Iraq Progress Report: Petraeus, Crocker Testify Today; Protecting the Cockpit; Pakistan Power Play; Britney Spears Bombs at VMAs
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked the members of Congress to just sit back and listen to what we all had to say.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back. Thanks very much for joining us. It is Monday, the 10th of September. I'm John Roberts on Capitol Hill as we await the Petraeus-Crocker hearings, 12:30 Eastern Time today.</s>KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, about four and a half hours from now. I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. You know, we've already heard from Iraq's prime minister this morning. He says that Iraqi forces are not yet ready to take over security from the U.S. military.</s>ROBERTS: Sorry. What did you say?</s>CHETRY: And within hours we're going to hear from America's top commander in Iraq, as John said, General David Petraeus. We're also going to hear from the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, Ryan Crocker. They will both be testifying before Congress. It's going to be televised, of course, here on CNN, on the war, its progress, and possible plans, future plans for the troops. CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon. And Barbara, you have a bit of a preview because we've heard some of the reporting leading up to today coming out. What are we expecting to hear from General Petraeus?</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, I think everyone watching these hearings is going to be looking for one fact: what will General Petraeus recommend about when the first U.S. troops can come home from Iraq? First up, the surge. Thirty thousand troops, extra troops in Iraq since February or so. Will he say that at least one of the brigades, 4,000 troops, can come home before April? Will he allow that token withdrawal perhaps as soon as Christmas or January? That's the first thing everyone is going to be looking for. When will the surge itself begin to end? The surge begins to run out in April. General Petraeus well knows that and knows he has to begin drawing down in April no matter what. But will he allow some sort of early withdrawal beyond that? What about the 130,000 U.S. troops, the baseline force that has been there now for years? What is the security situation? What will he recommend about when they can come home? That is much more problematic. That is much further down the road. And you are going to hear a lot of statistics throughout the day, Kiran. How many attacks -- are attacks up, are attacks down? How many Iraqis have been dying in this terrible sectarian violence? Everybody's got their own set of statistics, their own set of numbers. General Petraeus well expects a grilling on the Hill about all of it -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: It's interesting, because, you know, as you talked about, everyone's going to have their own numbers, it's going to come down to credibility. And this "New York Times"-CBS poll out says that 68 percent of Americans think it's the military that can come up with a solution for Iraq. They only believe -- only 21 percent of people believe Congress has the answer. And five percent believe the Bush administration has the answer. What does that say about how General Petraeus' testimony will be received today?</s>STARR: Well, you know, it's so interesting to look at these public reaction in these polls. So many people, so many Americans turning to the uniformed military to look for these answers. But, of course, under the U.S. form of government, the military is under civilian control. And it will actually, of course, be President Bush's decision when he addresses the nation later this week about what to do and what the way ahead is. And all of this confidence in General Petraeus reflected in that one poll also comes at a time we are seeing other polls where people are critical of the military. And many Democrats on Capitol Hill expected to give General Petraeus quite the grilling, asking him if he can really independent independently evaluate the progress in Iraq, because, of course, the new strategy is really all his, and many people feel he will be very optimistic about it all -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon. Thank you. So what are the soldiers saying about the mission in Iraq? CNN's Anderson Cooper is on assignment in Iraq. He's reporting live from Camp Victory. Here's Anderson now with a preview.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Kiran, while General Petraeus is testifying in Washington, we're here in Iraq, checking the facts, "Keeping Them Honest". A special "360" report live from Baghdad tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. We'll be watching, Anderson. And CNN will also carry the testimony from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. It's all happening live 12:30 Eastern this afternoon. We'll also be comparing notes from what's being said today to what's been reported before, all from CNN's Iraq Fact Check Desk throughout the day here on CNN -- John.</s>ROBERTS: New this morning, Kiran, Senator Larry Craig is expected to file papers to try to take back his guilty plea. Craig's attorney says he'll argue that the Idaho Republican suffered a "manifest in justice" at the hands of the police officer who arrested him in a men's room.</s>BILLY MARTIN, SENATOR CRAIG'S ATTORNEY: Under Minnesota law, intelligence is defined by having a crime to which you know you've committed and that conduct constitutes a crime. Here, Senator Craig admits to going into the bathroom. He admits to moving his foot. He admits to reaching his hand down. That's all. That is not a crime. So what we're alleging, that it's not intelligent and knowingly to enter a plea to conduct that does not itself constitute a crime.</s>ROBERTS: Craig may decide to stay in office if the court clears his name. Democrats running for president held the first-ever debate in Spanish last night at the University of Miami. Anchors from Univision asked questions in Spanish. The candidates war ear pieces, heard a translation of the question in English. Their answers were given in English and then translated into Spanish for viewers. Immigration reform was one of the biggest topics. .</s>SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do favor much more border patrolling and much more technology on both of our borders. And in certain areas, a physical barrier, because I think we've got to secure our borders. That has got to be part of comprehensive immigration reform.</s>GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This wall is a horrendous example of Washington misguided policy. The Congress only funded half of the wall. And in addition to that, if you're going to build a 12-foot wall, you know what's going to happen? A lot of 13-foot ladders. This is a terrible symbol of America.</s>ROBERTS: The two presidential candidates who can speak Spanish, Governor Richardson and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, were not allowed to speak the language in the debate. Richardson complained about it but didn't get anywhere -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks so much. Well, we're tracking some weather now. And Gabrielle no longer a tropical storm, just a tropical depression. And she's headed out to sea today. There are no more watches or warnings in effect for coastal areas like the outer banks in North Carolina. Gabrielle caused a few problems Sunday as it passed over the outer banks.</s>ROBERTS: IT has been almost six years since terrorists stormed their way into cockpits on September the 11th, 2001. Security at airports and on airplanes is much tighter today than it was back then. But are there still vulnerabilities, especially when it comes to keeping cockpits secure? Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is in our Washington bureau with more. Jeanne, after 9/11, doors on airliners were reinforced. What else is new?</s>JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, reinforced cockpit doors have greatly increased the security of the flight deck, there's no doubt about it. But there are times when the door is opened in flight, for a change in crews or to allow a pilot to use the lavatory. Congressman Steve Israel will be introducing legislation to require a second barrier at the front of an aircraft.</s>REP. STEVE ISRAEL (D), NEW YORK: I wasn't sure this was as much of an issue as some pilots told me until I saw a cockpit door open, a member of the crew leave the cockpit, and a 110-pound flight attendant stand in front of the cockpit guarding it from terrorists who would be slightly heavier. That's when I realized that this bill was urgently necessary.</s>MESERVE: A secondary barrier would look something like this -- I think we have some pictures here. It would be closed only when the cockpit door is opened to slow down any would-be terrorists. The Airline Pilots Association says it's an absolute no-brainer, a cost- effective way to further improve aviation security -- John.</s>ROBERTS: How much would the extra barriers cost, Jeanne? Is it a real cost factor here?</s>MESERVE: Well, estimates vary widely from $3,000 per plane to $50,000 per plane. The Transportation Security Administration is not requiring that airlines install them, though some airlines have. An industry group says there should be a risk analysis, though to pilots the risk is pretty clear. They say just remember 9/11 -- John.</s>ROBERTS: And it would appear that not all cockpit doors are secure either, Jeanne. I was recently on a commuter flight and the cockpit door popped open when they were taking off. So, still some work to do there. Jeanne Meserve for us this morning in our Washington bureau. Jeanne, thanks.</s>MESERVE: You bet.</s>ROBERTS: Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Well, it's time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for some other stories new this morning. A high-stakes political drama playing out overnight in Pakistan. Monita Rajpal live in London at the World Update Desk. Hi, Monita.</s>MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran. In less than 30 minutes, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Not his intended destination today. Now, earlier today, Nawaz Sharif had landed in Islamabad, where he had finally decided to land after being in exile for about seven years. The airport itself was a destination of a few altercations, as well as an arrest for Nawaz Sharif. He was handed arrest papers for money laundering and corruption charges, charges from a few years ago. He had -- again, as I said, he had been in exile for about seven years, but two weeks ago, the Pakistani high court had said that Nawaz Sharif could return to Pakistan. But, again, he is now back -- heading his way to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His arrival in Pakistan had been intended -- he had intended to challenge Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf's -- his title as president, calling him -- his methods as undemocratic and calling him also a dictator. So we'll have to see exactly what happens from now on -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right, Monita. Thanks so much for that update. Well, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen asked pediatricians for the five most common mistakes parents make with their newborns. She joins us now from our medical update desk. Five? I mean, sometimes you feel like you're making 500. You know, when you bring that little thing home in a blanket, you have no idea what to do.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. It does not come with a book of instructions. That's absolutely right, Kiran, and that's why we asked pediatricians, you know what? Just give us the five most common ones so we can help people avoid them. And the list of five actually is up right now on CNN.com/health. It's called "The Empowered Patient". And what you want to do is go to that page, CNN.com/health, and scroll down until you see my picture. And there it is. But in the meantime, Kiran, we're going to give you a quiz. You're a mom. And I know that you will get many of these right. And so we're going to give you a quiz about some of these mistakes. Let's take a look at the first one. And Kiran, you can tell me, true or false? The first one is, it's great if your newborn sleeps through the night. Is that true or false?</s>CHETRY: First of all, show me someone whose does. Secondly, probably not. They've got to eat. Their tummies are little, right? And they have to eat more often than you think.</s>COHEN: You are right, Kiran. But I was so surprised that pediatricians said to me, you know what? We do get a fair number of parents who come to us and say, it's great, we brought her home from the hospital and she slept through the night, and we were so excited. And the pediatrician say, not good, wake them up every four hours to eat. They are just too little. They need to eat at least every four hours. All right. Well, we have a second question for you. True or false, you should not bring your newborn to church? What do you think, Kiran?</s>CHETRY: Do they mean just in general, in public places? You worry about taking your kids outside. I would say false.</s>COHEN: Actually, that one is true. The pediatricians we talked to said that for the first six weeks or so, you don't want to bring your newborn to a place that is as crowded as a church. The guy in the next pew over sneezes, your newborn can get a fever. And no matter what the cause of that fever, it automatically guarantees you a two-day hospital stay with a spinal tap and all sorts of other unpleasant tests. So, do not bring your newborn to a place that's as crowded as a church.</s>CHETRY: All right.</s>COHEN: And we have a third question for you -- last one. Don't leave the house with your newborn for at least six weeks. We were just talking about germs. So do you think a pediatrician would say don't leave the newborn -- don't leave the house with your newborn for at least six weeks?</s>CHETRY: I think they would probably say false on that one.</s>COHEN: They would. You've got that one right, absolutely. They said, look, postpartum depression is real. And a mother would surely get one -- get a case of postpartum depression -- if she didn't leave the house for six weeks, or almost surely would get postpartum depression. So the pediatricians say, go out of the house, take a walk, go to the park. Just don't go to a really crowded place, especially that's enclosed.</s>CHETRY: Got you. All right. Some good tips. And we'll check the rest of them out on line. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.</s>COHEN: Thanks, Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Well, lots of unexpected developments at the MTV Video Music Awards. AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho joins us now with more. Were you brushing up on some of Britney's dance moves since the last hour?</s>ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I didn't have to because she wasn't that great, Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Exactly.</s>CHO: You know, everybody's been talking about this. You know, it was supposed to be Britney Spears' big comeback, but by most accounts, her performance at last night's VMAs was anything but. In fact, many are calling it a bust. Among the big problems, lip syncing that didn't match, dance moves that were either badly choreographed or badly executed, as you can see there. That outfit wasn't so great. And a lot of people were also talking about the body that's not as in shape as it was before. Now, in her defense, she has had two children. Now, Spears was the opening act last night. She was trying to drum up excitement for her new album which is out in November, but that performance drew mixed reviews.</s>COMMON, R&B; ARTIST: I thought Britney Spears didn't look like she was too enthused about being there. So it was kind of disappointing. You felt bad. 50</s>CENT, RAP ARTIST: I think she did good. I think the production was great.</s>CHO: He's the only one who thinks so. You know, Britney isn't the only star people are talking about this morning. There was also a fight at the post-show between Tommy Lee and Kid Rock. Not sure exactly what it was about, but since of them used to be married to Pamela Anderson, it might not be a stretch to assume it may have had something to do with that. Now, Kid Rock, who is the only one, by the way, who landed the blows, he has reportedly been cited for misdemeanor battery but has not been taken into custody. As for who won last night, which is kind of secondary, Justin Timberlake was the big winner with four trophies, including male artist of the year twice. He called on MTV to go back to its roots and play more music videos instead of those reality shows. Fergie, by the way, won female artist of the year, and Kanye West came up empty-handed last night. He has vowed never to attend the VMAs again. And Kiran, he was not just upset about not winning, he was also upset about not being the opening act. He said he is hot right now and that Britney has not had a hit in years.</s>CHETRY: Yes, he -- boo hoo hoo for Kanye. He was doing a lot of whining last night. Poor Britney, though. So, not only did her performance bomb, but her ex won four awards. So...</s>CHO: Yes. Kind of a double whammy.</s>CHETRY: Poor thing. All right, Alina. Thank you.</s>CHO: Sure.</s>CHETRY: John.</s>ROBERTS: The long-awaited report on President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq comes due today. What Democrats and Republicans are looking to hear. We'll talk with Congressman Rahm Emanuel and Duncan Hunter about that. And the longer you live, the more important life insurance becomes. Gerri Willis will tell us what you need to know about insurance whether you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.