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Bush Meets with Senate Democratic Leaders; What Will New Iraq Strategy Be?; British Agents Estimate Thousands of Terrorist Sympathizers in Britain; Is Bipartisanship Possible?; Vietnam War Widow Finally to Bury Husband

Aired November 10, 2006 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

PHILLIPS: Well, the president and his rivals from the left, an olive branch meeting in the Oval Office. Hear what the leaders have discussed.

HOLMES: Also, extreme precipitation. Snow and rain in the Northwest. How are home owners coping with the wet weather?

PHILLIPS: Honoring our nation's veterans. I'm speak with a rare gem, a World War I doughboy. Lessons and war with 101-year-old Lloyd Brown. Look out.

You're live from the CNN NEWSROOM.

There's nothing like a rout at the polls to get political adversaries to sit down and make nice. And so President Bush met today with Democratic leaders of the Senate whom he'll likely see more of in the next two years than he did in the past six.

Let's get straight to Kathleen Koch for an update.

Hey, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

There were handshakes and smiles all around, very similar to the president's meeting yesterday with the incoming leaders of the House, the top Democrats there.

The president, talking a lot about common ground, and even common background, saying that he and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are both plain-spoken people, both from the west, and that that should bode well for their future relationships.

The president said they had a really good discussion, the three men, Senator Reid, Senator Durbin, the president -- or I should say four men -- and the vice president spoke for about 50 minutes. The president congratulated the Democrats on their victories. And the new Democratic leaders were gracious and urged continuing cooperation. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They ran good campaigns, and they talked about issues that the people care about and they want. And my attitude about this is that there is a great opportunity for us to show the country that Republicans and Democrats are equally as patriotic and equally concerned about the future, and that we can work together.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: The election's over. The only way to move forward is with partisanship and openness and to get some results. And we've made a commitment, the four of us here today. That's what we're going to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: We were not told whether or not the subject of Senator Reid's idea of a bipartisan summit on Iraq came up at the discussions, though Senator Durbin did say they spoke a great deal on this federal holiday of Veterans Day, about Iraq, about the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving there and their families -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So Kathleen, how is the White House responding to the Democrats promising to block the John Bolton nomination?

KOCH: Well, the White House is coming out swinging on this one. Press secretary Tony Snow took a lot of questions about that in today's briefing. And he made the point that the president believes Bolton, believes he's done a very good job and that he deserves to keep his job permanently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president believes that John Bolton has done an exemplary job and that if people will fairly examine his record, his real accomplishments, his record at the United Nations, that he not only will have earned confirmation, but will receive it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: But that's pretty unlikely at this point. Top Democrats like Senator Joe Biden, the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying, quote, "Bolton is going nowhere."

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kathleen Koch from the White House. Thanks so much.

And coming up next hour, we'll take you to Quantico, Virginia. President Bush helps dedicate the new National Museum of the Marine Corps. You'll see it live, as soon as it happens.

HOLMES: Anbar province of western Iraq, killing field for another U.S. service member, one in four to die in action yesterday. A Marine was killed there in what the military calls enemy action.

Two Army MPs died. A third was wounded by a roadside bomb near Baghdad. Another soldier was killed when his truck was hit by a roadside bomb near Haditha.

Well, everybody's got an opinion on this week's elections here in the U.S., and that includes the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir posted an Internet audio message today, applauding the Democratic victory as a trigger for change in Iraq. He also had a few choice names for President Bush and outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

CNN has not confirmed the clip is authentic.

Some major players at the Pentagon are probably dusting off those resumes today. The resignation of Donald Rumsfeld has triggered speculation that his inner circle will file out the door right behind him. But joint chiefs chairman Peter Pace indicates he'll be sticking around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PETER PACE, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS: Regardless of who the secretary of defense is, whether it's Secretary Rumsfeld, who will be our secretary, is our secretary, until the Senate confirms the next secretary and he's sworn in, whether it becomes Dr. Gates, as we expect it will be, but pending Senate confirmation, regardless of who the secretary is my responsibility and all senior military leaders' responsibility is to give our best military advice to solving the nation's military problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And as joint chiefs chairman, Pace serves President Bush. The Pentagon's top civilian staff will answer to Rumsfeld's probable successor, Robert Gates.

Of course, wartime defense secretary resigns, a new one is tapped. No one expects the war to be business as usual. But what are the future courses of the war in Iraq?

CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Now that he's a short-timer, even outgoing secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admits the current strategy in Iraq is not working.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It has not been going well enough or fast enough.

MCINTYRE: In an exchange with students at Kansas State University, Rumsfeld urged perseverance and resolve, as adjustments to the strategy are made by the man nominated to replace him, former CIA director Robert Gates, who is one of 10 members of the bipartisan Iraq study group, charged with finding a way out of Iraq.

The options include stay the course, which is already seen as failing. Strategic redeployment, pulling the troops back, perhaps as far as Kuwait. Under that option, advocated by Representative John Murtha and other Democrats, overall troop levels would stay the same, but many troops would be pulled off the front lines to be used as a quick reaction force only if Iraqis got in trouble.

Other possibilities, more U.S. troops, which U.S. commanders say won't help in the long term. And partition along sectarian lines, something the White House has labeled a nonstarter.

So the most likely options appear to be a phased withdrawal under a carefully planned time line to force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own security.

LAWRENCE KORB, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: I think, basically, unless we start a phased withdrawal, the Iraqis will never make the political compromises necessary to create an Iraq that's worth fighting and dying for.

MCINTYRE: Another likely proposal is engaging Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria. But an option vigorously opposed by hard-liners.

FRANK GAFFNEY, CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY: Will we be negotiating with enemies like the regime in Iran, in the hopes that they'll somehow help us solve the problem they're creating in no small measure in Iraq? And I think that's going to be a mistake, potentially very strategic and longstanding dimensions.

MCINTYRE: Also taking the long view is lame duck Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, who insists America is on the right side of history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you were going to give yourself a letter grade for your performance as secretary of defense what grade would that be?

RUMSFELD: Oh, I'd let history worry about that.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Senate confirmation hearings for Robert Gates are on the fast track, set for early December. And the recommendations of the Iraq study group are expected shortly thereafter.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And you can see more of Jamie McIntyre's reports in "THE SITUATION ROOM". You can join Wolf Blitzer this afternoon at 4 p.m. Eastern and for the live-time edition at 7 p.m. Eastern.

PHILLIPS: More than two dozen plots, a couple hundred cells, more than 1,000 suspects. Our Nic Robertson joins us now with the chilling statistics from Britain's domestic terror trackers, MI-5.

Bring us up to date, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller doesn't speak very often publicly, and she has done now, and it's clear that she wants to warn the British public about the dangers, the potential for terrorism in Britain right now.

She said there are about 1,600 people that they know about, that they actually know about. She said there may be many more, currently involved in plotting or planning acts of terrorism here and abroad. They fall into about 200 different groups or networks.

She said there are some 30, almost 30 current plots that the intelligence services here are tracking at this time. She said many of those plots are linked with al Qaeda in Pakistan.

She said that they're trying -- they'd like to recruit people into the intelligence agencies. But they're very concerned at this time about the growth of terrorism.

There are 100,000 people, she said in Britain, who are sympathetic to the attacks here last year that killed 52 people. So they're very concerned about the speed of the growth. She said that this problem could go on for a generation.

The subtext here, analysts are telling us, is that the situation that MI-5 faces here, with only 2,500 staff, is out of control, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: How does MI-5 coordinate with the United States? And what does this mean for us here in America?

ROBERTSON: Well, certainly there is a sharing of information. That's been going on for a long time.

And certainly, when I was talking a little earlier today with somebody who used to head a very important section of the CIA, he told me he had the utmost respect for MI-5 and what they do.

But it is a concern. He said when you look at what's happening in Britain, when you look at the statement from the head of MI-5, that people in the United States should also be concerned.

I was in New York last weekend attending a conference where the FBI and the homeland security were trying to recruit Pakistanis from both sort of leaders of the community and young students, into the intelligence services, because they want to understand the problems that exist in these communities. People within the communities, people in security services very worried about the situation here in the United States, and that's what the head of the MI-5 was saying here. A way to deal with this problem is to understand it.

It's growing so fast that, she said, you have to prioritize that you can't -- we just don't have the staff to watch everyone all the time, is the bottom line, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson, live from London. HOLMES: Well, after this week's elections is there really a chance for bipartisanship? Really? Our Bill Schneider examines the odds, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And caught on tape and under scrutiny, the actions of two Los Angeles police officers. Did they go too far with this arrest? We're going to talk about it, straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: They're talking the talk. But will they actually walk the walk? We're hearing a whole lot about working together and putting aside party differences these days in Washington. But pretty soon, photo ops will give way to what, exactly?

CNN's political analyst Bill Schneider takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Bush seems to want a government of national unity to succeed.

BUSH: It's in the national interests of the United States that a unity government, based upon a Constitution that is advanced and modern, succeed.

SCHNEIDER: Except that he was not talking about the United States. He was talking about Iraq, where warring sects have to figure out how to work together. Same as here.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Democrats are ready to lead, prepared to govern, and absolutely willing to work in bipartisan way.

SCHNEIDER: Can it happen? There's reason for hope. The Democratic majorities in the House and Senate include a lot of newly elected moderates.

Like Heath Shuler of North Carolina, a former Washington Redskins' quarterback who was courted by the Republicans. And Brad Ellsworth, an Indiana County sheriff who signed a pledge not to raise taxes.

In the Senate, there's Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Jon Tester of Montana. And Jim Webb of Montana, who used to be a Republican and was President Reagan's Navy secretary.

And Joe Lieberman will still be around.

How accommodating will Republicans be? Moderate Republicans have diminished in number. Representatives Jim Leach of Iowa and Nancy Johnson of Connecticut were defeated. So were two moderate Republican senators, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Mike DeWine of Ohio.

Will Republicans move further to the right? Not if they got the message of the election. Republicans lost because they abandoned the center. Independents voted Democrat by the biggest margin ever recorded.

The election also provides an alternative model of a Republican who moved to the center and thrived.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: We fight over our causes, but in the end, we find common grounds. This is the California way. The voters have endorsed it. I embrace it.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): If unity government is going to work in Iraq, the various parties will have to disarm their militias. Some steps towards ending the political arms race might be a good idea in this country, too.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: As Republicans regroup, they'll also need to recruit a new party leader. Several Republican sources tell CNN that Ken Mehlman plans to step down as GOP chairman. Sources say that Mehlman's departure has been in the works for some time and is not related to this week's drumming in the midterms.

Well, a love letter unlocks a 40-year-old mystery, helping a widow finally put the past to rest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICIA SCHARF, MILITARY WIDOW: I now have somewhere to go to talk to my husband on a Saturday or a Sunday or just go up and just, say, put a flower there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We'll have that story straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: And as if they didn't have enough rain this week, folks in Washington state face an even muddier mess. Weather woes, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: There wasn't one hurricane in the U.S. this year, and that made a huge difference in the profits of the world's largest insurance company. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with those details.

Hey, Susan.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: And a live picture now of President Bush arriving for an event in Quantico, Virginia. Arriving at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, where he's going to help dedicate this new museum. It's actually going to open to the public next week, on Monday, actually. But he's there for the event. He's going to make some comments there.

But this is the new multimillion-dollar facility here, the Museum of the Marine Corps. Just keeping an eye there on the president. His remarks are coming up next hour, and we will bring them to you here in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Of course, Veterans Day is a time to remember, and for the wife of an Air Force pilot who served and died in Vietnam, this Veterans Day will be a different one from all the others.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us with a story of love, loss and, finally, peace.

Hey, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.

Yes, on this Veterans Day, a love story, a 40-year-old love story, right here in the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Along this row of shops inside the Pentagon, a 41-year-old love story. Saleswoman Patricia Sharp, a military wife, has stood behind these counters for decades, waiting for her husband, Chuck, to come home.

Back in 1965, she was a young Air Force wife in Florida, seeing her fighter pilot husband off to war in Vietnam. She recalls standing on the flight line as his jet lined up for takeoff.

SCHARF: The canopy started to shut, and he saluted me. I had a scarf on my head, and I waved so big to him and said, "I love you," you know.

STARR: It was the last time she saw him. On October 1, 1965, just three weeks before he was to come home, Captain Scharf was shot down over North Vietnam.

Patricia, who married at 18, whose only child was still born, was alone. And like other wives in that war, wondering if her husband might be alive in a North Vietnamese prison camp.

(on camera) How many years did you send packages to Vietnam?

SCHARF: I would say from about -- until they started sending them back. And I would say that would be the first year. And I've always had hope that he would be back, always. That he'd walk even into the shop here one day.

STARR (voice-over): Finally in 1992, U.S. and Vietnamese investigators began digging at Chuck's crash site. They found his I.D. card and wallet and bone fragments, evidence he had died in the crash. But they still had to find a DNA match.

Then Chuck reached out one more time across the years. These love letters Patricia had saved had traces of his saliva, where the fighter pilot licked the envelope shut before sending them off to his young wife. That provided the positive I.D.

Forty-one years after seeing him off to war, Patricia will bury Chuck's remains at Arlington National Cemetery in a few weeks.

SCHARF: I now have somewhere to go to talk to my husband on a Saturday or a Sunday, or just go up and just, say, put a flower there.

STARR: From her Pentagon counter, Patricia has watched troops go off to war for decades. She said she thinks of today's young military widows.

SCHARF: I would love to go to a base and talk to the young women who are in the same position I was. It's a different war now. But I know their feelings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: And, Kyra, Patricia told me she feels very much at peace that, 41 years later, she can say she's not just a military wife, but now she is a military widow with certainty. And she knows, she says, that she will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery some day, next to her husband -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's a beautiful gift. Thanks, Barbara.

HOLMES: It's not his birthday, but Sunday marks a major milestone for Gerald Ford. As of Sunday, he'll be the longest living president in U.S. history, 93 years, 121 days. That's one day older than Ronald Reagan, who died in 2004.

And Ford has had a lot of health problems lately, but his family says he's doing well, after a hospital stay in August. In a statement, Ford says, "The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends."

And he wanted to be known as a storyteller. We remember the life of CBS newsman Ed Bradley. That's just ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Shades of Rodney King. A suspect pinned to the ground, pummeled by Los Angeles police officers. Every punch caught on tape.

Reporter Marty Johnson of CNN affiliate KTLA has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTY JOHNSON, REPORTER, KTLA TV: The pictures are shocking. Two LAPD officers, on top of a suspect pinned on the ground, one with his knee on the man's neck punching his face. Arlen Pacheco shot the video on August 11 and says the suspect didn't have a chance.

ARLEN PACHECO, VIDEO TAPED BEATING: They had him pinned to the ground. This gentleman is screaming "I can't breathe," while the officer is beating him in the face.

JOHNSON: The suspect, identified as 23-year-old William Cardenas, wanted on a felony warrant, he was treated at a local hospital and charged with two counts of felony resisting arrest. But the actions of the Hollywood Division officers involved, Alexander Shlegel (ph) on the left, and Patrick Ferrell, on the right, are now being investigated on their own.

CHIEF WILLIAM BRATTON, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPT.: There's no denying that the video is disturbing, but as to whether the actions of the officer were appropriate in light of what he was experiencing, the totality of circumstances, that's what the investigation will hopefully determine.

JOHNSON: LAPD is under a federal consent order monitoring allegations of police brutality because of past problems. Bratton says Schlegle (ph) and Farrell (ph) filed the required report, listing a level two non-life threatening use of force. After seeing the tape, their supervisor pulled them from field duty and upgraded the use of force. But that's not enough, according to Cardenas' attorney.

KWAKU DUREN, CARDENAS' ATTORNEY: He was brutally assaulted. And his human rights, not just civil rights, his human rights were being violated.

JOHNSON: Duren will file civil charges on his client's behalf. But one judge has already seen the video and ruled the officer's actions part of a fight, refusing to drop charges against Cardenas. An LAPD source told me the suspect is a known gang member, a 10 percenter, so-called because he's among the most violent of L.A. criminals, with a record that includes both attempted murder and concealed weapons charges.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Once the video became public, the FBI launched its own investigation. The D.A.'s office is reviewing whether to go ahead with the Cardenas' case scheduled for trial in 10 days.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Democrats, yes. But soulmates? Time will tell how some of the incoming congressional freshman, the ones who are tilting the balance of power will get along with their often more liberal elders.

Here's CNN's John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much. I'll work hard for you. JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brad Ellsworth is anti-abortion, opposes same-sex marriage, and is an Indiana sheriff who very much believes in the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

BRAD ELLSWORTH (D), INDIANA CONG.-ELECT: We're a pretty conservative bunch, and I think I fit right in with those values of the people here.

KING: Ellsworth is coming to Congress as a Democrat, just one reminder President Bush isn't the only conservative Nancy Pelosi has to deal with if she wants to get thins done once she becomes speaker of the house in January.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: We've made history. Now we have to make progress.

KING: The incoming freshman class includes a number of Democrats at odds with positions backed by more liberal congressional leaders. Ellsworth and Joe Donnelly from Indiana, Jim Mahoney from Florida, Ed Perlmutter from Colorado, John Yarmuth from Kentucky, and Heath Shuler of North Carolina among them.

Different breed of Democrat in the new Senate class, too, including anti-abortion Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and pro-gun conservative Jon Tester of Montana.

JON TESTER (D), MONTANA SENATOR-ELECT: Now's the time, really though, to come together. It really is a time to put politics aside.

KING: Shuler is a devout Christian who shies away from alcohol and caffeine, and who moved quickly in the campaign when Republicans tried to link him to the liberal Pelosi.

HEATH SHULER (D), N. CAROLINA CONG.-ELECT: That's why we have to do a good job of being in a district like this where they can talk and they can spread the word and say, you know, he's not like some of the national Democrats. You know, he's one of us.

KING: Some friction between the new members and the more liberal Democrats in line to run most of the committees is inevitable.

DICK GEPHARDT, FMR. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: It won't be easy because there's a lot of disagreement even in the Democratic caucus. But they all know the test is what can we get done and what can we get done that is important to the American people.

KING: The differences are likely to be less evident, though, in the short term, as the new Democratic majority deals first with shared campaign promises.

JOHN PODESTA, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: They have -- really came in on two basic premises. One is we need a new course in Iraq. And second, we need to strengthen the middle class in America again.

KING: Former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta predicts the new members will help the party heading into the 2008 presidential cycle.

PODESTA: What you're going to see is the ability of the -- particularly the more conservative members, to say, let's make sure that the face we're showing on security is one that I can go back home and run on.

KING: Running, again, comes in two years. First, they have to prove they can get along.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, John King, part of the best political team on television. He brings a fresh perspective on the day's top stories to "ANDERSON COOPER 360." "A.C. 360" weeknights 10:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

LEMON: And you can stay with CNN and the best political team on television, and that's exactly what you did on Election Day. More viewers came to CNN than any other cable news channel on Election Day. And you can also -- you made CNN.com the number one news site on that day as well.

And as the countdown to 2008 begins, stay with CNN and the best political team on television.

PHILLIPS: Donald Rumsfeld will soon be out. Bob Gates will likely be his replacement. So who cares beside Americans? The people of Iraq. You're going to hear from them when the NEWSROOM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We know Donald Rumsfeld will soon be leaving his post as secretary of defense, but Iraqis are taking note of the Pentagon personnel challenge as well.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Iraqi TV screens, this was the farewell to Donald Rumsfeld, a good-bye montage of Abu Ghraib abuse pictures, a sign that one of the most notorious moments of the war will forever be linked to a man who, for most Iraqis, embodies all that's gone wrong here. Among the people we spoke with, there is now a tinge of expectation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We do not see anything good from him except wars. We do not want war. We hope the next one is better than him. We hope so.

RAMAN: For Iraqi politicians, though, change in Washington means uncertainty in Baghdad. Iraq's prime minister, criticized by many Democrats for not doing enough, could face increased pressure to go after Shia militias.

And while there's little love lost for Rumsfeld, there's now the potential for a new military strategy on the frontlines, perhaps even a decrease in American troops, who are, for the Iraqi government, a key factor in heading off civil war.

It's not a position U.S. troops enjoy. And while many of them were shocked by the news of Rumsfeld's departure, it could, some say, bring about a fresh start.

COL. AL KELLY, U.S. ARMY: There are a lot of decisions that he made that people aren't happy with, but he made some hard decisions.

RAMAN: Decisions that made Donald Rumsfeld a target of mounting anger if not outright hate, for Iraqis, which why some here are claiming victory, from the political camp of anti-American Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

FALAH SHANSHAL, IRAQI PARLIAMENT MEMBER (through translator): Changing the U.S. defense minister is considered a defeat to the U.S. administration and its military strategy upon which the occupation forces rely.

RAMAN: And from the enemy, President Bush warned not to be joyful -- these words, airing on Arabic language station Al-Jazeera, from a militant Sunni group.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We consider the Republican loss in the elections a great victory for the Iraqi resistance. Even Bush admitted so by sacrificing the tyrant Rumsfeld on the altar of the Democrats' sweeping victory.

RAMAN: A defense secretary gone, a Congress changing power.

(on camera): It all adds up to a time of change in Washington, change Iraqis hope will soon make its way here to Baghdad. Then again, when it comes to U.S. troops, most Iraqis say they want them to go, but need them to stay.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Today, we're sharing excerpts from a gripping CNN special called "COMBAT HOSPITAL." It's a look at military men and women in Iraq who receive the American wounded first with one priority: keep them alive. It's not Hollywood. It's not glamorous. But be aware, this report shows real combat casualties and you may find it very hard to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're doing good, sweetie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it that face that's hurting or is it the ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, no, the face. You guys are just pushing down on it really hard. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry. We're just trying to hold the bleeding down a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we have to, OK? Watch your head, Miller (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My toes are killing me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your toes are killing you? I'll just give you more pain medicine, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel me touching your pinky?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Index.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thumb.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the story, doc? I mean, give me a brief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The brief is, it looks like -- well, your face is going to -- if you don't have any fractures, it's going to require a lot of sewing and wash out in the O.R.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you knock me out for that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You left -- of course.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, we're going to lift you up a little bit, all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we're lifting. Hang on to that I.V.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your left toes, looks like you're going to lose a little bit of the distal part, the lump, the end of it, right at the toenails there. Just a tip of the big toe, and maybe the second toe in, just the tip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like the toenail part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will I still be able to walk?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hell, yes, of course. Not a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll be able to do PPA (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, there's a little puncture wound right here, a few punctures. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctors, this ain't my first barbecue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? You've been through this before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the second time I've been -- actually this is my third time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have got to stop visiting us, but we appreciate you taking one for the team, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I hate you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we love you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, and we love you too. You don't want to be like, a frequent flyer with us. That's never a good sign. So after that happens, you, like, win a set of steak knives and get to to home. How about that?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one's a first for me, having a repeat customer. A lot of them come in just with major injuries and they're joking around, trying to pull through. They just roll with the punches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based on your experience, how long did you think it's going to take me to recover?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a good question. Probably, I don't know, maybe a month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A month for all this **** to recover?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, be my guess.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't call my mom this time. Last time they called her, she was freaked out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no, you're the one who is going to call her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luckily, nobody got hurt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not letting me open it up all the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These guys are great guys. They really are. They have courage that I just would never, ever expect people to have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, that guy served his country. I mean, what more to ask? Wounded twice in action. Plus the fear of every day going out, and you never know if you're going to get wounded again. That guy's a hero.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And of course the war in Iraq played a role in midterm elections. And this weekend, CNN takes you inside a combat hospital there in Iraq to show the frantic fight to save the lives of wounded troops inside. Don't miss this CNN presents, "COMBAT HOSPITAL," Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 eastern.

PHILLIPS: From the heroes there in Iraq to that combat hospital, live pictures now, Quantico, Virginia, as the president of the United States is getting ready to lift up and honor another group of heroes. Those, the men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps.

He's getting ready to dedicate the National Museum of the Marine Corps. he's also getting ready to recognize a Marine Corporal by the name of Jason Dunnham. He will receive America's highest decoration of valor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. When the president starts speaking, we will dip in live.

PHILLIPS: Well, they fought the war to end all wars. One man is determined to hear and preserve their memories. A Veterans Day tribute, straight ahead many from the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: And he wanted to be known as a storyteller. The life of CBS newsman Ed Bradley. We remember him ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED BRADLEY, CBS NEWS: I think people realize that what we do every week is tell a good story. We try to tell three good stories every week. And I don't think that you need a lot of movement, graphics, to tell a good story. You need some good storytelling.

If I arrived at the pearly gates and St. Peter said, what have you done to deserve entry, I'd just say did you see my Lena Horne story?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is a great line from that inquisitive nature, that imposing stature, that authoritative voice. Ed Bradley was a giant in this business, covering the globe, collecting awards along the way, seeming to love every minute of it. And, friends, colleagues, and viewers loved Bradley and are mourning his death yesterday at 65 of leukemia. CNN's Anderson Cooper looks back at the life of a storyteller.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRADLEY: I'm Ed Bradley.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): He was everything a good journalist should be. Honest and fair, dogged and determined. Whether it was a news story or a 50-year-old murder case, Ed Bradley was fearless in pursuit of the truth.

BRADLEY: I have some questions I'd like to ask about Emmett Till. Will she come out and talk to us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did I just tell you?

BRADLEY: Tell me again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

COOPER: When he was on a story, his compassion couldn't help but show through. He trained to be a teacher and taught in Philadelphia's school system. But when riots erupted around the country in the 1960s, Bradley covered them for a local radio station. His career and his life would change forever.

He was signed by another radio station in New York, owned by CBS, the network that would become his home for the next 43 years. But it was his time spent covering the Vietnam War that brought Ed Bradley into the public eye.

BRADLEY: People were moved from Vietcong areas into...

COOPER: He trekked through the jungles with soldiers and was hit by a mortar round as the battle raged. But he was back in 1975 as Saigon was falling, and when he saw desperate South Vietnamese people cramming onto boats to escape, he put down his microphone and stepped in to help.

BRADLEY: I saw panic in Vietnam, as people were fleeing and were afraid and wanted to get out. I'd never seen that kind of panic before, that kind of fear. Within two days, it was all over, Saigon. We left on a helicopter.

COOPER: In 1981, Ed Bradley joined the team of reporters on the esteemed "60 Minutes", which topped television ratings for decades. There, he spoke to just about everybody, from entertainers...

BRADLEY: I read that you get $20 million a film now?

DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR: I heard you make that kind of money, too.

COOPER: ... to terrorists...

BRADLEY: You realize that most people in this country think you're responsible for the bombing, correct?

TIMOTHY MCVEIGH, OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBER: Correct.

BRADLEY: So if your perception is that you didn't get a fair trail, they're saying, so what?

COOPER: ... to national icons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to sort of... COOPER: Despite a body of work any journalist would envy, 19 Emmy awards and closet full of accolades, Ed Bradley's colleagues say he never saw himself as anything except a storyteller.

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: He could put people at ease. He could make them be themselves, and sometimes that was to their advantage. Sometimes it was to their disadvantage. He did these wonderful stories. He was a great observer of the American scene.

COOPER: Ed Bradley's last story ran on "60 Minutes" in October, an expose at safety problems at a Texas oil refinery that exploded last year, killing 15 workers.

He'll be remembered not just as a great newsman, but as a pioneer, a private man who loved his family and his jazz and who lived life with such style and oh, so much grace.

SCHIEFFER: One other thing, what I remember about Ed Bradley, he was the single coolest guy I ever knew.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips in CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

PHILLIPS: The president and his rivals from the left. Well an olive branch meeting at the Oval Office. We're going to tell you what those leaders had discussed.

HOLMES: Also, we're talking about this extreme precipitation. The snow and the rain in the Northwest. How are homeowners coping with the wet weather.

PHILLIPS: And honoring our nation's veterans. I'll speak with a rare gem, a World War I doughboy. Lessons from life and war with 105- year-old Lloyd Brown. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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