U.S. Fighter Jet Crashed in Iraq; President Bush Tries To Rally Overseas Support For Iraq War; Pope Benedict Visits Turkey
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins. For the next three hours, watch events happen live on this Tuesday, the 28th day of November. Here's what's on the rundown. President Bush rejecting the civil war label for Iraq. He's blaming al Qaeda for the constant violence.</s>HARRIS: When faiths collide -- Pope Benedict on his first visit to a Muslim country, trying to calm tensions between Islam and Christianity.</s>COLLINS: Ten people killed at a Missouri group home. Now, authorities want to know whether the fire was a crime. The investigation, in</s>THE NEWSROOM. HARRIS: A U.S. fighter jet down outside Baghdad. A scene of smoldering wreckage. The pilot nowhere to be found. Now, a military search is on to find one of their own. CNN's Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon for us this morning -- Kathleen, good morning.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. And, yes, military officials are still trying to piece together just what happened yesterday when this F-16 fighter jet crashed near Baghdad. According to officials, at the time it was on a low level troops in contact mission being directed by the ground commander in the area.</s>MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: The cause of the crash is unknown, but at this time, there is no indication suggesting the plane was shot down. For now, the Air Force has officially classified the pilot as duty status and whereabouts unknown. A board of investigation has convened to determine why the plane went down and information on the pilot's status will be made available as soon as we have further knowledge.</s>KOCH: There was just one pilot aboard that aircraft. Military officials say that surveillance planes in the region, also other jet fighters, did spot insurgents near the crash site, so a quick reaction force was sent in immediately to secure the area. Investigators who have been on the scene through the night and then also all day today have been collecting evidence, including DNA evidence. Officials say that should take about two to five days to process. They have also, very importantly, found the ejection seat. But, Tony, military officials say they couldn't tell whether or not it had been used or not. The crash -- the plane was so badly damaged.</s>HARRIS: Kathleen, has the pilot's name been released yet?</s>KOCH: No, Tony. Obviously the military wants to take great care to make sure that every single family member has been notified of what's happened. And, also, since there is this question about is the pilot dead or alive, certainly he is not with the aircraft. They don't want to put out any information that could potentially, you know, if the pilot is in hiding somewhere, could potentially be used against the pilot. So we want to keep him or her safe right now.</s>HARRIS: Kathleen Koch for us at the Pentagon. Kathleen, thank you.</s>KOCH: You bet.</s>HARRIS: The bloodshed in Iraq now. The military says expect more in the coming days. This was the scene this morning in the city of Kirkuk. Police say a suicide bomber blew himself up near an Iraqi governor's convoy. The governor survived, but 18 people were wounded. A U.S. military spokesman said civilian casualties have spiked dramatically in Baghdad following the carnage in Sadr City on Thursday. Some 200 people were killed. Many now say Iraq is in the middle of a civil war. But the military and President Bush still rejecting such a characterization.</s>COLLINS: President Bush trying to rally troops around the world. This hour, he's in Latvia for a NATO summit. He's asking allies to provide more forces for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. But these days, the president's attention never strays far from the war in Iraq. Let's talk with CNN European political editor Robin Oakley now -- Robin, what's the latest now?</s>ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this is a big, big summit for NATO, a transformation summit, they're calling it, which is going to fix the role of the 26-nation alliance for the next 10 to 15 years. Also, a big focus on Afghanistan. But a lot of the other 25 leaders here will be wanting to ask President Bush about the latest situation and the escalating violence in Iraq. When he was in Estonia earlier this morning, talking to the president there, he gave us a clue as to what he'll be pressing on Nouri Al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, when he meets him in Jordan later this week.</s>GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The bombings that took place recently were a part of a pattern that has been going on for about nine months. I'm going to bring this subject up, of course, with Prime Minister Maliki when I visit with him in Jordan on Thursday. My questions to him will be what do we need to do to succeed? What is your strategy in dealing with the sectarian violence?</s>OAKLEY: But there have also been tough words from President Bush this morning about the fellow NATO allies, who aren't doing enough to step up to the plate in Afghanistan, some of them having caveats about what parts of the country their troops will fight in. And the NATO Secretary-General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer saying they're 20 percent short of the troops and equipment they need in the tough areas fighting the Taliban in the Helman Province in the south -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right, Robin Oakley, thanks for that. We'll be checking back with you as the day goes on, I'm sure. Meanwhile, bringing home the troops. Britain says it plans to withdraw forces from Iraq by the end of next year. Its defense secretary would not give a specific number of troops, but said it would likely be in the thousands. Any withdrawal depending on conditions on the ground. Britain has about 7,000 troops in Iraq. Most are in the south, in Basra. That's Iraq's second largest city.</s>HARRIS: Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey and under heavy guard. The pontiff is making his first visit to a Muslim country and he is being met with high tensions. He made a controversial speech in September that angered Muslims worldwide. Turkey has launched massive security operations to protect the pontiff. Turkey's prime minister says the pope reassured him today that he views Islam as a peaceful religion. The pope reaching out after his controversial comments. Is anyone listening? CNN's Delia Gallagher reports.</s>DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pope Benedict XVI caused more than a stir when he quoted an obscure 14th century Byzantine emperor. It wasn't the first time he would speak so pointedly about Islam. And in the months since that now famous speech and the furor that followed it, he may have issued an apology of sorts, but he hasn't backed away from his message. Vatican watchers say that's not unexpected. It says a lot about the man who made the comments.</s>JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: And I think if you read that 5,000-word speech in context, it's very clear it's not really about Islam at all, it's about the relationship between reason and faith. But what is characteristic is that this is a very tightly packed, academic argument and in that argument, he simply is not willing to observe the kind of P.C. taboos about things you're supposed to say and not say if he thinks it serves the point he wanted to make.</s>GALLAGHER: In his 1997 book, "Salt of the Earth," then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote: "We must recognize that Islam is not a uniform thing. In fact, there is no single authority for all Muslims, and for this reason, dialogue with Islam is always dialogue with certain groups." He said those groups run-the gamut from noble Islam to extremist terrorist Islam. And in a meeting with Islamic representatives in 2005, he called on elders to teach their young tolerance and cooperation. But he follows a pope who tried over and over again to befriend the Muslim community and Benedict's tougher talk has some wondering if John Paul II's hard work may be destroyed by Benedict's hard line approach.</s>ALLEN: No question that Benedict XVI has a slightly tougher message on Islam than his predecessor, John Paul II. John Paul was the great bridge builder with Muslims. He met with Muslims more than 60 times over the course of his pontificate. He was the first pope to go inside a mosque, which he did at the Grand Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in 2001. I think Benedict believes that now that those bridges have been built, it's time for us to walk over them.</s>GALLAGHER: In the immediate aftermath of that speech in September, protesters filled the streets. Effigies were burned. A nun-and a priest were murdered. But Benedict hasn't backed down. He called a meeting in Rome of Muslim ambassadors and religious leaders and apologized, not for what he said, but that his remarks spurred a violent reaction. The pope called for continuing dialogue with the Muslim community. But he insists that dialogue cannot take place unless the issues he spoke about in Regensburg become part of a meaningful discussion.</s>ALLEN: It's got to be more than tea and cookies. We've got to be able to actually talk out real issues. And certainly the two issues, above all, that he wants to put on the table are violence and terrorism, and then also religious freedom.</s>GALLAGHER: Will Benedict's steadfast approach open that dialogue or will it burn the bridges built by his predecessor? His reception on this historic visit to Turkey will go a long way in showing whether Muslims are ready to accept this outspoken pope as an ally. Delia Gallagher, CNN, Istanbul, Turkey.</s>HARRIS: When faiths collide -- later this morning in THE NEWSROOM, we will talk about the pope's trip, the goals and expectations, with an Islamic scholar, Ingrid Mattson. And Anderson Cooper is live in Turkey with Pope Benedict's first day and Muslim reaction. A special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360" tonight, live from Turkey. That's at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific, right here on</s>CNN. COLLINS: Numb in the Northwest -- a storm system blanketing the region with heavy snow. Look at this. About two feet of it in parts of Washington slowing travel and knocking out power to thousands of people there. The Idaho Mountains have gotten several inches of snow since the weekend, too. That's leading up to some cleanup operations, but also a lot of fun. Ski resorts are opening up. Good timing. Also, stormy weather in Utah. It's the state's first big snowfall this season. It's made for a messy commute for some people, but no reports of serious accidents. So that's good news. Rob Marciano taking a look at all of this. It's beautiful, but sometimes it does really mess people up.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, with all of the weather situations, or most of them, there's a catch-22 -- there's a good side, and there's a bad side, a real double-edged sword.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>COLLINS: Right.</s>MARCIANO: So with the cold air comes the headaches to drive, be it to work or to visit somebody or to get to the mountains. Once you get to the mountains to play, you've got some great snow. And that's what we're dealing with. This is unusual for this time of year. Cold air driving out of the Gulf of Alaska, and, also, Arctic air driving down from Canada. And those two colliding across the Pacific Northwest and this storm continues to bring snow to this area. These are record -- these are yesterday's snow totals in -- actually, two days ago -- snow totals. And these totals have continued to pile up in the mountains. Not so much at the valleys. If you watched the football game last night, you saw it piling up at the Seattle Seahawks game and then it ended about halftime. There are still showers around here, but mostly the main energy has moved off into the mountains of Idaho, of Utah, and eventually into Colorado. But it's still 25 degrees. That could very well be a record low in Seattle. Thirty-three degrees in Portland. So it's certainly still cold enough to snow in areas that really, snow is a pretty rare event. Not so rare in the Colorado and Wyoming Rockies, in the Tetons and the Bitterroots and the Wasatch. We could see, well, we probably will see over a foot of snow in some of these areas. And so the ski resorts will begin to pile that base up that they'll need going forward.</s>COLLINS: Meanwhile, a deadly fire at a home for the disabled. Investigators now looking for signs of a crime. The update on the case coming up in</s>THE NEWSROOM. HARRIS: An elderly woman killed in a shootout with police. Was the drug raid a mistake? Is there a cover-up? Tough questions in Atlanta today.</s>COLLINS: And soldiers in the shadows.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've had to face public opinion. I've had to face disownment from my father. He told me I was dead to him.</s>COLLINS: AWOL in Canada -- the story coming up right here in THE NEWSROOM.