Firefight in Baghdad; Democrats Could Challenge Bush Plan for Troops Surge; U.S. Gunships Target al Qaeda in Somalia
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Firefight in Baghdad. U.S. forces join Iraqis battling insurgents in the heart of the Iraqi capital.</s>HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Air strikes in Somalia. The U.S. seeks out suspected al Qaeda operatives in the restive country.</s>CLANCY: Mansions on fire. Houses of the very rich and famous caught in a fast-moving California blaze.</s>GORANI: And children raising children. AIDS forces South African teenagers to fill the role left empty by their parents.</s>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.</s>GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. From Malibu, to Johannesburg, wherever you're watching, this is</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>CLANCY: All right. Michael Holmes reporting there live from Baghdad -- Hala.</s>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?</s>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.</s>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.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the president wants more troops, might Congress consider not allowing the funding for that?</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: We'll take a look at everything.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Including that?</s>REID: We're going to take a look at it, of course.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>BASH: Republicans who support beefing up forces in Iraq warn Democrats are treading in dangerous territory.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.</s>GORANI: All right. Thanks very much. Dana Bash reporting from Washington.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>GORANI: All right. The video was posted on a Ba'athist Web site with pro-Hussein views. CNN can't independently confirm its authenticity.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.</s>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.</s>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.</s>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?</s>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.