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President Obama Visits Iraq; Justice Dept. Seeks Overturn of Alaska Senator's Conviction; Farrah Fawcett's Doctor Debunks Deathbed Rumors
Aired April 07, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We heard just within the last 100 days or so that there will be a little bit longer, about three months extension of that timeline, seen as a compromise, if you will. The one thing that people looked at when they looked at his Iraq plan, and some democrats were not pleased with this, is that the footprint of the United States would still remain for quite some time, at least a year or so, that there would be more troops that would remain for a while.
Because he feels that he doesn't want this whole thing to fall apart, to unravel. That the commanders on the ground said that they needed more time, that they needed more troops. But essentially, he is saying that in a couple of years or so, in December 2011, is when he wants all of those forces gone. And he said, you know, this is the time this year when these troops will begin to diminish, when we'll begin to see a real change in this mission.
This is something that he talked about in the campaign. Obviously, he won a great deal of support from people who wanted to get out of Iraq. He has said that all along that this is not the central front in the war on terror but that now that central front is Afghanistan. So, we'll hear from the president. He will thank the troops. He will give out those awards, recognize the soldiers there.
And then he will make that pivot. He will make that turn and say, we still have a lot of hard work to do that we still have to go after Al Qaeda, that poses a threat to the United States and to the rest of the world. And we will do so in a new front, that being Afghanistan as well as Pakistan.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: All right. Again our Suzanne Malveaux standing by for us there in Istanbul with the President who left a short time ago, on his last scheduled stop on his first trip overseas but we know that is not his last stop. He made an unofficial one, and is now in Baghdad.
Our Chris Lawrence standing by for us at the Pentagon. Suzanne Malveaux as I said and also I want to bring in our Christiane Amanpour from New York. Now, Christiane, hello to you . And the president, we do know that a lot of the policies of the previous administration and even the president himself, the previous one, President Bush, not so well received and beloved, if you will. There in Iraq. A lot of this popularity that President Obama garners here in the U.S. and also abroad, does that translate as well to the people of Iraq? Are they willing to let him - give him a chance, if you will? CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, who knows? That remains to be seen. Certainly, the Bush administration and President Bush became unpopular towards the end of that, although many still support the fact that Saddam Hussein was overthrown. But of course, the intervening years saw tens of thousands of Iraqis killed along with American personnel, killed by the violence that was spinning really out of control, mostly until 2007 when there was that military surge.
And during that year and 2008, mostly, there was much lesser attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq. But over the last several months, violence has again spiked, but within the Iraqi communities. In other words, there's been a lot of inter-Iraqi violence, but for President Obama, it marks an important start, and we were hearing even before his Europe trip that he might plan to go to either Iraq or Afghanistan or both, either before the trip or after the trip, and now here he's done.
He will meet with the commanding general, Odierno, in Camp Victory, and apparently, according to the pool report, he's going to be talking by phone to the president and prime minister of Iraq, who are inside the fortified green zone. Apparently, that dust storm that Chip Reid, the pool reporter, talked about, is preventing a helicopter trip into the green zone. Although we'll wait to see whether in fact they do meet personally.
But President Obama, who has a completely different policy to President Bush and wants to bring the American troops home within the next year or so, next couple of years, he has to, you know, really discuss that and to discuss that again with his commanders. He's always said that he will take into account what his commanders say.
And there have been, you know, some caution and some concern that whatever the United States does in terms of reducing its troops, it must not leave a vacuum which can be filled by a resumption of civil war or a resumption of Al Qaeda resurgence.
So, that is going to be top of President Obama's mind and his agenda, talking to his commanders there on the ground. You know that he addressed this issue when he was talking in Europe and in Turkey. He said, yes, this is the difference between me and my predecessor, but once a president gets into office, he also cannot just pivot the ship of state and have a quick change of policy and a change of action on the ground. These things take time, and I've always said, he said that we need to do this responsibly and in consultation with our troops.
Key to this, T.J., is going to be getting the Iraqi security forces up and running and to ensuring that there is a stable political situation in Iraq, where the political leaders can run a stable government and not be in fighting politically as well.
HOLMES: Well, a lot on the line for Senator Obama at the time, when he really, a lot of his ascendancy to the presidency was really attributed to the fact that he indeed put so much of his campaign on the line and his opposition to the war in Iraq, saying that he had come out and made a speech even before the war started to say it was a bad move. That was really credited with getting him the presidency. And now he's here. He has taken some bold moves, even in these first few months that he in office. Christian, stand by, Suzanne, standby and also Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon.
As we mentioned, the president now. Again, if you are just joining us, letting you know, the president, of course, his first overseas trip has now made an unscheduled stop. He has made a surprise visit to Baghdad, got on the ground there. We just got word, less than a half hour ago, just really in a matter of minutes ago. A pool reporter is traveling with the president, Chip Reid. He filed this report for us just a short time ago. Let's listen to it again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIP REID, WHITE HOUSE POOL REPORTER (voice-over): I'm Chip Reid traveling with the president in Baghdad. When he left Istanbul about 4 1/2 hours ago, his official schedule said he was heading home to Washington, D.C., but the plane headed to the southeast. He's here for a visit with the troops. He is also going to participate in the awarding of ten medals of valor. He is going to meet with General Odierno, the commander here, and talk about how things are going on the ground. He is also going to talk with Prime Minister Maliki about the political solution that the president says are necessary for steps here. Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, of course, gave us a quick briefing and said -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Again, Chip Reid who is traveling there with the president on that surprise visit now to Baghdad. President Obama, his first trip to Iraq as president of the United States. He is there now. Turn back to our Chris Lawrence over at the Pentagon. Chris, I guess, how is the Pentagon, I guess, been doing lately? At least, how have things been going there in Iraq? For so long it seemed like violence was, in fact, going down, but we have seen recent attacks over the past couple days, even weeks, even month or so. How is the Pentagon now viewing the situation there and still on track to keep the president's plan in place to get combat troops out by next summer?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the defense officials that speak to here try not to look at Iraq on a day-to-day basis, try not to change their view of the situation based on what happens in any one 24-hour period. But they do start to draw parallels and you start to see trends and they look at that. You look at just a couple days ago, it was an incredible example of how this notion that Iraq is a much safer place can be completely dispelled with just one day.
You know, I think there was something on the lines of seven bomb attacks in Baghdad alone on that one day, killing dozens of people, wounding many more, and these attacks happened at a market. One targeted an official with the interior ministry. So, they were widespread. The Pentagon is definitely taking a look at some of those areas of violence. And a lot hinges - a lot of President Obama's plans hinge on Iraq to continue to move in the direction of safety with the Iraqi forces taking more control, because he's already started to commit more forces to Afghanistan.
If Iraq were to take a turn for the worse, that would put a tremendous stress on the U.S. military, if for some reason, you had to change the plans and then commit more forces to Iraq while you're at the same time trying to build up in Afghanistan.
HOLMES: All right. Chris Lawrence for us there at the Pentagon. Thank you. And again, we are keeping an eye on what's happening in Baghdad. Haven't gotten any pictures yet, but we do expect them at some point. The president just a short time ago landing in Baghdad, an unscheduled stop on his first trip overseas as president, a trip that took him to London, to France to Germany, to the Czech Republic, to Turkey and now to Iraq. He is there.
Again, these are always - not necessarily unscheduled, but they're not released, at least. They have not put this out ahead of time to tell you that he is - it's not on the president's official schedule, I should say, for security reasons, but the president is there. We will continue to follow all things that are happening there on the ground in Baghdad. The president's first trip to Iraq as the president of the United States. We are following it there on the ground. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. Our breaking news this hour - the president of the United States is adding trips to his itinerary on his first trip overseas. The latest stop, Baghdad, a surprise trip to Iraq. President Obama is now on the ground there, word we're just getting minutes ago that he has made it there after a stop in Turkey from Istanbul a little early where he was wheels up. We do understand that he is going to be meeting, of course, with Iraqi leaders while there, also with troops, headed to Camp Victory, as we understand.
Also going to participate in a ceremony to award, particular medals to some members of the U.S. armed forces, but the president of the United States, his first trip to Iraq as president. We're going to bring in our Fred Pleitgen who is live now in Baghdad. And Fred, I was talking to Christiane Amanpour just a short time ago about the popularity of the president, we do know in Iraq, the war wasn't popular, the previous president wasn't popular there, at least on the ground, towards the end of his administration, President Bush I'm speaking of here. So, how are Iraqis there that you've talked to so far greeting this new president and greeting some of his new policies toward Iraq?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's no secret, T.J., that President Obama certainly is a lot more liked here in Iraq than President Bush ever was. He is someone who a lot of Iraqis believe can also bring change in Iraq policies. A lot of people view the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops and also the withdrawal of combat forces from larger urban areas as something that is a very positive sign for Iraq, notwithstanding the security gains that have been made here in Iraq over the past year.
But one of the things that commanders here on the ground, U.S. commanders, have always said is that the security gains that have been made are very fragile and are not irreversible, and that is certainly something that we believe that General Odierno will be telling the president today, but certainly, we can say that among Iraqis, President Obama is someone who is seen almost as a beacon of hope for them, someone who they believe could follow policies that are very different than the ones that the Bush administration did follow, and certainly ones that, when you talk to Iraqis, they often say he seems like someone who has a lot of common sense, also, especially towards U.S. policies here in Iraq and towards Iraq, and certainly, the troop draw down is something that certain members of Iraqi societies do see a little bit suspiciously that they are almost wary of, almost afraid of, but that probably the majority of Iraqis think is quite a good idea, T.J.
HOLMES: Let our viewers know, you're looking at pictures there on the other side of the screen. If we get those back up but you were looking at pictures there of then Senator Barack Obama in his visit to Iraq last year as a candidate. That was at a time when he was making his major overseas trip, at a time he was trying to shore up his foreign relations credentials, gearing up for the presidential election.
That was a time he did make several stops, including stops in Iraq, saying he wanted to start to build those relationships, and now it looks like he is following up on that by his first trip to Iraq. The president, Barack Obama, on the ground now in Baghdad. We understand heading to visit U.S. troops there.
Fred, I'll bring you back in here. Tell us, we do know there has been over time an improved security situation, but update us as of late. We have seen kind of some increased attacks, at least more so than we have been seeing lately.
PLEITGEN: Yes, you're absolutely right, T.J., and we've seen also a lot of tensions here in Iraqi society, especially between the Shia and the Sunni. And if you look back on only the past couple of days, really, there have been two quite large attacks here in Iraq today and seven very large bombings happening here in the greater Baghdad area within only a couple of hours just yesterday that took 32 lives here in this country.
And one of the things that that was really a stark reminder of is that even with the security gains that, no doubt, have been going on here, and a lot of the areas here in Iraq have become a lot more quiet than they were a couple of years ago - even with that, however, it is very clear that extremist groups that are in this country, that are operating in this country, are still very capable of carrying out highly sophisticated and very deadly attacks in this country. And one of the things that we keep hearing again and again is that the security situation here is still very fragile. There is still a lot of tension between the different groups here in Iraq, especially between the Shia and the Sunni. There are some who believe that groups like Al Qaeda might have the potential to still be - or do have the potential to still be very dangerous and might have the potential to become a more dangerous force here in this country. Again, there have been a lot of tensions over the past couple of weeks between the Iraqi government and Sunni groups that actually helped the United States fight Al Qaeda.
So, certainly, there is still a lot to be done in this country, and one thing that we have to keep in mind, T.J., is that the Iraqi security forces are still very much a work in progress, but they are at the core of what has to take over the responsibility for security here when U.S. troops start withdrawing, and especially towards that June 30th deadline when U.S. forces will move out of greater urban areas here in this country, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Fred Pleitgen for us there in Baghdad. Fred, we appreciate you standing by here for us. Thank you so much. And he is there live, of course, in Baghdad, but we do understand that President Obama is as well. A little after five, in the early evening there in Baghdad right now. A little over 10:00 here on the East coast where we just got word that a short time ago President Obama has made his first trip to Baghdad, first trip to Iraq as president.
We have reporters there on the ground. We'll continue to following what is happening there on the ground, bring you any updates and also any pictures we do begin to get out of Iraq.
Meanwhile, turn back to a high drama yesterday here in the U.S., where a stolen plane triggered some pretty big fears. And in a seven- hour drama, this was after a student pilot took off from his flight school in Ontario. We understand he stole that plane. U.S. fighter jets then scrambled to intercept that Cessna, then followed the pilot as he ignored their orders.
Authorities say he was flying erratically over three states, forced the evacuation of Wisconsin's capital. Eventually, this student pilot landed on a road in southern Missouri. He has now been identified as 31-year-old Adam Dylan Leon. You see him there. Witnesses say he casually strolled into a convenience store after landing his plane, bought a Gatorade until police arrived.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The plane's landed. Someone stole it, and you know, just be careful. You know, we kind of got suspicious of the guy, you know. And probably 10, 15 minutes later, cops come in and you know, kind of surrounded him at the table and he was just sitting there calm, and you know, talked to him and ended up arresting him and took him out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, some of the troopers who arrested him told ABC's "Good Morning America" that Leon said he wanted to be shot down in that plane. Well, here now, a look at that journey we're telling you about. It was about 783 miles. Around 3:00 the plane was reported stolen from a flight school in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Less than a half hour later, he was flying over lake superior. The F-16 fighter jet intercepted it near Michigan's upper peninsula border with Wisconsin. Now while all this was going on Wisconsin decided, yes in fact, as a precaution, they needed to evacuate their state capitol there in Madison. As you can see, nearly seven hours after the plane took off in Canada, the plane then landed on that road in southern Missouri.
Those fighter jets ordered to the skies by NORAD. That's a joint operation that protects the skies over North America. So, what exactly went into yesterday's response, including, was there ever an option? The decision possibly had to be pondered whether or not to shoot down the plane? Last hour I spoke with Major Brian Martin. He is a spokesman for NORAD. He has been up monitoring this situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: What is your response if you know that this pilot is not acknowledging you all? How do you proceed then?
VOICE OF MAJOR BRIAN MARTIN, NORAD SPOKESMAN: Well, we have a graduated approach to any type of air traffic that is not listening to us. We started with the verbal communication, trying on radio, and then we went to non-verbal communication.
HOLMES: Was there anything - like you said, non-verbal - did you ever get any kind of acknowledgement from him?
KAYE: No, we did not. Certainly, when you have an F-16 sitting beside you as you're flying in a Cessna, you can't help but notice the aircrafts there. After the pilot decided not to listen to our nonverbal signals, we decided to tail it.
HOLMES: All right. And last thing quickly here, sir, was there anything - we understand he was kind of flying erratically, but anything threatening? I don't know what that would be, but anything threatening coming from this pilot or the way he was flying?
MARTIN: In this case, we decided that the pilot - we would continue to tail the pilot so that we would make sure the safety and security of all the air traffic around the area as well as the people on the ground were safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Officials have also said that their terrorism concerns diminished as the Cessna went past potential targets and ignored the more heavily populated areas.
Again, our breaking news this hour. Just got word than half an hour ago, the President of the United States has made a surprise visit to Baghdad. President Obama on his first trip overseas has now made it his first trip to Baghdad as president. We are following everything he's doing there on the ground, expected to meet with troops and also with the Iraqi leaders. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We want to pass along the very latest on that deadly earthquake that hit L'aquila in Italy. The latest for you now - rescue crews searching through wreckage right now, trying to find people who may still be trapped in the rubble. Italian government has promised also more help. Meanwhile, more bodies being pulled from the rubble this morning. The death toll from the quake now at 207. Thousands more left homeless by this earthquake. Officials have asked people to stay away from their homes right now. Many are living in tents outdoors, also living in their cars. CNN's Paula Newton has been watching the search and rescue efforts on the ground. She has more now from L'Aquila.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, painstaking rescue efforts continue here. You can see all the heavy machinery. I mean this student dormitory has just been smashed like a pancake. It's been agonizing for the families to stay here over so many hours. Just moments ago, another body being pulled out, that of a male student. The family was here, and of course, very distraught. They don't want to speak to the media, but the vigil that they've been holding here now is really excruciating. They want to believe that this is still a rescue effort, but it's been many hours since students have been pulled out of here alive.
They are still searching for two others. You know, hampering a lot of these rescue efforts are the very strong aftershocks. We've had more throughout the day today, some very strong ones throughout the day yesterday. Every time you get one of those aftershocks, debris continues to fly off some of these buildings. And of course, families wondering how long can their loved ones hang on. That's why we've seen the death toll steadily climb here, although there could be more than a dozen people still missing. Paula Newton, CNN, L'aquila, Italy.
HOLMES: And that quake in L'Aquila was felt all the way in Rome. Now, Rome is a little distance away, about 60 miles, we understand. So, just how big is this area we're talking about? Rob Marciano can help break this down for us. Do I have this right, L'Aquila, 65 miles east of Rome? How wide of an area was this felt?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Well, it was felt all the way to Rome, very, very mildly, but within the mountains there it was felt a little bit more intensely. Now, the Italian peninsula sits on the Eurasian tectonic plate, and it kind of bumps up against the African plate. So it's a very active zone. And also it kind of stretches from west to east.
So we're kind of zoom in here, L'Aquila area. This is google earth and you can see this medieval town kind of centers the mountains, abut 23,000 feet. It's got about 70,000 people or so. It's got a pretty big university here, so it's kind of a vibrant college town, built back - a lot of these buildings built back during the medieval times. A lot of renaissance churches there. Kind of zoom in. We'll give you a better view of some of what the streets look like. Some of the streets are wider, you know, able to accompany modern vehicles, but a lot of the other streets - if we could zoom out to some of the other streets - are really narrow. I mean you really get a sense of just how old this city is. And the older the city is, the older the buildings are, the less they can withstand a tremor like this. 300 years ago is when they felt a similar earthquake, and it pretty much flattened the city.
So a lot of these buildings obviously rebuilt since then. Here's a typical street you might see, barely enough to walk through, let alone have any sort of vehicle roll through there. So, certainly an interesting city, for sure, and not nearly looking today like it did just a few days ago. I want to run down something that just came into the CNN weather center, T.J.. The National Hurricane, not national but Colorado State University and the William Gray folks out there just put out their forecast for this season, and they're going for 12 hurricanes - or 12 named storms, six hurricanes, two major hurricanes. That's about right on the 30-year average.
So, and he's actually ratcheted it down. Last year, we had a very active season, 16 storms, eight hurricanes with five major hurricanes. So, right now, they're thinking that this year may very well be less active than last year, right around the average. Two considerations - El Nino may be coming back. That usually knocks down storms. And right now, looks like the water temperatures in the Atlantic are a little bit cooler than they anticipated. So, hopefully, we'll get through this hurricane season without any bad ones. It only takes one, though. That's the problem.
HOLMES: Yes, real quick, are they usually pretty accurate with their predictions?
MARCIANO: Not too shabby. You know, the further out you make these predictions, the less accurate they get, but he'll be updating it throughout the spring as well as the National Hurricane Center, they come out with their own forecast as they get closer to spring as well.
HOLMES: All right. Rob, we appreciate you, as always. Thanks so much.
MARCIANO: You got it.
HOLMES: We are getting now our first pictures out of Iraq. There you see the president of the United States on his first trip to Iraq as president. He landed in Baghdad a short time ago. There he is with the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General Odierno, taking a peek at something, but this is one of the first pictures we are getting out of Iraq. Expecting a whole lot more pictures and more to come out of Baghdad.
Again, the president making a surprise visit to Iraq. This comes at the tail end of his first trip overseas in which he went to several places in Europe, and his last trip in Turkey or his last official stop was in Istanbul a little earlier today. But a surprise visit to Baghdad. We will continue to follow all things happening on the ground with the president. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Good afternoon, and welcome back, everybody. You're looking at one of the first pictures we are getting from the first trip as president that President Obama has made to Iraq. There he is with General Odierno, who, of course, is the head of U.S. forces there in Iraq with President Obama.
We got word just a little bit ago, minutes ago, that he had made a surprise trip to Iraq. This comes on the tail end of his first major trip -- his first trip overseas as president that took him to London, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and also to Turkey, where he was a little earlier this morning, wheels up, which was supposed to be his last scheduled stop, was in Istanbul.
However, he made a bit of a detour, stopped in Baghdad today, his first trip as president. We have our reporters standing by here for us, our Fred Pleitgen you see there on the left. He's doing a report for one of our other networks right now. He's there on the ground for us in Baghdad.
Of course, our Suzanne Malveaux, who's been following the president on this overseas trip. She is still in Istanbul right now, has been reporting for us. And also, our Chris Lawrence, who's keeping an eye on things over at the Pentagon. Welcome to you all.
Chris, I will start with you on this particular trip here. I guess these are big security issues. You can't ever release how this is going to go down. They never put this schedule out ahead of time, but the Pentagon certainly has its hands full these days trying to execute the president's plan, his plan to get troops out, combat troops, by next summer, and also, all forces by the end of 2011. So, is the Pentagon believe they are on course right now?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon does believe they're on course, but they're always cautious, and they're always trying to keep open, you know, what you would call a plan B. You know, you look at what happened just a few days ago just in Baghdad alone. Take the rest of the country out of the equation.
In one day in Baghdad, you had seven different attacks, a combination of roadside bombs, car bombs. They targeted a line of workers waiting to go into work, a police patrol, two markets. So, widespread, very violent, very varied attacks. It shows just how quickly conditions in Iraq can change and how very violent it can still be.
Now, that said, senior defense officials here in the Pentagon do not like to look at the situation in Iraq on a day-to-day basis. They don't like to take any 24-hour period of violence, any 24-hour period of peace and say, well, that's what it's like. They like to look at the big picture, to examine some trends, and overall, Iraq has become more and more stable. The Iraqi forces have been able to build up.
But again, the situation in Iraq has changed so much up and down over the past several years. There is always going to be a plan B for this withdrawal plan, that if conditions change, if attacks like these were to persist or continue, if it looks like the Iraqi forces are not coming up to speed quickly enough, then, of course, President Obama and defense officials here at the Pentagon would have to re-evaluate those plans to draw down.
But again, when you look at that drawdown plan, even though he's said, yes, we're going to take out most of the troops by 2010, by the end of next summer, you'll notice, only a couple brigades are leaving this year. He's leaving most of that withdrawal for next year, after the elections.
HOLMES: yes, and as we know, a part of that plan, which was criticized on both sides of the aisle -- Republicans saying that you can't set a timetable, for one thing, and then a lot of Democrats thought he was going to be leaving too many comb -- too many forces there after he pulled out the combat forces. Estimated some 35,000 to 50,000 would still have to stick around there in Iraq, even though they were not in a combat capacity.
Chris, we appreciate you. I want to turn now to Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, who is still in Istanbul, where the president was earlier today, which was his last official stop on this is trip he has taken.
Suzanne, we know this isn't his first trip to Iraq, but it seems like every time he goes, he's wearing a different hat. He went in 2006 as a U.S. senator. He then went last summer as the Democratic nominee, and now he is again going as president. So, he has different people he's going to be talking to.
Of course, he needs to build relationships with the Iraqi officials. He also is there to give support to the troops, but he also needs to be reaching out in a way to the Iraqi people, showing them, I guess, this side of him and showing them that he really cares.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, and you know, it's unclear whether or not he's really going to be able to see very many of the Iraqi people on this very brief trip there, but the one thing that he really is going to underscore is that this is a time, this is a pivot, if you will, from the war in Iraq to the mission in Afghanistan.
We saw when he visited with the Marines in Camp Lejeune in late February that he said, essentially, that their mission was done, that they had done their job, that he was grateful. Expect to hear that same message coming from the president today when he gives out those awards, those awards of valor, when he addresses those soldiers.
But also expect him to, as well -- one of the big points of this trip, obviously, is the pictures as well as the message. Disappointingly, he's not going to be able to meet in person with Prime Minister Maliki or President Talabani. He was hoping to do that. Weather's going to prevent that from happening.
But you probably will see the shot, the picture, at least, of the president on the phone reaching out to the Iraqi leaders to make it very clear that the United States, their -- that the United States's mission is essentially finished, in his eyes, and now we are moving in a different direction, that being Afghanistan, that it is now their responsibility to take over when it comes to the security and to the political leadership of their own country.
So, he's going to thank the troops. He is going to put it in the Iraqis' hands, and then also he's going to emphasize in these pictures and in his words today on the ground in Baghdad that this is a new day. It is a new time, this is not his war or his administration's war, that the fight will now go to Afghanistan and Pakistan. And a much more specific role here, if you will.
This is not going to be about nation-building, as we saw under President Bush in Iraq, but this is going to be the regional mission of specifically going after al Qaeda, diminishing the Taliban, and that is the message that he has taken to European leaders as well as those in the Middle East, that this is going to be a very important fight, and essentially, it is, T.J., going to be his war -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Suzanne, again, for us Istanbul. Again, that was the last official stop on this tour for the president, but we now know he's made an unofficial stop now in Baghdad. We do understand, as I bring in Fred Pleitgen here, who's in Baghdad for us, Fred, we understand that the president -- we can't confirm -- is at Camp Victory visiting U.S. troops right now.
We did see that picture of the president and General Odierno just a moment ago. We can put that up for you again, the first picture we are getting out of this trip, his first trip to Baghdad as president. Odierno, of course, the head of U.S. forces there in Iraq.
And Fred, I want you to give us an update about anything you might have there on the situation and what's happening there on the ground with this visit. But also, we heard a couple times a mention that he will be limited in what he can do and where he can go because of the weather. Give us an idea of what the weather is doing there right now.
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the weather's been a major issue here over the past couple of years, really, T.J. What we've seen is that it's been quite sandy, quite dusty here in the Baghdad area. We've seen sort of a semi-sandstorm. It's been quite difficult here for U.S. forces to fly here. And obviously, now that we are hearing that the president will not be able to go and meet Iraqi politicians in person because the weather is stopping helicopters from flying from where he is into central Baghdad, into the green zone, essentially.
What the president is going to be doing right now -- this is something that you mentioned -- is that after he meets with those troops, he's going to be meeting with General Ray Odierno, the commanding general here on the ground. I want to touch on something that Suzanne Malveaux was just saying, because she was saying that this really isn't his war. He's saying that this isn't his war. Afghanistan is going to be his war. One of the things, however, that is going to be very important, of course, it is going to be his drawdown. He's going to be measured by how this drawdown is orchestrated, how this drawdown goes about and how successful the troop drawdown that he has pledged will happen. And in that context, of course, it is very important -- and this is something that Suzanne said as well -- it is very important for him to be talking to Iraqi politicians, to the prime minister, Nouri al- Maliki, telling them that now it is their turn step up to the plate, that now security is going to be gradually going further and further into their hands, and he's, of course, going to be very concerned about the things that we've been hearing out of this country over the past couple of years. Of course -- over the past couple of days.
Of course, some major bombings that we saw here yesterday, seven major bombings in the Baghdad area within a couple of hours. That is certainly something that will concern the White House, that will concern the Obama administration as it looks towards giving security to the Iraqis very gradually. And one thing that we always have to mention in that context, T.J., is that the Iraqi security forces, although they have made major gains in the past couple of years, are still very much a work in progress -- T.J.
HOLMES: Our Fred Pleitgen. Thank you so much, again, from Baghdad. Also thanks to our Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon and our Suzanne Malveaux reporting for us from Istanbul on the breaking news we just broke in the past hour here that President Obama has made an unscheduled, a surprise visit to Baghdad, of course, his first as U.S. president.
And that is the first picture we are seeing out of this visit, him there with General Odierno, the head of U.S. forces there in Iraq. We understand the president is now at Camp Victory, where he is going to be visiting with U.S. troops, also participating in a medal ceremony, awarding some medals to some U.S. service members.
Unable, we understand, because of the weather, to move around maybe as he had hoped. Won't be able to, at least, I should say, go visit with some of those Iraqi leaders, but we will keep an eye on -- we are keeping an eye on everything that's happening in Iraq. We will bring you the very latest on the president and his first trip to Iraq as president.
Meanwhile, this hour we'll turn to some other news this hour. Former Senator Ted Stevens, he is going before a federal judge again. He might walk out of court with a very different look on his face than he did the last time he was in court. Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, breaking down this case for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, again, our breaking news this hour -- President Obama making his first stop to Baghdad as president, making a surprise visit there. He got on the ground just about an hour ago. We do have a pool reporter who has been traveling with the president. Chip Reid is his name. He's been filing some reports for us. Let's take a listen to the latest one he has filed. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CHIP REID, WHITE HOUSE POOL REPORTER: I'm Chip Reid in Baghdad traveling with the president. He was supposed to go from Istanbul back to Washington, D.C., but made a surprise visit here to spend time with the troops. He is also meeting with General Odierno, the commanding general here, meeting with him and also some civilian personnel here to get briefed, and he said there's no better way to get briefed than face to face.
Why are you here, he was asked. He said, to say thank you to the troops for their extraordinary work. He said, we spend a lot of time on getting things right in Afghanistan, but there's still a lot of work to be done here in Iraq. He said that is especially true with the elections coming up.
He said there are a lot of unresolved issues that need to be dealt with, and he said he thinks his presence here can help with that. He is also going to be meeting face to face with Prime Minister Maliki later today here at Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory outside Baghdad to try to resolve some of the political issues coming up. And he said that if we're going to make the kind of progress that needs to be made here in Iraq, there has to be political solutions. I'm Chip Reid traveling with the president in Baghdad.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. And again, the president there on his first visit. Not his first visit to the country, not his first visit to Baghdad, but certainly his first as president. Made a trip in '06 as senator, made a trip last year as a presidential candidate last summer, as well. But this his first trip as president, saying he is there, actually, to help get some work done, as we just heard in that Chip Reid piece, but also there to say thank you, meeting with Iraqi officials, U.S. troops there while there.
We will keep an eye on all the things the president's doing there in Baghdad and continue to bring you those updates as we get them. We do want to turn now to Allen Stanford, an emotional Allen Stanford. You might remember that name. He's accused of defrauding investors out of $9 billion. He now insists he has done nothing wrong. Here now is some of what he told ABC's Brian Ross.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN STANFORD, CHAIRMAN, STANFORD GROUP: I've worked my life. I've given everything I've had. I love my employees. I cared for everybody in this company that I had. And I'm going to fight this with everything in me.
BRIAN ROSS, ABC NEWS: You're going to fight it.
STANFORD: Eff-ing right, I'm going to fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: All right, well, Stanford denies there was any Ponzi scheme that he's been accused of now. And he says, quote, "I would die and go to hell," endquote, if that were the case. And he says he's putting together a legal team to fight the federal charges he expects to come this month.
Well, some other federal charges, a federal conviction could be going away at any moment. Jeffrey Toobin, let me bring you in here. Our senior legal analyst here. All right, we're talking about Ted Stevens. He was convicted of not disclosing some things on some disclosure forms about gifts he had gotten. He had been convicted. He has lost his seat in the Senate, lost out in an election. Well, now they're going to go back -- are they really about to do this, throw out the conviction?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: This is really an extraordinary reversal and an extraordinary humiliation for the United States Department of Justice, because as you said, what happened is, on the eve of last year's election, Ted Stevens was convicted of these campaign finance charges, and just a few days later, he lost the election by a very narrow margin to Mark Begich, the Democrat in Alaska.
Now, Eric Holder, the attorney general, has decided that there were so many errors made by the prosecutors in this case, that they denied Stevens access to evidence that he was entitled to in his defense, that he has moved before the judge to say, please remove the conviction, please dismiss the indictment, let Ted Stevens go. And that's what the judge is going to do today in the hearing that's just about to start.
HOLMES: And Jeffrey, was this something that his defense attorneys discovered, or this is something that the prosecutors in the Justice Department themselves brought to light?
TOOBIN: Well, I think it's a combination of the two.
HOLMES: All right.
TOOBIN: Ted Stevens had one of the best lawyers in the United States, Brendan Sullivan of Williams & Connolly, and he and his team were raising this issue throughout the case. And in fact, the judge in the case was very upset at several different points at the prosecutors for failing to disclose evidence. But he didn't decide that the evidence was so overwhelming that the case needed to be thrown out.
But certain additional facts came out from the Department of Justice itself, as you suggest. Other prosecutors were brought in who said this case was actually worse than even we had thought. Eric Holder reviewed the evidence, and I think he did the honorable thing. He said, look, we can't sustain this conviction with this many problems in the prosecution.
That, surely, is good news for Ted Stevens, the fact that he's going to walk out of this courtroom a free man. It doesn't address the question of the election. He was obviously hurt very badly politically by the fact that he had just been convicted, but there's no way to rerun the election. He's lost. That's over. Nothing really to be done about that.
HOLMES: Nothing to be done there, but if you can quickly, help us on this legal issue of the double jeopardy. Can they bring these charges up again? Can they go after him in any other way, or because he was convicted and then thrown out, is it a done deal?
TOOBIN: Double jeopardy attaches, as the lawyer says. He cannot be retried on these cases. He could proclaim his guilt on the steps of the Capitol, but the Justice Department now would be powerless to prosecute him because they had their one chance. They blew it. And Ted Stevens is now a free man in these cases.
HOLMES: Wow.
TOOBIN: Or he will shortly be a free man when the judge dismisses the case.
HOLMES: That is remarkable. Jeffrey Toobin, we appreciate you being here, as always. Thanks so much, buddy (ph).
TOOBIN: OK, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, as we've been covering here, the president's meeting with troops in Iraq as we speak. He has made an unannounced visit there. That's the first picture we're getting out of there. You're seeing the president with the general, Odierno, and head -- who's the head of all U.S. troops there in Iraq. We've got all the details. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, Farrah Fawcett, she was the pinup of the '70s, a shapely symbol of youth, beauty and sex appeal. But today she's fighting cancer, also facing rumors that she's losing that battle. Today, we've got the very latest, got some new information. Our CNN medical correspondent, Judy Fortin, joins us here with the latest. There is a lot out there, a lot of speculation. So what is the deal?
JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And we've actually heard from the doctors. So, here's what we know. According to Farrah Fawcett's doctor, the actress is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital now after complications developed following a medical procedure recently in Germany.
The 62-year-old actress is said to be suffering from anal cancer, and there are reports it has now spread to her liver. Here's what she told a producer who's filming a documentary about her illness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FARRAH FAWCETT, ACTRESS: I'm holding on to the hope that there is some reason that I got cancer, and there is something that may not be very clear to me right now but that I will do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FORTIN: Now, Fawcett's doctor, Lawrence Piro, was shown in the same documentary footage talking about the actress's latest medical setback.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. LAWRENCE PIRO, FARRAH FAWCETT'S PHYSICIAN: So, she took a nine-hour plane ride right after doing that procedure, and it turned out that that procedure caused a small amount of bleeding into one of the muscles of her abdomen, making a hematoma, which was quite painful. So, actually, it was painful to walk, which is why she was in the wheelchair, and that pain was coming from the hematoma, which really had nothing direct to do with -- directly to do with the cancer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FORTIN: Now, the documentary producer was quoted yesterday as saying that Fawcett is not unconscious, she is not unresponsive and she's not comatose. And T.J., apparently, she's surrounded by family and friends, but he said she would be that way anyway.
HOLMES: What about -- we just don't hear this a lot, this particular kind of cancer. What is this? How common is this?
FORTIN: Well, she was diagnosed, apparently, in 2006, and then in 2007 said it went away, was in remission. And apparently it came back. Anal cancer is relatively rare in the U.S. About 5,000 cases diagnosed every year. About 680 people will die from it.
Believe it or not, women are slightly more likely to develop the illness than men. And the American Cancer Society says treatment for the disease is effective, and there are cures. However, we don't know what's going to happen to Farrah Fawcett yet.
HOLMES: All right, a lot of stuff out there. I'm glad you could bring us some official word. There's so much speculation and so many rumors out there. Judy Fortin, thank you so much.
FORTIN: You're welcome.
HOLMES: And again, the breaking news that we have been following here, of course, President Obama, he has landed in Baghdad. It happened about an hour ago on a surprise visit there. We are learning more now about his unannounced trip. Stay with us for the latest.
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HOLMES: All right, well, thank you for being with us the past two hours here in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm T.J. Holmes, again sitting in for Heidi Collins today. You can join Heidi back here tomorrow morning, 9:00 Eastern. For now, I need to hand it off to the CNN NEWSROOM, the next hour, with your friend, Tony Harris. It's all yours.
