Iraq Study Group's Suggestions; Spy Saga
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins. For the next three hours, watch events happen live, on this Wednesday, the 6th of December. Here's what's on the rundown. Emergency exit -- the Iraq Study Group's suggestions on a way out of Iraq. The report now on the president's desk.</s>HARRIS: Spy saga -- a friend of a poisoned Russian dissident also contaminated. He talks exclusively with CNN about a radioactive hit job.</s>COLLINS: And taxpayers soaked -- double dipping washes away millions of dollars after Hurricane Katrina. FEMA's dark cloud, in THE NEWSROOM. Long-awaited, highly anticipated -- will the recommendations provide a road map out of Iraq? The report from the Iraq Study Group will be released two hours from now. It was presented to the president earlier this morning. We want to go straight to the White House now, live with our Suzanne Malveaux -- good morning to you, Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, President Bush got his hard copy about two hours ago. He was in the Cabinet Room with the Iraq Study Group, all 10 members. We're told that every one of those members went around the table talking about a different aspect of it. And when it was all said and done, the president said, and I'm quoting: "Well, that was good." Now, White House officials are now confirming what is in that report and what our own Ed Henry broke late last night, the fact that there is no call for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. There is no call for some sort of immediate mass withdrawal. But the bulk of this report is really about changing the role of the U.S. military from on the front lines to embedded with the Iraqi troops, helping them train and move forward, so that they can be a part of the major combat. The report also calls for the Bush administration to engage in direct talks with Iran and Syria, to offer carrots and sticks, if you will, to make that actually happen. And the commission head, James Baker, also talks about the very important role of the Middle East, bringing peace between Israelis and Palestinians in order to bring peace in Iraq. President Bush reacting to this report just a couple of hours ago.</s>GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've told the members that this report, called "The Way Forward," will be taken very seriously by this administration. It's a -- this report gives a very tough assessment of the situation in Iraq. It is a report that brings some really very interesting proposals and we will take every proposal seriously and we will act in a timely fashion.</s>MALVEAUX: And, Heidi, one of the things that the report emphasizes is that there is a need in Washington for both sides to come together, a sense of bipartisanship. One of the members of the panel, Vernon Jordan, said, look, we put our partnership, we checked it at the door to come up with a consensus here. Lee Hamilton also telling the president directly, he said, "Mr. President, you're going to get a lot of advice, but this is really the only bipartisan advice." That was very much stressed in this meeting, as well as in that text -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: And so hopefully, Suzanne, the idea is that because it is bipartisan, it will carry more weight, maybe even more credibility. But I have to say, without sounding like a naysayer, we have heard of a lot of these suggestions before. What is different? What will this change and where might Bush go from here?</s>MALVEAUX: You know, it's uncertain what's going to change at this point. We know that the Bush administration is at least, on the surface, trying to give this impression that they are going to look at this, take this very seriously. This afternoon the president is meeting with Republicans and Democrats here at the White House from both the House and the Senate sides. Very important committees, we're talking about Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Armed Services. He's going to sit down with them, brief them on his NATO trip, as well as his discussions with the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki. He is going to talk about receiving this report, as well. We know that tomorrow President Bush is going to be here at the White House with his greatest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, again, to discuss these recommendations. And then later today, this Iraq Study Group is going to have a teleconference with Iraq's prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, about the way to move forward. So certainly there are signs that the Bush administration is taking this seriously. But it's a very good question, Heidi, whether or not this is going to carry enough weight to make real change.</s>COLLINS: All right. Well, we will be watching very closely, as the rest of America, I'm sure. And at 11:00, we'll be hearing from the Iraq Study Group themselves. So it'll be a fascinating day. Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House.</s>HARRIS: The U.S. military's top brass certain to have a keen interest in the recommended Iraq policy changes. We check in with CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr this morning -- good morning to you, Barbara.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony. Well, it is perhaps the case that none of the recommendations in this report are going to come to a huge -- as a huge surprise to senior U.S. military commanders. Everybody has pretty much long agreed that there are no new ideas that nobody has thought about in regards to Iraq. The question now is how to make any of these ideas really turn into military strategy on the ground in Iraq. One of the central recommendations about trying to turn the U.S. military into more of an advisory role by 2008 in Iraq, rather than a combat force, well, that's pretty much the track that the military has been on a part of President Bush's strategy that as Iraqi forces stand up, U.S. forces will stand down. But with the security at really crisis proportions in Baghdad and in the west, in Al Anbar Province, that has proven to be very tough. What the U.S. military already has been doing, we know, is accelerating the takeover of security to the Iraqis, increasing already the amount of training going on, doubling the size of some training teams in Iraq and also repositioning U.S. forces sort of to more rear positions, trying to push the Iraqis out front, get them in the front line combat position to become more of the advisers in the back. So, a lot of those is already underway in Iraq. So how to turn it all into real strategy...</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>STARR: ... how to turn it into military reality on the ground, Tony, unless security improves, it's going to still be a significant problem.</s>HARRIS: All right, so let's sort of change gears just a bit here. Is the military concerned at all about how Iran may play a role in all of this on the ground in Iraq?</s>STARR: Well, Iran is one of the major concerns. As we know, the report calls for direct dialogue with Iran. There is clear evidence, clear intelligence at this point, according to General Abizaid, that Iran is sending weapons, money, trainers into Iraq, supporting some of those Shia militia groups that are causing some of the sectarian violence. It is a significant problem now. What U.S. military commanders have told us, even if you took Iran out of the equation, there would still be a big problem in Iraq. But unless you deal with Iran, you're essentially not going to solve the Iraq problem. So there's very much a feeling on the part of the U.S. military that somehow Iran's influence must be dealt with. It will be President Bush's decision, they say, how to do that, but the military does feel it's something they have to address.</s>HARRIS: Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr for us this morning. Barbara, thank you.</s>COLLINS: The key to getting U.S. troops out of Iraq -- the ability of Iraqi forces to take over security. But are they up to the challenge? CNN's Ben Wedeman reports now from Baghdad.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how it's supposed to happen -- Iraqi soldiers capturing insurgents, wresting peace and stability from the chaos that is Iraq today. But this is just a drill. More than three-and-a-half years after the U.S.-led invasion, the Iraqi Army and police are supposed to be increasingly taking the lead while American forces provide backup.</s>LT. COL. CHUCK WEBSTER, U.S. ARMY: And we're here to support you in your checkpoints. If you get attacked or you have a suspected terrorist coming through your checkpoints, we're here to support you.</s>WEDEMAN: But the performance of Iraqi security forces has, at best, been mixed. The Iraqi police have failed to establish basic order, despite billions of dollars and millions of man hours spent on training. And the police force is widely believed to be infiltrated by the insurgents and militias and plagued by widespread corruption. The Army has fared only slightly better, suffering from high levels of desertion and lacking strong leadership, with many U.S. troops frustrated by what sometimes appears to be a lack of motivation.</s>LT. COL. ROSS BROWN, U.S. ARMY: They didn't do too much work yesterday.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About how much work...</s>BROWN: They didn't do too much work the day before.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. But...</s>BROWN: They haven't done too much work since they've been here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, what</s>WEDEMAN: The bipartisan Iraq Study Group and other reviews ongoing in Washington are trying to address these many strategy changes. But it will be an uphill battle in a country where the best laid plans have a way of going terribly wrong.</s>COLLINS: Ben Wedeman joining us now live from Baghdad -- so, Ben, your assessment? You're there. Are Iraqi troops ready to take over?</s>WEDEMAN: No, I don't think so, and nobody actually pretends at this point that they are ready. There's still a long way to go in terms of training them, equipping them. At the moment, by and large, it's the Americans that make the decisions on where troops are deployed and how they are used. But we heard from the senior coalition spokesman yesterday, saying that they hope that by next summer, the Iraqis will be in charge of what they call their battle space, that they will be the ones making the critical decisions on where to deploy their men and how to use them and that the United States and the other coalition partners would basically be providing backup where it's necessary, where the Iraqis feel that they need the help of the Americans and others. So we are looking at the middle of 2007 at this point, in theory, for some sort of total hand over with the Americans and others just providing support -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Ben, I'm curious to know if the Iraqis are aware of and are interested in this Iraq Study Group.</s>WEDEMAN: Well, we went out and asked some of them and by and large they were fairly skeptical about the ability of the Iraq Study Group to actually make a difference. Many of them saying look, the Americans have been here for three-and-a-half years, why are they coming up with this big plan now, when, really, it should have been something they did at the very beginning. They say that they have not seen their lives improve dramatically in any way and that, if anything, they say that things have simply gone from bad to worse, that now, of course, the City of Baghdad is divided between areas controlled by various militias, that there's crime, there's killing, there's destruction. So most people are aware of this study. They just don't think much is going to come of it -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Well, Ben, when you speak with them, do they have suggestions? Do they have ideas about where they would like to see their country go?</s>WEDEMAN: Well, those we spoke to were in agreement. They said they'd like to see the Americans get out. They say that at this point, there's really not much that they can do. They feel -- they have more confidence in their own forces, the Iraqi Army and police. They feel that if the Americans get out, the Iraqi forces will have no choice but to bring the situation under control. So they told us they want them out. And, in fact, the -- there was an opinion poll recently done here that basically said the same thing, that nine out of 10 Iraqis would like to see U.S. forces out of the country.</s>COLLINS: Ben Wedeman joining us now live from Baghdad. Ben, thanks.</s>HARRIS: Chad Myers is following a situation in the Midwest that is -- is just really trying right now. Another cold acc blast in a section of the country that doesn't need it right now -- Chad.</s>CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A lot of folks here, still tens of thousands of people without power around St. Louis through Illinois and parts of Missouri, and this air is on the way.</s>HARRIS: Still ahead, double dipping -- thousands of people claiming hurricane damage got their money from FEMA, and got it twice. The outrageous details -- you won't believe this -- straight ahead.</s>COLLINS: A family stranded in their snow-bound car. The mother and two daughters rescued, but a father still missing. Details on a desperate search and a new clue, coming up. Plus, the report is in the president's hands now. So what happens with the Iraq Study Group's recommendations at this point? We'll talk with a former defense secretary. You are in THE NEWSROOM.