[John Negroponte, National Director Of Intelligence Nominee:] I appreciate your confidence in choosing me for what will no doubt be the most challenging assignment I have undertaken.
[Miles O'brien, Co-host:] He's been America's ambassador to Iraq and the United Nations. Now, he has been picked to be America's first ever national intelligence director. What it means to you, in a "CNN Security Watch" this hour.
[Kyra Phillips, Co-host:] Show me the money the budget money that is. Mr. Schwarzenegger goes to Washington. California's governor, live this hour, from Capitol Hill.
[M. O'brien:] An explosive lesson. A high school instructor blasted for apparently teaching his students how to make a bomb.
[Phillips:] So who's more likely to clip a coupon, Donald Trump or the guy who parks his car? A new survey on who is most likely to pinch a penny. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, we are far from tightwads, right, Miles.
[M. O'brien:] I'm a penny pincher, Kyra. Thanks for being with us. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now. Diplomat one day, DNI nominee the next. That is director of national intelligence, the newly minted post designed to oversee the collection and coordinate the flow of other people's secrets. If the Senate goes along, the job will go to John Negroponte, career foreign service officer, currently U.S. ambassador to Iraq. CNN's Elaine Quijano with more from the White House Elaine.
[Elaine Quijano, Cnn Correspondent:] Hello to you, Miles. President Bush says John Negroponte understands America's global intelligence needs because of his years in the foreign service. The ambassador served at several posts in Asia, Europe and Latin America. But today, President Bush cited specifically his experience over the past few months in Iraq, saying it will give the ambassador an advantage for an intelligence chief, namely an up close look at the enemy. But this newly created position of director of national intelligence is an enormous one. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Negroponte will oversee the nation's 15 intelligence agencies. And while he won't have an office in the White House itself, he will brief the president on day-to-day intelligence matters. The president also making it clear with concerns in the past over different agencies having competing interests, jockeying for control of budgets. Mr. Negroponte will have the authority to do his job.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] He will set the budgets. Listen this is going to take awhile to get a new culture in place, a different way of approaching the budget process. That's why I selected John. He's a diplomat. He understands the and he's an experienced person. He understands the power centers in Washington. He's been a consumer of intelligence in the past. And so he's got a good feel for how to move this process forward in a way that addresses the different interests.
[Quijano:] The president today also named the deputy to John Negroponte. That person, Lieutenant General Michael Hayden, who serves as a director of the National Security Agency now. Now this is a choice which may blunt some of the potential criticism of Mr. Negroponte, that while he may possess tremendous diplomatic skills, he does not have a deep intelligence background. So the choice of Mr. Hayden, a career Air Force intelligence officer, may quiet some of those criticisms. As for Ambassador Negroponte, he is a surprising choice for many here in Washington. His name was not among those that were circulated here as a potential candidate for the job. Nevertheless, President Bush saying clearly today that he he trusts John Negroponte's judgment Miles.
[M. O'brien:] Elaine Quijano on the north lawn, thank you very much. Later in this hour, we'll get some Democratic reaction to the Negroponte nomination, from the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Jane Harman. CNN is committed to providing the most credible coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.
[Phillips:] No conclusions but consternation aimed at Syria from the White House today. As you may have seen live here on CNN, President Bush declared Damascus out of step with the greater Middle East, but he stopped short of laying blame for Monday's hugely destruction assassination of former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
[Bush:] We support the international investigation that is will be going on to determine the killers of Mr. Hariri. We've recalled our ambassador, which indicates that the relationship is is not moving forward, that Syria's out of step with the progress being made in the greater Middle East, that democracy's on the move and this is a country that isn't moving with the democratic movement.
[Phillips:] Monday's attack brought new attention and sudden urgency to some long-festering feelings and grievances. We get more now from CNN's Soledad O'Brien.
[Soledad O'brien, Co-host, "american Morning":] While Syria denies any involvement in Monday's assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, the Bush administration is turning up the diplomatic heat on Damascus.
[Condoleezza Rice, Secretary Of State:] Syrian presence and the Syrian involvement in Lebanese affairs has, of course, created a destabilized environment in Lebanon.
[S. O'brien:] Syria's had an occupying presence in Lebanon for nearly three decades. Some 13,000 Syrian troops are currently stationed there. The U.S. is demanding Syria abide by a recent U.N. resolution and withdraw its troops from Lebanon. But Syria's grip on Lebanon is only part of the U.S. concern. CNN Beirut bureau chief Brent Sadler has spent his career extensively covering the region.
[Brent Sadler, Cnn Correspondent:] Syria is under the close scrutiny of the United States, because it's viewed as a force to destabilize the peace process and emerging democracy in Iraq.
[S. O'brien:] He says the U.S. considers Syria a de facto member of the axis of evil.
[Sadler:] A country that supports extremist, militant, violent anti-Israeli Palestinian groups based in Damascus, a country that's creating, trying to create weapons of mass destruction.
[S. O'brien:] And there's new concern about Syria and Iran, another U.S. adversary, forming an alliance that could threaten the Bush administration's master plan for the Middle East.
[Sadler:] You have emerging democracy in neighboring Iraq. You have one of the Middle East's most enduring semi-democracies, some would say, here in Lebanon. In Syria, an enduring country, a one-man, iron-fist ruled, that's endured, lasted for decade. Syria does not fit in that equation in its current form, vis-a-vis, U.S. plans for this region.
[M. O'brien:] That was Soledad reporting Soledad O'Brien reporting, along with Brent Sadler. Where you stand determines where you sit and how many of your comrades sit with you in the Iraqi National Assembly. And as the results of last month's elections are finally certified and assembly seats are divvied up, the United Iraqi Alliance emerges even stronger than it did in the popular vote. The UIA claims a slender majority in the 275-seat assembly, though it captured fewer than half the ballots cast. We get the latest from CNN's Nic Robertson, live now in Baghdad Nic.
[Nic Robertson, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Miles, while they've certified the results today, perhaps really doesn't change anything in the big political picture, if you will. The percentages are still the same. The United Iraqi Alliance needs the Kurds to get that two-thirds majority. Most of the other parties come in with very small figures. The Sunnis, relatively underrepresented proportional to their population in the country. But what it does do, really, for the politicians here is tell them exactly how many seats they have, exactly what their strengths are, exactly what their weaknesses are, as they bargain for those key positions of prime minister, defense minister, interior minister, and the presidency, as well. And that, perhaps, is going to energize that negotiation. But what we're hearing at the moment is there are deep divisions. Some politicians really digging up old enmities and not coming to any agreement around this bargaining table. These enmities are making the process very, very slow. And we're being advised that this process could, in fact, take some while. And of course in Iraqi politics, it could we're also advised it could happen very quickly. But what we're understanding from the process right now is that now they have these final results. They really can get in and negotiate really toughly on their positions, Miles.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, it's important if it will be secular or Islamic government, because we're passing through very critical circumstances. And if there will be Islamic government for one sect will lead to tendencies among other sects, which we do not need in this circumstance. We want to rebuild our country and develop it. The circumstances of our country cannot let us tell if the result of the elections will be fair as there is no stability and security. Besides that, it is not clear politically. We can't tell if the results will be fair 100 percent.
[Robertson:] And that's a concern of a lot of people here, is they want this process, the horse-trading to get the key positions, to allow the government to get up and running. They want it to happen quickly. The fear is that the ministries can't work, that in the vacuum, the insurgents will get stronger, take advantage of the sort of lull in political activity. A lot of people telling us that today, Miles.
[O'brien:] CNN's Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thank you very much Kyra.
[Phillips:] For every soldier sent to fight there are personal battles along the way.
[Sgt. Maj. Gallagher:] I did not finish high school. I just decided on my own, either I'm going to stay in this town and probably wind up in jail or I'm going to get up and go. And I got up and went.
[Phillips:] Sergeant Major Gallagher shares his personal war stories. You're going to hear from him straight ahead. And lethal lesson, a high school teacher allegedly shows his students how to make a bomb. That story on LIVE FROM. Stay with us.