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U.S. Helicopter Crashes in Afghanistan; Bush Support; Iraq Progress Report

Aired June 28, 2005 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush arriving at Fort Bragg this hour, preparing to make a prime-time speech tonight to America. The situation in Iraq expected to be the president's main focus. This hour we're going to talk about an Iraq -- or talk to an Iraqi after his country has changed after a year of self-government.
Thugs and cops shooting it out. A new violent video game has some lawmakers calling for a ban. We're going to take a closer look at "25 to Life."

Is Pope John Paul II on the sainthood fast track? This ceremony at the Vatican today starts the process.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

More now on that helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Our Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon with details.

What do we know, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, at this hour, it is, of course, nighttime, dark on the ground in Afghanistan. But U.S. military officials say search and rescue forces at this hour are trying to reach the crash site. An American CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashing near Asadabad. That is in eastern Afghanistan, that is the mountains of the Hindu Kush.

It is some of the roughest terrain on Earth, some of the deepest mountains that U.S. forces operate in. We are talking about 7,000- foot mountain peeks, snow year round. This helicopter crashing earlier today. According to first reports -- and we must emphasize nothing is confirmed yet -- but U.S. sources say, first reports, there may have been as many as two dozen military personnel onboard that aircraft when it went down.

There are U.S. Army and U.S. Marine forces operating in that area. This helicopter was on a transport mission.

U.S. forces had been moving in and out of eastern Afghanistan on a continuous basis. They are conducting counterinsurgency operations throughout the region.

We were there just last week, and U.S. forces are constantly on the move. What they are doing is moving against the insurgents that they believe have been crossing in from the Pakistani side of the border, launching attacks and then moving back. So there's been quite a bit of activity in this region, air assault, ground forces, helicopter forces moving in and out constantly.

Now this CH-47 has gone down. Rescue forces are trying to reach the site, but it is very rough terrain, and, of course, no word yet on the cause of the crash -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr. Let us know when you get more details. Thank you so much.

And they call it a fight for the fight in Iraq. Later this hour, President Bush sets out to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, site of a prime-time televised address, urging patience, diligence, endurance on the one-year anniversary of the return of Iraqi self-rule.

CNN's David Ensor now sets the stage from the White House -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the White House spokesman here is talking about the speech as a very important speech by the commander-in-chief at a critical time in the war on terror. And certainly the polls show that American support has been slipping lately for the war and for the president. So he has a job to do tonight.

Now, he's been in recent days holding a number of important meetings on the subject of Iraq, including the meeting with the prime minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Jaafari. And while he -- while -- during that meeting, Mr. Bush was asked about suggestions by Democrats and even some Republicans that he ought to set a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops.

This is how he responded to that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are there to complete a mission. And it's an important mission.

A democratic Iraq is in the interest of the United States of America, and it's in the interest of laying the foundation for peace. And if that's the mission, then why would you -- why would you say to the enemy, you know, here's the timetable, just go ahead and wait us out. It doesn't make any sense to have a timetable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: That may be part of the message in tonight's speech as well. He's also, though, met this morning with congressional leaders, including Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader on the House side. And she has suggested that while -- not a timetable for troop withdrawal, necessarily, Mr. Bush ought to be talking about some benchmarks for progress in Iraq.

Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: I'm not talking about a timetable. We're talking about benchmarks.

I think the timetable -- there's a -- the only timetable we want is to soon have a strategy for success. After that it's about benchmarks, benchmarks about training the Iraqi troops, benchmarks about turning on the lights in Iraq, and, you know, making the domestic situation better. And third, involving neighboring countries in the diplomatic efforts to help in the military effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: The White House officials are saying the president will be very specific in his speech about Iraq. But if there are going to be benchmarks or specifics of that type, they're not saying so here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: David Ensor live from the White House. Thank you.

And today alone, 18 deaths at the hands of Iraqi insurgents. Among them, the oldest member of Iraq's transitional assembly and two more U.S. soldiers.

The politician was a Shiite tribal leader killed in a suicide car bombing. The GIs died in separate attacks near Tikrit and Balad.

In Baghdad, police officers and firefighters are among seven Iraqis killed in a half-dozen drive-by shootings. And another police officer died when a suicide bomber on foot targeted a hospital some 40 miles south of the capital.

And to the west, another allied offensive on a suspected staging area for insurgents sneaking in from other countries. This one, the fifth in two months, is called Operation Sword.

Finally, an unhappy surprise for the police commander in Salahadeen Province northwest of Baghdad. He was summoned to the capital for a meeting with Iraq's interior minister and detained when he got there. It's not clear why, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out.

Well, the continued insurgency and lack of clear exit strategy in Iraq are clearly taking a toll on the president's approval ratings. Frank Newport, Gallup editor-in-chief, joins me now from Princeton, New Jersey, to break down the numbers -- Frank.

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP: Hello, Kyra. Let's look at some of the CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll results and put them into context of what the president needs to address tonight.

First of all, a mistake to send troops to Iraq? That's a question we at Gallup have been asking about wars, going all the way back to the Korean War. Where are we now? Well, the numbers have come back up to 53 percent. That's the majority who say yes. I would say the president tonight is going to have to address the nation and say why initially the strategy was not a mistake.

Second point, we've heard a lot of discussion here about the idea of a timetable for withdrawal. We just saw Bush -- the president -- saying absolutely not, no withdrawal timetable.

We asked the American public over the weekend. Phrased the way we phrased it, you got slightly over half of Americans who said they thought that would be appropriate. The president's going to have to address that tonight as well.

And finally, I think this is probably the underlying motif of the whole speech tonight. The number on the right is not a positive one for the administration at all, particularly transitioning from January, where it was about split, now only a little more than a third, Kyra, of Americans say the Bush administration has a clear plan for handling Iraq.

So I think overall, the president tonight has the challenge of getting Americans to come onboard with the idea that there is, in fact, a strategy in Iraq.

PHILLIPS: Well, Frank, let's talk more about that lack of confidence that the American people are saying they have in the president. How has it affected him, and how do you think it's going to play out today?

NEWPORT: Well, we'll see what impact, of course, the speech has on his overall approval rating. That's that standard kind of rating we've been measuring on all presidents going back for 50, 60, 70 years.

Right now, Bush is at 45 percent. Fifty-three percent disapproval, the highest of his administration.

These are not, Kyra, catastrophic ratings. If you want to put them in context, Bush's father, for example, in '92 had a 29 percent job approval rating. So to be at 45 percent is not terrible, but nevertheless, it's below average for Bush, below average for most presidents, and clearly not the kind of territory, or at least not the trend that he wants to see.

PHILLIPS: Frank Newport. Thank you so much.

Whether he wants it or not, the president is getting some advice on what to say to the American people tonight from his former challenger, Senator John Kerry. In an op-ed piece in "The New York Times" today, Senator Kerry lists steps that the president should take to build support for the war.

The senator writes, "The administration must immediately draw up a detailed plan with clear milestones and deadlines for the transfer of military and police responsibilities to Iraqis after the December elections. If Mr. Bush fails to take these steps, we will stumble along, our troops at greater risk, casualties rising, costs rising, the patience of the American people wearing thin and the specter of quagmires staring us in the face." Stay with CNN for more coverage of the president's speech tonight from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Our special coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern with Anderson Cooper.

Straight ahead, the British navy goes out full force to remember one of its greatest victories. The pageantry and cool pictures from the reenactment of the Battle of Trafalgar later on LIVE FROM.

And pageantry for a pope. Ceremonies begin today that could make John Paul II a saint. We'll go in-depth straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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PHILLIPS: Three hundred sixty-five days, that's how long sovereignty has been back in the hands of the Iraqi people. There have been a number of significant changes in that time, some good, some not.

How do Iraqis feel about the progress that's been made? Rawand Darwesh is an Iraqi Kurd and a Fulbright scholar at Indiana University. He joins me today from Washington to reflect on the changes.

It's good to see you, one year later, Rawand.

RAWAND DARWESH, FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR, INDIANA UNIVERSITY: Nice to meet you. Thanks for having me.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know you have been reading the papers every day out of Iraq. And what you're reading from the Iraqi papers to what you're seeing here in the United States, what do you think? Is there a balance?

DARWESH: Well, there's a lot of coverage from local Iraqi newspapers that I read over the Internet, and I feel there are different kinds of news. There's the good news, there's the other events. There's a lot of progress that unfortunately I'm not seeing or hearing here in the United States.

The economic situation is much better now. Salaries have increased. Electricity teams are tying their best to rebuild the country. And a lot of progress is there.

You have the north, Kurdistan, is an economic miracle. So a lot of progress is there in Iraq, but unfortunately, we're not seeing much in the U.S. media.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk more about it, Rawand. I know your wife and your 4-year-old son -- he's absolutely adorable, by the way -- are living in Erbil, and I remember at a point within the past couple of years we covered car bombings and suicide bombings in that area. But now you're saying your wife and your family and your son are living a very peaceful life in Erbil.

DARWESH: Of course. That's thanks to the -- to the wise original government in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The region is very safe, and the original government in Kurdistan is also contributing a lot to the rest of Iraq to make the rest of Iraq peaceful.

Actually, life is continuing in Iraq. Life is not stopping.

I mean, whoever watches the news thinks that life is in paralysis in Iraq. This is not the case.

There's a lot of progress. The representatives of the Sunni Arabs are participating in rewriting the constitution in preparation for the December elections. I mean, there are-- there are a lot of good and positive steps that are taking place in Iraq.

PHILLIPS: And I asked you about the insurgency and a lot of the death that we're seeing there. And you have told me for your family in Erbil, your cousin in Baghdad, and other relatives, this has basically just become a way of life. But they keep on going because they have such a will to survive.

DARWESH: Correct. As I told you, that life is continuing. And a while ago, I spoke with my cousin in Baghdad and he told me -- I was surprised to learn that his concern, number one, is that he doesn't get a lot of electricity power. Not the bombings and things like that.

And I asked him about these bombings and things like that, and he told me that he sees them like we see on TV. I mean, so far, he did not encounter -- encounter it.

I, in Baghdad, I mean, I was surprised to that. So he tells me that this has become part of the life in Iraq. This is very sad, but unfortunately it's part of Iraq reality. And let us not forget that Iraq is in the process of transition, a transition from a -- two stages, from dictatorship to democracy.

And, of course, everywhere in the world, you have terrorists who are not happy with the progress that's happening in places in other parts of the world.

PHILLIPS: And Rawand, you're an Iraqi Kurd, and so you and your family survived and lived through the gassing of the Kurds. And that's -- of course, that, in addition to the mass graves, is what is going to put Saddam on trial. And it's the most compelling evidence.

So as we move closer to the trial of Saddam Hussein, how do you feel about that? How does your family feel about that? Are you anxiously awaiting that?

DARWESH: Of course we -- all the Iraqis, especially like the Kurds, wait for a speedy trial of that dictator and his regime who were -- who were the reason behind the killing of more than 200,000 Kurds. Seven thousand -- 8,000 people from the Barzani (ph) tribe alone. And so far, 182,000 Kurds are documented as missing because of the (INAUDIBLE) operations.

So the people of Iraqi Kurdistan, the people of Iraq in general, are waiting for -- to see Saddam live on TV in trial. Unfortunately, there's a delay in his trial, but I hope that there will be a very speedy trial and he will face justice that he deprived many Iraqis from.

PHILLIPS: Well, Rawand, I know you are studying journalism there as a Fulbright scholar at Indiana University, and I expect when you go back...

DARWESH: An American university.

PHILLIPS: That's right. And when you -- when you go back in August, I expect you to call us and tell us what you're covering. And you will be our Iraqi journalist covering the news there for us. Does that sound good?

DARWESH: Of course. Hopefully.

PHILLIPS: All right. Rawand Darwesh, what a pleasure. Thank you so much.

DARWESH: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

PHILLIPS: Other news around the world now.

Anti-Syrian candidates may have swept Lebanon's election this month, but a pro-Syrian lawmaker has survived the turmoil in Beirut's politics. Nabih Berri was re-elected to the powerful post of parliament speaker today.

Pakistan's supreme court has ordered the re-arrest of 13 men that are linked to a gang rape of a Pakistani woman. The crime garnered international condemnation after it was learned that the woman's assault was ordered by a village council.

And missing in Afghanistan. The U.S. military is searching right now for one of its own in the eastern part of the country. The missing soldier was in a Humvee that fell into a river Saturday when part of the road gave way. The other members of his squad got out of the vehicle before it fell.

And we want to update you once again on the helicopter crash that has taken place. We get this -- the word, obviously, from Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. It's just west of Asadabad, that the CH-47 helicopter went down.

We had learned earlier that the helicopter was transporting forces into an area in support of U.S. forces currently conducting counterterrorism operations. These type of aircraft, specifically the Chinook, are used as transport helos to bring troops in and out of areas. And also, various helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, of course, are used as close air support to help the forces on the ground from an intelligence perspective as eyes, and also to bring in forces.

We don't know if there are any survivors of that crash at this point. But we are working the information from the Pentagon and from inside Afghanistan. We'll bring you more information as we get it.

Well, war veterans, friends and politicians turned out to say goodbye to a long-time military man who died following an attack in Afghanistan. Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Piper was the first resident of Marblehead, Massachusetts, killed in combat since Vietnam.

Jack Harper from CNN affiliate WCVB reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a beautiful young man. Beautiful. He represented everything that America should be.

JACK HARPER, REPORTER, WCVB (voice-over): Honoring one of their own, Marblehead hardly noticed four outsiders who brought their "Trash America" message to his funeral.

ERNEST PIPER, SOLDIER'S BROTHER: This is America, you know. And people like my brother fought and died to make sure the inalienable rights of free speech are there for everybody.

HARPER: When Sergeant Christopher Piper reached Waterside Cemetery, it seemed like half the town was with him.

PIPER: The outpouring of support and affection for Chris is really gratifying. And we -- we're proud that he's here.

HARPER: The sergeant's father, sister and brother were behind him. And when they double-timed to the top of the hill, his widow was staying close for a final walk.

For daughter Deidre (ph) the graveside ceremony was overwhelming. The widow Consuela (ph) received one of the flags, son Christopher, a medal. In his expression, "Is that all there is?"

These were brutally sad but proud moments like many others the Piper family and the town they love will never forget. Nor will the soldiers who served side by side with Sergeant Christopher Piper.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tricky negotiations ahead. The Senate passed its version of a new energy bill today. It includes billions of dollars in tax breaks. Both Democrats and Republicans support it, but it's not expected to halt soaring energy costs or gas prices, or at least not over the short term.

It also faces stiff competition in the House. Lawmakers there have already passed an energy bill that has less emphasis on conservation and favors the industry more. Well, speaking of high energy costs, let's take a look at what oil prices are doing today.

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