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Lieutenant General Russel Honore Returns to Iraq Duties; Iraq Elections Go Smoothly, But Long Road Lies Ahead
Aired December 16, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Mayor Ray Nagin will be holding a town hall meeting in New Orleans today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. We're going to have live coverage right here on LIVE FROM.
Meanwhile, if everything goes as planned, street car service will resume in New Orleans this weekend. There was a test run today along Canal Street, parts of which were covered with water during the height of the flooding. Hurricane Katrina destroyed dozens of New Orleans' trolleys, but the best-loved street cars, 35 green trolleys that have been rolling since the 1920s, survived. Limited service is scheduled to begin on Sunday.
You can add a very well-known name to the list of Hurricane Katrina victims unhappy with their insurance companies. Senator Trent Lott is suing State Farm over his damage to his beachfront home in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Like many of his neighbors, Lott lost his home to a wind-driven storm surge. And Lott calls that wind damage and says the insurance company should pay up. The insurance industry says, no, that's flood damage, not covered in standard homeowner's polices. Start Farm had no comment on the specifics of Lott's suit.
An inter-faith effort to help Katrina victims, $20 million. Where will it go? Coming up, we'll talk with Bishop T.D. Jakes.
And when America's Gulf Coast was in chaos following Hurricane Katrina, he was the man folks wanted to see, the can-do military officer, barking orders, bring some relief to those starving people for help. Now, Lieutenant General Russel Honore is busy with another mission.
Barbara Starr has a story she first reported on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No more USA!
UNIDENTIFIED MALES AND FEMALES: No more USA!
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqis protesting, held back by their police in the blue shirts. U.S. troops want to enter a village to find a suspected bomb maker.
It is not real. These National Guard troops are in Mississippi, getting ready to go to Iraq, training under a commander you may already know. The man in charge, Lieutenant General Russel Honore. You remember him. In the early chaos of New Orleans, the mayor called him John Wayne when he arrived to take command. And, now, he's back doing what he loves, preparing soldiers for Iraq, making it tough, so they learn to stay alive.
For Honore, it's deadly serious. He wants these troops to make mistakes here, not in Iraq.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE, COMMANDER, FIRST U.S. ARMY: We call it theater immersion. And the idea to train the soldier like they're going to fight.
STARR (on camera): Part of the training scenario is to put the soldiers under the extreme stress of dealing with angry Iraqis.
(voice-over): When soldiers get wounded, their buddies must practice treating them under fire. At a checkpoint, even CNN is searched by soldiers learning to check for suicide bombers.
To disperse the agitated Iraqis -- there are civilians hired for the exercise -- the soldiers use tear gas. It's fake, but they play it for real and put on gas masks. It turns out to be a bad decision, because, in Iraq, it's very unlikely commanders would allow tear gas against civilians. Honore takes note, but doesn't interrupt.
But to add even more wartime intensity, the trainers hit the soldiers with simulated mortars and rockets. Here, troops practice one of the most dangerous jobs they will face, coming under attack while escorting convoys.
Honore drills them hardest on the most lethal weapon used on U.S. troops, improvised explosive devices, IEDs. For him, the bombs and bomb makers are enemy number one. He has lost soldiers in IED attacks. Every time he comes to Washington, he privately visits the wounded at Walter Reed Army Hospital. He watches all the attack reports coming in from the field.
HONORE: The thing about the IED fight is, it constantly changes. As we develop methods to defeat it or to defend against it, the enemy adjusts. And we constantly have to adjust to the techniques he's using.
STARR: Finally, there is moment for a bit of morale-building.
HONORE: Go home for Christmas. Got your ticket? Remember, you can't drink it all in one night, all right?
(LAUGHTER)
STARR: And time for a group picture before the training for war in Iraq resumes.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Well, Iraqis are tallying votes today yesterday's historic election. The final turnout is not yet known, but officials say it may have been as high as 70 percent. In addition to absence to the major insurgent attacks, officials say they're encouraged that disaffected Sunnis appear to have voted in significant numbers.
For example, in the insurgent hotbed Ramadi, a CNN team reported thousands of voters at one polling center, where only a small trickle cast ballots weeks ago in the vote on Iraq's constitution. Even after yesterday's largely successful vote, Iraqi officials concede today that hard work lies ahead and a lot needs to happen in a hurry.
CNN's Aneesh Raman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the votes cast, the weight begins. Iraq's electoral commission says it could take two weeks to certify results and that's just a start. No one faction in Iraq is expected to get enough seats to control the new council of representatives. Forming a government will boil down to intense political bargaining.
ISMAEL ZIAR, EDITOR, AL SABAH NEWSPAPER: We will have much more complicated process to achieve. Coalitions and much wider coalitions will be needed.
RAMAN: How long will it take? Many observers say weeks, maybe even months. Iraq's current transitional government was elected January 30th, but political deal-making prevented the National Assembly from convening until March 16th.
The country's president Jalal Talabani wasn't elected by the Assembly until April 6 and the Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari didn't take office until April 28th, almost three months after election day.
This time, the stakes are higher, trying to seat a government for a term of four years, a government that will have what the current one lacks, a significant presence of Iraq Sunnis.
ZALMAY KHALIZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: This country cannot work unless the three communities, the three principle communities -- the Kurds, Shia, Arab and Sunni Arab, do not come to a common understanding.
RAMAN: The elected council will choose the new prime minister and attention is focused on two men: Ayad Allawi, a Shiite who would take Iraq on a secular path; and Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shiite who was part of the country's Shia religious bloc.
(on camera): But there is danger in prolonged delay. The Iraqis want immediate action on security and basic services, and any sizable reduction in foreign troops requires a strong consensus-oriented government to quickly take control of the government.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Once again, the question, when will U.S. troops leave Iraq? An important vote going on.
Fredricka Whitfield in the newsroom with more on that -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the 15-minute vote, the time is up right now, but the numbers are still trickling in. Based on the early numbers right now, resoundingly, a majority agrees in the House not to impose a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw in Iraq. You're seeing the number so far right now, 275 to 107 in all of 424 votes, not including those who are absent today.
Meantime, this Republican-backed resolution comes just over 24 hours after Iraqis went to the polls. The Democrats at first said, well, here's our offer. Why don't we just have a resolution that just simply congratulates the Iraqis for three very successful votes in the past year. The Republicans said no, let's take it a little bit further.
This is what they came up with, this resolution to say we are not going to impose a timetable for withdrawing those U.S. troops in Iraq. Of course, the president will be happy to hear that because all along, he has said he hasn't wanted to impose a timetable. So this the number that we have right now. Now this number is 276, the majority now all agreeing in favor for this resolution -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Fred, thanks. Now checking in with the world of entertainment, what's on tap, Brooke? Go ahead, Brooke.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Not one, but two well-known singers are in the hospital today. I will have a full report on their condition and tell you why "Housewives" star Teri Hatcher is no longer desperate. I'll that and more when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: OK. We know 'tis the season for giving and all that. But we have a mysterious case here that would confuse even the cheeriest of Santa's helpers. A Christmas present, a nice one too, given to a Massachusetts man. The giver? Well that's where we are thin on details.
Juli Auclair from our Boston affiliate WHTH has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULI AUCLAIR, BOSTON AFFILIATE WHTH (voice over): Take a look at this picture. It's a beautiful sparkly diamond ring worth $15,000. Now imagine finding this jewel in your car. Police say that's exactly what happened to a 37-year-old man last week here in Westborough.
(on-camera): The man came back to his car in the MBTA parking lot after work and found the ring in a little box with a white bow right on the front seat of his car.
(voice over): Attached was this note: Merry Christmas. Thank you for leaving your car door unlocked. Instead of stealing your car, I gave you a present. Hopefully, this will land in the hands of someone you love for my love is gone now. Merry Christmas to you.
What a wonderful Christmas present, indeed.
LT. PAUL DONNELLY, WESTBOROUGH POLICE DEPT.: It's the time for giving, but we've never had anything this large or this anonymous or this random.
AUCLAIR: After the man, who wants to remain anonymous, had the ring appraised and found out it was worth $15,000. He took it to police.
DONNELLY: And we are really dumbfounded. We really don't know what to think about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's wonderful. Oh, I wish that man was my man.
AUCLAIR: Nicolina Sabotini (ph) thinks the man who left the ring is a true romantic, a real gem of a guy.
(on-camera): Are you thinking of leaving your car door unlocked now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am. Yes, I am thinking absolutely. And please do leave me a diamond ring. Yes, and a diamond bracelet with a diamond necklace.
AUCLAIR (voice over): But police say they wouldn't recommend that.
DONNELLY: You know, you should definitely lock your cars while they are parked at the parking lot especially at the train station.
AUCLAIR (on-camera): All right. So I guess we better keep our doors locked after all.
Now Westborough Police say the man has decided to keep the ring. It might make a nice holiday gift for his wife, but he did say he will give it back if the owner comes looking for it.
In Westborough, Juli Auclair 7 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, in the world of entertainment news now. An alarming news about a legendary recording artist.
CNN's Brooke Anderson in Los Angeles. Brooke, what's the deal?
ANDERSON: Kyra, it's alarming. One of the most recognizable voices in music. Grammy-winner singer Lou Rawls is battling lung cancer. And he is undergoing treatment at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center here in Los Angeles.
Rawls' estranged wife, Nina, says he also has brain cancer. And that his condition is dire. Rawls is reportedly in the process of trying to annul his two-year marriage to protect his assets.
But despite all of this. Rawls is in a great mood, according to his publicist. Rawls even said in an interview with the "Arizona Republic," quote, "don't count me out, brother, there have been many people who have been diagnosed with this kind of thing and they're still jumping and pumping." Rawls said he quit smoking regularly 35 years ago.
Actress Teri Hatcher is no longer desperate for vindication. Hatcher has won substantial liable damages from a British newspaper. "The Daily Sport" claimed Hatcher regularly had sex with men in a van outside her home.
In addition to an undisclosed libel pay out. The publication also agreed to pay her legal costs, to print a front page apology and they also promised not to repeat the allegations.
Hatcher who has a 7-year-old daughter issued a statement saying, quote, "when a story appeared about me insinuating that I am an irresponsible and neglectful parent, I had to draw the line."
Meantime, Hatcher's hit television Desperate Housewives is heading to China. The ladies of Wisteria Lane will make their debut on China's state-run CCTV Eight on Monday. The show will dubbed into Mandarin and will air as three back to back episodes per night with the entire season running in one week. Better set those Tivos.
Housewives is already a hit in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Italy, Singapore, South Africa, Germany and, of course, the U.S.
Now, jumping over to Japan. That's where Ashlee Simpson is hospitalized. The singer collapsed following a performance in Tokyo last night. She was rushed to a hospital. Her publicist says she suffers from exhaustion.
Twenty-one-year-old Simpson has been on a busy tour schedule supporting her comeback album, "I Am Me." That just debuted at number one last month. Simpson's performance for this upcoming Monday's Radio Music Awards has now been canceled.
And that's entertainment news--Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Brooke. Thanks so much.
Well, straight ahead, have you been abducted by aliens? No? Why not? It's all the rage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many times have you been abducted by aliens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than 10. More than 20 probably.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Our Gary Tuchman investigates the alien invasion straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So do you believe in aliens? Apparently, a good many of us do. A "Newsweek" magazine survey found 53 percent of those polled think there's intelligent life somewhere out there. Perhaps more remarkable, as many as five million Americans insist they've been abducted by aliens. Is it a real close encounter, or just mind games?
CNN's Gary Tuchman went in search of the answer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's cool. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is taken care of.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Clayton (ph) and Donna Lee (ph) consider themselves a happy couple.
(on camera): How long have you guys been married?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eighteen-and-a-half years. It will be 19 years January 2nd.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But not an ordinary couple.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go home. I want to go home.
TUCHMAN: Under hypnosis...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Relax completely and listen to the sound of my voice.
TUCHMAN: ... it's apparent the Lees are quite out of the ordinary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I just need to go. I just need to go.
TUCHMAN: What's going on here? Clayton and Donna Lee are trying to retrieve memories about being kidnapped by creatures from another world. Donna has drawn a picture of an alien, who she says captured her. Clayton says one of his capturers looks similar.
TUCHMAN (on camera): How many times have you been abducted by aliens? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than 10, yes. More than 20, probably.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have come to visit you in peace.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): For most people, visions of alien abductions are limited to the movies and TV.
But, in a CNN/"TIME" magazine poll in 1997, two percent of respondents said they had been abducted by aliens or knew someone who was. Based on the sample, that correlated to more than five million Americans.
Clayton Lee says he was a child in this Houston park the first time he was abducted, saying he was lifted in the air.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I remember just floating up higher and higher, until all that was around me were stars and blackness. And then I blacked out.
TUCHMAN: The hypnotist tries to retrieve further memories of that day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quit touching me. Quit touching me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that, Clayton?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the reason for all this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They gave me something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was it they give you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They gave me something.
TUCHMAN: The hypnotist, who is a private investigator, also claims to have been an abductee.
(on camera): You can understand how a lot of people would think, this is really far out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think it's far out. I think it's bizarre. And I wish it had never happened to me. My life would be a lot better.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Susan Clancy is a Harvard psychiatrist who decided to do a research on people's abduction claims.
SUSAN CLANCY, HARVARD RESEARCHER: When I ran the first ad, looking for people who thought they had been abducted by aliens, I thought we would get very few calls. But we were inundated with calls for a month after we ran one ad.
TUCHMAN: The ads were for subjects who wanted to be included in her new book about people who believe they were kidnapped by aliens. But Clancy has determined she is not a believer. CLANCY: So, people have symptoms like psychological distress, anxiety, sexual problems, nightmares. And, for better or for worse, today, being abducted by aliens is a culturally available explanation for why you might have some of these symptoms.
TUCHMAN (on camera): With all the reported alien abductions, you might think there would be one high-quality photograph or videotape that would indisputably show aliens in action. Until that happens, most people will have their doubts, but not all people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I said, I don't know what you're talking about.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Clayton remains convinced this scar is a remnant of an experimental operation to collect his DNA. Donna believes a fetus was taken from her body.
(on camera): Is it possible -- possible -- that you just have a vivid imagination and that this really didn't happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I mean, I have a vivid imagination, but I know it happened.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): And they both say they expect to be abducted again at any time.
Gary Tuchman, CNN Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: So do the walls really have ears? Can what you say be used against you even if you whisper it to a friend? Well, in the next hour of LIVE FROM, we're going to try to shed more light on the U.S. government's top secret surveillance of U.S. citizens inside the U.S. A former U.S. spy chief is appalled but defenders say knowledge is power on the war on terror. LIVE FROM continues right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The French did it. Now the British want to go one step further. Surgeons in Britain want to transplant an entire face. The French operation was a partial transplant. ITV's Lawrence McGinty has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE MCGINTY, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): They're not quite laying out the instruments yet, but surgeons here are already taking the initial steps to carrying out Britain's first face transplant. They've already done it on the computer. Peter Butler -- he's the one on the right, swapped his face with his assistant's. Now it's for real and they have to find the right patients.
PETER BUTLER, PLASTIC SURGEON: What we have at this stage is approval to actually start to use the selection criteria which we developed from a surgery and psychology point of view on actual patients seeking facial transplantation. So that's the stage we're at.
MCGINTY: Their plans have been accelerated after the success of the transplant on Isabel Denoir (ph) in France two weeks ago. Hers was a partial transplant but doctors here believe the results were stunning. However, experts say there are still ethical and psychological problems in face transplants.
RAANAN GILLON, PROFESSOR OF MEDICAL ETHICS: People I think will be particularly concerned that there might actually be more harm than benefit in this sort of operation.
And the reasons for that are both harms for the patient and harms for friends and loved ones of the donor. As far as the patient is concerned, because it's quite a shock to the identity to have somebody else's face.
MCGINTY: That's why, Peter Butler told me, his team's first step will be to carefully assess potential patients, physically and psychologically.
BUTLER: Once we've found patients that have come through the psychological, surgical screening criteria, the next stage is an educational process in order to inform them in regards to the potential risk. And the key risk is around immunosuppression. These drugs you have to take to prevent rejection of the foreign tissue. And they have a lifelong risk of certain medical problems.
MCGINTY: The risks are real enough, but surgeons expect patients will come forward, nevertheless, and they expect to be carrying it out in the next year.
Lawrence McGinty, ITV News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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