Story of Presidents Surprise Baghdad Trip on Thanksgiving; Story of one D.C. Sniper Sentenced to Death, His Alleged Accomplice Still on Trial
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN's ON THE STORY, where our journalists have the inside word on the stories we covered this week. I'm Kelly Wallace, on the story of how the country, the president, and families mourn the losses in Iraq.</s>DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash in Crawford, Texas, on the story -- or really off the story -- of the president's surprise Baghdad trip on Thanksgiving.</s>CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad, on the story of Iraq</s>DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Deborah Feyerick, in New York, on the story of how a drug bust here fires up new questions about airport security in the war on terrorism.</s>PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Patty Davis, on the story of one D.C. sniper is sentenced to death, his alleged accomplice still on trial. Also coming up, we'll talk to Barbara Starr, somewhere in Afghanistan. We'll talk about how hot, new government numbers on the economy will ripple across the presidential campaign. And we'll listen to the president's weekly radio address at the end of the hour. E-mail us at onthestory@cnn.com. Right now to Dana Bash and President Bush in Baghdad.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will win because we will stay on the offensive. And we will win because you're part of the finest military ever assembled.</s>BASH: The cheers of some 600 military troops in Baghdad, surprised, completely surprised, by the president on Thanksgiving. And while that was going on, I was sitting right where I am right now, giving reports that the White House gave us, detailed reports on the president's dinner menu for the quiet Thanksgiving we were told he was having at his ranch here in Crawford, giving reports on the calls he was going to make to troops from his ranch here in Crawford, Texas. All the while, just a few hours later, back in our filing press area here in Crawford, we saw the flash wire go up on all of our computers. It said "Bush in Baghdad." And we all stood up, really not knowing what to do. We were absolutely incredulous that we were here covering -- what we thought, covering the president here in Crawford, and he ended up in Baghdad.</s>AMANPOUR: Dana, everybody here was stunned as well. And, in fact, people couldn't believe it when it first flashed. How thorough was the deception? I mean, didn't you notice that some journalists had disappeared? What was the story you were given?</s>BASH: The way they did it was really remarkable. First of all, they only took a couple of journalists from here in Crawford. And they picked up the rest when the president and Air Force One stopped. They switched planes at air force Andrews base in Washington. But the way it works around here, particularly on a holiday weekend, there is a filing center, which is where we were, but not a lot of people were around. But it was very interesting because we all -- you know, our colleagues have a camaraderie. There was one reporter, Richard Kyle (ph) of Bloomberg, who was actually asked and did make the trip. He and a couple of us had plans for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner we were going to make on Thanksgiving. I called him and asked him what I should pick up. He, in a panicked mode, actually made up a story about he lost his wallet and how he needed me to go to the supermarket and by him a turkey, giving me very specific instructions on how to do it. All the while, he was sitting next to senior Bush official who was telling him that he was going to Baghdad. It was just a ruse to try to get me off the phone and really off his trail. That was just one example of the way reporters were told not to say a word, and even to tell White lies in order -- so that nobody knew they were going.</s>WALLACE: Dana, it was really stunning. We were watching you and the other reporters on TV that day, of course, learning, of course, that President Bush was in Iraq. But what's going on behind the scenes now, Dana? How much discussion, how much debate, when it comes to the journalists and the White House, about whether there was maybe too much of this deliberate deception and, in fact, whether the White House lied and kept you all guessing while he was in Iraq?</s>BASH: Well, there is a lot of discussion about that, Kelly. And certainly, it will be discussion in the weeks and months to come about who was taken and from where and from what news organizations. But the bottom line is that the White House does say this was an issue of national security. And what's really interesting is what happened to the reporters who were actually on the trip. When they got on the plane, they were taken -- their cell phones were taken away. The batteries were taken out of their cell phones first, and then they were taken away. And they were confiscated. And they were told not only by senior officials, but by the president himself, as they were getting on the plane, they were absolutely, positively not to make any calls. They were told if word leaked out, if anybody found out at all, that they were going to turn Air Force One around and the mission wouldn't happen at all.</s>DAVIS: But this has been a really good week for the president overall. He looked strong flying to Baghdad. And he's had really good economic news and good news on Medicare.</s>BASH: It certainly was. It started out as a week that was very big for him domestically. It almost seems like three weeks ago, at this point, because the past 48 hours have been so remarkable. But you're right, he was able to -- certainly going to try to claim credit for getting a prescription drug benefit pass ford Medicare. He got great economic news. And now this. And the way they are making sure that we knew the stories of how the president was able to really slip away from us here in Crawford is pretty remarkable. The president -- his ranch, just to set the scene, is about seven miles away from where I'm sitting right now. So we don't -- we're not even able to get that close. But we're told that even if -- just maybe to make us feel better here -- even if we were standing at the door, right by the president's ranch, we wouldn't have known that he left because he left without a motorcade, he left in an unmarked car with tinted windows. The Secret Service had him put a baseball hat on just so nobody would know it was him. And he experienced regular rush hour traffic like everybody else. He was joking that was the first time he'd done that in three years. This was all so that nobody had any idea that he was leaving Crawford, nobody had any idea he was getting on that plane and heading to Baghdad.</s>FEYERICK: Dana, journalists can be a pretty cynical bunch. But how is this trip being perceived? Is it different than the landing on the air force carrier when he declared the end of the hostilities, or is this something totally different, as to how it's being perceived?</s>BASH: Well that's an interesting question. Because you remember, when the president landed on the aircraft carrier, it was just -- I mean, people were absolutely in awe. And not just journalists, but Democrats. Democrats did not criticize him at all for that. And of course it was a different situation. He was talking about the war specifically. And he made a very specific speech, declaring major combat over. And the controversy about that is more about how -- whether or not he really was prepared and the White House is prepared for what is going on now. But with this particular trip, you heard from Democrats on the campaign trail applauding it, because the White House was very careful. They tried -- they made this and the images of this trip about the president, the commander in chief visiting the troops to give a morale boost. And that is something that is very hard for Democrats to criticize. But they are trying to move forward, move past that, and say that they applaud the trip, they applaud the fact that he's going to meet with troops. But they also want to make sure to point out the policy in Iraq.</s>AMANPOUR: Dana, in terms of what the press is talking about amongst themselves, I mean, how unusual was the whole issue of changing the pool or picking certain reporters to go?</s>BASH: It was very unusual. The White House did pick journalists, a couple of journalists who were here. They did take all of the wires. But the way the process was carried out wasn't your -- the typical process. They took some of the wires, the wires who are normally on the plane, from Washington. They took some from here. But it is standard to have a small pool. Just for people who don't understand the way the press works, there are -- there's a representative from television, there's a representative from newspapers, there's a representative from magazines, and then all of the wires, and of course a representative from TV, always with the president. In the end that is what happened. And the question of who was chosen and why and from where, that is something that we're going to be talking about certainly for a long time.</s>AMANPOUR: Well, despite the president's trip, the grim reality is that, in Iraq, U.S. soldiers keep getting targeted and the violence continues. We will be back with that after a break.