CNN - 2006-11-29 - 11 a.m. (E)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:16] And good morning everyone. You're with

[0:18] CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.

[0:19] >> And I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep

[0:21] coming into the newsroom on this

[0:22] Wednesday, the 29th of November. Here's

[0:24] what's on the rundown. A secret memo

[0:26] leaked the White House raising doubts

[0:28] about the Iraqi Prime Minister.

[0:30] >> And on the very day he will meet with

[0:32] President Bush.

[0:32] >> Video games, a parent watchdog out this

[0:35] hour with new ratings and amazing

[0:37] [music] images of the teen brain

[0:40] on video games.

[0:42] >> And striking parallels for the Christmas

[0:44] season. A pregnant unwed [music] teen

[0:47] portraying history's most famous

[0:48] unmarried teen mother. The Virgin Mary

[0:51] with a twist. In the newsroom.

[1:00] >> And talk about developments coming into

[1:02] the newsroom at this hour. We are

[1:04] learning that Senate Majority Leader

[1:05] Bill Frist has decided not

[1:08] to launch a run for President of the

[1:10] United States. Widely considered to be a

[1:14] contender for the '08 Republican

[1:16] nomination, uh Senator Bill Frist of

[1:19] Tennessee deciding that he will not run

[1:21] for President of the United States in

[1:23] '08. Uh expecting a fuller announcement

[1:26] of the Senator's intentions a little

[1:28] later this afternoon. And when he makes

[1:30] that more formal announcement, we'll of

[1:32] course bring it to you here in the

[1:33] newsroom.

[1:35] >> Want to tell you about this story as

[1:36] well. An Amber Alert has been issued in

[1:38] Ohio. Our Frederica Whitfield is in the

[1:40] newsroom with more uh details on this.

[1:42] What's happened here, Fred?

[1:43] >> Hello to you, Heidi. Well, two uh

[1:44] Middletown, Ohio boys make up that Amber

[1:48] Alert. Officials believe that they were

[1:50] abducted by their father yesterday. So,

[1:53] police have issued a couple of

[1:55] photographs of the children.

[1:58] 9-year-old Julius Crosty and 8-year-old

[2:01] brother Julian Crosty. It is believed

[2:04] that according to officials there,

[2:06] Julius Crosty Sr. who drives a 1999 gold

[2:10] Ford Taurus with Ohio license plate with

[2:13] the number DQM6260

[2:17] allegedly abducted the two boys

[2:19] yesterday. It is believed according to

[2:22] police that the father has suicidal

[2:25] tendencies, so they're very concerned

[2:26] about the well-being of the two

[2:28] children. The father allegedly assaulted

[2:32] the boys' mother and left her critically

[2:34] injured. So, authorities are asking that

[2:37] anyone who may recognize these two

[2:38] little boys ages 9 and 8 alert the

[2:42] authorities and as well as if they see

[2:44] that vehicle that I've just described.

[2:46] >> Heidi. Boy or a girl? Two boys.

[2:48] >> Two boys.

[2:49] >> Two boys. Okay, I have different

[2:51] pictures here. Just want to make sure.

[2:52] Also, I think we had the we were able to

[2:54] put up the license plate number as well,

[2:56] DQM6260

[2:59] is the license plate number. There you

[3:00] see it, a Taurus, Ohio tag, a live shot

[3:03] to look at. Fred, I know you're working

[3:05] on another story as well coming out of

[3:06] Ohio.

[3:07] >> Right. Also in Ohio, not far away near

[3:09] Cincinnati in the suburb of Norwood,

[3:12] Ohio and there a live picture of police

[3:15] investigating what believes what they

[3:17] believe to be a suspicious device under

[3:20] the underpass of I-71 just outside of

[3:23] Cincinnati. They believe that

[3:26] this suspicious device is comprised of

[3:29] some form of liquid, wires, a clock, and

[3:32] a 9-volt battery. This according to the

[3:35] Norwood Police Department. Bomb

[3:37] detecting dogs have sniffed the device

[3:39] and technicians are now asking for an

[3:41] X-ray machine as well to try to further

[3:44] assess this device. So, two stories

[3:47] being worked there in Ohio and we'll

[3:49] continue to keep you You're

[3:51] >> All right, very good. Fredericka

[3:52] Whitfield, thank you.

[3:54] Meanwhile, his country racked by

[3:55] violence, his capabilities now

[3:57] questioned. A leaked memo raises doubts

[3:59] about Iraq's Prime Minister ahead of his

[4:01] meeting today with President Bush. The

[4:03] story from White House correspondent

[4:05] Suzanne Malveaux, who's traveling with

[4:06] the President.

[4:08] >> The NATO summit is wrapping up here in

[4:10] Riga, Latvia, but all eyes on a once

[4:13] classified memo, five-page, that was

[4:15] leaked to the New York Times,

[4:16] authenticated by senior administration

[4:18] officials, which reveals impressions

[4:21] about Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri

[4:22] al-Maliki. National Security Advisor

[4:24] Stephen Hadley had a meeting with Maliki

[4:27] in late October, uh wrote a memo, shared

[4:29] it with the President in November, gives

[4:31] his impressions, and indicates uh some

[4:33] serious doubts, questions over whether

[4:35] or not Maliki has the capabilities to

[4:38] control the sectarian violence in his

[4:40] country. Uh this memo highlights saying

[4:42] that Maliki's intentions seem good when

[4:44] he talks with Americans, and sensitive

[4:46] reporting suggests he is trying to stand

[4:48] up to the Shia hierarchy and force

[4:50] positive change, but the reality on the

[4:52] streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is

[4:55] either ignorant of what is going on,

[4:57] misrepresenting his intentions, or that

[4:59] his capabilities are not yet sufficient

[5:01] to turn his good intentions into action.

[5:04] There are steps that Maliki could take,

[5:06] including bringing his political

[5:07] strategy with Muqtada al-Sadr to

[5:09] closure, shaking up his cabinet, and

[5:11] announcing plans to expand the Iraqi

[5:13] army. Some steps the Bush administration

[5:16] could take, let Maliki take more credit

[5:18] for positive developments, continue to

[5:21] pressure Iran and Syria to end their

[5:23] interference in Iraq, and also step up

[5:25] our efforts to get Saudi Arabia to take

[5:27] a leadership role. It also talks about

[5:30] the possibility of an increase in

[5:32] American troop levels, saying we might

[5:34] also need to fill the current

[5:35] four-brigade gap in Baghdad with

[5:38] coalition forces if reliable Iraqi

[5:40] forces

[5:41] are not identified. Now, senior

[5:43] administration officials who do not like

[5:45] to publicly uh talk about uh Bush and

[5:48] Maliki discussions. They say that the

[5:49] president remains confident in Maliki's

[5:52] intentions. It is the abilities, the

[5:54] capabilities of this government that

[5:56] have been called into question. Those

[5:58] are the kind of questions that are going

[5:59] to come up between the meeting between

[6:01] President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister

[6:04] Nouri al-Maliki.

[6:05] Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Riga, Latvia.

[6:10] >> And right now, some breaking news, a

[6:12] developing story into the CNN newsroom.

[6:14] Let's take you to Dubai now.

[6:16] CNN's Hala Gorani is on the phone

[6:19] reporting on some what will be viewed as

[6:21] controversial comments from former

[6:23] Secretary of State Colin Powell. Hala.

[6:27] >> Hi Tony. Well, within the context of the

[6:30] leaders conference in Dubai in the

[6:31] United Arab Emirates and also within the

[6:33] context of this debate, this semantics

[6:36] debate over whether to call what is

[6:37] going on now in Iraq a civil war, the

[6:40] former US Secretary of State Colin

[6:41] Powell told me that he thinks we can

[6:44] call it a civil war and then added if he

[6:46] were still heading the State Department,

[6:48] he would probably recommend to the Bush

[6:50] administration that those terms should

[6:53] be used in order to come to terms with

[6:54] the reality on the ground. I'm

[6:55] paraphrasing what he told me. This was

[6:57] close to cameras and this is something

[6:59] that he said within the context of this

[7:01] academic debate with two or three

[7:04] thousand people watching on in the

[7:05] region very interested in finding out

[7:09] former US Secretary of State Colin

[7:10] Powell's thoughts on what's going on in

[7:12] Iraq as many people here as they are in

[7:15] the US extremely concerned with what

[7:17] they see as a situation that's

[7:18] deteriorating in that country, Tony.

[7:21] >> Did did the former Secretary of State

[7:24] suggest why calling it what he thinks it

[7:27] is would change anything on the ground

[7:29] or anything as to how the war is

[7:33] prosecuted?

[7:35] >> Yes, he said it has to be a two-fold

[7:37] solution. He's calling what's happening

[7:39] now in Iraq phase three of the war.

[7:41] Phase one being the invasion, phase two

[7:44] being the emergence of that insurgency.

[7:46] And what he's saying is that there has

[7:48] to be a two-point solution to the

[7:49] problem. One, you have to keep US troops

[7:51] there, eventually reduce their numbers,

[7:53] of course. One, keep US troops there,

[7:55] but two, the solution, Colin Powell told

[7:57] me, has to be political. It has to come

[8:00] from within Iraq, not imposed, rather

[8:02] imposed, I shouldn't use that word

[8:04] because it's loaded, but rather than

[8:06] the conceived outside of the country.

[8:08] So, so those are two important things

[8:10] that he said. I also asked him, Tony,

[8:12] and I apologize, I'm on my way onto a

[8:14] plane right now, so I'm going to have

[8:15] >> Okay, we'll let you go. We'll let you

[8:16] go.

[8:16] >> seconds. But but but one one interesting

[8:19] thing though is that he said

[8:22] to me when I asked him, "Do you regret

[8:23] the statement that you made at the UN

[8:25] Security Council in 2003 where you

[8:27] presented what was billed as evidence

[8:29] of WMD in Iraq and and the basis for

[8:32] which the country was invaded by US

[8:34] forces?" He did

[8:35] pick that term up again and said, "Yes,

[8:37] indeed, I do regret it, Tony."

[8:39] >> CNN's Hala Gorani

[8:41] in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates,

[8:45] just fresh off a conversation with

[8:46] former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

[8:48] Hala, we appreciate it. Thank you.

[8:51] >> As we continue to look at some notes

[8:53] from that conversation with Hala, also

[8:54] seeing on here that

[8:56] Colin Powell said he does not have any

[8:58] ambitions to run for president. Also

[9:00] another person as CNN has been able to

[9:02] confirm who does not have ambitions to

[9:04] run for president any longer, Bill

[9:06] Frist. He's currently the Senate

[9:09] majority

[9:10] >> leader, as you well know. Live shot

[9:11] there of White House, and he will not be

[9:14] running for president. He will make a

[9:16] formal announcement apparently a little

[9:18] bit later on today. I'm quite certain we

[9:20] will carry that for you live if and when

[9:22] it does happen.

[9:24] >> President Bush now headed to Jordan. His

[9:26] vision for Iraq in jeopardy, fear of

[9:28] failure extending well beyond one

[9:30] nation's borders. CNN's Ben Wedeman

[9:33] explains.

[9:35] >> It would hardly seem like the best time

[9:37] to visit the region. President Bush's

[9:40] grand ambitions for the Middle East lie

[9:42] in disarray.

[9:43] In Iraq, what was supposed to be a

[9:45] beacon of democracy has become a black

[9:48] hole of sectarian violence and anarchy.

[9:51] The administration still insists it's

[9:53] not civil war, though what Iraqi

[9:56] officials describe sounds almost as bad.

[9:59] >> This is a war between the extremist and

[10:02] the moderate in the whole region.

[10:04] And that's why it's concentrating

[10:07] its effort in Iraq. If they lose, they

[10:10] lose in the whole region. If they win,

[10:12] God forbid, they will disrupt the whole

[10:14] region again.

[10:16] >> Perhaps glimpsing post-pullout reality,

[10:19] Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is now

[10:22] rubbing shoulders with the leaders of

[10:23] Iran, who seem as determined as ever,

[10:27] threats of sanctions notwithstanding, to

[10:29] pursue a nuclear option, flushed with

[10:32] growing regional clout.

[10:35] >> The backed government is under siege.

[10:38] >> And that government is being undermined,

[10:40] in my opinion, by uh

[10:43] by extremist forces encouraged out of

[10:46] Syria and Iran. Why?

[10:49] Because a democracy will be a major

[10:52] defeat for those who articulate

[10:54] extremist points of view.

[10:56] >> Across the region, hopes for a

[10:57] blossoming of democracy have been dashed

[11:00] as almost every experiment in political

[11:02] liberalization in Egypt, in Iraq, in the

[11:05] Palestinian territories has empowered or

[11:08] emboldened Islamic hard-liners.

[11:12] >> And CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now from

[11:13] Amman, Jordan. And Ben, does the

[11:16] withdrawal of al-Sadr's faction

[11:19] from the al-Maliki government threaten

[11:21] this summit before it even begins?

[11:25] >> Well, the Sadr faction has five

[11:26] ministers in the Iraqi government, so

[11:28] it's not an insignificant in an

[11:31] number.

[11:33] Uh we do know that the Sadr faction has

[11:35] made this a threat to pull out of the

[11:37] government in the past. This time they

[11:39] actually carried through. Uh so, this is

[11:42] really going to bolster those who think

[11:44] that uh Nouri al-Maliki really does not

[11:47] have the wherewithal to deliver, to uh

[11:50] bring the militias under control, to

[11:52] create some modicum of uh calm on the

[11:55] streets uh in Iraq, in Baghdad. So, it

[11:58] really does complicate uh things further

[12:00] in addition to uh the ar- the already

[12:03] the doubts already expressed by

[12:05] administration officials, specifically

[12:08] Stephen Hadley, the uh national security

[12:10] adviser to President Bush, who did say

[12:13] that uh there are doubts whether he

[12:15] really understands what's going on. So,

[12:18] uh the two of the those two developments

[12:20] together uh certainly already put a

[12:22] damper on expectations uh from the

[12:25] summit to the Maliki