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Al-Zarqawi's Death Leaves Power Vacuum for Al Qaeda; DeLay's Last Day
Aired June 09, 2006 - 13:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Al-Zarqawi's death leaves a power vacuum for al Qaeda, but how much power he really held and how the group will regroup after his death, nobody one really knows yet. Eric Margolis has some ideas. He's a journalist and terror analyst. He joins me live from Toronto.
Eric, I guess, first I want to get you to response that piece Daniel Sieberg did. Is the Internet the new Afghanistan?
ERIC MARGOLIS, JOURNALIST/TERROR ANALYST: Well, I don't know if it's Afghanistan, but it's certainty -- Muslim militants have become extremely media savvy. Now it started with Imam Khomeini, who was sort of a medievalist during the Iranian Revolution when he handed out videotapes -- I am sorry audio tapes, 1979, and now the Internet has become the main channel, because these extremist groups can't get in the mainstream media, but they found a new way to communicate and link together.
PHILLIPS: Are training camps passe?
MARGOLIS: I think they're very passe. We always fuss a great deal about training camps in Afghanistan. But really to put together a group of militants -- and most warfare these days is urban -- all you need is a big rumpus room, or a garage or a parking lot.
PHILLIPS: You're from the Canadian area. I know you tracked terrorist activity there, even the alleged activity that might be growing. We've been talking about it on the news. Give us a reality check. We saw the arrest that took place there. Hat's off to Canadian officials. We talked about it. We aired it over and over. Is this a one-time situation? Or is this an issue here?
MARGOLIS: I think it's a one-time situation. And I think it's been somewhat exaggerated out of proportion. You know, most of these were 19-year-old kids with more hormones than brains and too much times on their hands, and there may have been a few real genuine wanna-be terrorists, but most of these guys were sort of couch Rambos who were just talking and communicating with each other, and with people abroad through the Internet, and that's how the police came onto them, and they were rounded up. Nevertheless it's a huge big deal for Canada. Something like this has never happened before, and the Canadians are trying to use this as a way of showing the United States that they're taking effective action against world terrorism.
PHILLIPS: Why has this never happened before? What is it that Canada is doing that hasn't allowed for this? MARGOLIS: Canada's a very working, multiethnic society. In fact, Toronto is the most multiethnic city in the world, and Canadians have adopted a very good policies where there's very little racial or ethnic tension in this country, and they've tried to keep groups that have come in numerical ambulance. But we've seen very little militants in Canada. What sparked it was the dispatch of 2,300 Canadian troops to Afghanistan to go and fight alongside the U.S. troops there. This has caused outrage among some Muslims in Canada, though I must say the majority are more outraged than Muslims will take any violent action such as what's been alleged.
PHILLIPS: Well, because of that combat support in Afghanistan, does it make Canada a target?
MARGOLIS: Yes, it does. Canada was never on anybody's radar scope before. Americans used to secure the border in the middle of the summer with skis. No one really knew where it was. But now it is very on the militant group's radar scope, because Canadians have gone into the most militarily active zone in Afghanistan.
PHILLIPS: Well, with these arrests that were made recently, I guess the question came up, is the U.S. monitoring the wrong border? We have been talking so much about the border states here, and talking about Mexico, and then we saw these arrests in Canada. You're saying you think it's a one-hit wonder. So really does the Canadian border need to be an issue for the U.S.?
MARGOLIS: No, I don't think so. I speak as a American who's frequently in Canada. I can tell you, the Canadians are doing just a good job of monitoring their borders, if not slightly better, than the Americans. And I say slightly better, because look at America's southern border, where millions of illegal are pouring across every year, and we have no idea who's coming across.
If I were a terrorist, I wouldn't go to Montreal, try to sneak south; I'd fly to Juarez or Guadalajara and just drive north or walk north.
So no, Canada's not a haven for terrorists, and it's doing a very, very good policing.
PHILLIPS: Eric Margolis, thanks so much.
Now I always ask you this at end of every interview, because you're always working on another book, what's next.
MARGOLIS: I'm working on a book about my adventures across 30 years in different dark and dangerous parts the world. It's called "Dinner With Papa Doc."
PHILLIPS: I look forward to that. We'll be talking about it when it's published. Thanks, Eric.
MARGOLIS: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern on CNN, the world's most wanted, one name can now be stricken from that list. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead, but Osama bin Laden and his top deputy remain at-large. "CNN PRESENTS" profiles this trio of terror. This weekend, 8:00 p.m., "The World's Most Wanted," only on CNN.
Saturday and 7:00 Eastern, Wolf Blitzer hosts "Iraq: A Week at War." CNN's team of correspondents around the world bring you the only in depth look at major events in the war on terror: the strike on al-Zarqawi in Iraq, the new tape from Al-Zawahiri, and an alleged plot foiled in Canada. CNN's Wolf Blitzer host "Iraq: A Week at War" Saturday night, 7:00 p.m., only here on CNN.
(NEWSBREAK)
PHILLIPS: Democrats won't have Tom DeLay to on kick around anymore, at least not on Capitol Hill. Today is the former House Majority Leader's last day in Congress. And true his reputation, DeLay was anything but warm and fuzzy in his farewell speech. His parting shot at the liberals prompted about two dozen Democrats to walk out.
Here's CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, part the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Tom DeLay ends his two decade long Washington career in Tom DeLay fashion.
(on camera): What do you most regret?
REP. TOM DELAY (R), TEXAS: What do I -- I don't have any regrets.
CROWLEY: None? Not a single one?
DELAY: Not a single one.
CROWLEY (voice-over): He wielded power in the conservative cause, lost it in a blitz of unproven allegations and a Texas indictment on a campaign money laundering charge -- all untrue, he says, lies from political enemies.
DELAY: It's all about winning. And we win. They lose. And they don't like us. You know, the Democrats hate losing.
CROWLEY: Democrats have made DeLay the poster child for Republican corruption. By way of farewell, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called DeLay one of the most corrupt leaders in the history of Congress.
DELAY: Well, it says more about the -- Nancy Pelosi than about me. The hatred is amazing. CROWLEY: The significant chance that Democrats might retake the House has dampened Republican spirits as they head into fall elections. In a private goodbye, DeLay told colleagues to snap out of it.
DELAY: You've got to stand up strong against illegal immigration, stand up strong for fiscal responsibility, stand up strong against judicial activism and then talk about the future. And we'll -- we'll con -- we'll prove all the pundits in the national media wrong.
CROWLEY: They call this an exit interview. But DeLay wants it clear -- he's not leaving somewhere, so much as going elsewhere.
DELAY: I ought to be out helping elect Republicans, helping defeat the Democrats, talking about the conservative view and where we want to take the country.
CROWLEY: He's not sure if he'll ever run-for office again or exactly where he'll end up. But when he spoke on the House floor for the last time, Tom DeLay was headed the only direction he knows.
DELAY: And so with love and gratitude for friend and foe alike, patriots all, I yield back the floor of our beloved House and I exit, as always, stage right.
CROWLEY: Departure a la DeLay -- no retreat, baby, no surrender.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, in one of those ironies of politics, Democrats are fighting to keep DeLay's name on the November ballot. Texas Republicans nominated DeLay for another term in the House before he announced his resignation. Now GOP leaders want to name a replacement, but Texas Democrats have gotten a court order to stop them, at least temporarily. Democrats think that they can only benefit by keeping DeLay's name and his legal problems before the voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN COULTER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If you have a point to make, send out somebody who isn't a widow, who isn't an orphan, who didn't have a son die in Iraq, who didn't lose limbs in Vietnam to make the point so that we can respond. Because I don't want to hear when I respond, oh, that's mean. Oh, that's mean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: No apologies. Ann Coulter and the widows of 9/11, straight ahead. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, if you expected Ann Coulter to back down, you don't know Ann Coulter. The fiery conservative pundit is standing by her attack on a group of 9/11 widows who criticized President Bush.
In her latest book, Coulter writes that she's, quote, "never seen people enjoying their husband's death so much," unquote. On CNN's "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," Coulter denied her remarks were mean-spirited.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Do you really feel -- I'd just like to know, because you're a very bright lady. We have such important issues here.
COULTER: Yes.
DOBBS: And we have to go through the attacks and we have to go through the rancor.
COULTER: Yes, well, there a lot more attacks on one side than the other. And if you're describing what I say about the Jersey girls as reducing dialogue in America, au contraire! I think it is precisely the opposite. That is my objection of what liberals are doing by sending out victims as their spokespeople. I think it's the ugliest thing liberals have done to dialogue in the country.
Yes, there are important issues and we should discuss it. But if you have a point to make, send out somebody who isn't a widow, who isn't an orphan, who didn't have a son die in Iraq, who didn't lose limbs in Vietnam to make the point so that we could respond. Because I don't want to hear when I respond, oh, that's mean. Oh, that's mean. No, let's have a dialogue about the issues. You never see conservatives doing that. Liberals are putting up a human shield...
DOBBS: I never see conservatives doing what?
COULTER: Putting up human shields to make our points. Go ahead, attack me.
DOBBS: OK, I'll attack you.
COULTER: I'm here, I'm not queer, I'm not going away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And you can see "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," Monday through Friday, at 6:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Well, you don't need us to tell you gas prices are high, but you might not realize the full extent of the hardship being felt all over the country. CNN's Dan Lothian is in Eldridge, Iowa, as part of his weeklong series "Paying the Price in the Heartland."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Kyra, you know, last year, the school buses in this district traveled over 500,000 miles. You can imagine how much fuel that is. Well, because of that problem and other energy costs, some teachers are paying the price.
(voice-over): It's a math lesson learned the hard way. Thirty- four school bus routes covering 225 square miles. Factor in higher fuel costs and it all adds up to lay-offs in the classroom.
TIM DOSE, SUPT., NORTH SCOTT SCHOOL DISTRICT: It's just kind like the straw that broke the camel's back. It just has thrown our budget way out of balance.
LOTHIAN: The North Scott School District in Eldridge, Iowa, with its vast rural boundaries, roughly the size of Chicago, had already been struggling to make ends meet, when Superintendent Tim Dose says the unexpected happen.
DOSE: Our costs of fuel have gone up and up and up at a much higher rate, costing us much more money.
LOTHIAN: How much money? Sixty-six thousand dollars extra to fill up their buses. But there was more. Natural gas prices also spiked, costing the district an extra $150,000.
DOSE: When we put in the increases in the fuel costs, it really caused us this year to have to go to more drastic moves.
LOTHIAN: Like layoffs. At the end of April, 10 pink slips went out across the district. These three high school friends were shocked.
KAMI SNOWDEN, STUDENT, NORTH SCOTT HIGH SCHOOL: I couldn't believe that they had actually cut the teachers.
LESLIE BEERT, STUDENT, NORTH SCOTT HIGH SCHOOL: I think it was more upsetting at first to know that they would do that.
JULIE BADER, STUDENT, NORTH SCOTT HIGH SCHOOL: These teachers are very close with us. And I've had classes with almost all of them.
LOTHIAN: So they decided to act by co-writing this letter to the editor of the local paper. It reads, in part:
BADER: "The impact they have made on the students here is tremendous."
SNOWDEN: "It would be a huge loss for the students in the future not to have the opportunity..."
BEERT: ... "to experience the teaching and coaching styles of these particular people."
LOTHIAN: The letter was published shortly after students staged a brief walkout. But they couldn't undo the damage. The laid-off teachers did not want to talk, but their union president, who's also a teacher, had plenty to say.
(on camera): Are they angry? I mean, what's the sense?
STEVE MOHR, PRES., TEACHER'S UNION: I think betrayal is a good word.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): That's because, while the teachers understand that keeping these buses moving and keeping these rooms heated has gotten more expensive, they had hoped for other options.
MOHR: That they would have kept these people in the positions that they had. They would have found the money, in some way, shape or form to keep them.
LOTHIAN: Superintendent Dose says four of the pink-slipped teachers have been reabsorbed, after others quit and retired. And one position was reinstateed. But overall, the high cost of fuel will mean fewer teachers in the classroom for the district's 3,000 students.
DOSE: All our teachers are being forced to take on more teaching duties, probably larger classes. But definitely more teaching duties.
LOTHIAN (on camera): It is quite unusual that the school district is so large. The reason it's that way? City fathers set it up some decades ago. School officials are hoping that lawmakers will make some changes so that they can avoid these problems down the road -- Kyra?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Dan Lothian. And later on LIVE FROM, a final look at "Paying the Price in the Heartland." Dan visits an ethanol plant and talks with Iowans who says that ethanol is the answer to America's oil addiction. That's on 3:00 Eastern hour of LIVE FROM. You can see more Dan's reports on "AMERICAN MORNING," every morning starting at 6:00 Eastern.
Two friends united by illness, each hoping for a cure, a gift that could only come from another family's loss. The men each needed a kidney and each man got one. And as we hear now from Lauri Martin of CNN affiliate KKTV in Colorado Springs, both kidneys came from the same donor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAURI MARTIN, KKTV REPORTER (voice-over): It's the moment Cindy Arndt has been waiting for. You see, last December, her long-time partner Bob Thomas (ph) suddenly died, and she donated his organs. Now, Cindy and Bob's mom Pat (ph) are meeting two friends from New York who each received one of Bob's kidneys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice to meet you.
MARTIN: In their first trip since their transplants, Fred D'Amico and Izya Dukorsky give the women gifts of thanks, lockets with Bob's picture.
IZYA DUKORSKY, TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: I thank you very much.
MARTIN: These friends both got kidneys the same night, from the same donor. When they both showed up at the hospital, they thought it must be a mistake, but it was really a medical miracle.
FRED D'AMICO, TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: What's the mathematical odds of something like happening? In medical history, it's new.
MARTIN: Fred and Isaiah became friends during the kidney dialysis. Besides that, the two men have little common.
D'AMICO: Just because he doesn't speak that much...
DUKORSKY: He will explain me much better.
D'AMICO: He's little embarrassed with his accent, but that doesn't mean anything.
DUKORSKY: Whatever he say, I can't repeat because I don't have any other stories.
D'AMICO: It's the same story.
MARTIN: But when you meet them, it's like they've known each other all of their lives.
DUKORSKY: After the surgery, I call him, "Hello, my brother."
MARTIN: Two friends, two kidneys.
CINDY ARNDT, KIDNEY'S DONOR'S PARTNER: Bob's organs have saved two lives. It cleared a dark day in my life.
MARTIN: One amazing gift, a miracle of sorts, that one man, even after he died, started a new family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Thanks again to Lauri Martin from our CNN affiliate KKTV.
Well, South Carolina sets the ultimate penalty for repeat sex offenders. Details on one of the toughest laws in the nation, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And the word's just coming across now, 4-2 is the final score, Germany wins against Costa Rica, highest-scoring opening World Cup match in history. Singing, cheering, toasting. Definitely party time in Munich, but you haven't missed Oktoberfest, I promise. It's World Cup time, and the Bavarian city kicked off one of the world's biggest sporting events. Almost 200 soccer teams were in the running. Thirty-two made it to Germany.
Well, you'll have to wait till Monday to chant USA. That's when the Americans play their first match against the team ranked second in the world.
CNN's Larry Smith takes a look at the chances.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Team USA, which lacks an international soccer superstar, the old adage of team being more important than the individual applies more than ever. Luckily their manager Bruce Arena specializes in just that.
GRANT WAHL, WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": I think that's his greatest calling card is building a team. He's not a tactical genius by any means. But he creates an environment in the camp so that players play well together, so that players are happy, and that translates well on the field.
LANDON DONOVAN, USA MIDFIELDER: He's a great manager. And he, better than anyone I have seen, gets the most out of every player on his team. So every individual guy's going to do what they have to do to make us successful, and that makes our team great.
SMITH: Arena is molding 23 players from 19 different teams into a unit that hopes to compete with the rest the world on the sports biggest stage. The competition is stiff.
WAHL: Having to open up against the Czech Republic will be difficult. Then to follow that up against Italy, three-time world champion is going to be awfully, awfully tough for the U.S. to get out of this group. I think it's probably unrealistic to think they will , but I think they're also in a position where they could, and it wouldn't surprise too many people.
TIM HOWARD, USA GOALKEEPER: Italy's a powerhouse, Czech Republic's number two in the world I think. I don't think they're calling it the group of death, but I think they probably should.
SMITH: After an eye-opening run to the quarterfinals four years ago in South Korea, and a much tougher draw this year, Team USA understands the pressure they face in Germany, and what that means to the sport's popularity back home.
BRUCE ARENA, USA MANAGER: In this country, we don't understand this event per se, the magnitude of it, how difficult it is. And if we don't show it all, it'll probably tend to back people off. So it's important that we play well in the world cup.
No one thinks the USA is ready to win the World Cup this year, but a victory against the check republic on Monday or Italy next Saturday would be considered a huge success, and an important stepping stone in the evolution of U.S. soccer.
Larry Smith, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: The next hour of LIVE FROM in two minutes. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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