The Situation Room
Live from Washington
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

IN POLITICS:

? Pres. Bush Talks Iraq, Minimum Wage at News Conference
? Pres. Bush: Mary Cheney Will be a Fine, Loving Mother
? Defense Secretary Gates Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq


IN THE NEWS:

? New Video out from al Qaeda #2 al-Zawahiri
? 2nd Suspect in U.K. Serial Slaying Identified
? Break in Weather Allows Rescuers Back on Mt. Hood

IN THE CAFFERTY FILE:

? What's the first thing you would do as head of the House Ethics Committee?
? Should the U.S. armed forces expand?

You can weigh-in at http://CNN.com/CaffertyFile

IN THE SITUATION ONLINE:

? All Things Must Pass ? After decades of withholding secret FBI documents on John Lennon citing national security concerns, the government finally relents. What did the agency have to fear from the Beatles star? All the documents are now online.

? Welcome to the Future ? ?Google images? got you stumped? Imagine searching for photos on the Web not by typing in keywords, but by using advanced facial recognition technology. The tool could hit your desktop next year.

Find out more at http://www.cnn.com/situationreport

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HEADLINES:
PRES. BUSH TALKS IRAQ, MINIMUM WAGE AT NEWS CONFERENCE
"I believe that we're going to win" in Iraq, President Bush told reporters at a White House news conference this morning. Mr. Bush said he has not yet decided whether to send more troops to Iraq, and that he was listening to commanders, to people in and out of government and to members of the Baker-Hamilton Commission "about coming up with a strategy that helps achieve our objective." He said he was considering all options. The president said the most painful aspect of his presidency "has been knowing that good men and women have died in combat. I read about it every night." But, he added, "the sacrifice has been worth it. We will accomplish our objective. We've got to adjust tactics to do so, insist the Iraqis take more responsibility." Mr. Bush said that he believes he made the right decision in removing Saddam Hussein from power. "I also know it's the right decision for the American people to stay engaged," he said. The president also said he supports a Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage by $2.10 over the next two years. ?I believe we should do it in a way that does not punish the millions of small businesses that are creating most of the new jobs in our country,? the president said. He added, ?I support pairing it with targeted tax and regulatory relief, to help these small businesses stay competitive and to help keep our economy growing.?

PRES. BUSH: MARY CHENEY WILL BE A FINE, LOVING MOTHER
President Bush reiterated his support for Mary Cheney, daughter of the vice president, who is having a child with her lesbian partner, Heather Poe. At the White House news conference this morning, Mr. Bush was asked if he would support laws giving same-sex couples greater legal rights including hospital visits and insurance. The president replied, ?I've always said that we ought to review law to make sure that people are treated fairly.? He added, ?On Mary Cheney, this is a personal matter for the vice president and his family. I strongly support their privacy on the issue, although there's nothing private when you happen to be the president or the vice president. I know Mary. And I like her. I know she's going to be a fine, loving mother,? Mr. Bush said. He did not mention Cheney?s partner. The president has supported a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. His statements of support for Mary Cheney put him at odds with religious conservatives who hold considerable sway in the Republican party. Many have spoken out against Mary Cheney?s pregnancy, including Focus on the Family chairman James Dobson. In an op-ed piece posted in Time?s web site, Dobson wrote, ?the two most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a little boy." He added, ?our conviction is that birth and adoption are the purview of married heterosexual couples. Traditional marriage is God's design for the family and is rooted in biblical truth."

DEFENSE SECRETARY GATES MAKES SURPRISE VISIT TO IRAQ
Just two days after taking charge of the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Decretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to Baghdad today in efforts to gain insight on the U.S. policy in Iraq. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Peter Pace is traveling with Gates. The visit comes amid pressure to improve upon the United States' tactics regarding the war in Iraq, which President Bush told the Washington Post is a war "we're not winning, we're not losing." While boarding a p*** last night, Gates said the trip's purpose was to "go out, listen to the commanders, talk to the Iraqis and see what I can learn...I expect to learn a lot." The trip comes as President Bush said he was "inclined to believe" an increase in Army and Marine presence was essential to "sustain our efforts and to help us achieve peace." Mr. Bush said his new defense secretary was charged with the task of recommending how to proceed forward with the idea of a troop increase. Senior administration officials said the timing of the president's comments is connected with Washington's oncoming budget season, and that the president intends for such plans to be part of the fiscal 2008 budget. But the comments also come amid increasing warnings from officials and experts that the U.S. military is stretched too thin to cope with the stresses of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre is the only television reporter traveling with Gates. You can see his reports daily in The Situation Room.

NEW VIDEO OUT FROM AL QAEDA #2 AL-ZAWAHIRI
Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri released a new videotaped statement today in which he warned the United States about negotiating with the wrong countries with regards to Iraq. Al-Zawahiri also warned that al Qaeda will retaliate against the United States for its military actions in Muslim lands. "The formula for your safety is, you shall never dream of security until we live it as a reality in Palestine and all the lands of Islam," he said. "And it is not a... formula, the one which Bush says, 'We hit the terrorists in their land so they don't strike in our land.' On the contrary, if we are hit in our lands, then we will not stop striking in your land, God willing. As our commander Osama bin Laden said, as you bomb you will be bombed and as you kill you will be killed." The statement initially aired on the Arabic language network Al-Jazeera and was confirmed by CNN Arabic experts. Al-Zawahiri also warned the United States, "You are not negotiating with the real power in the Islamic world... those whom you are negotiating with to secure your departure from Iraq, they will not be useful to you." It was not clear which countries he was referring to. The banners on the new video carry the name "As-Sahab," the same company that has produced previous al Qaeda tapes. According to the advertisements the message was to be titled "the truth about the conflict between Muslims and infidels." Additionally, multiple radical Islamist Web sites had recently advertised that a "new message" from al-Zawahiri would be released "soon."

2ND SUSPECT IN U.K. SERIAL SLAYING IDENTIFIED
Friends and neighbors in this eastern English town have identified the second man arrested in the killings of five prostitutes as Steve Wright, 48. Police have not named either suspect, and neither man has been formally charged. Police arrested Wright Tuesday morning at his Ipswich home, said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull. According to the British newspaper "The Sun," Wright -- a truck driver -- lived near one of the victims, Paula Clennell. ?The Sun? reported that he has three grown children, was married three times, and used to work as a docks policeman and a steward on the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II. Wright's arrest came a day after police arrested Tom Stephens, 37, also on suspicion of murdering the five women, whose bodies were all dumped outside Ipswich in Suffolk County and found in recent weeks. Stephens was arrested Monday in Trimley and police have been granted an extension to hold him until tomorrow morning. The deadline for charging him is Friday morning. Police have not made any connection between the two men and will not confirm their identity, verified through friends and neighbors. Stephens, a local supermarket worker, spoke to the British news media days before his arrest, proclaiming his innocence but admitting he knew all five of the victims. According to the British newspaper "Sunday Mirror," Stephens told reporter Michael Duffy he was not the killer, but said it was "possible" he could be arrested because he was friends with all of the victims and did not have "tight alibis" that would eliminate him as a suspect. Stephens told the reporter he had been interviewed by police four times, including in early November, days after Tania Nicol, 19, was first reported missing. He also said police searched his home on Nov. 22, before the young women's bodies were found. In an interview with BBC Radio, Stephens said he used to give the women rides in his car, "and that's how it developed into a friendship with a number of the girls." Police have said all five bodies were found naked in rural areas near Ipswich. All five were known prostitutes, ages 19 to 29. They were all drug users, police said. The bodies of Nicol, Clennell, Anneli Alderton, Gemma Adams and Annette Nicholls were found over an 11-day period beginning Dec. 2. The Ipswich coroner's office determined Alderton died from asphyxiation and Clennell died from "compression to the neck." A cause of death for the three other women had not been determined as of this morning.

BREAK IN WEATHER ALLOWS RESCUERS BACK ON MT. HOOD
The Hood River County sheriff flew over Mt. Hood today, and a team of searchers climbed the mountain trying to find a "discoloration" in the snow identified yesterday by friends of two missing climbers. Sheriff Joe Wampler reported the discovery to the media today, and hoped searchers could take advantage of a late-morning break in the weather to reach a vantage point where they could use a telescope. Freezing rain was reported at Mt. Hood this morning, preventing crews from leaving their base to look for the two climbers, missing since Dec. 10. Meanwhile, Oregon Deputy Medical Examiner Larry Lewman was to begin an autopsy at 10 a.m. (1 p.m. ET) in the Portland suburb of Clackamas on climber Kelly James, 48, said Robert Boggs, chief deputy medical examiner for the Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office. James' body was discovered Sunday in a snow cave near the summit. The autopsy is to take two or three hours, and officials couldn't say if or when the results will be released to the public. Rescuers still hope to find clues to the whereabouts of Brian Hall, 37, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, who, with James, began climbing Oregon's highest mountain on Dec. 8. "It's kind of disappointing, actually, that we haven't found them at this point," Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler said. Nothing has been heard from the climbers since James used his cell phone to call his mother Dec. 10. Early today, Wampler said experts who examined tracks in the snow believe James dislocated his shoulder en route to the 11,239-foot mountain summit with his companions, but continued to the peak anyway. The sheriff said it was possible the climbers -- who were ascending the more-treacherous north side of the mountain -- believed that if they could make it to the summit, they could proceed to the Timberline Lodge, which was about a mile away down the south side of the mountain. Two snow caves -- one containing James' body and the other containing the climbers' equipment -- were found on the north side of the mountain. Wampler has said that an avalanche search team may be called in to use long poles to probe the deep snow on the mountainsides. "The big search, probably, is over," Wampler said yesterday.

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