Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
3 DEA Agents Killed in Chopper Crash in Afghanistan; President Holds War Strategy Session
Aired October 26, 2009 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is time now for your top of the hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is noon on Capitol Hill at a critical time in the health care debate. We're told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is poised to make a final decision about the public option issue.
It is 8:30 p.m. in Afghanistan as President Obama huddles again with his security team to discuss the future of that war. New U.S. deaths and anti-U.S. demonstrations mark the day. We will learn more about Senator John Kerry's recent mission to Afghanistan. He is live at the bottom of the hour. Let's get started.
Death toll rising in Afghanistan. 14 Americans killed today in the helicopter crashes. Let's get right to our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence. He's live for us in Kabul. And Chris, I understand you have new information on the crashes?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. We have just confirmed that there were three American DEA agents on board one of those helicopters. They are the first DEA agents to be killed here in Afghanistan.
They were part of a strike team that had raided a compound in western Afghanistan, where it was believed that insurgents were trafficking drugs. A fairly violent firefight broke out in which U.S. forces tell us more than a dozen insurgents were killed. All of the Americans survived that fight, but then they loaded up on that helicopter, which then went down. In addition to the three DEA agents, seven American troops were also killed in that crash.
And in a completely separate incident in southern Afghanistan, two U.S. helicopters collided, which brought both of them down. That killed four American troops and injured two others.
This was the heaviest loss of life for American forces in one single day in over four years since insurgents shot down a Chinook, but officials here in Kabul say they were not responsible for these deaths.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. WAYNE SHANKS, ISAF SPOKESMAN: Now, in both of these incidents, we do not believe that enemy action was responsible for that. We're still looking into it to see what actually happened, but we don't believe that it was due to any enemy fire. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: And military officials here in Afghanistan tell us that most of the major new offensive operations are not going forward at this time because most of the troops now are gearing up to try to secure the upcoming runoff election here in Afghanistan -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. And Chris, a couple of follow-ups, if I could with you. And I believe we have some pictures here of a second day of students protesting something that some American troops allegedly did.
What's the story here?
LAWRENCE: There is a tremendous amount of anger right now. This was the second day of protests.
A lot of these protesters and demonstrators are extremely angry because they believe that American troops burned a copy of the Koran in retaliation for getting hit by an IED. But what we have determined is it was just a rumor.
We were at one of the first protests. We could hear some of the protesters yelling at Afghan police, calling them "slaves of America" or "sons of Obama." It was very angry, very anti-western. Our security force and the Afghan police both told us it would not be a good idea to go directly into that crowd.
But again, the U.S. and Afghan forces have investigated this, found no evidence that it happened. In fact, the spokesman for the governor of that province has said he believes that the Taliban are spreading this rumor to try to stir up unrest against the government -- Tony.
HARRIS: I see.
All right. Chris Lawrence for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Chris, thank you.
You know, for the last half hour, President Obama has been meeting with his advisers in the White House Situation Room about Afghanistan. Our Elaine Quijano is following that story from the Pentagon, and we will join her live in just about two minutes.
Checking the wire now and the day's other big stories in Iraq.
Two suicide car bombers take a huge toll. The bombers targeted two government buildings yesterday -- 160 people were killed, more than 500 others injured. The attacks raise serious questions about Baghdad's ability to secure the country for national elections in mid- January.
Strong, young men reduced to tears. And this is the funeral for University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard in Miami.
Howard was stabbed outside a dance on the university campus. Each of Howard's teammates carried a single White rose on Saturday.
Boy, this was moving. University of Connecticut played West Virginia. Players for both teams wore Howard's number on their helmets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCUS EASLEY, HOWARD'S TEAMMATE: It still doesn't seem so real. Just, you know, it's hard to believe that we're actually suiting up, getting ready to play a game without Jas. And just that moment of silence, you know, it meant a lot for me and I guess for the rest of the team.
ANDRE DIXON, HOWARD'S TEAMMATE: I just can't stop thinking about him throughout the game. Like, when people, you know, when other team was doing stuff, I mean, I just kept continuing to think about Jas. I mean, it's just something that's never going to leave us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So far, police have made no arrests in Howard's stabbing death.
As the United States tries to juggle a vaccine shortage for the H1N1 flu virus, Great Britain's Department of Health says it has placed enough orders for the entire U.K. population to be vaccinated, but that's only about 60 million, about one fifth of the U.S. population. A mass immunization program began last week.
More now on one of our big stories. President Obama holding an Afghan war strategy session with his stop security advisers.
Live now to the Pentagon and CNN's Elaine Quijano.
Elaine, good to see you.
What are they expecting out of today's meeting?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, with U.S. strategy in Afghanistan really at a crossroads, Tony, this is another critical meeting that the president is having with members of his war council.
Now, from the Pentagon perspective, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is just back from an important trip overseas where he met with NATO allies. And this is a big deal, because those allies signaled that they are behind the strategy that's been put forward by General Stanley McChrystal.
He, of course, is the general who is the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and he wants tens of thousands of additional U.S. forces in that country. So, that backing by NATO allies certainly is no small thing. It's yet another factor for President Obama and his advisers, Tony, to weigh as they move forward with this Afghanistan review -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Elaine, any idea of a time frame here for the president's decision? I know we're all asking that same question.
QUIJANO: That's right. Well, we know November 7th obviously is a critical date here. That's going to be the date of the Afghan runoff election.
What Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week is that he believes the analytical phase of all of this is really starting to come to an end now. And the next two or three really are going to be the period of time where there are going to be some specific options here for President Obama to consider. So, obviously, all eyes on that November 7th election, and then perhaps within a week or so after that, at least according to what Defense Secretary Gates said last week -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. CNN's Elaine Quijano at the Pentagon for us.
Elaine, appreciate it. Thank you.
The president continues to listen to advisers and ambassadors about troop levels in Afghanistan. We're listening to you.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the United States should come out of Afghanistan. We have absolutely nothing to profit from that. Absolutely nothing. And we have enough problems right here in America -- you know, Chicago, L.A., Milwaukee needs the troops. We're losing people here every day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. My name is Tom from Michigan.
I'm a Vietnam veteran, and what I see is what happened in Vietnam -- a lot of politics, not enough men. The Army knows what it needs. We need to get in there with as many men, no matter how many it takes, and get the job done, make it stable, and bring the boys home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. This is Carol (ph) from Texas.
I have a son that's been over there in Afghanistan four times, and my heart dies every time he goes over there. But he says we need more troops over there to protect the troops that we already have over there, that more makes them stand stronger over there. So, Obama needs to get off his you know what and send more troops over there.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HARRIS: We would still love to hear your comments on this. Just call us at 1-877-742-5760. Let us know what you think the U.S. should do next in Afghanistan.
Senator John Kerry played a key role in getting Afghanistan's president to agree to a runoff vote. Kerry will discuss his recent trip to Afghanistan at the bottom of the hour, and we will of course bring that to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Nine minutes after the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
We are visiting the health care debate in the CNN NEWSROOM.
What will the latest Senate version look like? A final decision is expected soon. And how are things shaping up on the House side?
We have a live interview with Representative James Clyburn next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good to see you, Doctor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The public option could be included in the Senate's health care reform bill. An aide says Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to decide today on including government-backed health insurance in the bill.
Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is live from Capitol Hill.
Dana, what are you hearing? Revisit this topic for us once again here. What's the latest that you're hearing from the Senate?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That what you just said is still on track, that we could know and probably will know later this afternoon that the Senate majority leader has finalized his Senate bill that he is going to send to the Congressional Budget Office to determine its cost. And the question, though, still, Tony, is whether or not the Democratic leader has the 60 votes he needs for this bill.
And what's important to remember is it's not just 60 votes to pass it, which will not happen for several weeks, but it's even 60 votes just to get this Senate bill on to the Senate floor. That will be necessary. And we are told he still doesn't have that.
And he will need all 58 Democrats and two Independents committing that they will vote for that in order to make it happen. Again, we're told he doesn't yet have it, and that's what makes this strategy, Tony, ,so incredibly risky. In fact, I just talked to somebody over at the White House who said that they are concerned about this, that it is a dangerous strategy, but they are behind him because they say he knows his caucus better than anyone.
HARRIS: Well, you've mentioned that a couple of times, and it does feel like a risky strategy. So, what's the calculus here? Because you hear some senators suggesting that the majority leader is very close to that 60 number.
BASH: That's right. The calculus that I am told from multiple sources is that no matter what his strategy, no matter what he puts into this bill to bring to the Senate floor, it is going to be a gamble, because there is such a split and there's such a range of opinions on where they should go in the Senate Democratic Caucus. But what I'm told more and more, talking to sources on Friday and through the weekend, Tony, is that a big part of what's driving this is a desire to give one, for lack of a better term, to the Democratic base, who's so fired up about this.
This has become such a huge issue for the Democratic base. And frankly, very unhappy with the Obama White House and the Democratic leadership, especially the leadership in the Senate, because they feel that there's a lot of foot dragging going on with regard to not just health care, but closing Guantanamo Bay, reversing the military's -- gays in the military ban, and a whole lost of issues that I am told from Democratic strategists outside working on campaigns, and even here in the Capitol, that that is a big concern, not just going into this election next Tuesday, but much more importantly, the next midterm election in 2010.
They don't want to anger the base that much, and so, at least saying we tried, at least starting out and saying we have this public option, the most robust possible at the beginning. Even if it doesn't work, they can at least say they tried.
HARRIS: Right. That is really good back story there.
Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, for us.
Dana, thank you.
Republicans are lined up squarely against the public option. They say government-run insurance will drive private insurers out of the market.
On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," Senator Orrin Hatch said a public option would be disastrous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Senator Hatch, there can be, in your view, no public option. That's too much of a government role in this.
What is the Republican answer to force the insurance companies to bring down rates?
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: Well, first of all, we know that Medicare, for instance, was enacted in 1965, that's a public option. Today, it's $38 trillion in unfunded liability. Medicaid is going broke within the next 10 years.
We know that if the Democrats get 60 votes in the Senate, we're going to have a public option. It may not be called that, and they may called an opt-out, but I guarantee you the process will go there. And why? Because they're going to have in this bill that they're going to cover people of 133 percent of the poverty level.
And like I say, that's 33 percent above New York's current expenditure. It's almost double what our expenditure is in Utah. If that happens, the states can't live with it, you're going to have a fiasco on your hands. So this vote to stop 60 votes in the Senate is really crucial.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All three health reform bills passed by the House committees include a public option, so let's get an update on where things stand in the House.
Democratic Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina is the majority whip in charge of counting votes in the House. And he joins us from Capitol Hill.
Congressman, good to see you. It's been a while.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, thank you so much for having me.
HARRIS: Yes, thanks for being here.
You know, you just heard Senator Hatch talk about the solvency of Medicare. Do you address that solvency issue in any of the House bills so far?
CLYBURN: Yes, we do, in every one of them. I would be inclined to agree with my friend Senator Hatch if we were not doing that. The fact of the matter is, what we're doing in this bill is to attack the runaway charges that have escalated in Medicare to bring that under control.
It's kind of interesting, but you'll recall on the night the president was speaking to the joint session, there were Republicans waving a plan in the back of the room. That plan that they were waving had the same kind of Medicare adjustments and cuts that we have in ours. So the Republicans and the Democrats are together on that part of the bill.
HARRIS: Yes. Well, Representative, another question just came to me.
Do you have a view -- you heard Dana Bash's reporting of how Senate Majority Leader Reid is trying to get to 60 votes on that merged bill, the HELP Committee and the Senate Finance Committee bill. And the thought is now that that final bill from the Senate will include a public option.
Do you have a view of what the Senate majority leader should do if he can't get those 60 votes?
CLYBURN: Yes, I do. The fact of the matter is, your polls, you'll recall, said that 61 percent of the American public want to have a public option.
HARRIS: Yes.
CLYBURN: That means that what we are saying is 61 percent of the United States Senate will deny a vote on the public option. I can't imagine that 60 percent of the United States Senate will deny 61 percent of the American people an opportunity to get what they say they want.
So, I would say to Senator Reid that 60 ought not be the crucial number. Fifty ought to be the crucial number.
And if I'm told that there are 52 or 53 Democrats who clearly will vote for a public option, at least some form of a public option -- and I do believe that the time has come for us to make 50 the number. Reconciliation has been provided for in our budget resolution. It is time for us to stop this snail's pace, stop running out the clock, and start getting done for the American people what they tell us that they would like to see done.
HARRIS: Well, that is a view that suggests at least that you believe that -- and I don't want to put words in your mouth here -- that regardless of what is offered, Republicans won't support it.
CLYBURN: Well, that's a view that I have. And even if you only have one -- and I'm told the only chance is to get one Republican.
Now, I believe like anybody else, bipartisanship is great. I do believe that we ought to try to do things in a bipartisan way. But the fact of the matter is the American people have already said in another one of your surveys that even if it has to be done without bipartisanship, then it ought to be done. So, I think it's good to have bipartisanship, but it's much better to get done for the American people what they would like to see done.
HARRIS: Well, then let me ask you something. That position that you're taking here, reconciliation in the Senate, it does run counter to the desires and wishes of the president, who would like to see health care passed with some kind of bipartisan support.
CLYBURN: Sure. All of us would like to see things done in a bipartisan way. I would like to see that done on the House side. But I'll tell you what, I don't think there will be a single Republican voting for whatever we do on the House side. So, if you're going to say 435 people sitting here, and then we're going to say we are going to deny the will of 61 percent of the American public, because around 35 percent, 40 percent of the Congress see it to the contrary.
I think the president is right to pursue bipartisanship. I applaud him for that. But I think that it's much better for the president to deliver on behalf of the American people.
And if you cannot get Republicans to put aside their partisanship and let us move to a vote on a very crucial issue such as this one, then I think that we ought to go without them.
HARRIS: But let me challenge you...
CLYBURN: The American people...
HARRIS: No, go ahead. Go ahead. CLYBURN: The American people will have an opportunity to pass their verdict on this.
HARRIS: Right.
CLYBURN: I'll tell you this -- I've been running around the country quite a bit, and we have got to pass this bill. We have got to do it, because if we don't do it, the status quo is just unacceptable.
We are going to see premiums double over the next 10 years. That's not my projection. That's what all the experts say. We have seen it double over the last nine years.
HARRIS: Got you. But Representative, more generally, you can't run public policy by polling. You just can't. Would you agree with that?
CLYBURN: Oh, absolutely. We're not polling to run public policy. What we are doing is looking at the fact that 52, a majority of the United States Senate, favor the public option.
HARRIS: Yes.
CLYBURN: What we're saying is that 60 people are preventing us from getting there. Now -- or maybe 41 will prevent us from getting there, because if you don't get 60, you cannot get to that point. So, that's all I'm saying here. I'm saying that 41 percent of the Senate, or even 42, 43 percent of the Senate, ought not to be allowed to prevent 52 percent from voting on something.
HARRIS: I want to fire one more question at you, and we've been talking about public option, public option. I just want you to explain what the public option looks like in the legislation that's being crafted into one bill in the House. Explain it to us so that everyone understands, what is it that is on the table that is being called now the public option?
CLYBURN: I believe I can do that.
We have had three committees working on this. Two of the committees have already reported. In those two committees, they reported a public option that reimburses providers at the rate of Medicare Plus 5 percent.
HARRIS: Plus 5, yes.
CLYBURN: That's called a robust plan.
Now we have reported in the third committee a public option that's negotiated rates, with allowing reimbursement to take place to providers at negotiated rates. Now, that is something that a lot of people in our caucus would like to see done. That's a different form of public option. Now, in those negotiated rates, we will increase Medicaid eligibility from 133 percent of poverty up to 150 percent of poverty. HARRIS: And that's how you expand and get more people covered?
CLYBURN: That's right. That means 3.5 to 7 million additional people will be able to come into Medicaid.
Now, the third option that is being talked about and seems to be favored by some in the White House is to have a negotiated rate with the increase in Medicaid eligibility, with the so-called trigger.
HARRIS: Yes.
CLYBURN: And that trigger will be pulled if you cannot get to the agreed-upon savings in a certain period of time. Then that trigger will impose a Medicare rate reimbursement, Medicare Plus 5 percent reimbursement.
Now, even with that, the Senate seemed to be saying they would like to have an opt-out provision added to that for states to use. I do believe that most people on our side of the building will not oppose to states opting out. The only question is trying to get something for them to opt out of. And that's what the problem is right now, getting an appropriate vessel for them to opt out of.
HARRIS: We're getting close. All right. At least I'm getting a better understanding of what you're working on.
CLYBURN: Well, thank you so much.
HARRIS: You know, that was very good. I mean, it takes a while, but you've got to take some time with this. I mean, look, you guys have been at this for over a year.
So, Representative Clyburn, appreciate it. Thanks for your time.
If you would, come on back and see us a little more frequently here so we can explain this big issue and others down the road. Will you agree to do that, sir?
CLYBURN: Yes, sir, I would. Thank you so much for happening me. I look forward to the time.
HARRIS: Representative, appreciate it. Thank you.
We are hearing that Senator Harry Reid is holding a news conference this afternoon.
Let's get to Dana Bash on Capitol Hill.
Dana, what are you hearing?
BASH: That's right, he's going to hold a press conference at 3:15 this afternoon to the formal explanation from Senator Reid's office that he is going to say where he stands on the public option and where he intends to take the Senate bill. They don't want to get ahead of this announcement, at least on the record, but privately, I'm told that we shouldn't expect anything different from what we have been reporting since yesterday, which is that the Senate majority leader does intend to offer a bill with a public option, allowing the states to opt out of it.
But I think we will hear -- in fact, I know we will hear a lot more from the senator about this decision, about why he made this decision, about where the votes are going to be and about how we go from here. So, 3:15 today, we are going to have a pretty big press conference from the Senate majority leader that really could give us a lot of information about the fate of the president's top priority as we go forward in the Senate.
HARRIS: Hey, this is really taking shape this week, isn't it? You heard Representative Clyburn talking about, look, let's go to reconciliation in the Senate if you can't get Republicans on board.
It is starting to galvanize this week, isn't it?
BASH: Yes. And that was very interesting, that the majority whip said that in the House.
Now, he does serve in the House, he doesn't serve in the Senate. But he is a powerful man up here and his opinion counts.
And I think what was most interesting to me about that is that he is likely speaking from the perspective of many of the liberals out there who are so adamant about this approach to health care, having a public option that they would be willing to push this, if necessary. But we're not there yet. We're going to have a long way to go before figuring out whether or not the Democrats are going to have to push this through under those rules.
HARRIS: Yes. All right.
Our CNN congressional correspondent, once again, Dana Bash.
Dana, thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
HARRIS: And go to the new CNNPolitics.com for enhanced video and options. It is all part of the new CNN.com.
Let's take a look at some of our top stories right now.
Harvard University says six of its lab workers were poisoned by chemical-laced coffee. The school says the incident happened in August. Police are now trying to determine if it was intentional. All of the victims were treated at a hospital and released.
Arizona police are searching for an Iraqi man accused of running over his daughter because he thought she was becoming too westernized. Her brother says tensions had been mourning for about two years, but he never suspected this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still unconscious, hasn't opened up, said a thing. She's moving around a little bit. They think it's spontaneous movement. Just seeing her in the hospital, it broke my heart. Nobody should have to go through that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: We will get another check of our stop stories in 20 minutes.
He is a veteran who says we need to wait until after the Afghanistan elections to send more troops. Senator John Kerry, recently back from a tour there, he is live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And, once again, we are waiting to hear from Senator John Kerry. As you know, he's a veteran. He says we need to wait until after the Afghanistan elections to send more troops. The senator is recently back from a tour of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The senator speaking in just a couple of minutes and we will bring you his remarks. His speech live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Back-to-back suicide car bombings in Baghdad are raising questions about Iraq's ability to maintain security. The bombers targeted two government buildings. At least 160 people were killed, 540 were injured. Iraq's interior ministry in the center of Baghdad was one of the targeted buildings. The interior ministry was visited the day before these attacks by Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Rice toured the building surveying damage from an August 19th bombing. The interior ministry building was one of the six insurgent targets attacked in August.
Yesterday's suicide bombings were the deadliest attack in Iraq in two years. It is one of the top stories on the new cnn.com. And our Josh Levs is following that for us.
Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And, Tony, you know, whenever there's major stories like that, people all over the world get them. Cnn.com, look for the latest. Now they're having a whole new user experience. So I'm going to show you all about this.
Let's zoom in here. This is the new cnn.com. A lot of really impressive features here. We're on the "World" page right now and you can see we're leading with this. Just this really striking, really difficult images. You just click on the image, it brings you to the story. And the story in this new format begins with these pictures at the top, allows you to scroll around, see what it looked like to people who were there. Absolutely wild and difficult to see sometimes.
What we also have for you is now, embedded in the story, the video right here. So without leaving the story, you're able to watch some video and it will play for you. You'll be able to see some of the video that was taken in the minutes afterwards and also throughout the day, as well as reports from cnn.com reporters. There you go. You can see any time, you just play that, any story that you're on.
Now let me take you to more of the pages we have going here. This is called news pulse. And what this does is it shows you what a lot of people are looking at. We're talking about Iraq right now. So I'm focusing on that. Let's zoom back in and what you'll see here is that among the most popular stories are these right here about Iraq. So you just click on it, on the news pulse page, it gives you some information right there. And it can also transport you over to another story about it where you can get even more information. Always updated.
And these little red marks, on the line over here, keep track of how much people are looking at it. And one of the best new features, cnn.com main page right here. Inside the main page you can actually watch video right there. Right now there's a special on "Mad Men" behind the scenes there.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
LEVS: You've seen that (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: It's a good show.
LEVS: It's a good show. It is.
HARRIS: Yes. We want people at the site. I mean, come on.
LEVS: And it used to be, you know, that you would have to leave the main page in order to go see video. Now you can watch video in there. Video coming in from all over the world.
And, of course, Tony, people weighing in with their thoughts.
HARRIS: Yes, what do they say?
LEVS: You know the (INAUDIBLE) is changing huge time. I'll show you some of what they're saying. Let me show the graphic where everyone can weigh in. I'm going to call up some of the blog posts that we have here. This is where you weigh in, cnn.com/josh or /tony, we tagged you on it. Also, FaceBook and Twitter. JoshLevsCNN.
I've got a couple examples for you here but we want to hear it all.
Here's from Joe, cnn.com. "Simplified. I love this new site." You can see Joe goes on to give it an A+++++++.
But I'm also going to show you this. "I hate the new site." Some people not loving it, Tony. We certainly are welcome and open to hearing different views. And if you've got some ideas, go for it. And while you're there, check out the new cnn.com. We talk you through how to use it. Pretty cool, huh? HARRIS: Yes, that's good stuff. That's good stuff.
All right, Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: Thank you.
HARRIS: If you want to see everything the new cnn.com has to offer from enhanced video, options, look, we want you to see it. We think it's pretty terrific. Go to cnn.com. And while you're there, you can customize the home page to be sure you're getting the best, the very latest from cnn.com on the stories that are really important to you. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And, as promised, Senator John Kerry talking about his recent trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
SEN. JOHN KERRY, CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, (D-MA): And Americans are right to be asking whether the objectives are achievable and are they worth the sacrifice. Questions, incidentally, that were tragically underscored by the deaths of 14 American troops and civilians in two helicopter crashes today.
Many of us also know too well the price of sending troops into war, where the strategy hasn't been fully thought through. The responsibility to never put troops in that position lies not just with the president, though it is his principal decision, or with the generals. It also lies with all of us as Americans.
What began as a fact-finding trip did, as David mentioned, end with several days of talks with President Karzai to resolve a dispute over the Afghan elections. You may have read that it takes three cups of tea to make a deal in Afghanistan. Well, let me tell you, it took a lot more than that for us, but we got there.
I came home, though, also with a fresh reminder of the extraordinary challenges that we face, but also -- I want to emphasize this -- but also with a belief that there is a way forward. David Sanger (ph) mentioned that in 1971 I asked the Foreign Relations Committee, how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? thirty-eight years later, chairing the committee, I keep that question very much in mind.
This journey, however, begins in a different place. In September 2001, mass murder was plotted against the United States from Afghan soil, and we need to remove the threat. With certainty, we all know why we invaded Afghanistan. It was not a mistake to go in.
We now have to choose a smart way forward so that no one is ever compelled to ask whether we've made a mistake in staying. The easiest way to make a mistake, frankly, is to tolerate a debate that sells our country short.
In recent weeks, politics has reduced an extraordinarily complex country, an extraordinarily complex region, and a difficult mission to a simple headline-ready, yes or no on troop numbers. That debate is completely at odds with reality. What we need above all and what we deserve above all, what the troops deserve above all, and what we haven't had is a comprehensive strategy, military and civilian combined.
After eight years of neglecting Afghanistan as vice president, Dick Cheney has now come out of retirement to criticize President Obama for taking time to examine assumptions before sending troops into war. This from the man who in 2002 told America, "the Taliban regime is out of business permanently." I think this is one time I wish Dick Cheney had been right. But tragically he wasn't, and he isn't today, and that's why we have to make the tough choices about Afghanistan now.
Make no mistake, because of the gross mishandling of this war by past civilian leadership, there are no great options for its handling today. One American officer captured well our lack of a strategy when he said, we haven't been fighting in Afghanistan for eight years, we've been fighting in Afghanistan for one year eight times in a row. That is our inheritance.
President Obama began his strategic reevaluation only in March of this year, folks, after he did what he promised to do and sent an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan. Most of them have now just arrived in country. Now he's wrestling with what comes next. With the knowledge that all options involved, real costs and significant risks.
HARRIS: All right. Senator John Kerry reflecting on his recent trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan at a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Schools reopen in Pakistan for the first time since last week's suicide bombings t a university in Islamabad. Live now to our Reza Sayah in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
And, Reza, talk to us a bit about the fear factor here. I would imagine that parents are pretty scared, frankly, to send their kids to school.
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony, and who can blame them? The fear factor does exist here in the federal capital of Islamabad most. Not all universities and educational institutions opened back up here in Islamabad and throughout Pakistan. But the fact is, some students chose not to go because they simply do not feel safe.
Of course, it was last Tuesday when universities and educational institutions shut down after two suicide bombers walked into the International Islamic University and blew themselves up. Today at that same university, classes reopened. But here's what Washington and perhaps Senator John Kerry, who we just heard from, should pay attention to.
There was a rally today. And, man, did we hear a lot of anti- American chants and slogans. Slogans of "go America go." The fact is many Pakistanis, including these students, blame much of the extremism, much of the militancy in Pakistan, on the U.S. government and what they call a failed policy across the border in Afghanistan. Their argument is, before U.S. and NATO troops went into Afghanistan, there were no suicide attacks in Pakistan. They only started after U.S. and NATO troops went into Afghanistan.
Of course, Tony, many U.S. officials reject that notion, but the perception is still here in Pakistan. And if U.S. officials, if Senator John Kerry, if the Obama administration want to win over the hearts and minds of Pakistani, based on what we saw today, they have a lot of work to do.
Tony.
HARRIS: And we certainly understand how often the perception can take on a life of its own and become the reality.
Reza, before I let you go, is there an update available on the offensive in the south?
SAYAH: Yes, there is. The Pakistani army says they're making slow progress, but it's been a costly 24 hour stretch for them. Over the span, they say they've lost six soldiers in fighting, but they've killed 19 militants. Their strategy remains the same in south Waziristan, and that is to encircle the Taliban using three fronts and move in on them.
The big news came over the weekend when the army said they captured the village of Kotka, which is the hometown of the Taliban militant leader, Hakimullah Mehsud. And they say over the past 24 hours, they've continued to move forward and capture more territory.
But a couple of important things to point out. One is that CNN simply cannot verify this information independently because journalists are banned from the battle zone. And from the U.S. perspective, it's important to know that despite all the hype that surrounds this offensive, it's still too earlier to see how this will affect U.S. and NATO troops across the border, the insurgency in Afghanistan, because this particular offensive is not targeting the militant groups that are causing the most trouble across the border in Afghanistan. They could succeed in this offensive and the militant groups that are causing those problems for U.S. forces, Tony, could remain intact.
HARRIS: You've been very clear in drawing that distinction.
Reza Sayah for us in Islamabad, Pakistan. Reza, thank you.
And new information that may suggests kids aren't going outside enough. What a Vitamin D deficiency can do to young bones. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So if your kids aren't getting enough Vitamin D, it could harm more than just their health. Oh really? Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with a new study parents need to pay attention to.
What's this -- what are some of the findings of this study?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think all of us get that if a kid doesn't get enough Vitamin D, they get rickets. That's sort of in our public consciousness.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COHEN: But this is a study that look at, well, how much Vitamin D are children getting. And what they found when they looked at kids' blood to look at their serum Vitamin D levels, they found that nearly one out of five of them had levels that were to low. And when they look specifically at African-Americans and Hispanics, the numbers were even worse. About half of the African-American kids, and these are kids ages one to 11, did have -- had Vitamin D levels that were too low.
Now, what can happen when Vitamin D levels are to low? It makes kids more at risk for all sorts of diseases, including respiratory infections, type 1 diabetes and weaker bones. So if Vitamin D levels are low, there's some serious repercussions.
HARRIS: So, how can parents make sure our babies, our kids, get the Vitamin D they need?
COHEN: There are a couple things you can do. First of all, if you want to, you can give your child Vitamin D supplements. And a lot of pediatricians encourage that. Or you can try to get it through food. And let's -- I'm going to -- I have a little menu here that I want to show you that's how you could get enough Vitamin D. It would be 400 international units. If you gave your child, for example, a bowl of cereal, two eggs, a cup of milk and tuna, that would give you the Vitamin D that you're supposed to have in a given day.
Now, those two things aren't to controversial, but now I'm going to get really controversial.
HARRIS: OK.
COHEN: Let's talk about the sun.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, let's talk about the sun. Why can't I just throw the kids outside, play more. I need them out of the house anyway.
COHEN: Yes, right. Exactly.
HARRIS: Couch potatoes. Get off those doggone video games. Just get them outside.
COHEN: OK. Now after you give your child that little speech, are you going to put sunscreen on them or not? Because that's the controversial part. OK. Everyone agrees kids should get outside more.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: But dermatologists will say, children should not be outside for even 30 seconds without sunscreen.
HARRIS: Oh, come on.
COHEN: But then these doctors who I -- well, the doctors who are noticing the low Vitamin D levels are saying what you just said, come on, what's the big deal if they go ride their bikes for 20 minutes? What's the big deal if they go on the playground.
So here's the Elizabeth Cohen way to resolve this.
HARRIS: All right. Good.
COHEN: Because no pediatrician could tell me what to do. Talk to your pediatrician and say, look, I'm worried about Vitamin D levels. Can little Suzie go out and ride her bike for 20 minutes without sunscreen. And your doctor might say, you know what, Suzie has red hair, freckles and four grandparents who died of melanoma. So, no, I think Suzie ought to wear sunscreen everywhere but in bed.
HARRIS: OK.
COHEN: But if your child -- if that -- if you child doesn't fall in that situation, your pediatrician might say, you know what, 20 minutes riding a bike, no sunscreen, it's OK and she'll get a nice big dose of Vitamin D. So just talk to the pediatrician.
HARRIS: One more quick one here. You mentioned African-Americans and Hispanics. Why are those two groups more Vitamin D deficient? What's going on here?
COHEN: It goes back to the sun. It all goes back to the sun. The darker the skin, the harder it is for the skin to absorb the rays of the sun and have the body make that Vitamin D. So it's nothing about diet or anything else. It's all about the sun.
HARRIS: All right, Elizabeth, appreciate it. Thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
HARRIS: We have new information now on that Northwest Airlines flight from San Diego. You recall the story that overshot the Minneapolis Airport by 150 miles. CNN's Jeanne Meserve joining us now with the very latest.
Jeanne, what are you learning?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, we know that the National Transportation Safety Board spoke yesterday with the pilot and co-pilot on board this flight. And now we're told by a source who's familiar with the crew's statements that what they said was consistent with their previous statements to the media.
They apparently told federal investigators this weekend that they did not fall asleep on this sound (ph), but lost track of their time during the flight. As I said, that's consistent with their earlier statements. We have a little bit of sound here with the co-pilot, Erwin Cole (ph). Here's a bit of what he had to say earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of discussion actually . . .
ERWIN COLE, 1ST OFFICER ON NORTHWEST FLIGHT 188: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That you guys fell asleep in the cockpit.
COLE: I know there's a lot of discussion . . .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you address that at all?
COLE: But I can't talk about specifics, but there are a lot of misinformation that's going on. Things are being said that didn't happen, but I can't go into any details.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What specifically are you talking about?
COLE: I can't -- I can't say. I mean nobody was asleep in the cockpit, and no arguments took place. But other than that, I cannot tell you anything that went on because we're having hearings this weekend, we're having hearings on Tuesday. All that information will come out then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Cole, as I said, was the first officer on Northwest Flight 188. That's that flight that was heading for Minneapolis, but lost -- air traffic controllers lost radio contact with it and it flew past its destination and then turned back. Some concern on the ground that it might have been a hijacking situation, but it was not.
We do know that the NTSB is talking today with the flight attendants who were on that flight as they continue with their investigation. We are expecting a statement from the NTSB later today, but we're advised that this will likely not be the end of this story. That we will not have a final answer today as to what exactly was happening on this flight.
But to underline again, the pilot and co-pilot who talked to the NTSB yesterday told the NTSB that they did not fall asleep, that they became distracted during the flight.
Tony, back to you.
HARRIS: Jeanne Meserve for us. I just want to know what the other options are at this point.
Jeanne, appreciate it. Thank you.
We're going to take a quick break. You're back in the CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
