Making His Care; How Safe Are We?; The Battle Continues
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: CNN exclusive. The director of the FBI six years after the 9/11 attacks. Why Osama bin Laden is still on the run and delivering a new taped warning today.</s>ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: It's relatively easy to hide an individual or a small group of individuals in a series of mountains.</s>CHETRY: We're live from the war on terror's front lines in Afghanistan. And battle lines.</s>GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR., MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: What I provided was an assessment. I'm not an optimist or a pessimist anymore, I'm a realist. And Iraq is real hard.</s>CHETRY: The top commander and top diplomat in Iraq say some troops can come home, but not right away.</s>RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: This process will not be quick and it will require substantial U.S. resolve and commitment.</s>CHETRY: Top lawmakers from both sides join us today. Plus, spies on the sidelines? An NFL team accused of stealing signals on this AMERICAN MORNING. And welcome. Thanks for being with us on this Tuesday, September 11, 2007. I'm Kiran Chetry.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning from Washington on this patriot day. I'm John Roberts. Another big day here with Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus testifying before the Senate about the way forward on Iraq. We'll have all that news for you today. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Also, it's been six years since the attacks on America. We're getting a sense now of how Americans are feeling on this day marking six years since the worst terror attack in U.S. history on American soil. A brand new CNN/Opinion Research poll released just a moment ago asked Americans if they think the U.S. is safer from terror today than before 9/11, 2001. Thirty-eight percent say the U.S. is safer, 29 percent say we're about as safe as we were and about a third feel less safe. When asked who is winning the war on terrorism, 31 percent say the U.S., 19 percent say the terrorists and nearly 50 percent say no one is winning. Well, as the cities of New York, Washington, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, honor the lives of those lost six years ago, Osama bin Laden is now making an attempt to have his voice heard today as well. There is a new tape. It was released early this morning. And it appears to show bin Laden honoring one of the 9/11 hijackers. It's the second bin Laden tape in a week. Bin Laden speaks for 14 minutes on this one, followed by the hijackers' videotaped will. CNN is trying to confirm that the video is authentic. The voice and the picture seem to be identical to the one released last week. So how safe are we and what is being done to hunt down Osama bin Laden? We have an exclusive interview with the director of the FBI coming up. We're also going to be talking with Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend. That's coming up in our next half hour. John.</s>ROBERTS: Looking forward to all that. Today it's the Senate's turn to hear from and question the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and the ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. Today's questions and answers may help Republicans on the bubble make up their minds. Does this progress report put them in the president's camp or push them over to the anti-war side? Petraeus told the House yesterday that the current strategy is working.</s>GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR., MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: The military objectives of the surge are, in large measure, being met. In recent months, in the face of tough enemies and the brutal summer heat of Iraq, coalition and Iraqi security forces have achieved progress in the security arena.</s>ROBERTS: Well, congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins me here. From the political perspective, this is all about soothing the queasy stomachs of Republicans who are sitting on the fence here about the Iraq War, do they tip one way or the other. In terms of how that testimony went yesterday, what happens with those Republicans?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this does give them a lifeline, if you will. This allows Republicans, who have been very queasy, who made that abundantly clear to the president several months ago, the ability to go home and make the case to their constituents that, you know, there is a plan for troops to come home. However, having said that, you know, if you look at it on a broader perspective, it's kind of like a political roarshack (ph) test, John, because for Republicans, they say, you know, as I said, you know, well, you know, this is exactly what we should be doing. We should be listening to the guy sitting there with four stars on his shoulder. For Democrats, they say, wait a minute, this is nowhere near what we want, nowhere near what we really need to actually end the war. Starting -- bringing troops down to pre-surge levels by next summer is so different from what Democrats have been demanding, which is a deadline for total troop withdrawal by that time.</s>ROBERTS: Right. But at least it's some sort of a timetable that Republicans can take out there to the American people, to the constituents and say, yes, this is going to end at a date certain, at least from the so-called surge perspective. Does it really emasculate Democrats in their attempts to peel off these Republicans, get 60 votes in the Senate, maybe 67 to override a presidential veto? Do they still have a fight?</s>BASH: It is going to be much, much harder for Democrats to do that. They knew coming back from August recess last week that they were going to have a big problem, and that is why you already, even before General Petraeus uttered one word here on Capitol Hill, you already saw Democrats quietly reaching out to Republicans, who have been openly critical of the president's plan, to do something that Democrats never even thought they would have to do now, which is compromise on this.</s>ROBERTS: Well, we'll see how it goes in the Senate later on today and we'll see you back here in just a little while. Dana Bash, thanks very you. I had the chance to talk with some soldiers who served in Iraq and get their perspective on the general's testimony on whether the troop build-up is working. Here's what they had to say.</s>CAPT. ROSE FORREST, VOTEVETS.ORG: The surge is a military solution. I was stationed in Ramadi, capital of al Anbar, just this previous year, and I saw the big improvements that took place in al Anbar. And those were diplomatic changes. Those were changes with the Army and the Marines working with local leaders, building a local police force. It had nothing to do with the surge. So I don't think that the surge had anything to do with the substantial improvements that were made in al Anbar.</s>STAFF SGT. DAVID BELLAVIA, VETS FOR FREEDOM: I think it's without a doubt that the surge has accomplished something. I mean the point of the matter is, Rumsfeld was all about the DOD having the end- all solution to what was wrong with Iraq. And today we're seeing Department of Labor coming in, Agriculture coming in. People understand that the key to Iraq might not be -- you know, obviously it's instability, but it's also -- they don't have a central bank. And when a soldier wants to cash a check, he's got to go and hitch- hike and go home to Mosul or Kirkuk. And these are all issues. But centrally, when you look at the surge, you're seeing bad guys getting blasted (ph).</s>ROBERTS: It was a great conversation with some really interesting perspectives from these Iraq War veterans. And you can see more of that roundtable coming up at 8:00 Eastern here on AMERICAN MORNING. It turned out that Democrats didn't go after General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker as aggressively as expected. Not like the exchange between Armed Services Chairman Democrat Ike Skelton and the Republican Foreign Affairs Committee Member Dan Burton. Take a listen to this.</s>REP. DAN BURTON, (R) INDIANA: I see a number of people in the audience that I anticipate will be making a disturbance. And if this occurs during the testimony by our honored guest, I hope that you will be very firm and get them out of here.</s>REP. IKE SKELTON, CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: You don't have to lecture me on -- they'll be gone.</s>ROBERTS: And in a subsequent conversation that was picked up by an open mike, Skelton actually dropped the f-bomb over what Burton said. Capitol Police escorted the protesters from the hearing room. Four of them were arrested, including Cindy Sheehan. Quite (ph) a dust-up there yesterday there. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Yes. Certainly a lot more excitement than you usually see on Capitol Hill, for sure. Thanks, John. Well also new this morning, another terror scare in Germany. Security tight at the American base at Spangdahlem after someone called in a bomb threat last night. That person apparently threatened to blow up the base. German police say they're working on tracing the call. It comes just a week after three people were charged in a plot to blow up military bases and other western targets in Germany. Now to a CNN exclusive. An interview with FBI Director Robert Mueller about the ongoing terror threat against America. CNN's Kelli Arena talked with Director Mueller. She joins us now. Kelli, good to see you this morning.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. You know, Director Mueller says that he has what he calls substantial concerns about a possible terror attack, even though he says there's no specific intelligence suggesting that any attack on the U.S. is imminent. He just can't ignore what's going on around the world and says the U.S. homeland remains very much a target.</s>ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: We've been particularly concerned over the last several months. And if you look at the attacks that have happened in Glasgow and London, the arrests that were made most recently in Germany, Denmark, you understand our concern. At the outset of the summer, I put together a task force to pull together within the government various capabilities that has been running nonstop since the beginning of the summer and the threat period is certainly not over.</s>ARENA: Now, besides al Qaeda and related groups, Mueller says he's also concerned about extremists living in the United States. He confirmed that there are ongoing investigations of individuals with suspected terror ties living right here in the United States, but he wouldn't offer any specifics. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Also, of course, today, yet again the release of another bin Laden audiotape with some still pictures as well. What does he say about that? Does he think that the release of these tapes are signaling any type of precursor to another attack?</s>ARENA: Well, you know, Mueller said that there hasn't been any correlation between tapes and attacks in the past and he thinks that the same holds true this time around. He says there's no doubt that the U.S. is a target, but he says that al Qaeda is really only part of the threat that the U.S. is facing. He says related groups, independent extremists also pose just as serious a threat. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. Kelli Arena for us in Washington this morning. Thank you.</s>ARENA: You're welcome.</s>ROBERTS: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says in an upcoming interview that terrorism is not the biggest issue of our time. Talking with "GQ" magazine, Powell said that immigration issues are more important. Powell says America's image has suffered abroad and that the best way to fix it is to keep the borders open and return to being known as a country that is "kind, generous, a nation of nations." U.S. nuclear experts are in North Korea today. They will spend five days checking out North Korea's nuclear facilities, looking for the best way to disable them. This is considered a good sign that North Korea will follow through on its agreement to shut down its nuclear program. And Hillary Clinton's campaign is giving back $850,000. The money was raised by Norman Hsu, who is now under investigation for allegedly violating election laws. She was accused of reimbursing donors for their campaign contributions in order to get around limits on those donations. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Well, it's time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for some other stories new this morning. And some changes planned for the ceremony to honor victims of the September 11th attacks in New York. Our Alina Cho is live in lower Manhattan today. Hi, Alina.</s>ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran, good morning. It is the sixth anniversary. And for the first time, the anniversary's ceremony will not be held here at Ground Zero. It will be held in the park behind me, about a block away. The reason? They did not want to delay construction. And though the site of the ceremony is not far from here, it is certainly a symbolic difference and families will be taking note of that. Now those family members will begin arriving here within the hour. The ceremony, as it does every year, will begin at 8:40 a.m. Eastern Time. And as in years past, there will be four moments of silence, twice to mark the times that each tower was hit, twice to mark the times that each tower fell. The names of all of the victims will also be read, but this year the rescue and recovery workers will be reading the names, not family members. That is a first. But families will be able to descend the ramp behind me and lay flowers in a small reflecting pool at the lowest part of Ground Zero. Now among the dignitaries who will be here today, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton will not be speaking today, but Giuliani will be. And that certainly has been a point of contention. Critics have said Giuliani is using the anniversary ceremony as a photo op to prop up his presidential campaign, while supporters say Giuliani would be here even if he did not have a formal invitation. Now as for the status of the rebuilding, a lot of people wondering why there is still a giant hole behind me nearly six years later or six years later to be exact, rather. When asked about this, the principals would only say there have been bumps in the road and there will be no more false starts. Keep in mind, there will be four towers eventually built behind me, including the centerpiece Freedom Tower. That is now at street level. That is slated to open in 2011. The memorial is slated to open in 2009 and the museum in 2010. But keep in mind, Kiran, this is a $16 billion project on 16 acres. It is a complex project. Perhaps the most complex in U.S. history. Some have likened it to building a Rubik's cube. And so that is the reason, developers say, that there will certainly be delays. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Alina Cho at Ground Zero for us. Thank you. And a new message from the parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann. Our Monita Rajpal is live in London at our world update desk. Good morning, Monita.</s>MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. You know, we understand that while Kate and Gerry McCann can't be speaking to the public about the case, that's under Portuguese law as they are now being named -- now they have been named as suspects, Gerry McCann has gone on the website that he created when Madeleine went missing four months ago, saying that they had nothing to do with her disappearance. Meanwhile, Portuguese police have confirmed to CNN that they will be handing over their dossier of the investigation to Portugal's public prosecutors. Now the public prosecutor will have to go through this very thick file of information and the file will contain lengthy statements taken from both Kate and Gerry McCann, as well as all those interviews that were taken by the police of people who were at the resort at the time that Madeleine disappeared. Plus, of course, there will be the mountains of forensic evidence that they will have -- the prosecutor will have to go through. Now that forensic evidence, of course, is causing some conflicting reports. There are reports, conflicting reports, indicating that the DNA that was found in the car that was hired by the McCanns was that of Madeleine McCann. That's what the police are saying. But there are other reports that are indicating that it was not a full sample. That indeed that it may have come from a toy or transferred from clothing. Again, the public prosecutor will now decide whether or not the information n this dossier is enough evidence to charge the McCanns, whether or not no action will be taken or whether or not police will have to go back and get more information. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. Monita Rajpal at our update desk in London. Thank you. John.</s>ROBERTS: Well, the New York Jets may have felt like the New England Patriots knew exactly what they were going to do in their game on Sunday. Well, maybe they did. That story is coming up. And it was the first front in the war on terror. Six years after 9/11, where does it stand now? Live to Afghanistan to check the facts, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.