. So do you think a pediatrician would say don't leave the newborn -- don't leave the house with your newborn for at least six weeks?
CHETRY: I think they would probably say false on that one.
COHEN: They would. You've got that one right, absolutely.
They said, look, postpartum depression is real. And a mother would surely get one -- get a case of postpartum depression -- if she didn't leave the house for six weeks, or almost surely would get postpartum depression. So the pediatricians say, go out of the house, take a walk, go to the park. Just don't go to a really crowded place, especially that's enclosed.
CHETRY: Got you.
All right. Some good tips. And we'll check the rest of them out on line.
Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, lots of unexpected developments at the MTV Video Music Awards. AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho joins us now with more.
Were you brushing up on some of Britney's dance moves since the last hour?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I didn't have to because she wasn't that great, Kiran.
CHETRY: Exactly.
CHO: You know, everybody's been talking about this. You know, it was supposed to be Britney Spears' big comeback, but by most accounts, her performance at last night's VMAs was anything but. In fact, many are calling it a bust.
Among the big problems, lip syncing that didn't match, dance moves that were either badly choreographed or badly executed, as you can see there. That outfit wasn't so great.
And a lot of people were also talking about the body that's not as in shape as it was before. Now, in her defense, she has had two children.
Now, Spears was the opening act last night. She was trying to drum up excitement for her new album which is out in November, but that performance drew mixed reviews. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMON, R&B ARTIST: I thought Britney Spears didn't look like she was too enthused about being there. So it was kind of disappointing. You felt bad.
50 CENT, RAP ARTIST: I think she did good. I think the production was great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: He's the only one who thinks so.
You know, Britney isn't the only star people are talking about this morning. There was also a fight at the post-show between Tommy Lee and Kid Rock. Not sure exactly what it was about, but since of them used to be married to Pamela Anderson, it might not be a stretch to assume it may have had something to do with that. Now, Kid Rock, who is the only one, by the way, who landed the blows, he has reportedly been cited for misdemeanor battery but has not been taken into custody.
As for who won last night, which is kind of secondary, Justin Timberlake was the big winner with four trophies, including male artist of the year twice. He called on MTV to go back to its roots and play more music videos instead of those reality shows.
Fergie, by the way, won female artist of the year, and Kanye West came up empty-handed last night. He has vowed never to attend the VMAs again.
And Kiran, he was not just upset about not winning, he was also upset about not being the opening act. He said he is hot right now and that Britney has not had a hit in years.
CHETRY: Yes, he -- boo hoo hoo for Kanye. He was doing a lot of whining last night.
Poor Britney, though. So, not only did her performance bomb, but her ex won four awards. So...
CHO: Yes. Kind of a double whammy.
CHETRY: Poor thing.
All right, Alina. Thank you.
CHO: Sure.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: The long-awaited report on President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq comes due today. What Democrats and Republicans are looking to hear. We'll talk with Congressman Rahm Emanuel and Duncan Hunter about that. And the longer you live, the more important life insurance becomes. Gerri Willis will tell us what you need to know about insurance whether you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And some terrible news just in to CNN. This is video right now coming to us from Mexico, where a truck carrying more than 25 tons of dynamite explode in northern Mexico.
Right now, Notimex, which is Mexico's official news agency, is reporting that at least 30 people were killed and more than 100 others hurt. They say that three Mexican reporters at the scene were among those killed.
In the video you can see burned out -- the burned-out, mangled shell of this truck, and also several nearby cars that were damaged by the impact of the blast as well. They say it happened near a factory site near Monclova. Again, in the northern part of the country.
Again, it says that this was a truck carrying more than 25 tons of dynamite that exploded there, killing at least 30, and more than 100 others injured.
We'll continue to follow it. They say it's under investigation. Notimex, the official news agency, says there's no indication so far that it was foul play -- John.
ROBERTS: It's shaping up to be a week of clashes over the war in Iraq. The top commander on the ground will testify today on Capitol Hill, as will Ambassador Ryan Crocker. General Petraeus is expected to ask for more time when many critics are saying troop withdrawal is already overdue.
Here now live in Washington with me is Congressman Duncan Hunter. He's the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee in the House. Also a 2008 Republican presidential candidate. And joining us from Chicago is the Democratic Caucus chairman, Congressman Rahm Emanuel.
Thanks both for being with us.
Congressman Hunter, let's start with you.
What are you looking for from General Petraeus today? And are you willing to back him, whatever he says?
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), RANKING MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, what I'm looking for is what I think is the key to stability in Iraq. And that is the standup of reliable Iraqi forces.
Now, we all know the facts. The fact are in from Anbar province that the toughest, most dangerous province in Iraq, and that -- we see that we've gone down from 1,350 attacks last October -- the marines, through blood, sweat and tears, have lowered that attack rate by 80 percent. That's not only progress, that's massive progress. They have gotten the population of Anbar province on our side. They're now fighting back against al Qaeda. So he'll go over some of those things today.
ROBERTS: So, if he says don't pull out any troops yet, I want the surge to continue, will you back him on that?
HUNTER: Oh, absolutely. You know, this surge is -- you had 138,000 personnel there before. We're now up to 157,000. Fairly -- in fact, that's less than we had a year ago last December.
So this isn't 200,000, 300,000 troops. And you know something? The Democrats have said to George Bush for three years, listen to your generals. Now we have got a general who says we're making great progress and they say, don't listen to this general.
ROBERTS: Well, let's go to Congressman Emanuel for that.
What about that -- what about that claim, Rahm, that you said listen to your generals and now you're saying don't listen to them?
REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS CHAIRMAN: Well, John, what we've said is -- and we are listening to him. And all of them have said one thing consistently, which is that without political progress, the military cannot win this war.
They've all said that from day one. And unfortunately, you know, what's happened here is our military from day one have done everything we've asked them to do. They invaded an army, defeated an enemy's army, seized a dictator, and even here in the surge, you see progress. But what they haven't been able to do because the civilian leadership hasn't provided the political type of stability that needs to go with the military efforts, that is what has been missing. It has been missing since the day our troops came in over the Kuwaiti border, and it's still missing.
ROBERTS: All right. Congressman Emanuel...
EMANUEL: We are -- look at this -- let me say this, John...
ROBERTS: Yes?
EMANUEL: ... we have an NIE report saying that Osama bin Laden has been reconfigured. We have a GAO report saying that out of the 18 benchmarks, only three have been met. We have General Jones' report saying the Iraqi army and police are nowhere near ready to take over.
That is the facts on the ground. And without the political part of this coming together, the reconciliation, our military will continue to do well and our civilian leadership will have failed our troops.
HUNTER: Let me respond to that.
ROBERTS: Go ahead. HUNTER: Rahm, you know, there's 129 battalions that comprise the Iraqi army. A couple of years ago when we brought them into Falluja, they didn't show up for roll call the next day. They took off.
Today, by all accounts, right down to the corporal level, they are standing and fighting. They are standing up.
We had to build that army from scratch. And the idea that now that you have an 80 percent reduction level in violence, but you Democrats won't take yes for an answer -- and you know something? Your whip said good news from the battlefield in September will be bad news for the Democrat Party. That's the wrong prism through which to watch this -- to view this -- this is an American conflict, not a Democrat conflict where you have to win.
EMANUEL: Duncan, let me just try to say one thing here. And I know you appreciate this.
Our military is doing a great job. Unfortunately, there's been no reconciliation on the political side. And what I'm looking forward today -- and I'm sure you are too, Duncan -- is for someone to lay out to me how we're going to get Shiite-and-Shiite violence down, how we're going to get Sunni and Shiite violence down, and how we're going to get them to feel like they're Iraqis rather than different sects. And until that happens...
(CROSSTALK)
HUNTER: Rahm, how about an 80 percent -- how about an 80 percent decrease in violence? That's what you have got in Anbar province. Eighty percent ain't bad.
EMANUEL: There's no doubt about that. I agree with that, except what I'm looking forward to, and that happens to be a Sunni area. What we're seeing right now is the ethnic cleansing of Baghdad.
And unfortunately -- I think everybody acknowledges -- you may not want to, Duncan, and I understand that, and I understand that for political reasons, but without the political pieces...
HUNTER: More than a 50 percent reduction in Baghdad.
EMANUEL: Without the political piece coming together, there'll be no real progress. But I'll look forward to this report by both Mr. Crocker, Ambassador Crocker, and his long-serving time, as well as General Petraeus, because the military and the political go hand in hand.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, pretty strongly-held opinions. We'll see if they can change any minds. It's probably doubtful, but we'll see.
Congressman Rahm Emanuel from Chicago this morning. Congressman Duncan Hunter, thanks very much for being with us.
EMANUEL: Thank you. ROBERTS: Appreciate you both joining us.
HUNTER: A pleasure.
ROBERTS: And you can watch the testimony from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. It begins at 12:30 Eastern Time today. We'll have it right here on CNN, or you an watch gavel-to-gavel coverage from your desktop or laptop at www.CNN.com -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks.
Well, NBC's "To Catch a Predator" has reeled in some big ratings by going after sexual predators. Now the competion is going after them, claiming that some of their tactics are not fair.
We're going to talk more about that coming up.
Also, what kind of insurance, life insurance, that is, do you need in your 30s, in your 40s, and in your 50s? And how much of it do you need?
Well, our Gerri Willis will help fill us in ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
You know, whether you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, you're never too young or too old to maybe be thinking about ways to protect your family should the worst happen.
CNN's Gerri Willis reports on what you need to know about insurance for life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA WANDALL, WIDOW: Do you love to swing?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice over): Melissa Wandall knows that life can change in an instant. Almost four years ago, her husband Mark was kill in a car accident. He died two weeks before their first daughter, Madison, was born.
WANDALL: Bringing her home without my husband, I think, was the hardest thing that I've had to do.
WILLIS: But losing Mark did not mean losing her financial security. Melissa's husband had life insurance.
WANDALL: I did not even have to think, oh, my god, what am I going to do next? How am I going to take care of this child? You know, I didn't have to worry about any of that because my husband made sure in advance that we were taken care of.
WILLIS: The Insurance Information Institute says 70 million Americans do not have life insurance.
So, who should have it? Experts say anyone with dependents.
STEVEN WEISBART, INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE: Often for people in their 30s, parents with young children, but it could be childless couples if they make commitments such that the survivor is financially hurt by the other one's debt.
WILLIS: In your 40s...
WEISBART: You need to begin to think about your position in what demographers call the sandwich generation, responsibilities to younger people and older people as well. And sometimes in their 50s, people who have been very successful need life insurance for estate planning purposes, to pay the estate taxes that would be due, or, again, to support people who depend on them for continued income.
WILLIS: The most common types of policies are term -- meaning that they cover a specific number of years -- and whole life that provides lifelong coverage.
For Melissa, it's made all the difference.
WANDALL: Life insurance has enabled me to live. It's just enabled my daughter and I to go on as if my husband is still sitting right beside us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: All right. You can find out more on CNN.com. We're going to have much more when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, welcome back. It's Monday, September 10. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning. I'm John Roberts in Washington, D.C.
This is where it's all going to happen. It's the caucus room in the house canon building, a very, very famous hearing room. The armed services committee meets here. They'll all be up there in front. Ike Skelton of Missouri is the chairman. He's the Democrat. Duncan Hunter, who we just talked to a moment ago, the ranking Republican, he'll be here asking a lot of the questions. And this would be the hot seat this morning. This is where Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus will be sitting facing questions from the committee. The eyes of the nation are certainly going to be on these two fellows as they tell us what the way ahead in Iraq is.
We're going to have all that coverage for you all afternoon on CNN beginning at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN. And if for some reason you can't get near a television set, we're also going to be streaming it live, gavel-to-gavel coverage on www.CNN.com. So just log onto our web site and get it all if you can't make it and join us here on CNN.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Countdown less than four hours now. All right, John. Thank you.
Also new this morning, the senator who was busted in a men's room sex sting at the Minneapolis airport plead guilty, is now trying to take it all back today. He's got his lawyers involved. The Idaho Republican Larry Craig expected this morning to file court documents to withdraw that guilty plea. He pled out to a disorderly conduct charge. This morning Craig's attorney, Billy Martin, is speaking out. He says that they have a case that the plea was not valid.
BILLY MARTIN, SEN. CRAIG'S ATTORNEY: Senator Craig stepped in that bathroom to do a perfectly legal function, that is to relieve himself.
CHETRY: Well Martin also said they will fight to get the charges dropped and go to trial to clear Craig's name if they have to.
Well, the Associated Press is reporting news now from Mexico about explosions at the state-run pipeline, this in the eastern part of Mexico. So this news coming in to us from the Associated Press. At the same time, this is video right here of a truck explosion, according to CNN. We've just gotten this information and confirmed it ourselves. A truck carrying more than 25 tons of dynamite exploding. This, though, in northern Mexico. We're hearing from a Mexican news agency that at least 30 people were killed in this explosion and 100 others or more injured. Three Mexican reporters at the scene were among those killed.
So, again this, is an explosion. A truck carrying dynamite going off in the northern part of the country at the same time the Associated Press reporting that Mexico's state-run oil company is talking about explosions taking place in pipelines in eastern Mexico. We'll continue to follow this news and bring you updates as soon as we find out more.
In the meantime, a crash landing caught on tape. Landing gear problems forced a pilot to make an emergency landing in Denmark. There you see the right wheel just buckle on impact and the landing gear as well. The right wing, the engine sent skidding along the runway. A propeller broke loose as you see debris flying through the air but parts of the propeller flew into the cabin. Police say that all 73 passengers and four crew members did escape before the engine caught fire and that no one suffered any major injuries.
Almost two dozen surgeons will be working together to try to remove 23 needles that are embedded inside of a woman. There you can see the x-ray. Doctors say that her grandparents may have used them years ago to try to kill her so that a baby boy might take her place. The 29-year-old woman has for years complained about depression and fatigue. Many of the needles have now embedded themselves in vital organs making their removal even more dangerous.
ROBERTS: Unbelievable.
Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel will announce today that he is not running for president or seeking re-election next year. Hagel has been one of the more outspoken Republican critics of the war policy in Iraq. He has served two terms in the senate.
A modest bump in the polls for newly announced Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson. A "USA Today" poll shows Fred Thompson in second place in the GOP race at 22 percent. That's up three points since august.
By some accounts, it was a train wreck. Our own Lola Ogunnaike was at the MTV music awards last night in Las Vegas to watch Britney Spears go well off of the rails. She tells us all about it ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Well, not for the first time, NBC's popular "To Catch a Predator" series is under fire for some of its tactics. But this time it's a competitor that's doing the firing, if you will. Howard Kurtz of "The Washington Post" is host of CNN "Reliable Sources."
Good to see you this morning, Howard.
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN'S RELIABLE SOURCES: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: Just tell us a nutshell, quickly, the latest controversy in terms of some of the questions surrounding this "To Catch a Predator" series where they conduct stings of people that were trolling the internet possibly for under aged children.
KURTZ: Well, for the first time, Kiran, one of the stings has completely fallen apart. This is in the small town of Murphy, Texas. "Dateline" did the story while 23 people were arrested. And all of the charges have been dropped against those 23 men because the local prosecutor says that the police work was so shoddy. He blames "Dateline." and says that so many things were staged for the cameras and turning it in to the television show, that he simply could not prosecute.
CHETRY: Was that information found out or looked more deeply into by ABC? And specifically by Brian Ross of "20/20." As you were talking to him, did you find that this was a journalist investigating a journalist or more of a network rivalry?
KURTZ: NBC obviously just wants to dismiss this as ABC taking pot shots at a competitor. But the fact is that a number of news organizations have raised questions about this particular case, in part because of the comments of the prosecutor in saying that "Dateline" was working so closely with the local police that they kind of distorted the investigation and screwed it up. But at the same time, there's also this tragedy that happened where as the cameras rolled, the police S.W.A.T. team broke down the door for an assistant district attorney for a neighboring county and attempted to arrest him. The man ended up shooting himself to death. The sister is suing NBC. So it's not only ABC that is raising questions about NBC's conduct in this particular case.
CHETRY: Let's listen actually to what ABC's Brian Ross said about NBC's tactics in this particular case that you're talking about.
BRIAN ROSS, ABC'S CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: It is one thing to shed a light on an important issue as "Dateline" has done. But it's quite another to become involved in actually running the sting, setting up the sting.
CHETRY: You know and as a media critic, Howard, what do you think of NBC's tactics and how they make this happen? They also work with another organization, "Perverted Justice," as I understand.
KURTZ: Right. That watchdog group is controversial. It's paid by NBC as much as $100,000 per episode. I mean look. We all want child predators taken off of the street, put in jail. And, so, in that sense, you have to give "Dateline" credit. They've raised the visibility of this issue. But by embedding themselves into the investigations, by having a correspondent for NBC, Chris Hanson, be the first person who questions the suspects when the sting is performed and some people think he's a cop because he doesn't initially identify himself, those kinds of tactics and working so closely with law enforcement makes me uneasy as a journalist and even Chris Hanson acknowledges they're going right up to the line, some people think they obliterated the line. Not until now has one of these cases completely fallen apart in the past but 120 men have been convicted of child molestation or child offenses. But this one has really brought into sharp relief, Kiran, the dangers of a news organization working so closely with law enforcement that sometimes the case simply can't be made.
CHETRY: NBC NEWS' president, Steve Capus, said he chalks it up to the usual network silly competitiveness. Do you think, before we let you go, that NBC will see any fallout from this investigation or from their competition's investigation given the ratings for this pretty popular show?
KURTZ: Well, that's the thing. Certainly "Dateline, NBC" has raised the visibility of this issue. But they keep doing it again and again. There's been nearly a dozen of these things. NBC seems committed to keeping this going despite the criticism from news organizations including ABC as long as the ratings hold up here and I don't see the network backing off from this particular undercover operation.
CHETRY: A lot of my friends always say, don't these guys see this on the air? How do they keep showing up night after night on this sting?
KURTZ: Because they are lured by decoys posing by teenagers on line. Some people keep falling for it.
CHETRY: All right. Howard Kurtz, CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES," and "Washington Post" media critic, thanks. KURTZ: Thank you.
ROBERTS: 16 minutes now to the top of the hour. Tropical storm Gabrielle now out in the Atlantic moving away from the continental United States. Our Rob Marciano in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina which is where the storm came ashore. What's it looking like there, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's a different day today for sure. Yesterday the storm cam ashore around noontime just southwest of here. It brought winds at 50 miles per hour and also some flooding rains in spots. State highway 12 was cut off in areas because of the Pamlico Sound's storm surge but that has since receded and today a beautiful day. Yesterday also you know the surfers were out, the borders were out. They were just trying to have some fun with this storm.
North Carolinas were hoping it would bring more rain. They've got a severe drought in 91 percent of the counties here. In only spots it brought five to eight inches of rain. And now other spots, they are 19 inches of rain below average.
Here's with where the storm is on the satellite picture. It is winding up and heading out to see, just a tropical depression now and the track will continue to go to the northeast. It won't be an issue except for shipping concerns, barely a blip on the scales.
And the only other issue of concern today is the potential for flash flooding across north Texas, areas that were soaked are going to get more rain today, north of Dallas.
John, back over to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much.
It was supposed to be Britney Spears' come back but could it be her comeuppance? Our Lola Ogunnaike was at the MTV Video Music Awards last night to watch Britney go well off the rails. She's here to tell us about it ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: It is the report that Washington waited months to hear, the nation, in fact. Within hours, we're going to hear from America's top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, Ryan Crocker. We already have an idea of what they're going to say about the buildup and about a possible troop reduction in the near future.
CNN's Dana Bash joins me now. I take it that the audience is going to be well skeptical to say the best on the democratic side.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Definitely skeptical. But the narrative we thought we were going to see, John, now is quite difficult. We thought we were going to see a time where this could be a pivotal moment. But now that General Petraeus is probably going to say let's give it a rest, a little more time, I should say, you're seeing the debate fall right along party lines as it had been. Listen to what you heard from a democrat and a republican this morning right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know something? The democrats have said of George Bush for three year, listen to your generals. Now we have a general who says we're making great progress, and they say, don't listen to this general.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm looking forward to today, I'm sure you are too Duncan, is for someone to lay out to me how to get the Shiite and Shiite violence down. How to get Sunni and Shiite violence out. How to get them to feel like Iraqis rather than different sects.
ROBERTS: Doesn't sound like he's going to change any Democratic minds. I guess the question is can he hang on to enough Republicans that the Democrats don't get them off, get the 60 votes they need to pass in legislation, maybe the 67 to override a veto.
BASH: That's the 64,000 question, John. The white house frankly has been successful at over the past month is trying to convince these Republicans to hold off, wait until they hear from general Petraeus. But, you know it's not going to be the kind of, probably the kind of revolt that we thought that most people, especially the Democrats thought they were going to see.
ROBERTS: Democrat lawmakers very careful to criticize the policy, but not the man. Not taking shots at David Petraeus. One liberal organization did.
BASH: That's right. Check out this ad in today's paper. It's pretty harsh. General Petraeus or General Betray Us as put in the paper by moveon.org, the anti-war group. This definitely takes the Democrat's message of questioning the administration, questioning the military strategy to a whole other level. Some Democrats I talked to this morning, leadership aids and actually a member of the leadership, they're not very happy about this. This does not help because they know the general's approval rating. People think they and he is the person who can really take the country out of it far greater than Democrats in congress.
ROBERTS: So the word in Congress these days is 18 percent, 19 percent?
BASH: I think that's giving it a lot.
ROBERTS: Dana, thanks very much. We're going to hear the testimony, of course, from Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus begins at 12:30 eastern time here today on CNN. We'll also be comparing notes from what's being said today and what's been reported before, all from CNN's Iraq fact check desk.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. Thanks. Tommy Lee and Kidd Rock came to blows during the video music awards last night on MTV in Vegas. Reportedly this happened during a performance by Alicia Keyes. The two men were both at one time married to Pamela Anderson. According to one MTV V-jay, he saw Kidd Rock walk up to Tommy Lee, "Deck him." Another witness says Kidd Rock threw the only blows that landed but Tommy Lee instigated it. They were both eventually thrown out, Kidd Rock charged with misdemeanor battery by Las Vegas police.
All right. Well, a lot of people tuned in last night just to see if it was really going to be the comeback of a popular pop star, Britney Spears. She opened up with a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. And it was really a highlight for a highlight reel, more like a low light, really.
CNN's Lola Ogunnaike was there at the VMAs, a firsthand look. I'm so glad we're talking to you because I want to know what was it like inside the place, Lola, with that lack luster performance by poor Britney?
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, everybody was hoping that it would be the comeback performance. The house had so much energy. Everybody was saying, go, Britney, go, Britney. When she came on stage, it was clear it was not going to be a comeback performance. A low light of her career. She bombed royally. And people in the room were shocked. They were laughing at some points because they just couldn't believe how terrible her performance was. It was almost as if she was just not there. She just wasn't there. And, you know, she's been known for her dancing and she was lip syncing. One thing if you're lip syncing and dancing very hard. People accept that. But if you're not dancing hard and you're lip zincing, that's a serious problem. People are not pleased at all, Kiran.
I think people in the past excused the fact that she's lip zinced because she's been able to dance and light up the stage performing. The year she had that python wrapped around her. But this time it looked like she lost her place lip zincing her own music. Doesn't MTV make you perform and practice. They take this seriously. How would they let her handlers let that type of performance go on?
I talked to a few sources here. A person told me that Britney was late to her rehearsal on Friday. She was three hours late. She managed to make several other artists very angry. No one was surprised that she didn't manage to pull off something that was spectacular.
CHETRY: Really sad to see. Boy. What are you hearing about the big Tommy Lee and Kidd rock fight? Both at one time married to Pamela Anderson.
OGUNNAIKE: Kidd Rock threw the first punch. Apparently Tommy Lee was heckling Pamela Anderson during her presentation. Kidd Rock wasn't happy about it. And the two came to blows. The rumors have been flying. That's all everyone is talking about, Pamela, Tommy, and Britney. CHETRY: Oh, and one other thing. Real quick, what about Kanye West? He said he's never coming to the awards again. He also was angry and said something about how he never gets to open the show. He said I got to get my money right or maybe I got to get my skin white. What was going on with Kanye crying the blues?
OGUNNAIKE: You've got to love Kanye. Kanye is always controversial. He's always the person who's' going to cry or upset about something. If he doesn't win an award, he's upset. If he doesn't open the awards, he's upset. Nothing new, an album is coming out tomorrow. And of course, he wants to generate headlines. That's what he does.
CHETRY: He has an album coming out as well as 50 Cent and Kenny Chesney. We'll see who tops it.
Lola, it was great talking to you. I hope you had a blast.
OGUNNAIKE: I had a blast.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us. Meanwhile here's a quick look at what "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM," a top American commander in Iraq reports to congress today on the president's troop buildup, live coverage. Senator Larry Craig filing paperwork today. He's trying to withdraw a guilty plea related to a men's room sex sting. A teen trapped in his wrecked car for a week, his survival story. And the plane that landed on a roof. "NEWSROOM" top of the hour, on CNN.
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ROBERTS: The double O was winner over the weekend. Oprah's star power brought in $3 million for Barack Obama. A-listers flocked to the fundraiser over the weekend. Guests included Sydney Pottier, Forest Whitaker, Chris Rock, and a performance by Stevie Wonder.
CHETRY: Would have loved to be at that. Sounds like fun.
Well, a McDonald's worker outside Atlanta spent the night in jail. She got charged with reckless conduct because she served a police officer a burger douse in salt. She says it made him sick. She says it was an accident, and if he didn't like the taste, he should have thrown it away. McDonald's has put her on unpaid leave.
ROBERTS: That will do it for us from AMERICAN MORNING in New York from Washington. Special coverage of the testimony at 12:30 p.m. eastern here on CNN and gavel-to-gavel coverage on CNN.com. Join us for that.
Kiran.
CHETRY: That's right and we're going to have another packed show tomorrow. Be there again. Reaction from all over D.C. about some of the things that were said tomorrow. We're also going to do an Iraq fact check as well about some of the things we'll hear today about the conference, at that report.
In the meantime, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins starts right now.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris with the day off today.
Live Monday morning, September 10. Here's what's on the rundown. The top military man in Iraq reporting for duty on Capitol Hill, the state of the so-called surge. On second thought, Larry Craig trying to get out of the guilty plea today related to a men's room sex sting. And trapped in his wrecked car for a week. Incredible survival story in the NEWSROOM.
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