CBS Evening News (A block) - 2006-11-13

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:05] I'm Katie Kurrick. Tonight, Iraq

[0:07] searching for a solution. As a top

[0:09] Democrat calls again for immediate

[0:11] withdrawal, the president meets for the

[0:12] first time with an advisory panel headed

[0:15] by his father, Secretary of State. The

[0:18] race against time. If you have a heart

[0:19] attack, can your ER act quickly enough

[0:21] to save your life? Tonight, a disturbing

[0:24] new study. More and more Americans are

[0:26] spending their golden years in assisted

[0:28] living facilities, but are some

[0:30] downright dangerous. CBS News

[0:32] investigates. And they fought for a

[0:34] nation that treated them like secondass

[0:36] citizens. Now they're about to get the

[0:38] highest civilian honor Congress can

[0:41] bestow.

[0:46] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:49] Kurrick.

[0:52] >> Hi everyone. While just about everyone

[0:54] agrees Iraq is a mess, the question now

[0:56] is can the president and the new

[0:58] Congress led by the Democrats agree on

[1:01] how to get out of it. The Democrats want

[1:03] a phase withdrawal. The president has

[1:05] been dead set against that. But he did

[1:08] say the other day it is time for a fresh

[1:10] perspective. Enter the Iraq Study Group.

[1:13] The bipartisan advisory panel headed by

[1:15] two highly respected statesmen, James

[1:17] Baker and Lee Hamilton, is working on

[1:20] new options that may be the blueprint

[1:22] for a new strategy. And they had their

[1:24] first meeting with the president today.

[1:26] Jim Axelrod is at the White House. Jim,

[1:29] >> well Katie, just about a week ago, the

[1:31] Bush administration's public stance on

[1:33] Iraq was absolutely we're winning. Full

[1:35] speed ahead. Tonight, it seems to be

[1:37] full speed ahead on finding a way out of

[1:39] the mess in Iraq.

[1:42] The Baker Hamilton Commission spent

[1:44] eight hours here at the White House

[1:45] today. Their first stop, a sit down with

[1:48] the president and vice president.

[1:49] >> I'm not going to prejudge the Baker

[1:51] Commission's report. I was pleased to

[1:53] meet with them.

[1:54] >> But two ideas under consideration by the

[1:56] commission illustrate the challenges of

[1:58] reaching consensus on a way forward.

[2:00] Take a phased withdrawal of troops. The

[2:03] Democrat who will head the Senate Armed

[2:05] Services Committee insisted today that's

[2:08] what's needed to pressure the Maliki

[2:10] government to make peace among waring

[2:12] Iraqi factions.

[2:13] >> We got to put greater responsibility on

[2:15] the Iraqis and that the way to do that

[2:18] is to let the Iraqis know that within

[2:22] four to six months of the president

[2:24] notifying them that we're going to begin

[2:27] a phased redeployment of our troops out

[2:29] of Iraq. Prior to last week's election,

[2:31] that was called a non-starter by the

[2:33] White House. And today, press secretary

[2:35] Tony Snow made it sound like the

[2:37] midterms hadn't changed a thing.

[2:40] >> You give me a proposal that's got

[2:41] something to react to. If the conditions

[2:44] on the ground do not merit withdrawal,

[2:45] the answer is no.

[2:46] >> The other issue is engaging Syria and

[2:48] Iran more directly in bringing peace to

[2:51] Iraq. James Baker himself has raised

[2:53] that idea. But when Mr. Bush addressed

[2:56] Iran today after a meeting with Israel's

[2:58] prime minister. He spoke only of Iran's

[3:01] nuclear program and only about further

[3:04] isolation.

[3:04] >> I think it's very important for the

[3:06] world to unite with one common voice to

[3:08] say to the Iranians that if you choose

[3:11] uh to continue forward, you'll be

[3:12] isolated.

[3:14] >> The White House says this was a

[3:16] discussion, not a deposition. No policy

[3:18] alternatives were exchanged by either

[3:20] side. The president always says he

[3:22] charts his strategy in Iraq based on

[3:24] conditions on the ground. Today was a

[3:26] chance for the panel to hear exactly

[3:28] what the president thinks those

[3:29] conditions are. Katie,

[3:31] >> so Jim, in addition to meeting with with

[3:33] the Baker Commission, are there signs

[3:35] that the White House is somehow

[3:37] completely reassessing its policy visa

[3:40] vraq? Well, just outside the White House

[3:43] gates, for instance, at the State

[3:45] Department, Secretary of State Connor

[3:46] Lisa Rice to later trip to Vietnam so

[3:48] she could participate in a further

[3:49] review of Iraq policy. At the Pentagon,

[3:52] the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

[3:54] Peter Pace, scrubbing Iraq policy from

[3:56] top to bottom, in his words, even if

[3:58] this was going on prior to the midterms,

[4:00] we probably wouldn't be hearing about

[4:01] it. Katie.

[4:02] >> All right, Jim Axelro, Jim, thanks so

[4:04] much. Well, just as it is at the White

[4:06] House, what to do about the war in Iraq

[4:08] is the number one item on the agenda for

[4:10] the new 110th Congress. It was just a

[4:13] year ago this week that Democrat John

[4:15] Mirthth of Pennsylvania, a highly

[4:17] decorated Vietnam veteran long

[4:19] considered a hawk on defense issues,

[4:21] stunned House colleagues by calling for

[4:23] the immediate withdrawal of US troops

[4:25] from Iraq. Martha is now the top choice

[4:28] of speaker and waiting Nancy Pelosi to

[4:30] be the new majority leader. Though

[4:32] Stenny Hoyer of Maryland is also in the

[4:34] running. Earlier today in an exclusive

[4:36] interview, Congressman Murtha told me

[4:37] that he intends to press harder than

[4:39] ever for an American troop pull out from

[4:41] Iraq.

[4:43] >> We're caught in a civil war. And I'm

[4:45] absolutely convinced that there's no

[4:46] alternative. Anything else, we've lost

[4:48] the hearts and minds of the people. Uh

[4:50] 70 to 80% of the Iraqis want us out of

[4:52] there. Most of the American public wants

[4:54] us out of there. We're expended $8

[4:56] billion a month, Katie. And we need to

[4:58] start to redeploy our troops. And I

[5:00] think that'll actually increase

[5:01] stability regardless of what the White

[5:03] House says.

[5:04] >> And when you say redeploy, Congressman,

[5:06] you're talking about complete

[5:07] withdrawal.

[5:08] >> I'm talking about complete redeployment

[5:10] of our troops out of Iraq over a period

[5:12] of time. The Iraqis have no incentive to

[5:15] take over their own uh their own

[5:16] destiny. And I think that's the first

[5:18] step in in solving this problem.

[5:20] >> But Congressman, what about those who

[5:21] say if US forces leave on mass, then the

[5:25] country will descend e into even further

[5:28] chaos? Yeah, that's not what the Iraqis

[5:30] say. The Iraqis say they have more

[5:32] confidence in their own forces. They

[5:33] have more confidence in their own

[5:34] police, their own military. So, I don't

[5:36] agree with that.

[5:37] >> Now that the Democrats have taken over

[5:38] both houses of Congress, what are they

[5:41] really empowered to do in terms of

[5:43] foreign policy? Congressman,

[5:46] >> let me tell you, every solution,

[5:48] everything we look for has to be come

[5:50] with the Gulf, with the war, with the

[5:51] Iraqi war. $8 billion a month, $11

[5:54] million an hour. The people say they

[5:56] want Medicare to be changed. They want

[5:58] the drug program that they passed to be

[6:00] changed. They want educational benefits

[6:02] to be improved. None of that's going to

[6:03] happen until we stop spending $8 billion

[6:06] a month. And that's what the public is

[6:08] saying.

[6:08] >> There was hell to pay though,

[6:10] Congressman, for what you said. You were

[6:12] called a defetocrat, a liberal turncoat.

[6:14] Senator John McCain said you had become

[6:17] too emotional. The chairman of the Joint

[6:19] Chiefs of Staff said your comments were

[6:21] damaging to troop morale. Did you feel

[6:24] vindicated last Tuesday? Well, I

[6:26] certainly did feel vindicated. I felt

[6:28] vindicated because I saw the difference

[6:30] between when I first spoke out and most

[6:31] of the American public disagree with my

[6:33] position to the vote itself, which

[6:35] showed that most public agrees. We have

[6:37] to do something. We have to change the

[6:39] direction of this country. We have to

[6:40] reduce the spending. We have to change

[6:42] our priorities in this country. And I

[6:43] think the president's going to recognize

[6:45] that. And we're ready to work with him.

[6:47] >> Congressman John Murphy. Congressman,

[6:48] thanks so much for your time.

[6:50] >> Nice talking to you, Katie. Meanwhile,

[6:52] in Baghdad today, a top US commander

[6:55] stepped up the pressure on the Iraqis to

[6:57] take more responsibility for their own

[6:59] security. General John Abvis told Prime

[7:02] Minister Maliki his government has to

[7:04] disband Shiite militias. Meanwhile,

[7:06] another Iraqi official has an idea for

[7:09] US forces that sounds a lot like

[7:11] Congressman Murtha's redeployment.

[7:14] Here's Elizabeth Palmer.

[7:17] >> Moak al- Rubai is Iraq's national

[7:20] security adviser. No single Iraqi has

[7:23] worked more closely with the US since

[7:25] the start of the war.

[7:26] >> Iraq need a radical review.

[7:29] >> Rubai believes there are three keys to

[7:31] success. First, the redeployment of US

[7:34] troops. American troops should be pulled

[7:37] off Baghdad's streets and sent back to

[7:39] their bases, leaving the Iraqi army to

[7:42] take full charge of security in the

[7:44] capital. because two armies in the same

[7:47] battle space

[7:49] and the coordination

[7:52] is something is really difficult.

[7:55] >> So they're working at cross purposes

[7:57] sometimes.

[7:57] >> Well, sometimes it it works other other

[8:00] times doesn't

[8:01] >> in the past when US forces have

[8:03] withdrawn from some neighborhoods the

[8:05] killing got worse as Iraqi forces either

[8:08] couldn't control or actively helped

[8:11] armed militias and death squads. Bot

[8:14] says Rubai, the militias can only be

[8:16] disarmed by negotiation and all militia

[8:19] leaders, no matter how violent, must be

[8:22] included. We have no red line on any uh

[8:27] person, individuals or uh groups or

[8:32] party.

[8:33] >> Finally, the talking shouldn't end with

[8:36] Iraq's militias. Rubaya says the United

[8:38] States needs to talk directly with the

[8:41] Iranians because they're funding the

[8:43] most powerful militias undermining

[8:45] Baghdad's fragile control. The Iranians

[8:48] says Rubai must be convinced that if

[8:51] chaos reigns in Iraq, it may reign in

[8:54] the whole region.

[8:55] >> If the country split up, it will spill

[8:58] over to Iran, to Syria, to the

[9:01] neighboring country.

[9:03] Most of all, Al Rubay is worried that

[9:05] his government has been pushed to the

[9:07] fringe of the Iraq study group's

[9:09] discussions, and they'll be the last to

[9:11] find out what the new US policy will be.

[9:14] Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News, Baghdad. As

[9:18] we've been reporting, Iraq is the top

[9:20] agenda item for the new 110th Congress.

[9:22] It's not the only one, though. And for

[9:24] the rest of this week, we'll look at the

[9:26] other top issues, including taxes,

[9:28] immigration, the minimum wage, and

[9:30] prescription drug prices. and will

[9:32] keeping track of how Congress performs.

[9:35] And about one prescription drug, there

[9:37] is a warning tonight. It's the flu

[9:39] treatment Tamlu. The FDA says people who

[9:42] take Tamlu, especially children, should

[9:44] be monitored for hallucinations,

[9:46] delirium, even convulsions. The agency

[9:49] says there have been a number of these

[9:50] cases reported overseas. The FDA is

[9:53] ordering the label updated, by the way,

[9:55] to include that warning. There is a lot

[9:58] more CBS news straight ahead. And coming

[10:01] up next, what hospital ERS could do to

[10:03] save the lives of hundreds of heart

[10:05] attack victims every year.