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CNN Live Today

U.S. Troops in Afghanistan Fight Forgotten War; First Female German Chancellor Elected; Former FBI Director Slams Clinton in New Book

Aired October 10, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, HOST: President Bush heads back to the hurricane zone late today. It's his eighth trip to the Gulf Coast since Katrina. The president is having dinner with state and city leaders in New Orleans. Tomorrow he visits a Habitat for Humanity construction site on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
And it's Columbus Day. Not just a time for banks to lose but a time for parades and politicians. New York's festivities are getting ready to roll shortly across 35 blocks of midtown Manhattan. Mayoral candidates are making appearances, with election day around the corner. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is grand marshal of New York's parade.

Taking a look overseas, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is flying to Southwest Asia. The secretary will visit the stans, Kyrgyzkstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, all former Soviet republics, all having a problem with democratic reforms, and she also will stop in Afghanistan. Noticeably missing from her schedule this week, Uzbekistan. That country recently evicted U.S. troops from an air base used in the war on terror.

The U.S. military says one American soldier has been killed in a firefight. That happened in Southeastern Afghanistan. A second soldier was wounded. The military says the troops were on offensive operations with Afghan soldiers when they were ambushed by rebels.

The new violence appears to be part of a reinvigorated Taliban insurgency. Just today, reports of two more suicide bombings in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Three people lost their lives there. Attacks this year have killed more than 1,300 people and more than 50 U.S. troops, but a lot of soldiers feel that Iraq is overshadowing their mission in Afghanistan, that theirs has been become the forgotten war.

More now from CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 2nd Battalion of the U.S. Army's 503rd Airborne Infantry went to Afghanistan six months ago, expecting a peaceful deployment. They got anything but.

SETH WILLIAMS, U.S. ARMY: We're watching the news, too, and all the -- all the media was focused on Iraq and all the fighting going on there, so coming do Afghanistan, we were thinking, you know, "This is going to be an easy tour. There's not going to be much going on," and then we come here and we started losing guys.

CHILCOTE: Soldiers like Seth Williams patrol Afghanistan's Zabul province, Taliban's sanctuary that the U.S. rarely ventured until this unit arrived.

They are trained to move fast. Forty minutes after getting intelligence on a wanted Taliban leader, the platoon searches these compounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here. Here! Now!

CHILCOTE: Others search from the air.

In their six months here, these soldiers estimate capturing or killing 400 Taliban. This time, they do not find the thing that they're looking for.

WILLIAMS: When it's a dry hole, we're pretty excited to get back and relax, because we've been pretty exhausted.

CHILCOTE: Exhausting and deadly. The battalion lost seven soldiers in six months, 34 more wounded, but their comrades say few back home even know they're here.

WILLIAMS: When I went home on leave, you know, everyone was like, "How long have you been in Iraq?"

I was like, "No, I'm going to Afghanistan. You know, that's -- I haven't been to Iraq yet."

CHILCOTE (on camera): What's their reaction to that?

WILLIAMS: Their reaction is, "Oh, well at least you'll be safe in Afghanistan."

CHILCOTE: Not quite that way?

WILLIAMS: Yes. It's completely opposite.

CHILCOTE (voice-over): Corporal Kyle Frederixson spent a year in Iraq.

CPL. KYLE FREDERIXSON, U.S. ARMY: Everyone's like, "It's going to be worse; you could go to Iraq." But my experiences so far would indicate that I would rather be deployed back to Iraq than over here, personally.

CHILCOTE: This is the deadliest year yet for the U.S. in Afghanistan: more than 50 killed in action as soon as January. In a place and in a war many here say their fellow Americans have all but forgotten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, in a rare appearance on this side of the pond, Ryan Chilcote joining me now, fresh from his reporting duties in Afghanistan. And as we were saying, parliamentary election results almost final.

Good to have you here.

CHILCOTE: Nice to be here.

KAGAN: It's always reassuring when we see you in one piece, because you go to such dangerous places. When you were embedded with the military, not only did you see this increase in violence in difficult situations, but you actually witnessed the election firsthand.

CHILCOTE: Sure, I was with the -- embedded with the U.S. Army, 2nd of 503rd Airborne. That's a unit out of Italy. And they are in Afghanistan in the Zabul province, which is one of the hottest areas in terms of the military conflict there. It's also an exceptionally conservative area, a Taliban stronghold. And it's an area where, like all the other provinces, they decided to hold the election and have a polling station.

The last time they had an election in the Zabul province in the Daychopan Valley, where I was, they had one polling station for a population of 50,000 people. A total of three villagers came out to vote. That was when they were voting for President Karzai in the presidential election last October.

This time, 860 men -- 860 villagers turned out to vote. So they saw that as a success.

KAGAN: Better. Show us the ballot. You've got the ballot.

CHILCOTE: Sure. Yes. I brought -- this is the ballot actually from the Zabul province. And I think it explains an awful lot. First of all, it explains the difficulties of, you know, beginning democracy. These people had to choose one candidate, the voters in Zabul province, out of all of these candidates. The vast majority of people, if not all of them in Zabul's Daychopan Valley, are illiterate, because they don't have any schools there and they haven't, really, ever.

KAGAN: Do they have a photo of each candidate?

CHILCOTE: Yes. So you would think that would help. You have the name, which is sort of the first line to identify the candidate, then the picture and then even a symbol. The problem is that...

KAGAN: Was the symbol what he does for a living?

CHILCOTE: No, they're sort of randomly assigned. Some have scissors, kind of ironic, perhaps. But the interesting thing is that a lot of the voters told me that, even with the photos, they can't identify the candidates, because none of the candidates have actually been there to campaign, because they're too afraid of the Taliban attacking them while they're there.

So all of these voters, you know, talk about 11th hour decisions, they were in the polling station, talking to one another, asking who they should vote for. And some people were quite clearly coaching.

KAGAN: Yes. "Go for that guy."

CHILCOTE: Exactly. I even heard one man tell another voter to vote for one of the women who is running in this.

KAGAN: Which is interesting, because you were telling me that in this particular area of Afghanistan, where you were, because much was made of women voting, that no women voted where you were.

CHILCOTE: That's right. Eight hundred sixty people at the polling station. I didn't see a woman anywhere near that polling station.

KAGAN: Because it's so conservative, just unheard of. How could you allow women out of the house?

CHILCOTE: That's right. They say that it's just not part of their tradition.

KAGAN: But there were women on the ballot.

CHILCOTE: But there were women on the ballot. And in fact, according to the Afghan constitution, women will get a significant number of the seats in the parliament that's being formed in Afghanistan, and they're guaranteed a certain number of seats on -- or pictures, spots on the ballot.

So there were women running in the Zabul province, and some of the men told me that they were going to vote for the women. And I said, "Well, you don't let women vote, but you're going to vote for them?"

And they said, "Well, that's because men have ruled this country for 30 years and they haven't done so well, so we're going to give women a chance."

KAGAN: Works for me. Makes sense. Ryan, thank you.

CHILCOTE: Thank you.

KAGAN: And wherever you're off to next, please be safe, because I know that will come in handy.

CHILCOTE: I'll do it. Thank you.

KAGAN: Good to see you in person.

Well, three weeks after votes were cast and counted, conservative Angela Merkel says that she will be the next chancellor of Germany, the first woman in the jobs. Our Berlin bureau chief, Chris Burns, joins me now with more on that.

Chris, hello.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Daryn. It was an apparent victory, as she had to pay quite a bit to get that position. In fact the conservatives, who won the election by a mere 1 percent of the plurality in the Bundestag last month, they had to give up half the seats in their cabinet to get the chancellery. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the Social Democrats having bargained very hard in the last three weeks.

Merkel, of course, being asked, well, are you disappointed? This was what she said to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR ELECT (through translator): I'm in a good mood, but I know that we have a lot of work to do, and I think that the grand coalition, alongside the criticism that's been made during the election campaign, we now have a coalition of new opportunists. We bear a heavy responsibility, and it would be quite wrong for me to take a negative attitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: Well, that's trying to put a positive spin on it. She also said we have to face reality. And listen to what the Social Democratic leader, Franz Muentefering, had to say. He was practically gloating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANZ MUENTEFERING, LEADER, SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (through translator): This expresses our wish to contribute to a grand coalition being formed, a stable government, a government that will stay in office for four years, that can meet the challenges facing this country, that use of the potential of the grand coalition to make good policies for Germany.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: Now, what's behind all this is, of course, the big battle over how to fix Europe's biggest economy. More than 11 percent unemployment, flat growth. The conservatives want to slash taxes, slash government spending, make hiring and firing more easy for businesses to do to encourage them to hire and perhaps boost the economy. That's the big question.

And the Social Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to protect a lot of those things that the conservatives want to cut. So there's going to be a lot of battles ahead. The government is going to take several weeks to actually form -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Chris, Ms. Merkel is just a fascinating story, how she was born in Eastern Germany, rises to the position of power, and through her experience, developed into a woman who is more pro- American than who will be her predecessor.

BURNS: Well, she is. You know, she grew up under the communist regime, born in Hamburg, in western Germany, but her pastor father took the family to the east, hoping they could have a positive effect in the east.

After the communist regime came down, she joined the conservatives, Helmut Kohl. In fact, she was known as Chancellor Helmut Kohl's girl, a protege. And she rose to the top of the party in these past few years.

She says she wants to change at least the tone toward Washington. She's not planning on sending any German troops to Iraq, like Chancellor Schroeder also refused to do, but she wants to change the tone. And from circles among Americans and American officials that I've talked to, they see that in a very, very positive light, of course -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Interesting times in Germany. Chris Burns, thank you.

Well, let's tell you a little bit more about Ms. Merkel. She is joining an elite club. We count six heads of government who are women. Finland's first female president came to office in 2000. Nearby Latvia also run by a woman. Prime Minister Helen Clark is the second woman in charge of New Zealand. The Philippines also has its second female leader. And add to the list Ireland, Sri Lanka, with female presidents.

More politics from this side of the pond. It's no secret that Bill Clinton made a lot of enemies in Washington. Now one is settling an old score in a blistering new book.

CNN's Peter Viles takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the frostiest relationships of the Clinton era has now turned downright nasty, former FBI director Louis Freeh going public with criticism of the man who chose him for that job, former President Clinton.

Referring to the various scandals that dogged the Clinton White House, Freeh told "60 Minutes," quote, "We were preoccupied in eight years with multiple investigations." He says it became ridiculous when the FBI needed a DNA sample from the president to compare with the infamous stain on Monica Lewinsky's blue dress.

MIKE WALLACE, "60 MINUTES": The president didn't want anyone around him knowing that the FBI was going to be taking his blood for the DNA. How did you get it?

LOUIS FREEH, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Well, we went over to the White House. We did it very carefully, very confidentially.

WALLACE: He was at a dinner, scheduled dinner, pretended he had to go to the bathroom.

FREEH: Yes. And that's where it was done.

VILES: Former Clinton aides are rushing to defend the former president. JOE LOCKHART, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think when President Clinton appointed Louis Freeh, he thought he was up to the job. He was wrong. No one made Mr. Freeh go around and chase political rumors and scandals, to go and get into the depths of the president's personal life. He did that to win favor and curry favor with the far right wing in this country. What he didn't do was run the FBI.

VILES: Freeh also claims that Clinton also failed to press Saudi Arabia for cooperation in the investigation of the Khobar Towers terror attack, claiming Clinton instead asked the Saudis for money for his own presidential library, another charge Clinton aides deny.

LOCKHART: Everyone who was in those meetings has been talked to. Everyone says what Mr. Freeh is saying is not true, and all he's trying to do is just to follow the right-wing playbook, which is make up a bunch of charges about President Clinton and do it in a way so you can line your own pockets.

VILES: Freeh also blames Congress, saying it failed to give the FBI the money it needed in the 1990s to fight terrorism.

Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We want to show you these pictures we're getting from California. This is a 9-year-old boy, Donny Wilson. He's from Hillsborough in the Bay Area. He is swimming across San Francisco Bay today.

Now, it's a 1.4-mile stretch from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park. If he's successful, he'll raise about $30,000 for Red Cross, Katrina -- for the hurricane victims fund. Keep in mind, as I mentioned, 9 years old, only 86 pounds.

This looks like video of him actually arriving and making it. Good for him. He wasn't only battling the cold water, but sharks in that bay, as well. Congratulations.

Under crazy things that people do, driving in fast cars. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta does a check up -- oh, we're talking fast cars with him later. We're talking "New You." He's checking with our "New You" participants. Did they check with this year's New Year's resolutions? You'll find out just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Showing you live pictures here from Bethesda, Maryland. That is Thomas Schelling. You're saying, "Well, who's that?" He is a new Nobel Prize winner, and he has won -- he wins a Nobel Prize in economics, he and another co-winner, Israeli-American born Robert Aumann, came up with a theory -- games theories to explain political and economic conflicts for arms races and price wars.

And if you say, huh? Well, that's why you -- we didn't win the Nobel Prize for Economics.

OK. The secretary of health and human services said today the likelihood of a flu pandemic in the future is very high. Michael Leavitt is in Bangkok, Thailand. He is leading a team fighting the Asian bird flu. He points to three flu pandemics in the last century as evidence that another one is likely. Other experts agree, but they caution against panic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID NABAROO, U.N. AVIAN FLU ENVOY: Well, there will be a human flu pandemic sometime, because they occur over time and historically, we tend to get them every 30 to 40 years. We're certainly due for one now.

But I would like people not to be in a state of deep fear about it, because we do have the possibility of controlling the pandemic and making certain that when it does arrive we can keep it to having the least possible impact on human society and lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Officials are worried the avian flu virus could mutate so that it's easily transmitted from human to human.

Let's get some background now and more details on the Asian bird flu outbreak. For that we check in with Veronica De La Cruz at the dot-com desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: It's an emerging health threat with a possible global impact: avian or bird flu. But what exactly is it? And who's at risk? CNN.com has some of the answers.

Avian flu was first identified 100 years ago in Italy. Now it is most common in Southeast Asia. Most birds are thought to be susceptible to the disease, though poultry are most vulnerable.

Researchers say the bird flu virus is similar to one which killed as many as 100 million people in 1918. To find out more about that pandemic and if it could happen again in this report.

So far the current strain has killed more than 60 people, but it's not clear whether it's been spread person to person, which is the biggest fear, that the virus will mutate and spread quickly among humans.

Officials say plans to combat the virus are expanding, but there is much more to do. You can get more information on bird flu at CNN.com/health.

I'm Veronica De La Cruz for the dot com desk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: It has been eight months since five brave souls set off on the "New You Revolution." For eight weeks, we walked as they tried to change their bad health habits.

This week, senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta does a checkup on their progress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When we met Thekla Fisher (ph) at the beginning of the year, this 34-year-old seemed to have it all.

THEKLA FISHER, "NEW YOUR REVOLUTION" PARTICIPANT: Hi, Tony. It's Thekla. How are you?

GUPTA: A high-powered job as an attorney, a new husband, and even an appreciation for exercise. But she wanted one more thing: her "New You Revolution" goal, a baby.

FISHER: I'm sure that most people probably just take a leap and do it, but I think there are probably other people who think, "Wait a second, what do I really need to do before I have this family."

GUPTA: Her baby prep plan: first, good nutrition, lots of foods full of folic acid, omega-3s and the all-around prenatal vital. Second, get back into an exercise routine. Third, becoming more comfortable with kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can have a seat there.

FISHER: OK.

GUPTA: Now, months later, Thekla says she's kept off 15 pounds by sticking with an eating smarter plan and regular exercise, but no word on pregnancy yet. The couple is still settling into their life together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And inhale. Bring the pelvis up.

GUPTA: Thekla is still working towards her goal, but what about the rest of the "New You Fab Five"?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you think that I'm going to be on CNN and have Dr. Gupta say, "Reverend Rainer gained 12 pounds."

GUPTA: Will the spunky Rev. Leanne Rainer (ph) keep off the pounds and keep up healthy home cooking?

When this kid signed up his former fit father for "New You," they were concerned about his health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I could just flash six months forward, because I'm absolutely sure I'm going to at least very close to the 100-pound weight loss.

GUPTA: Check in later this week to find out if Harold Fricker (ph) got back to his former self.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your thumbs are looking better.

GUPTA: And did the nail-biter, Jonathan Clark, did he manage to break his nasty nervous habit by the time his wedding day rolled around?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One eighty one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

GUPTA: And finally Zandra Clark (ph). This grandmother wanted to get healthier and beat stress, as she cared for her grandson while his parents were in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Congratulations. Give me a kiss.

GUPTA: Is she still feeling good and proud of her progress? We'll update you to the "Fab Five" on this week's "New You Revolution" eight-month update.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: So Thekla seemed to be right on track. And who will we check up on tomorrow? Tomorrow we're going to visit with the Reverend Leanne Rainer. At the end of eight weeks, she was on a regular exercise regimen, learned how to cook and she had dropped 14 pounds. Tomorrow we'll see if she's been able to keep the weight off.

As we look at the progress made by this year's participants, it's also time to look ahead to next year. What do you have planned for next year? Our goal for 2006 is to find three couples, three pairs, three duos who want to get fit and healthier together. So if it's you and your roommate who want to lose those dreaded Freshmen 15, or you and your spouse want to combine for a weight decline, we want to hear from you. Go to CNN.com/NewYou and sign up with your partner to join the "New You Revolution."

CNN LIVE TODAY continues right after the break. We'll be back for the noon hour, or noon Eastern, at least, with more on the devastating South Asian earthquake. We're back at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go out and check on some stories now in the news. The death toll from the earthquake in South Asia continues to climb. Government police and hospital officials say more than 30,000 people have been killed. And the death toll is expected to go much higher. Two days after the massive quake, international aid is pouring into the region.

In Guatemala, mud slides and flooding triggered by Hurricane Stan have turned entire towns into graveyards.

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