Overturned School Bus; Change Of Command; Violence During Ashura
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the rundown.</s>BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Bullets and bombs leaving a deadly scar on a religious festival in Iraq. We talked to a congressman just back from Baghdad about a country in crisis.</s>HARRIS: And check this out. Millions of ways to make retirement better. We meet the country's newest Powerball winners.</s>NGUYEN: Tabloids mocking a former super model as America's next top waddle? Tyra Banks . . .</s>HARRIS: Huh?</s>NGUYEN: Yes, she is fighting fat and she is fighting mad. You have got to hear this. It's Tuesday, everybody, January 30th. You are in the</s>NEWSROOM. HARRIS: Off the top this hour, let's get you to T.J. Holmes in the newsroom. And, T.J., you're following a story of a school bus accident in Jefferson County, Missouri, for us.</s>T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And there it is, Tony. You do not want to see a scene like this ever. That's a school bus you do see there. We just it in the picture there. This picture coming to us from our affiliate KMOV. But a school bus accident, obviously, here where that school bus overturned. Now we are getting conflicting reports from a couple of affiliates there about whether or not students were injured. But according to police, they are telling the local affiliates that, yes, there were students on board this bus when the accident happened. It was loaded with students, actually. Not just a few, but had a fair amount of students on it. But conflicting reports now about the injuries. Some affiliates reporting that there were, in fact, some minor injuries at least to the students on board that bus. We are working to get some independent confirmation of if students, in fact, were injured. It's hard to imagine a school bus like that loaded with students overturned like that and there not being injuries. But right now, at least the word we're getting, again as we look at this live pictures, word that there may have been some minor injuries. I believe that this school bus was involved in the accident with another vehicle. Don't exactly know the circumstances around the accident that resulted in the school bus ending up in that position you're seeing right there. But this bus was carrying students who were from the House Springs district. A school district there in House Springs. This is about 30 miles southwest of St. Louis, to give you some perspective there, in Jefferson County, Missouri. But we are keeping an eye on it, certainly trying to get more information about the condition of the students who were on board that bus and the circumstances that led to the bus being in that position. That is certainly -- any parent in this country who puts their kid on a bus, you never want to see a bus in that position at all. So we're certainly trying to get the details here. Tony.</s>HARRIS: Well said. OK, T.J., thanks.</s>HOLMES: All right.</s>NGUYEN: In other news, a change of command in Iraq. A hearing underway at this hour on Capitol Hill for Navy Admiral William Fallon. You see it live right now. He, the man you see right there, poised to become the top U.S. commander in the Middle East and poised to inherent a growing list of urgent problems no less. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now with a closer look. And, Barbara, one of the first things people want to know is, what does Admiral Fallon bring to the table that General Abizaid may have not.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Betty, on a four-star level, all of these guys pretty much are at the cream of their crop. At the top of their profession. Admiral Fallon, as the commander out in the Pacific, has a lot of knowledge about that area in particular. He has testified now just for about 10 minutes and hasn't really gotten into a lot of specifics. But he is making clear, right off the bat, that he knows what he's walking into.</s>ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, U.S. NAVY: I'm honored by the confidence of the president and the secretary of defense in nominating me for this position. But I'm under no illusion regarding the magnitude of the tasks and the challenges we face in this region of the world. From Beirut to Cashmere, conflict and areas of instability abound. Yet as you well know, this region with 630 some million people, the cradle of western civilization, is of critical importance to our nation and the world.</s>STARR: As far as Iraq goes, he has so far deflected really answering what he expects the troop surge will actually achieve in Iraq. He was asked about General Abizaid's previous comments that no more U.S. troops were need. Why did he now think differently? Admiral Fallon said he hadn't really looked into that closely. But what he did say is, in his view what had been the U.S. policy simply wasn't working and that they had to try something different and that he felt Iraq could be turned around. But very few specifics so far. Betty.</s>NGUYEN: Well, what do we know then about Admiral Fallon, the man? I mean so far we've learned that he's 62 years old. He is very well respected and highly regarded. Also known as Fox. A name he went by when he was a Navy pilot. But what do you know about Admiral Fallon, the man?</s>STARR: Well, I think, again, on a four-star level, any general officer at that level has clearly spent more than 30 years in the military, has had a number of assignments. Admiral Fallon has experience in Bosnia, in Europe. He has had experience as a Naval aviator in operations in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. He does know the countries out there. He knows some of the leaders out there. He will be spending a lot of time probably working issues besides Iraq. Iran, of course, will be one of the front burner issues for the U.S. military in the region. Expect to see him pay a lot of attention to that.</s>NGUYEN: Let's talk a little bit about how you think he will lead, because I know we're looking for specifics today, may not get a whole lot of them. But on the situation in Iraq, one of the big issues is how to stabilize it. Are we going to learn any more from him? Because that was one of his big concerns, getting Iraq stabilized.</s>STARR: I think that's what the senators are going to continue to press him on throughout the morning. And he is going to, of course, be relying on General Petraeus, who was confirmed, who will be going to Iraq within days as the top military commander on the ground. That is -- you know, the president's really laid out the strategy now. What it really resolves around is this concept of holding. That's a word you're going to hear a lot about, holding on to the areas of Baghdad that they've tried to make secure. They are going to be moving troops into about 30 mini bases, if you will, around the city of Baghdad. And Senator Levin has already asked Admiral Fallon this morning how he plans to assure the security of U.S. troops that will be on the front lines of those mini bases around Baghdad. Admiral Fallon not yet ready to answer that question. He says he's going to have to talk to General Petraeus about it.</s>NGUYEN: And, Barbara, Fallon is talking Iran right now. Something that we talked about a lot yesterday. Let's just take a quick listen.</s>ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, U.S. NAVY: I'm sorry, reigning government, that would indicate they really are interested in helping the situation. To date, I haven't seen that. And I think that's -- we need to see some of those kinds of steps. And, again, then over to the political and diplomatic arena to see what can be done.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Thank you, Admiral. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Senator McCain.</s>NGUYEN: Listening to a little bit of the Senate confirmation hearing for Admiral Fallon there, speaking on Iran there. He says Iran remains a serious threat to the region. And we hope to learn more as to what steps we'll be taking to perhaps even diminish that threat. But, of course, we'll be dipping in and out throughout the morning into the senate confirmation hearing as we learn that the Senate will, indeed, go ahead probably and confirm him.</s>HARRIS: Oh, yes.</s>NGUYEN: I mean it's almost a shoe-in at this point.</s>HARRIS: Shoe-in.</s>NGUYEN: Admiral Fallon there.</s>HARRIS: Also in Iraq, a violent reminder that nothing is sacred. Insurgents today launched a series of attacks on Shiite pilgrims as they celebrate a holy day. Dozens are dead, more than 100 wounded. CNN's Arwa Damon has the latest from Baghdad. Arwa, good morning to you. Let me start by asking you a quick question. Is today's violence targeting in areas around Baghdad to be targeted by this new influx of U.S. troops?</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, the violence pretty much today was spread out throughout the capital. And, yes, the additional troops will be deployed in Baghdad, mainly with one brigade going to al Anbar province, just to the west of the capital. And most of these troops will be focusing on, as we were just hearing being mentioned, the whole part of this new operation moving forward. The intent is to move these soldiers into these neighborhoods, set them up in fixed positions, these joint security stations, working there alongside Iraqi security forces to try to prevent these sorts of attacks from happening to the best of their abilities. We do hear oftentimes from the troops when we're out with them that their presence is a deterrent, especially when it comes to the sectarian violence. And, of course, a lot of the attacks that we saw today, the majority of them, were targeting Shia pilgrims and are believed to be of sectarian nature. Tony.</s>HARRIS: Arwa, and we're also looking at some pictures of the Ashura celebration. Describe what this is that we're watching today.</s>DAMON: Well, Tony, Ashura is the commemoration of the death of Imam Hussein. He was killed in battle back in the 7th century. And it was perhaps his death, one of the more defining moments for Shias throughout the world. But we do see during Ashura again is Shia pilgrims commemorating his death. They try and emulate his pain by flagellating themselves with chains, by hitting themselves with swords or knives until the blood starts to flow. At times, we also see symbolic re-enactments of the battle and of his death. It is a very intense ritual, as is evident from the pictures that we have seen, and with the millions of Shia pilgrims that we are seeing flocking, especially to Karbala. That is where, back in the 7th century, that infamous battle did take place. And it's also important to point out that Saddam Hussein actually, for decades, banned Iraq's Shia from carrying out this commemoration. So especially over the last three or four years since the fall of Saddam Hussein, we have seen Iraq's Shias really flocking to these areas and the intensity, again, of their devotion, of their faith is really felt throughout this entire day. Tony.</s>HARRIS: So just so I'm clear, Arwa, it's more of a ritual than a celebration, which is what I said a little earlier? More of a commemoration?</s>DAMON: Absolutely, it's more of a commemoration. It is more of mourning his death.</s>HARRIS: Great. OK. Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad. Arwa, appreciate it. Thank you. Eyewitness accounts from Iraq. But these aren't soldiers, they're lawmakers returning from their visit with the power to shape the future there. A top Democrat joins us in the NEWSROOM later this hour.</s>NGUYEN: And President Bush on the defensive over his new strategy for Iraq. As the Senate debates Iraq resolutions, much of that debate is expected to center on the buildup of U.S. troops. While the resolutions are non-binding, the president says, a vote against his plan would undercut U.S. troops and their mission. Also today, praise from the president of Iraq forces after the fight against insurgents in Najaf.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things that I expect to see is the Iraqis take the lead and show the American people that they're willing to do the hard work necessary to secure their democracy. And our job is to help them. So my first reaction on this report from the battlefield is that the Iraqis are beginning to show me something.</s>HARRIS: And let's get a check of weather now with Chad Myers. Chad, right now, problems for -- hey, how are you, sir -- for the Dakotas and Minnesota, but a big chill coming for Alabama, Georgia later this week?</s>NGUYEN: Coming up, we are going to talk about the power of the purse, Tony. You know Congress has it, but are they willing to use it to stop the president's new war plan? Iraq debate ahead in the</s>NEWSROOM. HARRIS: A campus divided by hate crime allegations. Was it just a ruckus or a racially motivated attack. That story coming up in the</s>NEWSROOM. NGUYEN: And she walked the walk on the runway. Now supermodel Tyra Banks is talking the talk about her weight.</s>GALINA ESPINOZA, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Modeling in 2005. Her weight has gone up and down like it does for a lot of women. She's fluctuated between about 148 and 162.</s>NGUYEN: OK, so she's normal. But we're still talking about it. Unflattering pictures, no less, flash across the tabloids. The weight watchers in the NEWSROOM.