Tough Questions Being Asked In Washington
HOLMES: We are going to have much more on this developing story throughout the day, the case of those two missing Missouri boys who were found safe, safe and fine. A couple of important events to tell you about coming up. In just about two hours, Shawn Hornbeck's family will talk about the ordeal and we will have live coverage here on CNN. And then at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, the Franklin County Sheriff's Department is going to be talking about the case. We hope to learn more about the suspect, Michael Devlin. So please, stay tuned here with us.</s>NGUYEN: Here's some of the other stories in the news today. The revised Iraq war plan is sure to be at the top of today's agenda as President Bush meets with top Republican leaders at Camp David. The minority leaders and assistant minority leaders of the House and Senate arrived at the presidential retreat last night. Meanwhile, New York Senator Hillary Clinton is spending the weekend in Iraq and Afghanistan. She is part of a three member Congressional delegation, also including Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and New York Congressman John McHugh. The group is meeting with U.S. military commanders and government officials. Now, on the heels of Senate hearings on Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to another world hot spot. Rice kicks off a tour in the Middle East, trying to revive a peace plan between Israelis and the Palestinians. Rice says she has no specific plan to help resolve the conflict, but she will do a lot of listening.</s>HOLMES: The Senate wants to hit lawmakers where it hurts if they don't obey the law -- in the wallets. They passed an amendment to the ethics bill that would withhold federal pensions from members of Congress who are convicted of serious crimes, like bribery or conspiracy. The measure is not, however, retroactive. It only applies to future crimes. In the Duke lacrosse case sexual assault case, the Durham County district attorney, Michael Nifong, is asking to be removed from the case. The North Carolina attorney general's office says its special prosecutions unit has been asked to take over that case. CNN's Jason Carroll will have more on this in the next half hour. Tsunami warnings and watches affect Japan, Alaska and Hawaii are now canceled. The warnings were issued after an earthquake off Japan's northern coast. The quake measured 8.2. Iraq -- what's next? While America debates everything from more troops to a full pullout, CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, looks at the tough questions under discussion in Washington and the pressure on the new defense secretary.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his Senate testimony, Defense Secretary Robert Gates conceded the new Iraq strategy could fail, but argued Plan B should not be the phased withdrawal advocated by some Democrats.</s>ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If we talk about the consequences of American failure and defeat in Iraq, then saying if you don't do this we'll leave, and we'll leave now, does not strike me as being in the national interest of the United States.</s>MCINTYRE: While a fresh brigade of U.S. troops from the 82nd Airborne Division is moving from Kuwait to Baghdad now, the new strategy won't be put to the test until early next month, when the first of three promised Iraqi brigades is scheduled to arrive. As the U.S. flows additional brigades in at the rate of one a month, Gates will be looking at three benchmarks to get a quick read on whether the plan is on track. The critical indicators will be if all three brigades of Iraqi troops show up as promised -- last time they didn't; if there's no political interference that frees suspects after they are caught; and if U.S. and Iraqi forces have access to all of Baghdad. To try to defuse the tension between the Sunni minority and the Shia majority, two of the new Iraqi brigades would be made up of Kurds from the north.</s>SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: There will be two brigades of Kurdish troops going into Shia and Sunni neighborhoods, which certainly complicates the sectarian nature of this struggle, is that correct?</s>GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Or gives it balance in that they're not either for Sunnis or for Shia, but for Iraq.</s>MCINTYRE: Gates optimistically predicted that if the strategy shows results he may not send in all the extra troops and could even begin withdrawing forces by year's end.</s>GATES: And if these operations actually work, you could begin to see a lightening of the U.S. footprint both in Baghdad and potentially in Iraq itself.</s>MCINTYRE: But the problem is success is beyond the control of the U.S. Everything depends on Iraqis doing things that so far they have been unwilling or unable to do.</s>PACE: There's no guarantee, but given the plan that's there and, most importantly, again, the political and economic changes, the military plan can be successful.</s>MCINTYRE: But if the Iraqis fail again, as many predict, Gates says the U.S. cannot just throw in the towel.</s>GATES: I don't know what the consequences are. What I do know is that we would have to go -- we would have to reopen this issue of strategy and we would have to look at what some of the other alternatives are that don't seem very attractive right now.</s>MCINTYRE (on camera): If the plan doesn't work, Gates says honestly he doesn't know what the consequences are, except that the strategy would have to be revisited and, in his words, the alternatives don't seem very attractive right now. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.</s>NGUYEN: Well, there are objections concerning the man chosen to fill Iraq's top military spot. And according to a report in the "Los Angeles Times," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has named a virtual unknown to fill one of the most sensitive military jobs in Baghdad. The choice being made in spite of objections from U.S. and Iraqi military commanders. The appointment is al-Maliki's first following President Bush's troop announcement earlier this week. And this morning, the "New York Times" is reporting tonight the order to crack down on Iranians in Iraq came from President Bush. In an interview with the "Times," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the president authorized the military offensive against the Iranians, but declined to say when he gave those orders. The United States is currently detaining several individuals with Iranian passports. Now, the administration has long accused Iran of meddling in Iraq. Here's another story of interest -- satellite images of Google Earth are allegedly making British troops in Iraq easy targets for terrorist attacks. According to the "London Telegraph," Army intelligence sources believe terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth Internet tool to plan their attacks.</s>MICHAEL NIFONG, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I'm not talking about the case or anything. You have sources. Talk to your sources.</s>HOLMES: The prosecutor in the troubled Duke lacrosse case rape case wants to bow out. That full story coming up in five minutes.</s>NGUYEN: Plus, intense combat along Baghdad's Haifa Street this week. We'll show you much more of this and we want to revisit some of those hours with our Arwa Damon, who was embedded with the troops that you're seeing here. That's live in 20 minutes.