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American Morning
Troop Withdrawals?; New Terror Tape
Aired May 24, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is at the White House.
Bob, the president says that new Iraqi government might offer an opportunity of troop withdrawal, but there are no talks under way, right?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the operative word at the White House, Miles, is "maybe" -- maybe, maybe, maybe. First of all, you have the new Iraq prime minister saying that maybe the local forces will have control of the ground in that country by December. Let's add the word maybe to that. You have the British Prime Minister Tony Blair coming to the White House tomorrow. He and President Bush have been so closely locked in the policy for Iraq, that it will be quite a bit of discussion about that, and the realities and the hopes.
But when it comes to the possibility of troop withdrawal, on the one hand, you have the new Press Secretary Tony Snow saying that the realities could be determined by what's happening on the ground. And the president treading very carefully, trying to raise expectations, but not have to eat his words later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: The unity government must now seize this moment and pursue a common agenda for the future. This weekend, Prime Minister al-Maliki laid out his plan for a new Iraq. He promised to work for a sovereign Iraq that will assume responsibility for the security of its people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now we have some other realities that are intruding on this, including a statement from an official at the Pentagon, saying that part of the problem of Iraq is that the two key people who might be the ones to effect some sort of control over the country and allow troop withdrawal have not named yet, the interior ministers and the defense ministers in Iraq. There's a long way to go, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, Bob, it occurs to me the president in the past has resisted any sort of timetable for troop withdrawal, saying that signals to the enemy, what the U.S. is up to. Is there any sort of shift in that thinking right now?
FRANKEN: Well, there's a criticism from those who opposed the president he's trying to have it both ways, not naming a timetable, but at the same token, trying to raise expectations that something may be imminent.
Of course we have an election coming up. And the reality of polls like the CNN poll that shows when it comes to Iraq, the approval of the president's policies there is at only 34 percent, 62 percent oppose. Those are devastating numbers.
M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken at the White House, thank you -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN Security Watch this morning. British police raiding homes across the country. It's a massive anti- terror operation. Eight people are now in custody, 500 officers from five different police areas taking part. We know that the operation is targeting people suspected of planning attacks overseas. We continue to follow this story.
Continuing with our CNN Security Watch, Osama bin Laden on tape again, saying al Qaeda wannabe Zacarias Moussaoui was just that, a wannabe, and played no part in the 9/11 attacks.
CNN's Kelli Arena joins us this morning with much more.
Kelli, Good morning.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Well, intelligence officials are still trying to verify whether this message did indeed come from Osama bin Laden, but the latest word is they have no reason to believe that it did not. Nearly all of Osama bin Laden's messages are directed at specific audiences, and intelligence analysts say that this latest one is directed at Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): The latest audio message is simple, without the usual poetry associated with communications from Osama bin Laden.
Clearly conscious of Zacarias Moussaoui's terrorism trial in the U.S., bin Laden says Moussaoui had absolute no role in the September 11 attacks.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I am certain of what I say, because I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers -- Allah have mercy upon them -- with those raids. And I did not assign brother Zacarias to be with them on that mission.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ARENA: During his trial, Moussaoui claimed he was supposed fly a fifth blame into the White House and that captured shoe bomber Richard Reid was going to be on his hijacking team.
After being sentenced to life in prison, Moussaoui changed his story and said in a court filing that he lied on the stand. Bin Laden mentions the testimony in an effort, U.S. officials believe, to seem up to date.
FORIA YOUNIS, FORMER FBI AGENT: He clearly is showing that he's still out there. He wants to be in the news. He wants to comment on the Moussaoui investigation.
ARENA: Bin Laden also spoke about the 500 or so detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He claims none of them have any connection to 9/11 either.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): And even stranger is that many of them have no connection with al Qaeda in the first place, and even more amazing is that some of them oppose al Qaeda's methodology of calling for war with America.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ARENA: Officials believe at least one person being held in Guantanamo, Mohamed al-Kahtani, was connected to 9/11. The U.S. government and the 9/11 Commission concluded, he was meant to be the 20th hijacker, but couldn't get into the United States.
Bin Laden hasn't been seen on video since October of 2004. Like the one released today, his recent messages have been audio only.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: But this message makes no specific threat. It's still, though, a cause for concern. Terror analyst Ben Venzke points out that the volume of messages from al Qaeda is now at the highest point since the group's inception, and that could be a signal that it's up to something -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: So if there's no threat on the tape, what do you think is the whole point of this tape?
ARENA: Well, as you heard the analysts, and many agree, that it's just his opportunity to show, Osama bin Laden's opportunity to show, I'm real, I'm here, I'm up on current events; you may not hear from me a lot, but don't think I'm not in the game.
S. O'BRIEN: Kelli Arena for us this morning. Kelli, thanks.
You want to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security .
(NEWSBREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The man John Allen Muhammad once called son is now testifying against him. Muhammad, who's defending himself in his second murder trial, gets another chance to cross-examine Lee Boyd Malvo today, just a day after Malvo revealed that the pair had even more horrible plans than what we previously knew. CNN's Kathleen Koch at the courthouse in Rockville, Maryland.
Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And yes, it was a most dramatic day of testimony since the sniper trials began. Sparks flew as the two men met in court for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): You took me into your house and made me a monster. The first words sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo had for the man he once loved and would have died for. In Montgomery County Circuit Court, Malvo, the now 21-year-old suspect, called John Allen Muhammad a coward. He revealed the 45-year-old defendant had planned a month of terror. His goal, kill six people a day. Then Malvo said they would begin phase two, using improvised explosives packed with nails and ball bearings to attack children on buses and schools and at children's hospitals.
Malvo said they were about to begin phase two when they were caught. Calm and articulate, the young man described how he became distraught when his mentor and father figure first unveiled the plot. He sat in the bathroom for hours crying and playing Russian roulette. Quote, "I loaded one round, spun, put it to my head. Fired, fired, fired. Until I reached the fourth round and then realized this was the one. I just broke down. I couldn't do it."
Still, they traveled to Montgomery County, Maryland, that Malvo says Muhammad described as well off, mostly white, quote, "the perfect area to terrorize." Malvo described how they scouted each shooting location to make sure there were no surveillance cameras, few witnesses and good escape routes. He was the spotter, saying over and over, quote, "I told Mr. Muhammad he had a go, and he took the shot." Malvo even demonstrated how some victims fell. Victims' family members cried. One woman so overwhelmed, she left the courtroom sobbing.
Malvo said they trained their sights on other victims, in Washington and Maryland. In Baltimore he says Muhammad ordered him to shoot pregnant women at a cemetery. Malvo couldn't pull the trigger. In cross-examination, Muhammad questioned Malvo's memory, vision, and honesty. Pointing out he confessed to the murders before in seven hours of questioning by detectives. Quote, "so seven hours of lying, is that correct?" Yes. "That was a sworn statement, and you're sitting here today, and this is a sworn statement?" Yes. Malvo now says he shot three victims, two survived. He admitted firing the shot that killed bus driver Conrad Johnson. Those in court say Malvo was not the timid, brainwashed boy they thought he was.
MARY BRANCH, FRIEND OF SNIPER VICTIM: Malvo, I thought he was more controlled by Muhammad. But no, he had a large part in the situation also. He was very articulate. I didn't know he was going to be so articulate. He was very articulate. That changes everything I think as far as I was concerned.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: And we're expecting to see more confrontations in the courtroom later this morning as Muhammad continues cross-examining Malvo.
Back to you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It's been really riveting testimony. Kathleen Koch for us this morning. Kathleen, thanks.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: There's a lot to talk about plugging holes in our porous border with Mexico. People smuggling immigrants into the country may already will be a step ahead of the plans. Coming up, we'll show you how desperate measures are taken for folks to get inside the U.S.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Kids, if you're writing an inappropriate blog you might be in big, big trouble at school. How does suspension sound? We'll tell you the plan, next.
S. O'BRIEN: The FBI digging a little deeper in its search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains. We'll tell you why agents want to tear down a barn.
Those stories are all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Mexican President Fox heads to Washington today. That's Washington State. He'll visit apple orchards in Yakima, where immigrants, many of them undocumented, make up large ports of the population. His visit comes while the Senate closes in on an immigration bill.
But as CNN's Chris Lawrence reports, smugglers are already trying to find ways around proposed tightening of border security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At precisely the same moment, the eyes of the American public are on Mexican President Vincente Fox, federal agents and smugglers are eying each other on the border.
JAMES HYNES, PORT DIRECTOR: If you look close enough in the lanes behind me. You'll see people south of the border watching our operation.
LAWRENCE: The watchers are being watched. When their canines come out, where primary inspections take place, which lanes send more cars into secondary inspection areas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that. That ain't supposed to be there.
LAWRENCE: Agents say even some of the Mexican vendors can be spotters. In a sense, spies who signal criminals crossing the border.
HYNES: Alien smugglers and drug smugglers, they will go over us, under us, around us and through us.
LAWRENCE: Human beings coming to the United States in the most inhumane ways, concealed in carpets and then piled into a car. A little girl tied down inside a seat compartment. An adult woman stuffed inside the dashboard.
HYNES: When we take a mother and child out of a gas tank where there has been gas fumes, clearly their life is at stake.
LAWRENCE: San Ysidro is the largest port of entry in the world, and this year apprehensions of illegal immigrants are up 10 percent. Agents caught more than 200 undocumented aliens in one day this week.
HYNES: Do I think we're getting them all? I don't think so, but we're getting a very high number.
LAWRENCE: In part, because of border politics. Pressure in the U.S. to crackdown on desert crossings drives smugglers back to legal ports of entry. And the Mexican government's policies factor in, as well.
JEFFREY MCILLWAIN, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY: President Vincente Fox has a very difficult tightrope he has to manage.
LAWRENCE: San Diego State Professor Jeff McIllwain says Fox faces a dilemma: He has to tighten his own border to improve relations with the U.S.
MCILLWAIN: It's also in the interest to have U.S. currency coming back from people that work here that goes back to reinvest and take care of the various families that are being supported by loved ones in the United States.
LAWRENCE: It's estimated that Mexicans working in the U.S. sent home nearly $20 billion last year. With that sort of money involved, the cold war between agents and smugglers won't stop any time soon.
(on camera): They don't catch every smuggler, but they may be driving up the cost. Customs and border protection agents interrogate people and ask them how much they paid. By all accounts, it costs more to get smuggled over the border now than even six months ago.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, San Ysidro California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Chris' first report first aired "THE SITUATION ROOM." You can catch more with Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" weekdays, starting at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, and 7:00 p.m. Eastern as well.
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is weighing in on immigration, out this morning with a piece in "The Wall Street Journal." Hey says the economy would collapse if undocumented immigrants are sent packing. The mayor will be here in our next hour. We'll ask him about all that -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The start of hurricane season -- we've been telling you this for a while now -- it's just days away. Now the big question, are we ready day for it? Coming up, a CNN Fact Check.
And despite the sky-high prices, the government says you are not gouged at the gas pump. Some lawmakers aren't buying it. That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: We're a week away from the start of the hurricane season. And of course, the big question is, is the government, especially FEMA, ready?
Here's homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve with the CNN Fact Check.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID PAULISON, ACTING FEMA DIR.: We are working together as a team.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Civilian and military officials insist there will not be another debacle like Katrina. The federal government raked over the coals for its sluggish response, put on a full-court press to try to convince critics they will do a better job next time.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY.: We're on a much more solid footing this year, and much more prepared as a nation than we've ever been to confront a major hurricane.
MESERVE: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says enough ice, water and MREs are now stockpiled to sustain a million people for a week. The National Guard has invested $800 million in new communications gear, and officials claim that matters of coordination and command are clarified.
LT. GEN. STEVE BLUM, NATL. GUARD: Our job is save lives, not waste time arguing who's in charge.
MESERVE: The National Guard says it has 367,000 soldiers and airmen ready and available to respond to the next disaster.
And the Department of Defense insists that despite deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, it can do its part. PAUL MCHALE, ASST. SECY. OF DEFENSE: The response to Hurricane Katrina was the largest, fastest civil support mission in the history of the United States military. And if we have to, we can replicate or exceed that capability this year without impairing our war-fighting ability.
MESERVE: But there are still skeptics, including the ranking Democrat on the committee Paulison will face today.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Bit we're not as strong as we should be, so I worry about the hurricane season, and I say a prayer every night that it go better than I fear it will.
MESERVE (on camera): As for Paulison's nomination, it is expected to sail through, but the hearing will give senators a chance to voice their very strong opinions on what is wrong with FEMA.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, a school district goes online to keep its students in line. But some parents think the new policy goes a little too far. We'll tell you why.
Plus this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're hoping is that people discover this and that they discover that it really is a great mystery, and it's a fun puzzle that you can put together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Straight ahead, would an online game get you to watch a TV show? We'll tell you why ABC is banking on "The Lost Experience," on AMERICAN MORNING, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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