White House May Ask for More Money for War
BLITZER: It could be a White House surprise. While many Americans want troops out of Iraq, the Bush administration could be readying itself to do something many people don't necessarily want. Let's go to Brian Todd. He's watching this story for us. There's a -- we saw a report earlier suggesting that more money is going to be needed to keep the U.S. troops in Iraq -- Brian.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Wolf. The White House does seem to be getting more confident of an optimistic assessment next month on this counter-offensive and they may be getting ready to put that confidence on the line with Congress.</s>TODD (voice-over): More than $2 billion a week to fund the war in Iraq. And now, sources on Capitol Hill tell CNN they expect the president to ask Congress for more around the time General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker deliver their assessment of the new offensive in mid-September. "The Washington Post" reports the president could ask for as much as $50 billion more to keep troop levels going through next spring. White House and Pentagon officials will only say this.</s>GEOFF MORRELL, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I think we've signaled the Congress that we may, indeed, be coming to them shortly for additional moneys to fight the global war on terror. But I think at this point, in terms of numbers and when that will happen, we're ahead of the game.</s>TODD: Still, top Democrats are ramping up their no blank check argument.</s>JOHN EDWARDS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What the Congress should do when they come back next week is make it absolutely clear -- no timetable, no funding.</s>TODD: But Democrats tried to attach conditions to war funding earlier this summer and lost a veto showdown with the president.</s>JOHN ULLYOT, FORMER SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE SPOKESMAN: What's difficult for the Democrats in that -- in that debate is that fundamentally no one wants to -- of any party -- wants to be in a position, politically, of blocking funding for troops in the field.</s>TODD: For that reason, if the president does ask for more money, he'll likely get it. But analysts say there's a cost to Republicans, too. This will give the Democrats more ammunition to talk about an unpopular war heading right into the primary season -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: So if that $50 billion "The Washington Post" is reporting is actually on the table, Brian, what does it pay for?</s>TODD: Well, I talked to one veteran Capitol Hill staffer who has gone through these war budget fights -- many of them. He says what it covers is what he calls the soup to nuts of the operational costs of the war -- everything from fuel and ammunition to more armor for vehicles. Now, one thing that many people on the Hill and at the Pentagon are clamoring for right now is what they call an MRAP. That's a new mine-resistant vehicle. So that could be on the table.</s>BLITZER: And it's -- it's a vehicle that would protect U.S. troops a lot more seriously than the current vehicles out there, from those improvised explosive devices. Brian, thanks very much for that report. Eight Iranians detained by U.S. forces in Baghdad are released hours later, after Iraqi officials intervene. Also, a top Shiite cleric in Iraq freezes all armed action by his splintering militia, at least that's the announcement. What does all this mean for the U.S. military mission in Iraq? And joining us now, Brigadier General Kevin Bergner, U.S. Army. He's the chief spokesman for the Multi-National Forces in Iraq. General, first of all, clarify what happened at the Sheraton Hotel yesterday when some U.S. military personnel picked up Iranians there. What's is the status of those Iranians now? What happened?</s>BRIG. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: Well, Wolf, what happened was a group of cars transited through one of our entry control points in the Abu-Nuwass (ph) market area, which is right there close to the hotel. And in the process of that, just a standard operating procedure at these checkpoints, an inspection was made and in the process of that, we found weapons in the vehicles. And in this case, no authorization, no documentation that allowed any of these individuals to be armed. And so our normal operating procedure is we will investigate to fine out what the circumstances were. In this case, we did end up detaining those individuals that you mentioned. We completed an investigation over the course of the evening and we released those individuals very early this morning.</s>BLITZER: Are they remaining in Iraq or are they heading back to Iran?</s>BERGNER: I don't know what their current status is, Wolf, but they are under their own liberty and going about their business.</s>BLITZER: All right. So they're free and clear. They -- and the weapons that they had, they didn't have any authorization for those weapons. But you determined it was OK for them to have those weapons?</s>BERGNER: Well, actually, those weapons we found were actually part of an Iraqi delegation that was accompanying them. And so we learned over the course of our investigation that they were not connected to the Iranians that were with these Iraqis.</s>BLITZER: Now, the other Iranians that were picked up a few months ago, you're still holding, what, those five or six Iranians? They're still being held by the U.S. military?</s>BERGNER: They're still in the custody of the coalition forces. Their case has been reviewed to reassess the security threat that they represent. And in the assessment of that review board, the review board chose to continue to keep them in detention. I would point out that review board also included Iraqi members, as well.</s>BLITZER: All right, let's talk a little bit about Muqtada Al Sadr and the statement that was put out by a spokesman for his Mahdi Militia that they are going to suspend -- suspend armed actions, at least for the next few months. This is the anti-American cleric, as a lot of viewers know. Do you believe this guy?</s>BERGNER: Well, this is one of those circumstances, Wolf, where actions definitely speak louder than words. And so the real measure of merit here needs to be let's see a change in the facts on the ground. That's not to say that people in Iraq, to include the Multi- National Force, wouldn't welcome such a move toward more accountability. But this is a situation that really necessities seeing actions.</s>BLITZER: Well, good luck to you, General Bergner. Good luck to everyone over there. And I'm sure you're going to have a few busy weeks coming up. You're always busy over there.</s>BERGNER: Thanks, Wolf. Good to be with you.</s>BLITZER: Don't laugh -- the comedian, Jim Carrey, wants you to know about a very serious situation. He's posting video on the Internet right now about one woman sitting in prison. We'll tell you what's going on. And it actually happens in many public bathrooms around the United States and you may not even know about it -- men hoping to have sex with other men. Many people are now only learning about this, after a U.S. senator was busted in a sex sting operation in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis airport. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.