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CNN Live Today
Ayad Allawi Speaks to Congress; Kerry's Response to Allawi's Speech; Ivan Regroups and Threatens Gulf Coast; Court Victory for Terri Schiavo's Husband
Aired September 23, 2004 - 10:59 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a look at what's happening now in the news.
Iraq's leader says the world is far better off without Saddam Hussein. In a live address seen here on CNN a short time ago, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress that Iraq is committed to democracy, defeating insurgents and creating a better life for all Iraqis.
The head of U.S. Central Command said adequate security for next January's elections in Iraq will likely require more troops. General John Abizaid says he envisions that most of them will be Iraqi forces. But he did not rule out that more U.S. troops might also be needed.
Native American leaders were at the White House East Room this morning for a ceremony marking the new National Museum of the American Indian. President Bush said the Smithsonian's latest addition on the National Mall is a tribute to native American culture.
And in Redwood City, California, the lead detective in the Scott Peterson murder investigation is due back on the witness stand today. Modesto detective Craig Grogan says police became suspicious of Peterson almost immediately after he reported his wife missing. Peterson has denied killing his wife and unborn child.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Daryn Kagan.
It is 11:00 a.m. on the east coast, 8:00 a.m. out west. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Daryn Kagan.
Up first on CNN, an upbeat assessment of Iraq, despite the violence and chaos this week. The hopeful view came from Iraq's interim prime minister in a speech before Congress just last hour. He told lawmakers that the U.S. and the world are better along with Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: We Iraqis know that Americans have made and continue to make enormous sacrifices to liberate Iraq, to assure Iraq's freedom. I have come here to thank you and to promise you that your sacrifices...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Can Prime Minister Allawi convince concerned voters in the U.S. and skeptical lawmakers in Congress of Iraq's progress? Or will his visit be seen strictly as a political ploy? We'll get the view from Capitol Hill right now and the White House.
We begin, however, with CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it was a confident, upbeat speech, as expected. Ayad Allawi, among other things, focusing on the positive rather than the negatives that have been repeated so many times in the news media. However, what may be remembered most from this speech is Allawi's expression of gratitude to the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLAWI: We are fighting for freedom and democracy, ours and yours. Every day we strengthen the institutions that will protect our new democracy, and every day we grow in strength and determination to defeat the terrorists and their barbarism.
The second message is quite simple and one that I would like to deliver directly from my people to yours: Thank you, America.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The reactions are now already coming in from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Republicans saying, among other things, that this was a boost for the effort over there in Iraq, as well as for the administration position.
One saying this mission for so long had an American face, now has an Iraqi face. And that it was nice for someone to say thanks. Democrats saying, while they welcome the comments of Prime Minister Allawi, his challenge in governing and stabilizing Iraq is enormous, and that those challenges have been made far more difficult "by the continual mistakes and persistent miscalculations of the Bush administration."
Fredricka, back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Joe Johns, thanks so much.
Well, Prime Minister Allawi meets with President Bush at the White House this hour. And next hour the two leaders will hold a news conference in the Rose Garden.
White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us now with a preview.
And Dana, how is the White House going to get past the expressed skepticism that Allawi is in the U.S. only for the benefit of President Bush up for re-election in November? DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, you know, those who are criticizing the president as painting an overly rosy picture of what's going on in Iraq and ignoring too much some of the violence that's going on perhaps won't necessarily be satisfied with what they're going to hear here today. You're going to hear, as you can imagine, a quite similar theme from the president...
WHITFIELD: Dana, let me just interrupt you for a minute. We want to go to John Kerry, who has an immediate reaction now to the prime minister's speech on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN LIVE NEWS EVENT -- JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want victory. I want to win. And I have a better plan to win than George Bush does.
The president says that things are getting better in Iraq and we must just stay the same course. Well, I disagree. They're not getting better and we need to change the course to protect our troops and to win. Before the war, the president said that there were lots of terrorists causing the trouble; that's why we had to go to war.
Just yesterday he says to the American people, now that we are at war, that there are only a handful of terrorists. And yet only two days earlier Prime Minister Allawi said, "That's not true, thousands of terrorists are crossing the borders and entering into Iraq."
It has become a magnet for terrorism, and that is what Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
We have an administration in disarray. The secretary of defense saying one thing and being corrected. The president saying one thing and being contradicted by the prime minister. The secretary of state saying one thing and being contradicted by the president.
America needs leadership that tells the truth. George Bush just yesterday said, he was just -- the CIA was just guessing on Iraq. Just guessing, America? The CIA?
They're not just guessing. They're giving the president of the United States their best judgment. It's called an analysis. And the president ought to read it and he ought to study it and he ought to respond to it.
The president says, "Just stay the course and everything will be fine." I laid out a plan in New York to win. I laid out a plan which will help America protect our troops.
We need to bring other allies to the table. The president skedaddled out of New York so quickly he barely had time to talk to any leaders.
We need a summit. We need to bring people to the table. We need to behave like we are at war and respect the lives of our soldiers that are being lost because we are at war. They deserve better leadership. They deserve a mission with a plan that can succeed.
A president's true test of leadership is how he responds when things are going wrong. You need to be prepared to tell the truth. And I think that a president who fails to admit his mistakes is a president who proves that he doesn't know how to make the course correct.
A commander in chief's first obligation in time of war is to tell the truth, to be straight with our soldiers and our citizens. That's what we need today.
I have a plan to make us successful, and I wish the president would implement that plan now.
Happy to answer any questions.
QUESTION: Prime Minister Allawi told Congress today that democracy was taking hold in Iraq and that the terrorists there were on the defensive. Is he living in the same fantasy land as the president?
KERRY: I think the prime minister is, obviously, contradicting his own statement of a few days ago, where he said the terrorists are pouring into the country.
The prime minister and the president are here, obviously, to put their best face on the policy. But the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story.
Yesterday I read the report of a deputy director of the Provisional Coalition Authority. He's now returned to the United States. And his report was really pretty devastating. He wrote that we are losing the peace. He wrote that we are not getting the reconstruction aid out, that only 5 percent of the money has been spent. He wrote of the levels of unemployment and of the difficulties of people who are earning money throwing grenades at American soldiers.
He wrote of the decisions that this administration had made that have made this situation more difficult than it needs to be.
I hope democracy will take hold. I want democracy to take hold. But at the moment I think most people would tell you that the United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq. There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone.
So it's time to talk the truth and the reality about the numbers of troops on the ground.
I want success. Let me emphasize this. From day one, I have said we need to be successful. From day one, I have offered a road to success. From day one, this president has chosen a different course of action. And we Americans are paying a price in the lives of our young and in the dollars being spent by Americans because this president has stubbornly refused to embrace good advice and has stubbornly continued to pursue his own road.
I think it's the wrong road, and I think we need to change.
QUESTION: Senator, how do you (INAUDIBLE) stop the kidnappings and the beheading?
KERRY: You have to provide security. And the only way to provide security adequately is to rapidly train the forces. This administration has not done that.
I mean, look, if you're serious about this, folks, put some people on a 747. And I remember how we got plenty of troops into Vietnam on chartered airliners. Why don't we put some people on airplanes and fly them to countries and train them there if their troops are unwilling to go into the country?
There are plenty of ways to do more rapid training. You can do more rapid training in nearby countries.
Secretary Rumsfeld misled the American people about the numbers of troops that have been trained. Look, he told America there were 210,000 armed forces. The secretary of defense didn't tell the truth to the American people.
Then he told Congress there were 95,000. He didn't tell the truth to the Congress. There were 5,000 -- 5,000.
That's a disgrace. It's a disgrace that the secretary of defense doesn't tell the truth to the American people. And it's a disgrace that this president doesn't hold anybody in his administration accountable for failure.
These are not small miscalculations. These are miscalculations which are costing lives, costing America's reputation in the world. These are miscalculations of judgment.
And that's what we hire a president for, is to exercise the right judgment. I think this president has exercised the wrong judgment from day one, and that's why we need a change.
QUESTION: You criticized, to the AP, the president for retreating, I believe was your word, from Fallujah. Given the situation on the ground in Fallujah when there was an offensive there, when there was a rising civilian death toll, rising criticism among Arab media for our actions there, what would you have done differently?
KERRY: Let me tell you, I've said many times, I wouldn't have just done one thing differently in Iraq, I would have done almost everything differently.
And when you people judge me, and the American people judge me on this, I want you to judge me on the full record.
I stood in Fulton, Missouri, and I gave the president advice about what he needed to do. He didn't take it. I stood at Georgetown University a year and a half ago and I gave the president advice about what he needed to do. He didn't take it.
I stood on the floor of the Senate and gave him advice about what he needed to do. He didn't take it.
I've laid out a whole series of things I would have done that would have prevented Fallujah.
Let me tell you, if the 4th Infantry Division and the diplomacy had been done with Turkey, you wouldn't have had a Fallujah. This president rushed to war, without a plan to win the peace. And ask the military leaders. Go ask the military leaders. General Shinseki told this country how many troops we'd need. The president retired him early for telling the truth.
That's why you have Fallujah. That's why you have a mess in Iraq. And that's not the leadership this nation deserves.
Thank you all very much. Appreciate it.
(END LIVE NEWS EVENT)
WHITFIELD: John Kerry, among other things, responding to and challenging Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's words recently, where he said the struggle of Iraq today is about the worldwide war against terrorism. Well, John Kerry said that terrorism in Iraq is a consequence of this war. He said, "It has become a magnet for terrorism."
And I think we're going to try and go back to Dana Bash, who's at the White House.
And Dana, sorry about that. I interrupted you a moment ago to hear from John Kerry responding. And now we know that Ayad Allawi is making his way over to the White House, where they will be meeting. And in the next hour, there will be an open press conference involving the two.
More now on what you were saying earlier.
BASH: Well, I think, Fredricka, first of all, we should just take a moment to look at what John Kerry just said. Very, very strong statements, as you mentioned, hitting the president on his credibility, on his truthfulness before the war, and how he's prosecuted the post-war situation at this time.
Now, that is very much why we heard from the Bush campaign yesterday that they understand that John Kerry is becoming much more forceful in his criticism on Iraq. And they're going to try to hit back on that.
What we're going to see here today at the White House is very much aimed at hitting that. And that is, essentially, symbolism.
Bush officials are not shy about saying that what American voters are going to see is a president of the United States at the White House standing in a sunny rose garden with an Iraqi leader, not Saddam Hussein, obviously. Somebody who is getting Iraq they hope on the path to democracy.
And certainly you heard John Kerry saying that the president is simply overly sunny in his optimism about Iraq. But what the president said when he was with the interim prime minister a couple of days ago in the United Nations -- or at the United Nations -- and what he will say here is, if you don't take my word for it, fine. Take the word for it of the man who was in Iraq, the man who was leading things there.
Certainly the fact that -- that the president said -- was questioned a couple of days ago -- John Kerry mentioned this -- about his own intelligence, whether or not the fact that his intelligence assessment said that things probably aren't going to get that great, and he essentially brushed that aside and said, well, don't believe me, don't believe that, believe the optimists in Iraq. That is something that we are going to hear, Fredricka, Bush officials say, from the president and from Prime Minister Allawi.
But they will also take some questions from reporters. So, we'll see how far reporters get in trying to get behind the curtain, maybe ask some of the questions that John Kerry was asking just now.
WHITFIELD: And Dana, President Bush, along with the prime minister, were saying, reiterating, that these scheduled elections for January will take place no matter what in January in Iraq. But it was John Kerry just moments ago who also said, well, how can that be -- he questions how can that be when there are already existing no-go zones.
That also means that people living in those no-gone zones would be unable to go to those polling stations. So, he was asking the question, does this mean this election is going to be for those who are geographically located in areas feasible to an election.
BASH: Well, you heard Prime Minister Allawi address that, or at least subtly address that when he was speaking before Congress a short while ago, saying the first election probably won't be perfect, but give us some time, and perhaps as we go forward they will get better.
The White House, as you know, Fredricka, has stood firm in saying that no matter what, they do think that these initial elections will go forward in and around January. And they're certainly sticking to that. I'd be surprised to hear anything else in the Rose Garden today.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dana Bash from the White House. Thanks so much.
Well, CNN will have live coverage of the joint news conference by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. That's coming up next hour at 12:05 Eastern, 9:05 a.m. Pacific. And more on Allawi's visit to Washington when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Well, Ivan is like the house guest that just won't leave. One week after Hurricane Ivan clobbered the Gulf Coast, remnants of the storm have regrouped in the Gulf as a tropical storm. It's forecast to bring heavy rains to south Texas and Louisiana over the next 24 hours.
Let's check in with Orelon Sidney.
Orelon, how in the world is this to happen when last checked wasn't Ivan over the Mid Atlantic and Northeastern states just this past weekend?
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It was over the weekend, but there was just a little piece of the energy, apparently, that made its way back to the South. The main bulk of it, I think, headed off to the Northeast and into the Maritimes.
And then a little bit of that energy, I started to see it. It started to work its way down southward. And I think that's probably what went on there. And then it headed on to the Gulf of Mexico.
At any rate, it's one of four systems we have active in the Gulf. We have -- not in the Gulf, but we also have Jeanne here, we have Karl, and then Tropical Storm Lisa. The latter two not going to affect the United States. The former two, however, going to be interesting the next 72, 96 hours.
Ivan still is a tropical storm. We have tropical storm warnings in effect stretching all the way from Sargent, Texas, out to Morgan City. East of Morgan City, those advisories have now been dropped, which is certainly some good news.
Rainfall is moving into Louisiana and Texas, and that's going to be the big player here. Look, folks, this is not going to be a wind event.
When Dean went through back in the mid '90s, I was in Houston. I had my doors and windows open. And I was defrosting the refrigerator.
This is the kind of storm we're talking about. It has strengthened a little bit. Some winds they found 60 miles an hour on the last recon. But those were very isolated. And then the winds started to drop even as they were out in the storm.
So, this is not going to be a wind event. It's going to be a rain event more than anything else.
Because the winds are now up to 60 miles an hour, it went ahead. It says strengthening, but it's very close to the coast now, about 85 miles from Port Arthur.
There are flood and flash flood advisories up for parts of southeastern Texas, south of Interstate 10, extending into Louisiana. And then northward along Interstate 45, just to the north of Huntsville. You can see some local areas with as much as four to 10 inches. Most folks, though, will see two to four inches from the storm as it works its way on through. Central Texas, as you get up onto the hill country, it might be interesting there as you head into the weekend.
This is what we're looking at with Jeanne. This is a whole different ball game now.
Category 2, it's 465 miles east of Great Abaco Island. The winds are up slightly from the last report. They're up to 105 miles an hour. And it started a very slow westward movement at five miles an hour.
Now, currently, the storm is over some rather unfriendly conditions. The water is a little bit cool here, but as it works its way westward, it is expected to move over warmer waters and perhaps strengthen.
We've got it up to a Category 2 tomorrow, then briefly a Category 3 possible on Saturday. And then it starts to make an approach to the eastern U.S. coast. But a cold front comes in right as the storm heads towards Florida.
So, it looks like it may take a turn up to the north and then northeast. This is good and bad news.
Some shear will start to increase. So, we think it will probably be a Category 2 as it goes in on Sunday. It could be a borderline 3. But if it stays along the coast like this, the eastern side of the storm, the bad side of the storm is going to be out to sea, and we'll have less action inland.
So, that could be good news. Going to have to watch this, though, as we head on through the weekend -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Bottom line, Orelon, poor folks in Florida.
SIDNEY: Yes, no kidding. A season of seasons.
WHITFIELD: What a year. No kidding. All right. Thanks a lot, Orelon.
SIDNEY: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: Well, this is why this Category 2 Hurricane Jeanne is such a worry, particularly for the folks in Florida. It's been particularly devastating to the folks in Haiti, leaving behind more than 1,000 bodies.
Disease and other ailments now threaten survivors. Water is contaminated, and emergency aid is severely limited.
More than 1,200 Haitians are still missing. Crews have been burying their rapidly-decomposing bodies in mass graves as quickly as possible. Well, more to come on our top story. Ayad Allawi paints his own picture of Iraq for the U.S. Congress. But just how realistic is it? We're hitting the streets with the soldiers there and talking to an expert coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 23, 2004 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a look at what's happening now in the news.
Iraq's leader says the world is far better off without Saddam Hussein. In a live address seen here on CNN a short time ago, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress that Iraq is committed to democracy, defeating insurgents and creating a better life for all Iraqis.
The head of U.S. Central Command said adequate security for next January's elections in Iraq will likely require more troops. General John Abizaid says he envisions that most of them will be Iraqi forces. But he did not rule out that more U.S. troops might also be needed.
Native American leaders were at the White House East Room this morning for a ceremony marking the new National Museum of the American Indian. President Bush said the Smithsonian's latest addition on the National Mall is a tribute to native American culture.
And in Redwood City, California, the lead detective in the Scott Peterson murder investigation is due back on the witness stand today. Modesto detective Craig Grogan says police became suspicious of Peterson almost immediately after he reported his wife missing. Peterson has denied killing his wife and unborn child.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Daryn Kagan.
It is 11:00 a.m. on the east coast, 8:00 a.m. out west. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Daryn Kagan.
Up first on CNN, an upbeat assessment of Iraq, despite the violence and chaos this week. The hopeful view came from Iraq's interim prime minister in a speech before Congress just last hour. He told lawmakers that the U.S. and the world are better along with Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: We Iraqis know that Americans have made and continue to make enormous sacrifices to liberate Iraq, to assure Iraq's freedom. I have come here to thank you and to promise you that your sacrifices...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Can Prime Minister Allawi convince concerned voters in the U.S. and skeptical lawmakers in Congress of Iraq's progress? Or will his visit be seen strictly as a political ploy? We'll get the view from Capitol Hill right now and the White House.
We begin, however, with CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it was a confident, upbeat speech, as expected. Ayad Allawi, among other things, focusing on the positive rather than the negatives that have been repeated so many times in the news media. However, what may be remembered most from this speech is Allawi's expression of gratitude to the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLAWI: We are fighting for freedom and democracy, ours and yours. Every day we strengthen the institutions that will protect our new democracy, and every day we grow in strength and determination to defeat the terrorists and their barbarism.
The second message is quite simple and one that I would like to deliver directly from my people to yours: Thank you, America.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The reactions are now already coming in from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Republicans saying, among other things, that this was a boost for the effort over there in Iraq, as well as for the administration position.
One saying this mission for so long had an American face, now has an Iraqi face. And that it was nice for someone to say thanks. Democrats saying, while they welcome the comments of Prime Minister Allawi, his challenge in governing and stabilizing Iraq is enormous, and that those challenges have been made far more difficult "by the continual mistakes and persistent miscalculations of the Bush administration."
Fredricka, back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Joe Johns, thanks so much.
Well, Prime Minister Allawi meets with President Bush at the White House this hour. And next hour the two leaders will hold a news conference in the Rose Garden.
White House correspondent Dana Bash joins us now with a preview.
And Dana, how is the White House going to get past the expressed skepticism that Allawi is in the U.S. only for the benefit of President Bush up for re-election in November? DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, you know, those who are criticizing the president as painting an overly rosy picture of what's going on in Iraq and ignoring too much some of the violence that's going on perhaps won't necessarily be satisfied with what they're going to hear here today. You're going to hear, as you can imagine, a quite similar theme from the president...
WHITFIELD: Dana, let me just interrupt you for a minute. We want to go to John Kerry, who has an immediate reaction now to the prime minister's speech on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN LIVE NEWS EVENT -- JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want victory. I want to win. And I have a better plan to win than George Bush does.
The president says that things are getting better in Iraq and we must just stay the same course. Well, I disagree. They're not getting better and we need to change the course to protect our troops and to win. Before the war, the president said that there were lots of terrorists causing the trouble; that's why we had to go to war.
Just yesterday he says to the American people, now that we are at war, that there are only a handful of terrorists. And yet only two days earlier Prime Minister Allawi said, "That's not true, thousands of terrorists are crossing the borders and entering into Iraq."
It has become a magnet for terrorism, and that is what Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
We have an administration in disarray. The secretary of defense saying one thing and being corrected. The president saying one thing and being contradicted by the prime minister. The secretary of state saying one thing and being contradicted by the president.
America needs leadership that tells the truth. George Bush just yesterday said, he was just -- the CIA was just guessing on Iraq. Just guessing, America? The CIA?
They're not just guessing. They're giving the president of the United States their best judgment. It's called an analysis. And the president ought to read it and he ought to study it and he ought to respond to it.
The president says, "Just stay the course and everything will be fine." I laid out a plan in New York to win. I laid out a plan which will help America protect our troops.
We need to bring other allies to the table. The president skedaddled out of New York so quickly he barely had time to talk to any leaders.
We need a summit. We need to bring people to the table. We need to behave like we are at war and respect the lives of our soldiers that are being lost because we are at war. They deserve better leadership. They deserve a mission with a plan that can succeed.
A president's true test of leadership is how he responds when things are going wrong. You need to be prepared to tell the truth. And I think that a president who fails to admit his mistakes is a president who proves that he doesn't know how to make the course correct.
A commander in chief's first obligation in time of war is to tell the truth, to be straight with our soldiers and our citizens. That's what we need today.
I have a plan to make us successful, and I wish the president would implement that plan now.
Happy to answer any questions.
QUESTION: Prime Minister Allawi told Congress today that democracy was taking hold in Iraq and that the terrorists there were on the defensive. Is he living in the same fantasy land as the president?
KERRY: I think the prime minister is, obviously, contradicting his own statement of a few days ago, where he said the terrorists are pouring into the country.
The prime minister and the president are here, obviously, to put their best face on the policy. But the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story.
Yesterday I read the report of a deputy director of the Provisional Coalition Authority. He's now returned to the United States. And his report was really pretty devastating. He wrote that we are losing the peace. He wrote that we are not getting the reconstruction aid out, that only 5 percent of the money has been spent. He wrote of the levels of unemployment and of the difficulties of people who are earning money throwing grenades at American soldiers.
He wrote of the decisions that this administration had made that have made this situation more difficult than it needs to be.
I hope democracy will take hold. I want democracy to take hold. But at the moment I think most people would tell you that the United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq. There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone.
So it's time to talk the truth and the reality about the numbers of troops on the ground.
I want success. Let me emphasize this. From day one, I have said we need to be successful. From day one, I have offered a road to success. From day one, this president has chosen a different course of action. And we Americans are paying a price in the lives of our young and in the dollars being spent by Americans because this president has stubbornly refused to embrace good advice and has stubbornly continued to pursue his own road.
I think it's the wrong road, and I think we need to change.
QUESTION: Senator, how do you (INAUDIBLE) stop the kidnappings and the beheading?
KERRY: You have to provide security. And the only way to provide security adequately is to rapidly train the forces. This administration has not done that.
I mean, look, if you're serious about this, folks, put some people on a 747. And I remember how we got plenty of troops into Vietnam on chartered airliners. Why don't we put some people on airplanes and fly them to countries and train them there if their troops are unwilling to go into the country?
There are plenty of ways to do more rapid training. You can do more rapid training in nearby countries.
Secretary Rumsfeld misled the American people about the numbers of troops that have been trained. Look, he told America there were 210,000 armed forces. The secretary of defense didn't tell the truth to the American people.
Then he told Congress there were 95,000. He didn't tell the truth to the Congress. There were 5,000 -- 5,000.
That's a disgrace. It's a disgrace that the secretary of defense doesn't tell the truth to the American people. And it's a disgrace that this president doesn't hold anybody in his administration accountable for failure.
These are not small miscalculations. These are miscalculations which are costing lives, costing America's reputation in the world. These are miscalculations of judgment.
And that's what we hire a president for, is to exercise the right judgment. I think this president has exercised the wrong judgment from day one, and that's why we need a change.
QUESTION: You criticized, to the AP, the president for retreating, I believe was your word, from Fallujah. Given the situation on the ground in Fallujah when there was an offensive there, when there was a rising civilian death toll, rising criticism among Arab media for our actions there, what would you have done differently?
KERRY: Let me tell you, I've said many times, I wouldn't have just done one thing differently in Iraq, I would have done almost everything differently.
And when you people judge me, and the American people judge me on this, I want you to judge me on the full record.
I stood in Fulton, Missouri, and I gave the president advice about what he needed to do. He didn't take it. I stood at Georgetown University a year and a half ago and I gave the president advice about what he needed to do. He didn't take it.
I stood on the floor of the Senate and gave him advice about what he needed to do. He didn't take it.
I've laid out a whole series of things I would have done that would have prevented Fallujah.
Let me tell you, if the 4th Infantry Division and the diplomacy had been done with Turkey, you wouldn't have had a Fallujah. This president rushed to war, without a plan to win the peace. And ask the military leaders. Go ask the military leaders. General Shinseki told this country how many troops we'd need. The president retired him early for telling the truth.
That's why you have Fallujah. That's why you have a mess in Iraq. And that's not the leadership this nation deserves.
Thank you all very much. Appreciate it.
(END LIVE NEWS EVENT)
WHITFIELD: John Kerry, among other things, responding to and challenging Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's words recently, where he said the struggle of Iraq today is about the worldwide war against terrorism. Well, John Kerry said that terrorism in Iraq is a consequence of this war. He said, "It has become a magnet for terrorism."
And I think we're going to try and go back to Dana Bash, who's at the White House.
And Dana, sorry about that. I interrupted you a moment ago to hear from John Kerry responding. And now we know that Ayad Allawi is making his way over to the White House, where they will be meeting. And in the next hour, there will be an open press conference involving the two.
More now on what you were saying earlier.
BASH: Well, I think, Fredricka, first of all, we should just take a moment to look at what John Kerry just said. Very, very strong statements, as you mentioned, hitting the president on his credibility, on his truthfulness before the war, and how he's prosecuted the post-war situation at this time.
Now, that is very much why we heard from the Bush campaign yesterday that they understand that John Kerry is becoming much more forceful in his criticism on Iraq. And they're going to try to hit back on that.
What we're going to see here today at the White House is very much aimed at hitting that. And that is, essentially, symbolism.
Bush officials are not shy about saying that what American voters are going to see is a president of the United States at the White House standing in a sunny rose garden with an Iraqi leader, not Saddam Hussein, obviously. Somebody who is getting Iraq they hope on the path to democracy.
And certainly you heard John Kerry saying that the president is simply overly sunny in his optimism about Iraq. But what the president said when he was with the interim prime minister a couple of days ago in the United Nations -- or at the United Nations -- and what he will say here is, if you don't take my word for it, fine. Take the word for it of the man who was in Iraq, the man who was leading things there.
Certainly the fact that -- that the president said -- was questioned a couple of days ago -- John Kerry mentioned this -- about his own intelligence, whether or not the fact that his intelligence assessment said that things probably aren't going to get that great, and he essentially brushed that aside and said, well, don't believe me, don't believe that, believe the optimists in Iraq. That is something that we are going to hear, Fredricka, Bush officials say, from the president and from Prime Minister Allawi.
But they will also take some questions from reporters. So, we'll see how far reporters get in trying to get behind the curtain, maybe ask some of the questions that John Kerry was asking just now.
WHITFIELD: And Dana, President Bush, along with the prime minister, were saying, reiterating, that these scheduled elections for January will take place no matter what in January in Iraq. But it was John Kerry just moments ago who also said, well, how can that be -- he questions how can that be when there are already existing no-go zones.
That also means that people living in those no-gone zones would be unable to go to those polling stations. So, he was asking the question, does this mean this election is going to be for those who are geographically located in areas feasible to an election.
BASH: Well, you heard Prime Minister Allawi address that, or at least subtly address that when he was speaking before Congress a short while ago, saying the first election probably won't be perfect, but give us some time, and perhaps as we go forward they will get better.
The White House, as you know, Fredricka, has stood firm in saying that no matter what, they do think that these initial elections will go forward in and around January. And they're certainly sticking to that. I'd be surprised to hear anything else in the Rose Garden today.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dana Bash from the White House. Thanks so much.
Well, CNN will have live coverage of the joint news conference by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. That's coming up next hour at 12:05 Eastern, 9:05 a.m. Pacific. And more on Allawi's visit to Washington when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Well, Ivan is like the house guest that just won't leave. One week after Hurricane Ivan clobbered the Gulf Coast, remnants of the storm have regrouped in the Gulf as a tropical storm. It's forecast to bring heavy rains to south Texas and Louisiana over the next 24 hours.
Let's check in with Orelon Sidney.
Orelon, how in the world is this to happen when last checked wasn't Ivan over the Mid Atlantic and Northeastern states just this past weekend?
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It was over the weekend, but there was just a little piece of the energy, apparently, that made its way back to the South. The main bulk of it, I think, headed off to the Northeast and into the Maritimes.
And then a little bit of that energy, I started to see it. It started to work its way down southward. And I think that's probably what went on there. And then it headed on to the Gulf of Mexico.
At any rate, it's one of four systems we have active in the Gulf. We have -- not in the Gulf, but we also have Jeanne here, we have Karl, and then Tropical Storm Lisa. The latter two not going to affect the United States. The former two, however, going to be interesting the next 72, 96 hours.
Ivan still is a tropical storm. We have tropical storm warnings in effect stretching all the way from Sargent, Texas, out to Morgan City. East of Morgan City, those advisories have now been dropped, which is certainly some good news.
Rainfall is moving into Louisiana and Texas, and that's going to be the big player here. Look, folks, this is not going to be a wind event.
When Dean went through back in the mid '90s, I was in Houston. I had my doors and windows open. And I was defrosting the refrigerator.
This is the kind of storm we're talking about. It has strengthened a little bit. Some winds they found 60 miles an hour on the last recon. But those were very isolated. And then the winds started to drop even as they were out in the storm.
So, this is not going to be a wind event. It's going to be a rain event more than anything else.
Because the winds are now up to 60 miles an hour, it went ahead. It says strengthening, but it's very close to the coast now, about 85 miles from Port Arthur.
There are flood and flash flood advisories up for parts of southeastern Texas, south of Interstate 10, extending into Louisiana. And then northward along Interstate 45, just to the north of Huntsville. You can see some local areas with as much as four to 10 inches. Most folks, though, will see two to four inches from the storm as it works its way on through. Central Texas, as you get up onto the hill country, it might be interesting there as you head into the weekend.
This is what we're looking at with Jeanne. This is a whole different ball game now.
Category 2, it's 465 miles east of Great Abaco Island. The winds are up slightly from the last report. They're up to 105 miles an hour. And it started a very slow westward movement at five miles an hour.
Now, currently, the storm is over some rather unfriendly conditions. The water is a little bit cool here, but as it works its way westward, it is expected to move over warmer waters and perhaps strengthen.
We've got it up to a Category 2 tomorrow, then briefly a Category 3 possible on Saturday. And then it starts to make an approach to the eastern U.S. coast. But a cold front comes in right as the storm heads towards Florida.
So, it looks like it may take a turn up to the north and then northeast. This is good and bad news.
Some shear will start to increase. So, we think it will probably be a Category 2 as it goes in on Sunday. It could be a borderline 3. But if it stays along the coast like this, the eastern side of the storm, the bad side of the storm is going to be out to sea, and we'll have less action inland.
So, that could be good news. Going to have to watch this, though, as we head on through the weekend -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Bottom line, Orelon, poor folks in Florida.
SIDNEY: Yes, no kidding. A season of seasons.
WHITFIELD: What a year. No kidding. All right. Thanks a lot, Orelon.
SIDNEY: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: Well, this is why this Category 2 Hurricane Jeanne is such a worry, particularly for the folks in Florida. It's been particularly devastating to the folks in Haiti, leaving behind more than 1,000 bodies.
Disease and other ailments now threaten survivors. Water is contaminated, and emergency aid is severely limited.
More than 1,200 Haitians are still missing. Crews have been burying their rapidly-decomposing bodies in mass graves as quickly as possible. Well, more to come on our top story. Ayad Allawi paints his own picture of Iraq for the U.S. Congress. But just how realistic is it? We're hitting the streets with the soldiers there and talking to an expert coming up next.
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