Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Dozens of Bodies Found in Baqubah; U.S. to Take Back Seat, Let Iraqis Quell Violence; White House Makes Recommendations for Fixing Hurricane Response; Superiors Unaware of Port Decision Made by Staffers; Maid Bars Part of Japanese Geek Culture

Aired February 23, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

(AUDIO GAP)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... not that were on leave were called back to duty today. This began a three-day mourning period. It was a national holiday today. Curfews, as well, have been expected, but for Iraqis, for the most part, there is huge uncertainty as to what comes next -- Fredricka.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: And Aneesh, in Baqubah, a problem of another sort: 42 bodies found. What's the story there?

RAMAN: Yes, the details still coming in to us. North of the capitol, in Baqubah today, Iraqi police found 42 bodies. They came under fire. We're told they were factory workers. There were four vehicles that fired upon them. The bodies were dumped on the roadside. Their identities still right now are unknown, as is whether these latest -- whether this gruesome discovery fits in with the sectarian strife we've seen erupting in the past 24 hours -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Aneesh Raman in Baghdad, thank you so much.

Well, in the other very significant conflict in Iraq, more American troops have been killed. CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, indeed, more IED attacks, more U.S. troops being killed over the last couple of days. Now, publicly, of course, everyone from President Bush, through top officials here at the Pentagon, calling for calm amidst this latest violence, but make no mistake, senior U.S. military commanders are concerned, very concerned, as the violent attacks continue across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. RICK LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: We're also concerned about the killings that we have seen. We've seen a Sunni imam killed in Basra. And we've seen a Sunni imam killed up the center of Baghdad. And we've seen a Sunni sheikh killed and his son kidnapped in the vicinity (ph) here by Baghdad.

(END VIDEO CLIP) STARR: General Lynch pointing to the map to really emphasize the point that they are now seeing these violent attacks in parts of the country that they had not seen before.

Now as for U.S. troops, Fredricka, expect to see them take a fairly low-profile publicly in this period of violence in Iraq. The word is that they will try to keep the face of U.S. troops off the streets so they don't incite or spark any more violence. They will be there, they will be present, but don't expect to see U.S. military convoys moving around in a very public fashion.

The feeling by U.S. commanders is they need to see Iraqi security forces get this under control. That will provide the most credibility to the people of Iraq. They want to see this brought under control, they tell us, over the next 24 to 48 hours, commanders characterizing all of this as a very fundamental test of the ability of Iraq to hold together as a unified country, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Barbara, so as the U.S. doesn't want to be conveyed or in any way interpreted as taking sides in all of this. Meantime, the infiltration of militia groups in some of the Iraqi police forces, how much of a concern is that for the U.S.?

STARR: You know, over the last several weeks what we have heard is commanders, U.S. military commanders express increasing concern about this. And even the U.S. ambassador talking about the sectarian violence, the militia movement.

The concern is this: it is the interior ministry in Iraq that essentially controls many of the police forces and security forces across the country, not the Iraqi army, but these police forces. And over the last many weeks, growing concern that they are infiltrated by militia groups. They are infiltrated by groups that are loyal to particular segments of Iraqi society, especially in the Shia community, that they are not loyal to a unified national government in Iraq.

And what the U.S. has been trying to do is step up the training of these police forces across Iraq, trying to get them shifted to the loyalty towards a national government.

But a lot of concern that it's really time running out. They have seen infiltration by militias. They have seen alleged death squads operating across the country. So a lot of concern that really all this is coming together.

But the hope, the hope is that at this point the Iraqis can rapidly get this under control, because the worst case scenario, they say, is that U.S. troops would have to take to the street and bring it under control themselves, and at this point nobody thinks that that is a plausible scenario. It would not be what anyone would want to see happen, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Made a whole lot more dangerous for everyone. All right. Thanks so much, Barbara Starr from the Pentagon. More fallout today from Hurricane Katrina. The White House issued an urgent call to action to all levels of government involved in disaster relief almost six months after Katrina came ashore. The administration identified a wide array of government failures that need to be fixed before the next disaster hits.

CNN's Bob Franken is traveling with President Bush and joins us now from Mishawaka, Indiana -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's easier to say South Bend, I think, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I'll stick with that then.

FRANKEN: And that's -- that's where the president just finished making his speed to a Republican fund-raiser. But as you pointed out, he received, this morning, the report from the person he assigned to put together this report, Frances Fragos Townsend, and she went through the litany of failures that followed Hurricane Katrina, including inexperience, a lack of leadership, a lack of discipline, all kinds of red tape, a lack of coordination.

Came up with recommendations that -- actually 125 specific ones. Possibly the most notable would be a tighter coordination with the United States military when you have some sort of natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina. Much tighter coordination between the departments of defense and the Department of Homeland Security. As a matter of fact, establishing a national operations center.

The president is quite mindful of the fact these have to be implemented immediately, because hurricane season is less than four months away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will learn from the lessons of the past to better protect the American people. We have made a strong commitment to people in the Gulf Coast, and we honor that commitment, as well. The report helps us anticipate how to better respond to future disasters. In the meantime our commitment to rebuild and help rebuild Mississippi and Louisiana is ongoing and robust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: The report pointed out that one of the big problems was the lack of coordination, what -- called bickering between various levels of government, state and local government, the federal government, between the agencies of each government, including the federal government. It is a condition that must be corrected, said the report's author, a condition that is just prevalent in the bureaucracy, called "red tape."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR HOMELAND SECURITY: The one thing that the government tends to be best at is red tape, but what we know is when we're fighting a deadly hurricane or a terrorist threat, red tape can no longer be tolerated or accepted. So we need to rewrite the national response plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: And of course, there's been a reaction from the Democrats to this report. It's encapsulated by the comment that nothing in this report was a surprise, that the response to the Hurricane Katrina was a failure -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so, Bob, after all of this, what's the feeling on where the president stands politically?

FRANKEN: Well, the Hurricane Katrina came at a period of time when the president really was hit very hard with a bunch of political setbacks, and we still see that he's become vulnerable to that kind of blindsiding. We see, for instance, the issue of port security that has surprised everybody in Washington, certainly the president.

But here he is at a fund-raiser drawing big crowds. And although there's been some speculation that the fund-raisers now are seeing a little bit of a drop in demand, because not so many Republicans want to be seen with the president, the White House says that there are many more requests than the president can fill, that he's still popular among his fellow Republicans -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Bob Franken, thanks so much, from somewhere near South Bend, Indiana. All right, thanks a lot.

Well, another contentious issue that the White House is dealing with involves the U.S. ports. Quote, "People don't need to worry about security." Those words from President Bush today, as he tried to calm the uproar over the Dubai ports deal.

Despite his assurances, though, the controversy remains front and center on Capitol Hill as senators debate the wisdom of letting a Middle Eastern company take over management of six U.S. ports.

Critics say Dubai Ports World, based in the United Arab Emirates, could be susceptible to terrorist infiltration. But supporters of the deal say that's paranoia. Here's some of what was said at today's Senate Armed Services Committee briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: The president's threat to veto any legislation that even delays this sale, in order to give Congress more time to analyze it, shows how out of touch the administration is with the public's and Congress's legitimate concerns about the vulnerabilities of our ports. It also demonstrates presidential disdain for outside views in general, and congressional views in particular.

GORDAN ENGLAND, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: The terrorists want us -- they want our nation to become distrustful. They want us to become paranoid and isolationist. And my view is we cannot allow this to happen. It needs to be just the opposite. So the Department of Defense, again, Senator, did this review, in depth and comprehensive, and of course, we were only one part of all the agencies. But I believe we did this fully in compliance with the law and our responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So here's a question. Who approved the port deal in the first place? A group that almost nobody has heard about, which looks at information they can't tell us about, and makes decisions hardly anyone ever asks about, except this time.

Here's CNN senior national correspondent John Roberts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ports acquisition was a process guarded by secrecy. So who signed off on the deal? CNN has learned the two main players on the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States were Stuart Baker from the Department of Homeland Security and the Treasury Department's Clay Lowery. And yes, they feel stunned by the enormous backlash.

(on camera) You know the way that this is being portrayed. Who are the dunderheads who made this decision? Does that perception trouble you?

CLAY LOWERY, TREASURY DEPARTMENT: I think it does, to a degree, I mean, as one, I guess, the lead dunderheads.

ROBERTS (voice-over): Lowery stands fully behind the decision, and the people who vetted it. Many of the, he insists, experts whose sole day to day concern is national security.

LOWERY: Why is it that would they change what they do every single day because of one single transaction? They didn't do that.

ROBERTS: The pending sale of terminal operations at six East Coast ports has thrown new scrutiny on the process and whether the committee, formed during the Cold War, operates within the new realities of the war on terror.

Clark Kent Ervin, former inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security and a CNN analyst, believes CFIUS, as it's called, is sorely in need of reform.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, DHS: If treaties and trade agreements are in important enough to require congressional approval, it seems to me that the sale or acquisition of a key strategic asset in the age of terror likewise requires congressional sign-off.

ROBERTS: Ervin isn't the only one who has problems with CFIUS. Last September, the Government Accountability Office issued a report critical of the committee's narrow definition of what constitutes a threat to national security. It also faulted the "opaque nature" of the process, limiting information provided to Congress.

Lowery says the committee's deliberations have to be secret to protect proprietary corporate information. And unless there is a national security concern, which in this case he insists there wasn't, there's no need to notify Congress or even the president.

LOWERY: The president, not knowing about it, is -- shouldn't shock people in that there's a number of transactions that happen every year. I believe there was 65 last year.

ROBERTS: In fact, we learned today, Lowery's boss, the secretary of the treasury, was in the dark until after the deal had been signed off on. That staffers made such a sensitive decision and without involving their see superiors, say critics, is a troubling sign of creeping complacency in the war on terror.

ERVIN: I think America, frankly, is in danger of having gone back to sleep. Because we haven't been attacked in five years, we're beginning to assume, whether we're conscious of it or not, that we're never going to be attacked again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that was John Roberts.

Well, new bird flu fears in France, where health officials take charge at a turkey farm. Have wild birds passed along the infection? LIVE FROM has the latest report straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Feel like it's been raining forever in parts of the South. But not out in New Mexico, where they're close to announcing a record-setting winter, the driest in Albuquerque history. Let's check in with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras on this drought out west.

And what a strange time of year to be talking about drought.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Winter is definitely back. All right, thanks a lot, Jacqui.

Well, today could mark a milestone in the abortion battle. South Dakota's legislature may take final action to ban almost all abortions. The South Dakota Senate approved the measure yesterday. But since it's slightly different from the version that passed the house, the house needs to vote again.

If passed and signed by the governor, it will be one of the nation's toughest abortion restrictions. And a clear challenge to Roe v. Wade. It would mean doctors who perform abortions in South Dakota could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison. There would be an exception in cases where a woman's life is in danger. But there would be no exceptions for rape or incest. South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds is a longtime abortion opponent. New bird flu fears in France, where authorities seal off a turkey farm that may be infected by the H5N1 virus. Testing is under way. And all the turkeys that haven't died already are marked for slaughter.

France happens to be the largest poultry-producing nation in the European Union, and since last week, though its poultry sales have plunged at least 25 percent -- and that's before any news that domestic birds may be infected. That news comes a day before E.U. health ministers meet in Vienna to talk strategy and eat poultry, in a signal to consumers that E.U. standards make poultry safe.

Outrage or just outrageous, a little kitsch in the kitchen from Tokyo where the servers wear mouse ears and the plates are decorated with ketchup cartoons. What? This cafe doesn't cater to kiddies. You're order's up when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, now to Japan and a booming business in something called maid cafes. Think geisha combined with "I Dream of Genie" and a dash of Hazel thrown in for good measure. CNN's Atika Shubert has more on a concept that is certainly not a feminist cup of tea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Welcome home, master." That's the high pitched greeting of At Home Cafe, the latest trend in Japan where waitresses wear starched, often skimpy maid outfits serving you hand and foot, sometimes on their knees.

The star attraction is not the waitresses. It's the customers. Maid cafes are a hang out for otaku, a Japanese word best translated as "geek," social misfits obsessed with electronics, online games and comic book characters.

Here otaku, are waited on by their comic book fantasies. For $10, you get an omelet topped with hearts and sweet nothings written in ketchup. For $5 more, you get three minutes of game time with maids.

Turns out, otaku are voracious consumers with lots of spending power.

(on camera) Consider this: the so-called otaku economy includes everything from computers to electronics and online gaming. And of course, comics and comic related business like maid cafes, all amounting to an estimated $4 billion industry.

(voice-over) Otaku have hit the mainstream. There are now more than 30 maid cafes and salons. Nearly half the customers here are grown women with their far from geeky dates. There is a 30 minute tape for a table.

Some customers try hard to be otaku -- mismatched plaid shirts, thick glasses -- even though this customer doesn't need them. An overstuffed backpack completes the outfit for a photo with his favorite maid.

Call it geek pride. This customer spends every afternoon at maid cafes, because he says the girls are pretty, obedient and appreciate otaku.

"Otakus are a force to be reckoned with," he says. "Think of your mobile phone. There wouldn't be any without electronic otaku. That's the value of otaku. Coming here is like brushing my teeth and taking a bath; it's just natural."

The maids themselves are raised on comics, and they seem happy to play the part and stroke the otaku ego for a good wage.

"I'm so happy that the masters are enjoying themselves," this waitress says. "It's very worthwhile work."

With an attitude like that, who wouldn't want to be otaku for a day?

Atika Shubert, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, the argument over new bankruptcy laws continues. A group of lawyers says that tougher laws have actually hurt people who have legitimate reasons to file.

Susan Lisovicz has that report. She's standing by at the New York Stock Exchange.

Good to see you, Susan.

(STOCK 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