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American Morning

Bush's Strategy in Iraq; Destructive Hurricane Season; Vandals Strike

Aired November 30, 2004 - 09:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
A developing story this morning. In just 45 minutes, President Bush will fill us in on his plans for Iraq. We've already got some details in hand. We'll go live to the White House for a preview.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Anger and frustration in New Orleans. Red tape keeping families from saying their final good-byes to loved ones who died in the storm. We'll explain.

M. O'BRIEN: And this is what was left behind by vandals in Oakland. Now two men are in custody, and police are hunting for several others. We have the very latest on this, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. We're glad you're with us on this AMERICAN MORNING.

We are earlier risers than normal these days. And we will continue to do that for you, and we hope you'll join us at 6:00 a.m. Eastern every day.

S. O'BRIEN: Each and every day.

M. O'BRIEN: Each and every day.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, those pictures out of Oakland, with the liquor store damage, I mean, it's pretty remarkable to see the violence, the vandalism. They caught it on tape, security tape caught it. And now one of the two who they've nabbed turned himself in.

One's 19. And one's 73 years old. They're still trying to piece that story together.

When they were running through ripping things off the shelves, what a scary thing for the people inside those stores.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, the allegation is that the owner is a Muslim, and there was some concern that Muslims should not be selling alcohol. And so there goes the story. We'll keep you posted and bring you up to date on that one.

In the meantime, the speech. In less than an hour, the president's major speech on strategy in Iraq. Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley covering the story from Washington.

Candy, we've had a chance to look at the 35-page document, "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq," and look it over a little bit. Did you see anything in there that really is -- is new? Or is it just sort of putting all of what we've heard in one document?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. It's tangible proof of this plan, the administration hopes, saying, look, you know, they've said this, they've said that, but here it all is in one thing.

Here's what we expect to happen. Here's what is happening. Here's what we hope is going to happen. It is sort of the long version of what we expect to hear from the president.

There are three sort of main things, it seems to me, that both this document, as well as the speech, need to do.

The first is to sort of push back on the notion that we are losing the war. If you look in this document, "Strategy for Victory in Iraq," you find this sentence: "It is not realistic to expect a fully functioning democracy, able to defeat its enemies and peacefully reconcile generational grievances, to be in place less than three years after Saddam was finally removed from power."

So the first things say, look, we are winning, but let's be realistic about what's happening now.

Second, they want to point to some progress. The president wants to talk about, we do have Iraqi forces that are beginning to step up. We continue to train them. It's better economically. It's better strategically. They're going to have elections again on the 15th.

So he wants to point to progress.

And then the third thing the president needs to do is sort of try to give hope to the American people that the troops are coming home, but again, sort of dance on that pen and not put a specific date.

We also find this in the "Strategy for Victory in Iraq": We expect, but cannot guarantee that our force posture will change over the next year, as the political process advances and Iraqi security forces grown and gain experience."

So no deadline, and not much new. But what the White House hopes is a beginning of a very sustained pushback against critics of the war.

As you have noted several times this morning, Miles, the numbers are terrible on Iraq. The president needs to gather both public support, and he needs to help Republicans who are facing re-election and election next year.

So this is the beginning of that effort. A sales job, if you will. Not much new, but what the White House is hoping is, as they put this all together, what you have is that plan everybody's been calling for.

M. O'BRIEN: Candy Crowley in Washington.

Thank you very much.

Of course we'll bring you the president's speech live from the U.S. Naval Academy, 9:45 Eastern Time -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Hurricane season ends today, and it has been one for the ages. A record 26 named storms from June to November. Three categories -- hurricanes, rather, reached Category 5 strength. That's winds greater than 155 miles an hour, as we all know now.

And more than 1,500 people were killed this season. Most as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

So what have we learned from this tough season?

John Zarrella joins us live from Key West with some answers to that question.

John, good morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, we are here in Key West, and this is some of the debris left behind by Hurricane Wilma. There are refrigerators here, air conditioners out here. You can see washing machines.

Where I am standing, where we are standing, the water was chest deep. The Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, after Hurricane Wilma, literally met right here.

In all, all four of the major hurricanes to strike the United States, they all had some impact on Key West to one degree or another. And now, as the season ends today, state and local officials from Texas to Florida are trying to figure out how to do a better job with preparedness next year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice over): Less than 24 hours after Wilma struck, thousands lined up for water and ice. Gas stations with generators couldn't pump it fast enough. More than 100,000 people, like Regina Douglas, waited in lines for emergency food stamps.

REGINA DOUGLAS, FLORIDA RESIDENT: I've never had to come to the government for asiance, but it's here, and it's nice to have.

ZARRELLA: Floridians were thought to be better prepared.

TONY CARPER, BROWARD EMERGENCY MGMT.: I think we need to do a better job on giving them the information and the how-to in the preparations. ZARRELLA: In the Florida Keys, mandatory tourist evacuations were called for on three separate occasions. It was the worst impact on Key West in 50 years. Widespread flooding from Wilma alone ruined 10,000 cars in the Keys.

The catastrophic effects of Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma have government and emergency officials from Florida to Texas already working on preparedness plans for next year. In Texas, there are two big issues: how to smoothly and safely evacuate millions of people, and finding housing for the tens of thousands who relocated here from Louisiana.

MAYOR BILL WHITE, HOUSTON: We're having 500 or so folks a day move from hotels to apartments. It's going to be tight.

ZARRELLA: In south Florida, it's how to stockpile emergency supplies that have a limited shelf life.

CARPER: The other thing we'll be looking for is production. I mean, you know, can we produce our own ice and package it in a time frame that would make sense in getting it out?

ZARRELLA: In New Orleans, the issues are more critical: housing, jobs, and...

MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: I need levees. I need my levees.

ZARRELLA: ... and the sooner the better. The outlook for the future isn't good.

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: You bet I worry about next year and several years after that, just because everyone agrees that we're in this active multidecadal period that is going to last another 10 or 20 more years.

ZARRELLA: The big lesson from this year, experts say, is that too many people weren't prepared before the storms hit, and they expected too much, too soon, from the government after the storms passed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Now, here in the Keys they don't need much of an excuse for a party. And this afternoon, to mark the end of hurricane season, a big party down here at 5:00, where they will actually burn hurricane flags to say good-bye to the 2005 season -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Good-bye until next year, right?

John Zarrella reporting for us. Part three of John's series tomorrow, he's going to show us a sunken ship that's been resurrected by a storm and find out how Hurricane Dennis fixed a manmade mess down in the Florida Keys. That's tomorrow.

Now time to check in for the headlines. Carol Costello has those.

Good morning again.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Good morning to all of you.

The Supreme Court hears arguments today on an abortion case. It involves a New Hampshire law requiring a parent be notified if their child seeks an abortion. Retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is likely to hang up her robe by springtime. If high court nominee Samuel Alito is confirmed by the Senate, his vote could be needed to break a tie on the case.

A videotape of four kidnapped Westerners missing since Saturday is being shown on the Arab television network Al-Jazeera. The tape was released by a group calling itself the Swords of Justice. And they're now accusing the four men of being spies.

An American, a British citizen, and two Canadians are being held. They're linked to an organization working for the rights of Iraqi prisoners.

If you fly off for family fun this holiday, go ahead, think about bringing those small scissors with you, and maybe a screwdriver. That's because there is another change coming for those who fly. The TSA is now going to allow you to bring some small scissors and other sharp objects on board. It's mainly so screeners can focus on looking for explosives and other more dangerous items. We'll know more on Friday.

And in New York City tonight, a big event, and we mean big -- the lighting of the Rockefeller Center tree. Children displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita will join New Orleans native Harry Connick Jr. and the New York City mayor, Michael -- they will all light the tree.

Michael Bloomberg, I meant to say. Sorry, Mayor.

This is last year's tree lighting. There it is.

The first formal tree lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree was way back in 1933.

So Jacqui Jeras, now you know.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Now I know. And now I know I'll be watching, as Harry Connick will be participating.

CHURCH: Oh, yes.

JERAS: Big fan.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Turning now to Oakland, California, two men surrendered in connection to vandalizing two liquor stores. Authorities are looking for four more suspects in the attacks.

Take a look at some of these pictures.

Claudine Wong of our CNN affiliate KTVU is live for us in Oakland this morning.

Hey, Claudine. Good morning.

What do you know about these two guys?

CLAUDINE WONG, REPORTER, KTVU: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, we know that the two men are affiliated with a Muslim group that started a black Muslim bakery that runs here in Oakland. They also believe the four men who have yet to turn themselves in, have yet to be arrested, are also affiliated with the same group.

The two men are seen in the surveillance video that was caught at one of the two liquor stores that were vandalized last Wednesday. The first man arrested is 19-year-old Yusef Bey IV. Police say Bey is seen in the video holding what appears to be a metal stick, smashing the liquor and the glass cabinet that holds the liquor.

They've also arrested a 73-year-old man. His name is Donald Eugene Cunningham. He's wearing a hat in the video, and he's actually shown making the first contact with the clerk in the store, telling them as Muslims they should not be selling liquor.

Again, all of this happened last Wednesday when a group of about a dozen men dressed in suits went into these two liquor stores, talked to the clerk briefly before going through the liquor stores and vandalizing it, breaking the liquor bottles. Now, they were arrested for suspicion of robbery, felony vandalism, terrorist threats, and conspiracy. We do expect at least one of the suspects to appear in court this morning.

Again, four other people also believed to be affiliated with that same Muslim group, they are still at large. Police are encouraging them to turn themselves in.

S. O'BRIEN: Claudine, there have been rumors that the suspects were all linked to the Nation of Islam in Oakland. Is that not true or true at this point? Do we know?

WONG: Well, the Nation of Islam held a press conference over the weekend where they insisted that these suspects, who many of them have been identified, are not related to the Nation of Islam. Now, they are related to a group, according to police, that runs a Muslim bakery, maybe considered to be a splinter Muslim group that is not as well known here, that they've opened schools in different groups.

The founder of that group actually died of cancer a couple of years ago. Another son in that group was actually killed a couple of months ago in a shooting. So this is a Muslim group, but not necessarily the Nation of Islam.

S. O'BRIEN: Claudine Wong, of our affiliate KTVU.

Claudine, thank you for the update on that story -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, a key ingredient of your cold and flu medicine is raising a red flag. We'll examine some serious risks of accidental poisoning in our "House Call" segment.

S. O'BRIEN: And anger in New Orleans. Residents certainly have plenty of pointed questions, and they're pointing those questions right at the mayor. We'll take you to New Orleans live just ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: And the president's big speech on Iraq coming up this hour. We'll talk about the war strategy with a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee after a break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The president will speak at 9:45. That is about 29 minutes from now, for those of you keeping score at home. And we will, of course, bring it to you live.

In advance of that, we're going to check in with the other side of the aisle, as they say. The 35-page document, the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq," published by the National Security Council, was released this morning by the White House. It's sort of the basis on which the speech will be drawn, though not the text of the speech. But in any case, it gives us a sense of where the president is headed today.

Joining us to talk about it from the Democratic perspective is Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a member of the Armed Services Committee. He joins us from Capitol Hill.

Senator, good to have you with us.

SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: Good morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about -- you've had a chance to take a look at this, I trust. And timetables, did you want a timetable?

REED: Well, I think we have to have an idea, the American people have to have an idea how long we'll be in Iraq. And also, we have to signal to the Iraqis that eventually they have to assume significant responsibility.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, does that mean you want a timetable or not?

REED: Well, I think we have to have a conditional-based projection of when our forces will be coming out.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

REED: If you want to call it a timetable, but frankly, that's what the military is preparing right now.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. So what -- yes, what we're seeing here is conditions-based things. What you've seen thus far you think is appropriate?

REED: Well, I think it's significant to note that we're almost three years into this battle, and the White House is now announcing a strategy for victory. And, in fact, I would have hoped that strategy would have been in place before they went in.

But what they're talking about now is conventionally building up the security forces, developing the economy. In concept it makes some sense, but it has to have resources behind it, and it has to also, I think, recognize this is a very complicated political, security and economic situation.

For too many months now, the American people have heard glib optimism about Iraq. The president has to give an honest assessment today of where we are, both the progress and the pitfalls.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's -- I think for the American people, though, it is a complicated situation. But they have a very simple question. And that is, when are the troops coming home?

What can we tell them today?

REED: Well, I hope the president will tell them that he has a plan to build up security forces in Iraq, native forces, and that as conditions allow, to bring troops out. Hopefully that transition can begin next year. But I think he also has to point out that because we've entered in to Iraq, because we've committed ourselves to assist that nation, it's not something that will happen overnight.

But I think he has to give the American people assurance that he understands and has a plan to begin to withdraw our forces, to begin to re-deploy our forces.

M. O'BRIEN: We talked yesterday -- Soledad spoke with Senator Joe Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut. He just got back from Iraq. Let's listen to what he had to say for a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: That they should win there, which is to say to get us out before the country is stable. I think it will have disastrous effects not only on Iraq and the Middle East, but on American security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: So it sounds like Senator Lieberman, and largely yourself, are pretty much in agreement with the president, the troops need to stay there until such time as Iraqi forces are prepared to guard the country themselves.

REED: Well, I don't think there's a great deal of debate, at least with myself and Senator Lieberman, about the need to maintain a presence until the Iraqi security forces become more effective. But I think it's incumbent upon the president to present the American people a plan. And a plan is not just happy talk about where we want to be, and victory and freedom. It's about the resources we'll take, not just military resources, but diplomatic resources, economic resources, how much it will cost us, and essentially what will be the end state.

What kind of country are we going to leave to the Iraqi people? What kind of country can they build?

So there's no, I think, argument on the overall concept. But what's critical and what has been lacking by the president so far is a detailed plan that convinces the American public, not just the Congress, but the American public, that he knows what he's doing and it can be done.

M. O'BRIEN: So what do you need to hear? Give us one specific thing you need to hear from the president today, you feel.

REED: Well, one, we need to complement not only our military efforts, but we also have to have significant civilian efforts. What kind of resources do we need to build up their economy? What kind of resources do we need to build up their governance capacities, the ministries? Not just the interior and defense, but their oil ministry, their health ministry.

How long will it take? What kind of cooperation will we get from international allies? What kind of cooperation will we get regionally?

These are critical details. And if it's just sort of glib assertions about, we're going to stay there until victory, I don't think that will be satisfactory. And moreover, I think one speech is not going to make the difference. Not only does there have to be many speeches, but changes have to take place on the ground in what we're doing and in what the Iraqis are doing.

M. O'BRIEN: Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island.

We should point out that this is the first of a series of speeches that the White House is promising.

And we will watch today's speech at 9:45 Eastern Time. We hope you'll join us for that. The president will be speaking from the U.S. Naval Academy, and we'll bring it to you live -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, our morning "House Call." Are you putting yourself at risk for liver damage when you take too much cold medicine? We'll take a look at an alarming new study just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: In this morning's "House Call," a new study says that too much of a common pain reliever, acetaminophen, can do some serious damage to your liver. Dr. William Lee is a liver disease specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern. He's in Dallas this morning.

Dr. Lee, nice to see you. Thank you for talking with us.

DR. WILLIAM LEE, LIVER DISEASE SPECIALIST: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: This is all part of a new study. How many people actually suffer from accidental poisoning because of too much acetaminophen every year?

LEE: On an average, we think that there's about 500 deaths in the U.S. Maybe a little bit less than that, but something in that range. But there's many, many more cases that come into hospitals around the country with severe liver injury, go into coma, and many of them, of course, recover.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. That's a pretty high number.

I know, obviously, acetaminophen is in Tylenol. What else is it in that I may not know?

LEE: It's in 300 different over-the-counter preparations. It's often in combination with narcotics. The narcotic has to be prescribed, of course, but still, if one takes a lot of the narcotic, one can obviously get a lot of acetaminophen, as well.

S. O'BRIEN: So is your theory that people don't realize they might be taking Tylenol and something else, and they don't -- they might know that they have acetaminophen in one but don't realize that it's in the other?

LEE: That's exactly right. About 40 percent of our unintentional cases -- the cases we see are divided between the suicidal cases and the unintentional, about 50 percent of each. And the unintentional cases, nearly half of them are taking two different preparations at once. And virtually all of them are taking doses that you wouldn't even dream of taking, like 18 or 20 or more pills a day.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. How much do you have to take before acetaminophen starts to affect your liver function?

LEE: Probably around six to eight grams, something in that range.

S. O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of what that is for somebody who's just, you know, taking it because they have a cold.

LEE: Sure. The package labeling says that the upper limits should be four grams, which would be eight extra strength a day. Now if you were taking eight grams a day, that's 16 extra strength pills. And that would not be uncommon for people, let's say, with chronic pain.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I see. LEE: Or if they're taking the regular Tylenol or some acetaminophen preparation and then taking a cold -- a liquid cold medicine.

S. O'BRIEN: Does drinking, or are there other things that increase your risk that make you more vulnerable to it even if you're not taking the additional pills?

LEE: Yes, sure. We -- it's a complex relationship between alcohol and acetaminophen, but it looks as if it does enhance the toxicity under certain situations. And also, if you -- if you have the flu and you're not eating well, starvation will also enhance the toxicity.

S. O'BRIEN: We don't have a lot of time, but a quick question for you. Do you advise people to just not take it? Do you advise people to read the labels more carefully? What do you say?

LEE: It's about reading the labels. Package labeling is not always clear that acetaminophen is in the preparation, particularly in these combination preparations. And I think we need to be less impulsive about use of pain relievers.

There's no point in taking four to eight at a time. Again, acetaminophen is listed as being safest. But you and I know that it's not true.

S. O'BRIEN: And too much of anything is never good. Dr. Lee, thank you for talking with us. Certainly appreciate the red flag warning there.

LEE: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: We've got to mention we've been ramping up to the president's speech this morning. He left the White House just a few moments ago. There he is with Secretary -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. They're on their way to Annapolis.

And we are just about 15 minutes away from the president's speech, which is going to take place at the Naval Academy. That's the room right there.

After the break, a roundtable will explore the president's plan for Iraq.

Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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