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Bush To Speak On Iraq; Hostages In Iraq; Air Travel Money- Saving Tips

Aired December 07, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have a big couple hours to get to here, including more on President Bush. Mounting pressure against him to bring the troops home from Iraq. President Bush lays out his administration's strategy for victory. Something he says has to occur before those men and women can leave Iraq.
Live this hour on CNN, the president's second speech in as many weeks on the subject. His focus today is rebuilding Iraq's economy and infrastructure. CNN has a team of reporters covering the story from the White House, Capitol Hill and Baghdad and they'll provide their expert analysis before and after the president's speech. Extensive coverage over the next two hours right here on CNN LIVE TODAY.

First, though, let's go ahead and check what else is happening "Now in the News." We start in Iraq with the trial of Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants. It adjourned just a short time ago. It won't start again until December 21st. Earlier today, a new chapter in the ongoing power struggle between Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi tribunal. After a delay that lasted hours and a closed session, the trial resumed but Hussein was not in court. Yesterday, he had suggested he might not show up. He complained about his treatment, including not being able to change his clothes for three days.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making a stop in Brussels. She'll be visiting NATO headquarters as part of a European tour. Earlier today, Rice clarified U.S. policy on interrogation. She said, no U.S. personnel may use cruel or degrading practices at home or abroad. Rice's statement follows European criticism over reported CIA practices in holding and questioning terror suspects overseas.

Baltimore's rush hour was snarled this morning by a construction accident on the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Authorities moved in to airlift out an injured worker after he was freed from falling scaffolding. Interstate 695, a major thoroughfare around the city, was shut down in both directions.

The delay in getting supplies to Mississippi residents after Hurricane Katrina is being talked about on Capitol Hill this hour. The House panel investigating the response to the storm is holding a hearing. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is among those testifying today.

Good morning to you on this Wednesday morning. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. Later this hour, the power of words amid the doubts of war. President Bush will confront the sagging public support for the war in Iraq by touting progress achieved. Not only on the front lines of battle, but the bottom line, Iraq's economy. We'll have live coverage of the president's speech. It's now scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Eastern.

First, though, let's set the stage with CNN correspondents both here in the U.S. and in Iraq. Nic Robertson is in Baghdad, Ed Henry's on Capitol Hill. We begin at the White House with Elaine Quijano.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

Last week the focus for the president was on the Iraq security situation. This week, we are told by administration officials, it will be primarily focused on rebuilding. The president's speech specifically looking, as you mentioned, at the economy of Iraq, developments there. Also the infrastructure. But really many layers to this idea of rebuilding. The main massage really is that there are steps being taken to empower the Iraqi people to essentially build up their institutions, their systems themselves.

Now on the infrastructure side of things, that, of course, includes things like rebuilding schools and hospitals, getting power and water systems back up. The president this morning will deliver his speech before the Council on Foreign Relations. And expect him to lay out specific examples of progress, particularly in Iraqi cities like Mosul and Najaf.

Now, once again, the president is expected to say that the United States has had to adapt its approach. This time, though, of course, he'll be talking about some of the reconstruction efforts, talking as well about corruption. We expect the president to acknowledge that things have not been perfect on that front, but again, to try and hit home that message that progress is being made.

Now, this speech, of course, just the latest in a series of speeches that the president is going to be delivering in the run-up to Iraq's elections next week. And the goal here really is to try to convince the American people that, in fact, the administration has a strategy for victory in Iraq and that plan is working. Now one thing we can expect the president to mention, as well, is the name of a Democrat, Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, especially when the president is expected to reiterate the administration's position and belief that to withdraw U.S. forces prematurely from Iraq would be a mistake.

President Bush set to deliver that speech a short time from now. We're going to hear some of the same themes, but also some more specifics, administration officials say, on the issues of reconstruction and Iraq's economy.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill trying to figure out their unified response. For that let's go to Ed Henry.

Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

That's right, we're going to see the Senate Democrats put out Jack Reed, a West Point graduate, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne and the House Democrats at about 1:30 p.m. Eastern time will be putting out Congressman Jack Murtha, of course the highly decorated Marine veteran. Interesting who the Democrats are not putting out, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean, some of the more liberal members of the party whose anti-war comments in recent days have really given party strategists some heartburn about whether or not this may backfire on the party. This has really reopened this rift within the party. A rift over how harshly Democrats should be attacking the president. But also, what Democrat should be advocating moving forward on the next step in Iraq.

In fact, that rift is the front and center topic of a meeting, a closed door meeting, happening right now in the Capitol among House Democrats. They're trying to put forth, as you say, a unified front on Iraq, a unified cohesive message. That proving difficult on the left.

You have the House Democratic Leader Pelosi advocating, along with Murtha, a quick pullout of U.S. troops. From the center you have Pelosi's own number two in the Democratic leadership, Congressman Stanley Hoyer, saying once again yesterday, that's a bad idea. Then on the left, again you have Howard Dean saying he does not think we can win the war in Iraq.

Then you have from the center, as Elaine mentioned, Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman saying, in fact, not only can the U.S. win in the war in Iraq, but to do it, Democrats need to tamp down these attacks, they need to get behind the commander in chief. The president going to mention that again. The vice president yesterday mentioned Lieberman's comments to put even more pressure on Democrats, expose this rift even more.

Of course, all of this happening amid the back drop of the 2006 elections. Democrats have been telling me in their defense that for weeks Republicans were saying Democrats, where's your plan on Iraq? Now they're trying to hash one out and Republicans are making fun of the rift in the party.

Democrats are saying, look, we're having a healthy debate. Give us some time. But time is running out for them with the 2006 elections coming up. If they do not have a united front, it's going to be harder for them to capitalize on the president's troubles.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Ed. We'll get to our Ed Henry questions of the day in a little bit. Right now the other news of the day, and that is Saddam Hussein not showing up for his own trial in Iraq. For that, let's go to Nic Robertson live in Baghdad.

Nic, hello.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, there was an empty chair in the courtroom where Saddam Hussein should have been signature. The judge said that he would be informed of the proceedings through the day. Two witnesses, Witness F, Witness G, gave their testimony today.

It is like here the judge has now called for an adjournment until the 21st of December. A two-week adjournment. That will likely anger the people here that want to see the trial speeded up. Speeded up so that they hope Saddam Hussein can be executed more quickly.

But on the other hand, they'll likely take heart from the fact that Saddam Hussein challenged the judge essentially, but who was in control of the court, because Saddam Hussein said he wouldn't appear in the court, and the judge overruled him, ignored it essentially, deciding to go ahead and hold the court without Saddam Hussein being present.

So a two-week delay before the trial gets under way again. And that two-week delay essentially for the elections that are coming up in 15 day's time.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Nic, we'll get back to you in a bit, too, after we hear the president speak.

Other news out of Iraq. Britain today joining the U.S. in refusing to meet the demands of Iraqi militants holding four western hostages. The kidnappers have threatened to kill the four men unless Iraqi detainees are freed by today. Two of the hostages spoke in the video released by the militants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN KEMBER, IRAQI HOSTAGE: I ask Mr. Blair to take British troops out of Iraq and leave the Iraqi people to come to their own decisions on their government.

HARMEET SOODEN, IRAQI HOSTAGE: We are being treated well. We are (INAUDIBLE) both well. All of us are well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The Reverend Jesse Jackson has been in touch with the family of the American aid worker, Tom Fox, who's being held hostage in Iraq and Reverend Jackson joins me now from Chicago.

Reverend, good morning.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, OPERATION PUSH: Good morning to you.

KAGAN: Are you planning on getting involved in negotiations to get Tom Fox free?

JACKSON: Well, we're very involved with religious leaders in this country reaching out there to the Molecian (ph) council churches, as well as the Muslim leaders. Whenever I've been blessed to bring Americans back home from Iraq or Syria or Cuba or Yugoslavia, it's always been -- religious leaders played a big role. And so we reach out to humanitarian plea. Those four men are not soldiers. They're not spies. They do not have guns. They should not be used as trophies and killed in the process. So we reach out to whomever may hear our voices. Please spare these men's lives.

KAGAN: So you plan to be involved with words alone. President Bush saying that the United States will not negotiate to get any kind of freedom for any American hostage.

JACKSON: Well, our government does not have the moral authority to negotiate. Its role is too hard-line. This is an unfortunate war without a solid moral foundation. The whole world knows that. But this is a humanitarian plea. It's an appeal of mercy.

KAGAN: Well, besides that, it's just the whole idea of when you get involved and when you do negotiate for hostages, down the line you could be encouraging others to be taken because people see that and it brings, if nothing else, attention to their cause.

JACKSON: Well, that's simply not true. And we brought Americans home from Iraq or Yugoslavia, it did not encourage the escalation. In fact, it was a window of opportunity for some measure of valor. Right now we're staying a course that's not working for us. We're losing money and lives and we're losing honor and we're also losing our moral authority. Our government cannot appeal for their release on moral grounds or humanitarian grounds and so we appeal through religious leaders.

Most Iraqis don't want this war. Most Americans don't want this war. So we reach out to that broad base of people who do seek peace, who do seek reconciliation, who do choose coexist over core knowledge. And we say, if you hear our voices, please work with us to let these men go free. We've done this before in Iraq and it has worked.

KAGAN: And just to focus on this particular man and this particular hostage situation, what's your message to the Fox family?

JACKSON: Our message to the family is that remain hopeful, remain prayerful and let's work together and reach out to religious leaders in the main. There is no set political leadership. And I went there in 1990. Saddam could let people go or keep them. Milosevic could do the same. In this case, there's no stable political leadership. So we reach out to religious leadership and the Muslim leaders. And so we say in the name of God, in the name of Alllah, the merciful, the magnificent, please let these men go. They should not be trophies to be killed in this crisis. Please let them go and return home. They're not armed. They're not soldiers. They're not spies. And so, please, let them go.

KAGAN: Reverend, quickly, have you heard anything back from the people that you're appealing to?

JACKSON: We have not. But we are working through religious channels and we hope that those channels will have an effect. We hope against hope but we will not surrender our hope.

KAGAN: Reverend Jesse Jackson, thanks for being with us this morning.

JACKSON: Thank you.

KAGAN: And a question for our viewers today. Asking how would you define victory in Iraq? Now is your chance to weigh in. Just go to our home page at cnn.com, scroll down about halfway until you see a box on the right labeled "Bush Speech on Iraq." Click on the @ symbol and that will bring you up a window to enter your name and comments. When you're finished, just click submit. We'll be reading some of your thoughts on the air throughout the morning.

Stay with CNN for complete coverage of the president's speech. We're expecting him to take the podium about 10:45 a.m. Eastern. But before that, CNN correspondents weigh in with their analysis, along with the wives of two soldiers currently serving in Iraq. What do they think of the war?

First, though, other stories making news.

A sex scandal tied to city hall in Spokane, Washington, and allegations of impropriety by the mayor. We will tell you what voters think about that there.

And after a record year for hurricanes, what are we looking at for 2006? The storm forecast is out. Grab an umbrella. Maybe a pontoon boat. We'll give you the forecast right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A House committee is holding hearings right now on response to Hurricane Katrina. In Mississippi, lawmakers are looking in to how emergency plans were executed before, during, and after the storm made landfall. The focus is on the actions of state and local officials, but the response of federal officials is also being scrutinized. The distribution of supplies was a significant problem in Mississippi. Local officials said they put in a request for water, ice and food the day before the storm hit, but those supplies didn't start coming in until six days after landfall.

A Red Cross volunteer and his sister have been accused of stealing nearly a quarter million in Katrina aid. Prosecutors say they obtained at least $230,000 from the stolen debit cards that were meant for evacuees. An affidavit says the suspects spent the money on jewelry, vehicles and clothes.

No one knows exactly what next year's hurricane season will be like, but one expert has an idea. Colorado State University's William Gray, one of the country's top storm forecasters, predicts there could be nine hurricanes next year, with an 81 percent chance of at least one hitting the U.S. For the record, one year ago, the same man, Gray, predicted six hurricanes for 2005, three of them major. In fact, there were 14 hurricanes and seven of them were intense.

Chad Myers watches predictions like that pretty closely. I guess in making your plans for next year when you go on vacation and such, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and take a look at other stories making news coast to coast.

A city hall sex scandal in Spokane, Washington, has Mayor James West cleaning out his desk. Voters yesterday recalled West in a special election tied to allegations that he offered city jobs and perks to men he met in a gay Internet chat room. West is not charged with any crime, but the FBI is investigating.

From Florida, good news. That Marine pilot whose jet crashed yesterday after the coast of Florida is reported to be in good condition. The coast guard says it pulled him from the sea about four hours after his plane went down. The harrier jet was stationed out of North Carolina.

When children at a mall in Roanoke, Virginia, asked santa for a teddy, you won't have to wonder if they mean the one from the Victoria's Secret window. After a number of complaints from parents, mall officials put up a black curtain to shield santa's legions of young fans from the risque display just a few feet away.

We are about 25 minutes from a speech on Iraq by President Bush. Mr. Bush is delivering a second speech in as many weeks on the administration's plan for victory. Our team of correspondents and the wives of two U.S. soldiers will join me in a few minutes.

A reminder, we also want you to know -- actually want to hear from you about how you would define victory in Iraq. Log on to cnn.com, scroll down a bit, look for the big envelope and @ symbol on the right side. Click on CNN LIVE TODAY link and post your comments. We might read your thoughts on the air over the next couple of hours.

Meanwhile, Gerri Willis has her "Top Five Tips" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, the markets have been open less than an hour, about 53 minutes. You can see the Dow is down 12 points and the Nasdaq is in negative territory, as well. It is down two.

There is one way to avoid having all the family invade your home this holiday season, you can leave town. In today's "Top Five Tips" we check out how to book your holiday getaway. Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joins me now from New York. Gerri, good morning.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

We're talking about people who want to get away after the holidays.

KAGAN: Ah.

WILLIS: So get together with that family during the holiday season. But the good news here is that the airfares, in particular, are going to be cheaper in January, after the holidays, as much as five times lower. Get that, Daryn. Big savings out there if you want to fly in January.

KAGAN: January people usually think ski vacation, but maybe they should think fun in the sun.

WILLIS: Yes, you know, we thought, OK, do you do sand or do you do slopes? What's going to be cheaper this year? It's definitely going to be the beach vacations. Here's why. The heavily trafficked routes, those are the ones that are going to see the biggest discounts. That's where the competition is. And as you know, a lot of airlines are cutting the numbers of runs they're doing, the number of seats they're making available. So you're best off doing the beach vacation. It could be as much as 30 percent cheaper.

KAGAN: OK, people want the good fares but they don't want to do all the work to find them.

WILLIS: You've got to use a fare tracker. All the major websites that do travel have fare trackers that are on guard 24 hours a day finding the best fares for you. Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, they all have fare trackers. And if you want to know how good some of these deals are going to be, Daryn, L.A. to Honolulu right now it's $1,660. By January, $248.

KAGAN: Whoo! Aloha.

WILLIS: Aloha is right.

KAGAN: OK. So you see those great prices, but then there's those fees that they keep tacking on.

WILLIS: I'm telling you, it's unbelievable. First of all, the federal government has to take their share, which is as much as 26 percent of the total cost of your fare, believe it or not. The total tab you pay for your flight, 26 percent goes to the federal government for a variety of reasons.

But the airlines are taking some flesh here, too. For example, they're lowering the bag weight restrictions. Used to be you could carry a bag 70 pounds no extra fee. Now it's 50. American Airlines is charging you as much as $25 if your bag is overweight. And how easy is that to do in the holidays, right? Do not check a third bag because you'll pay $80 each way for the privilege. Food can cost you extra, as much as $5. And don't forget if you don't book online and you use a real live person at one of the airlines to book it will cost you extra money. Change fees can run $100. And if you've got one of those super duper low fares, $50 one way, you want to pay a change fee that's $100? That's crazy.

KAGAN: Absolutely. Now you're mentioning that L.A. to Honolulu flight, that's one thing. But five hours in the back in coach, cramped, that's not a great way to start the holidays.

WILLIS: Well it's not. And, you know what, you can upgrade and you can do it on the cheap. One way to do it is to have one of those credit cards that allows you to build up miles. And you can find these credit cards at creditland.com, frequentflyer.com. You often get priority if you have one of these cards.

But, you know, Daryn, sometimes it just pays to be nice and well dressed and well mannered and you just go up -- when you're at the flight, you just go up to the desk and say, is there a possibility of an upgrade today? And you just might get it.

KAGAN: When is the last time you tried that?

WILLIS: I know people who do this all the time.

KAGAN: Really? OK.

WILLIS: I mean, not during the holidays when the planes are just crammed full of people.

KAGAN: Yes, nutty.

WILLIS: But by January, if there are fewer people traveling and you're on one of those routes that's not heavily traveled, it pays. Sometimes you get your upgrade.

KAGAN: Bat your eyelashes.

WILLIS: That's right.

KAGAN: First class.

WILLIS: You've never done that, right, Daryn?

KAGAN: Never. No. No.

All right, Ger, thank you.

WILLIS: You're welcome.

KAGAN: Oh, let's take a look at the time, 10:27 here in Atlanta. We're about 15, a little bit more, minutes away from hearing President Bush. He'll be speaking at a hotel in Washington, D.C. He is revealing more on the administration's strategy for winning in Iraq. CNN's extensive coverage as the speech draws near continues in a moment. Also joining us before and after the president's speech, two wives of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq. We'll get their thoughts on the war.

And we know you have an opinion, so share it. How do you define victory in Iraq? Log on to cnn.com, scroll down a bit and look for the big envelope and the @ symbol on the right side. Click on CNN LIVE TODAY, on that link, and post your comments. We'll read some of your comments over the next 90 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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