Samuel Alito's Confirmation Expected Tomorrow
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Lou. And to our viewers, you're now in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you the day's top stories. Happening now, it's 5:00 a.m. in Pakistan, where just weeks ago, a U.S. airstrike targeted al Qaeda's No. 2 man. Now he's back with a new terror tape taunting President Bush and threatening Americans. It's 1:00 a.m. in Landstuhl, Germany, where a roadside bombing in Iraq has left ABC anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman, Doug Vogt lying, badly wounded, in a military hospital. What lies ahead? And it's 4:00 p.m. under the border between Mexico and California, scene of a sophisticated 2400 foot tunnel allegedly used by drug smugglers. Our Anderson Cooper is going to take all of us inside. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We begin tonight with two prominent men who went from covering the war in Iraq to becoming casualties of that war. Right now, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, lie seriously wounded in a U.S. military hospital in Germany. They were injured while riding with Iraqi forces when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Let's go to live to Landstuhl, Germany. CNN's Chris Burns standing by with the latest -- Chris.</s>CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was a day here of a testing, of examination. Families members arrived as well as an ABC executive. They put their heads together with the doctors to decide what the next step should be in treating these two men.</s>BURNS (voice-over): At Landstuhl U.S. Military Hospital, two more cases that are all too come here: victims of a roadside bomb in Iraq. ABC news anchorman bob woodruff and Emmy winning cameraman Doug Vogt arrived with breathing tubes and heavily sedated. They're suffering from head wounds and broken bones after Sunday's blast in which a so-called improvised explosive device blew up outside the military vehicle they were driving in. Standing in the open hatch, they were hit by shrapnel and whatever else the bomb kicked up despite they're body armor and helmet.</s>LT. COL. GUILLERMO TELLES, LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: These are foreign bodies that can cause tremendous amount of injury to flesh and bones.</s>BURNS (on camera): So you've seen this pretty off, then?</s>TELLES: Unfortunately, yes.</s>BURN (voice-over): After U.S. military doctors operated on them in Iraq, they underwent CAT scans and other testing here. The hospital says doctors saw good early signs of reaction, signs of slow improvement. Thousands of American troops have gone through this medical center, the biggest of its kind outside the U.S. Each soldier, a tragedy for at least one family.</s>BURNS: And now two more casualties among thousands, but, then, one of them was beamed across America into millions of homes across America every night makes it even more real that Iraq remains a dangerous and violent place -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Chris Burns on the scene for us at Landstuhl. Thank you very much. Doctors say they do see some signs of slow improvement. But Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt have an uncertain road ahead. Let's try to get a better sense of what they might be going through from our senior medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's joining us now from the CNN center. Sanjay, you're a neurosurgeon. You've covered military action. You've seen these kinds of head injuries. Obviously, we don't know the specifics of this case. But walk us through what might be going on.</s>SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. When you talk about explosions like this, there are several different factors. First of all, we doesn't know either how close they were to this IED, this improvised explosive device, nor how powerful the device was itself, so it's a little bit hard to say. But really, you think about three different waves of injury to the body and to the brain after an explosion like this. The first wave typically is debris that is actually launched by the explosive device itself or any debris in the area. The second wave really is this concussive type wave that you just see there, sort of moving the brain back and forth within the skull that can sometimes cause bleeding either within the brain or on top of the brain. And sometimes that just causes significant swelling. The third wave, Wolf, is when the bodies themselves sort of move around. But that's typically what happens in this sort of explosive device being so close to it, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: It's like the shock waves really could cause some serious damage. How are these guys treated for these kinds of injuries?</s>GUPTA: Yes. I mean, it's a good question. Again, don't know the specific types of injuries. But for shrapnel type injuries, for example, shrapnel can be launched at very high velocities as fast as being ejected from a gun or rifle. And if any of that has actually penetrated the skull, penetrated the skull, that would obviously need to be removed immediately. If it had caused any bleeding, for example, either in the brain or on the brain, those blood clots, those blood collections would have to be taken out. Also, Wolf, I have a brain here. I want to just show you this model. What happens sometimes, there's so much swelling from one side of the brain or the other that the bone here is actually removed and left off just to give the brain some room to swell, to give the brain some room and then hopefully that swelling will subside over time. That's another operation that might be done in this sort of situation. But there's all sorts of different operations, depending on the specific injuries.</s>BLITZER: Are there other injuries we're looking at potentially as well?</s>GUPTA: Yes. I mean, you know, we talk about any type you have a shrapnel injury, you can have all sorts of different organ systems involved. You have also got to worry about infection, you know, in the long run if you leave that bone flap off, for example, that could be a problem. But the biggest concern, really -- sounds like anyway -- is the injury to the brain either from that concussive effect or from the shrapnel itself.</s>BLITZER: Sanjay Gupta. Thanks very much, Sanjay, for that insight. The kind of improvised explosive device that hit Bob Woodruff and his cameraman is dangerously common in Iraq. The U.S. military says more than one third of the 62 American troops who died in Iraq this month alone were killed by these IEDs. In our CNN security watch, he escaped a U.S. air strike aimed at a terrorist gathering in a remote mountain village. It didn't take al Qaeda's number two man very long to answer with a videotape letting the world know that he's still very much alive, still very much a threat. Let's go live to our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson -- Nic.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, Wolf, this is essentially the quickest turnaround we've seen al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri or Osama bin Laden taking a specific event and responding to that specific event. This is the quickest turnaround of this type we've seen al Qaeda perform.</s>ROBERTSON (voice-over): It has been 17 days since the U.S. tried to kill him in a missile attack in Pakistan. Now Ayman al Zawahiri has fired back. His response delivered to the Arab language channel al Jazeera.</s>AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA (through translator): Their claim was to target this poor man and four of my brothers. The whole world discovered the lies as the Americans fight Islam and the Muslims.</s>ROBERTSON: The message, you missed me, you can't find me, clearly targeting President Bush. He adds taunts to what has become a diatribe against this administration.</s>ZAWAHIRI (through translator): Bush, do you know where I am? I am among the Muslim masses enjoying their care with God's blessing and sharing with them their holy war against you until we defeat you, God willing.</s>ROBERTSON: By far the quickest video to market yet for al Qaeda, complete with English subtitles. It's only been 11 days since Osama bin Laden's audio message offering a truce in Iraq and Afghanistan to the American public aired on al Jazeera. Zawahiri not only talked about that, but the U.S. government's rejection of the offer.</s>ZAWAHIRI (through translator): Sheikh (ph) Osama bin Laden offered you a decent exit from your dilemma but your leaders were akin to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and God willing on your own land.</s>ROBERTSON: Well, the White House's response has been that al Qaeda is on the run. But it seems the very speed with which al Qaeda has turned this around that Zawahiri at least thinks that no one is close to catching him. Indeed, video trail of getting his message out isn't being traced back to him at this time, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Nic Robertson reporting to us. Thank very much. And as Nic just reported, the White House press secretary Scott McClellan says the tape shows al Qaeda leadership -- in the words of McClellan -- clearly on the run and under a lot of pressure. But he adds that al Qaeda is still very much a lethal and determined enemy. And says the Bush administration still takes the al Qaeda threat seriously. To our viewers, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. Moving on to another dramatic new videotape out today, this one of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll. She seems to be distressed and distraught. The footage was aired on al Jazeera. CNN cannot confirm when or where the video was shot. In it, Jill Carroll is apparently crying. Al Jazeera says she's urged her family, friends and all Americans to plead to U.S. and Iraqi officials for the release of female prisoners in Iraq. Carroll's captors have threatened to kill her unless all female prisoners were set free. Last week, the U.S. military in Iraq released five female prisoners, but their release is said to be unrelated to the demands from Jill Carroll's kidnappers. Let's go to CNN's Zain Verjee at the CNN center for a closer look at some other headlines making news -- Zain.</s>ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the Senate is now on track to confirming Judge Samuel Alito after members overwhelming defeated a filibuster attempt by Democrats. 72 Senators voted to cut off debate on Alito and just proceed to a final vote tomorrow morning. That's 12 more votes than needed, virtually assuring Alito will be confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice, replacing Sandra Day O'Connor. The Bush White House says the president will deliver an upbeat State of the Union Address tomorrow night. He's trying to reclaim lost support among the American people. Mr. Bush will stress what one official calls kitchen table issues such as healthcare and energy. A special SITUATION ROOM coverage of the president's address begins as 7:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. And another major American company says it's going to lay off workers. Kraft Foods says it will cut 8,000 jobs. That's about 8 percent of its work force. Kraft is the nation's largest food manufacturer. The company says it will close up to 20 production plants. Kraft says it's part of an ongoing attempt to help save the company more than $1 billion. Back to THE SITUATION ROOM and to Wolf and Jack.</s>BLITZER: Let's go right up to Jack in New York. Jack, with "The Cafferty File."</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: As long as they don't quit making that macaroni and cheese. Kraft macaroni and cheese is the best macaroni and cheese.</s>VERJEE: Kraft.</s>CAFFERTY: What?</s>VERJEE: Kraft.</s>CAFFERTY: Say excuse.</s>VERJEE: Say schedule.</s>CAFFERTY: Just what President Bush needs.</s>VERJEE: Controversy.</s>CAFFERTY: Stop. Tell her to leave him alone, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Jill (sic), leave him alone.</s>VERJEE: Jill? It's Zain.</s>BLITZER: Zain, leave him alone.</s>CAFFERTY: There. Now, you heard from the master. Hush. President Bush doesn't need this on the eve of the State of the Union Address. There's a new terror tape from bin Laden's right-hand man, videotape message aired on al Jazeera. Ayman al Zawahiri says he survived that U.S. missile attack in Pakistan. He directly addresses President Bush, calls him the butcher of Washington and a loser. Al Qaeda's number two says the president will bring, quote, "more disasters to the American people," unquote, and vows to continue fighting the holy war. This comes 11 days after that new bin Laden audiotape. Taken together, these two tapes could make the president's job of talking up progress in the war on terror a bit more difficult. So the question is this, what does the new al Zawahiri tape mean for President Bush? E-mail us your thoughts, caffertyfile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile. You ever eat that Kraft macaroni and cheese, Wolf?</s>BLITZER: It's delicious.</s>CAFFERTY: I love it.</s>BLITZER: Good comfort food. Thanks very much, Jack. We'll get back to you soon. Zain as well. Coming up, the child of Saddam Hussein turns into a three-ring circus, at least that's what the critics are saying. His lawyers refuse to show up in court this week. I'll speak with one of them, the former U.S. attorney general, Ramsey Clark, he's here in THE SITUATION ROOM. And a secret tunnel into the United States from Mexico. Drugs and who knows what else coming in under the border. Our Anderson Cooper is there. He's going to show us what's happening on the scene. Also, homophobia at an Islamist Palestine. Hear why a senior leader of Hamas, the co-founder, is rejecting the idea of a secular Palestinian state. Our CNN exclusive. Say with us.