Tangled Tale of Poisoned Russian Spy Gains New Intrigue With Each Passing Hour; Iraqis React to Findings of Iraq Study Group
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Searching for a new strategy. The U.S. president looks for lawmakers' input on the Iraq Study Group's bleak assessment of the war.</s>STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Tracing the radioactive trail. Detectives looking into the murder of a Russian ex-spy now focusing on an upscale London hotel and key witnesses in Moscow.</s>MCEDWARDS: A war of words deepens a political crisis. Lebanon's prime minister trades personal attacks with the Hezbollah leader who wants him ousted.</s>FRAZIER: And burning the midnight oil. While Tokyo sleeps, it's rush hour for traders bringing fish to the markets. We'll see how sushi makes it from the auction bloc at Tsukiji to your chopsticks. It's 2:00 a.m. in Tokyo, in fact, noon in Washington. Hello, everyone. I'm Stephen Frazier.</s>MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards. Wherever you're watching, this is</s>YOUR WORLD TODAY. FRAZIER: The tangled tale of a poisoned Russian spy gains new intrigue with each passing hour, almost.</s>MCEDWARDS: Yes, it certainly does. The radioactive trail now leads to a London hotel bar and to a student who says that she may know of a possible motive here.</s>FRAZIER: It's also focusing on two key witnesses in Moscow, both of whom met Alexander Litvinenko on the day that he fell ill. Matthew Chance has been following these complex threads of the investigation. And I hope, Matthew, you can knot some of them together for us now.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Stephen, I'll certainly try, because there have been more developments in what you say is a tangled investigation into the murder of the former KGB spy, Alexander Litvinenko. Russian authorities here in Moscow saying that a key witness in the investigation is now showing symptoms of severe radiation poisoning as well. He's being treated in a clinic here for the damage to what they say are is vital organs. All this, of course, could have a very severe impact on the ongoing police investigation in the Russian capital. A team of nine British investigators are here trying to piece together evidence and to interview witnesses in order to try and get as close -- as close as possible to the truth.</s>CHANCE (voice over): Another twist in the poison plot that already defies belief. A key witness now may be facing the same agonizing fate of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. Dmitri Kovtun was one of the Russians who met Litvinenko in the Millennium Hotel in London on the day he was poisoned. Now the Russian news agency Interfax reports he, too, has acute radiation sickness. Investigators say he's already revealed important evidence. There's renewed focus on London's Millennium Hotel as the possible site where Litvinenko was poisoned. Seven of its staff are now confirmed to be contaminated with radiation. Russian authorities say they have opened their own criminal investigation. It could mean Russian detectives following the trail to London. But progress by their British counterparts in Moscow appears to be slow. British investigators say the Russians are cooperating, but they say they've still been unable to cross-examine key witnesses, including Andrei Lugovoi, a former Russian agent, also at the Millennium Hotel meeting. He told reporters it was an innocent get- together. "I told Litvinenko I wouldn't be alone," he said. "I knew he was careful with unknown people from Russia." Back in London, two Ph.D. students among the last to interview Alexander Litvinenko before he fell sick say the former spy told them about a dossier he acquired. They say Litvinenko claimed it contained evidence implicating Russian officials in corruption.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told me, "I've got files. I've got very sensitive information. I've got special files, that I have access to do those blackmails." He indicated to me clearly that he had an access to very sensitive information through</s>FSB. CHANCE: The existence of the dossier has never been confirmed, but sensitivities in this case, political and diplomatic, have very much come to the forefront.</s>CHANCE: Already Russian authorities say references to the possibility of official Kremlin involvement in this poisoning has already damaged relations between Russia and Britain. The digging of the Russian -- of the British police, rather, now here in Moscow runs the risk, at least, of making matters worse. After all, Stephen, who knows what they might find.</s>FRAZIER: Indeed, Matthew, although it's a little confusing what the official response is. The prosecutor general said that Russia's going to run this case, and yet, in spite of that comment, it looks as though Russia has been extremely cooperative to date in giving the Britons access, albeit with their presence, to witnesses.</s>CHANCE: Well, certainly I think there's a double game being played here. On the one hand, the Russians are certainly saying they will be as cooperative as they possibly can be. But at the same time, they've also set very strict parameters in which the British investigators are permitted to work. For instance, they've made it clear that any interrogations, any questioning of witnesses, will not be carried out by the British police, but will only be carried out by the Russians. The British will simply have to stand by and look on. They've also made it clear that if any suspects are identified, any arrests are to be made, there's no question of any Russian citizen being extradited for trial in Britain. They've also laid the ground very much, Stephen, for the possibility, as I mentioned in that report, of sending Russian detectives, Russian investigators to follow the trail in London. And that could seem -- that could appear to be very controversial as well -- Stephen.</s>FRAZIER: Indeed. We all should remember that Litvinenko was a British citizen at the time of his death, so the British investigators would want to be claiming that case in London. Matthew Chance in Moscow now. Matthew, thank you very much. We'll be spending a little bit more on this. Next week, CNN turns the spotlight on Russia. Becky Anderson will be hosting a week of special coverage from Moscow, "Putin: Power and Politics." Join us as Becky investigates the country behind these headlines and all the others with in-depth reports from CNN's Moscow-based correspondents, Matthew Chance and Ryan Chilcote. For more details, you can log on to cnn.com/russia.</s>MCEDWARDS: U.S. President George W. Bush is under a lot of pressure to make a decision on a new U.S. strategy for Iraq. The Iraq Study Group has already issued its findings, and he's waiting, he says, for more reports from various government groups. But according to a recent opinion poll, the American public is getting a little bit impatient about all of this. The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that only 27 percent of Americans approved of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. That's down from 31 percent last month. And Americans are not optimistic about a positive outcome to the war. Sixty-three percent of Americans did not expect to see a stable democratic government in Iraq. Now, President Bush met with top congressional leaders at the White House to talk about all of the options on the table.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just had a very constructive conversation. We talked about Iraq, we talked about the need for a new way forward in Iraq, and we talked about the need to work together on this important subject.</s>MCEDWARDS: Mr. Bush is expected to announce his decision sometime before Christmas -- Stephen.</s>FRAZIER: Colleen mentioned the reaction from the American public. We're also getting more reaction now from the Iraqi public to the findings of the Iraq Study Group. Kurdish leader Massoud Bazani (ph) has rejected the report. He says the panel ignored the needs of Kurds inside Iraq, and he's opposed to giving too many authority to any central government. Proposed changes in the role of U.S. military another matter of concern for other Iraqis. Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson tells us about that.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Already a very bloody month. More than 30 U.S. servicemen killed in the first week of December. American soldiers still under attack as Iraqi politicians ponder the Iraq Study Group's report. Haider al-Abadi has lots of influence in the prime minister's party.</s>HAIDER AL-ABADI, AIDE TO IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: Now, there's very clear direction that, at the end of the day, U.S. forces are going to leave. This is good news.</s>ROBERTSON: But he's also worried about how it could possibly work to have 20,000 U.S. military trainers embedded with the Iraqi military.</s>AL-ABADI: There is a nightmare. I thought, immediately, 20,000. How many translators? I mean, Iraqis, most of them, they don't understand English. We need proper translators, efficient translators, to get the message to the Iraqis to get trained properly.</s>ROBERTSON: On the vexing question of U.S. engagement with Iran and Syria, Iraq's national security adviser was delighted with the recommendations.</s>MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: From our perspective, we believe that the United States government should engage with Iran, should engage with Syria.</s>ROBERTSON: According to Rubaie, only America wields enough power to stop Iranian and Syrian interference. The situation is so out of control now, he says, Syria is the gateway for 85 percent of all foreign fighters entering Iraq.</s>AL-RUBAIE: And probably more than 90 percent of this 85 percent are landing in Damascus airport. The Syrian government can stop the foreign fighters (ph).</s>ROBERTSON: Equally pressing, figuring out how to disband Iranian-backed militias, which now control large chunks of Baghdad. For Iraq's government, the study group's recommendations offers no quick fix.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are very keen to see the militias disarmed. I know the prime minister is very keen on this. He wants to implement it very quickly.</s>ROBERTSON (on camera): Can he, though?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a problem.</s>ROBERTSON: A problem, because even under the accelerated hand- over envisioned by the report, Iraqis say they won't have the power they need to combat the militias until late into next year at the earliest. Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.</s>MCEDWARDS: Well, the Iraq Study Group says some funding for Sunni insurgents is coming across the Saudi border. A new Associated Press report backs that up as well, giving some details about the flow of cash. It says millions of dollars from private Saudi citizens end up in the hands of insurgents, and then much of it is used to buy weapons. The report quotes Iraqi officials as saying some of the Saudi money comes from donations collected for Islamic causes or charities. The Saudi government strongly denies that any money for insurgents is coming from its country.</s>FRAZIER: Let's check now on some of the other stories that are making news around the world at this hour.</s>MCEDWARDS: And we want to begin in Turkey. Leftist protesters clashed violently with police overnight in Istanbul. Demonstrators set fire to cars and threw molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas and water canons. Supporters of an underground far-left political party were protesting the arrests of several of its members.</s>FRAZIER: Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh says his Hamas-led government will never bow to pressure to recognize Israel. He was speaking during a visit to Iran and said at Tehran University "Palestinians will" -- and we're quoting now -- "continue the jihad- like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem."</s>MCEDWARDS: Foul weather forced NASA to scrub the planned launch of the space shuttle Discovery Thursday night. Clouds and wind have so far prevented the start of what is to be a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. NASA hopes to launch in the next few days or so. But the forecast for the weekend is not that promising either. Stay tuned.</s>FRAZIER: Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick has died we learned a short time ago. Although originally a Democrat, she switched to the Republican Party and became a heroine of conservatives. She helped to design Ronald Reagan's policies that eventually brought down the Berlin wall. Jeane Kirkpatrick 80 years old.</s>MCEDWARDS: All right. We want to bring you some news just coming into CNN. We are getting news of a terror plot of some sort that had been planned in the Chicago area. We're finding this out because some indictments apparently have been unsealed. And Kelli Arena has been working this story for us from Washington and joins us now with more details on this breaking story. Kelli, how much do we know?</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, we know it's not an indictment yet.</s>MCEDWARDS: OK.</s>ARENA: So I just want to clear that up. And I know this is fast moving. It was a criminal complaint that was filed against him and just unsealed. Basically, it's a 22-year-old man living in Chicago, a U.S. citizen. The name is Derek Sharif (ph). He was arrested two days ago for allegedly planning to set off hand grenades in garbage cans in malls over the holiday season. Now, we're told by a federal law enforcement official that there's no indication that he was working with any group or that he's connected to any terror organization. He was doing this on his own. He's going to be charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and also with planning to damage or destroy a building by using fire or an explosion. Again, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen in custody. And, you know, will be charged with allegedly, you know, planning to disrupt the holiday shopping season.</s>MCEDWARDS: All right. Kelli Arena, thanks a lot for bringing that to us and for clarifying the points on that. And we'll of course keep you up to date if there's any more details we feel you need to know about. Thanks, Kelli.</s>FRAZIER: Coming up, Lebanon's prime minister accusing him of trying to stage a coup.</s>MCEDWARDS: He says he'll continue to lead protests until the government is gone. We're going to bring you the war of words between the head of Hezbollah and the Lebanese prime minister.</s>FRAZIER: And then switching gears a little bit, Americans snapped it up. It is now flying off the shelves in the United Kingdom. We'll play around with Nintendo's red-hot video game console and the Wii just ahead.