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Firefight in Baghdad; Democrats Could Challenge Bush Plan for Troops Surge; U.S. Gunships Target al Qaeda in Somalia

Aired January 09, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Firefight in Baghdad. U.S. forces join Iraqis battling insurgents in the heart of the Iraqi capital.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Air strikes in Somalia. The U.S. seeks out suspected al Qaeda operatives in the restive country.

CLANCY: Mansions on fire. Houses of the very rich and famous caught in a fast-moving California blaze.

GORANI: And children raising children. AIDS forces South African teenagers to fill the role left empty by their parents.

CLANCY: It is 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad and in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Hello and welcome, everyone, to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

From Malibu, to Johannesburg, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: Attacking from the air in Africa. Battling street to street in Baghdad. The U.S. military striking at insurgents and terror suspects in two trouble spots today.

GORANI: The Iraqi capital saw some of the fiercest fighting in months as troops went after Sunni insurgents, while in Somalia, suspected al Qaeda militants were the target.

CLANCY: All of this coming as U.S. Democratic congressional leaders trying to consider using purse strings to set limits for President Bush's expected troop escalation in Iraq.

GORANI: We're covering all these angles with Michael Holmes in Baghdad; Dana Bash at the U.S. Capitol; and Barbara Starr in Nairobi, Kenya.

CLANCY: Well, let's start with Michael.

Michael, give us an idea of what happened in downtown Baghdad. How did the scene there, the battle develop? MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, the fighting actually began on Saturday. That's when Iraqi police went to retrieve 27 bodies that had been dumped in the area of Haifa Street, those bodies that we hear about every day, tortured, shot and dumped in the streets.

Those police came under fire as they collected the bodies, which is a daily event for them. They retreated, the Iraqi army went into the area, fighting flared again, and U.S. forces were then called in as backup. Eventually, 500 Iraqi troops, 400 U.S., were involved in combating what U.S. officers described as a force that used sophisticated tactics, attacking, retreating, regrouping, and attacking again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice over): U.S. jets screamed overhead. Apache strike helicopters fired missiles. All in the heart of Baghdad.

The battlefield was the Haifa Street area of the capital, the scene of previous battles with insurgents. But this was a torrid and bloody affair.

U.S. and Iraqi military officials said dozens of insurgents had been killed or wounded. Many others detained, including what were described as some foreign nationals. No reports yet on U.S. or Iraqi casualties.

Haifa Street is in predominantly Sunni district and home to Ba'athist loyalists. It's also one of the city's main arteries linking north and south. There have been numerous skirmishes in the area, summary executions, too. This battle took place two years ago.

U.S. officials told CNN this time the fighters were a combination of foreigners, former regime elements, and members of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The Iraqi government said the area had always been problematic. A spokesman said it contained what he called "dens of terror." He also said the fighting would continue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Operations will be thunderous and stealthy to stop groups in that area from threatening Baghdad's security. We must cleanse this area. The operations will continue until we cleanse the area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Jim, as darkness fell over Baghdad, that shooting died down. It hasn't ended completely. We're still hearing firing in the background from time to time. What dawn will be bring is uncertain, of course.

And just a late note. The Iraqi Islamic Party, which is a major Sunni political party here in Iraq, just put out a statement saying that 50 innocent civilians were killed, hundreds wounded today. They said that the dead, their bodies still lay in the street. Many of the wounded yet to be evacuated. Of course, coalition troops and Iraqi army troops say just the opposite. They say those who were killed were insurgents, some of them were foreigners. Some of them members of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Of course, it's still extremely dangerous out there on the streets, not one kilometer from where stand here. And what we're going to be very interested in seeing is what develops tomorrow -- Jim.

CLANCY: Is there any analysis at all what prompted the insurgents that were there to stand and front like this, to attack the government troops? Like you say, picking up bodies on on the street an everyday occurrence on Haifa Street and other places.

HOLMES: Yes, that's right. What -- what we have seen with the insurgency, though, is that there will be times when the insurgents will strike and run.

There are other times -- the U.S. military has said this to us on repeated occasions -- where they have seen determined forces that will stand and fight. We have seen it in Falluja and other places where they have been taken on.

But they said on this occasion, this wasn't a bunch of insurgents running around taking potshots. They said these guys were coordinated, there were snipers involved and in place in good positions. And this really turned into a very, very tough fight for the -- for the U.S. forces and the Iraqi soldiers.

They lost several people today, apparently. But those details and number of casualties on their side are yet to emerge -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Michael Holmes reporting there live from Baghdad -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, the American president's expected plan to send thousands more troops to Iraq could run into roadblock. Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress are considering using their power over spending to influence any decision to escalate the war.

Our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, joins us now with details.

Dana, are Democrats united in their reluctance to fund an increase in troop levels in Iraq?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all, Hala. In fact, as we speak, Senate Democrats, the leadership and key committee chairmen, are meeting behind closed doors trying to figure out exactly how to do just that, unite behind a way to express their displeasure with the president's plan.

It is -- almost all Democrats have now said that they oppose sending more troops to Iraq. But that would have been enough a few months ago, or even a few weeks ago, when Democrats didn't run Congress. But now they do. They control the agenda. So the big question is what they're going to do about it. And there is something, as you mentioned, that would have been unthinkable a short while ago that is under discussion, and that is trying to figure out a way to block funding for what Democrats call an escalation of the Iraq war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice over): Democrats opposed to sending more troops to Iraq are now openly considering using a controversial congressional tool, withholding funding for what they call an escalation of the war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the president wants more troops, might Congress consider not allowing the funding for that?

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: We'll take a look at everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Including that?

REID: We're going to take a look at it, of course.

BASH: That is a significant shift. Until now, cutting off any funding for troops has been the third rail of Iraq war politics. Even Democrats who want the U.S. out of Iraq now have drawn the line at withholding money for the mission for fear it would endanger troops and cause political backlash. But Democrats, now in control of Congress, are under intense pressure to use their new power and the power of the purse to stop the president from sending more troops to Iraq.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: My office is now investigating what tools are available to us to condition or constrain appropriations. But what I've also said is that I'm not willing to create a situation in which troops who are already in Iraq might be shortchanged. It creates a difficult situation for Democrats.

BASH: Difficult, indeed. The tension ripping through the new Congress about how to respond to the president's revised Iraq strategy is palpable.

The House speaker was more cautious, but promises the president's plan will be heavily scrutinized in oversight hearings across the Capitol.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Democrats will not cut off funding for our troops. What the president needs to know -- and that's what I was telling him yesterday -- is that congressional oversight is alive and well.

BASH: Republicans who support beefing up forces in Iraq warn Democrats are treading in dangerous territory.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The stakes are extremely high. Please, Congress, understand what you're proposing when you say cut off funding or capping troops. You're proposing defeat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And in about another hour, we are going to hear from another Democrat, a powerful Democrat here on Capitol Hill, with another idea of what to do. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is going to give a speech saying that he is going to introduce a bill saying it's time for Congress stop talking and act. And specifically, he will propose Congress say that there will be no additional troops, no additional dollars to go to Iraq, unless Congress specifically approves that first -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. And Dana, today the 100 hours, the self- imposed deadline that the Democrats set for themselves to achieve a very ambitious to-do list. It starts today.

What's first on the agenda?

BASH: Well, this 100 hours takes place solely on the House side, the House of Representatives. And the first thing on their agenda is to try to put in place some of the recommendations from the 9/11 Commission that were not enforced, were not yet in place legislatively under the Republican Congress.

So what we are going to see, the clock officially will start ticking in about an hour and a half, about 1:30. And they're going to put some legislation in place. For example, port security, talking about the fact that there needs to be a requirement on containers leaving the largest ports, air cargo requiring all air cargo to be inspected, and also to try to better address the whole idea of weapons of mass destruction, potentially, so-called loose nukes, of being in the hands of terrorists.

But interestingly, there is one thing that Congress is not addressing that the 9/11 Commission wanted them to address, and that is changing the way the Congress is run. One of the biggest criticisms was that Congress was not streamlined when it comes to oversight of intelligence, and Congress is not addressing that -- at least not yet -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Thanks very much.

Dana Bash reporting from Washington.

CLANCY: A volatile mix, Hala. Images of an execution and the Internet. A new video now from Saddam Hussein's final moments -- or his final end -- now published on the World Wide Web.

GORANI: Twenty-first century technology once again making headlines when it comes -- with it comes a fear of fresh anger of the handling of the former leader's hanging.

CLANCY: Now, we're showing only a portion of this video because it's just the kind of graphics not necessary.

What you would see after the sheet is pulled back is a gaping wound on Hussein's neck, along with bruising on his face. Not uncommon in a hanging scenario. In the background, though, you hear someone urging the cameraman to "take the picture quickly" and then leave.

GORANI: All right. The video was posted on a Ba'athist Web site with pro-Hussein views. CNN can't independently confirm its authenticity.

CLANCY: Now, of course that previous unauthorized video of the deposed president's hanging sparked outage among Hussein's supporters. Some have used it to portray him as a martyr.

GORANI: All right.

Well, elsewhere in Iraq, a cargo plane from Adana in southern Turkey crashed during an attempted landing. There was heavy fog at the Balad airstrip north of Baghdad. At least 30 people on board were killed.

CLANCY: Let's cross over now to another major developing story, Somalia. The Pentagon confirming now U.S. forces launched air attacks early Monday against suspected al Qaeda members holed up in the restive country, in the southern regions. There are reports of further strikes now coming on Tuesday.

The interim president says his government authorized and supports the U.S. strikes.

Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now. She's in Nairobi, Kenya.

Barbara, this would mark the first time these air strikes, the first time since, what, 1994, the U.S. became involved there?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: To the best of anyone's knowledge, Jim, that's right. Of course, it was early in 1994 when the U.S. pulled out of Somalia after the Black Hawk Down disaster in the fall of 1993.

Now, here in Kenya, tensions are high on Kenya's northern border with Somalia. The Kenyan military has been trying to seal that border off to keep al Qaeda suspects from fleeing further south here into Kenya, also to stop a potential refugee flow. The reports that had been mentioned of additional attacks, helicopter attacks, may well actually be Kenyan helicopters flying those border patrols, trying to keep that situation in check.

For its part, the United States military has assembled essentially an armada off the coast of Somalia. The aircraft carrier Eisenhower is now in place, has moved into place in the last 24 hours.

It's aircraft are available for strike missions or for conducting reconnaissance over Somalia as they continue to look for al Qaeda suspects. There are also four warships off the coast.

All of this in an effort to basically seal off southern Somalia. There have been five al Qaeda suspects that they have been trying to capture or kill that are of great concern to them.

Officials here in the region, especially U.S. officials, say even before the Islamic militia was basically thrown out of power, al Qaeda had been a growing concern in Somalia. Money and weapons had been flowing in all summer long while the Islamic Courts Union was in power. More training camps had sprung up.

It was a situation the U.S. had grown very concerned about. So when the Ethiopian military moved in a few weeks ago and pushed the Islamic militia out, the U.S. was very happy. Still, no one here in East Africa predicting the end of al Qaeda in this region -- Jim.

CLANCY: Barbara, it's very touchy subject, but at the same time, it's a reality, the battlefield. Is the U.S. considering -- will the U.S. put ground troops in there, Special Operations troops to go after al Qaeda?

STARR: Well, it -- let's take it from what we do know, first of all. Officials say it is extremely unlikely President Bush would put ground forces back into Somalia.

The Somalis are asking for U.S. troops. They want help in establishing security. And they want U.S. troops, they have told us, to come provide training for their security forces. But that could be pretty problematic at this point.

There may be training that the U.S. will do outside of Somalia somewhere here in Africa. As we have traveled around the region all week, the focus has been on getting an Africa peacekeeping force into Somalia.

Now, for the second part, U.S. Special Forces on the ground to try and hunt down these al Qaeda suspects, that is something the United States is not talking about but is entirely within the realm of possibility -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Barbara Starr reporting to us there live from Nairobi, Kenya. She continues to monitor the situation there along the Kenyan-Somali border. Very important developments.

GORANI: All right. A lot going on. And there is also developing news in the United States.

It's paradise by the sea, home to millionaires and movie stars.

CLANCY: But some residents of Malibu, California, homeless today after a fast-moving wildfire ripped through their area. The question now, what or who caused it?

GORANI: And in parts of Africa ravaged by AIDS, the man or woman of the house is now the child of the house.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GORANI: Well, it's southern California's home to the rich and famous. And some of them found themselves on the run from a fast- moving wildfire.

Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

That windswept fire destroyed four seaside mansions on Monday and damaged four others. Hundreds of firefighters were called in to contain the blaze, and many remain on watch to douse any hot spots with water.

Let's get more. We're joined by Thelma Gutierrez, who is in Malibu, there in front of what seems like what remains of a mansion there by the seafront.

Tell us what you're seeing and what's been going on in the last few hours, Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, I can tell you that we just confirmed that actress Suzanne Somers of the show "Three's Company," as you'll recall back in the '80s, she and her husband, Alan Hamill (ph), who's a producer, are one of four families who did lose their homes in yesterday's devastating fire.

You can take a look right behind me, Hala, and you can see the smoldering remains of two beachfront homes that sat right next to each other. We're talking about multi-story homes that were worth millions of dollars in one of the most desirable spots right here in Malibu, just steps away from the beach.

Now, this fire started yesterday about 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time behind a nearby baseball diamond. The winds were gusting at about 55 miles an hour.

It pushed the flames right down the hillside. And within just 20 minutes, four homes were completely burned to the ground. Four others were seriously damaged.

Now, there were 300 firefighters, 40 different engines, and also a Black Hawk helicopter that were deployed to this area. But all of that fire power was just not enough to stand in front and to protect these homes.

Now, firefighters say that the wall of flames literally made a tunnel right over the road. And then it leapt over the road and ignited the trees on this side where the homes are.

Within minutes, the homes were engulfed in flames. And here, just right here, you can see that there was a Mercedes that was parked right out in front of one of the homes. We're told that the residents were in Australia at the time. They were out of the country. They're just coming home today to this very bad news.

Take a look at what happened to the Mercedes. It was literally burned to the ground, the engine in ashes today. Again, arson investigators are out here. They're taking a look at what might have caused this devastating fire. So far, though, no word. And that investigation continues -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Thanks very much.

Thelma Gutierrez, live in Malibu.

Interesting that there are arson investigators as well.

All right. We'll have more on this as soon as we are able to gather more details on exactly what sparked all of this.

Jim, back to you.

CLANCY: All right. Thank you very much for that, Hala.

We'll have a check of the latest financial news coming up a little bit later.

And also, the very latest in electronic gadgetry on display in Las Vegas right now. We're going to check out all the new gizmos.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. But first, a check on stories making headlines in the United States.

Getting ready for a countdown. House Democrats aim to pass six major pieces of legislation in 100 hours. First up, the bill to implement recommendations from the 9/11 Commission.

A couple caveats to that 100-hour pledge, though. The Democrats will run the clock only when debating on or voting on legislation. And whatever passes, the House must still get through to the slower- moving Senate.

We'll let you know about all of the action on the bills when it happens. Stick with CNN for complete coverage of the first 100 hours.

At least two students are injured following a shooting outside a Las Vegas school. It happened in the parking lot on Western High, reportedly after an argument at a convenience store.

Police say a man followed the students to school, shot them and ran off. The students were taken to a medical center. Their injuries said not to be life-threatening. Police say the shooting was not school or gang-related.

President Bush behind closed doors today. He is hammering out final details of his new plan for Iraq. Sources tell us he wants to send at least 20,000 more U.S. troops to the region, even before he unveils the details in his primetime address. Some Democrats are vowing to challenge that surge.

CNN will have extensive primetime coverage tomorrow, before and after the president's address to the nation. Join us tomorrow, beginning at 7:00 Eastern.

Tackling violent crime in New Orleans. At least nine killings in the city so far this year. And community leaders are calling for action. Recommendations from Mayor Ray Nagin expected as early as today. Among them could be a call for a citywide curfew and more surveillance cameras.

Just a short time ago, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu offered her own call for emergency action from the federal government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: I urge the president and the Department of Justice to make an emergency grant to the city under the Emergency Cops Program, something that was done for New York in a similar fashion. About $60 million over two years was added to the city's budget to step up their police, specifically after 9/11. We are asking for a similar program to be instituted immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Mystery in Austin. What killed more than 60 birds? Ten city blocks reopened after hours of being shut down.

City leaders still aren't sure what happened, but they stress there is no health risk to people. Preliminary tests for harmful chemicals and pesticides came back negative. More tests are under way on the birds. Those results might not be in, though, for several days.

Oceanfront property obliterated. Take a look at these pictures.

A massive fast-moving wildfire whipped through Malibu. Four multimillion-dollar mansions destroyed. Another four badly damaged. Investigators have moved in looking for a cause. One fire official says he believes the fire started in a state park just up the hill from the exclusive Malibu neighborhood.

Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center now with more on this and what's happening in the rest of the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Waiting to hear what the president's plans are for Iraq, not the senior senator from Massachusetts. Today at 1:00 Eastern, Senator Ted Kennedy voicing his strong opposition to boosting troop levels.

We'll bring it to you live in the NEWSROOM.

Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Heidi Collins.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

GORANI: The U.S. military is exploring new options in its war in Iraq. And we're going to hear from the U.S. president, of course, tomorrow, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Jamie McIntyre reports on what they hope are the keys to success for finally stabilizing Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Operation Together Forward, the joint U.S./Iraqi plan to take back Baghdad, was highly touted when it was announced last summer. But within just a few months, it was an acknowledged failure.

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: Operation Together Forward has made a difference in the focus areas. But has not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction the levels of violence.

MCINTYRE: Despite committing close to 10,000 additional U.S. troops, including a Stryker Brigade, moved to Baghdad instead of being sent home, violence in the Iraqi capital only got worse.

In retrospect, U.S. commanders said that the flaws in the Together Forward plan were glaringly obvious -- too few Iraqi troops to keep the peace after U.S. forces did the heavy lifting. And too much focus on the Sunni insurgents while ignoring Shia death squads.

The top ground commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, told reporters in Baghdad, we overestimated the availability of Iraqi security forces initially, so we were able to clear areas, but we were not able to hold the areas.

Odierno says this time, the U.S. will have a more balanced approach, going after both Sunni and Shia extremists. And U.S. troops will stay to protect people.

Frederick Kagan is one of the outside advisers President Bush is listening to.

FRED KAGAN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INST.: We're talking about a longer term operation, where we stay in the neighborhood that we cleared, partnered with Iraqi units. It's a very different concept from what went on in Together Forward.

MCINTYRE: Pentagon forces say the Army is anticipating an initial increase, or plus-up, as the Pentagon is calling it, of three brigades, roughly 10,000 soldiers, including perhaps a brigade of the 82nd Airbone Division, which was just arrived in Kuwait. In addition, sources say, a Marine regiment will likely have its tour extended in neighboring Anbar province, while another fresh regiment is sent in, adding about 4,000 troops there. Two additional Army brigades would be in reserve either in Kuwait or in the U.S.

The key to success, argue backers of the plus-up, is staying, and coupling military might with real improvement of daily life of average Iraqis.

KAGAN: A jobs program here is definitely important. Getting the Iraqi economy going forward, definitely important. Showing the Iraqis that we're actually going to do more than just kick down doors and kill bad guys, very, very important.

MCINTYRE: That's doctrine straight out of the Army's new counterinsurgency manual, which was rewritten under the supervision of Lieutenant General David Petraeus, the commander just tapped to take over in Iraq. Petraeus won wide praise for how he employed those tactics back in 2003, when he was the division commander in charge of Mosul in the more peaceful north.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATL. SECURITY ADVISER: He was very good at engaging local tribal leaders, using small amounts of funds to stimulate business and create jobs, and keeping relative calm in Mosul during his time there.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Pentagon sources say the additional troops could begin moving into Baghdad within a week of the president's announcement of a new strategy. And what no one can say is how soon they might come out.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: U.S. Democratic senator and fierce war critic Edward Kennedy introduced some legislation that would require congressional approval for any troop increase. Democrats were sent to Washington on a campaign promise to change the course in Iraq. Now they're looking at a troop surge.

CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us now from Washington.

What can a Congress really do? And does that make Kennedy's suggestion any more palpable?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Well, the reason Kennedy is suggesting this measure is that there is not a lot Congress really has the power to do. The president is commander in chief. Congress authorized him to use force back in 2002, and he's used that authorization to go forward, just as Lyndon Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in the 1960s to go forward with Vietnam.

Congress can hold hearings. They intend to do that, and the Democrats are arguing that under the Republicans Congress didn't exercise its oversight responsibility. There's a debate over whether they can cut off funding not for the troops that are already there -- Democrats say they wouldn't do that -- but for any troops that -- additional troops that the president may send if he proposes a buildup.

Essential what Kennedy is saying, is he wants to treat the buildup as a new war, and require a vote of Congress to authorize it, and therefore allocate the money.

CLANCY: Bill, up on Capitol Hill, it appears that Democrats and Republicans are getting used to a new role here after the election with the Democrats in charge of the Congress. They're dancing together, but some toes are about to get stepped on.

Let's listen to what Tony Snow had to say. He was addressing the Democrats a short time ago in a White House briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Democrats are going the have to make a choice here, and they're going to have to decide where they stand in terms of two issues. No. 1, do you want Iraq to succeed? And if so, what does that mean. And No. 2, do you believe in supporting the troops as you say? And how do you express those (INAUDIBLE). Those are questions that will be answered in the process of public debate, and also in a lot of other considerations. So we'll just have to see how it plays out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: All right. You know, listening to that, you know, if you don't support the troops, if you don't success in Iraq, sounds like some stepped-on toes already.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, the Republican administration is clearly trying to throw the Democrats in Congress on the defensive. But the problem is, Americans already believe that the war is not succeeding. The Bush White House is trying to say that the Democrats are defeatists, that they don't want to win.

But the Democrats counter-argument is, look, we're not winning now, and it's unlikely that we can win for one simple reason -- whether or not we win, a lot of Republicans have said that, depends on what the Iraqi government does, Mr. Maliki. Well, Democratic critics say, first of all, by siding with him and backing his government, we're taking sides in a civil war. And second of all, should the failure or success of the United States be tied to what that government does and what they're capable of doing, and whether they can reach political reconciliation. That's something that Americans will be very uncomfortable with.

CLANCY: Very uncomfortable. The hands of -- the future of all of this perhaps lying with the Iraqi government.

Bill Schneider, as always, great talking with you, share your perspective there of what's going on on Capitol Hill, more importantly what it all means for us. We're going to have live coverage, of course, of Mr. Bush's address, announcing his new Iraq strategy Thursday at 0100 hours Greenwich Mean Time right here on CNN.

GORANI: OK, let's check some other stories making news around the world this hour.

CLANCY; And we begin with an update on a soldier at the center of dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. A Palestinian militant group that captured the Israeli soldier last summer says the serviceman is in good health.

Gilad Shalit's abduction last June, triggered a five-month Israeli offensive in Gaza. A spokesman for the Palestinian Resistance Committee says Shalit will not released until Israel releases more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

GORANI: Also in the headlines, a volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat has shot a plume of ash towering into the sky. You see the picture there, forcing dozens of people to evacuate. Authorities say the majority of the island's 5,000 residents are not in any danger. Well the hills, some hills were destroyed by the volcano, the capital of Montserrat itself back in 1997.

CLANCY: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says his nation is moving towards socialism and in his words, nothing and no one can prevent it. Mr. Chavez is going to be sworn in for a third six-year term Wednesday. He's pledged to nationalize the telecommunications and utility companies.

GORANI: Well, the scourge of HIV and AIDS has broken homes and devastated families across the world and in South Africa.

CLANCY: Children orphaned by the epidemic often have to assume control of the household. And just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to introduce you to one young mother forced to care for her five siblings. You'll want to watch this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: All right. We're broadcast all over the world with the top stories of the hour. Thank you for watching. And we start with this, this segment.

Sudan's war torn region of Darfur, where U.S. political leader Bill Richardson is trying to broker a cease-fire. A tall order. The New Mexico governor is calling on rebel leaders to hold talks with the government and agree to halt fire for 60 days.

Well Richardson met with the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir Monday in Kartoon (ph). The Sudanese government signed a peace agreement with some rebels last May in Nigeria. But most rebel fraction leaders rejected that deal. More than 200,000 people have been killed in the four-year conflict in Darfur. CLANCY: And it's really true all across the continent, AIDS has ravaged communities. In South Africa alone, the pandemic has orphaned more than a million children.

GORANI: Well, to fill the roles left empty by their parents, children are forced now to raise other children.

CLANCY: Jeff Koinange gives us a look at a teenager with a responsibilities of running a household.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 17-year- old Busi Diadlu is a single mother of one. And like any young mother struggles with new challenges of caring for her 7 month-old son.

It's always meal time here in her small shack. It's when little mouths are hungry that Busi feels the weight of the crisis that surrounds her. She's a surrogate mother of five orphaned siblings.

Their mother died of AIDS more than a year ago. Leaving a heavily pregnant Busi in charge of a household of hungry mouths ranging in age from one to 15.

Her own child was born a month after her mother died. The family live in this house, owned by their grandmother in Soweto, a sprawling ghetto in Johannesburg.

BUSI DIADLU, CHILD HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD: It's too hard for me. I don't want to lie. It's too hard. It's too hard. (INAUDIBLE) another thing that I wish that I could get.

KOINANGE: Busi has had to drop out of school to assume her new role. She doesn't have a job and often finds herself at the receiving end at some very demanding challenges. In a word, she's a child raising children.

DIADLU: I used to cry every day. I used to cry. Asking why. Why must this happen to me? So hard. It's so hard. (INAUDIBLE) because they cry. The hardest thing, when I could come in the morning, wake up the children come to me. They say, we're hungry. Oh. I don't have the money.

KOINANGE: No money for food, clothes, or even medicine. Two of the children are HIV positive. Seven-year-old Nalissaway (ph) and three-year-old Tulani (ph).

Busi's heavy load means she often has to delegate some of the household chores. 13-year-old Infanufuti (ph) finds himself changing diapers, an alien concept for teenagers anywhere.

But as difficult as things may look, there does seem to be a ray of hope. In the form of Hope Worldwide -- A U.S.-based NGO.

Hope Worldwide provides monthly food rations to child-headed households in Soweto, as well as counseling and supervision. Doctor Mark Ottenweller is the Hope's pointman in South Africa. He's been working here for more than a dozen years and admits he sometimes feels weighed down by the growing number of children raising children.

MARK OTTENWELLER, HOPE WORLDWIDE: We're really overwhelmed by the issue of child-headed households and the needs of orphans. Right now, in South Africa, there are about five, five and a half million people that are living with HIV. We have over a million orphans due to HIV. By 2010, we may have two and a half to three million orphans. Probably one-fifth of those will be child-headed households.

KOINANGE: Ottenweller says at the end on of the day, organizations like Hope Worldwide can only do so much. And that the various communities ravaged by AIDS have to chip in to help save the children.

OTTENWELLER: Every child needs parental supervision and nurturing and support as they get older. And that's the biggest need is to provide as much as that as we can.

KOINANGE: Before that happens, Busi and many like her seem destined for a life of misery and misfortune. As AIDS continues to wreak havoc here, reducing once-thriving families into broken down households headed by children.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Soweto.

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CLANCY: In the dog eat dog world of entertainment, who's the top dog? Well, there's Lassie, Benji, Beethoven and Old Yeller, of course, but maybe the most endearing pooch to ever come from Hollywood is of the animated variety, Scooby-Doo.

His creator, Iwao Takamoto, died Monday at age 81. Takamoto created several cartoon canines, but Scooby stayed front and center for decades. He said he got the idea after meeting a Great Dane breeder, and the name from Frank Sinatra's final phrase in "Strangers in the Night."

GORANI: All right. I was a big fan of Scooby-Doo as a kid.

After the raging success of the iPod, Apple has just announced what could be the next big thing. The buzz of anticipation around Apple's 2007 Mac World Conference and Expo is growing, as is the hype over Apple boss Steve Jobs' keynote speech.

It media reports are correct, Apple will unveil its hugely anticipated foray into the mobile phone market later this Tuesday, and in fact, in the last few moments, it has unveiled the iPod phone. Dubbed the iPhone, it's expected to be as popular as the iPod, according to some experts.

And according to reports, Jobs could announce that Apple has signed The Beatles' songs for iTunes. It would end decades of acrimony between the two powerhouses. CLANCY: That was over the whole deal they had over Apple Records and Apple Computers and Jobs wasn't supposed to get into the music business.

GORANI: No.

CLANCY: Another story.

GORANI: And it's just that we're going to be following the Apple iPhone because I think this is something that could, you know, find a market there. Instead of two devices, just carry one.

CLANCY: Oh, yes, but they already have -- I mean, with MP3s, lots of cell phones play gigabytes of them. Anyway, across to Las Vegas...

GORANI: I'm not going to compete with you in that department, because his knowledge of any technology...

CLANCY: Gizmo and toys are my speciality.

GORANI: Yes, exactly.

CLANCY: There's another major technology conference underway.

GORANI: The Annual Consumer Electronics Show got going on Monday.

CLANCY: And this year there's that emphasis on revolutionizing your home with a dose of the wireless living, Hala.

GORANI: And Renay San Miguel untangles some of the products on offer for the switched-on consumer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Renay San Miguel at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

If you're tired of all those wires behind your media center as you try to plug in your DVD and maybe your computer as well as your stereo and your TV, we've got a fix for you -- wireless technology, the latest in wireless devices. Joining us now, Brian Cooley with CNET.

Thanks for being here.

BRIAN COOLEY, CNET: Sure, Renay.

MIGUEL: Let's start off with this product right here. What's that?

COOLEY: This whole system here is from a company Neosonik, a start-up in San Francisco. This box connects to all of your home AV gear, your DVD player and all of that. It will then beam out high- definition video through little this device right here, but also pure digital audio into a speaker like this that is set up to receive it. Get rid of all the wires.

MIGUEL: And wirelessly and the sound quality is good on all of this.

COOLEY: It's better than analog, 100 percent digital, and as I mentioned, high-definition video. That's a pretty neat trick.

MIGUEL: That is. That is. Oh, OK, the next item we have over here.

COOLEY: A wireless speaker only, no video here, reference design from a company called Avega out of Australia. This we saw last year at CES. It never quite made to market. Finally, it's going to become real. Several makes will put these out.

These will be a few hundred dollars, compared to the system we saw that is up to $1,000, but, of course, it does only audio. But, again, wireless speakers for use on the patio or at the rear of the room. Very nice.

MIGUEL: That sounds like it, for your home theater, your surround sound. You've got a solution there.

Now, the next one is from Sling Media, which is an award winner -- a previous award winner here at past CES. What's on tap now?

COOLEY: This little guy here is called the SlingCatcher, not the Slingbox, which is the other product. And what it does is, it will take and move video and audio around the house from one TV to another.

But what it will also do that I like the most, is it will take Internet video, either files on your PC or streams on the Web, scale them up and show them on your television. So Internet video is no longer a hunched over the computer experience. It's a sit back on the sofa experience and this guy will do that, $200, launches in a few months, so a good price.

MIGUEL: I was going to say, they always seem to hit the sweet spot in prices, Sling Media does.

And then finally for your personal wireless just around the headspace.

COOLEY: Look at these little guys, little earbuds. A lot of folks have earbuds with their iPod. I'm going to put one in this ear and one in this ear. And notice what's missing.

MIGUEL: Yes, they're wireless.

COOLEY: No y-cord and no headband -- totally wireless and separate, streamed from an iPod, let's say, with an add-on transmitter, but soon we'll see some manufacturers build that transmitter in. So it's all there. I put this in my pocket. I'm listening to stereo with no wires.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CLANCY: With no wires at all. A lot of great gizmos that are coming. That has to be it for our report today. I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: And I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with CNN. The news, of course, continues.

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