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CNN Live Today
Attacks in Iraq Kill at Least Ten Soldiers as Marines try to End Fighting in Fallujah
Aired April 29, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 a.m. on the West coast. From CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
This has been a deadly day for U.S. forces engaged in the fight for Iraq. Attacks have killed at least ten soldiers while the U.S. Marines tried to end the fighting in Fallujah. Our Ben Wedeman is tracking the latest developments from Baghdad -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn. It was midday here, south of Baghdad that eight American soldiers were killed by a car bomb in Mahmudiyah, that's a town just south of the Iraqi capital. The persistent trouble spot for coalition forces.
Four U.S. soldiers were also wounded in that incident. Another U.S. soldier was killed in Baqubah, that's a Sunni town to the northeast of Baghdad. And here in Baghdad itself, in one of the eastern suburbs, a convoy was attacked and one American soldier killed.
Apparently hit by shrapnel from a Rocket-Propelled Grenade. What happened after words another one of these scenes we've seen many times here in Iraq. A crowd assembled there. Some of the crowd climbed on top of the truck, rather, the vehicle that was hit. And they started to dance and essentially celebrate this unfortunate incident and chant "long live Sadr."
Now, they're of course referring there to Muqtada Sadr, that clerical leader, whose militia, the Mehdi army, has essentially taken over the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf and is also very strong here in Baghdad itself.
Now, a South African national was also killed by unknown assailants in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Now, regarding the situation in Fallujah, the town, that Sunni town to the west of Baghdad, it's been in a state of rebellion now for several weeks.
We are told by a senior military spokesman here in Baghdad that there has been no deal reached. That they're now holding discussions with former officers from the Iraqi army who they believe may be able to play a role in defusing the situation there. They want to the Americans would like to see a larger Iraqi security presence in Fallujah, and a larger role for them. But they say that if there is a larger role for these Iraqi security forces, they will be under an overall command. But as they say, no agreement yet -- Daryn. KAGAN: Ben Wedeman in Baghdad.
Let's get more military information on this. The view from the Pentagon with our Barbara Starr -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, a lot of politics continuing to be played across politics today on Capitol Hill. The democrats continuing to pound away at the administration saying that some of the security problems that have emerged in Iraq are because lack of post-war planning. Senator Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke about that earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: The civilians in the Pentagon who were put in charge projected rose-colored scenarios in their planning for the aftermath. Our troops would be greeted with embraces and flowers.
It would be a cake-walk. Had our uniformed military leadership been more deeply involved in that planning, it would have been very different. As our military plan for worse case scenarios. And the worst case scenario is what turned out to be the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Now, of course, Saturday is the one-year anniversary of that news event, when President Bush was on the aircraft carrier, celebrating the end of major combat, one year ago Saturday.
But now, the most recent spate of fatal attacks in Iraq, ten troops killed today in separate incidents, brings the combat death, those killed in hostile activity, hostile action during the month of April alone, surpasses the number of troops killed during major combat last year -- Daryn.
KAGAN: What does the Pentagon say about those numbers, Barbara?
STARR: Well, of course, the obvious. The Pentagon says they regret the death of every soldier, but there clearly is great sensitivity to this issue, great sensitivity to how it will play out politically for the administration.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
The State Department is urging all Americans to get out of Gaza immediately. That warning come in the wake of assassinations of Hamas leaders Rantissi and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Israeli helicopter attack. The State Department says that some Hamas elements and other terrorists groups are threatening revenge against Americans and there are fears of possible kidnappings.
The nation's top two elected officials are behind closed doors that the hour with the 9/11 Commission. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are expected to field questions on intelligence in the days and weeks before the attack and why they didn't appear to make it an urgent priority. Today's session is described as informal. Neither man is under oath.
Let's begin our coverage of the President and the Vice President with our White House correspondent Dana Bash. And Dana is getting into position along the White House lawn. And she is ready for us -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. And that meeting started about an hour and a half ago in the Oval Office. It Started promptly at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, all ten members of the 9/11 commission are present for that meeting.
Now this is a meeting in the Oval Office which seems like an obvious point, but is the President's turf. Now this is a place where the President feels comfortable and it is a place where it is sort of hard to walk into without feeling somewhat intimidated.
The scene if you will is just as you're seeing there. There are no cameras in the room. This is file footage, but we're told the President and Vice President are sitting around the fireplace, just as you see there. The member of the commission are sitting in the couches in the Oval Office and on some chairs that is where they're conducting the series of questions. This is expected to last for a couple of hours.
Now, the fact that they are testifying together, the President and Vice President, has certainly sparked a lot of controversy, specifically from democrats who ask why they need to testify together.
They suggest at least they are going to try to check their stories, make sure they don't contradict each other. The White House denies this. They say they're simply trying to help the commission by giving them as much information as possible for their main mission, and that is fact-finding on what happened leading up to 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: We say to the American people and the critics that this is a unique circumstance. This President is committed to this commission, find out what happened to assist this commission, develop a recommendation so this kind of event can never happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: The president and vice president have been doing some prepping over the past couple of days, working for several hours, looking at some transcripts over the past couple of weeks and months of the public hearings before the 9/11 Commission, specifically, the testimony by Richard Clarke, former counterterror chief here at the White House.
And they've been looking into what kinds of questions they might be asked. Lets look at some of them ourselves here. First of all, what were they told here at the White House about the threat that al Qaeda posed from the members of the Clinton administration when they took office?
And Dick Cheney, he had a Homeland Security task force put together in may of 2001. Why did they do that? What information did they have and what came of that, if anything?
And what actions did the White House take after August 6, 2001, when the President got that daily briefing entitled "Bin Laden Threats to the Homeland." And did the president and vice president take any specific actions reacting to that information and also information about the threats that summer.
And of course last, the whole concept of what the president and vice president did on September 11, that day. The president of course was in Florida that day. And then he sort of hop scotched across the country as the vice president was here at the White House in a bunker. What kind of communications did they have? And what did they do in term of ordering shooting down of commercial aircraft on that day?
Now, Daryn, by all accounts, the president is expected to sort of stick to the story we've heard publicly that they did have some information, but nothing that was actionable.
They had no information he had said about the fact that the terrorists were going to use planes as weapons. But we are not expecting to get a whole lot of information, specifics, coming out of this meeting, either from the commissioners or from the White House. There's a small chance we could hear from the President later today but that is still being worked out.
KAGAN: What exactly do we expect to happen as soon as it's over? Don't we expect the commission chair to come out and at least have a few words?
BASH: We don't necessarily expect that publicly. We expect the commission to put out a written statement as they did after the interviews with President Clinton and with Vice President Al Gore and others that were sort of done in private.
That is the kind of thing we expect, and probably not a lot of detail in that coming out. We are told that members of the commission went up to Capitol Hill earlier in the week and talked to republicans and they were promised that the president and vice president would be given the same respect if you will, of the secrecy, and classification, of this meeting today that President Clinton and Vice President Gore were.
KAGAN: Dana Bash at the White House, thank you.
There is more to come on today's historic session at the White House. The president and vice president answering those questions before the 9/11 Commission. Up next, we'll have presidential historian Doug Brinkley will join us to give us some perspective.
Also what do people of Iraq think about the war raging around them? An exclusive CNN poll from the streets of Iraq. And new information in the case of a nurse some call the angel of death. That's all when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's get back to our top story now. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are in the Oval Office this hour, answering questions informally for the 9/11 Commission. Let's put the session in historical context with Douglas Brinkley. He is director of the Eisenhower Center for the University of New Orleans. Doug, good morning. Thank you for being with us.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, DIRECTOR, EISENHOWER CENTER: Thanks for having me.
KAGAN: Let's put this in historical perspective. How big of a deal is this to see the president and vice president before this commission?
BRINKLEY: Well, it's a very big deal. Unfortunately, it's not going to be aired on television and we're not going to have a taped transcription of it. In that regard, it's something we'll have to read about secondhand and trust other people's notes from.
One of the things if you look back in history, this is really most like the 9/11 Commission, is what happened after Pearl Harbor. There were nine different commission reports. The first one, the Roberts Commission, occurring just days after Pearl Harbor.
And like the Pearl Harbor investigation, the ostensible reason for going through all this which at times seems like a political circus, is to find out why there were intelligence failures. Why a tragedy occurred on America's homeland.
KAGAN: Let's talk about that first point that you made. As an historian this must be frustrating you so. You have this huge event happening, and yet as you mentioned you can take notes but there is no recording no film, no video tape it really is like an event that took place, it could have been the eighteenth century.
BRINKLEY: That's exactly right. I think, look, historians live, for living, we read other people's mail and we love documents and you love papers. So we would love to have this, this on tape. We'd love to be able to parse the transcription.
It is political season, 2004, and I think Bush and Cheney are very worried that if they talk off the cuff, say one sentence a little wrong, one metaphor that's off, one adverb stuck in a sentence, the media may jump all over it, or they may use the tape transcription, meaning the Kerry campaign or the democrats might find a line in this, use it against them.
So they're being very politically cautious. And they're trying to have it both ways. In one sense, saying we're fully cooperating with the commission, on the other hand using executive privilege to set their own terms.
KAGAN: The truth is this has been a thorn in the President's side ever since the idea came up. He didn't want the commission. He didn't want the deadline extended, He didn't want Condoleezza Rice appearing in public, and he didn't want to appear before the whole commission, as he is today.
BRINKLEY: Well, the Bush White House wants this over. You know, it's just producing people like Dick Clarke, giving him his week of fame or maybe more. There's going to be a movie made on his life.
It was embarrassing for Rice. First they claimed executive privilege. And then through the media pressure, was forced to have her come. And now today, they're getting criticism. Instead of getting patted on back for being there together, the two main stories coming out is why are they together?
Why can't they speak independently? Does Bush have to have Cheney in order to be able to speak to people? And the other criticism is that there's no exact regard of this. Why in the modern age, as you said, can't we have a transcription of this so the American people can see it?
I would leave on an upbeat note. The point of the commission is to get a report. We're going to get one. As I said, there were nine Pearl Harbor commissions. This is not the end all. There will be others to follow.
And this is certainly, I think it's better that the at least President Bush and Vice President Cheney are talking, even though it's unfortunate it's not on the record.
KAGAN: And just real quickly, as we look forward, what kind of precedent does it set for future Presidents?
BRINKLEY: I thought about that last evening, knowing I was coming on here. There have been other ones. Lyndon Johnson, for example during the Warren Commission, great tragedy John F. Kennedy's death, he refused to participate in the Warren Commission.
Many people today think that led to some kind of cover-up. I think its nonsense. LBJ had every right not to fully participate. But the Warren Commission is the, when you study the Kennedy assassination, the Warren Commission report is still the stake in the middle of the investigation.
Every, all the critics go off of that. The 9/11 Commission report we'll get this summer, imperfect as it might be, will be the first major, important historical document to understand what went awry in the United States, and in our intelligence-gathering, to allow such a tragedy to occur.
KAGAN: Douglas Brinkley in New Orleans, always great to have you. Appreciate your insight.
BRINKLEY: Thanks for having me.
KAGAN: Spring has sprung, right? Well, try telling that to folks in Montana. A spring snowstorm pushes through the upper Midwest. We'll take a look coming up next.
And the men and women who may have literally shaped the world. And now they have a memorial honoring their service. We're live at the World War II memorial coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: It's enough to give you some calendar whiplash. Unseasonably warm one day, then bam, it is snowing the next. Welcome to Montana in April. Parts of the state got hit with a spring snowstorm yesterday.
It brought high winds that cut visibility to nearly zero in some areas. So messy that police closed a stretch of Interstate 15. Now, we look at that and go, oh, can you believe there's snow in Montana in April. And yet I bet the locals are laughing at us, Orelon. Saying, of course that happens.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Look like Mother Nature ordered up a beautiful day for Washington, D.C., the World War II memorial opening to the public today. Our Sean Callebs is there, watching the opening for us. He is there amid the tourists and fountains -- Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of people enjoying this great weather in the nation's capital, getting out, taking an early look at the World War II memorial.
This the first day the public has had a chance to take in this monument. The official opening will be during Memorial Day weekend. They're expecting 800,000 people then. Today, a lot of school groups. A handful of veterans coming in here as well. We want to show you some of the items that make up this.
If you pan over this way you can see one of the pillars, really one of the book ends that highlights this, it highlights U.S. involvement in the Pacific Theater are talking about Pearl Harbor, all the way through the end of the war.
But then if we can take the view across this way, we see the restored rainbow reflecting pool. All this white granite coming from South Carolina, Georgia, hand full of other states. On the other end, the book end, with the Atlantic Theater, really focusing on the U.S. involvement from Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944, on, as well.
It's interesting, because the planning, the development of this memorial, this monument, actually took about 17 years. Four times as long as the U.S. involvement in World War II.
Talking to many people out here today, they're taking all this in, saying it was really well worth the wait. We want to bring in a World War II veteran now. This is retired Army Colonel Joseph Schoop who served in China, Burma, India. Like so many people, there's certainly no question that World War II vets deserve an honor, a tribute. You've had a chance to come here, take it all in, you say it's wonderful. Is this something long overdue?
COL. JOSEPH SCHOOP (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I think so, considering they have a Vietnam memorial, Korean memorial, before the World War II memorial. I wonder if they'll come back to World War I, have a World War I memorial now.
CALLEBS: Really, some of the sobering information we're getting from the developers here, almost 1,000 World War II veterans passing away each day. Only 4 million left of the 16 million who served.
SCHOOP: That's right.
CALLEBS: What does it mean to you, to finally get this?
SCHOOP: Well, as I say, a wonderful experience, and I'm still alive. I know I lived to 86, I would have taken better care of my health a little earlier.
CALLEBS: Colonel Schoop, thank you very much. Enjoy your day out here.
This is certainly a wonderful tribute. Something else we should point out there was also a battle over putting this here.
A lot of people thought it would break up the view between the Washington monument behind us and the Lincoln memorial that way. Talk to so many people here today, they're simply taking it all in, saying it is wonderful. Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Sean Callebs, thank you and thank you to the colonel and all the vets out there enjoying the memorial as well.
We've seen a lot of polls showing what the Americans think of the war in Iraq. Up next, we have a CNN exclusive for you what do the Iraqis think of the war, the U.S., and the American soldiers? Some very interesting revelations. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 29, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 a.m. on the West coast. From CNN Center in Atlanta, good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
This has been a deadly day for U.S. forces engaged in the fight for Iraq. Attacks have killed at least ten soldiers while the U.S. Marines tried to end the fighting in Fallujah. Our Ben Wedeman is tracking the latest developments from Baghdad -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn. It was midday here, south of Baghdad that eight American soldiers were killed by a car bomb in Mahmudiyah, that's a town just south of the Iraqi capital. The persistent trouble spot for coalition forces.
Four U.S. soldiers were also wounded in that incident. Another U.S. soldier was killed in Baqubah, that's a Sunni town to the northeast of Baghdad. And here in Baghdad itself, in one of the eastern suburbs, a convoy was attacked and one American soldier killed.
Apparently hit by shrapnel from a Rocket-Propelled Grenade. What happened after words another one of these scenes we've seen many times here in Iraq. A crowd assembled there. Some of the crowd climbed on top of the truck, rather, the vehicle that was hit. And they started to dance and essentially celebrate this unfortunate incident and chant "long live Sadr."
Now, they're of course referring there to Muqtada Sadr, that clerical leader, whose militia, the Mehdi army, has essentially taken over the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf and is also very strong here in Baghdad itself.
Now, a South African national was also killed by unknown assailants in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Now, regarding the situation in Fallujah, the town, that Sunni town to the west of Baghdad, it's been in a state of rebellion now for several weeks.
We are told by a senior military spokesman here in Baghdad that there has been no deal reached. That they're now holding discussions with former officers from the Iraqi army who they believe may be able to play a role in defusing the situation there. They want to the Americans would like to see a larger Iraqi security presence in Fallujah, and a larger role for them. But they say that if there is a larger role for these Iraqi security forces, they will be under an overall command. But as they say, no agreement yet -- Daryn. KAGAN: Ben Wedeman in Baghdad.
Let's get more military information on this. The view from the Pentagon with our Barbara Starr -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, a lot of politics continuing to be played across politics today on Capitol Hill. The democrats continuing to pound away at the administration saying that some of the security problems that have emerged in Iraq are because lack of post-war planning. Senator Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke about that earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: The civilians in the Pentagon who were put in charge projected rose-colored scenarios in their planning for the aftermath. Our troops would be greeted with embraces and flowers.
It would be a cake-walk. Had our uniformed military leadership been more deeply involved in that planning, it would have been very different. As our military plan for worse case scenarios. And the worst case scenario is what turned out to be the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Now, of course, Saturday is the one-year anniversary of that news event, when President Bush was on the aircraft carrier, celebrating the end of major combat, one year ago Saturday.
But now, the most recent spate of fatal attacks in Iraq, ten troops killed today in separate incidents, brings the combat death, those killed in hostile activity, hostile action during the month of April alone, surpasses the number of troops killed during major combat last year -- Daryn.
KAGAN: What does the Pentagon say about those numbers, Barbara?
STARR: Well, of course, the obvious. The Pentagon says they regret the death of every soldier, but there clearly is great sensitivity to this issue, great sensitivity to how it will play out politically for the administration.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
The State Department is urging all Americans to get out of Gaza immediately. That warning come in the wake of assassinations of Hamas leaders Rantissi and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Israeli helicopter attack. The State Department says that some Hamas elements and other terrorists groups are threatening revenge against Americans and there are fears of possible kidnappings.
The nation's top two elected officials are behind closed doors that the hour with the 9/11 Commission. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are expected to field questions on intelligence in the days and weeks before the attack and why they didn't appear to make it an urgent priority. Today's session is described as informal. Neither man is under oath.
Let's begin our coverage of the President and the Vice President with our White House correspondent Dana Bash. And Dana is getting into position along the White House lawn. And she is ready for us -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. And that meeting started about an hour and a half ago in the Oval Office. It Started promptly at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, all ten members of the 9/11 commission are present for that meeting.
Now this is a meeting in the Oval Office which seems like an obvious point, but is the President's turf. Now this is a place where the President feels comfortable and it is a place where it is sort of hard to walk into without feeling somewhat intimidated.
The scene if you will is just as you're seeing there. There are no cameras in the room. This is file footage, but we're told the President and Vice President are sitting around the fireplace, just as you see there. The member of the commission are sitting in the couches in the Oval Office and on some chairs that is where they're conducting the series of questions. This is expected to last for a couple of hours.
Now, the fact that they are testifying together, the President and Vice President, has certainly sparked a lot of controversy, specifically from democrats who ask why they need to testify together.
They suggest at least they are going to try to check their stories, make sure they don't contradict each other. The White House denies this. They say they're simply trying to help the commission by giving them as much information as possible for their main mission, and that is fact-finding on what happened leading up to 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: We say to the American people and the critics that this is a unique circumstance. This President is committed to this commission, find out what happened to assist this commission, develop a recommendation so this kind of event can never happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: The president and vice president have been doing some prepping over the past couple of days, working for several hours, looking at some transcripts over the past couple of weeks and months of the public hearings before the 9/11 Commission, specifically, the testimony by Richard Clarke, former counterterror chief here at the White House.
And they've been looking into what kinds of questions they might be asked. Lets look at some of them ourselves here. First of all, what were they told here at the White House about the threat that al Qaeda posed from the members of the Clinton administration when they took office?
And Dick Cheney, he had a Homeland Security task force put together in may of 2001. Why did they do that? What information did they have and what came of that, if anything?
And what actions did the White House take after August 6, 2001, when the President got that daily briefing entitled "Bin Laden Threats to the Homeland." And did the president and vice president take any specific actions reacting to that information and also information about the threats that summer.
And of course last, the whole concept of what the president and vice president did on September 11, that day. The president of course was in Florida that day. And then he sort of hop scotched across the country as the vice president was here at the White House in a bunker. What kind of communications did they have? And what did they do in term of ordering shooting down of commercial aircraft on that day?
Now, Daryn, by all accounts, the president is expected to sort of stick to the story we've heard publicly that they did have some information, but nothing that was actionable.
They had no information he had said about the fact that the terrorists were going to use planes as weapons. But we are not expecting to get a whole lot of information, specifics, coming out of this meeting, either from the commissioners or from the White House. There's a small chance we could hear from the President later today but that is still being worked out.
KAGAN: What exactly do we expect to happen as soon as it's over? Don't we expect the commission chair to come out and at least have a few words?
BASH: We don't necessarily expect that publicly. We expect the commission to put out a written statement as they did after the interviews with President Clinton and with Vice President Al Gore and others that were sort of done in private.
That is the kind of thing we expect, and probably not a lot of detail in that coming out. We are told that members of the commission went up to Capitol Hill earlier in the week and talked to republicans and they were promised that the president and vice president would be given the same respect if you will, of the secrecy, and classification, of this meeting today that President Clinton and Vice President Gore were.
KAGAN: Dana Bash at the White House, thank you.
There is more to come on today's historic session at the White House. The president and vice president answering those questions before the 9/11 Commission. Up next, we'll have presidential historian Doug Brinkley will join us to give us some perspective.
Also what do people of Iraq think about the war raging around them? An exclusive CNN poll from the streets of Iraq. And new information in the case of a nurse some call the angel of death. That's all when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's get back to our top story now. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are in the Oval Office this hour, answering questions informally for the 9/11 Commission. Let's put the session in historical context with Douglas Brinkley. He is director of the Eisenhower Center for the University of New Orleans. Doug, good morning. Thank you for being with us.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, DIRECTOR, EISENHOWER CENTER: Thanks for having me.
KAGAN: Let's put this in historical perspective. How big of a deal is this to see the president and vice president before this commission?
BRINKLEY: Well, it's a very big deal. Unfortunately, it's not going to be aired on television and we're not going to have a taped transcription of it. In that regard, it's something we'll have to read about secondhand and trust other people's notes from.
One of the things if you look back in history, this is really most like the 9/11 Commission, is what happened after Pearl Harbor. There were nine different commission reports. The first one, the Roberts Commission, occurring just days after Pearl Harbor.
And like the Pearl Harbor investigation, the ostensible reason for going through all this which at times seems like a political circus, is to find out why there were intelligence failures. Why a tragedy occurred on America's homeland.
KAGAN: Let's talk about that first point that you made. As an historian this must be frustrating you so. You have this huge event happening, and yet as you mentioned you can take notes but there is no recording no film, no video tape it really is like an event that took place, it could have been the eighteenth century.
BRINKLEY: That's exactly right. I think, look, historians live, for living, we read other people's mail and we love documents and you love papers. So we would love to have this, this on tape. We'd love to be able to parse the transcription.
It is political season, 2004, and I think Bush and Cheney are very worried that if they talk off the cuff, say one sentence a little wrong, one metaphor that's off, one adverb stuck in a sentence, the media may jump all over it, or they may use the tape transcription, meaning the Kerry campaign or the democrats might find a line in this, use it against them.
So they're being very politically cautious. And they're trying to have it both ways. In one sense, saying we're fully cooperating with the commission, on the other hand using executive privilege to set their own terms.
KAGAN: The truth is this has been a thorn in the President's side ever since the idea came up. He didn't want the commission. He didn't want the deadline extended, He didn't want Condoleezza Rice appearing in public, and he didn't want to appear before the whole commission, as he is today.
BRINKLEY: Well, the Bush White House wants this over. You know, it's just producing people like Dick Clarke, giving him his week of fame or maybe more. There's going to be a movie made on his life.
It was embarrassing for Rice. First they claimed executive privilege. And then through the media pressure, was forced to have her come. And now today, they're getting criticism. Instead of getting patted on back for being there together, the two main stories coming out is why are they together?
Why can't they speak independently? Does Bush have to have Cheney in order to be able to speak to people? And the other criticism is that there's no exact regard of this. Why in the modern age, as you said, can't we have a transcription of this so the American people can see it?
I would leave on an upbeat note. The point of the commission is to get a report. We're going to get one. As I said, there were nine Pearl Harbor commissions. This is not the end all. There will be others to follow.
And this is certainly, I think it's better that the at least President Bush and Vice President Cheney are talking, even though it's unfortunate it's not on the record.
KAGAN: And just real quickly, as we look forward, what kind of precedent does it set for future Presidents?
BRINKLEY: I thought about that last evening, knowing I was coming on here. There have been other ones. Lyndon Johnson, for example during the Warren Commission, great tragedy John F. Kennedy's death, he refused to participate in the Warren Commission.
Many people today think that led to some kind of cover-up. I think its nonsense. LBJ had every right not to fully participate. But the Warren Commission is the, when you study the Kennedy assassination, the Warren Commission report is still the stake in the middle of the investigation.
Every, all the critics go off of that. The 9/11 Commission report we'll get this summer, imperfect as it might be, will be the first major, important historical document to understand what went awry in the United States, and in our intelligence-gathering, to allow such a tragedy to occur.
KAGAN: Douglas Brinkley in New Orleans, always great to have you. Appreciate your insight.
BRINKLEY: Thanks for having me.
KAGAN: Spring has sprung, right? Well, try telling that to folks in Montana. A spring snowstorm pushes through the upper Midwest. We'll take a look coming up next.
And the men and women who may have literally shaped the world. And now they have a memorial honoring their service. We're live at the World War II memorial coming up next.
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KAGAN: It's enough to give you some calendar whiplash. Unseasonably warm one day, then bam, it is snowing the next. Welcome to Montana in April. Parts of the state got hit with a spring snowstorm yesterday.
It brought high winds that cut visibility to nearly zero in some areas. So messy that police closed a stretch of Interstate 15. Now, we look at that and go, oh, can you believe there's snow in Montana in April. And yet I bet the locals are laughing at us, Orelon. Saying, of course that happens.
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KAGAN: Look like Mother Nature ordered up a beautiful day for Washington, D.C., the World War II memorial opening to the public today. Our Sean Callebs is there, watching the opening for us. He is there amid the tourists and fountains -- Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of people enjoying this great weather in the nation's capital, getting out, taking an early look at the World War II memorial.
This the first day the public has had a chance to take in this monument. The official opening will be during Memorial Day weekend. They're expecting 800,000 people then. Today, a lot of school groups. A handful of veterans coming in here as well. We want to show you some of the items that make up this.
If you pan over this way you can see one of the pillars, really one of the book ends that highlights this, it highlights U.S. involvement in the Pacific Theater are talking about Pearl Harbor, all the way through the end of the war.
But then if we can take the view across this way, we see the restored rainbow reflecting pool. All this white granite coming from South Carolina, Georgia, hand full of other states. On the other end, the book end, with the Atlantic Theater, really focusing on the U.S. involvement from Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944, on, as well.
It's interesting, because the planning, the development of this memorial, this monument, actually took about 17 years. Four times as long as the U.S. involvement in World War II.
Talking to many people out here today, they're taking all this in, saying it was really well worth the wait. We want to bring in a World War II veteran now. This is retired Army Colonel Joseph Schoop who served in China, Burma, India. Like so many people, there's certainly no question that World War II vets deserve an honor, a tribute. You've had a chance to come here, take it all in, you say it's wonderful. Is this something long overdue?
COL. JOSEPH SCHOOP (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I think so, considering they have a Vietnam memorial, Korean memorial, before the World War II memorial. I wonder if they'll come back to World War I, have a World War I memorial now.
CALLEBS: Really, some of the sobering information we're getting from the developers here, almost 1,000 World War II veterans passing away each day. Only 4 million left of the 16 million who served.
SCHOOP: That's right.
CALLEBS: What does it mean to you, to finally get this?
SCHOOP: Well, as I say, a wonderful experience, and I'm still alive. I know I lived to 86, I would have taken better care of my health a little earlier.
CALLEBS: Colonel Schoop, thank you very much. Enjoy your day out here.
This is certainly a wonderful tribute. Something else we should point out there was also a battle over putting this here.
A lot of people thought it would break up the view between the Washington monument behind us and the Lincoln memorial that way. Talk to so many people here today, they're simply taking it all in, saying it is wonderful. Daryn, back to you.
KAGAN: Sean Callebs, thank you and thank you to the colonel and all the vets out there enjoying the memorial as well.
We've seen a lot of polls showing what the Americans think of the war in Iraq. Up next, we have a CNN exclusive for you what do the Iraqis think of the war, the U.S., and the American soldiers? Some very interesting revelations. That's up next.
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