Interview with Senators Bayh and Bond
HARRIS: A suicide car bomber blew himself up in Baghdad today, injuring at least 13 people. Six of the victims are Iraqi police commandos. Meanwhile, final results from the national elections could be released next week. They're expected to show a Shiite religious alliance with a strong lead. Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and Missouri Senator Kit Bond are leading a U.S. delegation in Iraq. That delegation, which includes Illinois Senator Barack Obama, hopes to sort out conflicting reports on the progress of the war and on training Iraqi troops. They're getting the word from Iraqis themselves following December elections. Senators Bayh and Bond join us now live from Baghdad and we appreciate your time, gentlemen. First let me start with you, Senator Bayh. This is your second trip to Iraq. What kind of progress are you seeing now that you're on the ground?</s>SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: Well, Betty, obviously, the elections were a major step forward, but now we have to build on that by forming a government that is truly representative of the Iraqi people, finalizing their constitution in a way that promotes both majority rule and the respect for minority rights, and then getting on with the tough business of economic improvement in the country. And ultimately, most of all, Iraqis need to start thinking like Iraqis, not just as Sunni or Shia or Kurds but as Iraqis. There needs to be a reconciliation and a political settlement in this country. If that can happen, then the security situation should start to improve. If it doesn't happen, then the security situation will be very difficult.</s>NGUYEN: Senator Bayh, you mentioned security situations there in Iraq. Where are Iraqi troops when it comes to training and readiness?</s>BAYH: They're making some improvements, Betty. We visited one of their elite units today. They're more numerous. They're getting better and that needs to continue. What needs to happen is that as they step up and improve their capabilities, then we can start stepping back and they can begin patrolling the streets and clearing some of these difficult cities, and we'll be in a more supervisory and supportive capacity. So, you know, we're heading in the right direction. It's been painfully slow, taken too long, but we need to continue along the path here so that they can step up and assume their responsibilities for protecting their country so that we won't have to do quite so much.</s>NGUYEN: Senator Bond, you're on the ground there and you've spoken with troops. As it goes with Iraqi forces being prepared to take over their country and protect their country, do you feel that's something that could happen soon allowing U.S. troops to come home?</s>SEN. CHRIS BOND (R), MISSOURI: I don't think that we're going have all U.S. troops out of this country for a long time. The war on terror is going to continue even when and if -- which we hope is quite possible -- Iraq does take over, establish a national unity government and move forward, bringing Kurds, Shias and Sunnis all together. I think that the military has demonstrated that it is able to take over more and more of the responsibilities. This year is going have to be a year when we train the police with the assistance of police experts from the United States and other countries to help them ensure that they have a security force on the ground in each community which can prevent ordinary crimes as well as deal with insurgents and the foreign terrorists who will continue to deal to try to unravel the progress that is being made in Iraq.</s>NGUYEN: Senator Bayh, I want to ask you this because one of your concerns is making sure U.S. troops have the equipment necessary to stay safe. There's a new Pentagon study out that found 80 percent of marines killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper torso could have survived if they had better body armor. Is that your assessment as you speak with troops on the ground? What's the problem when it comes to equipment?</s>BAYH: Was question to me, Betty?</s>NGUYEN: Yes.</s>BOND: Yes.</s>BAYH: OK. Bayh and Bond sound somewhat alike, so -- well, look, unfortunately, this is reminiscent of the situation with the up armored Humvees where it finally took that brave soldier standing up and speaking about hillbilly armor to get the kind of action that we needed. I've not read the report you referred to. We need to get to the bottom of it. Someone in the Pentagon today -- not tomorrow, today -- needs to be assigned about finding out what the truth is. And if what you described is true, getting to the bottom of it as soon as humanly possible -- we have a moral obligation to give our troops the equipment they need to fulfill their mission and to protect their lives in doing so. And, Betty, if that's not done, someone should be fired and it shouldn't be buck private. It should be somebody higher up the chain of brass than that.</s>BOND: When you're talking about arming marines, my son happens to be a marine in Iraq and we're -- we have not yet heard any of those problems here. But if there is a report out that says that there is a lack of adequate body armor, you can be sure that Congress is going act and we would expect the administration to take immediate action if that in fact is a significant problem. And, again, we have not seen that report nor have we heard any account of it so far on our trip. We will be making additional visits tomorrow and we'll certainly be following up with that question.</s>NGUYEN: Well, we appreciate your time. We appreciate you being on the ground and getting to the bottom of a lot of issues dealing with Iraq. Thank you for your time, senators.</s>BAYH: Thank you, Betty.</s>BOND: Thank you.</s>NGUYEN: Tony.</s>HARRIS: Texas Governor Rick Perry says as many as 70 wildfires in the state may have been deliberately set. Governor Perry has ordered several state agencies to investigate possible arsons. Just yesterday, Texas authorities reported 35 new fires. Since Christmas, dozens of wildfires have killed three people, destroyed hundreds of homes and burned a quarter million acres. And What we need, Betty -- and we've got enough cold temperatures out there. We need some rain.</s>NGUYEN: Rain. You know, there out west, California was getting too much, but in Texas and those areas, they just need the rain right now, Bonnie. It seems like all they're getting is wind.</s>HARRIS: Mourning their loved ones.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm waiting on the church steps thinking my dad's being brought to me and then see everybody going back into the church and then telling me my dad's dead. It just -- you know, I just wanted the truth.</s>HARRIS: Families of the dead miners are asking why and how as a grim reality starts to set in.</s>SHANON COOK, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Shanon Cook, when we go global, bird flu claims the lives of three children as the deadly virus moves beyond Asia and reaches the edge of Europe. CNN SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.