Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Rumsfeld Testifies to Senate on Iraq War; Miami Exiles Speculate on Castro's Condition

Aired August 03, 2006 - 09:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The opening bell rang just a few moments ago on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average begins trading at 11,199. That's up 74 points in yesterday's trading.
Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez filling in for Miles this week.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Might need to defend himself today after an about face. He is, in fact, going to be in front of that Senate hearing. And, in fact, that Senate hearing is just about to get under way.

Let's get right to CNN's Dana Bash. She's live on Capitol Hill. Hey, Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And what we're seeing now are pictures that just yesterday we did not think we were going to see. And that is pictures of Donald Rumsfeld appearing in public before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He had been invited to do this, and had said no. He said that the military brass who were also going to be there with him would suffice. He would brief senators behind closed doors.

Well, Democrats were not very happy about that. They were very public about that. Republicans, more private, were also -- you know, really thought that he needed to come before the Senate in public, because he hadn't done that -- hasn't been there for six months since February.

So there was a reversal last night at about 7:00. His office called the committee and said would it be OK if he did come and appear before the committee? So now you see there the chairman, John Warner, giving his opening statement. We should hear from the secretary soon.

And this -- a lot of this certainly there was a lot of substance that we were going to hear about -- what the secretary says, what the generals say, about the situation on the ground. But a lot of this is also going to be theater. And Soledad, a lot of it is going to be directed at the secretary himself, his leadership. We're hearing that from Republican and Democratic sources.

And already this morning, we saw a picture that certainly says thousand words. The secretary greeting two Democratic senators who are most vocal in their criticism of him, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Ted Kennedy. We saw that this morning, and the secretary kind of leaning over the dais, talking to the two senators. I assume that that atmosphere is going to change quite dramatically in the hours to come.

O'BRIEN: Yes, one would expect that friendly little tone may not last very long into this hearing.

BASH: No.

O'BRIEN: Rumsfeld had said he was -- later in the day, along with Condoleezza Rice and two generals -- going to be briefing behind closed doors the entire -- all the senators. Does that still remain? I mean, to some degree, is he saying, listen, this is a TV thing? What you want to do is -- more interested in the questions and putting me on the spot on TV with the public than necessarily getting answers.

BASH: That's exactly what he was suggesting in a briefing yesterday, when our Barbara Starr was asking him about this, suggesting that some who want him to come and appear before public, that might have politics in mind -- there may be some truth to that.

But the bottom line is that it's not just Democrats. Republicans also. They tell us when they go home they hear number one, number two, number two, concerns from their constituents about Iraq. And there's pressure on Republicans who are in control, want to keep control of Congress, to really have oversight and be aggressive in their oversight over the Bush administration, especially when it comes to Iraq.

And Soledad, I don't need to tell you the person for Democrats and Republicans who personifies the White House Iraq policy more than anyone at this point certainly is Donald Rumsfeld. And they have not had a chance to ask him questions since some retired generals came out in April and said that he should resign because they felt that his war planing was insufficient and he didn't listen to people who told him so at the time.

O'BRIEN: So the theory is, listen, a lot of these senators need to go back to the home districts and tell people something. Is there a sense that there's actually going to be anything coming out of this meeting, this hearing?

BASH: That's a very good question. In terms of the question, whether or not U.S. troops can come home and when U.S. troops can come home, it would be very surprising to hear a date certain from the secretary. That -- obviously, as you know, the Bush administration has been reluctant to do that.

But just yesterday, you were interviewing a guest on your show about the fact that the President Talabani of Iraq said he thinks that the Iraqi security forces could be ready by the end of the year. The secretary distanced himself from that yesterday. That is going to be a very -- a big topic, I would expect, for the senators to say, OK, well, if you don't think so, then when do you think Iraqi security forces will be ready? And of course the big question, sectarian violence. What the real assessment is from both the secretary and the generals of the situation on the ground. The secretary said yesterday he does not think it's a classic civil war. Well, they're going to want to know, well, what is it, and is there really a possibility to get with -- the situation on the ground, as dire as it seems right now, to bring the country together.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it certainly feels like there's a lot of parsing of words and defining of definitions over and over again. Dana Bash, watching this hearing for us. Senator Warner is still making his opening comments. We're going to check in on this hearing, as soon as we hear from the secretary. Dana, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still no Fidel Castro sightings in Havana, although the head of Cuba's parliament says the long-time leader is, quote, "very alive." Haven't seen or heard from his younger brother Raul. Raul, of course, was given temporary custody of the country. We've heard from one other family member, though.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has that story for us this morning. He's in Miami.

Hey, Ed. Good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, for the last three days, it's been nothing but a frenzy of speculation across south Florida. Is Fidel Castro dead, alive? What exactly is going on with him? Many exiles here in south Florida convinced that he is dead, but Juanita Castro, an exile herself living here in Miami and the sister of Fidel Castro, says that even though he is very sick, he's doing better.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Fidel Castro is the headline of every conversation around Miami. But inside this modest pharmacy, that conversation is personal. It's about family.

Juanita Castro has owned this business 34 years. She's Fidel Castro's estranged sister living in exile. She talks about her brother with me while customers shopped around us and the frenzy of speculation swirled outside.

(on camera): Is it difficult living here among so many people who are happy to see that's what happening to your brother?

JUANITA CASTRO, SISTER OF FIDEL CASTRO: First of all, we are blood. He's very strong, and he's my brother. I am his sister, and really I feel worried about the situation that he has now.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Juanita Castro left Cuba for Mexico in 1964. A year later she moved to Miami. She says when she first arrived here some labelled her a communist who could not be trusted. Juanita says that's changed over the years. She says she left Cuba because she disagreed with her brother's politics, but to her, blood is thicker than ideology.

(on camera): You see Fidel as two different people to you, right.

CASTRO: Two different people, one as Cuban dictator and the other side, my brother Fidel and it's the same blood, it's very strong feelings. I can't...

LAVANDERA (voice-over): She can't deny it, she says. But to south Florida's Cuban exile community Fidel Castro is an evil thug, his failing health something to be celebrated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man who hurt my family is now getting what he deserves.

LAVANDERA: That is hard for Juanita Castro to hear. She says she understands how much Cuban exiles have suffered, but that it's still hard to watch people celebrate.

CASTRO: I am very upset about this, the show that they had the last night, two days ago, and I don't think it's necessary. He's not dead. He's very sick, but he's not dead.

LAVANDERA: Juanita Castro's family, like so many others, has been bitterly divided by the Cuban revolution. She's feeling the pain of realizing that her brother, who she hasn't spoken to since 1963 could die any time and she's wondering why it had to be this way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Even though Fidel Castro's fate is on the cover of every newspaper and magazine and the talk of everyone here in this town in Miami when you walk into her pharmacy here in Miami, the mood changes quite a bit out of deference to her, the many customer whose have gone to her loyally for the last three decades there at that store. Much more subdued in that store out of respect to her. And Juanita Castro says the people who have been coming in there have been very differential to her and very respectful about what is going on in her family -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera for us this morning. Ed, thanks.

(NEWSBREAK)

O'BRIEN: Let's take you live to Capitol Hill this morning. We are going to hear in just a few moments from the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. You're looking at Senator Carl Levin. The senators are reading and beginning with opening statements. He's one of the chairman, or the co-chairman, I should say, of the Senate Armed Services Committee. And then we're going to have an introduction of the secretary of defense, and he will begin his testimony as well.

Also we're going to be be hearing from General Abizaid, as well. Sort of unusual, as Barbara Starr pointed out just a few moments ago, since he's been keeping us fairly low profile of late in front of the media. So we're going to bring it to you when we start hearing from Secretary Rumsfeld.

We've got to take a short break, and we're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: This news just in to CNN. We're getting some reports from Israeli television stations that Hezbollah rockets that have been fired from Lebanon have killed five people in Israel. The report saying that the rockets struck across northern Israel. We've been updating you on the increased violence and the back and forth rocket attacks we have seen in the 23-plus days of fighting in the region. Hezbollah firing hundreds, hundreds of rockets into Israel over the past day or so. We're going to continue to update you on the story of course as we continue to cover the crisis out of the Middle East -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: A record breaking heat has hit both coasts, and heavy rains have flooded parts of the desert southwest. So how do we explain the wacky weather?

Well, John Pierce, who publishes "The Old Farmer's Almanac," which has been predicting weather trends for more than 200 years now. They may be the best at this according to many.

John, we're fairly certain at this point -- there hasn't been quite that long. He's joining us from Manchester, New Hampshire now with the most -- I guess the best advice we can get on something like this. So let me ask you first, if you can try and help us make sense of the fact that we're getting this much heat on the east coast, and yet we're getting some flooding on the other side. How's that happen?

JOHN PIERCE, OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC: Well, actually that was part of our forecast, Rick. We said that the desert southwest would be hot, but also quite wet. And it has to do with developing changes in two major ocean currents, one in the Pacific and one here on the Atlantic Coast.

SANCHEZ: What do you make of the heatwave? Is it something that the almanac says will eventually dissipate?

Yes, we're saying long term on average the next ten years will be cooler than the previous ten years. That doesn't mean that we won't have huge aberrations as we're having now. The sun is in a relatively inactive phase. Generally what happens is we get cooler weather.

Now, if we're getting more heat, or it seems like we're getting more heat right now. And that brings up the question of, as Al Gore would say, global warning -- global warming -- as a reality. Your opinion on this?

PIERCE: Well, there's no question that man is influencing the climate, Rick. We're modifying our formulas to increase the average temperatures anywhere from a half a degree to a whole degree in various parts of the U.S. to take into account those changes. And nowhere is it more noticeable than here in urban areas.

SANCHEZ: John Pierce with "The Old Farmer's Almanac." We're going to have to wrap things up a little bit early, because we've got a hearing and some news to go to -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He's testifying now. You can see pictures there. You're looking at Capitol Hill, the Hart Senate Office Building.

The secretary was asked to testify about the war in Iraq. So a little back and forth. He finally agreed. Let's listen in a bit.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Sixteen years ago this week, Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait, killing civilians, unleashing environmental devastation, provoking a crisis that led to Iraq attacks on Israel and threats to Saudi Arabia and others in the region. Last week, by contrast -- as you mention, Mr. Chairman -- the new Iraqi prime minister was elected by the Iraqi people under a constitution the Iraqi people wrote and ratified, came to the United States to thank the American people for their assistance in building a new future for the people of Iraq.

He had spent 25 years in opposition to the Saddam Hussein regime. And before a joint session of Congress, he noted that if terror were permitted to triumph in Iraq, then the war on terror will never be won elsewhere. The enemy understands this, as well. They're waging a psychological war of attrition, planning attacks to gain the maximum media coverage and the maximum public outcry.

They want to us believe that perseverance by us is futile rather than necessary. They want us to focus on our casualties and losses, not on the people causing the casualties and losses. They want to us think about what will happen if our forces stay in Iraq as opposed to the consequences if our forces were to leave prematurely. They want us to be divided because they know that when we are united, they lose. They want us pointing fingers at each other rather than pointing fingers at them.

I know there are calls in some quarters for withdrawal or arbitrary timelines for withdrawals. The enemies hear those words, as well. We need to be realistic about the consequences. If we left Iraq prematurely, as the terrorists demand, the enemy would tell us to leave Afghanistan and then withdraw from the Middle East. And if we left the Middle East, they would order us and all those who don't share their militant ideology to leave what they call the occupied Muslim lands, from Spain to the Philippines.

And then we would face not only the evil ideology of these violent extremists, but an enemy that will have grown accustomed to succeeding and telling free people everywhere what to do. We can persevere in Iraq, or we can withdraw prematurely until they force us to make a stand near home. But make no mistake, they're not going to give up, whether we acquiesce in their immediate demands or not.

Decisions about conditions for a drawdown of our forces in Iraq are best based on the recommendations of the commanders in the field and the recommendations of the gentlemen sitting beside me. We should strive to think through how our words can be interpreted by our troops, by the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, by our 42 allies in our coalition in Afghanistan and our 34 allies in our coalition in Iraq. And we should consider how our words can be used by our deadly enemy.

The war on terror is going to be a long struggle. It's not something we asked for, but neither is it something we can avoid. But I remain confident in our mission, in our commanders, in our troops and in our cause. And I remain confident in the good common sense of the American people. Americans didn't cross oceans and settle the wilderness and build history's greatest democracy only to run away from a bunch of murderers and extremists who try to kill everyone that they cannot convert and to tear down what they could never build.

Over the past few years, I have had the honor of meeting countless young men and women in uniform, all volunteers who have answered our country's call. I remember a serviceman outside of Afghanistan who looked me in the eye and said I can't believe that we're being allowed to do something so important. Unquote.

Our troops represent the finest and the most professional troops in history. I think of these remarkable people every day. I know that everything we do in the Department of Defense and what you do on this committee affects them, and their wonderfully supportive families.

Thank you.

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. General Pace.

O'BRIEN: That's the secretary of defense wrapping up his comments. And now they turn to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Peter Pace, as Senator Warner prepares to introduce him.

PETER PACE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Since 9/11, over one million young men and women in uniform have served this country in Central Command area of operations. And they have done so with incredible bravery and sacrifice and performance that has made us all proud. And their families have served this nation, as well as anyone who has worn the uniform. Especially those families today in the 172nd strike brigade, whose loved ones are not coming home when they thought they would be coming home and who once again are sacrificing that we might provide the strength needed on the battlefield.

It's now almost five years since September 11, 2001, and the number of young men and women in our armed forces who have sacrificed their lives that we might live in freedom is approaching the number of Americans who were murdered on 9/11 in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in Pennsylvania.

We've come a long way in Afghanistan, we've come a long way in Iraq, and elsewhere in the war on terrorism. We have a long way to go. We are a nation at war. Fortunately, most of our fellow citizens are not affected by this war every day. Some 2.4 million Americans active, guard, and reserve had the privilege of defending over 300 million of our fellow citizens and countless millions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Our enemy knows they cannot defeat us in battle. They do believe, however, they can wear down our will as a nation. They are wrong. How do I know they are wrong?

First, this committee and this Congress continues to provide the resources we need to defend this nation, and I thank you for that. Second, our servicemen and women are proud of what they are doing and they are reenlisting in record numbers to continue to have the privilege to do what we do for this nation. Third, as a secretary mentioned in his comments, the American people have in the past, are now, and will in the future, responding to attacks on our way of life. Two hundred and 30 years, we have met the challenges.

This will not be easy. This will not be quick. And this will not be without sacrifice. But we will persist and we will prevail. And I look forward to answering your questions today and working together with you in the future to defend this nation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

WARNER: Thank you, General.

O'BRIEN: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs wrapping up his introductory remarks. We're going to hear from General Abizaid now. Let's listen in. As we head to the top of the hour, we're going to throw our coverage to Daryn Kagan in Atlanta.

Good morning, Daryn.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com