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Thousands of U.S. Troops Learn Their Stay In Iraq Will Be Extended; Conspiracy Theorists Feel Drop in Gas Prices Could Be GOP Plot Meant To Sway November Elections; Leaked Portion Of Report Claims Iraq Made Americans Less Safe; Murder Case After Plastic Surgery Accident in Charlotte; Security Moms Undecided
Aired September 25, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if the war in Iraq makes you feel less safe, imagine how troops feel, especially if they have to stay in Iraq longer than expected.
Today, thousands of people learned that they won't be going home when they thought they would, because their relief hasn't been home long enough.
Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has more on this developing story.
It's been hard for a lot of men and women.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: (AUDIO GAP) families who are at home waiting to hear either when they're going to -- their troops are going to get home, or when their troops are going over.
And what we are hearing today is that -- what we heard from commanders last week is that the U.S. troop levels in Iraq will stay right up around the 140,000 or so, perhaps even a little higher, for the foreseeable future, into next year.
How is that going to be accomplished? Well, as we heard from Defense Secretary Rumsfeld today, by some troops staying longer and others leaving for Iraq earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: From time to time, there may be units that will be asked to increase the number of days in country from what had been anticipated. On the other hand, we're also bringing some other units in earlier, which is another way of dealing with that issue.
And I guess I would rather wait, and let announcements take their time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: So, in this case, we're talking about brigades. And we're talking about a brigade of the 1st Armored Division that will be extended for a short time, and moved into Baghdad, and, in addition, a brigade from the 1st Cavalry Division will be heading into Iraq a month earlier than it was originally scheduled. What that will mean is that a brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division in Georgia will be able to have a full year off, before they return to Iraq for their rotation.
And all of this, by the way, comes on the day when the Army chief of staff is kicking up a fuss about needing more money for the Army, given the pace of operations -- the Army chief of staff, Peter Schoomaker, still wrangling with his civilian bosses at the Pentagon, saying that he needs several billions of dollars more, perhaps as much as $20 billion or even more, a billion more, to fund the Army over the next couple of years, what they call resetting the force, getting equipment repaired, and getting things paid for, and taking care of this larger Army that has been needed for this war -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, this contentious interview on Fox News with former President Bill Clinton, what is Dan Bartlett saying about it, counselor to the president?
MCINTYRE: I'm not sure, Kyra.
I can tell you that, having covered that operation in 1998, that there was a lot of talk here about getting Osama bin Laden right around that time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre, from the Pentagon, appreciate it.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right.
The war in Iraq makes you less safe at home -- that is the finding of a five-month-old secret intelligence report, parts of which have been leaked at the media. Democrats are pouncing, but the White House says the headlines are not representative of the whole report.
Let's head live to the White House now and our Kathleen Koch.
Not representative, or, possibly, is the way they're spinning it?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say not representative.
As the president right now is making campaign appearances today, both in Connecticut and Ohio, the White House is finally coming out and speaking at greater length about the report. Counselor to the President Dan Bartlett explains that this is an eight- or nine-page report, of which the section on Iraq makes up only one paragraph.
So, Bartlett insists it is simply wrong to characterize it as some sort of analysis of the Iraq war's impact on the safety of the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT BUSH: This estimate was not about the centrality of Iraq and where it fits in the broader war on terror. It was talking about the broader extremist movement, what it was using as recruitment tools. And we fully recognize and have talked about the fact that the propagandists within the extremist movement use Iraq, other grievances, as a recruitment tool. It doesn't make any final judgments to say that America is less safe or not because of this. It's just saying that they use this to use as recruitment tool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, Bartlett points out that, before the war in Iraq, that terrorists used other grievances to recruit, to justify their attacks on the United States. He says Iraq is just -- quote -- "the latest grievance."
Bartlett also does point out and he says the report, in portions, goes on to say what a good job the Bush administration has been doing in -- in going after al Qaeda and al Qaeda's infrastructure.
Now, Democrats are seizing on this report as proof that the Iraq war is a failure, that it has made Americans less safe and put them in greater jeopardy of terrorist attacks -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying in a response to the release of portions of this report that President Bush should -- quote -- "read the intelligence carefully before giving another misleading speech about progress in the war on terrorism" -- Don.
LEMON: A lot of them talking about that in that Democratic forum today, as well.
Since you spoke with Dan Bartlett, I want to ask you about this. What is he saying about the president's contentious interview on Fox News? Anything at all?
KOCH: Very interesting, what he told our reporter Suzanne Malveaux in an interview earlier. He said -- quote -- "Obviously, Chris Wallace touched a chord with him, and he became very emotional about it and about his defense of his eight-year record vs. our eight months in office" -- so, there, a clear jab at President Clinton's opportunities, the number of years he had, to go after Osama bin Laden.
Bartlett went on to say the Bush administration obviously takes issue with some of his assessments, some of the judgments he passed. But he said he would leave it to others to debate the former president.
LEMON: Yes. You know, it's very interesting, because the former president, you see him a lot with former President Bush. And, so, this may put some sort of strain on that relationship, which appears to be a criticism of the current President Bush.
KOCH: Possibly so, but it was obviously a very emotional issue for him. And he wanted to stand up for himself and his administration.
LEMON: Real quick, Kathleen, does he say anything about this possibly being a ploy, that maybe the former president had planned this out, and this was the forum that he wanted to do it on, because it was -- he knew it would get this sort of attention?
KOCH: No, no really further analysis from the Bush administration on the whys or wherefores.
Certainly, we know that the tradition is that interviewers do not provide a list of questions in advance to their interviewees -- so, very unclear whether or not he expected this question.
LEMON: Yes.
All right, thank you very much, live from the White House, Kathleen Koch.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a bloody start to a holy month -- deadly attacks already marring the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which Sunnis started observing over the weekend.
A string of car bombings targeted police, soldiers, and civilians. Iraqis fear more of the same or worse, as Ramadan goes on.
Well, what is the emotional toll on Iraqis who are only trying to live their lives and around the violence?
CNN's Arwa Damon samples an average day in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looks more like a surreal version of the pied piper than an operation intended to secure Baghdad neighborhoods.
Captain Brad Velotta leads a joint Iraqi-U.S. unit, part of what's called Operation Together Forward. The mood is light, but the topic of conversation, serious.
CAPTAIN BRAD VELOTTA, U.S. ARMY: The insurgency, hidden people, population.
DAMON: And scratch beneath the surface, and you will find the fear that many Iraqi citizens mask so well.
This is Varhan (ph) Jassim. As every corner of his home is searched, Velotta gestures.
VELOTTA: Here, murder? Ali Baba?
DAMON: We hear, in other neighborhoods, Jassim says, gesturing back.
Waiting outside, Jassim's wife, Batul, says she has lost hope.
"As things got worse and worse," she says, "my hope for the future just vanished."
The troops tie a marker, nicknamed the angel of security, to the gate of homes they've searched. But it is a false sense of protection in an environment where people fear an enemy that they can't always identify.
(on camera): But the calm scene in these streets can be deceptive. After 12 months up north, this company suffered its first casualty in Baghdad, right on the streets of this neighborhood.
(voice-over): It was a single shot, and the attacker faded away. The enemies everyone faces here remain in the shadows.
VELOTTA: They are sophisticated. (INAUDIBLE). They're very assertive. They're very intelligent, just like we are. And it's a mind game. It's almost a chess game.
DAMON: Part of Operation Together Forward is a more focused effort on getting people the basics.
Headmistress Imad Jabr's school is getting one of these generators, but she thinks the small gesture just creates other problems.
"Who's going to provide the fuel," she says, adding, she doesn't want to see the little issues being dealt with. She wants the big issues, like security, addressed.
She wonders if a life of uncertainty is a life worth living.
VELOTTA: That's what's been the hardest to get across to people, to have the faith to believe.
DAMON: But for these people who have been waiting for over three years to live again, who are still shocked at how their country is unraveling, that may take more than faith. It may take a miracle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The White House calls him the worst of the worst. Fourteen high-level terror suspects, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, they were locked up for months, or even years, in a secret CIA prison. But, now, they're being held at the U.S. camp in Guantanamo Bay.
And there, for the first time, they are expected to see and be seen by the Red Cross. Red Cross representatives arrived at Gitmo today for visits due to start some time next week.
The setting was the pope's castle getaway outside Rome -- the backdrop, seething anger on the part of millions, maybe tens of millions, of Muslims. Pope Benedict met today with Muslim envoys from 21 countries in yet another attempt to make peace, after his controversial remarks on Islam. He again said Christians and Muslims have to work together to prevent violence. And he was warmly received. Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See was among the invited guests. And he joined us here in the NEWSROOM last hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERT YELDA, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO HOLY SEE: I was privileged that the holy father greeted me and greeted every -- each one of us.
And, you know, it was very emotional when he say -- His Holiness stated that, I pray for your country.
And I replied, may God bless you, your holiness.
It was a very important meeting, and I think he emphasized on the issue of respect and mutual respect between Christians and Muslims.
And I'd just like to, you know, make it clear that Christians and Muslims lived in Middle East, and especially in Iraq, side by side for hundreds of years. And they lived -- you know, they shared happiness and joy, tragedies and misfortunes together. And they supported each other at the time of need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And, of course, the Vatican is also responding. The Vatican says today's meeting is just the first step in keeping dialogue open between Catholics and Muslims.
PHILLIPS: No survivors in a helicopter crash in the mountains of Nepal. Two dozen people were on board a chopper that had been chartered by an international conservation group. After two days of searching crews -- of searching, rather, crews found the charred wreckage in a rugged area, roughly 215 miles east of Katmandu. That's Nepal's capital. Reports say that two Americans were among those that were killed.
LEMON: Geared up, motivated, ready, they say, for a fight, but against whom? These citizen soldiers believe the United States is preparing to invade. We will see what makes them think that -- coming up in the NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: And rebirth in New Orleans -- the Superdome, it was Katrina's devastating symbol of what went wrong, but, tonight, what is right. The Saints march home, and the stars come out to celebrate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The Superdome, a festering symbol of misery during Hurricane Katrina, now a gleaming sign of recovery in a struggling city.
CNN's Sean Callebs has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The last time the Superdome opened its doors, it was a refuge of last resort, the only place for some 30,000 citizens of New Orleans to try to find shelter from Katrina. People like Ballina (ph) and Leccee Coco.
LECCEE COCO, KATRINA SURVIVOR: I was scared for our lives, because I didn't know how we were going to get out of here. People were saying, you know, the water is still rising. I didn't know if the water was going to come in here.
CALLEBS: Now the city is trying to purge the horrific memories of the aftermath of Katrina. Following a $185 million face-lift, the Superdome is reopening in grand fashion: a nationally-televised game between the New Orleans Saints and archrival Atlanta Falcons.
DOUG THORNTON, GENERAL MANAGER, SUPERDOME: There were a lot of folks who had written us off, didn't think the Dome would ever reopen, but it's going to be a very proud moment on Monday night.
CALLEBS: But make no mistake. One night of lights, camera, action doesn't mean this city is anywhere near whole again. City leaders have no plan for repopulating New Orleans, or rebuilding neighborhoods devastated when levees gave way.
But the volunteer spirit is helping out where residents say government at all levels failed them. The bands U2 and Green Day will perform a new song called "The Saints Are Coming" before the game, a way rock stars are helping out this city's down and out musicians.
DAVID THE EDGE EVANS, U2: You know, there's a lot of people concentrating on rebuilding the bricks and mortar, as it were, the body of the city, but we feel that music is the -- the spirit and the heart and the soul of the city. So, that's what we're trying to work on.
CALLEBS: Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong knows the world will be watching on Monday.
BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG, GREEN DAY: I don't know. I think -- I might have a heart attack.
(LAUGHTER)
ARMSTRONG: I'm not really sure.
(LAUGHTER)
CALLEBS: A year ago, this city was in ruin, and no one knew if the Superdome would ever reopen.
THORNTON: This building, I think, is good for the psyche of New Orleans. Symbolically, this is our World Trade Center, you know? It's been resurrected. It's been rebuilt.
CALLEBS: And a symbolic moment that shows, if even oh so slowly, New Orleans is taking steps in a long march toward normalcy.
Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And, if you weren't there, you were glued to the television when it was happening: no lights, no food, no sanitation, thousands of desperate people. A year and a month later, almost, and New Orleans is about to celebrate a renovated Superdome.
Jimmy Keen was there then as a police commander. He goes back tonight as a football fan.
I understand this will be your first time back; is that right?
JIMMY KEEN, RETIRED NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT LIEUTENANT: Yes, it will.
LEMON: First time back.
And your feelings on the reopening of the Superdome? Mixed?
KEEN: No. I'm -- it's good, good feelings.
LEMON: Why so?
KEEN: It's a step. It's a -- well, you know, as I'm sure has been described before, by many people, the situation at the Superdome was just horrific.
And just to see it, to remember it then, it's kind of -- you know, it's a memory that I'm sure will never go away. But -- and to see it now, it's moving. Something is moving in the right direction. We all need that. I think, if you look outside right now, I mean, there are people walking the streets. It's a good thing.
LEMON: Yes.
KEEN: It's -- if it energizes -- if it does one thing, energize the people in this area, it's a good thing.
LEMON: You heard the general manager of the Superdome say that it was important to the psyche of New Orleans. You know, New York City has a World Trade Center and Chicago has a Sears Tower.
Do you think that it's important -- this building, you know, has become really the symbol of New Orleans. Do you think it's important to get this building back up and running. And what will this do for the city and the nation's psyche as well?
KEEN: I think it's very important. It's -- because it wasn't such an easy thing.
It shows people that it take -- it took a lot of people to get together to get this done, from the governor's office, to the local government, to the management at the Superdome. And we have our -- you know, our game here. The Saints are -- you know, people have just -- we have always been in love with our sports franchises here. And we also have the Hornets, who are going to have their opening game on November 5 here, which will be another exciting time. Tough ticket to get.
LEMON: Talk to us about living in New Orleans. I know you're a police officer, but a lot of people -- there are some people, at least, who are leaving the city, some who never came back.
You are sticking it out, as well as many. The living conditions there, we hear, are tough. The suicide rate is up. But what has been talked about a lot is the crime, that the crime rate is spiraling.
Talk to us about the crime and what do you think should be done. Is enough being done?
KEEN: Well, this isn't a problem -- in my view, the crime issues now aren't something that just sprung up post-Katrina.
You know, we had a -- and it's my understanding that the crime rate now, it's -- murders are up. Most other crimes are down. But we had a murder problem pre-Katrina for several years. And it's just back.
LEMON: It's sort of endemic...
KEEN: So...
LEMON: ... of what is happening before Hurricane Katrina is what you're saying.
There are folks who say, if the city applied the same effort as to getting the city back up and running as they did the Superdome, that things would be much better there. Do you agree with that?
KEEN: Well, sure, that's a very easy fix, easy -- you know, easy statement.
I think the hope for a lot of people is -- Katrina and the devastation, if you are going to look at the bright side of it, and possibly give us a chance, as our problems and our challenges that have been going on in the city for, you could say, 20 years, the rise of violent crime, and how that's come to be -- to look at that problem, I mean, staring us right in the face.
And now the nation sees it, and it would give us an opportunity to kind of get together, and forced, if you will, to address it. And, you know -- and, if that's the outcome, if we look at this the right way -- and time will tell.
This isn't going to go away right away. It's going to take the same amount of time to fix these issues. It's a social ill. This isn't just a police department issue or -- and we have had some recent forums, some and good people coming down, and getting involved. And let's just sit back and see what they can do...
LEMON: Yes. Yes. We hope it... (CROSSTALK)
KEEN: ... instead of judging them now.
LEMON: Right. We hope it gets better.
We understand that you have been retired for the last -- at least during the year since Hurricane Katrina. What are you going to do tonight? We hear you're going with your buddies to the game. Good night for you, you think?
KEEN: Going to enjoy myself. Normally, I would be in uniform somewhere outside patrolling, or in the Dome, or -- so, it's a different time for me, at 30 years. I was on since I was 19. So, this is a different time.
So, I will be able to enjoy these type of events with friends and family. And that's exactly what I'm going to do tonight.
LEMON: Well, Jimmy Keen, we certainly wish you and New Orleans, all the folks down there, the best of luck. We will be watching. Have a great time tonight. And thanks for joining us.
KEEN: Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Gas prices way down, but why? No one is complaining, but conspiracy theories abound -- straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The typical race car driver, it includes the uniform, the helmet, but maybe some drivers should bring something else along.
LEMON: Yes, you think so?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Yes, like boxing gloves. Check this out.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Yes. That's a big old fight, temper tantrum you're looking at there.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: It started with a wreck at the Glass City 200. Then, tempers flared at the Toledo Speedway.
The driver who spun his car out jumped out, you saw there, and then charged the driver who he believed caused the crash. Several angry punches and a dropkicked windshield later...
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: ... pit crews came to the rescue. Need to say, neither of those drivers won the race.
Keep your eye on the prize, huh?
PHILLIPS: That's what I always do when I get angry, get out, punch in the window of the driver behind me. It's operating procedure.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I'm never going to drive behind you -- as long as you don't do it to you co-anchor.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I'm good.
PHILLIPS: Don't speed by me, OK...
LEMON: Don't hurt me.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: ... and make a face.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: All right, supply and demand, fickle investors, change of seasons, there's plenty of seemingly valid reasons for the recent drop in gas prices, and just as many theories.
Ali Velshi has all the buzz. He joins me live from New York.
Good to see you, my friend.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: The -- Kyra, welcome back, although you looked absolutely excellent in that jet.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: I can never get enough.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: ... she look good?
PHILLIPS: I can never get enough.
VELSHI: She did, didn't she?
LEMON: She's a Top Gun.
VELSHI: They're...
(LAUGHTER) VELSHI: I listen, I agree with you.
As I said when you were on there, don't come talk to me. Go back to more Kyra and the plane.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: But, you know, this whole road rage business you are not going to get it from gas prices right now. They are dropping like a rock.
Now, remember, Kyra, that when gas prices were going up faster than oil prices were going up, everybody was complaining: How come the gas prices go up faster?
Now that they're dropping faster, people are complaining that they're dropping faster. Why? Because they think there's something up.
Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (voice-over): Cheaper gas, finally. But why?
Well, the legendary summer driving season is over. No hurricanes have damaged Gulf Coast rigs and refineries. Things are calmer between Israel and Hezbollah.
And Iran? Well, at least we're not at war with Iran.
But with a little more than six weeks to the midterm elections, the blogs are buzzing with other theories. Are lower gas prices a Republican plot? This blogger wonders if Republicans are trying to soften voters, who have spent the last year angry about high prices.
"I predict it will work, by the way. The Republicans will retain control of Congress. Those Republicans need all the help they can get, and big oil is doing the best they can to assist."
"I would conclude that falling gas prices is just another example of manipulation of the public by Bush and company."
DOUG HENWOOD, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, "LEFT BUSINESS OBSERVER": Certainly, there is a strong statistical relation between Bush's approval rating and the price of gas. Nine-eleven, approval spike...
VELSHI: Doug Henwood, editor of the liberal newsletter "The Left Business Observer,' has charted President Bush's popularity against gas prices. He calls the correlation he found uncanny, but he stopped short of calling it a conspiracy.
HENWOOD: More than three-quarters of the movement in Bush's approval rating can be explained by movements in the price of gas.
VELSHI: But it's not just the blogs. A "USA Today"/Gallup poll last weekend asked voters: Do you think the Bush administration has deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections? Forty-two percent said yes.
Big oil's P.R. operation calls the whole idea preposterous.
RAYOLA DOUGHER, MANAGER OF ENERGY MARKET ISSUES, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE: I think, if politicians had -- were really in charge of oil prices, I think that they would be low. They would probably be free right now. And the very notion that we have some sort of command-and-control oil economy is silly.
VELSHI: Back in July, both crude oil and gasoline hit their highest recorded prices. Gas was averaging about $3 a gallon. By mid-September, oil had dropped about $15 a barrel, so, gas should have dropped about 45 cents a gallon. It actually dropped 50 cents a gallon, and it's dropped more since then.
Could President Bush have had anything to do with plummeting gas prices?
We asked Professor Akshay Rao, who studies pricing strategies.
DR. AKSHAY RAO, INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN MARKETING AT THE CARLSON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Surely, if he picked up the phone and made, you know, five to 10 strategic phone calls, he might be able to influence prices to some degree. But, you know, I think that's a fairly farfetched theory.
VELSHI: What's more conceivable, according to Rao, is that the energy industry cut prices without any prompting from Washington. That's because they're worried that, if the Democrats win, they will follow up on threats to tax the energy industry more heavily.
We put that idea to big oil's P.R. people.
DOUGHER: It can't be done. They couldn't do it if they wanted to do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Now, here is something interesting, folks. This morning at the gaggle at the White House, Tony Snow said, "The one thing I've been amused by is the attempt by some people to say the president has been rigging gas prices, which would give him the kind of magisterial clout unknown to any other human being." It also raises the question, if we're dropping gas prices now, why on Earth did we raise them to $3.50 before? That's right from the White House.
LEMON: You know, I filled up my car this weekend. Usually like $50, $60 -- $24. I kept trying to put more gas -- I'm like, what's going on here?
PHILLIPS: Obviously you haven't figured out you have to drive to South Carolina. It's about an hour, 40 minutes away, you fill up, you come back. It's totally worth it, right, Ali?
VELSHI: Totally. I'm telling you. You know? We'll keep on following it. I'll be back in about a half hour for your market close.
PHILLIPS: Closing bell?
VELSHI: Yes, nice day on the market.
PHILLIPS: All right. See you in a bit.
LEMON: Thank you, sir.
VELSHI: See you in a bit.
LEMON: The fight for Iraq and the war against terror, a leaked intelligence report makes a connection.
PHILLIPS: But not the connection the White House has tried to make for three years. We'll take a look straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Few people die after face lift -- very, very few. And when it happened in North Carolina, in Charlotte, North Carolina, five years ago it was filed under a tragic accident. Now it's a murder case and a former nurse anesthetist is charged.
Reporter Glenn Counts has more from our Charlotte affiliate, WCNC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN COUNTS, WCNC REPORTER (voice-over): 50-year-old Sally Jordan Hill worked for Dr. Peter Tucker for the better part of 10 years. It was at his office as she was allegedly involved in what was initially believed to be a tragic accident.
DET. CHUCK HINSON, CHARLOTTE POLICE: Her nursing license was suspended for a year and she never did ask for a reinstatement.
COUNTS: Sandra Baker Joyner died in April of 2001 following cosmetic surgery while under Hill's care. Police say that Hill administered a fatal dose of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller.
HINSON: That's our motive and you know I can't tell you about our motive.
COUNTS: Dr. Tucker's license was suspended and immediately reinstated under tough conditions. The medical board found that Hill acted largely on her own and that when Joyner went into respiratory distress, she, quote, "repeatedly declined offers of assistance from other staff members, and directed them not to summon Dr. Tucker."
Hill was arrested at her Matthews home. Police say that she knew Joyner going back to high school, but they won't hint at a motive. The victim's family was caught off-guard by the news.
HINSON: Initially, they were shocked when I knocked on the door and told them, but they are very, very supportive of the police department, they are very supportive of this investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Now although police have declined to give a motive, today's "Charlotte Observer," reports, "coworkers told police they'd overheard Hill say Joyner had stolen her boyfriend. A source told the Observer a grudge had been festering for years."
PHILLIPS: Well has the war in Iraq made the world more dangerous? Leaked excerpts of a five-month-old secret intelligence report says the war has boosted the terror threat to the U.S. and now serves as the main recruiting tool for terror groups. Democrats are pounding on the so-called national intelligence estimate, but the White House says that part was the part that was leaked to the media, well it's a limited and distorted view of the entire report.
Now for the 1st brigade of the first U.S. armored division, the war in Iraq will last longer than expected. Some 4,000 soldiers were planning to leave Iraq in January, but learned today that they will be staying for several more weeks.
It's because their replacements, who have already served two Iraq tours, have to have one full year between deployment. No U.S. troop cuts are expected in Iraq until next spring at the very earliest. And for some retired U.S. generals, all that shows the war has failed. They testified today at a Senate forum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. JOHN BATISTE (RET)., U.S. ARMY: Secretary Rumsfeld's dismal strategic decisions resulted in the unnecessary deaths of American servicemen and women, our allies and the good people of Iraq. He was responsible for American, our allies going to war with the wrong plan and a strategy that did not address the realities of fighting an insurgency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A string of deadly attacks over the weekend marred the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
LEMON: The president of Venezuela, his name-calling makes for good sound bytes, but under the rhetoric lies fear of U.S. military and economic might. In fact, Hugo Chavez has convinced much of his population the U.S. is planning to invade. Here is CNN's Karl Penhaul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They may be past their prime, but their spirits are unbowed.
"Let them try and invade. They'll see Venezuelans are not cowards."
"Free motherland or death," this man chants. These are part-time volunteers in Venezuela's recently formed citizen militias. Thousands of Venezuelan civilians are training in guerrilla warfare, as President Hugo Chavez raises fears of a potential U.S. invasion.
When Chavez puts forward the hypothesis of an asymmetrical war with the United States, he's saying he'll fight an irregular war, without rules and limits, he says.
Chavez is stockpiling new weaponry for his regular army, including 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, which he began handing out in this ceremony in July.
"With this we're battling the intentions of the United States government. I keep warning the United States, you cannot crush our freedom," Chavez said.
He also warned the U.S. at a summit in Paraguay in April that it would never get its hands on Venezuela's oil.
"If they attack us, then we'll do what the Iraqis did. We'll have no alternative. We'll blow up our oil wells, but they're not going to take our oil," Chavez says.
He believes a U.S. invasion would aim to stop his leftist crusade against globalization and cut his alliance with Cuba's Fidel Castro. U.S. diplomats say that's nonsense.
"We never have and never will invade Venezuela, it just doesn't make any sense," Ambassador William Brownfield said in a statement to CNN.
But in the slums that ring Caracas, invasion paranoia is running high amongst dirt-poor Chavez supporters. This community leader, known by the nickname "Mao," is helping draw up a battle plan.
"We can easily dig a trench here and fill it with homemade mines and that will stop the advance of invading tanks," he explains.
Drawing on lessons he learned as a former communist guerrilla, he warns invading troops would quickly get bogged down in this rabid war of alleys.
"If U.S. Marines come down here, then it will cost them dearly because our people will throw down boiling water and rocks," he says. Mao vows every apartment block and alley would become a battleground.
"Everybody down to the children and women have a role to play in the armed resistance movement," he says. Fighting talk or maybe just imagination.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Caracas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Coming up, one of the so-called driving forces in the 2004 elections, security moms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN MCGRAW, MOTHER OF TWO: The reason I voted the way I did was for safety reasons. And I do not, you know, feel that I have that safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Some folks say they powered Republicans the victory two years ago. Will that be the case this year? We're going to take a look, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, you've heard of soccer moms and NASCAR dads, but how about security moms? Some believe that they're a voting bloc that helped lead Republicans to victory in the last election. And this time around, those same moms may be insecure about the directions the country is heading in.
CNN's Bob Franken has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're always cited as a key to an election: suburban mothers. Last time around, the GOP called them "security moms" and convinced a substantial number to vote Republican.
MCGRAW: The reason I voted the way I did was for safety reasons. And I do not, you know, feel that I have that safety.
FRANKEN: As the president campaigns again to keep his party's control of Congress by again emphasizing the war on terror, these suburban St. Louis mothers, who gathered at our request, made it clear they had real second thoughts.
MEG MANNION, MOTHER OF THREE: I felt that the president's administration would help guide him to making the right decisions for security, and I don't know if I'm as convinced with that right now.
RICKI TISCHLER, MOTHER OF THREE: You know, I'm confused. I'm confused at a lot of reasons as, you know, why we are where we are.
FRANKEN (on camera): The security mom issue is a controversy within a controversy. Republicans vehemently deny that they're losing them, but many political experts deny they even exist.
KAREN KAUFMANN, AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSN.: When I think about security moms, I think about them in the same terms that I do like a unicorn, sort of a mythical being, because there really isn't such a thing as a security mom.
FRANKEN (voice-over): Whatever they're called, many are up for grabs. PATSY GOESSLING, MOTHER OF FOUR: I don't know at this point. I can't tell you right now how I'm going to vote, but it definitely will affect the way I vote.
FRANKEN: And what is definitely disturbing these women is the war in Iraq.
SUZIE FARON, MOTHER OF THREE: I believe the war in Iraq and some of President Bush's policies have contributed to the threat of terrorism in our country.
FRANKEN: Whether they represent a voting bloc or not, what these women do represent is a key question in this election, whether five years after the September 11th attacks, Republicans can still gain the advantage from the war on terror.
MCGRAW: You know, I think before I thought, well, it's going to be awhile for our president to get everything in place, and I was willing to, you know, support and be supportive of that, and I feel, five years later, disappointed, more afraid.
FRANKEN: Bob Franken, CNN, Brentwood, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And this note -- today's CNN debuts the CNN Political Ticker. It will send the biggest political headlines to your e-mail inbox every morning and afternoon. You can also click on CNN.com/ticker anytime, anywhere.
LEMON: The saints are coming, and so are the rock stars. It's a huge night in New Orleans.
PHILLIPS: The biggest re-roofing job in U.S. history, just start of the Superdome restoration. A "Fact Check" straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's literally a super day in a city still down on its luck. Part of the heart and soul of New Orleans, the city's famed Superdome, just hours away from reopening its doors.
LEMON: A closer look now at what it took to get the Superdome set for tonight's game. CNN's Susan Roesgen has a fact check.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are images we will never forget, nearly 30,000 stranded in the Superdome for days after Hurricane Katrina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's imperative that we get them out. The dome is degenerating, the conditions are degenerating rapidly.
ROESGEN: It took almost a week to move the last of the Katrina evacuees out of the 30 year-old stadium. Left behind were 4,000 tons of trash, 400 million gallons of rainwater and a nearly 10-acre roof that need to be replaced. The damage was so severe some thought the entire structure would have to be demolished.
Instead, engineers determined the stadium could be repaired for a price: $185 million, roughly 62 percent of which was paid by FEMA. Construction began in earnest in March and crews finished the largest reroofing project in American history seven weeks ahead of schedule.
The ambitious renovations also include new flooring, concession stands, scoreboards and box suites. Just over a year after Hurricane Katrina sent the New Orleans Saints and their fans packing, the Superdome is ready to welcome them home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To bring it back up so rapidly is amazing, and I think it speaks well for the determination, for the hard work, for the commitment that people of Louisiana have today in focusing on rebuilding and rebirth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We know the Superdome is enclosed, but don't we want good weather for the folks down in New Orleans?
PHILLIPS: Of course. It's the after-parties as well, on Bourbon Street. You have to have the perfect weather. Clearing some skies, a few storms in other places.
LEMON: Yes. Jacqui Jeras in the Weather Center with the latest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by in the SITUATION ROOM to tell us what is coming up at the top of the hour.
Hey Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Don. Thanks very much.
A major intelligence report says the war in Iraq has worsened the threat of terrorism against the United States. Bush administration officials say that distorts reality. They're taking a hard look at the facts.
Plus, an angry Bill Clinton. The former president losing his cool when asked about his efforts to find Osama bin Laden.
Also, the president of Pakistan, he says the CIA has paid his country millions of dollars in prize money for al Qaeda operatives. We'll go in depth into the allegations.
And pull out your shampoo. The feds have relaxed the rules what you can and can't carry onboard. It's in the details. So tune in to find out what you can now carry onboard.
All that coming up right at the top of the hour right here in the SITUATION ROOM.
And Don, I want to welcome you to CNN. You got a great partner there in Kyra.
LEMON: Thank you very much. I know that. I've heard it a million times.
PHILLIPS: I'm a big fan of Wolf Blitzer, woo, we have a mutual fan club going on.
LEMON: Thanks, couldn't wait to meet you two as well.
BLITZER: You're going to enjoy this ride.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. We're looking forward to the "SITUATION ROOM".
Thanks, Wolf.
PHILLIPS: Well, The Closing Bell" and a wrap of the day's action on Wall Street straight ahead. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's a girl. Isn't she a cutie pie? Look at how small they are. They're precious. Staffers at Zoo Atlanta finally manage to get a new born panda away from her doting mother long enough for a quick medical once-over. We're happy to report that she is in pink, and pink happens to be her color.
Nineteen days old, the newest of the giant pandas weighs just under a pound and a half and a little over a foot long. Expect some big changes by the time she greets her public just a few months ago -- or just a few months from now. They grow pretty darn fast.
Ali Velshi, we can't get enough of the pandas.
LEMON: Ali gets to follow an animal. Never follow animals or kids, Ali.
VELSHI: Can I have a minute with Don, just for a second.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Go ahead.
VELSHI: Don, first of all, bang up job, congratulations. Welcome.
LEMON: Thank you.
VELSHI: Let me just tell you two things. I think I got a little bit of style, but if there are options of taking pandas over me, always do it. And if there are options of taking Kyra in a flight suit over me, that's a no-brainer. Do you happen to have anything with Kyra in a flight suit? There we go!
PHILLIPS: Oh. LEMON: There we go.
It doesn't really matter what is going on in the markets, if we can get Kyra in a flight suit and pandas on the same day. I mean the rating spike that's going on right now is out of control.
LEMON: Didn't she look great though? I mean, I thought it was fantastic. Big-time exclusive.
PHILLIPS: Tomcat going away. You guys remember...
VELSHI: Which one, the jet or the panda?
PHILLIPS: The panda is staying, the Tomcat is retiring. But you'll be able to go see the Tomcat, you know, all across the country. They're going to all various museums.
VELSHI: I don't care to see them without you in the cockpit.
PHILLIPS: OK.
VELSHI: Or standing on a wing.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, I'll make a copy of the videotape and you can just loop it at night.
VELSHI: Right. And those days when the market is not in good shape, we'll just keep on playing those back.
LEMON: What are the Gs like? I mean, what does it feel like, literally.
PHILLIPS: It's like about 56 pandas sitting on your stomach.
VELSHI: Good description.
Hey, Don, welcome.
LEMON: Thank you.
VELSHI: Look forward to welcoming to you.
Kyra, you have yourself a fantastic afternoon as well.
PHILLIPS: All right. Love you, Ali.
VELSHI: We'll keep playing that stuff back and forth. But right now, I'm going to take you over to the markets for a second. We started off with oil dropping today. And it was going to be around five month lows again. We sort of say that a lot in this business. But it's up a little bit. Oil is actually closing about 90 cents higher to $61.45. The market's doing very well.
Over on the DOW, you're looking at a 71 point gain right now to 11,579. And the NASDAQ, a 30 point gain, 2,249. The expectation is that the economy might be OK as it's slowing down, inflation's under control.
Let's take it over to Wolf.
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