Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Operation Steel Curtain; Senate Democrats Hold News Briefing on Capitol Hill

Aired November 07, 2005 - 14:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The house-to-house battle against insurgents in Iraq. Meantime, the political battle over intelligence that led to war in Iraq. That rage is on, and we are covering all the angles this hour.
Plus, death and devastation. Searching for victims after a killer tornado touches down in America's heartland.

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

Distortion, manipulation, outright lying. Critics of the Iraq war say the Bush administration did all three with prewar intelligence to justify invading Iraq. Republicans counter that, that there is no evidence supporting the charges.

Now the question is at the center of the CIA leak scandal and a Senate investigation. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, are holding a news conference on this controversial issue. Here's a live picture of it right now.

When they take to that microphone, we are going to bring it to you live. So we're going to stand by for that.

It is called Steel Curtain, the latest U.S. military offensive against Iraqi insurgents. Fierce house-to-house fighting is being carried out in a town northwest of Baghdad near the Syrian border. Now, besides trying to wipe out as many insurgents as possible, the operation is seen as a major test for Iraqi forces fighting with the Americans.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The intent is in the name. Launched over the weekend, Operation Steel Curtain is meant as a final push against insurgents in the volatile Al Anbar Province, stemming the flow of foreign fighters, weapons, and cash from coming across the nearby Syrian border.

LT. COL. DALE ALFORD, U.S. MARINE CORPS: We're expecting a lot of IEDs, vehicles that were rigged for suicide bomb cars, houses that were rigged, doors that when you opened them, they were booby-trapped, pockets of resistance anywhere from eight to 10 to 12 size elements that are really dying in place.

RAMAN: Three thousand American and 550 Iraqi troops started sweeping through the town of Husayba at dawn Saturday, finding and destroying car bombs, conducting air strikes on insurgent command posts, confiscating weapons caches, and killing dozens of suspected terrorists, all the frequent hallmarks of continued operations in the western part of the country.

Over the past several weeks, from Iron Fist to Steel Curtain, the military has worked to cripple al Qaeda in Iraq in its strongest-held province, and unlike before, is now staying after operations are complete.

BRIG. GEN. DONALD ALSON, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESPERSON: What remains is a permanent Iraqi security force presence. We are building, the Iraqi army is building permanent locations in these areas.

RAMAN: A step possible only with larger numbers of trained and equipped Iraqi security forces, which the military says now stands at 211,000. But equally important is the number of operations Iraqis can conduct independent of U.S. support, a number the military says has gone from 13 to 25 percent since May.

(on camera): While Iraqi forces are increasing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently suggested the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could also rise ahead of the December 15 elections, which is why with just weeks to go, the timing of Operation Steel Curtain is delivering.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And this just in to CNN. Five U.S. soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment accused of punching and kicking detainees have been charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This is according to the U.S. military.

Now, these allegations stem from an incident on September 7, where these detainees were allegedly punched and kicked when they were being moved to another detention facility. Now, all charges were filed on Saturday, November 5, according to this statement. And the military says, "All allegations of abuse are taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly. And appropriate action will be taken."

Again, five U.S. soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment accused of punching and kicking detainees have been charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We're going to stay on top of this and bring you the latest as soon as we know it.

Well, the U.S. military does report one Marine has died in combat in Operation Steel Curtain. The Marine was shot yesterday while searching a house for insurgents.

In action elsewhere, though, yesterday, an American soldier was also killed north of Baghdad by a roadside bomb. The two deaths raise the total number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq to 2,049.

American forces also came under attack today in Iraq's north city of Mosul. According to a military spokesman, a suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into a military convoy. Six soldiers were wounded in that incident.

And shifting to the U.S. war on terror now, President Bush today defended his administration's conduct against what he called an enemy that wants to hurt America again. In Panama, on the last stop of a four-day trip in Latin America, Mr. Bush was questioned by reporters about criticism over recent reports the CIA detains terror suspects in secret prisons in eastern Europe and whether he would allow the Red Cross access to them.

Well, he didn't answer directly, but was emphatic in saying the U.S. does not torture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our country is at war. And our government has the obligation to protect the American people. Executive branch has the obligation to protect the American people. The legislative branch has the obligation to protect the American people.

And we are aggressively doing that. We are finding terrorists and bringing them to justice. We are gathering information about where the terrorists may be hiding. We are trying to disrupt their plots and plans. Anything we do to that effort, to that end in this effort, any activity we conduct is within the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Now, despite White House opposition, the Senate last month overwhelmingly passed a bill banning torture. Vice President Dick Cheney has argued that the CIA should be exempt from that ban.

Another aspect of President Bush's war on terror is running into resistance from the Supreme Court. The high court today agreed to hear a challenge to the administration's plan to use military tribunals to try foreign terrorist suspects. Justices will decide if an accused terrorist and former driver for Osama bin Laden can be tried for war crimes before military officers at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Well, there has been some controversy over President Bush's executive order to try foreign terror suspects in military tribunals rather than civilian courts. Let's take a look at some of the important differences between the two.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN (voice over): Military tribunals consist of juries of three to seven people and would be able to convict defendants by a two-thirds vote, while convictions in civilian courts must be unanimous. Unlike traditional courts, second-hand evidence and hearsay can be admitted as evidence. Once a verdict is reached, defendants will not be allowed to appeal in federal court, but instead, petition a panel of review with the president having the final say.

One last but very important difference, civilian trials must be open to the public, while military tribunals can be held in secret. Opponents have expressed concern over the secrecy of such military commissions, while supporters argue secret trials can protect intelligence sources and those involved in the case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Want to take you now to that live meeting there with Senator Harry Reid and Carl Levin talking about the evidence or lack of evidence supporting the invasion of Iraq.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: Although this information comes from the Armed Services Committee, it shows how important the work, the Intelligence Committee moving into the second phase of the investigation of manipulation of evidence, how important that is.

Now that the Republicans have agreed to conduct investigation, the next step is making sure the right questions are answered. We want the Senate Intelligence Committee to have a real investigation.

The most important decision a country can make is going to war. We believe that there are at least three questions that any credible investigation must answer.

First, how did the White House build its case for war? We need to know what information was cherry-picked and what contrary facts they ignored.

Second, how did the White House sell the war to Congress and to the American people? We must know to what extent this administration unfairly hyped Iraq's alleged nuclear capabilities and links to al Qaeda in order to sell its case for war.

Third, did the White House coordinate and carry out a strategy to undermine and silence its critics?

We've seen a window into their behavior with the Libby indictment. The American people deserve to know more. Congress deserves to know more.

We know the questions that must be asked. Now we need answers.

This means a number of people from the administration must be interviewed, and the administration needs to turn over important documents. And subpoenas might be necessary.

I've spoken to Vice Chair Rockefeller a couple of times this morning. He's a proud father of a little baby grand -- granddaughter. I was trying to figure out. I've got 16. I get mine mixed up. Anyway, he's excited about that. But he's going to this afternoon an issue later today about what I've just spoke to -- I spoke about.

Senator Levin.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: The defense authorization bill which comes back to the floor this afternoon, it will look at a dozen amendments on each side under the agreement which we've reached. There'll be a short time agreement on each amendment so that we can hope to finish this week. And we know what some of our amendments on our side will be, but we don't know all of them. We're under discussion about those, because there's obviously great interest in offering amendments.

Three have been offered so far. One has been one that I offered on the independent commission on detainees, and I want to spend a minute on that amendment when I'm don't going through this partial list.

Senator Jack Reed has offered an amendment on his and my behalf which would transfer some missile defense money which is not needed to go into an untested program and put it where it's very much needed, which is on the reduction of the nuclear threat by putting more money into the cooperative threat reduction program which we have going with Russia.

Senator Bill Nelson has offered his amendment already on survivor and disability offsets.

Senator Harkin will be offering an amendment that would -- is aimed at making armed forces radio a fairer representation of what is going on in the airwaves so it's not one sided all with the conservative talk show hosts, but would have a balance to conservative and progressive talk shows.

We also have an amendment that Senator Durbin and other senators would be offering on the Guard, Reserve pay differential, Senator Dorgan's amendment on a Truman-like commission to look at abuses in the area of acquisition that have gone on, the amount of money that has been laid out for some of the contracts.

Senator Harry Reid has an amendment, as he has so often on concurrent receipt to continue to improve that situation.

Those are some of the amendments that we're looking at.

Just a few brief comments on the reason why we need an independent commission on detainees. This amendment which I've offered, again, on behalf of Senator Jack Reed and senators Rockefeller and Kennedy and others, would create a 9/11-type commission to look into the Abu Ghraib-type abuses, but also into the failures, or the activities, more accurately, of the CIA in the way they have apparently interrogated witnesses, even allegedly at secret prisons which have been maintained around the country.

NGUYEN: You have been listening to senators Harry Reid and Carl Levin talk about the need to investigate prewar intelligence, that intelligence which was used to lead up to the war in Iraq. Of course we're going to be staying on top of this and bring you the latest information as we get it, as well.

Searching for missing people after a huge tornado rips through two states. We're live from Indiana with more just ahead.

And riots and fires in France. What is behind the ethnic violence there? And could it spread to other parts of Europe? We'll talk about it straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: This just in. Pete rose, Jr., the son of baseball's all-time hits leader, has pleaded guilty to charges that he was distributing GBL. Now, that's a drug that is sometimes sold as a steroid alternative.

He's been charged with selling that to his minor league teammates. And he has pleaded guilty today.

Now, this is part of a larger investigation that dates back to 1999. But under the deal with prosecutors, Rose could be sentenced to 20 to 27 months in federal prison and fined up to $1 million. We're going to continue to follow this story.

And we want to talk about that killer tornado that tore across southern Indiana in the pre-dawn hours on Sunday. The twister killed at least 22 people. The latest victim found just over an hour ago.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now from Evansville with the latest on -- the latest survivor to be found.

Tell us how that happened.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Betty, the situation here is that the crews are working a lake about 300 yards or so away from where we are, and they're trying to empty out that lake. That's where the latest victim was found. And they're trying to make sure that there is no one else in there. So they will continue to do that in the coming hours.

This area you see behind me is this wooded area where basically the tornado came rushing through here, through the mobile home park. And you can see how it just blew everything from this mobile home park and the insulation from the homes and various belongings.

And, you know, this is really where you get a sense of just how powerful this storm is. But you also find these little moments that kind of put everything in perspective for you.

You know, I grew up in an area where there were a lot of tornadoes, and this is the kind of thing that made me incredibly nervous about tornadoes, when you find things like this, you know, family pictures. These are the kind of things that you'll never be able to replace or find. And, you know, hopefully some of these people can put together as much as they can.

But then, you know, you find -- this is a birthday card that a great grandmother had sent to her great grandchild, saying, "Happy first birthday. Here is a silver dollar for you to always keep. It belonged to your Great Great Grandma Hall (ph). I love you."

You know, you read stuff like this and you start wondering, you know, does the family still have that silver dollar? Will they ever be able to find it? And, you know, in these little moments, I think this is when the poignancy of things like this that you see around here, that it really starts striking home after you hear all of the numbers of the death toll here and the number of people injured and the number of homes lost.

You know, for me, anyway, this kind of seems to really bring it home here.

But the search and rescue efforts continue here in this neighborhood. And we also understand that there is now a couple of FEMA teams on the ground doing assessment. And they're trying to figure out whether or not some of these counties will be able to apply for federal assistance.

It's not exactly clear if that will happen, but those teams are on the ground doing -- doing that work. But the big picture here, as you see moments like this, kind of really bring it home for you -- Betty.

NGUYEN: It sure does, Ed. And we both grew up in Texas, and we know the danger of tornadoes. But we also know the things that people cherish after a disaster strikes, and it is those little pieces of memorabilia that really represent their lives.

Ed, thank you for that.

Well, this was the deadliest tornado in the U.S. since April 8, 1998. That's the day a monster tornado tore a path of destruction all the way from Mississippi to Georgia. Thirty-two people were killed in Oak Grove, Alabama, alone. Five more died in Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.

Now, tornadoes aren't seasonal. They can occur any time of the year. Peak season, though, is from May to July. Each year, though, about a thousand tornadoes touch down in the U.S.

And more lives may have been saved in Indiana had the tornado not struck in the middle of the night, when so many people were asleep.

Our meteorologist Chad Myers is here to show us what could be a life-saving tool in these situations. It's really a simple tool -- Chad

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. It's about $40, $50. It isn't cheap. But if you're going to buy something for someone for the holidays anyway, this could be the greatest thing they ever here.

This could be the sound that actually saves your life. It's kind of annoying at times, but that's what it's supposed to -- it's supposed to wake you up in the middle of the night. I want you to find one of these. Not one that's on eBay for $6. I want you to go find one that has the word "SAME" on it -- S-A-M-E. That means you can program your county so you don't have to listen to all the other warnings for all the other counties and get so annoyed you just shut the darn thing off altogether.

Get one that goes off whether you're in a low-lying area, you can program it for flood warnings, tornado warnings. Obviously you'd want to program it for all of the above. It depends on where you are.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Very important. Can be a life saver.

All right. Well, a smoky fire outside New York City today, take a look at this. The flames broke out less than two hours ago at a marina in Glen Cove on Long Island.

Officials say three or four boats may have been damaged. We're going to try to get you those pictures. But no injuries are reported.

There are the pictures. You can see the fire and the flames. Now, the cause is still under investigation. You'll want to stay with CNN, because we will have continuing developments.

And it sound like something out of a movie, but it was all too real for vacationers aboard this cruise ship as pirates take ever over. Yes, pirates. We have those details ahead on LIVE FROM.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up, a growing threat. How an increasing number of computer hackers are cleaning out online accounts.

I'll have that story next on LIVE FROM. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: A school in suburban Washington is locked down after a suspicious man was seen outside. Police in Prince Georges County, Maryland, say they saw a man wearing a ski mask and carrying what appeared to be a long gun trying to enter the Arrowhead Elementary School in Upper Marlboro.

Now, after he was seen, the man just disappeared into some nearby woods. And police are still looking for him there. Children, though, have been taken to designated safe areas inside the school.

Some other stories "Now in the News."

Opening statements were heard today in a widely reported child murder case. Thirty-nine-year-old Joseph Smith is accused of abducting, raping and murdering 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in Florida last year. Prosecutors told the jury the evidence is just overwhelming. Now, the apparent abduction was taped by a security camera. And a Texas death row inmate who escaped from a Houston jail is back in custody. Officials say convicted killer Charles Thompson managed to escape last week after slipping out of his handcuffs and exchanging his prison jumpsuit for street clothes. He was arrested last night, apparently drunk outside of a Shreveport, Louisiana, liquor store. Today he waived extradition back to Texas.

Well, the crew of the International Space Station is on a spacewalk at this hour. Here are some live pictures.

Astronaut William McArthur and his Russian counterpart are installing a new camera and detaching an environmental probe that hasn't worked in two years. Their work started about an hour behind schedule because of trouble with an airlock.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com