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President Bush to Deliver Address on Iraq War; Search Continues For Steve Fossett
Aired September 12, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's not exactly child's play, insuring the safety of millions of imported toys, but the head of Mattel promises Congress he will get the lead out.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And a small child targeted for ghastly cruelty in Iraq finds compassion and hope in America. Yusef's (ph) story takes a big step forward right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: It's 3:00 here in the East.
How many troops is enough? How soon is soon enough? Does a surge reversal count as a new direction? Iraq war critics and Congress aren't waiting for the president's address tomorrow night to shoot down his expected troop reduction plan as too little too late.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is following the speech writing at the White House. Our Jessica Yellin is busy getting an earful at Capitol Hill.
Suzanne, let's start with you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, President Bush is now on more than 20 drafts of the speech, a critical speech that he will deliver tomorrow to the American people.
Already, he's facing a barrage of criticism, people essentially saying this is more of the same, this is no change in strategy. He will be talking about withdrawing some 30,000 troops, back to the pre- surge troop level. A lot of people saying that was inevitable. Military planners said that they really couldn't sustain this troop level surge until April of next year, President Bush announcing that it will happy in July, but the White House insisting today that it's happening faster than they imagined.
And they also say that there are some successes on the ground that are happening in Iraq. We heard from Press Secretary Tony Snow, who essentially was accusing Democrats and critics today of having blinders on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Number one, if you believe in the troops and support them, why don't you acknowledge and celebrate their success? I mean, this ought to be a time for people to say, "Job well done."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Don, he was pretty much all over the place. He was saying, it was game of cat and mouse here, that they were not acknowledging that true success was happening on the ground. He even tried to change the debate, if you will, saying that it's not about the troop levels at all, but whether or not, in his words, he said, the Iraqis are in this, whether or not they give a rip.
So, we're going to hear the president outlining some of those arguments and make his case to the American people tomorrow -- Don.
LEMON: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux -- thank you, Suzanne.
PHILLIPS: And the Democrats are trying to get out ahead of the president's message.
No to CNN's Jessica Yellin. She is on Capitol Hill -- Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the Democrats could not disagree more emphatically with Tony Snow. They insist that what the president is expected to propose, that the U.S. draw down troops to pre-surge levels by next summer, is exactly more of the same. It's where the U.S. was one year ago.
And they say the U.S. needs to do more than that. There needs to be a real change of course, and they are putting the pressure on moderate and wavering Republicans to vote with Democrats to force the president to do more.
This was Harry Reid just minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: I hope the Senate Republicans also recognize it's time for them to come over and work with us. It's long past time to change the mission in Iraq. It's time to reduce our large combat footprint and fight in other areas to make this country safer.
So, I call on the Senate Republicans to not walk lockstep, as they have, with the president, for years, in this war. It's time to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now, Harry Reid said this has been the president's war.
Republican senators (AUDIO GAP) their war, too, if they want, really putting the pressure on. Now, Democrats up here are kicking around a bunch of different ideas for possible legislation to force a change of course. Some of the ideas under discussion, just broadly speaking, are these.
One, a plan that would give troops more time between deployments, which would indirectly force a drawdown, because there would be fewer troops available at any one time to be in combat.
Another idea, that (AUDIO GAP) forcing a deadline for withdrawal, instead, they set a goal that troops, all combat troops, be home by a certain date. And yet another plan is to possibly make the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group into law.
Now, all those are just still under discussion. Some versions are being drafted. It's all very much up in the air. But Democrats say there will be a fierce debate on all of this next week -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jessica, thanks so much.
Don't forget, the president's speech airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. You are going to want to tune in at 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 Pacific, for a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM," though. That will be right here on CNN prior to the speech.
LEMON: We have some developing news. There's new information on a horrific crime against a young woman in West Virginia.
Our Brianna Keilar is standing in Charleston with the very latest.
Update us, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know there was speculation we have been talking about today, would hate crimes, federal hate crime charges come into play in this case?
We have just learned from the U.S. attorney's office here in Charleston, West Virginia, that federal authorities will not step in. So, read, no hate crime charges.
Now, the Logan County prosecutor's office tells us that this may not have been the first time that this alleged victim had been to the residence where police found her on Saturday.
That prosecutor, Brian Abraham, telling us that this alleged victim was attacked back at this house in July by one of the suspects, Bobby Brewster, and that Bobby Brewster was charged with beating her. This prosecutor saying that this victim may have been romantically involved with Brewster.
Well, when sheriff's deputies found the victim, Megan Williams, at the Brewster residence on Saturday, police reports say that she had been raped at knifepoint, stabbed in the left leg, beaten, strangled, doused with hot water, and forced to eat animal feces.
And I should mention that, normally, CNN does not reveal the identity of an alleged victim in a sexual assault case. But, in this case, this woman, Megan Williams, her parents say they want people to know what has happened to their daughter, so that other people can learn to not be so trusting.
So, Ms. Williams is here at this hospital in Charleston, West Virginia, where she is recovering at this point. About an hour-and-a- half drive from here in Logan, West Virginia, not far from where police say that Williams was held captive, six suspects have been arrested. And they are being held at this point.
Police reports alleged that two people, Frankie Lee Brewster, Bobby Brewster, her son, that man who I already mentioned, that they were really the ringleaders in this case, that they are facing the more serious charges, but also George Messer and Alisha and Karen Burton, who are a daughter and a mother, as well as Danny Combs, are also facing serious criminal charges.
All six of these suspects very familiar to local law enforcement there in Logan. All of them have histories of run-ins with police, including charges that involve violence. In fact, Frankie Lee Brewster spent five years in prison. She had pled out to voluntary manslaughter. That was in connection with the death of her son's grandmother.
And then the talk around town about Bobby Brewster there in the Logan area was that he had killed his father as a teenager. This is a fact that was confirmed by "The Charleston Daily Mail" today by Logan Sheriff Eddie Hunter -- Don.
LEMON: All right, breaking details from CNN's Brianna Keilar, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, the headline is pretty familiar. A powerful earthquake strikes near Indonesia, sending people into the streets. Today, a quick with a magnitude of 8.4 struck in the Indian Ocean, killing at least nine people in Indonesia and damaging buildings 400 miles away in Jakarta.
Tsunami warnings were issued, and a small tsunami around two feet high was detected on Sumatra, just several hundred miles from the quake's epicenter. Now, those warnings have been canceled. While strong, today's quake is still about nine times weaker than that 2004 quake that set off a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
LEMON: All right.
Senator Obama giving a speech today in Iowa about the Iraq war. Of course, that's him there live. You're looking at live pictures there.
Of course, we have been talking about the war, General Petraeus testifying in front of a joint subcommittee all this week talking about Iraq, saying that, by next June or next July, some 30,000 troops will be brought back home to pre-surge levels.
Well, apparently, Senator Barack Obama, very critical of the president today and also talk about the Iraq war, here's what he had to say just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... of this war.
America's standing has suffered. Our diplomacy has been compromised by a refusal to talk to people who we don't like. Our alliances have been compromised by bluster. Our credibility has been compromised by a faulty case for war.
Our moral leadership has been compromised by Abu Ghraib. That is the cost of this war. Perhaps the saddest irony of the administration's cynical use of 9/11 is that the Iraq war has left us less safe than we were before 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Of course, you heard from our Candy Crowley just a short time ago, saying that this is part of Senator Barack Obama's effort to sort of enhance his experience. That's where he's weak, according to our Candy Crowley, who is on the campaign trail with Senator Barack Obama. She has been following him.
And don't forget, the president's speech airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. But you will want to tune in at 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 Pacific, for a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- right here on CNN.
PHILLIPS: Doctors feared that he would be paralyzed from this hit. Today, an NFL tight end is down, but not out in Buffalo. We will have the details straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Caught in the act. A driver turns the tables on cops and installs his own dashboard camera. Listen to what he caught on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. JAMES KUEHNLEIN, ST. GEORGE POLICE: Do you want to try me? Do you want to try me, young boy? You want to try me tonight, young boy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That's him and his camera there. We will hear his story and hear more of the dramatic tape straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM. Oh, boy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Three fourteen Eastern time. Here are the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The next tropical storm of the season is swirling in the Gulf of Mexico. Humberto is blowing north, on track to hit the Texas coast later tonight. It could dump five to 10 inches of rain on the already saturated region. Warnings have been posted from Port O'Connor, Texas, to Cameron, Louisiana.
Shock aftershocks continue to cause concern in Indonesia, after an 8.4 magnitude earthquake earlier today. At least nine people have been killed. And a tsunami watch is in effect for 24 countries in the region.
President Bush will address the nation tomorrow night. He's expected to address the drawdown of 30,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer. That was the recommendation of General David Petraeus, who is in charge of all operations in Iraq.
LEMON: Well, sadly, it's been over a week now. And searchers in Nevada are back in the air today, on the lookout for any signs of Steve Fossett.
As you know, the renowned adventurer seeker and record-setter hasn't been seen since he took off 10 days ago in a single-engine plane. He filed no flight plan. Rescuers say Fossett could survive a while without food, but could only make it a few days without water.
PHILLIPS: Well, you have heard of the Bermuda Triangle, but the Nevada triangle? The search for Fossett could solve some other mysterious disappearances.
CNN's Kara Finnstrom explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The year was 1964. Charles Ogle, a California businessman and ex-military pilot flew a single engine plane out of Oakland headed for Reno. The wife he was divorcing, two daughters and a son, then just 4-years-old, never saw him again.
WILLIAM OGLE, SON OF MISSING AVIATOR: Having the doubt put to rest is important and knowing that he didn't run off and that it was an accident and that he would have been there.
FINNSTROM: Now, the massive search for Steve Fossett might finally resolve a 40-year-old mystery for Ogle's family.
OGLE: There's a wreck that they think is from the '60s. So, we're hoping that that's the one.
FINNSTROM: The methodical work of search crews has turned up six previously undiscovered crash sites. Searchers believe there may be as many as 200 such sites around the Sierra Nevada Range. A Bermuda Triangle of soaring mountain peaks, deep ravines, sage brush and trees that provide natural camouflage for downed planes.
MAJOR CYNTHIA RYAN, CIVIL AIR PATROL: We're going to have to wait until this search is concluded so that we can pull resources and go into some of these rather treacherous areas and really comb through that wreckage, find some serial numbers, run it through manufacturers and find out who the buyer was. FINNSTROM: Fossett's search teams have the benefit of today's high tech tools and about double the normal resources in the air, thanks to aircraft belonging to hotel magnate Barron Hilton. Fossett was flying a plane from his ranch.
It's an effort that could also provide answers for the survivors of those other pilots lost so long ago.
OGLE: I'm hoping that they find the plane and now, I'm starting to have the doubts, what if they don't find his plane.
FINNSTROM (on camera): William Ogle says search crews did look for his father for about 60 days in 1964. The crews now looking for Fossett say there is specific information about Ogle's plane that makes them believe this could possibly be a match, but they really won't know anything until they get out there and investigate these planes further.
Reporting in Minden, Nevada, Kara Finnstrom for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Switching sides. Some Sunnis tribal leaders join U.S. forces against al Qaeda in Iraq. Our Anderson Cooper takes a look -- straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A 20-year-old turns the tables, as well as a dash-cam, on police. Brett Darrow rigged a dashboard on his car last year after a couple of run-ins with police. Well, last week, he was pulled over again and caught this exchange on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. JAMES KUEHNLEIN, ST. GEORGE POLICE: You want to try me? You want to try me tonight? You think you have a bad night? I will ruin your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) night. You want to try me? Do you want to try me, young boy? Do you want to try me tonight, young boy? Do you want to go to jail for some (EXPLETIVE DELETED) reason I come up with? Do you want to see who knows the law better, me or you?
Ever get smart-mouth with a cop again, I show you what a cop does. You understand me?
BRETT DARROW, FILMED TRAFFIC STOP: Yes, sir.
KUEHNLEIN: Try and talk back. Talk back to me again. I could say you resisted arrest or something. You want to come up with something? I can come up with nine things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: That's suburban Saint Louis police sergeant is now on unpaid leave, after Darrow posted the recording on the Internet.
We spoke with Darrow today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: You didn't immediately give him your I.D. Why didn't you do it since it was 2: 00 in the morning and you were there by yourself?
DARROW: Well, when he asked me for it, I started to get it out. And, as I was getting it out of my wallet, I asked him if I had done something wrong, if there was a problem. If they were looking for someone, I wanted to help figure out what was going on.
CHETRY: Why did you have the dash cam in the first place?
DARROW: Well, actually, about a year and a half ago, I got a traffic ticket. I didn't think I deserved it. There was really no way for me to prove my side. I thought, well, what better way than to have video evidence if I get another one ever again? And I guess it helped out this time.
I would like to see the officer fired. I thought his conduct was ridiculous. And now the patrol car video is missing. They can't -- the chief can't find it. So, I think this officer needs to be fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The officer has been with the department for about two years.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
LEMON: Texas. Oh, this is a bit of sad news. Meet Humberto -- the latest on a newly named tropical storm live from the hurricane headquarters and our very own Mr. Chad Myers. The news keeps coming. We keep bringing it to you.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don lemon.
It's exactly what Texas does not need, more rain. But the Lone Star State is in line for a soaking, thanks to Humberto.
PHILLIPS: That's the name of the new tropical storm kicking up in the Gulf of Mexico. We have got the latest from the CNN Severe Weather Center.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
ANNOUNCER: CNN, your hurricane headquarters.
LEMON: Our Chad Myers is here with an update on the latest threat to the Gulf Coast, Tropical Storm Humberto -- Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right, we want to take you live now to Gastonia, North Carolina. The live pictures here coming in from our affiliate WCNC there in North Carolina. It's a bus of school children, we're being told. It's been involved in a collision with two vehicles. It appears that several of the children were injured. Not quite sure about the individuals in the cars that actually went under that bus.
It happened about an hour ago at the intersection of Robinwood Road and East Hudson Boulevard, if you are from that area. You can see here that the injured being car carted off via ambulance. It appears that the cars crashed into the back of the bus and then kind of pushed the cars partially beneath that bus.
The children that were not injured were let off the bus about 3:00 p.m., about a half an hour ago, I should say. Paramedics have be seen, and still are, treating a number of children there at the intersection on the grass. You can actually see where the tent is set up there on the corner of your screen, that blue tent. That's where they're treating the injured at this point. Some of them are already being taken to local hospitals via ambulance.
We're told about four or five units -- emergency response units -- are on the scene. Another school bus has been brought in to take some of the other children home. We are monitoring, also, that a medical helicopter apparently is on standby in case anyone needs to be flown from the scene. But right now it looks like parents and relatives have been able to come pick up the other children that were on that bus. Those that have been injured are either being treated right there at the blue tent on the scene.
We'll update you once we know some more.
LEMON: After the head-crunching impact that left him fighting for his life at a hospital, well, there's heart warming news today about Buffalo Bill's tight end Kevin Everett. Some doctors are saying that he's shown promising movement and may, in fact, walk again.
The surgeon who actually operated him after Sunday's tackle will just say that he's shown improvement.
But Everett's family and teammates, they're full of hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ROYAL, BUFFALO BILLS: He looked great compared to what he looked like when I saw him on Sunday. Yesterday was a sigh of relief for not only us, his teammates, but also for his mother and his girlfriend that was there in attendance. You know, Kevin was talking to them and responsive. Obviously, he couldn't talk because of the tubes that was in his mouth, but he was able to shake his head and smile a little bit and actually move his arms and legs just a slight -- just a little bit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A spinal cord expert who is now optimistic about Everett's condition says the key here was a treatment done just minutes after the athlete was removed from the field. Everett was put into a hypothermic state, his temperature lowered with an icy cold saline solution. That reduces swelling and movement and helps protect the spinal cord.
PHILLIPS: The top commander in Iraq says 30,000 fewer troops in Iraq by this time next year. General David Petraeus spent the past two days testifying before House and Senate committees and, as importantly, before the American people.
Petraeus told CNN's Barbara Starr just a short time ago that he's running a war that's just bigger than boots in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: We have enormous national interests in Iraq, first of all, in helping Iraq achieve its objectives -- our objectives of a secure stable Iraq connected into the region, not a regional problem, not a base for Al Qaeda in which to train and export terror. And certainly that's one of those areas in which we would have enormous concern were our objectives not achieved in that country.
Also, concerns about potential Iranian influence, a humanitarian disaster of enormous proportions. And there's already been enormous humanitarian loss there with two million, perhaps, outside the country and perhaps that many more displaced in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: President Bush, as well, expected to back General Petraeus and his plan to cut the U.S. presence in Iraq to a number that existed before the so-called troop surge.
Now, don't forget, the president plans to address the nation 9:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. But you'll want to tune in at 7:00 p.m. Pacific for a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" right here on CNN.
LEMON: Well, when politicians and commanders speak of military progress in Iraq, much of it comes from a remarkable shift in loyalties by Sunni tribesmen.
CNN's Anderson Cooper has more from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLONEL MICHAEL KERSHAW, 2ND BRIGADE, 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION: A salaam alaikum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alaikum salaam.
KERSHAW: Good to see you.
COOPER (voice-over): What you're seeing is extraordinary.
KERSHAW: A salaam alaikum. Good to see you.
COOPER: Colonel Michael Kershaw, commander of 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division is being greeted by Sunni tribal leaders, men who, until very recently, fiercely opposed the U.S.
Now he hears their grievances, spends time in their homes. He even shares meals with them.
(on camera): A year ago, would you have ever known that you would be able to walk around in a place like this...
KERSHAW: No.
COOPER: ...break bread with these guys?
KERSHAW: No. We really hoped to -- we had really hoped a year ago to establish very basic inroads down here. That was our assessment of the security situation. We thought the insurgency was embedded far too deep for us to be able to effectively root it out and develop the relationship with the locals.
COOPER (voice-over): What changed?
As happened in Al Anbar Province, here in south Baghdad several months ago, local Sunni leaders turned on the al Qaeda extremists in their midst.
(on camera): What was it that -- that al Qaeda did that made people here turn against them?
SHEIK HAMID KARBOULI, SUNNI LEADER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Killing people, stealing goods, everything. You name it.
COOPER (voice-over): Sheik Hamid Karbouli recruited some 150 volunteers who now man checkpoints and carry guns. The U.S. military likes to call them concerned local citizens.
KERSHAW: I've had one IED destroy a vehicle in an area where concerned citizens were located in the past two months.
COOPER (on camera): Just one?
KERSHAW: One.
COOPER: That's remarkable.
KERSHAW: That's incredible. It's incredible.
COOPER: That's a big change?
KERSHAW: A big change. A big change. In the three months since this has started, we have gathered more insurgents up, more terrorists, than we did in the preceding nine months. And it's because they have pointed these people out to us within their own ranks.
COOPER: What began as a Sunni awakening in Al Anbar Province against al Qaeda has now spread to other parts of Iraq. To encourage local tribesmen to turn against al Qaeda, the U.S. military is now paying local sheiks to provide security in their areas. A gunman like this can earn up to $10 a day for his services.
The next step is to have young men like this join the Iraqi police. But for that, the U.S. military needs the cooperation of the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad.
(voice-over): That cooperation, however, is slow in coming. The government is concerned these gunmen might turn into armed militias if the U.S. pulls out and civil war erupts.
Colonel Kershaw is registering as many of the local volunteers as possible, taking photographs and retinal scans, hoping leaders in Baghdad will agree to hire them as Iraqi police.
KERSHAW: It's all a roll of the dice. It's people and politics all intertwined down here. What we see as being the end state down here is these tribes being fully brought back into the governmental process.
COOPER: Second Brigade has lost 53 men in Iraq. Their photos are proudly displayed in the brigade's headquarters. Some of the U.S. soldiers here have a hard time forgiving the Sunnis for what they might have done in the insurgency.
COOPER (on camera): Were some of these people part of the insurgency prior to this?
KERSHAW: Sure, they were. Our job over here isn't to do what's comfortable for us and it isn't to do what we feel like doing.
Our job is to do our nation's bidding. And the job is to do our duty. And if this gets our nation closer to a solution for this country and our own country's issues over here, then that's what we're going to do.
COOPER: Anderson Cooper, CNN, South Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Our coverage on the Iraq progress report continues from Baghdad with Anderson Cooper. He's live in Iraq keeping them honest tonight at 10:00 p.m.
PHILLIPS: His story touched thousands of people, including some who can really make a difference. Find out how the Children's Burn Foundation plans to help Youssif heal inside and out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: An update now on this bus crash -- school bus crash, actually, in Gastonia, North Carolina. Pictures coming to us from our affiliate, WCNC.
We're told that eight children and one adult have been taken to the hospital. Apparently this school bus was full of children. There was this collision with two vehicles that hit the bus from the back, it looks like, and sort of pushed the cars partially underneath that bus.
Paramedics immediately responded to the scene and you are seeing a number of the injured that have been taken to the hospital. Other buses were brought in. Parents came to take the other children home that were not injured.
We're not quite sure how the accident happened, but it happened at a cross section. More than likely, somebody not paying attention to stop sign, lights, whatever is there at that intersection. But we'll keep you updated.
Eight children and one adult to the hospital now. We're not sure about the extent of injuries.
LEMON: Also, we have another update for you. It's very big day for a very small boy burned alive in Iraq. Since CNN first brought you the story, the heartrending story of 5-year-old Youssif, more than 12,000 visitors to CNN.com have given to a fund set up the Children's Burn Foundation.
Well, today, through the foundation's efforts, Youssif and his family are in Los Angeles, where many months of treatment lie ahead.
Earlier in the NEWSROOM, I spoke with the foundation's executive director, Barbara Friedman, about Youssif and his family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA FRIEDMAN, CHILDREN'S BURN FOUNDATION: I don't ever remember sort of seeing people who just showed such pure joy at being here, at being able to provide at being able to get the best treatment for their son.
LEMON: You said to me, when people said, I wish I could be a fly on the wall, you were glad you got the chance to do that.
FRIEDMAN: Just to see the pure joy that they had. In coming here. They probably thanked us a million times. We picked him up from the airport, took them to their airport. We bought some groceries beforehand.
LEMON: You're talking about them, Youssif's family. And the 1- year-old sister -- we have a great picture in the airport. He's playing with her, a gorgeous picture. He's very much a normal little boy even with all these injuries. Talk to us about that family, not just about treatment. You're going to get them set up. They will be here for a while.
FRIEDMAN: They're just as important as the physical treatment is, experiencing a trauma, like a burn injury, impacts both Youssif and his parents. It really affects the whole family. We really hope to provide whatever they're willing to receive, in terms of counseling, information about what the future may hold, trauma from a burn injury has been described to me as holding a big beach ball under water, you know, when you're holding a big beach ball under water, you can't do much else. We want to provide counseling, information and anything else they need, to begin their journey of their emotional recovery, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Barbara tells us that this afternoon, a doctor is giving Youssif his initial examination. He could have his first procedure to fix the burns as early as next week.
And since CNN first brought you the story of Youssif, thousands of you have offered to help. You still can with CNN's Impact Your World initiative. Just log on to our Web site, CNN.com/impact, to make a difference.
PHILLIPS: Democratic senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama says when it comes to getting combat troops out of Iraq, the time is now. Obama outlined his ideas a little while ago at Iowa's Ashford University. He said he wants all combat brigades out of Iraq by the end of next year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: Thank you, everybody.
Let me be clear, there is no military solution in Iraq. There never was. The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops -- not in six months or one year, but now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Obama's chief Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, is also talking about Iraq. She's ripping President Bush's expected announcement that he'll bring the U.S. force level down to pre-surge level by next summer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Mr. President, we don't need another mission accomplished moment. What we need is honesty and candor, and honesty and candor that demands that you announce that you will start bringing troops home now. If President Bush won't do that, when I am president, I will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Tomorrow night, President Bush is expected to endorse the recommendations of General David Petraeus in a prime time speech to the nation.
His views on Iraq are under fire and his presidential campaign is battling to regain momentum. But Republican Senator McCain says now is not the time to surrender on either front. McCain is on a two day campaign swing through Iowa, a trip that he's calling his No Surrender Tour.
On CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" he insisted the tide is turning in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: By generally any measurement, there's been significant progress. And those are hard to dispute. I know there will be people who will dispute those facts. But on the ground in Anbar Province, in Baghdad and many other areas, there's still a lot of challenges and a lot of difficulties, but I have no doubt whatsoever that we're being quite successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: McCain says that Americans have a choice in Iraq. They can support the current strategy or "we can choose to lose."
LEMON: A strong earthquake off the Indonesia followed by fears of a tsunami. An I-Report from the region coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We've been telling you all this week about Kevin Everett, the Buffalo Bills football player injured in a horrific tackle on the field. First it was thought he may be paralyzed. And then they got some promising news just this morning.
The Buffalo Bills called a press conference just a short time ago and the quarterback of that, J.P. Losman, visited Kevin Everett in the hospital and had this to stay just within the last hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.P. LOSMAN, BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK: I saw a kid who was -- was battling for his life. You know, I saw a kid who was being positive at the same time. I tried to make out a couple words and it's tough. He couldn't -- he tries to talk and, you know, he's trying to talk to me and just -- it couldn't come because he obviously has a tube down his mouth to help him breathe. But basically I went in there with Anthony and Roscoe. And after he left, I let Roscoe, you know, get a -- get some alone time with him. And then I got some alone time with him and basically, I just -- I gave him a piece of my mind. I kind of just talked to him, like I would -- like he was my brother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was J.P. Losman, the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills.
Just to give you a little bit of background in there, Everett sustained that injury Sunday night. It was after ducking his head while tackling Denver Broncos' Domenik Hixon during the second half of kickoff in the Bill's season opener. He dropped his face first to the ground after his helmet Hixon high on the left shoulder inside of that helmet. That's that hit right now.
Of course, some promising news. We're hearing from the hospital today and teammates visiting him. We'll update you.
PHILLIPS: Well, the headline is frighteningly familiar -- a powerful earthquake strikes near Indonesia, sending people into the streets. And today, a quake with a magnitude of 8.4 struck the Indian Ocean, killing at least nine people in Indonesia and damaging buildings 400 miles away in Jakarta. Tsunami warnings were issued and a small tsunami, around two feet high, was detected on Sumatra, several hundred miles from the earthquake's epicenter. Those warnings have now been canceled.
Though, strong, today's quake is still about nine times weaker than the 2004 quake that set off a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people. Today's quake off Indonesia was felt in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
At the time of the quake, CNN I-Reporter Joey Bourgoin took these photos in Bangkok from an open air restaurant. He was 62 stories above the streets.
He told our Tony Harris that at first he thought it was vertigo. Then someone said it might be the wind. Then he realized the building was swaying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOEY BOURGOIN: Well, we were waiting for direction from the staff. And we saw the security. He got on his two-way radio. And everyone was kind of standing and the staff were saying, do you feel an earthquake? And, obviously, we were feeling something.
And we just waited and then it -- it passed. It was about a minute-and-a-half, I think. And then everyone just kind of sat down and looked around and people started to ask for their bills and getting ready to go.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And did this feel strangely reminiscent to you?
BOURGOIN: Yes. I was here for the 2004, the first quake, the tsunami -- the big tsunami earthquake. And I was on the 18th floor of my building in my condo and had a similar experience, where there was waving. And I thought I was feeling some nauseous. And then little cracks formed in my wall and most of my building evacuated then. So it did -- I kind of thought it was an earthquake and said that. But then everyone said, no, it's probably just the wind.
HARRIS: Yes.
BOURGOIN: And I don't see the wind moving a 62 floor area.
HARRIS: So, where are you now, Joey, and what are your plans? BOURGOIN: I am in my room on the 18th floor and hoping there's no more swinging buildings tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Joey says that building swayed start to finish for about a minute-and-a-half. It probably seemed like forever.
LEMON: Exactly. More like an hour-and-a-half.
The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street straight ahead.
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PHILLIPS: All right, the closing bell about to ring on Wall Street. But we've been trying to figure out what city has the most expensive restaurant meals. Susan has been teasing it all day.
LEMON: I've got to ask you, though, Susan, I've got a caveat for you. Is it domestically or internationally?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's worldwide.
LEMON: Oh, I know that one. Do you know the answer?
LISOVICZ: Yes.
LEMON: OK. I think it's London.
LISOVICZ: You've got it.
LEMON: Yes.
LISOVICZ: Yes. And you said it's connected with a bridge.
LEMON: Well, I thought it was San Francisco in the U.S. But I would say London only because London -- restaurants in London have been going gang busters.
LISOVICZ: That's right.
LEMON: It used to be the food wasn't so great. Now, it's great. When I go...
LISOVICZ: They have the Naked Chef there, Jamie Oliver.
LEMON: When I go I'm like, how much, for what?
LISOVICZ: Well, you know, it's -- we should also mention, the British pound now will cost you two U.S. bucks. But the average meal in London now is about eight -- $79. That eclipses Paris, Tokyo and New York City, which is half the price.
LEMON: Yes.
LISOVICZ: The Big Apple is a bargain.
LEMON: Wow!
PHILLIPS: Some of the best Indian food in London, I just want to point out.
LISOVICZ: There you go.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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