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CNN Live Today
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Expected to Vote on Rice's Nomination; Colin Powell Gives Farewell Speech
Aired January 19, 2005 - 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Live picture from Washington, D.C. Senator John Kerry having his say right now. It is round two for Condoleezza Rice. She was back before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a second day of confirmation hearings. Her testimony just wrapped up last hour.
We expect a vote today on her nomination for secretary of state. We will go live to Capitol Hill in about two minutes.
Outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell says goodbye to his colleagues. He delivers his farewell speech to the State Department employees today. Powell says he'll be looking for opportunities to serve the public. But he says he has no plans to run for political office.
The death toll from the devastating tsunami in Asia passes another grim milestone. It's now risen to more than 212,000. That's according to CNN estimates. The increase came as Indonesia nearly doubled its death toll to more than 166,000.
The Iraqi elections are just 11 days away. And there has been no letup in the violence. Four suicide bombers struck within a 90-minute period in and around Baghdad today. The U.S. military says that separate attacks killed at least 25 Iraqis.
Three British soldiers are facing a military trial for alleged abused of Iraqi prisoners. More photos depicting the alleged abuse were released during court-martial proceedings in Germany. Prime Minister Tony Blair called the pictures "shocking and appalling," but he says they should not tarnish the image of British troops serving honorably in Iraq.
And it's 11:00 -- well, we'll take this little ear piece out since they're making a little mistake there. OK. It's 11:00 a.m. straight up 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.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Unless, of course, you like hearing the sound of your voice twice.
KAGAN: Over and over and over again.
SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez. Up first, as you might expect, the Condoleezza Rice hearings. On the road to becoming the country's top diplomat, Ms. Rice was back before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, facing actually tougher questions than yesterday from a couple of members in particular, a couple of senators.
The committee is expected, though, to vote today on her nomination to be secretary of state. In fact, part of that process is going on right now as we speak. There's Senator Lugar now. But when last we checked, we saw Senator Kerry speaking.
Congressional correspondent Ed Henry is who you are looking at right now on your screen.
You know, it's funny, Ed, but as I was watching this there seemed to be almost a Boxer effect taking place. That is to say, Senator Barbara Boxer came on so strong that since then we have been hearing from other senators who suddenly are somewhat adamant about their disagreement with Condoleezza Rice themselves.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Remember, just a couple weeks ago it was Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer who stood up and objected to the counting of the electoral votes from Ohio. She now is leading the charge against this nomination, as well.
Coming out of this last election with a lot of dissatisfaction from Democrats who fell that maybe the party has not been standing up strong enough. Clearly, Barbara Boxer, all of a sudden, in the last couple of weeks in the Senate, is starting to really lead the charge against the administration.
This committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, is now debating the nomination of Condoleezza Rice. Condoleezza Rice has left the room. She finished up a second day of confirmation hearings.
As you mentioned, they got a little bit tenser this morning, certainly. And now the committee is actually formally debating the nomination. That is giving Democrats like Barbara Boxer a chance to get in a few more shots.
Just a couple of minutes ago, Barbara Boxer said and charged that some of Dr. Rice's testimony over the last -- last couple of days have been an assault on reality, and specifically in dealing with the situation in Iraq. A moment ago, John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential nominee, he announced that he will be voting against this nomination. We expect that Barbara Boxer will as well, based on some of the comments she's made over the last two days.
Now, Democratic Senator Joe Biden, who is the ranking member of this committee, announced this morning he is voting for the nomination. But he was very tough in saying he has reservations about the nomination, nonetheless, he's very concerned about it.
He believes that Condoleezza Rice is not leveling with the American people. He also charged -- he told her don't listen to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, just a few moments ago. He said Rumsfeld doesn't know, "what the hell he's talking about." And so it's been very rough -- Rick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), RANKING MEMBER, SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: But instead of seizing the opportunity, it seems to me Dr. Rice...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Rick, back to you.
SANCHEZ: Yes. We're going to take it from you, Henry, only we're told now that, interesting enough, the job that Condoleezza Rice is going to get is this man's job. He's giving a farewell speech now. Let's listen in to Colin Powell.
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: Thank you so much, my dear friends. This is an exciting day for the Powell family. We close yet another chapter of our life and move on to something else, but it is a chapter that will always bring us the fondest memories of serving with a group of wonderful people for the last four years.
I remember the first day that I came into this lobby and was greeted with warmth and affection by all of you. That morning, before I left to come down here, Alma said to me, "Remember now, you're not in the Army anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
"And don't go down there and start acting as if it's an infantry battalion."
(LAUGHTER)
And I said, "Yes, dear."
(LAUGHTER)
Then I immediately came down here and saw the crowd and I started treating you like you were an infantry battalion.
(LAUGHTER)
Because you were my troops. You were America's troops. You are wonderful individuals, you are wonderful families, you are wonderful patriots who serve your nation as its troops in the far-flung outposts of American diplomacy. You are in the first line of offense of America's foreign policy.
And I want to thank President Bush for giving me the opportunity to serve as the 65th secretary of state, and the opportunity not only to be his former policy adviser, but to be the leader of this magnificent department. I want to thank everybody in the department, whether you are foreign service, civil service, foreign service national, or all the components thereof; whether you are here in the department, whether you're USAID, the Peace Corps, OPIC and all the other organizations that flow into the State Department family. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I also want to thank all of the family members who are in so many of our missions around the world and here in the department for the sacrifices they make.
POWELL: Alma and I know a great deal about family sacrifice as a result of our 35 years in the service, but the sacrifices that I see our spouses and our children in the foreign service and the civil service and all of our other components make are equal to anything that we asked of our children. And I want to pay special tribute to the families.
I know that the kind of support and loyalty that you have given to me you will give to my successor, Dr. Condi Rice, a dear friend, somebody I've known for many years and who I know will bring gifted leadership to the department and to American foreign policy.
I also want to pay special tribute to all the members of the senior staff who have worked so hard. And there are two individuals, especially, who walked in with me, who have been friends of many years duration and form part of the immediate leadership team. You have gotten to know them well. One we call Buddha, and that's my deputy secretary, Rich Armitage.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
The other individual who had so much to do with the revitalization effort in the department with respect to getting more people into the department through our Diplomatic Readiness Initiative, what we've done with information technology, what we have done with refurbishing our facilities around the world, helping get the money we need from the Congress, a guy who really is quite a leader.
And he and I drove up together in my PT Cruiser on the first morning that I came here, and this was before DS got control of me.
(LAUGHTER)
DS realizing that I almost had an accident out front here while I was pulling up in my PT Cruiser. And that's Undersecretary for Management Grant Green.
(APPLAUSE)
POWELL: You all know that I have always focused on the concept of family. We are one big family, and we exist to serve the American people. We serve the American people by helping the president execute his foreign policy.
And we have much to look back on with satisfaction, many successes that we can take credit along with the president for. Whether it's the effective response that we made to the global war on terror when it was shoved at us on 9/11 and how we have responded and pulled together the world in this threat to civilization.
How we have succeeded in getting rid of two of the most despotic regimes on the face of the earth in Kabul and Baghdad. And even though the task is difficult, how we will see to it that these two nations, Afghanistan and Iraq, have the freedom and democracy that their people richly deserve. And that will happen, and you have had a lot to do with that.
(APPLAUSE)
We have reached out to friends and partners around the world. We have helped to expand the trans-Atlantic community through the expansion of NATO, through the expansion of the European Union, helping and watching, through creating a better relationship with the Russian Federation.
In our first nine months everybody was concerned that we would destroy that relationship because of a debate over the ABM Treaty. But in effect the president showed what kind of a foreign policy we would have.
We pressed forward with the elimination of the ABM Treaty because we needed to go to missile defense, and we did it in a way that the Russians understood why we were doing it. We were patient. We took our time. We explained it to them.
And after we told them we had to withdraw, six months later, rather than there being a big rupture, we signed the Treaty of Moscow and put our relationship with Russia on a new strategic footing.
We did the same thing in our relationship with China, the other major nation that at one time might have been called an adversary.
We had a problem, you recall, in early April of 2001 with the collision between our airplanes and everybody thought this relationship was going in the deep freeze.
But instead, through patient diplomacy, through listening to the Chinese and their concerns, their listening to us, we solved that problem, and over the last several years have put U.S.-Chinese relations on the soundest footing that they have been in decades.
POWELL: If you look around the world, with the kinds of things we have done, whether it's our interaction with the Indians and the Pakistanis in the subcontinent to defuse a conflict situation and to let them know that we were their friends, each in an individual capacity, and working together helped them resolve some of their difficulties.
If you look at what we did with our Asian alliances and alliance members and partners, it is in excellent condition.
If you look at what we did to deal with those problems that are so vexing in the world with respect to poverty, with respect to disease, with respect to hunger, we have much to be proud of. Doubling of our development assistance funding. The HIV-AIDS program where we are in the forefront of the world's efforts.
If you look at how we solved problems in Liberia or in Haiti, or what we have done with patient diplomacy over the years to bring us to that marvelous moment last Sunday when I was privileged on behalf of the president, behalf of you, to witness the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement between the SPLM and the government in Khartoum bringing this 20-year-old war in Sudan hopefully closer an end.
When you look at what we've done with respect to free trade, when you look at what we have done with respect to our interests in our own hemisphere and in Africa, it is a record that we can all be proud of.
You are the ones who do it. I'm up in the 7th floor with my wonderful colleagues from the 6th and 7th floor who are assembled behind me like a choir.
(LAUGHTER)
We trust they will not break out into song at any time.
(LAUGHTER)
But we're the leaders and we have the privilege of being your leaders. But we know how it gets done. It doesn't get done because I give a speech or I go here or I go there. It gets done because you do it every single day. You do it by the way in which you go about your work and the way in which all of your colleagues in every one of our missions around the world go about their work.
They are the carriers, you are the carriers of America's values. You are the ones that go out not to lecture, not to impose, but to let our works go before us to show what democracy can bring to people in the way of a better life. You are the ones who demonstrate the importance of individual rights, that everybody should be free.
POWELL: You are the ones by the way you do your job here, the way all of our people of our embassies around the world do their job in connecting with the citizens of that land tell those folks what America is all about, what we believe. Freedom, human dignity, economic openness. All for the purpose of not imposing American values, but showing how American values can benefit the world if they are adjusted and adapted to the needs of a particular country.
We have demonstrated that in the broader Middle East, in North Africa as we have launched the Forum for the Future to help those nations reform themselves with our help. We have demonstrated in our continuing effort to work with the nations of the Middle East, and especially with the Israelis and Palestinians to move forward so that free reform democratic state of Palestine could be created to live side by side in peace with Israel.
We have not shrunk from the challenges. We are focusing on Iran and North Korea and trying to persuade them that there is a better way. We put the spotlight on these kinds of problems.
We solved the problem in Libya of weapons of mass destruction. We hope other nations that are thinking in those terms will come to the same conclusion that the Libyans did.
So we have much to be proud of, but you are the ones who should be proud of what we have done. It has been my privilege to serve you, but you are the foot soldiers of the battalion.
I am so proud that I have had this chance to serve my nation once again. And when I step down from this job, I will have had close to 40 years of government service.
Thirty-five of those years were in the United States Army. I will never not be a soldier. You can't serve for 35 years and say, "I'm no longer a soldier." So the Army will always be dear and precious to me.
But I want to say to you here today that after four years of being with you serving this department, the relationship is the same. And even though I step down as your secretary, I will never leave you, I will always be part of this wonderful family.
Thank you all, and God bless you.
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: And there you have it, Colin Powell, with his wife, Alma. And you probably heard it or sensed it for yourself at the very end, as his voice started to break up as he bids farewell to all those people at the State Department that he's been working with for all these many years.
Interestingly enough, we watch several events unfolding on this day. Not only Secretary of State Colin Powell talking about what the administration has done. We've also been listening to Condoleezza Rice in another part of town talking about what the administration hopes to do. That's been in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
We continue to monitor that. In fact, Ed Henry has been following it all day long.
And it seemed this morning, Ed Henry -- you and I were talking about this not long ago -- that some of the Democrats on that committee seemed a little more brazen, at least this morning, than they have been in the past. Did they not?
HENRY: Absolutely. We saw Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat Joe Biden taking some pretty rough shots at Condoleezza Rice this morning. Interestingly, it looks like Barbara Boxer will -- will probably vote against this nomination based on her statements over the last couple of days. But just a moment ago, Chris Dodd, a very senior Democrat on the committee, said that while he has reservations, he will support this nomination.
Joe Biden, the ranking member of this committee, also saying he will support the nomination. But again, Biden saying he has concerns. He thinks that Condoleezza Rice has not been forthcoming. He thinks that she has not been clear about an exit strategy in Iraq, has not been clear about how many Iraqi officers have really been trained so far.
Here's Joe Biden from earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: But instead of seizing the opportunity, it seems to me, Dr. Rice, you danced around it. You sort of stuck to the party line, which seemed pretty consistent: you're always right, you never made any mistakes, you're never wrong. And it's almost like if I acknowledge any weakness, if I acknowledge any -- any misjudgments on the part of me or the president, or anybody on the team, it's a sign of weakness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, Senator Biden obviously taking some tough shots there. Condoleezza Rice, though, saying that while all has not gone well in Iraq, she believes that the administration is making progress there. She is looking forward to the January 30 elections. And, also, in the question of how independent she will be as secretary of state, she had this exchange with Democrat Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I have no difficulty telling the president exactly what I think. I've done that for four years. Sometimes he agrees and sometimes he doesn't. The fact is that I felt very strongly that no one else should ever know the times when he disagreed and the times when he didn't.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Which I respect. I have no problem with that in your role as national security.
RICE: Yes. Well, but in my role as secretary, I want it to be clearly understood that I still believe that we are one administration with the president in the lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, obviously it looks like full support from the Republican side of this Foreign Relations Committee. As I mentioned, some Democrats also expressing support with reservations.
Bottom line, Condoleezza Rice, her nomination will move forward out of this committee at some point in the next hour or so. Hopefully sooner, depending on how long this debate goes. Then on to the full Senate, where she will be confirmed by the Senate tomorrow, the same day President Bush is inaugurated -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: So, you know, it seemed, Ed, part of the big dig against her from the Democrats was that she maybe wasn't independent enough in taking -- well, taking issue with some of those statements and some of the other members of the administration. Specifically, I heard mentioned Donald Rumsfeld, correct?
HENRY: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: And I understand he took a pretty good shot in this. What was that?
HENRY: Absolutely. You are absolutely right.
The bottom line here is that Democrats, some Democrats on this panel, feel the man we just saw a moment ago, outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, has been a counterweight in this administration, has offered some balance and has pushed back hard against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And that Secretary Powell has not always agreed with President Bush, and there has been Democratic concern on this committee that maybe Condoleezza Rice is too close to President Bush, will not offer up enough opposition, will not push forward, will not push back against Donald Rumsfeld enough.
And that shot at Rumsfeld was that basically Joe Biden, the Democratic ranking member here on this committee, basically warned Condoleezza Rice not to listen to Donald Rumsfeld. He said, "Rumsfeld doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."
So you're right. A very rough shot from Biden directed not just as Rice, but directed at Donald Rumsfeld -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Yes, and that's as direct as it gets. Ed Henry following things there for us. We thank you, Ed, for standing by.
Daryn, over to you.
KAGAN: At about 25 minutes on CNN LIVE TODAY, inauguration news, including senior White House John King and his conversation with the president.
Speaking of the president, a pre-inauguration day activity for him, going to the National Archives. The president having and Mrs. Bush having a chance to look at the Declaration of Independence. Also looking at the Constitution, Bill of Rights, documents that were pertaining to George Washington.
As we also understand, there's the bible that George Washington used to be sworn in during his inauguration. So more from Washington, D.C. in just a couple minutes.
SANCHEZ: And meet another one of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's "New You" participants, as in Y-O-U. Hear what she wants to change about herself specifically. And now the doctors say she is going to have to go about doing it if she wants to succeed. Advice for all of us coming up right here on CNN LIVE TODAY. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Want to tell you now about something we're going to do here at CNN. Beginning here at 7:00 p.m., right here on CNN, we're going to bring you a special report on "Defending America." That's what it is called, part of which involves a CNN investigation.
Now, I traveled to several states last week looking at so called lone wolves, people who are against the government but have not attracted very much attention post-9/11.
This is a standoff you're listening to right now. This is in South Carolina, back in December of 2003.
Two police officers are killed. Is it a family with a grudge against the government? Well, pay attention now to the words of Steven Bixby, charged with first-degree murder in this case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN BIXBY, CHARGED WITH MURDER: Ruby Ridge, Waco. This country has shown what it is. I love this country. Just can't stand the bastards in it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like who?
BIXBY: It was self-defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Let me tell you about some of the things that we found out. Those who monitor this sort of thing call Steven Bixby a lone wolf, a man with a grudge against the government who may have been willing to act on it. They say he's not the only one.
Tonight, lone wolves and the threat of domestic terrorism in our country. A threat that remains despite the focus on al Qaeda. It's on "Defending America." It's a CNN "Security Watch" special. It begins right here at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
CNN "Security Watch" will keep you up to date on the job of defending America. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
KAGAN: Let's show you live pictures. And these are pictures that we're getting from Washington, D.C.. That is the White House.
SANCHEZ: Where?
KAGAN: Behind all the white snow. Snow flurries taking place right now in Washington, D.C. Official temperature reading 19 degrees Fahrenheit. But with the snow and the wind-chill, it feels like four degrees.
Things are supposed to get a little bit better tomorrow. It's supposed to be a balmy 24 degrees after snow flurries overnight. SANCHEZ: It's funny, because when we were doing that report with Dana a little while ago and she was live, you could you see the flurries around her. But it didn't look quite that bad.
KAGAN: Well, no. And she sent me -- she sent me a message on the computer saying that as soon as she stepped outside to do the live shot, that's when the flurries began.
Let's check in on weather right now and see what is happening with Rob Marciano.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Well, just in time for the president's inauguration, a new comic video from the guys who poked fun during the campaigns. Remember them?
KAGAN: Yes, the JibJab production guys. Their latest sketch targets the president's second term. We're going to show you that in just a few minutes.
You are watching CNN LIVE TODAY.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, SINGING: Yes I'm coming back to serve a second term. This time I won the national election. Oh, thanks to you, Ohio, and dear brother Jebediah. We get four more years to ruin Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired January 19, 2005 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
Live picture from Washington, D.C. Senator John Kerry having his say right now. It is round two for Condoleezza Rice. She was back before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a second day of confirmation hearings. Her testimony just wrapped up last hour.
We expect a vote today on her nomination for secretary of state. We will go live to Capitol Hill in about two minutes.
Outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell says goodbye to his colleagues. He delivers his farewell speech to the State Department employees today. Powell says he'll be looking for opportunities to serve the public. But he says he has no plans to run for political office.
The death toll from the devastating tsunami in Asia passes another grim milestone. It's now risen to more than 212,000. That's according to CNN estimates. The increase came as Indonesia nearly doubled its death toll to more than 166,000.
The Iraqi elections are just 11 days away. And there has been no letup in the violence. Four suicide bombers struck within a 90-minute period in and around Baghdad today. The U.S. military says that separate attacks killed at least 25 Iraqis.
Three British soldiers are facing a military trial for alleged abused of Iraqi prisoners. More photos depicting the alleged abuse were released during court-martial proceedings in Germany. Prime Minister Tony Blair called the pictures "shocking and appalling," but he says they should not tarnish the image of British troops serving honorably in Iraq.
And it's 11:00 -- well, we'll take this little ear piece out since they're making a little mistake there. OK. It's 11:00 a.m. straight up 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.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Unless, of course, you like hearing the sound of your voice twice.
KAGAN: Over and over and over again.
SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez. Up first, as you might expect, the Condoleezza Rice hearings. On the road to becoming the country's top diplomat, Ms. Rice was back before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, facing actually tougher questions than yesterday from a couple of members in particular, a couple of senators.
The committee is expected, though, to vote today on her nomination to be secretary of state. In fact, part of that process is going on right now as we speak. There's Senator Lugar now. But when last we checked, we saw Senator Kerry speaking.
Congressional correspondent Ed Henry is who you are looking at right now on your screen.
You know, it's funny, Ed, but as I was watching this there seemed to be almost a Boxer effect taking place. That is to say, Senator Barbara Boxer came on so strong that since then we have been hearing from other senators who suddenly are somewhat adamant about their disagreement with Condoleezza Rice themselves.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Remember, just a couple weeks ago it was Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer who stood up and objected to the counting of the electoral votes from Ohio. She now is leading the charge against this nomination, as well.
Coming out of this last election with a lot of dissatisfaction from Democrats who fell that maybe the party has not been standing up strong enough. Clearly, Barbara Boxer, all of a sudden, in the last couple of weeks in the Senate, is starting to really lead the charge against the administration.
This committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, is now debating the nomination of Condoleezza Rice. Condoleezza Rice has left the room. She finished up a second day of confirmation hearings.
As you mentioned, they got a little bit tenser this morning, certainly. And now the committee is actually formally debating the nomination. That is giving Democrats like Barbara Boxer a chance to get in a few more shots.
Just a couple of minutes ago, Barbara Boxer said and charged that some of Dr. Rice's testimony over the last -- last couple of days have been an assault on reality, and specifically in dealing with the situation in Iraq. A moment ago, John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential nominee, he announced that he will be voting against this nomination. We expect that Barbara Boxer will as well, based on some of the comments she's made over the last two days.
Now, Democratic Senator Joe Biden, who is the ranking member of this committee, announced this morning he is voting for the nomination. But he was very tough in saying he has reservations about the nomination, nonetheless, he's very concerned about it.
He believes that Condoleezza Rice is not leveling with the American people. He also charged -- he told her don't listen to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, just a few moments ago. He said Rumsfeld doesn't know, "what the hell he's talking about." And so it's been very rough -- Rick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), RANKING MEMBER, SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: But instead of seizing the opportunity, it seems to me Dr. Rice...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Rick, back to you.
SANCHEZ: Yes. We're going to take it from you, Henry, only we're told now that, interesting enough, the job that Condoleezza Rice is going to get is this man's job. He's giving a farewell speech now. Let's listen in to Colin Powell.
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: Thank you so much, my dear friends. This is an exciting day for the Powell family. We close yet another chapter of our life and move on to something else, but it is a chapter that will always bring us the fondest memories of serving with a group of wonderful people for the last four years.
I remember the first day that I came into this lobby and was greeted with warmth and affection by all of you. That morning, before I left to come down here, Alma said to me, "Remember now, you're not in the Army anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
"And don't go down there and start acting as if it's an infantry battalion."
(LAUGHTER)
And I said, "Yes, dear."
(LAUGHTER)
Then I immediately came down here and saw the crowd and I started treating you like you were an infantry battalion.
(LAUGHTER)
Because you were my troops. You were America's troops. You are wonderful individuals, you are wonderful families, you are wonderful patriots who serve your nation as its troops in the far-flung outposts of American diplomacy. You are in the first line of offense of America's foreign policy.
And I want to thank President Bush for giving me the opportunity to serve as the 65th secretary of state, and the opportunity not only to be his former policy adviser, but to be the leader of this magnificent department. I want to thank everybody in the department, whether you are foreign service, civil service, foreign service national, or all the components thereof; whether you are here in the department, whether you're USAID, the Peace Corps, OPIC and all the other organizations that flow into the State Department family. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I also want to thank all of the family members who are in so many of our missions around the world and here in the department for the sacrifices they make.
POWELL: Alma and I know a great deal about family sacrifice as a result of our 35 years in the service, but the sacrifices that I see our spouses and our children in the foreign service and the civil service and all of our other components make are equal to anything that we asked of our children. And I want to pay special tribute to the families.
I know that the kind of support and loyalty that you have given to me you will give to my successor, Dr. Condi Rice, a dear friend, somebody I've known for many years and who I know will bring gifted leadership to the department and to American foreign policy.
I also want to pay special tribute to all the members of the senior staff who have worked so hard. And there are two individuals, especially, who walked in with me, who have been friends of many years duration and form part of the immediate leadership team. You have gotten to know them well. One we call Buddha, and that's my deputy secretary, Rich Armitage.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
The other individual who had so much to do with the revitalization effort in the department with respect to getting more people into the department through our Diplomatic Readiness Initiative, what we've done with information technology, what we have done with refurbishing our facilities around the world, helping get the money we need from the Congress, a guy who really is quite a leader.
And he and I drove up together in my PT Cruiser on the first morning that I came here, and this was before DS got control of me.
(LAUGHTER)
DS realizing that I almost had an accident out front here while I was pulling up in my PT Cruiser. And that's Undersecretary for Management Grant Green.
(APPLAUSE)
POWELL: You all know that I have always focused on the concept of family. We are one big family, and we exist to serve the American people. We serve the American people by helping the president execute his foreign policy.
And we have much to look back on with satisfaction, many successes that we can take credit along with the president for. Whether it's the effective response that we made to the global war on terror when it was shoved at us on 9/11 and how we have responded and pulled together the world in this threat to civilization.
How we have succeeded in getting rid of two of the most despotic regimes on the face of the earth in Kabul and Baghdad. And even though the task is difficult, how we will see to it that these two nations, Afghanistan and Iraq, have the freedom and democracy that their people richly deserve. And that will happen, and you have had a lot to do with that.
(APPLAUSE)
We have reached out to friends and partners around the world. We have helped to expand the trans-Atlantic community through the expansion of NATO, through the expansion of the European Union, helping and watching, through creating a better relationship with the Russian Federation.
In our first nine months everybody was concerned that we would destroy that relationship because of a debate over the ABM Treaty. But in effect the president showed what kind of a foreign policy we would have.
We pressed forward with the elimination of the ABM Treaty because we needed to go to missile defense, and we did it in a way that the Russians understood why we were doing it. We were patient. We took our time. We explained it to them.
And after we told them we had to withdraw, six months later, rather than there being a big rupture, we signed the Treaty of Moscow and put our relationship with Russia on a new strategic footing.
We did the same thing in our relationship with China, the other major nation that at one time might have been called an adversary.
We had a problem, you recall, in early April of 2001 with the collision between our airplanes and everybody thought this relationship was going in the deep freeze.
But instead, through patient diplomacy, through listening to the Chinese and their concerns, their listening to us, we solved that problem, and over the last several years have put U.S.-Chinese relations on the soundest footing that they have been in decades.
POWELL: If you look around the world, with the kinds of things we have done, whether it's our interaction with the Indians and the Pakistanis in the subcontinent to defuse a conflict situation and to let them know that we were their friends, each in an individual capacity, and working together helped them resolve some of their difficulties.
If you look at what we did with our Asian alliances and alliance members and partners, it is in excellent condition.
If you look at what we did to deal with those problems that are so vexing in the world with respect to poverty, with respect to disease, with respect to hunger, we have much to be proud of. Doubling of our development assistance funding. The HIV-AIDS program where we are in the forefront of the world's efforts.
If you look at how we solved problems in Liberia or in Haiti, or what we have done with patient diplomacy over the years to bring us to that marvelous moment last Sunday when I was privileged on behalf of the president, behalf of you, to witness the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement between the SPLM and the government in Khartoum bringing this 20-year-old war in Sudan hopefully closer an end.
When you look at what we've done with respect to free trade, when you look at what we have done with respect to our interests in our own hemisphere and in Africa, it is a record that we can all be proud of.
You are the ones who do it. I'm up in the 7th floor with my wonderful colleagues from the 6th and 7th floor who are assembled behind me like a choir.
(LAUGHTER)
We trust they will not break out into song at any time.
(LAUGHTER)
But we're the leaders and we have the privilege of being your leaders. But we know how it gets done. It doesn't get done because I give a speech or I go here or I go there. It gets done because you do it every single day. You do it by the way in which you go about your work and the way in which all of your colleagues in every one of our missions around the world go about their work.
They are the carriers, you are the carriers of America's values. You are the ones that go out not to lecture, not to impose, but to let our works go before us to show what democracy can bring to people in the way of a better life. You are the ones who demonstrate the importance of individual rights, that everybody should be free.
POWELL: You are the ones by the way you do your job here, the way all of our people of our embassies around the world do their job in connecting with the citizens of that land tell those folks what America is all about, what we believe. Freedom, human dignity, economic openness. All for the purpose of not imposing American values, but showing how American values can benefit the world if they are adjusted and adapted to the needs of a particular country.
We have demonstrated that in the broader Middle East, in North Africa as we have launched the Forum for the Future to help those nations reform themselves with our help. We have demonstrated in our continuing effort to work with the nations of the Middle East, and especially with the Israelis and Palestinians to move forward so that free reform democratic state of Palestine could be created to live side by side in peace with Israel.
We have not shrunk from the challenges. We are focusing on Iran and North Korea and trying to persuade them that there is a better way. We put the spotlight on these kinds of problems.
We solved the problem in Libya of weapons of mass destruction. We hope other nations that are thinking in those terms will come to the same conclusion that the Libyans did.
So we have much to be proud of, but you are the ones who should be proud of what we have done. It has been my privilege to serve you, but you are the foot soldiers of the battalion.
I am so proud that I have had this chance to serve my nation once again. And when I step down from this job, I will have had close to 40 years of government service.
Thirty-five of those years were in the United States Army. I will never not be a soldier. You can't serve for 35 years and say, "I'm no longer a soldier." So the Army will always be dear and precious to me.
But I want to say to you here today that after four years of being with you serving this department, the relationship is the same. And even though I step down as your secretary, I will never leave you, I will always be part of this wonderful family.
Thank you all, and God bless you.
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: And there you have it, Colin Powell, with his wife, Alma. And you probably heard it or sensed it for yourself at the very end, as his voice started to break up as he bids farewell to all those people at the State Department that he's been working with for all these many years.
Interestingly enough, we watch several events unfolding on this day. Not only Secretary of State Colin Powell talking about what the administration has done. We've also been listening to Condoleezza Rice in another part of town talking about what the administration hopes to do. That's been in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
We continue to monitor that. In fact, Ed Henry has been following it all day long.
And it seemed this morning, Ed Henry -- you and I were talking about this not long ago -- that some of the Democrats on that committee seemed a little more brazen, at least this morning, than they have been in the past. Did they not?
HENRY: Absolutely. We saw Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat Joe Biden taking some pretty rough shots at Condoleezza Rice this morning. Interestingly, it looks like Barbara Boxer will -- will probably vote against this nomination based on her statements over the last couple of days. But just a moment ago, Chris Dodd, a very senior Democrat on the committee, said that while he has reservations, he will support this nomination.
Joe Biden, the ranking member of this committee, also saying he will support the nomination. But again, Biden saying he has concerns. He thinks that Condoleezza Rice has not been forthcoming. He thinks that she has not been clear about an exit strategy in Iraq, has not been clear about how many Iraqi officers have really been trained so far.
Here's Joe Biden from earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: But instead of seizing the opportunity, it seems to me, Dr. Rice, you danced around it. You sort of stuck to the party line, which seemed pretty consistent: you're always right, you never made any mistakes, you're never wrong. And it's almost like if I acknowledge any weakness, if I acknowledge any -- any misjudgments on the part of me or the president, or anybody on the team, it's a sign of weakness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, Senator Biden obviously taking some tough shots there. Condoleezza Rice, though, saying that while all has not gone well in Iraq, she believes that the administration is making progress there. She is looking forward to the January 30 elections. And, also, in the question of how independent she will be as secretary of state, she had this exchange with Democrat Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I have no difficulty telling the president exactly what I think. I've done that for four years. Sometimes he agrees and sometimes he doesn't. The fact is that I felt very strongly that no one else should ever know the times when he disagreed and the times when he didn't.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Which I respect. I have no problem with that in your role as national security.
RICE: Yes. Well, but in my role as secretary, I want it to be clearly understood that I still believe that we are one administration with the president in the lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, obviously it looks like full support from the Republican side of this Foreign Relations Committee. As I mentioned, some Democrats also expressing support with reservations.
Bottom line, Condoleezza Rice, her nomination will move forward out of this committee at some point in the next hour or so. Hopefully sooner, depending on how long this debate goes. Then on to the full Senate, where she will be confirmed by the Senate tomorrow, the same day President Bush is inaugurated -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: So, you know, it seemed, Ed, part of the big dig against her from the Democrats was that she maybe wasn't independent enough in taking -- well, taking issue with some of those statements and some of the other members of the administration. Specifically, I heard mentioned Donald Rumsfeld, correct?
HENRY: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: And I understand he took a pretty good shot in this. What was that?
HENRY: Absolutely. You are absolutely right.
The bottom line here is that Democrats, some Democrats on this panel, feel the man we just saw a moment ago, outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, has been a counterweight in this administration, has offered some balance and has pushed back hard against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And that Secretary Powell has not always agreed with President Bush, and there has been Democratic concern on this committee that maybe Condoleezza Rice is too close to President Bush, will not offer up enough opposition, will not push forward, will not push back against Donald Rumsfeld enough.
And that shot at Rumsfeld was that basically Joe Biden, the Democratic ranking member here on this committee, basically warned Condoleezza Rice not to listen to Donald Rumsfeld. He said, "Rumsfeld doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."
So you're right. A very rough shot from Biden directed not just as Rice, but directed at Donald Rumsfeld -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Yes, and that's as direct as it gets. Ed Henry following things there for us. We thank you, Ed, for standing by.
Daryn, over to you.
KAGAN: At about 25 minutes on CNN LIVE TODAY, inauguration news, including senior White House John King and his conversation with the president.
Speaking of the president, a pre-inauguration day activity for him, going to the National Archives. The president having and Mrs. Bush having a chance to look at the Declaration of Independence. Also looking at the Constitution, Bill of Rights, documents that were pertaining to George Washington.
As we also understand, there's the bible that George Washington used to be sworn in during his inauguration. So more from Washington, D.C. in just a couple minutes.
SANCHEZ: And meet another one of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's "New You" participants, as in Y-O-U. Hear what she wants to change about herself specifically. And now the doctors say she is going to have to go about doing it if she wants to succeed. Advice for all of us coming up right here on CNN LIVE TODAY. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Want to tell you now about something we're going to do here at CNN. Beginning here at 7:00 p.m., right here on CNN, we're going to bring you a special report on "Defending America." That's what it is called, part of which involves a CNN investigation.
Now, I traveled to several states last week looking at so called lone wolves, people who are against the government but have not attracted very much attention post-9/11.
This is a standoff you're listening to right now. This is in South Carolina, back in December of 2003.
Two police officers are killed. Is it a family with a grudge against the government? Well, pay attention now to the words of Steven Bixby, charged with first-degree murder in this case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN BIXBY, CHARGED WITH MURDER: Ruby Ridge, Waco. This country has shown what it is. I love this country. Just can't stand the bastards in it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like who?
BIXBY: It was self-defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Let me tell you about some of the things that we found out. Those who monitor this sort of thing call Steven Bixby a lone wolf, a man with a grudge against the government who may have been willing to act on it. They say he's not the only one.
Tonight, lone wolves and the threat of domestic terrorism in our country. A threat that remains despite the focus on al Qaeda. It's on "Defending America." It's a CNN "Security Watch" special. It begins right here at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
CNN "Security Watch" will keep you up to date on the job of defending America. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
KAGAN: Let's show you live pictures. And these are pictures that we're getting from Washington, D.C.. That is the White House.
SANCHEZ: Where?
KAGAN: Behind all the white snow. Snow flurries taking place right now in Washington, D.C. Official temperature reading 19 degrees Fahrenheit. But with the snow and the wind-chill, it feels like four degrees.
Things are supposed to get a little bit better tomorrow. It's supposed to be a balmy 24 degrees after snow flurries overnight. SANCHEZ: It's funny, because when we were doing that report with Dana a little while ago and she was live, you could you see the flurries around her. But it didn't look quite that bad.
KAGAN: Well, no. And she sent me -- she sent me a message on the computer saying that as soon as she stepped outside to do the live shot, that's when the flurries began.
Let's check in on weather right now and see what is happening with Rob Marciano.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Well, just in time for the president's inauguration, a new comic video from the guys who poked fun during the campaigns. Remember them?
KAGAN: Yes, the JibJab production guys. Their latest sketch targets the president's second term. We're going to show you that in just a few minutes.
You are watching CNN LIVE TODAY.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, SINGING: Yes I'm coming back to serve a second term. This time I won the national election. Oh, thanks to you, Ohio, and dear brother Jebediah. We get four more years to ruin Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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