last Monday, March 17:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/17/acd.01.html

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES

No Presidential Do-Over in Florida?; America's Economic Crisis

Aired March 17, 2008 - 22:00 ET

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Michael, let me ask you a question about the surge. If the position is the surge is working, and John McCain has said that before, one, would you agree with it? And, two, does it did not continue to work if those troops are moved?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, in a sense, yes, the surge is working. But one thing I'd be very keen to do is ask Senator McCain just what exactly does he think the surge is? Violence is currently down. Back to levels of about 2005. Now, that still means a lot of Iraqis are dying every month. It still means 30 or 40 or more Americans are dying every month. That's completely unacceptable.

But this thing called the surge has brought those levels of horrific violence down from last year. But the surge isn't just about 30,000 troops sitting here in Baghdad. That's not what's really done this. What's really done this is cutting a deal with the Ba'athist nationalist insurgency.

What's done this is Muqtada al-Sadr calling a truce. What's done this is segregating this country into Sunni and Shia enclaves, walling them off with massive blast barriers, and arming local militias to protect themselves.

Now will this survive if 30,000 troops go? Those troops are just in Baghdad. What this is happening and the levels of violence is across the country. So there's much greater things at play here than just 30,000 troops. And in many ways, America is mortgaging the future of this country and America's interests to bring these numbers down by building these militias -- Soledad...

O'BRIEN: Let me give the final question to Michael Ware tonight. Michael, a year ago when you and I spoke, you told me that the Iraqi troops were a disaster. I mean, they were just -- it was just a mess. Do you see improvement there or do you see improvement, but slowly, or no improvement at all?

WARE: Well, look, on an ad hoc local level, depending on which American unit you're dealing with, they may be dealing with a much better Iraqi counterpart than you'll find elsewhere.

But I have to tell you, overall, the numbers of Iraqi troops, the numbers of Iraqi police are growing. But the building blocks of these forces are still essentially militias or the insurgents. There really is no national coming together, certainly within the police. Absolutely fractured. Riddled with Iranian-backed militias.

And now America is putting Sunni insurgents in police uniforms to counterbalance that. You cannot walk away from this country and leave it to anything like the Iraqi security forces, and that's the sad reality.

America broke this place. This place is on its knees, yet America cannot walk away without enormous cost to itself and its own interests -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Michael Ware joining us tonight..."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/23/twip.01.html

THIS WEEK IN POLITICS

Wall Street Appears Weak; Iraq War Becoming No. 1 Issue; Praying for Votes: Faith and Politics

Aired March 23, 2008 - 13:00 ET

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This week marked five years since the invasion of Iraq. There were protests, of course, not very big ones, but they did have music. So, we will roll a bit for you. The president still had no doubt.

BUSH: The answers are clear to me. Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision.

FOREMAN: John McCain has made the war in Iraq a focal point of his campaign.

MCCAIN: I can tell you unequivocally that the situation has improved dramatically over the last year.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: One, two, three, four, we don't want your oil war.

FOREMAN: The Democratic candidates are criticizing the war, of course, and promising its end.

OBAMA: Are we safer because of this war? And that is why Senator McCain can argue, as he did last year, that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up, and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq because violence is down.

CLINTON: I believe the best way to get the Iraqis to move to take responsibility is for us to end their blank check.

FOREMAN: And, finally, the vice president had his own unique point of view.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC NEWS: Let me go back to the Americans. Two- thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting. And they're looking at the value gained vs. the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.

RICHARD B. CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So?

RADDATZ: So, you don't care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Who would have believed a year ago that the war in Iraq would have been anything but an albatross around the neck of the Republican candidate? But John McCain has made Iraq the keystone for his presidential campaign. And it could be what puts him over the top.

Is all this due to real changes on the ground in Iraq or just smoke and mirrors?

There's no one who cuts through the smoke better than CNN's Michael Ware. He joins us now from Baghdad.

Michael, the Democrats continue to say, look, we need to get out as cleanly as we can. The Republicans continue to say, we need to stay until the job is successfully accomplished. Is either one possible?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very difficult question to answer, obviously. But the short answer is, no, not without some significant change. Any sense of withdrawal is just beyond the pale (ph). I mean, we always steal the magic wand that could be waved over this blood-soaked country and fix all that ails it, but I'm afraid that just doesn't exist.

For right or for wrong and for whatever reason, America began this war. And one way or another for America's own foreign policy interests, and for those of this region and the Iraqi people, America must bring it to some kind of resolution. Now, should it be continued in the way that it's going now? That's a matter also of great debate.

In many ways, America's never really fought this war. It's always done it with its arm tied behind its back. And with the surge or without the surge, there's still an 800-pound gorilla in the room that's yet to be addressed, and I've yet to see America establish a coherent strategy to tackle. And that's the fact that Iran all but owns this country. It certainly has greater influence.

This government is much more closely aligned to Iran. And Iran strategically is using this country as a quagmire to punish America, to torture its great enemy, being the U.S. here on one of its own battlefields close to home. So none of these policies that I'm hearing espoused address the underlying true dynamics of this war now.

FOREMAN: One of the things the Democrats are saying is that they think the only reason there's any political progress, slow as it may be in Iraq right now, is because the Iraqis fear that a Democrat will take the White House and will pull out. Is that true?

WARE: Look, anyone who postulates in that fashion honestly must be dreaming. Now, this Iraqi government might know that it doesn't exactly have a handle on everything. But to be honest, I think this Iraqi government is more afraid of American money pulling out than it is of American troops. I mean, particularly if you talk to the hard liners in this government who were trained, funded, indoctrinated and continue to be supported by Iran.

Let's not forget, many of the major factions of this government certainly the most powerful ones, and their paramilitary wings continue to this day to have connections to Tehran, if in fact those parties and organizations were not actually created in Tehran, while in exile from Saddam's rule.

So these people, if you speak to them like the ambassador from Iran here in Baghdad, say America, get out of the way. Give us the security far less they call it. Basically give us the responsibility for security. Let us fix this.

And if you want to give us the weapons we want, Iran certainly will. So the threat of a U.S. troop withdrawal is not as real as perhaps many people back home in the states would like to believe -- Tom.

FOREMAN: Thanks so much, Michael Ware, for that update..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23674907#23674907  (07:22)

Iraq, five years later
March 17: General Wesley Clark breaks down the successes and failures of the war so far and the course of action that should be taken for the future.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23674907#23674907  (07:22)

This is the only guy who makes a convincing case for not pulling out everyone form Iraq immediately. He knows what's really going on.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/23/cnr.02.html

CNN NEWSROOM

Shipwreck Victims Plucked From Freezing Waters; New York Governor Paterson's Office Romances; Reverend Wright's Full Message; U.S. Military Reaches Tragic Milestone in Iraq; Iraq War Linked to Falling U.S. Dollar?

Aired March 23, 2008 - 22:00 ET

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Let me hold you ladies for just a moment. We've got Michael Ware now. He's standing by in Baghdad, ready to file this report as we get word of this milestone being reached.

Michael, perhaps you can share, since you've been there so long and you've been one of the few reporters who've really been on the inside of this from the very beginning. Is this more than just a number and, if so, why?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, I think it's undeniable that when the U.S. military struck this harrowing mark of 4,000 deaths, that does not go without some kind of symbolism. It comes just days after this war's fifth anniversary. When these four soldiers were killed, we're talking about perhaps only eight hours ago, here in the southern part of the capital Baghdad that really does say something.

You cannot help but take a moment to pause and to reflect. I'm sure soldiers and commanders throughout the nation will be taking that moment as well. 4,000 American deaths now in this war that continues to grind away where there seems to be so little insight that suggest it's coming to an end at any time soon.

That, perhaps, is the darkest reflection of all. 4,000 deaths and very little so far has changed. We're seeing success from the military's surge here in Baghdad, where they flooded the capital with 30,000 extra combat troops; where they've cut deals with their former enemies among the Sunni insurgents; where anti-American rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is now finding political accommodation from the U.S. military following the cleric's declaration of a ceasefire.

So while there are gains that have been made, there's still nothing to say that anything is getting any better in a real sense; that the fundamental building blocks of this war have been changed. And to now have the 4,000 American deaths really is a chilling moment.

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you, Michael. Michael, I just want to interrupt you for a moment, because since we're talking of numbers, I want to ask you about something that rarely is talked about on network television in the United States. And that is, the 4,000 Americans is serious enough. But is it your understanding that the number of dead Iraqis would, what, double, triple? Or what would it do? What is that number? Do you know it?

WARE: Well, Rick, no one can give you a figure of the number of Iraqi souls that have been lost in the five years so far of this conflict. But it's exponentially greater than two or three or even ten times this terrible number of American casualties. We're talking about -- on conservative estimates between 80 thousand to 100,000 Iraqis have lost their lives.

And that's not to mention more than 4 million Iraqis are displaced from their homes. 2 million are lost here in Iraq wanting to return home. 2 million more plus are beyond this country's border and there seems little hope that any of them to return.

And the entire social fabric of this country has been torn asunder with a legacy of this war that it's now divided along sectarian lines, Sunni versus Shiite, when it never was before. Not even under Saddam. So the impact and the toll that this conflict has taken on these countries is almost immeasurable.

SANCHEZ: Michael, if you allow us for a minute. I want to bring Martha. Martha, you're shaking your head while you're listening to Michael's report. Is it because of a disagreement?

MARTHA ZOLLER, HOST, MARTHA ZOLLER SHOW: I really did disagree on some of the issues. I've spent months as long as Michael has been in Iraq, but I've been there twice. I have been into some provincial areas and in many of the provincial governments they are functioning. Baghdad is continuing to be a problem but better. And I just think that's the story that's not being reported.

SANCHEZ: That it really is a success? Is that what you're saying?

ZOLLER: That the provincial governments are functioning the way they should in most...

SANCHEZ: Michael, how about that? That the provincial governments are now functioning much better and in many ways the way they should be functioning.

WARE: Well, there's a number of things we can say about that. Certainly on paper, there is a thin veneer of success in the fact that the provincial governments, well some of them, are operating in the way that they are. But let's look at it this way. Most of those provincial governments are operating in that way because they are so heavily supported by Iran.

We're talking about provincial governments in the south where there's very little Sunni-Shiite divide at all because it's a largely inclusively Shiite population, where they're ruled by political parties and paramilitary factions, either created in Iran during exile from Saddam or which have been created after this conflict began by Iran's Kurdish force or other political organizations within Iran.

The other provinces that are functioning so well here in Iraq are the Kurdish regions in the north, where they essentially have a parallel government to the central government in Iraq. They have their own territory, their own parliament, their own representatives, the defense and foreign affairs. So there's a duplication here. They've only recently been able to grit their teeth in the Kurdish north and fly the Iraqi national flag rather than a Kurdish flag.

So, yes, in one very limited sense they are operating but, come on, let's look at the reality. They are consolidating their power, weakening the central government. And Anbar province, Anbar province is in the control now of the former Sunni insurgency with whom they've cut a deal with the Americans. They are functioning but it's the Iraqi Islamic party which has ties to al Qaeda and which can barely deliver any kind of services or distribute budget that it has. So there is progress but let's look at it in the big picture in its true context.

SANCHEZ: Michael, we are out of time. Thanks so much for hustling to the camera and bring us this live report just as we got this latest information that the 4,000 milestone has in fact been reached.

Thank all of you so much. Ladies, thank you for your cooperation tonight. Great panel discussion.

We'll have more news here and continue to cover these stories, here on CNN, first thing in the morning.

And we'll see you again next weekend. I'm Rick Sanchez. Good night.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/25/acd.01.html

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES

John McCain on the Economy; Hillary Unfiltered; How Safe Are America's Airways?

Aired March 25, 2008 - 22:00 ET

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: "Deadly violence today in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. At least 50 people killed in clashes between government officials and fighters with Muqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army.

Because the city's largely under its own control as British forces pulled out, the battle raises a terrifying question tonight. Is it a taste of things to come nationwide when American forces go home?

General David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, wants troop levels to remain high for the rest of the year. So does John McCain. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each favored a phased pullback, in consultation with military commanders.

I spoke about it earlier with CNN's Michael Ware.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Michael, it appears from today's report that troop levels in Iraq are going to stay the same through 2008. So, really, any major decision on reducing troop levels is going to be up to the next president. Now, we know McCain doesn't want to set a pullout deadline. Both Democrats, Obama and Clinton, talk about withdrawals over a range of 12 to 16 months. What do diplomats and military officials that you talk to in Iraq, what do they think about these timetables for withdrawal?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just a few days ago, I sat down with America's point-man in Iraq: U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Now, he made it very clear, he has grave fears about just exactly what would happen if there was a premature withdrawal of U.S. troops or any kind of U.S. disengagement from Iraq.

And this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR IN IRAQ: I think the fight would be on, and on at a level that we just haven't seen here before.

WARE: We're talking, like, regional proxy war?

CROCKER: I think that's the possibility you have to look at. Because as bad as it was in 2006 -- and no one knows better than you how bad it was -- we were here. If we spiral into conflict again and we're leaving, everybody knows we're not coming back.

WARE: Yes.

CROCKER: So I think the gloves then come completely off. And it's in that environment that the risk of regional involvement in the conflict, particularly from Iran, becomes very grave indeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: He talks about regional proxy wars. What does that specifically mean? Iran getting even more involved?

WARE: Iran, of course, is front and center. Iran is already directing a proxy war against America, as we speak, in Iraq. They're using Iraq as a battlefield to gain leverage over America and a host of other areas, including the area of nuclear technology.

But this isn't just restricted to Iran, Anderson. We're also talking about Saudi Arabia, Jordan, potentially Egypt, Kuwait. Most of America's Arab allies.

COOPER: What about Iraqi security forces? I mean, can they step in? The plan is for them to take over security responsibilities as the U.S. draws down: one to two combat brigades a month, if the Democrats get in power.

WARE: Let's take a look at today's events. We're seeing in Basra a massive Iraqi and police operation against rogue militias, so- called, directed by the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki himself.

But when it boils down, this is in a broader context. Within the Shia block of Iraq, this is one Shia faction, backed by Iran, fighting another Shia faction, backed by Iran. And in many ways, this is a window into the future of what Ryan -- Ryan Crocker suggests may evolve in the vacuum of a U.S. withdrawal.

COOPER: Michael Ware, thanks very much. Michael..."