"Insider Attack" Kills 4 U.S. Troops; Chicago Teachers to Vote on Deal
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us in THE NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Americans gunned down by Afghan forces they train. It's called a green-on-blue attack. The latest one happened today in southern Afghanistan. NATO officials say Afghan police turned their guns on American troops, killing four of them. The attack comes just a day after another green-on-blue attack when two British troops were shot and killed by suspected by Afghan police officer in Helmand Province. Insider attacks are on the rise in Afghanistan with more than 50 this year alone. CNN's Anna Coren has this exclusive interview with an Afghan man who admits to opening fire on U.S. troops.</s>ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a small house in a Taliban controlled village is a man who claims to be responsible for a green on blue attack. With his face covered to hide his identity, he pulls out his police uniform. Something he hasn't worn since the attack on the 2nd of October, 2009. On patrol with U.S. forces in Wardak province in central Afghanistan, this father of two said he waited for an opportunity to launch his premeditated attack. "The Americans went inside the nearby school for a break," he explains. They took off their body armor and put their weapons down. At that moment, I thought it was the right time, so I took my gun and shot them." Two soldiers were killed. 25-year-old Sergeant Aaron Smith and 21- year-old Private First Class Brandon Owens. Three others soldiers were injured, including Captain Tyler Kirk. When asked why he turned his gun on the U.S. soldiers training him, he said, "Because Americans were oppressing people in my country, they were burning copies of the Holy Koran and disrespecting it." After escaped from the scene, he claims he was later catch by the Taliban who thought he was the policeman. When I told them I had killed Americans, they took me to a safe place, give me new clothe, then they drove me to Pakistan where the Taliban welcomed me very warmly like a hero. He says he later moved to Iran for three years, returning to Afghanistan only recently after being told it was safe. "They said Americans were not everywhere like they used to be. That Taliban had brought security and I should return home. I'm happy to be back in my country." (on camera): Green-on-blue or insider attacks, as they are known within the military, have sadly increased this year here in Afghanistan. It's an alarming trend that has causing forces extremely worried. And every single time there is an attack, the Taliban immediately claims responsibility.</s>COL. TOM COLLINS, U.S. COALITION FORCES: The Taliban lie and we know they lie. We think they overstate their influence on these tragic incidence incidences. We think somewhere around 25 percent of them are insurgent-related to some degree.</s>COREN (voice-over): The majority of attacks, according to the coalition, are related to personal grievances, cultural differences, and the psychological fatigue of an 11-year war that is about to enter its 12th year and where trust has been undermined, forcing new measures to be put in place to protect international troops, the Afghanis are determined to ensure these insider attacks don't derail this vital partnership.</s>SEDIQ SEDIQI, AFGHAN INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: We continue to work together. We have been working for the last 11 years. We have built a very good relationship together and this will continue despite any effort by the Taliban to make us separate. That will not happen.</s>COREN: But for this 30-year-old Afghani, he believes these attacks won't stop. "I know they will increase. I know more people will do what I did." Anna Coren, CNN, Kabul.</s>WHITFIELD: And hundreds of Afghans demonstrated in the streets again today, protesting an online movie that insults the Islam religion. Demonstrations were held in both Kabul and the western city of Herat. In Karachi, Pakistan, protests turned violent. Hundreds of people marched to the U.S. consulate there throwing rocks. Police used water cannons and batons to push them back. Some officers reportedly threw rocks at protesters. "Reuters" says one person was killed when people in the crowd opened fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging the U.S. to take steps to stop Iran's race for nuclear weapons and he tells our Candy Crowley that it is not a campaign issue.</s>BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This is not an electoral issue. It is not based on any electoral consideration. I think that there's a common interest of all Americans of all political persuasions to stop Iran. This is a regime that is giving vent to the worst impulses that you right down in the Middle East. They deny the rights of women, deny democracy, brutalized their own people, don't give freedom of religion -- all the things that you see you from these mobs storming the American embassy is what you'll see with the regime that would have atomic bombs. You can't have such people have atomic bombs.</s>WHITFIELD: Netanyahu says if Iran is not stopped, it could be ready to produce a nuclear bomb in six months in his view. The issue of Iranian nukes has been talked about on the campaign trail. In recent interviews, President Obama and Mitt Romney have agreed that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. But Romney has criticized the president, claiming he has not been doing enough to stop Iran's nuclear program. All right. We could be seeing the Chicago teachers strike come to an end today? In just a few minutes, the teachers bargaining team will give its members details of a tentative agreement it has with the school board. The walk out has crippled the country's third largest school district for the past week. CNN's Kyung Lah is at the meeting in Chicago, even talking to teachers as they have been coming in. How are they feeling about this agreement? Optimistic?</s>KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's definitely a mood difference in the teachers today than we have seen in the past week or so. The teachers are much more serious. These are the delegates that will decide whether or not to lift the strike. And in talking to a couple of them as they were coming in, they said that they have a lot of questions. The union did release some of the broad guidelines of this agreement. What they are going to vote on today is not the agreement itself. They're going to say "yea" or "nay" on whether to lift the strike. There is another option. The teachers' union delegates could decide whether or not they want another 24 hours to think about it. So it's not entirely clear how happy they are. And looking at the actual deal, the information released from the union, it doesn't appear that there is a clear winner -- neither the city nor the teachers. It looks like both sides had to take some steps back. Certainly, as one of those teachers did tell me, they're going to have a lot of questions. We don't expect this to be a very short meeting. So, no immediate decision right away on whether or not the strike will end, at least not in the next couple of hours.</s>WHITFIELD: So, what if anything are parents being advised to do to prepare for Monday?</s>LAH: Yes, that's really the tough part here, Fredricka, is that parents simply have to prepare for their kids to be back in school on Monday. But it's not assured. It is something that they can think about perhaps having some back-up babysitter in case the kids aren't back at school until Tuesday. They're still on strike until these delegates say this strike is over.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Keep us updated. Thanks so much, Kyung Lah, in Chicago. Republican vice presidential nominee, Congressman Paul Ryan, says printing more money is not the way to boost the American economy. In a Florida speech, he blasted Democrats and the Federal Reserve's latest efforts to stimulate the economy.</s>REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And when they undermine the value of our dollar, it wipes out our standard of living. One of the most insidious things the government can do to its people is to debase its currency.</s>WHITFIELD: Ryan's claim comes after the Fed announced another round of buying billions of dollars worth of debt held in mortgage-backed securities, hoping to increase the money supply. Critics say it will cause inflation. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says the Romney-Ryan team may ensure Democrats retake the House of Representatives. On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" today, she said when Romney picked Ryan as his V.P. choice, it changed everything in their favor.</s>REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: The issues are with us. For one year and a half since the Republicans passed their budget, which the Romney-Ryan now Republican budget, which severs the Medicare guarantee. We have been saying the three important issues in this campaign in an alphabetical order, they are Medicare, Medicare, Medicare.</s>WHITFIELD: The House has 435 members to take control, 218 is needed. All right. Right now, the Democrats hold just under 200 seats. Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protest. We'll go live to New York's Zuccotti Park where it all began.