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The Situation Room
Are Terrorists in Iraq Attempting to Influence U.S. Midterm Elections?; Growing Number of Americans Oppose War in Iraq
Aired October 19, 2006 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories.
Happening now, bloodshed and politics -- are terrorists in Iraq using violence to try and sway the way you vote in the mid-term elections?
One top official has a surprising answer.
Meanwhile, problems in the party -- more senators are suggesting the possibility of change in Iraq and a growing number of Americans are now opposed to the war. That might not be much of an issue to the president, except that those rumblings are coming from the Republicans.
And eerie echoes of the crocodile hunter tragedy. A stingray attacks a Florida man, causing some to wonder, just how rare are such attacks?
I'm Wolf Blitzer.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Right now, are terrorists in Iraq trying to sway American voters weeks before the mid-term elections here in the United States?
Perhaps, says one U.S. official. As Iraq continues to explode with violence, there are concerns over whether Iraq is beginning to actually look like Iran and signs that a growing number of Republicans are becoming unsettled over the course of the war.
We have three reports.
Brian Todd is standing by here in Washington.
Michael Ware is in Baghdad.
Let's check in with our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, first -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the U.S. military expected casualties to go up with the offensive in Baghdad and the holy month of Ramadan. But at 73 deaths so far this month, October is on a pace to be the deadliest month since the war began, and that's raising questions about the strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): The latest U.S. strategy, simply stated, is as goes Baghdad, so goes the country. And from the top military spokesman, a simple admission -- at the moment, Baghdad is not going so well.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: The violence is, indeed, disheartening.
MCINTYRE: What's disheartening, Major General William Caldwell noted, is that attacks are up 22 percent in the past three weeks, that Operation Together Forward, the joint U.S.-Iraqi effort to secure Baghdad has, in his words, not met overall expectations and that now the U.S. and Iraqi government must figure out "how to refocus the effort."
CALDWELL: We're taking a lot of time to go back and look at the whole Baghdad security plan. We're asking ourselves if the conditions under which it was first devised and planned still exist today or have the conditions changed and therefore a modification to that plan needs to be made.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You know, the White House listens to the generals, but I would caution you against saying it's not working because that's not their view.
MCINTYRE: The White House was quick to downplay the sober assessment from the military, insisting it amounted to routine adjustment.
T. SNOW: Tactics change all the time. Generals talk about changing tactics all the time. It happens regularly. It is nothing new in a time of war.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
MCINTYRE: And White House Spokesman Tony Snow dismissed as "a lot of hooey" the idea that the recommendations of the independent Iraqi Study Group might result in a major course correction. He dismissed the idea of partition of Iraq or a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops as "non-starters" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: We're going to have more on that coming up.
Jamie, thank you very much.
Meanwhile, there's growing concern over a situation that may be among America's worst fears -- Iraq looking more and more like one of its neighbors.
And joining us now, our correspondent in Baghdad, Michael Ware -- you know, Michael, these reports of the prime minister of Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki, going down to meet with the Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, with Muqtada al-Sadr, to some people looking at how this situation, this political situation in Iraq is unfolding, it almost is beginning to look like Iran, where there's a supreme ayatollah who's in charge, overseeing the government.
Is that a fair comparison?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not just yet. There's definitely elements of that, although Sistani, from the very beginning, as a key Shia religious figure, has made it patent that he wants to see effectively a separation of church and state. The problem is that not everyone agrees with him.
Even worse than that, where Sistani used to be the concentration of all Shia power, he was vital, as it so happens, to the American effort to see the elections through, to see that they were a success. He was pivotal to that, in harnessing the Shia vote and sending them out not only to the ballot boxes, but to vote for the united Iraqi alliance.
However, what we see now, six, nine, 10 months down the track, is what many officials suspect is a weakening of his position. Once these people got into power, particularly those related to the dominant Shia party, SCIRI, with its strong links to Iran, is that once in these positions, these people were able to develop their own power bases, somewhat independent of Sistani.
So, he certainly does not hold the same influence that he did back then. And perhaps this is a sign from the prime minister, Maliki, of starting to clutch a little bit at some straws -- Wolf.
BLITZER: You know, there's a lot of concern, I have to tell you here, that the prime minister put some unusual pressure on the U.S. military, the leadership, the civilian leadership, to release a leader of one of these so-called death squads, someone, a deputy to Muqtada al-Sadr, who had been captured by the U.S. military, I believe in Sadr City, someone from the Mahdi militia. And under pressure from the prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, the U.S. was forced to release him.
How much anger is there among U.S. military commanders about this specific incident?
WARE: Well, clearly there is some chafing among military officers. I mean, this was a fellow in an area of Baghdad not far from where I'm standing now that is a contested zone and is an area where Shia militias linked to the Jaish al-Mahdi militias of Muqtada al-Sadr would go hunting their Sunni prey.
However, if you've been here on the ground long enough, if you witnessed the birth of this Maliki government, honestly, this should come as no surprise to anyone. Effectively, Maliki is a paper tiger. The Americans are desperately trying to prop him up. He has no independent source of power except for one, and that is the critical support of Muqtada al-Sadr.
So, the fact that the prime minister orders the Americans to release a wanted man linked to Muqtada shouldn't really come as a surprise. He's got political debts owing to Muqtada. And, secondly, Sadr City, the center of the Jaish al-Mahdi power base from where these death squads are roaming, U.S. forces want to go in there. Yet I was on those streets this morning. Not only was there not a single American soldier, save for the odd quick in and out patrol, there's not even an Iraqi Army soldier. It is Jaish al-Mahdi, which controls that whole part of the city and the two million plus people who live within it -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael, we've got to leave it right there.
Michael Ware reporting for us from Baghdad.
It wasn't that long ago that the U.S. actually wanted to arrest Muqtada al-Sadr. Clearly, that has not happened.
Michael, thanks.
WARE: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Meanwhile, is there a Republican revolt over the war?
A growing number of Republican senators suggesting the conflict in Iraq may need a significant course correction. This comes as a new CNN poll shows the highest number of Republicans ever who are now opposed to the war.
let's bring in our Brian Todd.
He's watching this story -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, does this all mean that the president's own party is abandoning him on Iraq?
Analysts say at the very least some key Republicans are asking some very tough questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TODD (voice-over): The president, famously quoted as saying he won't leave Iraq even if the only ones still with him are his wife and dog -- is he getting closer to that tiny constituency?
Listen to key members of his own party.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R-NE), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: We are going to have to find a new strategy. The American people are not going to continue to support and sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war.
SEN. JOHN WARNER (R-VA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: In two or three months, if this thing hasn't come to fruition and if this level of violence is not under control and this government able to function, I think it's the responsibility of our government internally to determine is there a change of course that we should take?
TODD: Even Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a loyal Republican from the president's own state, says it's time to think about partitioning Iraq. And in the latest CNN poll, a third of Republicans say they oppose the war, the highest percentage since the conflict began.
Analysts say many Republicans who had taken a wait and see approach are at the end of that rope now with the violence spiking. They say the Iraq war is, by far, the number one issue in this mid- term election and GOP candidates are feeling the backlash on the campaign trail.
Even the insurgents could be playing into this equation.
CALDWELL: Why is that? There is a mid-term election that's taking place in the United States and that the extremist elements understand the power of the media.
TODD: Does it all mean a full scale party revolt against the president's course in Iraq?
STUART ROTHENBERG, "ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT": I would say not yet a mass defection. Growing doubts, growing concerns. After the election, if the Republicans take the hit that many of us think they will, then I think we'll start to see those massive defections.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
TODD: The aftermath of mid-term elections is also when the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel led by former Secretary of State Jim Baker, is due to present its report on what needs to be done in Iraq. If Baker's team recommends a completely new course, analysts say, GOP defections could accelerate -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks very much for that.
Brian Todd reporting.
Let's check in with Jack Cafferty once again in New York -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Comforting to know we can look forward to another report on the war in Iraq.
"Over the last two years, the Congressional scandals have traversed the universe, from the gross to the grandiose to the grotesque." That's law professor Jonathan Turley writing a nifty piece in "USA Today." He says that the Foley scandal perfectly sums what he calls "the betrayal of the 109th Congress." He calls it one of the most corrupt Congresses ever and the American people know it.
An new CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation shows 50 percent of those polled say most members of Congress are corrupt. That's up from 38 percent who felt that way in January. When asked if their member of Congress is corrupt, 36 percent of Americans say you bet. That's up from 22 percent in January.
No surprise, then, a huge majority of Americans extremely dissatisfied with the way Congress is doing its job. Poisonous snakes get higher approval ratings than Congresspeople. Here's the question -- how big a problem is corruption on Capitol Hill?
E-mail your thoughts to caffertyfile@cnn.com or go to cnn.com/caffertyfile.
We've got more than a third of Americans thinking their own person is corrupt, Wolf. That's a new high, I think.
BLITZER: Good material for your 7:00 p.m. special tonight, too.
We'll talk about that.
CAFFERTY: Funny you should mention that, yes.
BLITZER: Later this hour we're going to talk about it, Jack.
CAFFERTY: OK.
BLITZER: Thanks very much.
Up ahead, new developments in the Foley scandal. The priest accused by the disgraced congressman of molesting him as a teenager now speaking out for the first time and making a startling admission.
Also, a Republican congressman mired in scandal. Can President Bush help him in the fight for his political life?
We'll have the latest from the campaign trail.
Also, another rare stingray attack just six weeks after the one that killed the crocodile hunter, this one much closer to home. We're going to have details.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There are new developments today in the scandal over Florida Congressman Mark Foley and his lurid online messages to former Congressional pages.
Today, the former clerk of the House of Representatives testified before the House Ethics Committee, which is investigating who knew what about Foley and when.
Jeff Trandahl oversaw the page program until last year and sources tell CNN Trandahl says he repeatedly warned the House leadership about Foley's conduct.
Also testifying today, the House majority leader, John Boehner, who said the Speaker, Dennis Hastert, told him this spring that concerns over Foley had been taken care of.
Meanwhile, we're hearing for the first time from the priest Foley accuses of molesting him when he was a teenage altar boy in Florida. CNN's John Zarrella joining us now from Miami with new developments -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, within days of the Foley e-mail scandal breaking, Mark Foley, through his attorney, announced first that he was an alcoholic and that he was entering a treatment facility and then said that he was abused by a clergyman during -- while he was between the ages of 13 and 15 years old. He would not immediately say who that clergyman was.
But CNN has confirmed through its sources that the priest, that the Catholic priest that Mark Foley is accusing him, or claiming abused him, is Father Anthony Mercieca. He's 72 years old. He lives off Malta, on the island of Gozo.
Now, he was the assistant pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Lake Worth at the time that Mark Foley was an altar boy there.
Now, CNN did talk with the priest on Gozo today, and he's acknowledged that he did swim naked with Mark Foley and that he massaged Foley's neck, but that they were clothed, they had towels on at the time. And he also said that they took saunas together, but, again, that they had towels on.
Now, Mercieca also told our affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida that he was sorry that Mark Foley was still upset about this after 40 years, but that he, Mercieca, did not see what he did as rape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATHER MERCIECA: Once and maybe I touched him or so, you know? But I didn't -- it's -- it's not (INAUDIBLE) than that. It's not something you call, I mean, rape or penetration or anything like that, you know? It was just fondling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now, the Archdiocese of Miami issued a statement this afternoon, saying that they're cooperating with the Palm Beach State Attorney's office and that they will officially release the name once they have talked with the Palm Beach State Attorney's office, gotten the clearance to do that.
And a statement just now from the Diocese, the bishop of Gozo saying that a team, a response team will go in tomorrow and begin to investigate these allegations, according to the policies established by the Maltese Province with regard to cases of sexual abuse.
So that is the latest we are getting now, Wolf.
And, finally, the priest, Father Mercieca, did say that a lot of what happened back then, his memory is clouded because, at the time, he was ill and on medication -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John Zarrella, thanks very much.
Can a president struggling in the polls help a congressman mired in a sexual scandal?
A Pennsylvania Republican certainly hoping so right now.
Let's bring in CNN's Mary Snow.
She's watching this story -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Bush traveled to Keystone College today to help out Congressman Don Sherwood. He's a four-term Republican incumbent in a race considered a tossup. Sherwood is not the sure winner he's been in the past after admitting to an affair with a woman half his age and settling a lawsuit she filed against him.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
REP. DON SHERWOOD (R-PA), HOUSE CANDIDATE: Please join me in welcoming back President George W. Bush.
M. SNOW (voice-over): Some campaigning Republicans may be distancing themselves from President Bush, but not Pennsylvania incumbent Congressman Don Sherwood. He's counting on him to bring out conservative voters in this Republican stronghold and tackle the kind of elephant the GOP can't afford on the campaign trail -- a sex scandal. Sherwood has admitted to a five-year extramarital affair.
SHERWOOD: I made a mistake. I had an affair.
M. SNOW: But it's not just the affair haunting Sherwood. He's also denied allegations of abuse, which Democratic challenger Chris Carney has highlighted in ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM
AMY MARCHO, SOUTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA: Don Sherwood's mistress made a 911 call alleging that he had choked her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. SNOW: Sherwood himself addressed abuse allegations in his own ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CAMPAIGN AD)
SHERWOOD: The allegation of abuse was never true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. SNOW: Democrat Carney had made family values an issue, as well as Sherwood's personal life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CAMPAIGN AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a Republican who supported Don Sherwood from the very beginning. He campaigned on family values and he didn't keep up to his promise. (END VIDEO CLIP)
M. SNOW: With President Bush's own approval ratings suffering, was he hesitant to campaign for Sherwood?
White House Spokesman Tony Snow.
T. SNOW: When a president goes and campaigns for candidates, he's there to help them and no, I don't think there's a down side.
M. SNOW: Some Republicans struggling to get reelected have viewed the president's approval ratings as a down side. But political observers say that rule doesn't apply in Congressman Sherwood's district.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: When you talk to Republicans, real strong conservative Republicans, they still back the president. So having President Bush come in to his district can only help Mr. Sherwood.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
M. SNOW: Sherwood also got some help recently from his wife Carol, who wrote an open letter defending her husband. Today, President Bush applauded her for that letter, calling her caring and courageous -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting.
Thank you, Mary.
And as we head into the crucial mid-term elections, stay up to date with the CNN Political Ticker. The daily news service on cnn.com gives you an inside view of the day's political stories. See for yourself. Go to cnn.com/ticker.
Coming up, should Iraq be divided along religious and ethnic lines?
It's an idea Senator Joe Biden proposed months ago. Now some Republicans are weighing the options.
Democratic Senator Joe Biden standing by. He joins us in THE SITUATION ROOM.
And Jack Cafferty wants to know how big of a problem is corruption on Capitol Hill. Jack with "The Cafferty File."
That's coming up, as well.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Our Zain Verjee is on assignment, traveling with the secretary of state. Let's check in with Fredricka Whitfield for a closer look at some other important stories making news -- hi, Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you, Wolf.
Updating a story we told you about let's hear, according to the Associated Press, Republican leaders in Orange County, California reportedly are calling for the withdrawal of GOP Congressional candidate Tan Nguyen. This comes after Nguyen acknowledged that his campaign sent a controversial letter to Hispanic immigrants without his approval. The letter incorrectly suggests that naturalized citizens could be jailed if they vote in next month's elections. Nguyen is challenging a leading Hispanic member of the House, Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.
CNN just spoke to Nguyen's campaign. They say they have no comment on the call for him to step down.
The former head of the New York Stock Exchange must pay back some of his $188 million compensation package. A spokesman for the New York attorney general's office says a judge will order Richard Grasso to return up to $100 million. The judge must decide the exact amount. An internal review by the Stock Exchange claimed the compensation package was excessive. Grasso says the Exchange's officers were aware of the amount when they approved it.
The U.N. General Assembly is still deadlocked over whether Guatemala or Venezuela will become the newest member of the U.N. Security Council. The General Assembly is voting again today. Guatemala has won all but one vote but it still does not have the two thirds majority of the U.N. General Assembly needed to win the seat -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks, Fred.
Fredricka Whitfield reporting.
Coming up, new details on those reported threats to some football games this weekend. The FBI has now gotten to the bottom of the matter.
And is what's currently happening in Iraq similar to a major turning point in the Vietnam War?
I'll ask the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden, here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: You're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time.
Happening now, the White House flatly rejecting any idea of dividing Iraq and saying troop withdrawals are not under consideration. I'll talk about that and more with Senator Joe Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. We'll get his reaction.
Also, new developments in that Internet threat warning of radiological dirty bombs at the NFL stadiums this weekend. The FBI and the Homeland Security Department now saying that was a hoax. They've talked to a 20-year-old Milwaukee man they believe was involved. No word yet on whether he will be charged.
And Israel reportedly issuing a stern warning to Iran about its nuclear program. The Associated Press quoting the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, as saying Iran would have to pay a heavy price if it doesn't back down from its nuclear ambitions, adding, "Iranians would have to be afraid of the consequences."
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is in South Korea. The second stop on an urgent Asian tour, prompted by North Korea's nuclear test. Our Zain Verjee is the only television correspondent traveling with the secretary. Zain has the latest from Seoul. Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's her second stop through Asia. And for the secretary of state, it's a challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (voice-over): Walking the line. Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Seoul, offers words of reassurance to South Korea, but says sanctions against the North must be enforced.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: To keep North Korea from trafficking in nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons technologies, financing their programs, receiving support for those programs.
VERJEE: Secretary Rice says Washington is willing to talk to North Korea if it returns to six-party talks.
RICE: We want to leave open the path of negotiation. We don't want the crisis to escalate.
VERJEE: Secretary Rice says she's hoping that a senior Chinese official who went to Pyongyang would prod North Korea back to the table. Publicly, South Korea's foreign minister says his country will implement U.N. measures.
BAN KI MOON, SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We fully support and welcome the U.N. Security Council resolution.
MIKE CHINOY, ASIA PACIFIC COUNCIL: It makes no sense.
VERJEE: Some regional analysts have their doubts.
CHINOY: So I think the South Koreans will make requisite noises about supporting the U.N. move, but in practice they're not prepared to squeeze the North Koreans that hard.
VERJEE: In case a humanitarian crisis spills over the border.
Seoul's policy for years has been to engage the north. So, just across the DMZ in North Korea, a tourism project has been set up that brings North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars. There's also a special economic zone where South Korean factories use cheap North Korean labor to make clothes and kitchen utensils.
CHINOY: There's no indication that the South Koreans are going to abandon those projects.
VERJEE: U.S. officials are suspicious North Korea may be diverting the hard cash it gets to build bombs.
They say the South should be less worried about regime implosion and more worried about a nuclear North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (on camera): Secretary Rice goes from Seoul to Beijing, the most important stop on her trip. China is being seen as the key player and the only one that can diffuse the crisis, twist North Korea's arm and bring it back to the table. Wolf?
BLITZER: Zain Verjee reporting for us from Seoul, South Korea.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And as the secretary of state travels across the Asian region, many lawmakers back here in the United States are debating the best way forward in this nuclear crisis.
And joining us now, Senator Joe Biden, he is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, do you have confidence in the way the president of the United States is handling this crisis with North Korea right now?
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) DE: I think Condi being in the region is a good idea. I don't have confidence that they've made the choice that has to be made. It is either going to have to be regime change and they stick with that or conduct change. I don't think you can get the change in conduct while insisting on regime change.
BLITZER: The president is warning of grave, quote, "grave consequences" if the North Koreans were to transfer some of that nuclear technology to a third party, especially a terrorist group. Undefined what grave consequences would mean. What should it mean?
BIDEN: I think it should mean if they were to that and it was used against us, we would attack them, we would retaliate against North Korea.
BLITZER: With all the might and force of the United States, including nuclear weapons?
BIDEN: With all the might and force of the United States. If, in fact, it was a nuclear weapon used against us, I would not rule anything off the table. They should understand a transfer of deadly weapons, weapons of mass destruction to a third party, traceable to them, they are responsible, as if they used it.
BLITZER: All right. Let's talk about Iraq. The president insisting that those Democrats who want to cut and run, in his words, who want to pull out with a date certain, that's the equivalent of surrender. Listen to this exchange he had with George Stephanopoulos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: I can name a Democrat who said there should be a date certain to which from withdrawal from Iraq whether or not we've achieved a victory or not.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: That's surrender?
BUSH: Yeah, it is, if you pull troops out before the job is done. Absolutely, George.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. Do you want to respond to what the president charged?
BIDEN: Yes. I don't know any Democrat that set a date certain. All I know is you have President -- Vice President Cheney is saying where things are going remarkably well. These guys need a very credible dose of reality. Even the general in charge, General Caldwell, the spokesperson in Iraq, has just acknowledged that the operation to shut down Baghdad and bring order is not working. They have no plan, Wolf. What we need is a change in the plan. Everyone from John Warner to Joe Biden, Democrat, Republican and independent is saying, Mr. President, get a grip here.
BLITZER: You had said this recently on your Web site, planforiraq.com. You said, "Sectarian violence among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds is now the major impediment to stability and progress in Iraq, no number of troops can solve that problem."
Because some are suggesting, like John McCain, and others, that the U.S. should have sent a lot more troops into Iraq and maybe that could have gotten the job done. Are you saying right now that it's too late for a major increase of forces, that that would have an impact?
BIDEN: Yes, I am saying it's too late. You may recall, I was the first person to call for major increases in troops in Iraq four years ago and John McCain maybe on your program said I was sounding hysterical. If we had done it right in the beginning, we wouldn't be here. But we are here now. It's a civil war. All the king's horses and all the king's men will not hold Iraq together. You need a political settlement and have to get the parties to buy in. You must give the Sunnis a piece of the oil and you must allow the federation system that they're working on in their parliament to become a reality and you must keep neighboring countries out. That requires a political solution, not a military one. BLITZER: The White House press secretary, Tony Snow, said today any suggestion of dividing up Iraq into autonomous regions, three regions, for example, along the lines of Sunni, Shia and Kurd, in his words, would be a non-starter as far as President Bush is concerned.
You and Les Gelb, the former president of the Council on Foreign Relations have suggested creating some autonomous zones, three zones specifically in Iraq. Do you want to defend your stance in the face of this White House rejection?
BIDEN: Yes, I will. Tony should read the Iraqi constitution and look what the Iraqis just did. The Iraqis, in their parliament, just passed what Les and I have been calling for, a mechanism in which their constitution allows any three of their government provinces to have not autonomy separate, they're still a strong central government, but have the kind of flexibility states that the united states have own state police, their own laws relating to marriage, their own laws relating to property, the very things that are causing them to kill one another.
I have never called for the division of Iraq. Ask Tony to read what the parliament in Iraq just did. They voted to set into motion a means by which they could implement the provisions of the constitution of Iraq to allow any three provinces to decide to join together and form a region not independent of a strong government, but semi autonomous in the sense that the states are semi-autonomous. That's all we're calling for, not a division of Iraq.
BLITZER: Are we seeing as Tom Friedman wrote in the "New York Times" this week possibly the Iraqi equivalent right now of a Tet Offensive designed to try to push the U.S. out of Iraq?
BIDEN: Well, I think it may have that effect. But I think Tom is giving these folks too much credit. This is a civil war that is erupting. It is a fact that the Sunnis are going after the Shia, Shia after the Sunnis, they are even going after the Kurds in the north up in Kirkuk and other places. This is an out of control situation without a central government that has the capacity to, in fact, bring about a political solution.
Look what Maliki is just doing, the prime minister. He insisted, he put pressure on the United States military to give up the number two man that Sadr has been using, who we think is a terrorist. He has insisted he is not going to do anything to disarm the militia. The Mahdi army until some time next year. And they are the people shooting and killing Americans.
BLITZER: We have to unfortunately, we have to leave it there, Senator Biden. Thanks very much for joining us.
BIDEN: Thank you. Thank you very much, Wolf.
Still to come, a Florida man in critical condition right now after a stingray attack very similar to the one that killed the Crocodile Hunter. We'll have the latest for you on this story. Also, politics and the Internet. We're going to show you how the Web may influence future elections. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: When Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed in a stingray attack last month, experts call it an extremely rare incident. Guess what, it's happened again. This time, in Florida. Let's bring back CNN's Fredricka Whitfield. She's got some details. Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Wolf, just like Steve Irwin, this victim was also stung in the chest. And while he survived the attack, he is being hospitalized.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BERTAKIS, VICTIM'S RELATIVE: It still doesn't seem real. I mean, we're here, hoping and praying for the best. And that's all we can do right now.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): This is the man they're praying for. Eighty-two-year-old James Bertakis of South Florida, he was boating with family on the Intercoastal Waterway yesterday when the unthinkable happened.
J. BERTAKIS: The girl on the boat said they were looking at homes on the Intercoastal and she heard him scream. She looked over, it was in his lap, just jumped in the boat and was trying to get out of his lap. That's when he was getting lacerated and stuck.
WHITFIELD: This is the stingray that attacked Bertakis, leaving its foot-long barb stuck in his chest. Doctors say initially, it broke off near his heart, but his movement and breathing eventually pushed the barb into the muscle itself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The barb entered him through the back of the left ventricle.
WHITFIELD: In an extremely delicate operation, surgeons pulled the barb through the heart, closing the wound left behind.
STEVE IRWIN, DIED IN STINGRAY ATTACK: G'day. And welcome to Australia Zoo. Let's go!
WHITFIELD: It was just six weeks ago that Australia's Crocodile Hunter, wildlife expert Steve Irwin was killed in a similar attack while diving on Great Barrier Reef. But Irwin's heart was directly hit by the barb. Videotape of his last moments reportedly shows him pulling it from his chest.
Despite the latest attack, experts say such incidents are extraordinarily rare. A fact not lost on relatives of James Bertakis.
CHRIS BERTAKIS, VICTIM'S SON: Stunned and disbelief. I just didn't think that could happen. I've never heard of that happening, ever, until last month. And to hear it happened again, to our father, it was shocking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (on camera): And doctors say Bertakis is in critical but stable condition. And that barring any complications, he is expected to survive, Wolf.
BLITZER: Let's wish him a speedy recovery.
WHITFIELD: Close call.
BLITZER: Thank you very much for that.
Up ahead, Jack Cafferty wants to know how big of a problem you think corruption is on Capitol Hill. He's buried under an avalanche of your e-mail. But he'll dig himself out in time to read a few of them, that's coming up next.
Also ahead, the role the Internet is playing in educating or perhaps misleading potential voters in elections. It's a peek into the future here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's check in with Lou Dobbs to see what's coming up right at top of the hour. Lou?
LOU DOBBS, CNN HOST: Wolf, thank you. Coming up at 6:00 pm Eastern here on CNN, tonight we're reporting on the sentencing of two U.S. Border Patrol agents, accused of shooting a smuggler, a smuggler given immunity by the federal government and allowed to walk free. Those agents facing up to 20 years in jail. What's happening with our justice system? We'll have that live report from El Paso tonight.
Also, the shocking truth about e-voting machines. It's even easier to hack into those machines than anyone thought. We'll show you how easy it is tonight in our special report, "Democracy at Risk."
And the war on the middle class escalating. Big corporations handing out huge pay increases to their executives, pink slips to their middle class employees. We'll have that special report and a great deal more at the top of the hour. We hope you'll be with us. Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Lou. We'll be watching.
Let's check in with Jack Cafferty. He is standing by the "Cafferty File." Jack?
CAFFERTY: Wolf, a new poll show that is half of Americans say most members of Congress are corrupt. Half of Americans think most members of Congress are corrupt.
What the hell are we becoming here? How big of a problem is corruption on Capitol Hill is the question. Got a lot of mail.
Gary in West Chester, PA. "Jack, I teach political science to 12th grade students." That would be high school. "How big a problem is it? They, the students, are at the point where they expect to read about corruption. It no longer fazes them. They have little or no faith in members of Congress and often times find them irrelevant.
Sal writes from New Orleans, "How corrupt is our Congress? Well, my own representative is William "Frozen Money" Jefferson. And he's running with the backing of important figures of Louisiana politics. If I were to measure the corruption of this Congress by my own personal experience, then this Congress is a big, big mess."
Peggy in Centralia, Illinois, "Jack, I've always said if politicians are honest when they get elected, give them six months and they'll be as crooked as the rest of the snakes in the barrel. If they don't join the rest in the corruption, they won't survive. I don't know how we can get the mess cleaned up as long as we have the lobbyists waving cold cash under their noses and our voters turning their heads or not voting."
Joe in Tennessee. "Jack, corruption is not a problem on Capitol Hill. They have it perfected."
And Barry in Laurel, Indiana. "I'm the congressional candidate for the Democratic Party in Indiana sixth district and our campaign is going to be watching your special tonight. There is too much big money politics. We're trying to prove it can be done another way. We'll be watching with interest as we, too, believe our government is broken and we want to be part of the solution."
That special airs at 7:00 Eastern Time. Wolf, we'll look at our broken government for 60 minutes on CNN. And see if we can figure out what to do about it. We invite your e-mails, your I Reports and hope you'll be watching.
BLITZER: We certainly will. Let's walk through a little bit of what you're planning on doing. Give our viewers a little flavor of how this special that airs in one hour, Jack, how it is going to unfold.
CAFFERTY: Basically we'll look at four areas, the presidency, which according to all the public opinion polls is not running at all like it should. Upwards of 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the job that President Bush is doing. A lot of that relates to the war in Iraq, which was pretty much his idea.
But Congress, which is just a waste of time and money from where I sit. They haven't passed any meaningful legislation this past session, they are being dubbed one of the most corrupt congresses in our history. They found time to meet on a Sunday night to vote on Terry Schiavo and they debated constitutional amendments on garbage like gay marriage and flag burning, not that those issues are necessarily garbage, but they don't require constitutional amendments. They had no chance of passing, but they took our time, the taxpayer's time to do that instead of looking at Social Security, or what to do about Iraq or any one of a number of issues.
The immigration problem, as Lou Dobbs reports every night and we allude to periodically here is a joke. There is no border security. We have 12 million illegal aliens in the country, 1 million more coming in every year, it's estimated. The drug cartels control a lot of the border areas. We're doing nothing about enforcement.
And now it's been revealed that Hezbollah are inside the country and more are arriving, I guess, all the time. Nobody knows for sure. And then of course these e-voting machines. Princeton University which is a collection - I mean, there's some pretty bright folks there, say these things can be hacked into in a matter of minutes by somebody who knows what they're doing. The results can be tampered with and nobody is the wiser. Of course, there are big clouds of suspicion over the last election in 2004, what happened in Ohio or may have happened.
So, there's a lot to chew on. We'll be reading e-mails and talking to some of our best reporters. Candy Crowley will be on the show, Suzanne Malveaux, Joe Johns. So it's going to be action packed as my friend, Marv Albert, used to say.
BLITZER: But here's the question. Are you going to tell our viewers, Jack, how you really feel, how Jack Cafferty really feels about these issues?
CAFFERTY: I try to keep it right in the middle of the road, Wolf, just be objective.
BLITZER: That's what they want to hear, Jack. We're going to be watching. Jack has a special on broken government that will air in one hour right here on CNN. You're going to want to see this.
Up next, 63 million Americans turning to the Internet for political news and information. How will it impact future elections? We're going to show you in our welcome to the future report. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More Americans than ever are online and a growing number of them are turning to the Internet for news and information about politics, a trend that is going to impact future elections and the way we vote. CNN's Miles O'Brien is here with our "Welcome to the Future" report. Miles?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, 60 million Americans say the Internet helped them make decisions in their lives in the past two years. But when it comes to politics, how much will the Web effect what we hear, what we see and how we vote?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Henry Ferrell of George Washington University says personal Web sites known as Weblogs or blogs will continue changing the political landscape. HENRY FERRELL, GWU: Blogs are becoming more and more a way in which ordinary people can communicate, can express their political opinions, can engage in certain kind of political action and can have real consequences as a result.
O'BRIEN: It was chatter on the so-called blogosphere that ultimately led to Trent Lott's resignation as Senate majority leader and Howard Dean effectively used the Internet to raise interest and money, making him a viable contender for the 2004 Democratic presidential run. In the future, Ferrell says while its role is ever changing, the Internet is sure to remain a political force.
FERRELL: The future impact of the Internet on politics is enormous. Politics is going to become much more unpredictable than it has been in the past. Much more difficult to control. A lot more interesting. A lot more lively.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (on camera): Ferrell also says we'll see politicians rely more and more on so-called targeted databases. The technique uses a combination of voters' e-mail addresses and detailed information about their interests to identify potential supporters. Wolf?
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Miles, for that. The Iranian government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has placed limits on what its citizens can read, write, teach and watch. But is Iran now cracking down on free speech by banning high speed Internet access in the country.
Let's bring in our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner. Jackie?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Iran's state-run news agency reported last week that government officials issued a measure that would slow down Internet speeds and CNN's international desk has confirmed with Pars Online, Iran's largest Internet service provider that it did get a letter from the government saying that individuals and Internet cafes are not allowed to have speeds that are faster than 128 kilobytes per second, that is faster than dial up connection, but a fraction of the high speeds we're used to here in the United States.
Critics of the government's measure say this is one more step toward Iranian government censorship, that it will limit access to Western media, things like audio and video online. But Reporters without Borders, which monitors press freedom internationally says they are skeptical of this assertion. They say that Iran already monitors plenty of Internet content and censors plenty of it and cutting speeds seems an odd choice as a way to deter anybody from disagreeing with them.
At the same time all of this is happening, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to use the Internet to communicate, updating his blog. In his latest post, it just went up this week, he talks about online communication and the importance of that. Wolf?
BLITZER: Jacki Schechner reporting for us. Jacki, thanks very much.
And remember, we're here in THE SITUATION ROOM weekday afternoons from 4:00 to 6:00 pm Eastern. Won't be back in one hour. That's because Jack Cafferty has a special report coming up 7:00 p.m. Eastern on the broken government. He is going to be talking about that. You are going to want to see that one hour from now right after Lou Dobbs. Lou is standing by for that. Lou?
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