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What is Significance of Musab al-Zarqawi's Death?; FDA Approves Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Aired June 09, 2006 - 11:33   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Taking no chances, FBI technicians are working a round the clock on DNA tests to definitively identify the body of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Authorities say they've already made fingerprint and visual identifications. The military says al-Zarqawi died shortly after U.S. airstrikes in Baquba, Iraq on Wednesday.
Joining us now former CNN Baghdad Bureau chief Jane Arraf. She's now a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and she joins us live from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Jane, good to talk to you again.

JANE ARRAF, FMR. BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hey, Tony, it's great to be here.

HARRIS: Well, what's your reaction on the news of the last tow days?

ARRAF: Well, it just -- the mystery deepens, doesn't it? But that is a sidebar, whether in fact he was alive when the Iraqi police came. I mean, the fact that he's dead, what happens next is going to be really important. Whether in fact they do have an Iraqi who's head of that organization, which could perhaps make it even more dangerous, or whether they continue on that very controversial, to say the least, path that Zarqawi took that organization down.

HARRIS: Well, what is your -- well, better yet, tell us about that area of Baquba where this strike took place.

ARRAF: It is one of the more complex areas of Iraq, and we're talking about, as we all know now, a very complicated country. The area where they launched the airstrike is a series of villages surrounded by palm groves and orange trees. It's Diella (ph), the heart of the Sunni Triangle. It's a province where we spent a long time embedded with U.S. troops. And all along there, it's quite rural outside the major cities, a series of connected villages where you might think that nothing ever happens, they seem incredible sleepy most of the time, but parts of that province and parts of Iraq are really seething. There are lots of things happening under the surface, as we see.

HARRIS: Jane, I don't get the sense, and I think the president mentioned that a little earlier his press conference, that the death of one man is really going to make much of a difference, but I want to be wrong about that. I think America wants to think that the death of this man will make a difference. What are your thoughts? ARRAF: Well, I think it's got to make a difference in the sense that here they have decapitated the most visible element of the deadliest organization in Iraq. This was a man who had some control of attacks so horrific that they really have contributed, to a large part, to destabilizing the country. The problem is, it is obviously just one man, and the insurgency, for want of a better word, is so multilayered now, so sectarian, so Iraqi at the core, that his death is not really going to keep things from proceeding.

HARRIS: Yes, so, Jane, is it kind of a misnomer to call it an insurgency? I mean, should we call it what it is, according to a lot of people, a civil war?

ARRAF: That's a great question. We've never had -- we've also had a problem with the word. The U.S. military refuse to call this an insurgency until long after it was considered an insurgency. Is it a civil war? I think it's almost indisputable, and I had not wanted to say that this and say it for the longest time, but this a low-grade civil war. It could be so much worse, though. And I think what's happened in the past couple of days, the formation of a government, the appointment of an interior and defense minister and the killing of Zarqawi, maybe gives people a little bit of pause and hope that it can be stopped. If not stopped, eased.

HARRIS: Yes, why the hesitation in calling it what many feel it is, a civil war? Is that because to call it a civil war is the worst- case scenario for Iraq?

ARRAF: You know, I think here the problem is -- and I've been going around the country talking to a lot of people about this, talking to officials, military people -- the word civil war just sounds like failure. We went in there to liberate the country, we went in there to stabilize the region, and now there's a civil war? I think that's a large part of the reason why people avoid that word.

But if you look at the facts, in places that are the center of gravity in Iraq, that seems to be exactly that's what happening.

HARRIS: The drawing down of American troops, is that even through your lens foreseeable in the near future?

ARRAF: I really can't see how it would be militarily foreseeable. And again, a lot of the military people I speak with are quite candid about the fact that they are deeply worried if they draw down the troops to any significant extent things may very well spiral out of control. And if we think it's bad now, it could get so much worse. On the other hand, when you go through these towns in America and you talk to military families and you talk to ordinary Americans, who don't really understand why the troops are there, the military families do, a lot of ordinary families don't, then there is a real popular and political push to get those troops out, and those two things are colliding.

HARRIS: OK, you were on the ground there, what, '97 until 2000, and then again from 2000 and 2004. Are you optimistic, pessimistic about Iraq's future? ARRAF: Yes, I just left last year in September, and I hope to go back. I retain a little bit of optimism because, you know, when you're there, it's -- you really get a sense that things aren't quite as hopeless as they seem when you're over here, because when you're there, you go out in the streets -- and the way I'm dressed right now in this picture is not the way I normally dress in Iraq. But when you're there, you see life going on. It's absolutely incredible. I used to make a point of going back to the car bombings and the suicide bombings, and even hours later, people would be sweeping up that glass, opening up the shutters, taking their kids to school again. There's an incredible resilience there that gives me a tiny bit of hope that maybe, maybe, maybe this could be pulled back from the brink.

HARRIS: Jane, one final question. The president is going to hold a two-day strategic meeting in Camp David. My question is, what should he hear? It sounds like he's going to open it up for general conversation, for folks to give him their impressions. What should he hear?

ARRAF: Well, hopefully what he'll hear is more of a factual debate and discussion on what's going on there. Because I think the problem now in discussing what to do about Iraq in America is it has become so politicized, and it makes it very hard to have a real rational discussion on what the best thing for America would be.

Now, Bush's statements on the death of Zarqawi have been really interesting, really quite sober in a way that he hasn't been before. I think it is sinking in that the American people cannot continue to be told that they've reached a turning point or Iraq is -- has turned the corner or mission accomplished or any of that. I think we're getting a little more realistic about what's going on there.

HARRIS: CNN's former Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf. Jane, great to talk to you.

ARRAF: Tony, it's great to you. Thanks so much.

HARRIS: Thanks, Jane.

NGUYEN: Good seeing Jane.

Well, here's a frightening scenario for you. A twin engine plane runs into serious trouble miles from nowhere. That happened to two people on their way to Hawaii. Their remarkable rescue story is coming up.

But first, you vaccinate your child against measles and mumps, right? Should your 9-year-old daughter also get a shot to prevent a sexually transmitted disease? A breakthrough cancer vaccine wins approval, but who should get it? That's ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has prompted pumped up security at the World Cup in Germany, particularly around U.S. athletes. The American soccer team now has a police escort, and today, sniffer dogs you see there were brought in to search everyone entering the team's training ground near Hamburg. Now, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event on Earth. The first match kicks off the next hour.

HARRIS: And coming up at the top of the hour, "YOUR WORLD TODAY. Hala Gorani is here with a preview. Hi, Hala.

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Tony. Hello, Betty.

You said it kicks off next hour. Well, that's when we're going to kick off our coverage. In just a few minutes, the World Cup in Germany. The host country, Germany, playing Costa Rica, and I think just about every country in the world, Tony and Betty, are counting the minutes until noon Eastern time -- perhaps except the United States.

Well, we're going to try to get you all excited about it. We have viewer fan mail, viewer pictures, videos. People have written songs, they're sending them in. We have coverage from coast to coast to coast, and, of course, live reports with our Becky Anderson there in Berlin.

Also, on a more serious note, we have an Israeli strike that has killed Palestinians on a Gaza beach. We also have a car bomb explosions, air strikes on cars as well. They're believed to have carried militants. And the killing of a militant leader in Gaza.

That and the latest on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and that news that he initially survived that 500-pound bomb that fell on the housing structure that he was in. All that and more on YOUR WORLD TODAY. That's in a few minutes at the top of the hour. Hope you can join us.

HARRIS: Hala, thank you, we'll be there.

NGUYEN: It's as simple as this. Get a shot, avoid getting cervical cancer. Is it possible? Well, it is. The FDA has approved the first vaccine to protect against the disease. It will be available later this month and it's recommended for girls as young as nine years old.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jane (ph) is 10. She likes Disney characters and swing sets. Her mom is only just starting to talk to her about puberty and boys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there any boys you're interested in?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Not really.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not really?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not really boy crazy right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No?

COHEN (voice-over): But she could soon receive a vaccination to help prevent a sexually transmitted disease. When girls grow up and become sexually active, odds are high they'll be exposed to human papilloma virus, or HPV. Ninety percent of those exposed to HPV never get sick, but it's a nightmare for other 10 percent who develop abnormal cells in their cervixes, cells which can become cancerous. This virus causes virtually all cases of cervical cancers.

DR. JOSEPH HAGAN, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: You're talking about a shot that kids are going to get.

COHEN: Right now, experts are discussing giving this vaccine to girl's Jane's age, to make sure they get the shot before they start having sex.

HAGAN: I trust that the vast majority of my patients are some day, somehow going to become sexually active. Now is the time to give the vaccine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell someone that cervical cancer is caused by certain types of HP...

COHEN: Merck, the maker of the vaccine, has launched an aggressive ad campaign. The trials shows the vaccine could lower cervical cancer rates by 70 percent. But conservative groups worry it sends young people a message, that it's okay to have sex before marriage.

PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: This can reduce the risk for HPV. It will not eliminate that risk. It does not reduce your risk for HIV or any of a number of other sexually transmitted diseases. Abstinence until marriage and fidelity within marriage is the best form of sexual health.

COHEN: Dr. Maurie Markman, who treats women with cervical cancer, says this vaccine is about preventing cancer.

DR. MAURIE MARKMAN, M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: You wouldn't have known an individual exposed to measles or hepatitis, but you know that there's a risk in their life, and you simply do it at the earliest point, and that is the way to look at the vaccine.

COHEN: Cost is another concern, about $500 for the necessary shots. It's not clear right now if insurance will cover it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you know it's important to take really good care of your body, so that you can have healthy babies.

COHEN: For now, Jane's mom, Melissa, is taking baby steps with her daughter as they begin to discuss sexual responsibility. Given the option to give Jane a vaccine that could save her life when she's older, Melissa says she'll take it.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, just log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address on the screen right there, CNN.com/health. You'll also find special reports and a health library.

HARRIS: Two words for you: tropical depression.

NGUYEN: Say it isn't so.

HARRIS: Question mark. Was that it?

NGUYEN: Yes, that was it. But I don't like the question.

HARRIS: Rob Marciano with a check of weather. Tropical depression.

NGUYEN: Stick around.

HARRIS: When CNN LIVE TODAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: An extremely dramatic and unusual rescue in the Pacific Ocean.

NGUYEN: Look at that.

HARRIS: Here's what happened: A twin-engine plane experienced engine trouble during a flight from California to Hilo (ph), Hawaii. The pilot radioed the Coast Guard, which then sent the plane to help. The crew dropped flares into the ocean, creating a makeshift runway. That allowed the troubled plane to crash land in the water. The two people onboard were picked up by a nearby ship. Fortunately, here's the good news, no one hurt.

NGUYEN: That is really remarkable.

Hey, that's going to do it for us. International news is up next.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY." A check on headlines in the U.S. in about 20 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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