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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Bush to Address Nation Tonight; U.S. Seeks Support for Draft Resolution at U.N.
Aired May 24, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper.
The president brings his plan for Iraq to the nation. A special edition of 360 starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): In just one hour, President Bush addresses the nation. Tonight we examine the plan for Iraq. What is it? How will it resonate with voters? And will tonight's speech mark a turnaround or a turn for the worse -- a special edition of 360 the president's speech.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And a good evening to you. Tonight, the president lays out what his spokesman calls a clear strategy to transfer power in Iraq. The speech, one hour away, is just 37 days away from that transfer of power. The president will be speaking in front of a supportive crowd at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Earlier today, the U.S. presented a draft U.N. resolution on the transfer of power that would authorize a U.S.-led peacekeeping force. The political backdrop for tonight's speech cannot be ignored.
The president's approval ratings remain at a record low, 47 percent of people in a new CNN-USA Today Gallup poll saying they approve of the way the president is handling his job, 49 percent disapproving.
Tonight we cover all the angles. Traveling with the president CNN's Senior White House Correspondent John King, in New York, CNN's Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth, and in Baghdad, CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
We begin with John King. John, what's the president trying to accomplish tonight?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the president is trying to win back the confidence of the American people tonight. A clear majority of Americans now think this president does not have a clear plan to get the United States out of Iraq and to get Iraq transitioned to a new sovereign democratic government. The president tonight will characterize what is going on in Iraq as a battle between hope and between tragedy and the president will outline what the White House calls a five point plan to transition Iraq to a new sovereign government.
In reality there are no new policy proposals from the president tonight, existing proposals being repackaged. The president will say that the June 30 date for handover to an interim government will stick and that there should be elections for a transitional government by January of next year and a continued U.S. troop presence.
Now, what the president will not say tonight is when U.S. troops will come home. There is no date certain for U.S. troop withdrawal so this president's critics saying there is still no clear exit strategy in their view.
Anderson, you mentioned the president's approval rating at 47 percent. That is down 22 points from when Mr. Bush went to the aircraft carrier of the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1 of last year and said major combat in Iraq was over. The death toll has increased more than five times since then.
The president's biggest goal tonight is to convince the American people he does have a plan to get Iraq to a transitional democratic government. Several more speeches we are told in the five weeks between now and that June 30 handover, the president beginning that effort tonight -- Anderson.
COOPER: John, this speech is being carried by cable networks, not being carried by broadcast networks. How upset is the White House about that?
KING: Well, the White House did not ask for the time and in part because the White House knows there are no major new policy proposals here. The White House, of course, would have loved the coverage but they understand that in the past they have asked for coverage and some of the networks have complained when they've given that coverage that there were no new proposals.
There are no new proposals in tonight's speech and there will be more speeches, as I noted, over the next five weeks. Excuse the helicopters arriving here at the Army War College.
COOPER: All right, John King live in Pennsylvania. Thanks very much John.
The administration once accused of ignoring the U.N. today returned there more than 14 months after the start of the war. U.S. diplomats seeking support now for a draft resolution which looks beyond the handover.
CNN's Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth is at the U.N. now. Richard, what's the resolution look like?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, one ambassador on the Security Council moments ago just told me he thought it was internal politics that the U.S. has produced this draft resolution on Iraq already when for days the U.S. was telling the Security Council it would wait for the return of Lakhdar Brahimi, the important U.N. envoy to Iraq.
Nevertheless, there you see the British ambassador, he along with Deputy U.S. Ambassador Cunningham circulating a draft resolution which gives international legitimacy to the handover to some caretaker government in Iraq but that post and all of the posts are still left unfilled.
It's causing concern at the council. There are also potential disagreements about the multinational force that would be in place after June 30 led by the United States but Iraqis may want more power, the ability to say no to the American forces if they don't want to go into a certain area. The ambassadors discussed some of the differences after their meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CUNNINGHAM, U.S. DEPUTY AMB. TO U.N.: It represents a new beginning for Iraq and marks a new phase in which Iraqis themselves will elect a government and write a new constitution.
GUNTER PLEUGER, GERMAN AMB. TO U.N.: We will have to make sure that this process provides Iraqi ownership for the political process as well as for the process of economic reconstruction.
HERALDO MUNOZ, CHILEAN AMB. TO U.N.: I think we will have consensus but we're going to have to work hard to get the consensus because I think there are a lot of differences yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The resolution talks about cooperation between the U.S.- led multinational force and the Iraqi military; however, it's not spelled out specifically. This is something Anderson, France, Germany and Russia are wanting to see more fine print about.
France says they don't want to give a blank check to the United States, so some of the same differences we saw a year and a half ago before the war they're still out there but there may be some type of consensus, if anything just to help the people of Iraq move on -- back to you.
COOPER: Still a lot of details to be worked out. Richard Roth thanks very much.
In Iraq today more violence, two British civilians killed, two others wounded when their SUV, you're about to see it, there it is in flames, hit an improvised explosive device, a term we've come to hear quite frequently. The attack happened near the so-called Assassin's Gate, the checkpoint entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone, headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition.
Farther south in Karbala, signs of calm. Iraqi police, you see them there, working with U.S. forces patrolling the streets after militia loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fled over the weekend, now this after intense fighting in that city.
The U.S. military saying that approximately 250 insurgents and four U.S. soldiers were killed there so far and this as members of the Iraqi Governing Council expressed their own views about what needs to be done before the handover on June 30th.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Baghdad. He joins us live -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson.
We understand President Bush tonight is going to propose the demolition of the Abu Ghraib Prison, which is located just west of Baghdad. That is surely to have some impact here.
As you know the symbolism behind Abu Ghraib goes back to the Saddam Hussein years and, more recently, stems from some of the horrific stories that have come out of that basically military prison run by the United States.
Now, Iraqi Governing Council members here insist that sovereignty is the main issue but, more importantly, is security and, as you mentioned, in some of the news of the day today, security continues to be very, very difficult throughout Iraq and many people here say that as long as security is not addressed, sovereignty will not be achieved.
Now some Iraqi Governing Council members have shown themselves to be increasingly independent of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority. Some of them have been more outspoken about what they see as mistakes committed by the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MAHMOUD OTHMAN, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: The rule Iraq directly, the Americans, and they are ruling it. Their rule proved to be a failure in the whole last year. They couldn't keep the treaty. They couldn't be successful politically at (unintelligible).
It's obvious they did their best but this is not their country. They don't know the people. They don't know the traditions. Nobody expected them to succeed in this country. They haven't studied the country well, the history of this country, how things should go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: Now in practical terms, the Iraqi Governing Council has very little to say in decisions that are being made in Iraq today. It has no control over the U.S. military here and it has very little control over decisions being made in the civil arena -- Anderson.
COOPER: Certainly a lot of jockeying going on for positions in the new transitional government that will take place after June 30. Harris Whitbeck thanks very much.
Almost a week after U.S. troops hit a site near the Syrian border, locals still insist the dozens killed were innocent and only at a wedding party. The U.S. still says otherwise and both sides have pictures that they say back up their claims.
With that here's CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Associated Press says it obtained this video showing vehicles on their way to a wedding party that Iraqis claim U.S. forces attacked last week killing more than 40 people including women and children.
U.S. forces say there was no evidence of a wedding party at the site they attacked, only foreign fighters, but they do not yet know where this video was taken of the celebration and the children being buried.
OSFOOK NAWAF, ATTACK WITNESS (through translator): I swear to God there was a wedding. I swear to God there were no weapons. I swear to God we did not fire one bullet.
STARR: In Baghdad, the coalition spokesman said there was a chain of evidence that the U.S. attacked a safe house for foreign fighters, photographs of documents and passports, some from Sudan, weapons and money seized and apparent drug paraphernalia.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: It is pretty clear to us that what happened that night from the about after midnight until about 04:00 that the activities that we saw happening on the ground were somewhat inconsistent with a wedding party.
STARR: Military officials want to know why they did not find this tent, these musical instruments, why an organist who is seen playing in the wedding video wound up dead in the back of a truck and whether it is possible there was a wedding at a fighter's safe house. As one official said, bad guys get married too.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We are tracking a number of stories right now here at home. Let's take a quick look at the "Cross Country."
In New York, Martha back in court. Defense sources say lawyers for Martha Stewart will ask for a new trial next week, this of course after a key government witness was charged with perjury for allegedly falsely saying that he tested a key document in the first trial.
In New York, Grasso lawsuit, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announces a lawsuit against this man, former New York stock exchange CEO Richard Grasso over his compensation package valued at nearly $200 million.
Spitzer wants more than half of that money returned saying it violates the state's not-for-profit corporation law. Grasso's lawyer previously has said that Grasso was entitled to keep his money because it was approved by the stock exchange board. In Los Angeles, Jackson bail battle, the prosecutor in the Michael Jackson case is opposing the singer's attempts to reduce his bail saying that Jackson might then be tempted to flee the country. Jackson is currently free on $3 million bail.
And in St. Paul, Minnesota, circus performer dies. Investigators are now looking into the death of a Ringling Brothers performer who fell 30 feet onto a concrete floor during a performance over the weekend.
Thirty-two-year-old Dessi Espana was twirling on long chiffon scarves when she fell. The circus says those types of acts traditionally do not use nets but a St. Paul city statute actually requires them.
And that's a quick look at stories right now "Cross Country."
360 next, countdown to the handover in Iraq, President Bush to address the nation tonight. We have special coverage all throughout this hour.
Plus, tornadoes barreling through the Midwest, thousands of homes without power right now, warnings in effect in several states, we'll have an update just ahead.
Also tonight, gas prices doing damage to the wallet but is it really the worst ever? We'll have a reality check for you.
And a Portland lawyer implicated in the Madrid train bombing now cleared of all charges. You're going to hear what he has to say about his harrowing experience as a terror suspect, all that ahead.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: President Bush preparing to address the nation on his strategy for Iraq, his speech less than 45 minutes from now, just about 45 minutes. You're looking at a live shot of the podium there, special coverage throughout the hour but first today's top stories right now.
Midwesterners are being hit by even more sever weather. Tornadoes are reported touching down near Des Moines, Iowa and there are warnings out for parts of southeastern Nebraska, northwestern Missouri and north central Kansas.
The wicked weather is adding insult to injury in the Midwest. People there are already dealing with the damage left behind over the weekend by more than 100 reported twisters.
CNN's David Mattingly has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even by Midwestern standards, the latest round of deadly severe weather is extreme. In Nebraska, a storm chaser's dramatic video shows the power unleashed in a weekend of destruction. This is just one of 18 Nebraska tornadoes on Saturday alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could tell it was coming because your ears were popping, the pressure changed.
MATTINGLY: When it was over, a 73-year-old woman was killed and ten were hospitalized after a twister damaged almost every building in the small town of Hallam. The winds were so strong a freight train was blown off the tracks, meanwhile to the east in Iowa 17 more tornadoes on the same day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roofs, there's power lines everywhere, it's just -- it's really unexplainable.
MATTINGLY: But the worst Iowa damage is from flooding, nine inches of rain in some areas, swamped highways and forced Iowa residents to higher ground and the destruction didn't stop there.
Heavy rains, large hail, flooding and more tornadoes left their marks from Wisconsin to Illinois and, in Michigan, where Monday began with more than 20 counties under flood warnings.
More than a half million people were left temporarily without electricity, a work week beginning across the upper Midwest with safety and salvage as the first orders of business under skies that continue to threaten with more severe weather possible.
David Mattingly CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The Memorial Day weekend a major driving weekend just days ahead. Here's a sobering thought for you. The weighted national average for all three grades of gasoline it just keeps creeping higher to $2.10 per gallon. Now that's up 14 cents over the past two weeks alone but are we really paying too much or have we just gotten used to bargain price gas?
CNN's Tom Foreman has some fuel for thought.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the tourist season starts in Washington, George Mohawi's cab fills with extra passengers, his pockets with extra money but high gas prices this year are costing him an extra $70 a week.
What have these prices done to your business?
GEORGE MOHAWI, TAXI DRIVER: It really hits home. I mean, you know, because your investment is your time and your money and seriously when you work all day and you need a little extra gas, really it hurts to go back to the gas station so you might as well go home.
FOREMAN: Or to an economist because economists will tell you if since say the 1960s the cost of gas had risen as fast as everything else we would probably be paying $3 or $4 a gallon by now. Even AAA agrees.
MANTILL WILLIAMS, AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSN.: We are seeing a record level high gas prices right now but if you factor in for inflation the record would be in 1981 when we were paying $2.79 in today's dollars. Unfortunately, the motorist sees that $2 a gasoline and he has to budget for that.
FOREMAN: It could be worse. Europeans already pay $4 to $5 a gallon, although AAA points out that includes a lot of taxes. Drag racers here pay $18 a gallon for fuel and burn a gallon every half second and that latte Americans love with their commute, that's about $30 a gallon. Maybe George has the right idea.
MOHAWI: I am mad but what is the use of hitting your head against the wall?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
I don't like paying that much for gasoline. I don't suppose any of us do but we can blame ourselves a little bit for the demand. Since 1970, the amount of miles driven by Americans has increased almost 125 percent -- Anderson.
COOPER: Tom Foreman thanks very much.
If you think you're paying too much for gas in the U.S. you might consider moving to Venezuela. Here's a "Fast Fact" now on some global gas prices. According to Air, Inc., a company that tracks the cost of living around the world, gas prices in Hong Kong, the U.K. and the Netherlands are among the highest in the world, among the lowest, Kuwait, Egypt and Venezuela.
Air, Inc. says the price disparity is mainly driven by a country's tax policy and its own ability to produce fuel. Prices in the U.S. historically fall just below the world average, small comfort.
360 next, President Bush preparing to share his plan for Iraq with the nation, does he have a clear exit strategy? We'll hear from his supporters and his critics. The speech is some 40 minutes away.
Also tonight, John Kerry's plan for Iraq, is it really any different from the president's? Find out what you need to know before heading for the polls. We'll have a 360 fact check.
And an American lawyer held for terrorism then cleared of all charges, how did an innocent man end up behind bars? A closer look at his ordeal, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, tonight President Bush lays out his plan for Iraq in a live address to the nation from the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
It's going to happen less than, well, in about 36 minutes from now this on a day when a new CNN Gallup poll shows his approval rating hovering at a record low. The question is will tonight's speech actually help turn that around?
We have special coverage throughout the hour but first another major story we've been working on today.
The government has thrown out its entire case against a Portland attorney arrested in connection with the Madrid train bombings in what appears to have been a case of mistaken identity, "Justice Served" tonight from CNN's Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a stunning twist, the case against Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield has been thrown out, his name cleared of any involvement in the Madrid train bombings.
BRANDON MAYFIELD, LAWYER: This is the state of affairs we find ourselves in today. We're living in a climate of fear. This war on terrorism is -- has gone to the extreme and innocent people are victims as a result.
ARENA: Mayfield says he believes he was not only arrested as a material witness but subject to so-called sneak-and-peak searches where agents are allowed under the Patriot Act to search a home but delay notification. He says he's considering legal action.
MAYFIELD: I'm what two or three days out of the detention center and I'm just now starting to not shake. My blood pressure's, you know, risen. My pulse has risen. My heart hurts. They're going to cause somebody a heart attack. Maybe they have. I don't know. Do they pay for that afterwards? I don't think so.
ARENA: An Oregon judge ruled Mayfield is no longer a material witness due to the misidentification by the FBI of a fingerprint. Law enforcement sources had told CNN a print found near the scene of the Madrid bombings matched Mayfield's print but Spanish authorities said the print belonged to another man, an Algerian who remains at large.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI says up to now it's never been wrong and the explanation that we're told they're offering is that the print from which they worked was just a copy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: The FBI released a statement a short time ago offering an apology to Mayfield. The FBI says it's considering adopting new guidelines for all fingerprint examiners not dealing with an original print. The bureau also plans to ask an international panel of experts to review the Mayfield case and we're expecting to hear even more from the FBI when they hold a press conference in about five minutes -- Anderson.
COOPER: And we will anticipate bringing that press conference to our viewers live. Kelli Arena thanks for that.
Let's get you up to date with what's happening right now around the world in tonight's "Up link."
In Gaza, the end of Operation Rainbow, all Israeli troops and tanks have withdrawn from Rafa refugee camp. Israeli military officials say three armed smuggling tunnels were destroyed during the operation, which began last week. Officials say 40 militants were killed along with 12 civilians.
Israel's national airline is taking steps to protect its planes from missile attacks from the ground. Starting next month El Al will start fitting all of its planes with automated antimissile systems.
The system was implemented after an incident in Kenya 18 months ago when two shoulder-fired missiles narrowly missed an Israeli charter jet carrying more than 250 passengers.
In Mexico, bank bombs, heavy damage but no injuries after three small bombs went off at banks about 35 miles from Mexico City. An unknown rebel group claimed responsibility saying it was protesting Mexican President Vicente Fox' conservative administration. That's what they said.
North Korea, MIA remains un-recovered, 19 sets of remains believed to be of American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War have been recovered at two sites in North Korea. The Defense Department says the remains were recovered by teams of U.S. specialists and will be repatriated to U.S. control at a military compound in Seoul later this week.
Florence, Italy now David gets a Goliath-sized cleanup. Michelangelo's statue of David is back on display after its first thorough cleaning in 130 years. Teams have been wiping away the buildup of grime since September. The cleanup is finished in time for celebrations of the marble statue's 500th anniversary. Congratulations, David, looking good.
And that's a quick look at tonight's "Up Link."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): In just 30 minutes, President Bush will face the nation. What's riding on tonight's speech? We'll hear from the White House and look at John Kerry's plan for Iraq, 360 continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: You're looking at a live shot inside the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where President Bush will address the nation in just under 30 minutes. In it he plans to layout his vision for the future of Iraq. Some members of Congress say President Bush will have to offer some hard answers tonight for people who support U.S. involvement in Iraq is waiving.
Joining me for a preview of the president's speech, Suzy DeFrancis, the deputy assistant to the president for communication. Suzy, thanks for being on program tonight.
Right now the President Bush's approval rating are at an all-time low. Recent polls, show two-thirds of the U.S. public doesn't believe he has a clear plan for bring the situation in Iraq to a successful conclusion.
How does the president address that tonight?
SUZY DEFRANCIS, DEPUTY ASST. TO THE PRES. FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Well, tonight, Anderson, the president is going to really talk about the future of Iraq. And he will layout a plan that will get us to the goal that everybody shares, no matter what their views are on the war. Everyone wants to see Iraq become a stable, a secure, a self-governing country. So the president will talk about the five steps we need to talk about that goal. Starting with the fact the Iraqi people are going to really take over the reins of self-government in Iraq.
Secondly, we need to work to improve security in Iraq, particularly for our forces. He'll talk about steps we need to take with the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi Army to build them up so that our troops are more secure. He'll also talk about important role the U.N. and the rest of the world community still has to play in Iraq. And it will be even a greater role and just today the British and U.S. tendered a resolution to the U.N. to help expand that role and bring other countries into Iraq to help.
COOPER: Suzy, there's a report going out right now that President Bush tonight will say that the U.S. is going to destroy, tear down Abu Ghraib prison, is that true?
Can you confirm that?
DEFRANCIS: That will be in the president president's speech. Of course it will be with the approval of the Iraqi People. We need to wait for that. Certainly the president will say that is something he wants done.
COOPER: When was that decision made, and why?
DEFRANCIS: I think it was made because he felt that this was a symbol of terrible abuse, first starting with Saddam Hussein. Where there was just terrible abuses there, in fact, the president will be meeting tomorrow with some of the people who were harmed by Saddam Hussein at Abu Ghraib. But more so, I think, because we all felt in America that this was a disgrace. That this was a real stain on our country. And did not in any way represent the American military, the American people. So that is why the president made that decision.
COOPER: All right. The speech begins in some 27 minutes. Suzy Defrancis, at the White House, thanks very much for being on the program.
DEFRANCIS: Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: The future of Iraq is certain to be a major factor in November's election. The candidate's proposal for a post transitional plan will be picked apart and poured over. So, how do George W. Bush and John Kerry differ in their visions for the future of a war torn nation. When you check the facts you'll find not much.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): John Kerry has been laying out his plan for the future of Iraq. Much of it involves internationalizing effort by bringing in NATO.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Other nations have a vital interest in the outcome and they must be brought to that interest and brought to that outcome.
COOPER: The Bush administration, however, says it's already been courting NATO's help.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Secretary of State Powell, Secretary of State Rumsfeld and a number of NATO defense and foreign ministers are exploring and a more formal role for NATO.
COOPER: But most of the 26 member alliance oppose the Iraq campaign and are unlikely to offer help any time soon. Kerry also calls for the appointment of an international high commissioner to work with the interim government, just today the Bush administration presented its hand-over plan in a draft resolution to the United Nations, a plan supporters say could offer the u.n. A big role in rebuilding. The man building the interim government is Lakhdar Brahimi, a U.N. envoy. And the U.N. is preparing to oversee Iraqi elections planned for January. Kerry calls for strengthening Iraqi security by adding U.S. troops if necessary. Something the president said he'd consider.
BUSH: First of all that's up to General Abizaid. He is clearly indicating he would want more troops. It's coming up the chain of command. If that's what he wants, that's what he gets.
COOPER: Kerry is for NATO involvement. Bush is for NATO involvement. Kerry is for U.N. involvement. Bush is for U.N. involvement. Kerry is for a possible troop build-up. Bush is for a possible troop build-up.
We'll probably have a clearer picture of the president's plan after tonight's speech but from what we have heard so far on the issue of what is next in Iraq, the candidates may be closer than they would like to admit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The candidates may have similar plans for the most part John Kerry is keeping a little low profile on the future of Iraq.
Does that help his chances in November?
And will the president's speech give rise to greater support or greater skepticism. Depends on whom you ask.
Joins us from Washington, Peter Beinart, Editor of the "New Republic."
And here in New York, John Fund, columnist for the "Wall Street Journal."
Gentlemen, I appreciate you being on the show. Peter is there much of a difference between Kerry and Bush in terms of their vision for Iraq?
PETER BEINART, EDITOR, "NEW REPUBLIC": The vision isn't different. What is different I think Kerry can plausibly say he can carry it out. It's not easy for George W. Bush who has really a poisonous relationship with many of America's European allies to go to these countries and now say we need you to help us in Iraq. It's quite plausible that John Kerry could get much further because those countries don't have the tremendous animosity that has been built up between them and the Bush administration over the past couple of years.
COOPER: John, so far, John Kerry has been relatively quiet, especially in event weeks. Obviously it's part after strategy.
Can he stick with that strategy for a long time to come?
JOHN FUND, COLUMNIST, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": As long as the news is bad, if the opponent is doing harm to himself, stay out of it. But I think President Bush is going to put an exit strategy on the table at least a glide path out. And I think he will outline steps including the U.N. and including turning over sovereignty and enhanced security measures that will give the American people the ability to say, we'll be patient and we'll wait. And we have been patient in other wars and there have been bad stretches. This will be no different.
COOPER: Peter, that doesn't sound very specific. Peter, are you expecting specifics tonight?
BEINART: Not a lot of specifics. I mean, the problem is two things John outlined. The handing over sovereignty and enhancing security do not go hand in hand. In many ways, they are at odds. The Bush administration has said if the Iraqi government wants the United States to leave, we will leave. We know that most Iraqi's now what the United States to leave. And yet, for us to leave would leave a security nightmare there. So the truth is we need to both enhance our security apparatus at the same time we're supposedly giving an Iraqi government the right to ask us to leave. Those two things the political and military are not in tandem, and that's going to make this plan very difficult to pulloff.
COOPER: John, when is sovereignty not real sovereignty?
FUND: Sovereignty is in a twilight zone until their full election, when a fully legitimate government takes place. I fully expect that fully legitimate government may want to us leave. Until then I think it's in the interest of every Iraqi to have as much peace to hold elections, so they hold elections and have a legitimate government. They are not going to want us to leave before elections.
COOPER: John -- go ahead, Peter.
BEINART: But then that's the whole point. Then sovereignty is a ruse. I mean this whole idea we are giving...
FUND: No sovereignty is a transition. It builds over time.
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: Excuse me, John, let me finish. If we had foreign troops patrolling Washington, D.C. carving off a several square foot area and not allowing Americans in at gunpoint. We would not consider ourselves sovereign. If we are not going to give them sovereignty, if we want to wait until an election government, than let's wait.
FUND: Peter, if you sat down with the Iraqi Governing Council after June 30 and asked them if they wanted anarchy with U.S. troops leaving immediately, they would both privately and publicly tell you no.
BEINART: That's right, but they don't have sovereignty. That's exactly the point. This whole June 30 deadline was a disaster to begin with. We shouldn't set up deadlines and propose it if we don't mean it. undermines U.S. credibility.
COOPER: At this point you don't think the U.S. should stick to the June 30 deadline or they should have never set it.
BEINART: At this point we have to. I think it was a very big mistake to do that. I think, we should have waited until we had elections and given sovereignty when we could really give it.
FUND: We can have all the second guesses you want. We are going to give them sovereignty. We are going to build it over time. We are going to have elections. John Kerry agrees with that general timetable. We have to pursue this because if we don't the prospect is far worse. It's complete humiliation and probably, anarchic Iraq. Which could turn out to be a tinder box for the whole region. That's why NATO countries regardless of whether its Kerry or Bush, are going to cooperate with this president because they are pragmatic. They don't want a tinder box in the Middle East.
I'm going to have to jump in here. We're having a live press conference happening right now at the FBI.
John Fund with the Wall Street Journal. Peter BEINART with the "New Republic," thanks very much.
Let's go to the press conference.
ROBERT J. JORDAN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: The result of a search produces a short list of potential matches. A trained fingerprint examiner then takes the short list, of possible matches, and performs an examination to determine whether the unknown print matches a known print in the database. Using standard protocols and methodology, FBI fingerprint examiners determine the latent fingerprint was of value for identification purposes. This print was subsequently linked to Brandon Mayfield. That association was then independently analyzed and the results were confirmed by an outside experienced fingerprint expert.
Soon after the submitted fingerprint was associated with Mr. Mayfield, Spanish authorities alerted the FBI to additional information that cast doubt on our findings. As a result, the FBI sent two fingerprint examiners to Madrid, who compared the image FBI had been provided to the image the Spanish authorities had.
Upon review, it was determined that the FBI identification was based on an image of substandard quality. Which was particularly problematic because of the remarkable number of points of similarity between Mr. Mayfield's prints and the print details in the images submitted to the FBI.
The FBI's latent fingerprint unit will be reviewing its current practices and will give consideration to adopting new guidelines for all examiners receiving latent print images when the original evidence is not included. The FBI also plans to ask an international panel of fingerprint experts to review our examination in this case.
COOPER: You have been listening to an FBI press conference from Portland, Oregon, speaking about the case of Brandon Mayfield, an attorney from Washington who has been cleared from any involvement in the Madrid, Spain bombings. He had been arrested about two weeks ago, held by authorities. He has been cleared of all charges. It is a story likely we'll be following. Mr. Mayfield has talked about the possibility of filing some sort of suit against the U.S. government. The FBI responding today. We will, of course, have more of that in the coming days and weeks.
In about 20 minutes, President Bush outlines his vision for Iraq in a live speech. We'll bring that to you live. And have a lot of talk about it just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Now, we are about 15 minutes away from the president's speech, which we of course we'll bring you -- bring to you live.
Aside from the political future of Iraq, there's the question of America's military presence -- 135,000 U.S. troops are there right now, and most will likely remain well after the June 30 hand-over of power. How's the battle on the ground going? For that, I'm joined now from Oakbrook, Illinois, CNN military analyst, retired Brigadier General David Grange. General, thanks for being on the show.
How is the U.S. doing on the ground? I mean, politically is one thing; militarily quite different. How are the troops doing?
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Actually, the troops are doing quite well. They are taking a fight to the enemy, where it is needed. They are doing reconstruction, nation- building tasks where they are needed. Compassionate hand, a warrior hand. They are doing quite well. Some of the situations very confusing. There's some things that gave a black eye to the military, but overall I personally am very proud of their performance.
COOPER: Of course, we have been covering the situation with Muqtada al-Sadr. Less covered in the last several weeks have been the actions the U.S. has taken against him, against the Mehdi Army. As you look at those activities in Karbala, in Kufa, in Najaf, do you see success?
GRANGE: I do see success. There are times when they are going to have to go into some very sensitive areas, like religious facilities. When they have to, when the enemy abuses the right of that facility. But they will have to do it with ground forces, where they can regulate the amount of force used and more surgical type operations. Which means put boots on the ground, face to face fighting, but they're doing that very well when they have to.
COOPER: I know some Iraqi special forces have been used in the -- at least I read in "The Times" today in, I think, in Karbala and Kufa. But elsewhere, I mean, they have not been performing very well. Talk about the training of these Iraqis. How long is it going to take, and how difficult a process is it?
GRANGE: Well, I just know how long it takes to train our forces to standard, which already has a tremendous base line of values and standards, and a bench that's built for future leaders, like junior sergeants and officers. And it's hard to take a three decade type military that had a dictatorship, that was run by fear, abuse, and transition it in less than a year. It takes some time.
But there are units that are very good, and there are units that are very poor. And it's going to take some time. But as they train them right and put them in the field, you will eventually see better and better performance.
COOPER: All right, different people have different opinions. Are there enough troops on the ground right now?
GRANGE: If you can control the borders, if you have enough troops to do raids in certain areas like against al-Sadr militia and Fallujah, and at the same time continue with these civil affairs and other nation-building teams, with flexibility to put out any emergencies that occur, yes, you do.
COOPER: Are the borders controllable right now, though?
GRANGE: I don't think so. I don't think they are controlled as much as we'd like. And one thing, Anderson, to keep in mind, you can't look at Iraq by itself. Iraq is a part of a bigger military picture, one in the region and then globally. You have to tie it in with the entire global commitment of our armed forces. And that's where you tell if you have a large enough force. In that context, I think our military is too small.
COOPER: Brigadier General David Grange, thanks very much.
GRANGE: My pleasure.
COOPER: Today's "Buzz" question is this, what do you think, who has a better plan for dealing with Iraq? President Bush, John Kerry, or neither? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results in a few moments, at the end of the program.
Coming up on 360 next, we are just about 17 minutes or so, 12 minutes or so away from the president's speech on his plan for the future of U.S. troops in Iraq. What does he need to do to win over his audience at home and abroad? John King and Christiane Amanpour join us live on that, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not that important. I've already made up my mind that Bush has to get out of office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's so much that goes on that we don't know about and that we can't know about and probably that we shouldn't know about. I have every faith in him and his administration to continue to do the job they are doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: A couple of voters. Their opinions on the president's handling of Iraq. We are just about eight minutes away, nine minutes away from President Bush's speech from the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks Pennsylvania. That's a live shot of the room, the location for the speech. People are already taking their seats. The president is expected to detail his plans for the transfer of power on June 30 just 37 days away. In tonight's speech, what does a president need to prove both here, at home and abroad. Let's talk it over with CNN's senior White House correspondent John King and here in New York, CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Christiane, let me start off with you, internationally, what does the president need to say to kind of get people onboard?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the June 30 date is almost an arbitrary date. It was brought forward significantly because of the insurgents. There's a sense of is this going to be some kind of a magic date or do we need to hear something specific to make this work. What the international community wants to hear are details and specifics. We don't know exactly the details and specifics that are going to come out of this. The question is, no matter what President Bush says tonight, will it result in the single most important thing the U.S. needs right now, and that is many more troops from many more countries because they need more troops there.
COOPER: That is a million dollar question. At this point, is there anything, given the history of what has gone on the last year with Bush and Europe. Is there anything that he can do or say that's going to make a big difference?
AMANPOUR: It's very hard to see how that is going to become reality, more troops from Arab countries, European countries. Any kind of allied countries that need to be on the ground. You and I have covered post conflicts. We have seen that only by internationalizing and maximizing the number of peace enforcement troops after the war is a successful peace and stability and democracy produced. This hasn't happened in this case. There's so much bad feeling. So much resentment still. There's lukewarm support even today from the Arab nations. They just had their summit albeit fairly shambolic (ph) and two months late but they did not come out with a massively supportive statement on bringing troops at all or even on, the future of this.
Everybody wants to see Iraq succeed because if it doesn't, it has implications worldwide. Not just in the neighborhood. But is it too late or are -- will there be something that the world can take simply to see this situation, the debacle that kind of exists right now in the eyes of many, straightened so they can put the ship of stability back on course. That's really what people are looking for. Just pure basic stability.
COOPER: John King, how much tonight are we going to hear that word international? Are we going to hear talk about NATO?
KING: You will hear the president appeal for more international support. His main goal is to reassure the American people and the Iraqi people, not so much the larger global audience, that he has a plan to get past what you see now. It's a security chaos and political confusion. Very much a good versus evil tone in the president's speech tonight. He says the choices are hope or tragedy.
In excerpts released by the White House the president also says we will persevere and defeat this enemy and hold this hard one ground for the realm of liberty. There will be no new policy proposals tonight. Much of the timetable for the political transition has been out in the public realm. There is one symbolic gesture the president will offer tonight. He will say the United States is prepared to build a new maximum security prison in Iraq and if the new Iraqi government goes along, to demolish, simply demolish and destroy the Abu Ghraib prison, home, of course, of some of Saddam Hussein's greatest crimes but also the home of the Iraqi prisoners that dominated the debate over this president's Iraq policy for the past several weeks.
COOPER: John, is it just a coincidence today that the U.S. has now floated its draft resolution at the United Nations with the security council. For weeks they have been saying they aren't going to do it until Lakhdar Brahimi comes forward with the plan, all of a sudden today, a draft resolution.
KING: They have been in contact with Mr. Brahimi. The resolution was distributed in conjunction with this speech tonight. By the end of the week they say Mr. Brahimi is prepared to say who will be the interim president, the two interim vice presidents and fill out the 26-cabinet agencies in Iraq. This is all now part of a five-week plan that the White House hopes will convince the American people and Iraqi people that there is a clear plan in place. Remember, not only five weeks from the transfer of sovereignty but five months from the election. This president trying to convince the Iraqi people there will be a new government soon. They are trying to convince the American people his policy is not as far off course as so many of his critics say.
COOPER: All right, John King, thanks very much. Christiane, very briefly, what are you going to be listening for tonight?
AMANPOUR: Something that gives the Iraqi people the knowledge and the hope that they will be sovereign, that it won't be (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and more importantly, something that really, really means that other internationals can come in and help. I'm not sure that's going to happen.
COOPER: Great to talk to you. Thanks for being here.
We are now about four minutes away from the president's speech on Iraq. Just ahead taking the presidential podium to the Nth Degree. But first today's buzz. Who has a better plan for dealing with Iraq, President Bush, John Kerry or neither? Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results in just a few moments when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for the buzz. Earlier we asked you, who has a better plan for dealing with Iraq, President Bush, John Kerry or neither? More than 32,000 of you have voted. 30 percent of you said Bush, 41 percent said Kerry, 29 said neither one of them do. Not a scientific poll just your buzz. Thanks for voting.
Tonight taking the soap box to the Nth Degree. Teddy Roosevelt, famously called the presidency of bully pulpit and bully it may be but not easy to use, maybe not even a pulpit. The presidential podium seems sturdy enough, flat-bottomed, fixed to the floor, not likely to go anywhere. But it must feel pretty unsteady anyway to the men who have stood behind it like a rowboat in heavy chops sometimes especially if there's a head wind. After all the ship of state has a wheel house, the presidential podium is it. The ways you can go wrong from back there are beyond counting.
Too heavy on the helm one way, you're on the rocks. Too heavy the other way, up on the beach. There are all kinds of unseen hazards, shoals, sand bars and the whole country, heck, the whole world is watching you navigate. Whether you're Republican or Democrat, you've got to wish the president smooth sailing tonight. No, really, you've got to. We are all in this boat he's steering. Thanks for watching. I'm Anderson Cooper. Coming up, our special coverage, "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Good night.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 24, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper.
The president brings his plan for Iraq to the nation. A special edition of 360 starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): In just one hour, President Bush addresses the nation. Tonight we examine the plan for Iraq. What is it? How will it resonate with voters? And will tonight's speech mark a turnaround or a turn for the worse -- a special edition of 360 the president's speech.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And a good evening to you. Tonight, the president lays out what his spokesman calls a clear strategy to transfer power in Iraq. The speech, one hour away, is just 37 days away from that transfer of power. The president will be speaking in front of a supportive crowd at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Earlier today, the U.S. presented a draft U.N. resolution on the transfer of power that would authorize a U.S.-led peacekeeping force. The political backdrop for tonight's speech cannot be ignored.
The president's approval ratings remain at a record low, 47 percent of people in a new CNN-USA Today Gallup poll saying they approve of the way the president is handling his job, 49 percent disapproving.
Tonight we cover all the angles. Traveling with the president CNN's Senior White House Correspondent John King, in New York, CNN's Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth, and in Baghdad, CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
We begin with John King. John, what's the president trying to accomplish tonight?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the president is trying to win back the confidence of the American people tonight. A clear majority of Americans now think this president does not have a clear plan to get the United States out of Iraq and to get Iraq transitioned to a new sovereign democratic government. The president tonight will characterize what is going on in Iraq as a battle between hope and between tragedy and the president will outline what the White House calls a five point plan to transition Iraq to a new sovereign government.
In reality there are no new policy proposals from the president tonight, existing proposals being repackaged. The president will say that the June 30 date for handover to an interim government will stick and that there should be elections for a transitional government by January of next year and a continued U.S. troop presence.
Now, what the president will not say tonight is when U.S. troops will come home. There is no date certain for U.S. troop withdrawal so this president's critics saying there is still no clear exit strategy in their view.
Anderson, you mentioned the president's approval rating at 47 percent. That is down 22 points from when Mr. Bush went to the aircraft carrier of the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1 of last year and said major combat in Iraq was over. The death toll has increased more than five times since then.
The president's biggest goal tonight is to convince the American people he does have a plan to get Iraq to a transitional democratic government. Several more speeches we are told in the five weeks between now and that June 30 handover, the president beginning that effort tonight -- Anderson.
COOPER: John, this speech is being carried by cable networks, not being carried by broadcast networks. How upset is the White House about that?
KING: Well, the White House did not ask for the time and in part because the White House knows there are no major new policy proposals here. The White House, of course, would have loved the coverage but they understand that in the past they have asked for coverage and some of the networks have complained when they've given that coverage that there were no new proposals.
There are no new proposals in tonight's speech and there will be more speeches, as I noted, over the next five weeks. Excuse the helicopters arriving here at the Army War College.
COOPER: All right, John King live in Pennsylvania. Thanks very much John.
The administration once accused of ignoring the U.N. today returned there more than 14 months after the start of the war. U.S. diplomats seeking support now for a draft resolution which looks beyond the handover.
CNN's Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth is at the U.N. now. Richard, what's the resolution look like?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, one ambassador on the Security Council moments ago just told me he thought it was internal politics that the U.S. has produced this draft resolution on Iraq already when for days the U.S. was telling the Security Council it would wait for the return of Lakhdar Brahimi, the important U.N. envoy to Iraq.
Nevertheless, there you see the British ambassador, he along with Deputy U.S. Ambassador Cunningham circulating a draft resolution which gives international legitimacy to the handover to some caretaker government in Iraq but that post and all of the posts are still left unfilled.
It's causing concern at the council. There are also potential disagreements about the multinational force that would be in place after June 30 led by the United States but Iraqis may want more power, the ability to say no to the American forces if they don't want to go into a certain area. The ambassadors discussed some of the differences after their meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CUNNINGHAM, U.S. DEPUTY AMB. TO U.N.: It represents a new beginning for Iraq and marks a new phase in which Iraqis themselves will elect a government and write a new constitution.
GUNTER PLEUGER, GERMAN AMB. TO U.N.: We will have to make sure that this process provides Iraqi ownership for the political process as well as for the process of economic reconstruction.
HERALDO MUNOZ, CHILEAN AMB. TO U.N.: I think we will have consensus but we're going to have to work hard to get the consensus because I think there are a lot of differences yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The resolution talks about cooperation between the U.S.- led multinational force and the Iraqi military; however, it's not spelled out specifically. This is something Anderson, France, Germany and Russia are wanting to see more fine print about.
France says they don't want to give a blank check to the United States, so some of the same differences we saw a year and a half ago before the war they're still out there but there may be some type of consensus, if anything just to help the people of Iraq move on -- back to you.
COOPER: Still a lot of details to be worked out. Richard Roth thanks very much.
In Iraq today more violence, two British civilians killed, two others wounded when their SUV, you're about to see it, there it is in flames, hit an improvised explosive device, a term we've come to hear quite frequently. The attack happened near the so-called Assassin's Gate, the checkpoint entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone, headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition.
Farther south in Karbala, signs of calm. Iraqi police, you see them there, working with U.S. forces patrolling the streets after militia loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fled over the weekend, now this after intense fighting in that city.
The U.S. military saying that approximately 250 insurgents and four U.S. soldiers were killed there so far and this as members of the Iraqi Governing Council expressed their own views about what needs to be done before the handover on June 30th.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Baghdad. He joins us live -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson.
We understand President Bush tonight is going to propose the demolition of the Abu Ghraib Prison, which is located just west of Baghdad. That is surely to have some impact here.
As you know the symbolism behind Abu Ghraib goes back to the Saddam Hussein years and, more recently, stems from some of the horrific stories that have come out of that basically military prison run by the United States.
Now, Iraqi Governing Council members here insist that sovereignty is the main issue but, more importantly, is security and, as you mentioned, in some of the news of the day today, security continues to be very, very difficult throughout Iraq and many people here say that as long as security is not addressed, sovereignty will not be achieved.
Now some Iraqi Governing Council members have shown themselves to be increasingly independent of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority. Some of them have been more outspoken about what they see as mistakes committed by the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MAHMOUD OTHMAN, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: The rule Iraq directly, the Americans, and they are ruling it. Their rule proved to be a failure in the whole last year. They couldn't keep the treaty. They couldn't be successful politically at (unintelligible).
It's obvious they did their best but this is not their country. They don't know the people. They don't know the traditions. Nobody expected them to succeed in this country. They haven't studied the country well, the history of this country, how things should go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: Now in practical terms, the Iraqi Governing Council has very little to say in decisions that are being made in Iraq today. It has no control over the U.S. military here and it has very little control over decisions being made in the civil arena -- Anderson.
COOPER: Certainly a lot of jockeying going on for positions in the new transitional government that will take place after June 30. Harris Whitbeck thanks very much.
Almost a week after U.S. troops hit a site near the Syrian border, locals still insist the dozens killed were innocent and only at a wedding party. The U.S. still says otherwise and both sides have pictures that they say back up their claims.
With that here's CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Associated Press says it obtained this video showing vehicles on their way to a wedding party that Iraqis claim U.S. forces attacked last week killing more than 40 people including women and children.
U.S. forces say there was no evidence of a wedding party at the site they attacked, only foreign fighters, but they do not yet know where this video was taken of the celebration and the children being buried.
OSFOOK NAWAF, ATTACK WITNESS (through translator): I swear to God there was a wedding. I swear to God there were no weapons. I swear to God we did not fire one bullet.
STARR: In Baghdad, the coalition spokesman said there was a chain of evidence that the U.S. attacked a safe house for foreign fighters, photographs of documents and passports, some from Sudan, weapons and money seized and apparent drug paraphernalia.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: It is pretty clear to us that what happened that night from the about after midnight until about 04:00 that the activities that we saw happening on the ground were somewhat inconsistent with a wedding party.
STARR: Military officials want to know why they did not find this tent, these musical instruments, why an organist who is seen playing in the wedding video wound up dead in the back of a truck and whether it is possible there was a wedding at a fighter's safe house. As one official said, bad guys get married too.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We are tracking a number of stories right now here at home. Let's take a quick look at the "Cross Country."
In New York, Martha back in court. Defense sources say lawyers for Martha Stewart will ask for a new trial next week, this of course after a key government witness was charged with perjury for allegedly falsely saying that he tested a key document in the first trial.
In New York, Grasso lawsuit, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announces a lawsuit against this man, former New York stock exchange CEO Richard Grasso over his compensation package valued at nearly $200 million.
Spitzer wants more than half of that money returned saying it violates the state's not-for-profit corporation law. Grasso's lawyer previously has said that Grasso was entitled to keep his money because it was approved by the stock exchange board. In Los Angeles, Jackson bail battle, the prosecutor in the Michael Jackson case is opposing the singer's attempts to reduce his bail saying that Jackson might then be tempted to flee the country. Jackson is currently free on $3 million bail.
And in St. Paul, Minnesota, circus performer dies. Investigators are now looking into the death of a Ringling Brothers performer who fell 30 feet onto a concrete floor during a performance over the weekend.
Thirty-two-year-old Dessi Espana was twirling on long chiffon scarves when she fell. The circus says those types of acts traditionally do not use nets but a St. Paul city statute actually requires them.
And that's a quick look at stories right now "Cross Country."
360 next, countdown to the handover in Iraq, President Bush to address the nation tonight. We have special coverage all throughout this hour.
Plus, tornadoes barreling through the Midwest, thousands of homes without power right now, warnings in effect in several states, we'll have an update just ahead.
Also tonight, gas prices doing damage to the wallet but is it really the worst ever? We'll have a reality check for you.
And a Portland lawyer implicated in the Madrid train bombing now cleared of all charges. You're going to hear what he has to say about his harrowing experience as a terror suspect, all that ahead.
First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: President Bush preparing to address the nation on his strategy for Iraq, his speech less than 45 minutes from now, just about 45 minutes. You're looking at a live shot of the podium there, special coverage throughout the hour but first today's top stories right now.
Midwesterners are being hit by even more sever weather. Tornadoes are reported touching down near Des Moines, Iowa and there are warnings out for parts of southeastern Nebraska, northwestern Missouri and north central Kansas.
The wicked weather is adding insult to injury in the Midwest. People there are already dealing with the damage left behind over the weekend by more than 100 reported twisters.
CNN's David Mattingly has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even by Midwestern standards, the latest round of deadly severe weather is extreme. In Nebraska, a storm chaser's dramatic video shows the power unleashed in a weekend of destruction. This is just one of 18 Nebraska tornadoes on Saturday alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could tell it was coming because your ears were popping, the pressure changed.
MATTINGLY: When it was over, a 73-year-old woman was killed and ten were hospitalized after a twister damaged almost every building in the small town of Hallam. The winds were so strong a freight train was blown off the tracks, meanwhile to the east in Iowa 17 more tornadoes on the same day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roofs, there's power lines everywhere, it's just -- it's really unexplainable.
MATTINGLY: But the worst Iowa damage is from flooding, nine inches of rain in some areas, swamped highways and forced Iowa residents to higher ground and the destruction didn't stop there.
Heavy rains, large hail, flooding and more tornadoes left their marks from Wisconsin to Illinois and, in Michigan, where Monday began with more than 20 counties under flood warnings.
More than a half million people were left temporarily without electricity, a work week beginning across the upper Midwest with safety and salvage as the first orders of business under skies that continue to threaten with more severe weather possible.
David Mattingly CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The Memorial Day weekend a major driving weekend just days ahead. Here's a sobering thought for you. The weighted national average for all three grades of gasoline it just keeps creeping higher to $2.10 per gallon. Now that's up 14 cents over the past two weeks alone but are we really paying too much or have we just gotten used to bargain price gas?
CNN's Tom Foreman has some fuel for thought.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the tourist season starts in Washington, George Mohawi's cab fills with extra passengers, his pockets with extra money but high gas prices this year are costing him an extra $70 a week.
What have these prices done to your business?
GEORGE MOHAWI, TAXI DRIVER: It really hits home. I mean, you know, because your investment is your time and your money and seriously when you work all day and you need a little extra gas, really it hurts to go back to the gas station so you might as well go home.
FOREMAN: Or to an economist because economists will tell you if since say the 1960s the cost of gas had risen as fast as everything else we would probably be paying $3 or $4 a gallon by now. Even AAA agrees.
MANTILL WILLIAMS, AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSN.: We are seeing a record level high gas prices right now but if you factor in for inflation the record would be in 1981 when we were paying $2.79 in today's dollars. Unfortunately, the motorist sees that $2 a gasoline and he has to budget for that.
FOREMAN: It could be worse. Europeans already pay $4 to $5 a gallon, although AAA points out that includes a lot of taxes. Drag racers here pay $18 a gallon for fuel and burn a gallon every half second and that latte Americans love with their commute, that's about $30 a gallon. Maybe George has the right idea.
MOHAWI: I am mad but what is the use of hitting your head against the wall?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
I don't like paying that much for gasoline. I don't suppose any of us do but we can blame ourselves a little bit for the demand. Since 1970, the amount of miles driven by Americans has increased almost 125 percent -- Anderson.
COOPER: Tom Foreman thanks very much.
If you think you're paying too much for gas in the U.S. you might consider moving to Venezuela. Here's a "Fast Fact" now on some global gas prices. According to Air, Inc., a company that tracks the cost of living around the world, gas prices in Hong Kong, the U.K. and the Netherlands are among the highest in the world, among the lowest, Kuwait, Egypt and Venezuela.
Air, Inc. says the price disparity is mainly driven by a country's tax policy and its own ability to produce fuel. Prices in the U.S. historically fall just below the world average, small comfort.
360 next, President Bush preparing to share his plan for Iraq with the nation, does he have a clear exit strategy? We'll hear from his supporters and his critics. The speech is some 40 minutes away.
Also tonight, John Kerry's plan for Iraq, is it really any different from the president's? Find out what you need to know before heading for the polls. We'll have a 360 fact check.
And an American lawyer held for terrorism then cleared of all charges, how did an innocent man end up behind bars? A closer look at his ordeal, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Well, tonight President Bush lays out his plan for Iraq in a live address to the nation from the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
It's going to happen less than, well, in about 36 minutes from now this on a day when a new CNN Gallup poll shows his approval rating hovering at a record low. The question is will tonight's speech actually help turn that around?
We have special coverage throughout the hour but first another major story we've been working on today.
The government has thrown out its entire case against a Portland attorney arrested in connection with the Madrid train bombings in what appears to have been a case of mistaken identity, "Justice Served" tonight from CNN's Kelli Arena.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a stunning twist, the case against Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield has been thrown out, his name cleared of any involvement in the Madrid train bombings.
BRANDON MAYFIELD, LAWYER: This is the state of affairs we find ourselves in today. We're living in a climate of fear. This war on terrorism is -- has gone to the extreme and innocent people are victims as a result.
ARENA: Mayfield says he believes he was not only arrested as a material witness but subject to so-called sneak-and-peak searches where agents are allowed under the Patriot Act to search a home but delay notification. He says he's considering legal action.
MAYFIELD: I'm what two or three days out of the detention center and I'm just now starting to not shake. My blood pressure's, you know, risen. My pulse has risen. My heart hurts. They're going to cause somebody a heart attack. Maybe they have. I don't know. Do they pay for that afterwards? I don't think so.
ARENA: An Oregon judge ruled Mayfield is no longer a material witness due to the misidentification by the FBI of a fingerprint. Law enforcement sources had told CNN a print found near the scene of the Madrid bombings matched Mayfield's print but Spanish authorities said the print belonged to another man, an Algerian who remains at large.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI says up to now it's never been wrong and the explanation that we're told they're offering is that the print from which they worked was just a copy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: The FBI released a statement a short time ago offering an apology to Mayfield. The FBI says it's considering adopting new guidelines for all fingerprint examiners not dealing with an original print. The bureau also plans to ask an international panel of experts to review the Mayfield case and we're expecting to hear even more from the FBI when they hold a press conference in about five minutes -- Anderson.
COOPER: And we will anticipate bringing that press conference to our viewers live. Kelli Arena thanks for that.
Let's get you up to date with what's happening right now around the world in tonight's "Up link."
In Gaza, the end of Operation Rainbow, all Israeli troops and tanks have withdrawn from Rafa refugee camp. Israeli military officials say three armed smuggling tunnels were destroyed during the operation, which began last week. Officials say 40 militants were killed along with 12 civilians.
Israel's national airline is taking steps to protect its planes from missile attacks from the ground. Starting next month El Al will start fitting all of its planes with automated antimissile systems.
The system was implemented after an incident in Kenya 18 months ago when two shoulder-fired missiles narrowly missed an Israeli charter jet carrying more than 250 passengers.
In Mexico, bank bombs, heavy damage but no injuries after three small bombs went off at banks about 35 miles from Mexico City. An unknown rebel group claimed responsibility saying it was protesting Mexican President Vicente Fox' conservative administration. That's what they said.
North Korea, MIA remains un-recovered, 19 sets of remains believed to be of American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War have been recovered at two sites in North Korea. The Defense Department says the remains were recovered by teams of U.S. specialists and will be repatriated to U.S. control at a military compound in Seoul later this week.
Florence, Italy now David gets a Goliath-sized cleanup. Michelangelo's statue of David is back on display after its first thorough cleaning in 130 years. Teams have been wiping away the buildup of grime since September. The cleanup is finished in time for celebrations of the marble statue's 500th anniversary. Congratulations, David, looking good.
And that's a quick look at tonight's "Up Link."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): In just 30 minutes, President Bush will face the nation. What's riding on tonight's speech? We'll hear from the White House and look at John Kerry's plan for Iraq, 360 continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: You're looking at a live shot inside the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where President Bush will address the nation in just under 30 minutes. In it he plans to layout his vision for the future of Iraq. Some members of Congress say President Bush will have to offer some hard answers tonight for people who support U.S. involvement in Iraq is waiving.
Joining me for a preview of the president's speech, Suzy DeFrancis, the deputy assistant to the president for communication. Suzy, thanks for being on program tonight.
Right now the President Bush's approval rating are at an all-time low. Recent polls, show two-thirds of the U.S. public doesn't believe he has a clear plan for bring the situation in Iraq to a successful conclusion.
How does the president address that tonight?
SUZY DEFRANCIS, DEPUTY ASST. TO THE PRES. FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Well, tonight, Anderson, the president is going to really talk about the future of Iraq. And he will layout a plan that will get us to the goal that everybody shares, no matter what their views are on the war. Everyone wants to see Iraq become a stable, a secure, a self-governing country. So the president will talk about the five steps we need to talk about that goal. Starting with the fact the Iraqi people are going to really take over the reins of self-government in Iraq.
Secondly, we need to work to improve security in Iraq, particularly for our forces. He'll talk about steps we need to take with the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi Army to build them up so that our troops are more secure. He'll also talk about important role the U.N. and the rest of the world community still has to play in Iraq. And it will be even a greater role and just today the British and U.S. tendered a resolution to the U.N. to help expand that role and bring other countries into Iraq to help.
COOPER: Suzy, there's a report going out right now that President Bush tonight will say that the U.S. is going to destroy, tear down Abu Ghraib prison, is that true?
Can you confirm that?
DEFRANCIS: That will be in the president president's speech. Of course it will be with the approval of the Iraqi People. We need to wait for that. Certainly the president will say that is something he wants done.
COOPER: When was that decision made, and why?
DEFRANCIS: I think it was made because he felt that this was a symbol of terrible abuse, first starting with Saddam Hussein. Where there was just terrible abuses there, in fact, the president will be meeting tomorrow with some of the people who were harmed by Saddam Hussein at Abu Ghraib. But more so, I think, because we all felt in America that this was a disgrace. That this was a real stain on our country. And did not in any way represent the American military, the American people. So that is why the president made that decision.
COOPER: All right. The speech begins in some 27 minutes. Suzy Defrancis, at the White House, thanks very much for being on the program.
DEFRANCIS: Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: The future of Iraq is certain to be a major factor in November's election. The candidate's proposal for a post transitional plan will be picked apart and poured over. So, how do George W. Bush and John Kerry differ in their visions for the future of a war torn nation. When you check the facts you'll find not much.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): John Kerry has been laying out his plan for the future of Iraq. Much of it involves internationalizing effort by bringing in NATO.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Other nations have a vital interest in the outcome and they must be brought to that interest and brought to that outcome.
COOPER: The Bush administration, however, says it's already been courting NATO's help.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Secretary of State Powell, Secretary of State Rumsfeld and a number of NATO defense and foreign ministers are exploring and a more formal role for NATO.
COOPER: But most of the 26 member alliance oppose the Iraq campaign and are unlikely to offer help any time soon. Kerry also calls for the appointment of an international high commissioner to work with the interim government, just today the Bush administration presented its hand-over plan in a draft resolution to the United Nations, a plan supporters say could offer the u.n. A big role in rebuilding. The man building the interim government is Lakhdar Brahimi, a U.N. envoy. And the U.N. is preparing to oversee Iraqi elections planned for January. Kerry calls for strengthening Iraqi security by adding U.S. troops if necessary. Something the president said he'd consider.
BUSH: First of all that's up to General Abizaid. He is clearly indicating he would want more troops. It's coming up the chain of command. If that's what he wants, that's what he gets.
COOPER: Kerry is for NATO involvement. Bush is for NATO involvement. Kerry is for U.N. involvement. Bush is for U.N. involvement. Kerry is for a possible troop build-up. Bush is for a possible troop build-up.
We'll probably have a clearer picture of the president's plan after tonight's speech but from what we have heard so far on the issue of what is next in Iraq, the candidates may be closer than they would like to admit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The candidates may have similar plans for the most part John Kerry is keeping a little low profile on the future of Iraq.
Does that help his chances in November?
And will the president's speech give rise to greater support or greater skepticism. Depends on whom you ask.
Joins us from Washington, Peter Beinart, Editor of the "New Republic."
And here in New York, John Fund, columnist for the "Wall Street Journal."
Gentlemen, I appreciate you being on the show. Peter is there much of a difference between Kerry and Bush in terms of their vision for Iraq?
PETER BEINART, EDITOR, "NEW REPUBLIC": The vision isn't different. What is different I think Kerry can plausibly say he can carry it out. It's not easy for George W. Bush who has really a poisonous relationship with many of America's European allies to go to these countries and now say we need you to help us in Iraq. It's quite plausible that John Kerry could get much further because those countries don't have the tremendous animosity that has been built up between them and the Bush administration over the past couple of years.
COOPER: John, so far, John Kerry has been relatively quiet, especially in event weeks. Obviously it's part after strategy.
Can he stick with that strategy for a long time to come?
JOHN FUND, COLUMNIST, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": As long as the news is bad, if the opponent is doing harm to himself, stay out of it. But I think President Bush is going to put an exit strategy on the table at least a glide path out. And I think he will outline steps including the U.N. and including turning over sovereignty and enhanced security measures that will give the American people the ability to say, we'll be patient and we'll wait. And we have been patient in other wars and there have been bad stretches. This will be no different.
COOPER: Peter, that doesn't sound very specific. Peter, are you expecting specifics tonight?
BEINART: Not a lot of specifics. I mean, the problem is two things John outlined. The handing over sovereignty and enhancing security do not go hand in hand. In many ways, they are at odds. The Bush administration has said if the Iraqi government wants the United States to leave, we will leave. We know that most Iraqi's now what the United States to leave. And yet, for us to leave would leave a security nightmare there. So the truth is we need to both enhance our security apparatus at the same time we're supposedly giving an Iraqi government the right to ask us to leave. Those two things the political and military are not in tandem, and that's going to make this plan very difficult to pulloff.
COOPER: John, when is sovereignty not real sovereignty?
FUND: Sovereignty is in a twilight zone until their full election, when a fully legitimate government takes place. I fully expect that fully legitimate government may want to us leave. Until then I think it's in the interest of every Iraqi to have as much peace to hold elections, so they hold elections and have a legitimate government. They are not going to want us to leave before elections.
COOPER: John -- go ahead, Peter.
BEINART: But then that's the whole point. Then sovereignty is a ruse. I mean this whole idea we are giving...
FUND: No sovereignty is a transition. It builds over time.
(CROSSTALK)
BEINART: Excuse me, John, let me finish. If we had foreign troops patrolling Washington, D.C. carving off a several square foot area and not allowing Americans in at gunpoint. We would not consider ourselves sovereign. If we are not going to give them sovereignty, if we want to wait until an election government, than let's wait.
FUND: Peter, if you sat down with the Iraqi Governing Council after June 30 and asked them if they wanted anarchy with U.S. troops leaving immediately, they would both privately and publicly tell you no.
BEINART: That's right, but they don't have sovereignty. That's exactly the point. This whole June 30 deadline was a disaster to begin with. We shouldn't set up deadlines and propose it if we don't mean it. undermines U.S. credibility.
COOPER: At this point you don't think the U.S. should stick to the June 30 deadline or they should have never set it.
BEINART: At this point we have to. I think it was a very big mistake to do that. I think, we should have waited until we had elections and given sovereignty when we could really give it.
FUND: We can have all the second guesses you want. We are going to give them sovereignty. We are going to build it over time. We are going to have elections. John Kerry agrees with that general timetable. We have to pursue this because if we don't the prospect is far worse. It's complete humiliation and probably, anarchic Iraq. Which could turn out to be a tinder box for the whole region. That's why NATO countries regardless of whether its Kerry or Bush, are going to cooperate with this president because they are pragmatic. They don't want a tinder box in the Middle East.
I'm going to have to jump in here. We're having a live press conference happening right now at the FBI.
John Fund with the Wall Street Journal. Peter BEINART with the "New Republic," thanks very much.
Let's go to the press conference.
ROBERT J. JORDAN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: The result of a search produces a short list of potential matches. A trained fingerprint examiner then takes the short list, of possible matches, and performs an examination to determine whether the unknown print matches a known print in the database. Using standard protocols and methodology, FBI fingerprint examiners determine the latent fingerprint was of value for identification purposes. This print was subsequently linked to Brandon Mayfield. That association was then independently analyzed and the results were confirmed by an outside experienced fingerprint expert.
Soon after the submitted fingerprint was associated with Mr. Mayfield, Spanish authorities alerted the FBI to additional information that cast doubt on our findings. As a result, the FBI sent two fingerprint examiners to Madrid, who compared the image FBI had been provided to the image the Spanish authorities had.
Upon review, it was determined that the FBI identification was based on an image of substandard quality. Which was particularly problematic because of the remarkable number of points of similarity between Mr. Mayfield's prints and the print details in the images submitted to the FBI.
The FBI's latent fingerprint unit will be reviewing its current practices and will give consideration to adopting new guidelines for all examiners receiving latent print images when the original evidence is not included. The FBI also plans to ask an international panel of fingerprint experts to review our examination in this case.
COOPER: You have been listening to an FBI press conference from Portland, Oregon, speaking about the case of Brandon Mayfield, an attorney from Washington who has been cleared from any involvement in the Madrid, Spain bombings. He had been arrested about two weeks ago, held by authorities. He has been cleared of all charges. It is a story likely we'll be following. Mr. Mayfield has talked about the possibility of filing some sort of suit against the U.S. government. The FBI responding today. We will, of course, have more of that in the coming days and weeks.
In about 20 minutes, President Bush outlines his vision for Iraq in a live speech. We'll bring that to you live. And have a lot of talk about it just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Now, we are about 15 minutes away from the president's speech, which we of course we'll bring you -- bring to you live.
Aside from the political future of Iraq, there's the question of America's military presence -- 135,000 U.S. troops are there right now, and most will likely remain well after the June 30 hand-over of power. How's the battle on the ground going? For that, I'm joined now from Oakbrook, Illinois, CNN military analyst, retired Brigadier General David Grange. General, thanks for being on the show.
How is the U.S. doing on the ground? I mean, politically is one thing; militarily quite different. How are the troops doing?
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Actually, the troops are doing quite well. They are taking a fight to the enemy, where it is needed. They are doing reconstruction, nation- building tasks where they are needed. Compassionate hand, a warrior hand. They are doing quite well. Some of the situations very confusing. There's some things that gave a black eye to the military, but overall I personally am very proud of their performance.
COOPER: Of course, we have been covering the situation with Muqtada al-Sadr. Less covered in the last several weeks have been the actions the U.S. has taken against him, against the Mehdi Army. As you look at those activities in Karbala, in Kufa, in Najaf, do you see success?
GRANGE: I do see success. There are times when they are going to have to go into some very sensitive areas, like religious facilities. When they have to, when the enemy abuses the right of that facility. But they will have to do it with ground forces, where they can regulate the amount of force used and more surgical type operations. Which means put boots on the ground, face to face fighting, but they're doing that very well when they have to.
COOPER: I know some Iraqi special forces have been used in the -- at least I read in "The Times" today in, I think, in Karbala and Kufa. But elsewhere, I mean, they have not been performing very well. Talk about the training of these Iraqis. How long is it going to take, and how difficult a process is it?
GRANGE: Well, I just know how long it takes to train our forces to standard, which already has a tremendous base line of values and standards, and a bench that's built for future leaders, like junior sergeants and officers. And it's hard to take a three decade type military that had a dictatorship, that was run by fear, abuse, and transition it in less than a year. It takes some time.
But there are units that are very good, and there are units that are very poor. And it's going to take some time. But as they train them right and put them in the field, you will eventually see better and better performance.
COOPER: All right, different people have different opinions. Are there enough troops on the ground right now?
GRANGE: If you can control the borders, if you have enough troops to do raids in certain areas like against al-Sadr militia and Fallujah, and at the same time continue with these civil affairs and other nation-building teams, with flexibility to put out any emergencies that occur, yes, you do.
COOPER: Are the borders controllable right now, though?
GRANGE: I don't think so. I don't think they are controlled as much as we'd like. And one thing, Anderson, to keep in mind, you can't look at Iraq by itself. Iraq is a part of a bigger military picture, one in the region and then globally. You have to tie it in with the entire global commitment of our armed forces. And that's where you tell if you have a large enough force. In that context, I think our military is too small.
COOPER: Brigadier General David Grange, thanks very much.
GRANGE: My pleasure.
COOPER: Today's "Buzz" question is this, what do you think, who has a better plan for dealing with Iraq? President Bush, John Kerry, or neither? Log on to cnn.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results in a few moments, at the end of the program.
Coming up on 360 next, we are just about 17 minutes or so, 12 minutes or so away from the president's speech on his plan for the future of U.S. troops in Iraq. What does he need to do to win over his audience at home and abroad? John King and Christiane Amanpour join us live on that, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not that important. I've already made up my mind that Bush has to get out of office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's so much that goes on that we don't know about and that we can't know about and probably that we shouldn't know about. I have every faith in him and his administration to continue to do the job they are doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: A couple of voters. Their opinions on the president's handling of Iraq. We are just about eight minutes away, nine minutes away from President Bush's speech from the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks Pennsylvania. That's a live shot of the room, the location for the speech. People are already taking their seats. The president is expected to detail his plans for the transfer of power on June 30 just 37 days away. In tonight's speech, what does a president need to prove both here, at home and abroad. Let's talk it over with CNN's senior White House correspondent John King and here in New York, CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Christiane, let me start off with you, internationally, what does the president need to say to kind of get people onboard?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the June 30 date is almost an arbitrary date. It was brought forward significantly because of the insurgents. There's a sense of is this going to be some kind of a magic date or do we need to hear something specific to make this work. What the international community wants to hear are details and specifics. We don't know exactly the details and specifics that are going to come out of this. The question is, no matter what President Bush says tonight, will it result in the single most important thing the U.S. needs right now, and that is many more troops from many more countries because they need more troops there.
COOPER: That is a million dollar question. At this point, is there anything, given the history of what has gone on the last year with Bush and Europe. Is there anything that he can do or say that's going to make a big difference?
AMANPOUR: It's very hard to see how that is going to become reality, more troops from Arab countries, European countries. Any kind of allied countries that need to be on the ground. You and I have covered post conflicts. We have seen that only by internationalizing and maximizing the number of peace enforcement troops after the war is a successful peace and stability and democracy produced. This hasn't happened in this case. There's so much bad feeling. So much resentment still. There's lukewarm support even today from the Arab nations. They just had their summit albeit fairly shambolic (ph) and two months late but they did not come out with a massively supportive statement on bringing troops at all or even on, the future of this.
Everybody wants to see Iraq succeed because if it doesn't, it has implications worldwide. Not just in the neighborhood. But is it too late or are -- will there be something that the world can take simply to see this situation, the debacle that kind of exists right now in the eyes of many, straightened so they can put the ship of stability back on course. That's really what people are looking for. Just pure basic stability.
COOPER: John King, how much tonight are we going to hear that word international? Are we going to hear talk about NATO?
KING: You will hear the president appeal for more international support. His main goal is to reassure the American people and the Iraqi people, not so much the larger global audience, that he has a plan to get past what you see now. It's a security chaos and political confusion. Very much a good versus evil tone in the president's speech tonight. He says the choices are hope or tragedy.
In excerpts released by the White House the president also says we will persevere and defeat this enemy and hold this hard one ground for the realm of liberty. There will be no new policy proposals tonight. Much of the timetable for the political transition has been out in the public realm. There is one symbolic gesture the president will offer tonight. He will say the United States is prepared to build a new maximum security prison in Iraq and if the new Iraqi government goes along, to demolish, simply demolish and destroy the Abu Ghraib prison, home, of course, of some of Saddam Hussein's greatest crimes but also the home of the Iraqi prisoners that dominated the debate over this president's Iraq policy for the past several weeks.
COOPER: John, is it just a coincidence today that the U.S. has now floated its draft resolution at the United Nations with the security council. For weeks they have been saying they aren't going to do it until Lakhdar Brahimi comes forward with the plan, all of a sudden today, a draft resolution.
KING: They have been in contact with Mr. Brahimi. The resolution was distributed in conjunction with this speech tonight. By the end of the week they say Mr. Brahimi is prepared to say who will be the interim president, the two interim vice presidents and fill out the 26-cabinet agencies in Iraq. This is all now part of a five-week plan that the White House hopes will convince the American people and Iraqi people that there is a clear plan in place. Remember, not only five weeks from the transfer of sovereignty but five months from the election. This president trying to convince the Iraqi people there will be a new government soon. They are trying to convince the American people his policy is not as far off course as so many of his critics say.
COOPER: All right, John King, thanks very much. Christiane, very briefly, what are you going to be listening for tonight?
AMANPOUR: Something that gives the Iraqi people the knowledge and the hope that they will be sovereign, that it won't be (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and more importantly, something that really, really means that other internationals can come in and help. I'm not sure that's going to happen.
COOPER: Great to talk to you. Thanks for being here.
We are now about four minutes away from the president's speech on Iraq. Just ahead taking the presidential podium to the Nth Degree. But first today's buzz. Who has a better plan for dealing with Iraq, President Bush, John Kerry or neither? Log on to CNN.com/360. Cast your vote. We'll have results in just a few moments when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time now for the buzz. Earlier we asked you, who has a better plan for dealing with Iraq, President Bush, John Kerry or neither? More than 32,000 of you have voted. 30 percent of you said Bush, 41 percent said Kerry, 29 said neither one of them do. Not a scientific poll just your buzz. Thanks for voting.
Tonight taking the soap box to the Nth Degree. Teddy Roosevelt, famously called the presidency of bully pulpit and bully it may be but not easy to use, maybe not even a pulpit. The presidential podium seems sturdy enough, flat-bottomed, fixed to the floor, not likely to go anywhere. But it must feel pretty unsteady anyway to the men who have stood behind it like a rowboat in heavy chops sometimes especially if there's a head wind. After all the ship of state has a wheel house, the presidential podium is it. The ways you can go wrong from back there are beyond counting.
Too heavy on the helm one way, you're on the rocks. Too heavy the other way, up on the beach. There are all kinds of unseen hazards, shoals, sand bars and the whole country, heck, the whole world is watching you navigate. Whether you're Republican or Democrat, you've got to wish the president smooth sailing tonight. No, really, you've got to. We are all in this boat he's steering. Thanks for watching. I'm Anderson Cooper. Coming up, our special coverage, "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Good night.
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