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Bush Chooses Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State; Military Investigate Shooting of Unarmed Insurgent; Study: Foods with High Water Content Make Dieting Easier
Aired November 16, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: I'll be back later today, every weekday, 5 p.m., for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." More on the appointment, the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to become the next secretary of state.
Plus being a closer look at the fighting in Falluja. It's violent and it's deadly. What are the rules of war and were they violated?
Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. LIVE FROM with Kyra Phillips and Tony Harris starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congratulations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Both confident (ph) and the president's choice for secretary of state. How will Condoleezza Rice impact the future of American diplomacy?
TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: A shooting in the mosque. The U.S. military conducts a criminal investigation into the shooting of an apparently unarmed insurgent by a U.S. Marine.
PHILLIPS: Cutting calories. A new study shows it might be easier than you think to drop those extra pounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not very practical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're huge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And super-sizing your cell phone? Apparently at least one company believes you'll tote this thing all around town.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien. PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. It's Tuesday, November 16th. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
We begin this hour with grim news out of Britain and the Middle East. Aid worker Margaret Hassan, taken hostage in Iraq almost a month ago, is apparently dead.
Hassan led the Iraqi operations of CARE International and held British, Irish and Iraqi citizenships. She lived in Iraq for 30 years. Al Jazeera says it has a video clip of her execution. And the British embassy in Baghdad says it's probably genuine. Hassan was 59 years old.
Stanford University, White House, Stanford again, White House again, State Department. The somewhat circular career track of Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's soon to be former national security adviser, and pending Senate approval, next secretary of state.
For the second time in a week, Mr. Bush has tapped a White House insider to fill a high-powered cabinet post. We get the details now from CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, you're right, it was just last week that the president went just down the hall to find one of his closest advisers, Alberto Gonzales, to be his new attorney general.
And today, of course, we saw him go down the hall once again to tap Condoleezza Rice, really one of his most trusted loyal confidants, his tutor on foreign policy, to be his top diplomat. And in nominating her, he said that she has the grace, as he put it, to be the right person for the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Condi Rice is the right person for that challenge. She is a recognized expert in international affairs, a distinguished teacher and academic leader and a public servant with years of White House experience. She displays a commitment to excellence in every aspect of her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, as the president was talking about Condoleezza Rice's experience and, particularly, her background, she was visibly tearing up, particularly as President Bush was talking about what Rice has talked about several times in public speeches that, as a black woman growing up in the South, she was told it wasn't possible for her to have the rights that others had in participating in democracy.
And that, she has said, has been a driving force behind her push and the White House policy to promote democracy into places it doesn't exist, particularly the Middle East. The president and Condoleezza Rice making a point that that is obviously going to be atop her agenda, if confirmed. Now, over the last 24 hours, lots -- there have been lots of questions about whether the departure of moderate Colin Powell, who Dr. Rice called a mentor and friend, would change things within the State Department.
In her remarks, Condoleezza Rice seemed to want to quell any kind of anxiety at the State Department about her coming over there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE NOMINEE: In my 25 years of experience in foreign affairs, both in and out of government, I have come to know the men and women of the Department of State. I have the utmost admiration and respect for their skill, their professionalism and their dedication.
If I am confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working with the great people of the Foreign Service and the Civil Service. And one of my highest priorities as secretary will be to ensure that they have all the tools necessary to carry American diplomacy forward in the 21st Century.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, you heard Dr. Rice talking about confirmation in the Senate. Congressional sources say that that is not going to be a problem. Certainly, she is expected to be confirmed.
But Democrats on Capitol Hill say not without some tough questions about some of the issues, some of the policies that she was presiding over here at the White House, particularly the Iraq policy, particularly the questions about intelligence that came through the White House that Dr. Rice herself and the president used to make the case for war. Many of those specifics turned out not to be true.
Questions that we heard about her stewardship over the fight against terrorism, leading up to 9/11, questions about whether or not she adequately addressed that. Certainly that will come up in her Senate confirmation.
Now of course, Kyra, the other person appointed today, of course, won't need to be confirmed, but appointed, is Condoleezza Rice's successor. That will be Stephen Hadley. He will be the national security adviser. He has served as Rice's deputy for the entire administration. He is somebody who has had a low profile, but we'll certainly hear from him probably a lot more -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live at the White House thanks -- Tony.
HARRIS: Condoleezza Rice has had four years to make her mark on U.S. policy and to make her name on the world stage. Setting the stage for Rice's move to Foggy Bottom is CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.
And Andrea, tell us why you believe this is the person who is best suited for this job, according to this president, and I guess it goes back to their long and prosperous friendship.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true, Tony. I was about to call her Secretary Rice.
National Security Adviser Rice quit her job as a provost at Stanford University back in 1989 -- 1999, when then Governor Bush was running for president, and she tutored him in foreign policy and became his chief foreign policy adviser during the campaign. And then of course was named national security adviser.
So she's been really by his side, not just in the office, but really in their downtime. They like to exercise together. They like to watch football games together. And they know each other very, very well. And President Bush clearly thinks extremely highly of Ms. Rice, Tony.
HARRIS: And Andrea, put this into some kind of historical perspective for us. I mean, it's great to see someone so overjoyed with what is happening to them personally. We saw her virtually tearing up there. But put this into some historical perspective for us.
KOPPEL: Condoleezza Rice grew up in the segregated South in Alabama. She was someone who knew what it was like to be excluded from places that white Americans were allowed to go.
But her parents really instilled in her the basic values and the belief that whatever -- if she had the right education, if she worked hard, she would be able to achieve whatever she wanted to do.
She was someone who was an aspiring Olympic athlete, figure skater. She is an accomplished pianist, someone who excelled, really, at no matter what she put her mind to. And went off, studied Russian -- became an expert on the Soviet Union, worked at the National Security Council under then President Herbert Bush (sic), Mr. Bush's father.
And she is someone who has proven -- and I think that's why you saw that emotion there -- that she was able to do it by sheer grit and determination.
HARRIS: CNN's State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel. Andrea, thank you, appreciate it.
So if Condi is, now, a household name, Stephen Hadley isn't. But Rice's deputy and heir apparent in the West Wing has a history in national security circles dating back to the Ford administration.
Hadley's current job began with the second Bush administration in 2001. During the first Bush administration, he served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy. Before that, he was on the National Security Council under President Ford. In 1986, Hadley helped investigate the Iran-Contra scandal under President Reagan.
PHILLIPS: U.S.-led forces open a new front in the battle to wipe out the Iraqi insurgency.
In the past two weeks, Mosul in northern Iraq has seen a series of strikes targeting police stations, government buildings and U.S. forces. Now two brigades of U.S. and Iraqi troops are involved in an offensive aimed at squelching the insurgent violence.
A U.S. military spokesperson says that the operation was undertaken at the request of the provincial governor. Mosul is also under a 4 p.m. to 6a a.m. curfew to help stop those attacks.
Meantime, the military says its Falluja offensive is in its end- game stage. While the military says the city has been secured, air and ground operations continued overnight and into today.
As U.S. warplanes used GPS-guided bombs to hit fortified insurgent positions, ground forces went house to house to root out rebels who are still entrenched there.
Distribution centers have been able to open in some of those areas where the fighting was abated and to hand out food, water and medical supplies to the remaining civilians.
HARRIS: Military investigators are on the case of a wounded, apparently unarmed Falluja insurgent who was shot in the head on Saturday by a U.S. Marine.
We get the story from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. And we should warn you, it includes some highly disturbing video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Friday, U.S. Marines stormed a Falluja mosque after taking fire from insurgents inside. The Marines killed ten fighters and wounded five others, who were given some medical treatment and left to be picked up later.
The next day, last Saturday, a different Marine unit went back into the mosque in response to reports insurgents had returned. Gunfire could be heard as the Marine unit that had been there Friday and an embedded television reporter arrived at the mosque minutes later.
As they entered, three of the previous day's wounded lay dying, apparently shot again. It's unclear the Marines who were already there knew the Wounded had been capture and disarmed the day before. One severely wounded man is then shot in the head by one of those Marines at point blank range.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's (expletive deleted) dead. He's (expletive deleted.
MCINTYRE: CNN has chosen not to show the actual killing, due to the explicit nature of the video.
Afterward, one man tells the television reporter in Arabic that he was among the prisoners captured on Friday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?
MCINTYRE: When the TV reporter relays that to the Marine, he replies, "I didn't know, sir. I didn't know."
That Marine, who's said to have suffered a gunshot wound to the face the day before, is now under investigation. If he knowingly shot a wounded captive who did not pose a threat, it would be a war crime.
LT. COL. BOB MILLER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: They would have to be using force and self-defense, yes. Enemy wounded -- in this case, insurgents, who don't pose a threat, would not be considered hostile, generally. I think that's a fair statement.
MCINTYRE: The investigation will determine if the Marine violated any rules or should be charged with any crime.
The Marines point out that in the fog of war, it's not always clear who is a threat. In a separate incident the same day, a Marine was killed and five others wounded when they came across a dead body that was booby-trapped.
(on camera) U.S. commanders are worried about the impact of the video, which seems to show a prisoner being unjustly killed. They're worried that instead of surrendering, it could encourage the insurgents to fight on to the death.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We're going to talk about this criminal investigation with former secretary of defense, William Cohen, right after awe break.
Also, Congress back in business. Will key leaders still be in position after this lame duck session? We'll go in depth on the balance of power, straight ahead.
And later, a dolphin is back in the swim after getting a little help from his friends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Restocking the cabinet is a duty or a perk for just about every re-elected president. But with troops in the line of fire and the threat of terror ever present, personal shakeups are more than just routine.
We get some insights now from a mover and a shaker from the Clinton administration, former defense secretary William Cohen.
Mr. Secretary, nice to see you.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Nice to see you. PHILLIPS: Well, the names being tossed around now, of course, Americans want to know what does this mean for the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. What does this mean for secretary of the homeland security, Tom Ridge? Especially in a volatile time right now, you think about those two positions.
Do you think, first of all, that Americans want a new secretary of defense?
COHEN: Well, the real issue is whether the president of the United States wants a new secretary of defense. And if he is satisfied that Secretary Rumsfeld is carrying out his policies in an effective way, then he's going to ask him to stay.
And of course, the second person who can decide that is Secretary Rumsfeld himself. I would -- I have not talked to the secretary about this. But I would suspect that he might want to have a little more time to try and make sure that the transformation process that is under way, that he's been really pushing forward on, really takes hold. And he may also want to see the movement in Iraq completed before he should take leave of office.
But again, the president and he will have that opportunity to decide.
PHILLIPS: Before we look at a number of the other secretaries that have stepped down, from commerce, to agricultural, to a number of these other secretaries. Secretary of defense, you were a secretary of defense.
COHEN: Right.
PHILLIPS: Is -- if he decides to step down, is it a good idea? Is it smart right now, considering the time -- what we're dealing with now, the nature of our environment?
COHEN: Well, much depends upon who the person would be named to succeed him.
PHILLIPS: Do you think Donald Rumsfeld is doing an effective job?
COHEN: I think that the president believes he's doing an effective job, and that's really what counts at this point, that he has carried out the president's policies, that the president has set that agenda. So really...
PHILLIPS: You've had that job. You know how difficult it can be. Do you think he's -- he's been effective?
COHEN: I certainly would not want to pass judgment on any successor of mine. But I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld has done an effective job in carrying out what the president wants to pursue in terms of the policy, of going after Saddam Hussein, of trying to capture Osama bin Laden. I think that Secretary Rumsfeld has been a very strong, tough secretary of defense. And the only person he has to satisfy is certainly the president of the United States, that he has been effective. That effectiveness is measured in many ways. Support of his colleagues, certainly, within the establishment, within Congress, with the international community, all of that has to be weighed and balanced. But I think he's done an effective job.
PHILLIPS: Would you be concerned if Tom Ridge were to step down, secretary of homeland defense, a new position, a very important position, considering what we're dealing with now, with terrorism? Would it concern you if he were to step down?
COHEN: It would not concern me whether he would step down or any one in the administration would step down. This is -- we're in a war. It's a long, twilight struggle, to coin John F. Kennedy's phrase about the struggle against communism.
This is a long twilight struggle. It's going to go on, certainly, during President Bush's term and well beyond, and perhaps to the end of the century. For as long as you have individuals who have the capacity and the ability to cause massive damage, then you're going to have a war against terror.
So whether Tom Ridge were to stay or leave, I believe it will, again, depend upon the quality of the personnel that President Bush would appoint to take over that job.
The institutions are there in order to serve the American people. People who pass through them as the heads of those institutions are temporary in nature. And so I think it really depends upon having a continuity in the sense you have high-quality people who are able to go in, who have the right kind of background and capabilities in order to carry out the job.
PHILLIPS: Well, there's no doubt that Condoleezza Rice has a strong background. Now you've got a national security adviser becoming the secretary of state.
Do you think that's dangerous, though? Do you think that by her moving from that position to secretary of state, that it sort of makes the State Department a bit of an arm of the West Wing, a little too close for comfort?
COHEN: Well, frankly, I think you can always expect there to be some disagreement between the State Department and other agencies. That's been the nature of the system. And there's a positive aspect to that.
But ultimately, it's the president of the United States who sets the foreign policy. It's the secretary of state who articulates that foreign policy to the American people and also the world leaders.
But it's the president of the United States who's in charge. And so to the extent that Secretary Rice -- soon to be Secretary Rice carries out the president's policy, then that's not being seen as being some kind of an enemy of the State Department. It's -- really the State Department is there to effectively carry out the policies of the president of the United States, whoever that may be. So I don't see that as a handicap, but rather, actually, as a benefit under these circumstances.
PHILLIPS: My final question for you, and of course, that's the videotape that we've been seeing within the past 48 hour, this shooting that took place in Falluja with the Marines and the insurgents.
You know Donald Rumsfeld has taken a lot of heat for various crimes that have taken place overseas, on behalf of the U.S. military. We're definitely not saying that this -- this was, indeed, a war crime.
But seeing the video, seeing what happened, do you feel that there is still a clear line of what it means -- or what the rules of engagement mean in Operation Iraqi Freedom? When you're dealing with insurgents, it's much different than dealing with a uniformed soldier.
Do you think there's a clear line? When you look at a videotape like this, can you really say this is right; this is wrong?
COHEN: Well, first, we ought to have the trial before we have a judgment and not the reverse. We don't know all of the circumstances surrounding this. And we've only seen a portion of the events that took place and really have not had access to all of the information. So we shouldn't pre-judge it.
But clearly, the rules of engagement would prohibit the intentional killing of any unarmed insurgent or one who is wounded and didn't pose a threat to that unit that was moving through the -- that mosque. So the rules of engagement are very clear. And if they were violated, I'm satisfied the military will see to it that the individual is held accountable for it.
PHILLIPS: Former defense secretary, William Cohen, thanks for your time today, sir.
COHEN: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, cutting calories may be easier than you think. A new study suggests you can eat less and still feel satisfied.
Later on LIVE FROM...
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: ... the Beatles' second invasion of America starts today. A new release will have you twisting and shouting in living monophonic sound.
And tomorrow, America's first woman in space wants your child to rise to a new challenge. Astronaut Sally Ride does the LIVE FROM interview.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: In health news today, if British officials have their way, the only things you'll be smoking there are kippers. Really.
A new proposal would snuff out cigarette smoking in all work places, public buildings, restaurants and all pubs in which food is served. Opponents say it will just fuel the return of drinking only pubs where smoking would be permitted alongside those pints.
British health watchdogs are also fretting about junk food ads aimed at kid and fear all those crisps and biscuits are turning the nation's children into a generation of real Teletubbies. The government plans to ask media regulators to pitch the pitches, you see.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, speaking of fattening up, and I don't mean to say that -- I guess I shouldn't say that when you and I are sitting here together. But anyway, plenty of Americans are doing that, as you know.
But the basic principle of eating fewer calories than your body burns is not working. So what's the solution? Elizabeth Cohen, who's very much in shape, is going to chew the fat about one weight loss program that says eat more, as long as it's the right stuff.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and the right stuff is smoking kippers. No, just kidding. Nothing to do with it.
The right stuff. That's what we're going to get to. We're going to tell you what the right stuff is.
But first, we're going to tell you about this study that's being presented at a big obesity meeting, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity.
What they found is they put a bunch of people on a diet. And what they did was they cut their calories by 30 percent and then they cut their portions by 25 percent. And when they had fewer calories and smaller portions, people didn't feel any more hungry then when they were eating a regular old meal, and they didn't eat more the next day to compensate.
Well, gee, how in the world did they do that? Well, what they did is they had the people eat foods that were high in water content so they felt full. They weren't having more calories. As we said here, they're having fewer calories.
They're eating things like oranges, for example, that make you feel full because they have a lot of water in them, but they don't have a lot of fat; they don't have a lot of calories.
Or for example, you can think of it this way. You've got a yearning for chocolate? Have a cup of hot chocolate. It's going to have fewer calories than a chocolate bar, but it's going to make you feel more full, because you've taken in all of that water.
So you can call it the water trick.
PHILLIPS: All right. What's up with the strawberries?
COHEN: We brought strawberries and we brought M&Ms to illustrate our point. And what we have here, believe it or not, these two foods here -- we've got M&Ms and we've got strawberries. They have the same number of calories. They both have about 140 calories.
Now I can eat these M&Ms like this. That's it, a hand full. I could eat that all at one time. But these strawberries, they would take me a long time to eat, and I would feel a lot more full. I'm also getting vitamins and what not. But I'm going to feel more full after the strawberries than after just that little bit of M&Ms, but they have the same number of calories.
PHILLIPS: All right. That sounds good.
COHEN: More bang for your buck.
PHILLIPS: Yes, there's no way you can really down the whole thing. But does that satisfy the craving? I mean...
HARRIS: There you go.
PHILLIPS: I mean, you know what I'm saying? OK, strawberries are good; they're sweet. But it's not like having a hand full of M&Ms.
COHEN: So have strawberry with hot chocolate.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
COHEN: Lots of water. It will make you feel full, and you've had a little bit of chocolate.
PHILLIPS: All right. So can we go on CNN.com and find, like, a list of these things that have more water? I'm curious now. I want to know.
COHEN: That's a great idea. We'll have to do that.
PHILLIPS: OK. More than just oranges.
COHEN: That's right, more than just oranges. Right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: OK.
PHILLIPS: Leave those strawberries.
HARRIS: We're not going to do the Hardee burger? I wanted to blow all of this out of the water. We're not going to do the -- Oh, my, all right. It's a big old Hardee's burger. It's the biggest burger you've ever since in your life that will just knock all of that healthy stuff you guys are talking about right out of the water. All right.
PHILLIPS: Strawberries sound good.
HARRIS: Well, you know, there are more millionaires among us than ever before. What's behind all this good fortune?
PHILLIPS: Rhonda Schaffler -- she's our good fortune -- joins us live at the New York Stock Exchange with more on that.
Hi, Rhonda.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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Aired November 16, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: I'll be back later today, every weekday, 5 p.m., for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." More on the appointment, the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to become the next secretary of state.
Plus being a closer look at the fighting in Falluja. It's violent and it's deadly. What are the rules of war and were they violated?
Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. LIVE FROM with Kyra Phillips and Tony Harris starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congratulations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Both confident (ph) and the president's choice for secretary of state. How will Condoleezza Rice impact the future of American diplomacy?
TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: A shooting in the mosque. The U.S. military conducts a criminal investigation into the shooting of an apparently unarmed insurgent by a U.S. Marine.
PHILLIPS: Cutting calories. A new study shows it might be easier than you think to drop those extra pounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not very practical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're huge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And super-sizing your cell phone? Apparently at least one company believes you'll tote this thing all around town.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien. PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. It's Tuesday, November 16th. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
We begin this hour with grim news out of Britain and the Middle East. Aid worker Margaret Hassan, taken hostage in Iraq almost a month ago, is apparently dead.
Hassan led the Iraqi operations of CARE International and held British, Irish and Iraqi citizenships. She lived in Iraq for 30 years. Al Jazeera says it has a video clip of her execution. And the British embassy in Baghdad says it's probably genuine. Hassan was 59 years old.
Stanford University, White House, Stanford again, White House again, State Department. The somewhat circular career track of Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's soon to be former national security adviser, and pending Senate approval, next secretary of state.
For the second time in a week, Mr. Bush has tapped a White House insider to fill a high-powered cabinet post. We get the details now from CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, you're right, it was just last week that the president went just down the hall to find one of his closest advisers, Alberto Gonzales, to be his new attorney general.
And today, of course, we saw him go down the hall once again to tap Condoleezza Rice, really one of his most trusted loyal confidants, his tutor on foreign policy, to be his top diplomat. And in nominating her, he said that she has the grace, as he put it, to be the right person for the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Condi Rice is the right person for that challenge. She is a recognized expert in international affairs, a distinguished teacher and academic leader and a public servant with years of White House experience. She displays a commitment to excellence in every aspect of her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, as the president was talking about Condoleezza Rice's experience and, particularly, her background, she was visibly tearing up, particularly as President Bush was talking about what Rice has talked about several times in public speeches that, as a black woman growing up in the South, she was told it wasn't possible for her to have the rights that others had in participating in democracy.
And that, she has said, has been a driving force behind her push and the White House policy to promote democracy into places it doesn't exist, particularly the Middle East. The president and Condoleezza Rice making a point that that is obviously going to be atop her agenda, if confirmed. Now, over the last 24 hours, lots -- there have been lots of questions about whether the departure of moderate Colin Powell, who Dr. Rice called a mentor and friend, would change things within the State Department.
In her remarks, Condoleezza Rice seemed to want to quell any kind of anxiety at the State Department about her coming over there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE NOMINEE: In my 25 years of experience in foreign affairs, both in and out of government, I have come to know the men and women of the Department of State. I have the utmost admiration and respect for their skill, their professionalism and their dedication.
If I am confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working with the great people of the Foreign Service and the Civil Service. And one of my highest priorities as secretary will be to ensure that they have all the tools necessary to carry American diplomacy forward in the 21st Century.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, you heard Dr. Rice talking about confirmation in the Senate. Congressional sources say that that is not going to be a problem. Certainly, she is expected to be confirmed.
But Democrats on Capitol Hill say not without some tough questions about some of the issues, some of the policies that she was presiding over here at the White House, particularly the Iraq policy, particularly the questions about intelligence that came through the White House that Dr. Rice herself and the president used to make the case for war. Many of those specifics turned out not to be true.
Questions that we heard about her stewardship over the fight against terrorism, leading up to 9/11, questions about whether or not she adequately addressed that. Certainly that will come up in her Senate confirmation.
Now of course, Kyra, the other person appointed today, of course, won't need to be confirmed, but appointed, is Condoleezza Rice's successor. That will be Stephen Hadley. He will be the national security adviser. He has served as Rice's deputy for the entire administration. He is somebody who has had a low profile, but we'll certainly hear from him probably a lot more -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live at the White House thanks -- Tony.
HARRIS: Condoleezza Rice has had four years to make her mark on U.S. policy and to make her name on the world stage. Setting the stage for Rice's move to Foggy Bottom is CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.
And Andrea, tell us why you believe this is the person who is best suited for this job, according to this president, and I guess it goes back to their long and prosperous friendship.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true, Tony. I was about to call her Secretary Rice.
National Security Adviser Rice quit her job as a provost at Stanford University back in 1989 -- 1999, when then Governor Bush was running for president, and she tutored him in foreign policy and became his chief foreign policy adviser during the campaign. And then of course was named national security adviser.
So she's been really by his side, not just in the office, but really in their downtime. They like to exercise together. They like to watch football games together. And they know each other very, very well. And President Bush clearly thinks extremely highly of Ms. Rice, Tony.
HARRIS: And Andrea, put this into some kind of historical perspective for us. I mean, it's great to see someone so overjoyed with what is happening to them personally. We saw her virtually tearing up there. But put this into some historical perspective for us.
KOPPEL: Condoleezza Rice grew up in the segregated South in Alabama. She was someone who knew what it was like to be excluded from places that white Americans were allowed to go.
But her parents really instilled in her the basic values and the belief that whatever -- if she had the right education, if she worked hard, she would be able to achieve whatever she wanted to do.
She was someone who was an aspiring Olympic athlete, figure skater. She is an accomplished pianist, someone who excelled, really, at no matter what she put her mind to. And went off, studied Russian -- became an expert on the Soviet Union, worked at the National Security Council under then President Herbert Bush (sic), Mr. Bush's father.
And she is someone who has proven -- and I think that's why you saw that emotion there -- that she was able to do it by sheer grit and determination.
HARRIS: CNN's State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel. Andrea, thank you, appreciate it.
So if Condi is, now, a household name, Stephen Hadley isn't. But Rice's deputy and heir apparent in the West Wing has a history in national security circles dating back to the Ford administration.
Hadley's current job began with the second Bush administration in 2001. During the first Bush administration, he served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy. Before that, he was on the National Security Council under President Ford. In 1986, Hadley helped investigate the Iran-Contra scandal under President Reagan.
PHILLIPS: U.S.-led forces open a new front in the battle to wipe out the Iraqi insurgency.
In the past two weeks, Mosul in northern Iraq has seen a series of strikes targeting police stations, government buildings and U.S. forces. Now two brigades of U.S. and Iraqi troops are involved in an offensive aimed at squelching the insurgent violence.
A U.S. military spokesperson says that the operation was undertaken at the request of the provincial governor. Mosul is also under a 4 p.m. to 6a a.m. curfew to help stop those attacks.
Meantime, the military says its Falluja offensive is in its end- game stage. While the military says the city has been secured, air and ground operations continued overnight and into today.
As U.S. warplanes used GPS-guided bombs to hit fortified insurgent positions, ground forces went house to house to root out rebels who are still entrenched there.
Distribution centers have been able to open in some of those areas where the fighting was abated and to hand out food, water and medical supplies to the remaining civilians.
HARRIS: Military investigators are on the case of a wounded, apparently unarmed Falluja insurgent who was shot in the head on Saturday by a U.S. Marine.
We get the story from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. And we should warn you, it includes some highly disturbing video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Friday, U.S. Marines stormed a Falluja mosque after taking fire from insurgents inside. The Marines killed ten fighters and wounded five others, who were given some medical treatment and left to be picked up later.
The next day, last Saturday, a different Marine unit went back into the mosque in response to reports insurgents had returned. Gunfire could be heard as the Marine unit that had been there Friday and an embedded television reporter arrived at the mosque minutes later.
As they entered, three of the previous day's wounded lay dying, apparently shot again. It's unclear the Marines who were already there knew the Wounded had been capture and disarmed the day before. One severely wounded man is then shot in the head by one of those Marines at point blank range.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's (expletive deleted) dead. He's (expletive deleted.
MCINTYRE: CNN has chosen not to show the actual killing, due to the explicit nature of the video.
Afterward, one man tells the television reporter in Arabic that he was among the prisoners captured on Friday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?
MCINTYRE: When the TV reporter relays that to the Marine, he replies, "I didn't know, sir. I didn't know."
That Marine, who's said to have suffered a gunshot wound to the face the day before, is now under investigation. If he knowingly shot a wounded captive who did not pose a threat, it would be a war crime.
LT. COL. BOB MILLER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: They would have to be using force and self-defense, yes. Enemy wounded -- in this case, insurgents, who don't pose a threat, would not be considered hostile, generally. I think that's a fair statement.
MCINTYRE: The investigation will determine if the Marine violated any rules or should be charged with any crime.
The Marines point out that in the fog of war, it's not always clear who is a threat. In a separate incident the same day, a Marine was killed and five others wounded when they came across a dead body that was booby-trapped.
(on camera) U.S. commanders are worried about the impact of the video, which seems to show a prisoner being unjustly killed. They're worried that instead of surrendering, it could encourage the insurgents to fight on to the death.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We're going to talk about this criminal investigation with former secretary of defense, William Cohen, right after awe break.
Also, Congress back in business. Will key leaders still be in position after this lame duck session? We'll go in depth on the balance of power, straight ahead.
And later, a dolphin is back in the swim after getting a little help from his friends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Restocking the cabinet is a duty or a perk for just about every re-elected president. But with troops in the line of fire and the threat of terror ever present, personal shakeups are more than just routine.
We get some insights now from a mover and a shaker from the Clinton administration, former defense secretary William Cohen.
Mr. Secretary, nice to see you.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Nice to see you. PHILLIPS: Well, the names being tossed around now, of course, Americans want to know what does this mean for the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. What does this mean for secretary of the homeland security, Tom Ridge? Especially in a volatile time right now, you think about those two positions.
Do you think, first of all, that Americans want a new secretary of defense?
COHEN: Well, the real issue is whether the president of the United States wants a new secretary of defense. And if he is satisfied that Secretary Rumsfeld is carrying out his policies in an effective way, then he's going to ask him to stay.
And of course, the second person who can decide that is Secretary Rumsfeld himself. I would -- I have not talked to the secretary about this. But I would suspect that he might want to have a little more time to try and make sure that the transformation process that is under way, that he's been really pushing forward on, really takes hold. And he may also want to see the movement in Iraq completed before he should take leave of office.
But again, the president and he will have that opportunity to decide.
PHILLIPS: Before we look at a number of the other secretaries that have stepped down, from commerce, to agricultural, to a number of these other secretaries. Secretary of defense, you were a secretary of defense.
COHEN: Right.
PHILLIPS: Is -- if he decides to step down, is it a good idea? Is it smart right now, considering the time -- what we're dealing with now, the nature of our environment?
COHEN: Well, much depends upon who the person would be named to succeed him.
PHILLIPS: Do you think Donald Rumsfeld is doing an effective job?
COHEN: I think that the president believes he's doing an effective job, and that's really what counts at this point, that he has carried out the president's policies, that the president has set that agenda. So really...
PHILLIPS: You've had that job. You know how difficult it can be. Do you think he's -- he's been effective?
COHEN: I certainly would not want to pass judgment on any successor of mine. But I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld has done an effective job in carrying out what the president wants to pursue in terms of the policy, of going after Saddam Hussein, of trying to capture Osama bin Laden. I think that Secretary Rumsfeld has been a very strong, tough secretary of defense. And the only person he has to satisfy is certainly the president of the United States, that he has been effective. That effectiveness is measured in many ways. Support of his colleagues, certainly, within the establishment, within Congress, with the international community, all of that has to be weighed and balanced. But I think he's done an effective job.
PHILLIPS: Would you be concerned if Tom Ridge were to step down, secretary of homeland defense, a new position, a very important position, considering what we're dealing with now, with terrorism? Would it concern you if he were to step down?
COHEN: It would not concern me whether he would step down or any one in the administration would step down. This is -- we're in a war. It's a long, twilight struggle, to coin John F. Kennedy's phrase about the struggle against communism.
This is a long twilight struggle. It's going to go on, certainly, during President Bush's term and well beyond, and perhaps to the end of the century. For as long as you have individuals who have the capacity and the ability to cause massive damage, then you're going to have a war against terror.
So whether Tom Ridge were to stay or leave, I believe it will, again, depend upon the quality of the personnel that President Bush would appoint to take over that job.
The institutions are there in order to serve the American people. People who pass through them as the heads of those institutions are temporary in nature. And so I think it really depends upon having a continuity in the sense you have high-quality people who are able to go in, who have the right kind of background and capabilities in order to carry out the job.
PHILLIPS: Well, there's no doubt that Condoleezza Rice has a strong background. Now you've got a national security adviser becoming the secretary of state.
Do you think that's dangerous, though? Do you think that by her moving from that position to secretary of state, that it sort of makes the State Department a bit of an arm of the West Wing, a little too close for comfort?
COHEN: Well, frankly, I think you can always expect there to be some disagreement between the State Department and other agencies. That's been the nature of the system. And there's a positive aspect to that.
But ultimately, it's the president of the United States who sets the foreign policy. It's the secretary of state who articulates that foreign policy to the American people and also the world leaders.
But it's the president of the United States who's in charge. And so to the extent that Secretary Rice -- soon to be Secretary Rice carries out the president's policy, then that's not being seen as being some kind of an enemy of the State Department. It's -- really the State Department is there to effectively carry out the policies of the president of the United States, whoever that may be. So I don't see that as a handicap, but rather, actually, as a benefit under these circumstances.
PHILLIPS: My final question for you, and of course, that's the videotape that we've been seeing within the past 48 hour, this shooting that took place in Falluja with the Marines and the insurgents.
You know Donald Rumsfeld has taken a lot of heat for various crimes that have taken place overseas, on behalf of the U.S. military. We're definitely not saying that this -- this was, indeed, a war crime.
But seeing the video, seeing what happened, do you feel that there is still a clear line of what it means -- or what the rules of engagement mean in Operation Iraqi Freedom? When you're dealing with insurgents, it's much different than dealing with a uniformed soldier.
Do you think there's a clear line? When you look at a videotape like this, can you really say this is right; this is wrong?
COHEN: Well, first, we ought to have the trial before we have a judgment and not the reverse. We don't know all of the circumstances surrounding this. And we've only seen a portion of the events that took place and really have not had access to all of the information. So we shouldn't pre-judge it.
But clearly, the rules of engagement would prohibit the intentional killing of any unarmed insurgent or one who is wounded and didn't pose a threat to that unit that was moving through the -- that mosque. So the rules of engagement are very clear. And if they were violated, I'm satisfied the military will see to it that the individual is held accountable for it.
PHILLIPS: Former defense secretary, William Cohen, thanks for your time today, sir.
COHEN: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, cutting calories may be easier than you think. A new study suggests you can eat less and still feel satisfied.
Later on LIVE FROM...
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: ... the Beatles' second invasion of America starts today. A new release will have you twisting and shouting in living monophonic sound.
And tomorrow, America's first woman in space wants your child to rise to a new challenge. Astronaut Sally Ride does the LIVE FROM interview.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: In health news today, if British officials have their way, the only things you'll be smoking there are kippers. Really.
A new proposal would snuff out cigarette smoking in all work places, public buildings, restaurants and all pubs in which food is served. Opponents say it will just fuel the return of drinking only pubs where smoking would be permitted alongside those pints.
British health watchdogs are also fretting about junk food ads aimed at kid and fear all those crisps and biscuits are turning the nation's children into a generation of real Teletubbies. The government plans to ask media regulators to pitch the pitches, you see.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, speaking of fattening up, and I don't mean to say that -- I guess I shouldn't say that when you and I are sitting here together. But anyway, plenty of Americans are doing that, as you know.
But the basic principle of eating fewer calories than your body burns is not working. So what's the solution? Elizabeth Cohen, who's very much in shape, is going to chew the fat about one weight loss program that says eat more, as long as it's the right stuff.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and the right stuff is smoking kippers. No, just kidding. Nothing to do with it.
The right stuff. That's what we're going to get to. We're going to tell you what the right stuff is.
But first, we're going to tell you about this study that's being presented at a big obesity meeting, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity.
What they found is they put a bunch of people on a diet. And what they did was they cut their calories by 30 percent and then they cut their portions by 25 percent. And when they had fewer calories and smaller portions, people didn't feel any more hungry then when they were eating a regular old meal, and they didn't eat more the next day to compensate.
Well, gee, how in the world did they do that? Well, what they did is they had the people eat foods that were high in water content so they felt full. They weren't having more calories. As we said here, they're having fewer calories.
They're eating things like oranges, for example, that make you feel full because they have a lot of water in them, but they don't have a lot of fat; they don't have a lot of calories.
Or for example, you can think of it this way. You've got a yearning for chocolate? Have a cup of hot chocolate. It's going to have fewer calories than a chocolate bar, but it's going to make you feel more full, because you've taken in all of that water.
So you can call it the water trick.
PHILLIPS: All right. What's up with the strawberries?
COHEN: We brought strawberries and we brought M&Ms to illustrate our point. And what we have here, believe it or not, these two foods here -- we've got M&Ms and we've got strawberries. They have the same number of calories. They both have about 140 calories.
Now I can eat these M&Ms like this. That's it, a hand full. I could eat that all at one time. But these strawberries, they would take me a long time to eat, and I would feel a lot more full. I'm also getting vitamins and what not. But I'm going to feel more full after the strawberries than after just that little bit of M&Ms, but they have the same number of calories.
PHILLIPS: All right. That sounds good.
COHEN: More bang for your buck.
PHILLIPS: Yes, there's no way you can really down the whole thing. But does that satisfy the craving? I mean...
HARRIS: There you go.
PHILLIPS: I mean, you know what I'm saying? OK, strawberries are good; they're sweet. But it's not like having a hand full of M&Ms.
COHEN: So have strawberry with hot chocolate.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
COHEN: Lots of water. It will make you feel full, and you've had a little bit of chocolate.
PHILLIPS: All right. So can we go on CNN.com and find, like, a list of these things that have more water? I'm curious now. I want to know.
COHEN: That's a great idea. We'll have to do that.
PHILLIPS: OK. More than just oranges.
COHEN: That's right, more than just oranges. Right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: OK.
PHILLIPS: Leave those strawberries.
HARRIS: We're not going to do the Hardee burger? I wanted to blow all of this out of the water. We're not going to do the -- Oh, my, all right. It's a big old Hardee's burger. It's the biggest burger you've ever since in your life that will just knock all of that healthy stuff you guys are talking about right out of the water. All right.
PHILLIPS: Strawberries sound good.
HARRIS: Well, you know, there are more millionaires among us than ever before. What's behind all this good fortune?
PHILLIPS: Rhonda Schaffler -- she's our good fortune -- joins us live at the New York Stock Exchange with more on that.
Hi, Rhonda.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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