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Bush in South Asia; Iraq on the Brink of Civil War?; Northwest Airlines Reaches Deal With Flight Attendants

Aired March 01, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: From a fledgling democracy to the world's biggest democracy, President Bush made a surprise stop today in Afghanistan before moving on to India. The official welcomes were warm. Not so on the unofficial welcome in the Indian capital.
Tens of thousands, mostly Muslims, exercised their democratic rights by taking to the streets before Mr. Bush's arrival. Many shouted, "Death to Bush! And Bully Bush, go home!" Similar protests were held in other cities.

Our Suzanne Malveaux is travelling with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Bush is in New Delhi, India, where he is promoting strengthening the ties between the United States and India, specifically in dealing with military exercises, trade, and a possible nuclear energy deal. But before arriving, he took an important detour when he made a surprise trip to Afghanistan. It was his first visit there since the U.S. invasion and the fall of the Taliban.

There, President Bush met with his counterpart, Afghan president Hamid Karzai. It comes as a critical time for both leaders. Karzai is facing a deteriorating security situation in his country, as al Qaeda and other terrorist elements step up their attacks. Karzai is desperately seeking more international support.

President Bush is trying to reassure the U.S.' commitment to that fledgling democracy while looking to draw down U.S. troops later this year. At the same time, four years since al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban chief, Mullah Omar, thrived there, they are still on the loose. Mr. Bush was confronted with that when he faced the press.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am confident he will be brought to justice. What's -- what's happening is that we've got U.S. forces on the hunt for not only bin Laden, but anybody who plots and plans with bin Laden.

MALVEAUX: The president also visited with some 600 U.S. troops stationed at the Bagram Air Force Base to give them a pep talk.

Now, looking ahead to his agenda in India, of course, President Bush tried to downplay the significance of getting a possible deal with India when it comes to nuclear energy. The negotiators are basically working on that up until the very last minute.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, New Delhi, India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now we wanted to take a look at trade relations between the U.S. and India and see just how many jobs American companies have sent there.

Here's what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Trade between the U.S. and India totaled more than $25 billion in 2005. But there's an imbalance.

The U.S. buys twice as many goods from India as it sells there. That's a trade gap that has grown substantially during the last decade.

Analysts say U.S. companies have moved about 500,000 American jobs to India. And that number is expected to triple in the next two years. Whether it's data entry, call center staffing, or research and development, an astonishing number of U.S. firms employ workers in India, companies ranging from Cisco Systems to General Electric and Home Depot.

The primary reason for the outsourcing trend, labor is much cheaper in India. While the average annual income is around $42,000 in the United States, it is only about $737 a year in India. Reports indicate U.S. companies can save as much as 50 percent in costs by having work done in India rather than the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The attacks keep coming. The morgues keep filling up. And the fears keep growing by the day that Iraq is on the brink of an all-out civil war.

CNN's Arwa Damon has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the last 24 hours, scores of Iraqis have been killed and hundreds wounded in attacks across Baghdad. Attacks that seemed to have shattered any hope Iraqis may have had that things were coming under control.

Around noon on Wednesday, a car bomb killed over 20 and injured dozens more in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood, detonating on one of its busiest streets packed with people going to the shops, markets, mosques, visiting street vendors in the movie theater.

Trips to Al Baydot Street (ph) in the last two days have been deadly. Just the day before, a car bomb exploded in front of the post office just down the street from the site of Wednesday's blast. Four Iraqis were killed and 44 wounded.

Earlier on Tuesday, a bomb in central Baghdad at a crowded bus station killed three Iraqis and wounded seven.

Iraqi security forces have deployed all available troops as they struggle to gain control of the situation. Armored vehicles rolled through the streets in some neighborhoods.

While at the morgue, family members arrived to search through the bodies that keep piling up, looking for their loved ones, victims of bombings, assassinations, revenge killings by both Sunnis and Shias.

"Many disasters have happened during the past few days," says Sami Hussein (ph). "Group we do not know come to your house and take people. And you will never find them again."

Many have feared civil war since violence has escalated in the aftermath of the bombing of the Al Askaria Mosque, a Shia holy site in Sunni-dominated Samarra. Over 300 Iraqis have been killed in Baghdad alone since that attack on February 22.

(on camera): It's tough to tell who is behind the violence, whether it's insurgent attacks, sectarian killings or extremists just looking to inflame the situation. But for Iraqis, what matters most is, when will this cycle of destruction and chaos come to an end?

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And as they try to keep their country from tearing apart, Iraqis are also trying Saddam Hussein and seven of -- seven, rather, of his cronies. But the former Iraqi president says only one person belongs at the defense table: himself.

Hussein was a bit more jovial in court today, even after prosecutors laid out some harsh evidence against him, including death warrants he allegedly signed during a 1982 crackdown in a Shiite village. Hussein says he should face the charges alone, but insists he did nothing wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SADDAM HUSSEIN, FMR. IRAQI DICTATOR (through translator): Saddam Hussein is telling you that he is a responsible -- responsible. So do you think I'm going to deny responsibility or rely on others? Saddam is going to take responsibility. It's a critical time, and Saddam is not going to duck his responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hussein says the crackdown was legal since it followed an attempt to assassinate him. He asked the court, "Where is the crime?" The trial has been adjourned until March 12.

Meantime, Hussein now goes back to prison, but he knows all too well what's happening on the outside. In the courtroom today, he pleaded for Iraqi unity amid an eruption of sectarian violence. His message, don't fight one another because you have a common enemy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSSEIN (through translator): Our interest is to be united: religions, nationalities, creeds. We should all be united against the invasion. Apart from that, we all have our own take on the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Hussein was told of the latest violence in a seven-hour meeting with his lawyer this week.

And this just in, a deal reached between Northwest flight attendants and the airlines.

Susan Lisovicz has more from New York.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Well, we told you an hour ago what a critical time this is for the flight attendants and the pilots union at Northwest Airlines. Now CNN has confirmed that a tentative agreement has been reached with negotiators for the flight attendants on a package of pay cuts with the airline. We have no details yet on the extent of those pay cuts, and the flight attendants have not yet voted on this agreement.

Meanwhile, talks continue with the pilots union. This is a critical time for both unions, because a bankruptcy court had imposed a Wednesday deadline for negotiators on both sides to reach an agreement. If not, the court itself could void the contract and impose new terms. And obviously, that is something that neither union wanted.

So talks continue with the pilots union. Northwest Airlines, of course, continues to operate under bankruptcy protection, and it says it needs hundreds of millions of dollars in additional pay cuts in order to return it to profitability -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan. Thank you so much.

All ashore for hundreds of New Orleans first responders. Two cruise ships that had been home to police and firefighters and their families since Hurricane Katrina left port today.

Buses picked up the former passengers. FEMA says they will have a place to live, but some may have to stay in hotels for a while. The Police Foundation of New Orleans worries many officers may look for work elsewhere.

For some Katrina survivors, home is made of canvas and life seems like a never-ending, nightmarish camping trip.

CNN's Randi Kaye paid a visit to The Village in coastal Mississippi. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like the dozens of tents here, Tent F9 is a temporary, simple shelter. But what to do with the mother and daughter who live in it is anything but simple.

(on camera): Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Step inside, ma'am.

KAYE: How are you? May I come in?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KAYE: I'm Randi Kaye with CNN.

(voice-over): For months, Doloris King, who is 76, her daughter, Deborah, who is 50, their three Chihuahuas and a cockatiel named Tweety Bird, have lived in this tent city called The Village. The Navy built it, the city runs it and FEMA pays the bills, at least for now.

(on camera): The Village is made up of 74 tents. At one point there were more than 200 people living here. These days, it's down to 83.

Now the tents are actually bigger than FEMA trailers. They measure 16 by 32 feet. Up to four people can live inside each one.

Compare your house, if you would, before the storm to life in this tent.

DOLORIS KING, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: Lord, have mercy! I had a bedroom. I had a living room. I had a kitchen. I had a washroom.

KAYE: Pretty different?

KING: Yes. I had a ramp to go up and down to my mailbox, you know.

KAYE (voice-over): It was far better than life in The Village.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) what is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something.

KAYE: Here there is a daycare tent, a laundry tent, a medical clinic, a meal tent, even a school bus stop for The Village. But the tents have no windows or kitchens or bathrooms. There are only outdoor sinks and shared restrooms. (on camera): What is it like for you to have to share restrooms and showers with people you've never even met?

DEBORAH LEWIS, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: Like I go to the restroom and somebody will try to get in. And like the showers over there, you know, you never know if somebody's coming in. You try to hurry up. And at home, it's a lot different, you feel more safe.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Pass Christian, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, Doloris King has been approved for a FEMA trailer, but her daughter is still waiting. FEMA officials called Debbie Lewis after she spoke with CNN and promised she'll have her trailer within the week.

Coming up on LIVE FROM, what are we doing right and what are we doing wrong in the global battle against bird flu? An expert weighs in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Where bird flu goes trouble follows. In Cairo, Egypt, where the virus was founds two weeks ago, hundreds of angry poultry workers hit the streets to protest government orders to shut their shops. The workers say their business has collapsed and with no human cases in Egypt they should be allowed to reopen.

In Europe, news that the deadly virus killed a German cat sparks fear among pet lovers. France's prime minister is asking cat owners to keep their pets from straying into flu-infected areas, but Germany makes it an order. Owners who don't lock up their cats or leash their dogs risk fines as high as $12,000.

And are you the kind of person who insists on dragging yourself to work even when you feel lousy? Well, don't, especially if there is a flu pandemic.

The government is warning U.S. employers to plan now. Estimates say a pandemic could affect 40 percent of the U.S. workforce. Advisers also say businesses need to start rewarding people for staying home when they are sick.

And although bird flu still doesn't pass from person to person, concern grows with each new outbreak. Right now, scientists in the Bahamas are checking out a rash of flamingo deaths to see whether bird flu is to blame.

Laurie Garrett, who wrote "The Coming Plague," has been tracking the path of bird flu. She joins me now from Madison, Wisconsin.

Good to see you, Laurie.

LAURIE GARRETT, GLOBAL HEALTH EXPERT: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Well, what is the world doing right and what is the world doing wrong when it comes to bird flu?

GARRETT: Certain things we're doing wrong include spending billions of dollars to build up stockpiles of drugs that probably will not work, that actually may worsen the situation because people become sort of partially virally suppressed, so they feel well enough to go staggering to the office and infect all their co-workers, but they're still carrying the virus.

We're spending a lot of money on a lot of things that may pay out five or 10 years from now. What we're not doing are some pretty cheap things that are right at the front line.

I'm very pleased to hear the government announcing that employers should take a look at their human resources and sick leave policies. That's absolutely crucial. And that doesn't cost taxpayers any money. It's just get in there and do it.

Another example is we need to be tracking the wild birds that are the carriers, and tracking them in wiser ways.

WHITFIELD: So watching the migration -- watching the migration, you say, is one of those cost-effective ways in which to determine where this virus just might be traveling to next?

GARRETT: Exactly, because we know that among the predominant, if not primary, ways this virus is getting around the world from birds to birds is on these -- inside these migrating ducks and geese and key species of birds that travel thousands of miles. We need to have a vast network of bird watchers, amateur and professional. We need to bring ornithologists in.

We need climate experts who can talk about how the migratory patterns are being affected by weather so that we can be on top of it, predict where it's coming next. Is it coming into Alaska? Is it coming from Russia via northern Canada, down the Eastern Seaboard on the bird migration paths? And be ahead of the virus, taking...

WHITFIELD: Well, why are you convinced these things are not being done?

GARRETT: They're simply not being done for a lot of reasons. One, there's some debate among certain scientists about whether or not the migratory contribution is that significant. I think that we can dismiss it, but there it is.

And also, a lot of governments are very, very slow to respond. It's not until they have a big outbreak that suddenly, wow, we've got to do something. Well, we can't afford to be that way in North America.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of which, you know, what is this that you are calling the tipping point? And there is some blame being placed on a particular government, right, that didn't seem to respond quickly enough or tell the rest of the world about it?

GARRETT: China. We know that most flues originate in China. It is a Chinese virus. And it's taken a long time for the Chinese leadership to accept that.

We know there was a massive outbreak that occurred around this giant lake in central China, Lake Qinghai, and that there were huge die-offs of all kinds of species of birds. The virus mutated at that point. That was last May. And the entire explosive spread that we have seen around the world since was as a result of what happened at Lake Qinghai in China. And the Chinese were very slow to respond.

WHITFIELD: Now, when you talk about the use of bird watchers to help track some of these animals, some other suggestions have been that chickens, for example, or other poultry, need to be kept inside on certain farms during certain migration periods. Perhaps a couple of countries that you cite as doing this well, Sweden and the Netherlands, they are leading by example.

GARRETT: Right.

WHITFIELD: If it's so simple, then why is it other countries are not jumping on the bandwagon and saying, they're doing it right, let's do what they're doing?

GARRETT: Well, think of it this way. If you're sitting in government leadership in, let's say, South Africa, you may think it's premature to issue such an edict that all the poultry should be brought indoors, pets, cats, dogs, indoors when there's been no sighting of bird flu in your country yet.

But if you are monitoring the migratory birds, you may know when those birds are appearing in countries to your north, and then you put out that word. Then you put out that call.

It would be premature right now probably in the United States to say bring all your animals indoors. But if we started seeing infected migratory bids in Alaska and northern Canada, then I'm sure our government will begin to talk about such measures.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps this kind of monitoring, I guess, out of all those options, perhaps it might be feasible in certain mainstream areas. But when you're talking about rural or hard to reach, far removed places, where poultry is very much a part of the culture or the lifestyle, how could it possibly be policed?

GARRETT: It's extremely difficult. This is the point.

Once it gets to the level where you have already got widespread distribution of virus in poultry populations, then, indeed, you are going to get resistance. As you just reported from Egypt, as we saw in Turkey, as we've seen all over Nigeria, Niger, every part of the world where poor farmers at subsistence level are raising chickens and ducks, it's tremendously difficult to get their cooperation because their livelihood is on the line.

What you want to do is be ahead of that game. But also, pretty cheap things can be offered as potential solutions to those farmers, like nets that they can put over their chicken areas so that wild birds can't land near them and infect their birds.

WHITFIELD: To kind of contain them.

Laurie Garrett, author of "The Coming Plague," joining us from Madison, Wisconsin.

Thanks so much for your time today.

GARRETT: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead, you can call it comic. You can call it tragic. But don't call it over.

That long-running, hard-swinging Texas redistricting fight has made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and it could have a national impact. A blow-by-blow account coming up on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A federal judge refused today to order an investigation into the deal giving an Arab firm control of management at six U.S. ports. The judge denied a request by the state of New Jersey, noting the Bush administration has already reopened its own investigation into security implications of the deal.

The judge also refused to let the state see federal documents linked to the sale. The Newark Port is among the six to be managed by Dubai Ports World based in and owned by the United Arab Emirates.

Well, Democrats went into hiding. The cops tried to hunt them down. And when it was all over, Republicans picked up six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

We're talking about the no-holds-barred battle in Texas three years ago when Congressman Tom DeLay and other Republicans decided to remap that state's congressional districts. As it turns out, the fight isn't over. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing two hours of arguments today on whether the Republican-drawn remap was illegal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice over): It was a knock-down, bare knuckles Texas political fight with national overtones, and it's not done yet. Most states redraw their congressional districts every 10 years based on population data from the latest census. That's what Texas did after the 2000 census.

At the time, Democrats held a majority of the seats in the Texas legislature, as well as a majority of the seats in the Texas delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. Then things changed.

In the 2002 election, Republicans won control of the Texas legislature, and they didn't like the congressional districts drawn during Democrat days. They wanted a new map.

Democrats didn't give in easily. Hoping to deny the Republicans a quorum, many Democratic legislators went on the lam to avoid voting. They hunkered down in out-of-state hotels as Republicans back in Austin called out the Texas Rangers to track down foot-loose legislators. Republican Congressman Tom DeLay asked the Federal Aviation Administration for help tracking an alleged Democratic getaway plane. The House Ethics Committee later admonished him for that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There being 17 ayes and 14 nays.

WHITFIELD: Back in Texas, the Republicans eventually prevailed and the Texas legislature voted to approve a new map. The Democrats went to court, but the 2004 election was conducted under the new map. Republicans gained six seats, winning control of the Texas delegation to the House of Representatives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: U.S. Supreme Court arguments center on whether states can revise their congressional maps twice in a single decade, whether the new map amounts to gerrymandering and whether it violates the rights of minority voters. The court is expected to rule in June.

Renewed fears about the safety of the key arthritis drug, but it's not Vioxx this time. Celebrex is in the spotlight.

Susan Lisovicz joins us now from the New York Stock Exchange again.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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