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Sources Saying President Bush Is Expected To Call For More U.S. Troops In Iraq; The Boys of Baghdad

Aired January 04, 2007 - 14:40   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon. Is bigger, better? Well sources say the president is considering major surge in U.S. troop levels in Iraq. We'll break it down by the numbers.

Can a pill make you skinny? The feds aren't swallowing the diet hype and say you shouldn't either.

LEMON: His selfless acts saved a young man's life, but he says don't call me a hero. The Subway Superman says, we've all got to show one another some love.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The U.S. strategy for Iraq, something has got to change and soon. Most likely change will equal surge, not exactly what most of the war's critics have been demanding, but how many more troops are we talking and when?

Here's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux with the answers for us -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Don, certainly sources are saying that the president is expected to call for more U.S. troops. Pentagon sources outside the White House saying that number could be anywhere from 20 to 40,000, perhaps leaning towards the lesser number.

It is not a popular option of course, but it is expected. And the president today took a very important step. He had a video teleconference call with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It lasted for an hour and 45 minutes we are told. For 50 minutes that conversation was just one-on-one between President Bush and Maliki.

What came out of that conversation, we are told is that the president did not unveil his new strategy, his plan, but they did come to agreement on what the definition of victory was that Iraq must be able to govern, protect, and sustain itself, that they were both equally determined and the first priority of course between both of these leaders was securing Baghdad and Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They talked about various -- the one thing, they were talking about the importance of having sufficient force within Baghdad to create a stable situation within the city.

QUESTION: Did the president suggest he was inclined to send more troops to Baghdad?

SNOW: The president and prime minister exchanged ideas but I'm not going to get into details at that level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So Don, while the White House refuses to get into details at that level, certainly sources are getting into those details, telling us anywhere from 20 to 40,000 troops are called for.

So far, President Bush has not actually signed that order to make that happen but that is widely expected. We also expect that tomorrow, President Bush will wrap up his consultations regarding his Iraq plan next week.

He will reach out, White House officials reaching out. A courtesy call to members of Congress, perhaps Monday and Tuesday, it is expected then the president will make his primetime address to the nation -- Don.

LEMON: Suzanne, part of this news coming down just a short time ago, look likes the president will have to fill some vacancies at the White House.

MALVEAUX: Yes. There has been a lot of activity in the last 24, 48 hours. We saw the president's White House counsel, his lawyer, Harriet Miers turned in her letter of resignation this morning.

She's been at the White House six years, very loyal, goes back with President Bush since his time in Texas. She is most known of course for that failed bid for Supreme Court justice, didn't have the kind of support she needed from the Senate. We are told that there is not a replacement that is yet being considered, so that's still on the table.

Also, senior administration officials confirm what we reported before, national intelligence director John Negroponte moving from his position going to the number two position at the State Department. His replacement, that nomination, Mike McConnell, who is a former director of the National Security Agency. We expect that this nomination, both of these moves will become official, perhaps as early as tomorrow in some sort of ceremony here at the White House -- Don.

LEMON: All right. We shall see. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Found and impounded. An SUV that police in Denver hope will yield new clues in the murder of a Denver Bronco's cornerback. Police are going over every inch of this 1998 Chevy Tahoe discovered just south of the Denver airport. They think it may have been used in a New Year's Day drive-by shooting that killed Darrent Williams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALIND WILLIAMS, MOTHER OF DARRENT WILLIAMS: In the event this person is not brought to justice, I know they have to live with this the rest of their lives. and sometimes that's a little more punishment than sitting in a jail for a long, long time. They're the ones that have to sleep with what they did every night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Denver media reports that the SUV belongs to Brian Hicks. Hicks has been in jail since November 9th on a drug charge. he's also accused of shooting at a woman, who was later killed a week before she was due to testify against him. Police are trying to find out who's been driving his Tahoe.

LEMON: Students return to class today at Foss High School in Tacoma, Washington, a day after one of their classmates was killed. Crisis counselors are on hand and the 18-year-old suspect has a court date.

Douglas Chanthabouly is being held for investigation of first- degree murder. Police say, he, too, was a Foss High School student and knew the victim, but they still don't have a motive for that shooting.

PHILLIPS: Pop some pills, lose some pounds, if that sound too easy, the FTC agrees. The feds are fining the marketers of some popular diet pills for deceptive advertising.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with all the details.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this is truly amazing. We've all seen these ads, all over the airways. You read a newspaper and you see them. And they claim, hey just pop a pill, you're going to lose lots of weight, no effort whatsoever. Well, the FTC says, guess what, surprise, surprise, it's not true.

Here's some of the pills that they fine and what some of the claims were. Here's the first one -- the first one is Xenadrine EFX. The claim was rapid and substantial weight loss, the fine $12.8 million dollars. That doesn't include the $23 million that the company will have to pay as part of a bankruptcy proceeding that's separate.

And then the second one is CortiSlim and CortiStress. The claim there, rapid, substantial, and permanent weight loss -- wouldn't that be nice. Fined $8.4 million dollars.

The next one TrimSpa, many people know it as the one that Anna Nicole Smith advertises. this one claimed that it could make even losing 70 pounds easy, imagine that. It also claimed your high speed dream body diet pill. Fined $1.5 million dollars. And the last one is a surprise to many -- One-A-Day Weight Smart. this is marketed by a big company, Bayer. And what they found is that the FTC said that the claim was enhance your metabolism and that the fine is $3.2 million dollars.

Now as part of this consent decree with the FTC, the companies aren't admitting guilt but are agreeing to stop what the FTC called misrepresentations.

PHILLIPS: All right. Now, you see on a number of these boxes or even on the advertisements, it says clinically proven. What does that mean?

COHEN: They make it sound as if they did a bunch of tests and a bunch of studies and that they found that people did lose weight. Well, I guess you should really call them "studies."

For example, let's take a look at one of the studies that was done for one of these products. The FTC found that in the studies for a product called Xenadrine, that when you really look at the study and take it apart, the folks who were taking Xenadrine lost a pound and half in ten weeks, not very impressive.

And that people on a placebo pill, the people who weren't taking anything, lost 2 and a half pounds in ten weeks. So actually, you're better off not taking the Xenadrine. So, when you read the fine print of these studies, they don't sound nearly as impressive as they do in the advertisements.

PHILLIPS: Well, also in the advertisements, you have the before and the after, I mean the famous pictures, holding the pants

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Three people could jump in there. Are those real people? Are they actors? What's the story behind those?

COHEN: Right, these testimonials? You wonder who are these people? Well, as the FTC points out in many cases, those are paid people. They said one of these companies would pay people between 1 and 2,000 dollars to say that they lost weight.

So, did they really lose weight? You know what, no one's really checking. But if someone paid you $2,000 dollars, maybe you'd be willing to say you lost weight even if you didn't.

PHILLIPS: Everybody is looking for a quick fix, just eat right, start running, do some sort of exercise. I mean it sounds so basic, but it's hard -- we want the quick fix.

COHEN: That's right and in one of these studies, the studies that they talk about, the people who did lose that weight, they lost it by diet and exercise, they didn't lose it by the pill.

PHILLIPS: Thanks Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

LEMON: A bleak past, a violent present, a fearsome future. The younger generation in Iraq. Our Cal Perry heard the fears and dread of some young men in Baghdad and you will too. Right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Also, he wins a city's heart and lifelong gratitude of a young man's family. Even though Wesley Autrey doesn't want you to call him a hero after his daring subway rescue, the NEWSROOM begs to differ.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The future of Iraq: someday the fighting will down and non-Iraqi troops will pull. And then what? Well, Iraq's fate will be determined in large part by a generation that's known little except war and despair and has little hope for anything better.

CNN's Cal Perry met some of the boys of Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So, Abraham, yes? And your last name?

ABRAHAM, IRAQI YOUTH: I don't have any last name. My name is Abraham (INAUDIBLE).

PERRY: Yes, I understand. And you're how old?

ABRAHAM: 16.

PERRY: 16. When you were 12 years old, the Americans came to Baghdad, yes?

ABRAHAM: Yes.

PERRY: What do you remember about that day?

ABRAHAM: I don't remember anything, because I -- yesterday I see like boy is killed, another boy. Here is no good.

PERRY: Here is no good. Since the Americans came, no good?

ABRAHAM: No good.

PERRY: Let me ask you this. Before the -- before America, during Saddam, better or worse?

ABRAHAM: Saddam was good.

PERRY: You were sad to see Saddam die?

ABRAHAM: Yes.

PERRY: Are you Sunni or Shia?

ABRAHAM: It's not your problem.

PERRY: It's not your problem. It doesn't matter.

ABRAHAM: The only thing, Muslim.

PERRY: Muslim. Iraqi.

ABRAHAM: (INAUDIBLE).

PERRY: Iraqi. Has that been lost in all of this?

ABRAHAM: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).

PERRY: But before? Didn't matter.

ABRAHAM: No.

PERRY: Do you remember life under Saddam or do you remember only war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I remember that was nice.

PERRY: You remember life under Saddam, he was nice. Raise your hand if you've lost a member of your family since the war began. So, almost everyone here has lost family in this war.

(CROSSTALK)

PERRY: Everyone

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone.

PERRY: What is the future for Iraq?

ABRAHAM: It's not nice. It's no good.

PERRY: It's not good.

ABRAHAM: No, no.

PERRY: Do you think there's hope?

ABRAHAM: No, nothing there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, he wins the city's heart and the lifelong gratitude of a young man's family. Even though Wesley Autrey doesn't want you to call him a hero after his daring subway rescue, the NEWSROOM begs to differ.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Morning, talk shows, "David Letterman" and in between, a medal from the mayor at city hall. Wesley Autrey is the man of the hour -- many hours, you can say, in New York City. The 50 year-old construction worker and father of two is being called the "Subway Superman" after serving the life of a student who had fallen in the tracks in front of an oncoming train.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WESLEY AUTREY, SUBWAY HERO: I'm like, if somebody don't do something, this guy is going to be dismembered or he can lose his life. And I'm looking around, and I notice I'm the only one to do it.

We was on that platform and all these people seeing this guy go into a fit and only three people out of maybe 80 or 75 people -- come on now, you know what I'm saying, and we have guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedom. We've got to each other show love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Autrey's young daughters witnessed their father's heroism. They were also on hand today when Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave Autrey the city's most prestigious award for civic achievement.

PHILLIPS: Oil prices back in the spotlight on Wall Street. The good news: they're going down.

Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with all the numbers.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. We've got a case of whiplash, right? Because it wasn't too long ago that we were talking record high oil prices. But now crude is 27 percent lower than we saw since the highs last summer. In fact, oil today closed in New York down $2.62 a barrel, below $56 a barrel. That's in addition to yesterday's nearly three buck drop, which was the biggest one- decline in about a year and a half.

Well, we're seeing a commodity sell-off in general because of -- it's a sure sign of an economic slowdown. Another factor is here in the populous Northeast, we are basking in unusual warm winter weather, which has led to a build-up in supply.

(MARKET REPORT)

LISOVICZ: And that's a quick look at what's happening on Wall Street. More NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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