GENERAL:                                                                                                                  Wednesday, April 2, 2003

Overnight news reports say the “Battle for Baghdad” has started. Coalition forces not to city yet, not in street-to-street fighting phase yet – but the Republican Guard has been engaged as they attempt to stop allied advance and defend Baghdad. Reports say U. S. troops have engaged Guard’s Medina Division – considered the toughest Saddam has to offer. Also, there are indications Republican Guard already has called reinforcements from the north to defend areas south of Baghdad. Concern about potential use of chemical weapons increases as American, British troops reach so-called “red line” area around Baghdad…Weather – along with the war itself -- heating up in Iraq war zone, some forecasters have temperatures in the mid-90s by the weekend…

By now, a few million American TV viewers probably have seen Lt. Ben Folkers of Mason City. He was one of the two pilots whose plane slipped off the aircraft carrier U. S. S. Constellation yesterday and fell into the Persian Gulf. KGLO Radio (AM1300) in Mason City reported that Folkers’ plane malfunctioned, slipped off the aircraft carrier’s deck and both pilots ejected -- and were rescued by helicopter. The KGLO story indicated Folkers suffered superficial burns and minor ankle injuries…

Troops in Iraq region showing great spine and courage in taking on Saddam and Iraq, but Rummy and Joint Chiefs chair Myers weren’t too shabby yesterday in making points – and rebuffing media criticism -- about war plan and progress …

Peter Arnett is back in business – on both the war and rhetorical fronts. He used his new forum – www.mirror.co.uk (London tabloid the Daily Mirror) -- yesterday to tell his side of story, some excerpts: “I am still in shock and awe at being fired…I stated the obvious to Iraqi television; that the US war timetable has fallen by the wayside… Some reporters make judgments but that is not my style. I present both sides and report what I see with my own eyes. I don’t blame NBC for their decision because they came under great commercial pressure from the outside. And I certainly don’t believe the White House was responsible for my sacking. But I want to tell the story as best I can, which makes it so disappointing to be fired.”…

Iowa online poll of the day: From Sioux City Journal “quick poll” – “Do you feel American-led forces will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?” Yes: 79.9%, No 21.1%. 

CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES: 

It’s a busy morning on the Iowa Pres Watch so we’ll get to rest of the Dem candidates – and their fundraising figures – later, but Edwards has checked in and reported his campaign has raised at least $7.4 million during the first three months of the year. Overnight news reports indicate that figure is likely to put Edwards – who was expected to raise about $5 million – among the frontrunners in the Dem presidential fundraising derby. 

(Iowa Pres Watch Note: The main question – What’s he doing with the money because it sure isn’t showing in his IA campaign effort?) …

DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe – probably feeling like a mother cat trying to corral her kittens – said yesterday he is concerned about infighting among some of his prospective presidential nominees. Speaking in New York, McAuliffe said: “I don’t like that. We need to make sure we are monitoring that. The focus of this is beating George Bush.” Over recent weeks, Dean and Kerry have been engaged in continuing exchange – and Dean criticized Kerry, Edwards, Graham and Lieberman for supporting the $350 billion tax cut …

In yesterday’s “Inside Politics” column in the Washington Times, Jennifer Harper wrote: “Former Sen. Gary Hart – who aspires to run for president in 2004 – is headed to Tinseltown on Thursday for a “Meet Up” with new supporters at the Knitting Factory, located in the Hollywood Galaxy Theatre. It is a chance, according to a description at Mr. Hart’s brand-new Web site, to ‘chat, chew the fat, shoot the breeze…babble, cackle, chatter, gab, yak, yammer.’ The ever-hip Mr. Hart has also joined the world of online ‘bloggers,’ offering a daily tidbit for the curious…His Web site also solicits donations.”…

AP’s resident Iowa caucus-watcher, Mike Glover, writes about Dean’s unending effort to appeal to Iowans. Excerpt: “Somewhere between a Sioux City café and a Pottawattamie County [Council Bluffs] awards dinner, Howard Dean used the hours and miles of Iowa’s open highway to work the phones…A long shot candidate in a crowded Democratic field, Dean has no time to waste. Crisscrossing the state to visit the 20 most populous counties, Dean has made his pitch at kitchen tables in private homes, small-time political clubs and any place in Iowa where Democrats gather. His campaign, meanwhile, has assembled a list of activists to call and e-mail addresses to contact. And as the U.S.-led attack against Iraq rages on, Dean is finding that his anti-war message is connecting.”…

Headline from yesterday’s Washington Times online: “Bush wins over Democratic veterans” Interviews in West Palm Beach with 10 veterans – two GOPs, eight Dems – who are “proponents of the president’s resolve in Iraq.”…

Meanwhile when Dean isn’t calling Iowa Dems, he might be trying to make contact with a new campaign manager and press secretary. Several political news reports indicated yesterday Dean campaign manager Rick Ridder will return home to Denver on 4/15 and press secretary Susan Allen will leave 4/8 to spend more time with her family. Both are expected to stay on the Dean campaign payroll as consultants. …

Gephardt continued his string of missed House votes on Monday’s consideration of legislation to compensate people injured by the smallpox vaccine. As the House defeated the smallpox proposal on a 206-184 vote, Gephardt was recorded as “not voting” while Kucinich – and IA Dem Boswell – opposed the legislation. All four IA GOP congressmen supported the bill. The major dispute between Dems and GOPs was over the level of compensation for smallpox vaccine victims…

Riding out of the political graveyard – presumably on the DraftGore.com Express – Gore has arrived to support and defend the Dixie Chicks. The Nashville Tennessean reports the 2000 Dem loser told a college audience that after Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines made critical comments about GWB the group was “made to feel un-American and risked economic retaliation because of what was said. Our democracy has taken a hit. Our best protection is free and open debate.”  Maines said during a London concert she was “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” She later issued an apology…

Speaking of Dems – like Gore – in the political graveyard, Dem wannabe Kucinich – although he’s still an Ohio congressman – took his antiwar campaign to the House floor yesterday – and called for an end to the war so U. N. weapons inspectors can return to Iraq. He repeated the same phrase – “Stop the war now” – 10 times during his floor speech and said the U. S.-led military campaign was a “falsehood.” A quote: “Rescue this nation from a war that is wrong, that is unjust, that is immoral.” 

IOWA POLITICS: 

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss will deliver the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture at Drake University on 4/15. The 7:30 p.m. lecture at Knapp Center is free and open to the public. Additional info: www.drake.edu/bucksbaum

MORNING SUMMARY: 

Morning headlines – 

Top front page headline, Des Moines Register: “Noose tightens around Baghdad”  

Top headline, QCTimes.com (Quad-City Times): “Allies face Republican Guard for first time”  

Omaha World-Herald: “U. S., British troops keep pounding Iraqi defenses” 

Sioux City Journal top online story: “Army attacks Iraqi ‘Guard’ near Karbala”  

Chicago Tribune online headline: “Army Fights Republican Guard in Karbala”  

Daily Iowan (University of Iowa) top headline: “U. S. troops resume attacks, hit Guard”…

Several Iowa media reports about disappointing drought outlook for state. Iowa State University climatologist Elwynn Taylor says dry conditions last year in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois last year could affect Iowa this year and U. S. Drought Monitor shows that parts of the state are experiencing severe to moderate drought. State officials report precipitation in the state has been below normal for the past five months. Some ag economists saying the drought prospects – along with increased fuel and fertilizer prices – could spark another round of farm sell-offs…

A former member of the Davenport School Board has received a deferred judgment after pleading guilty to allowing underage drinking at a New Year’s Eve party in her home. The Quad-City Times reported Anne Losasso, 51, could have been sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined up to $500, but she will face no legal consequences if her record remains clean for the next six months. 

WAR/TERRORISM: 

Overnight reports say Jordan authorities have arrested four Iraqis in connection with a plot to bomb a hotel in Amman used by journalists and foreign diplomats. There also were reports that Jordanian security forces managed to stop another plot to poison the water supply at a base used by U. S. soldiers in the country… 

From Independent News, Stephen Castles filed the following from Brussels: “The European Union entered a new era yesterday [Monday] when it launched its first military operation, taking over peacekeeping duties in Macedonia from Nato. The force – which comprises 320 soldiers – will provide a crucial test of the EU’s long-standing ambitions to play a bigger role in the Balkans and the wider world.”…

Another entry from the Register’s “Voice of Iowa” anonymous call-in line: “How does it happen that our government can come up with $75 billion for a war but can’t come up with a national health care program?” – Iowa man…

Now the world will see how successful Mexico can be at achieving peace. VOANews  (Voice of America) reports Mexico yesterday assumed the rotating presidency of the U. N. Security Council – for the month of April – with a goal of trying “to seek a role for the world body in bringing about peace.” VOA excerpt: “Now that there is war, [Mexican] Ambassador Aguilar Zinser says, Mexico will lead an effort to find a role for the council in restoring peace. However, he says he does not believe there will be any resolution brought before the council to condemn the United States for the war. He says there is a division of opinions on the council as to the war, and that such a resolution would not be viable.”…

From BBC News: “The 24-hour rolling news seen in the Iraq conflict might have made both world wars tougher to win, [British] Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said. Mr. Straw questioned how live footage of the Somme trenches or German military superiority in the early 1940s would have affected public opinion. But the benefits of seeing up-to-date reports from the frontline ‘far outweighed’ the disadvantages, he argued in a speech to regional newspaper executives. His comments came as Downing Street said the Iraqi people’s fear of Saddam Hussein’s regime was ‘receding day by day.’”  

FEDERAL ISSUES:  

Congress continues efforts to accelerate approval of GWB’s entire $74.7 billion supplemental request for Iraq war ops and homeland security, but conflicting media reports about how much latitude White House and Pentagon will have to allocate, spend the money.  Initial reports said the proposal took a significant step forward yesterday with House Republicans committing to full funding of the supplemental, but disputes remain over flexibility issues – how much latitude the president, Pentagon, Rumsfeld, etc., would have in dispersing the funds. For example, the Bush $59.7 billion military funding request includes an unfettered $53.4 billion for Rumsfeld to use “for military operations in Iraq and the global war on terrorism” -- but several members of Congress want to impose tighter restrictions. Under one House proposal, $34.3 billion would be allocated to specific accounts while Rumsfeld would have “unfettered authority” over just $25.4 billion – with additional requirement he would have to notify Congress seven days before obligating the funds. Several news reports indicate Democrats in both House and Senate already have added a billion or two to the president’s request for homeland security…

Grassley reiterated yesterday that the president’s tax cuts won’t become a victim of the Iraq war. WHO Radio reported that – although the Senate voted to slash the tax cut from $726 billion to $350 billion – Grassley said the Senate version won’t stand and criticized Dems for just wanting to spend more money on pet programs. The Senate Finance Committee chairman said there are “too many people on the liberal side of the aisle who would rather have the money to spend than to give it back to the taxpayers…They think they know better how to spend the money than individual taxpayers.” Grassley says he’s hoping for a final tax cut package of about $550 billion to $580 billion– which would be adequate to “help build a strong economy.” Senate Republicans are considering two alternative proposals to restore some of the tax cut reductions. Grassley: “Republicans have got to wake up to the fact – Do we want to govern, or do we want the Democrats to govern?”…

WHO Radio also reported a delegation of Iowa soybean producers is lobbying in Washington this week for two of their top priorities – increased use of biodiesel fuels (as well as tax credits for renewable fuels) and improvements on the Mississippi River lock and dam system. Producers indicate with the war in Iraq they are “getting a lot of attention” due to increased interest in biodiesel – or, as they refer to it “soydiesel” -- and other renewable fuels…

Also on the renewable fuels front – a major issue in Iowa – the House Energy and Commerce Committee has inserted language into the omnibus energy bill that would require gasoline refineries increase their use of corn-based ethanol additives. The provision would require 2.7 billion gallons of renewables by 2005, increasing in annual increments to 5 billion gallons in 2015. 

STATE ISSUES: 

State Treasurer Fitzgerald said yesterday Phillip Morris has notified IA officials they won’t be able to make an expected $23 million-$25 million tobacco settlement payment due on 4/15. Fitzgerald said, however, the state has already borrowed on the tobacco settlement funds and the bondholders will have to get the money from Philip Morris. In Illinois, AG Lisa Madigan warned she will take the cigarette maker to court if company misses 4/15 payment…

A group of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) activists rallied at the Iowa Statehouse yesterday to lobby against efforts to dilute legislation that would reduce the state’s drunk driving from 0.10 to .08. Some opponents to lowering the standard have sought to soften penalties for first time violations, but the MADD members and proponents argued the legislation is necessary for increase highway safety and for IA to qualify for federal highway monies.   

OPINION: 

Des Moines Register editorial this morning about GWB’s request to finance Iraq war, headline: “Down payment on the war…The cost is likely to grow – and it’s all going on the credit card.” Excerpt: “So far, all we’ve done is add to the national credit card. Whether the appropriation is $75 billion or some other figure, it will be borrowed money.”…

Columnist Rekha Basu, headline: “Give Iraqis a role in nation-building and rebuilding”…

From yesterday’s OpinionJournal.com (Wall Street Journal): Headline – “Rumsfeld’s Second Front…No war plan survives its first meeting with the Beltway” Excerpt: “An unbending rule of Washington life is that the one thing critics never forgive you for is being right. This is worth keeping in mind amid the obloquy now being heaped on Donald Rumsfeld. Judging by all of the blind-quote vituperation the Secretary of Defense is receiving, a casual reader might be surprised to learn that we haven’t yet lost the Iraq war. U. S. troops are within 50 miles of Baghdad, probing Republican Guard lines that are being shredded from the air. The surrounded enemy has suicide bombers, guerilla harassment and Peter Arnett left as an offensive strategy. We can hit the enemy, he can’t much hit us.”…

Another citizen commentary from Sioux City Journal online: “Shame on the University of Iowa for advising ROTC students to ‘hang their uniforms in their closets’ due to anti-war protesters. These students should be commended for the career they have chosen and wear their uniforms with pride.” – Lisa Johnson, Sioux City.  

SPORTS:

 Iowa State basketball player Jared Homan – a 20-year-old sophomore from Remsen – has been arrested for public intoxication in Ames. Police say Homan ran away from officers, but was found hiding under a parked car in downtown Ames. It is his second alcohol-related arrest in a year. Homan was charged with underage possession of alcohol last April 28 and pled guilty to public urination last September…

Drake grad and Iowa assistant women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen – considered a likely candidate to succeed Lisa Stone at Drake – says she hasn’t had any contact from her alma mater. She is one of only two Drake women’s players to have her jersey retired and was an assistant coach for the Bulldogs before moving on to Iowa. 

WEATHER: 

National Weather Service issues “hazardous weather outlook” this morning.  Reports increased fire danger due to dry conditions and 30 mph winds in IA, mostly south of Highway 34 – southern two tiers of counties. Also, the outlook says storm spotter activation may be necessary tomorrow afternoon – isolated severe weather possible along and east of Interstate 35. 

More record-setting temperatures anticipated today after at least five IA cities posted record highs yesterday – Des Moines (87 breaking old record 83 in 1882 – that’s right 1882), Carroll, Ottumwa, Waterloo and Webster City.  

DSM 5 a.m. 55 fair. Temperatures across IA this morning mostly 40s and 50s – 35 in Estherville (as cooler weather moves into state) to 61 in Keokuk and Fort Madison. 

High today 85, partly sunny. Low tonight 52, partly cloudy. High Thursday 78, partly sunny. WHO-TV meteorologist Steve Templeton expects another “warm and breezy day” today with possibility of breaking another DSM record high – 87 in 1981. He also reports: “Isolated T-storms are possible Thursday, but it looks like mainly east of Des Moines into northeastern/eastern Iowa. Cooler air moves in over the weekend with wet weather Sunday and Monday.”  

IOWAISMS: 

KCCI-TV (Des Moines) reports a bomb threat called to St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll over the weekend was probably a wrong number. Four calls were made to the hospital’s mental health unit’s “800” number with the caller saying, “There is a bomb in the building.” The facility was evacuated and authorities didn’t find anything during a search. After a follow-up investigation, Carroll police traced the call to an out-of-state telephone number…

Des Moines Register reports Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield will add “another tenet to its healthy living philosophy” in August with a campus-wide no-smoking ban. First college in Iowa to prohibit smoking on campus…

The Daily Iowan (University of Iowa) reported that “another UI student jumped on the lawsuit bandwagon against the former owners of a downtown bar” – filing the fourth suit in a “fiery stunt went awry last year” that burned nine patrons. DI story says Taryn Von Bartheld has joined three other students in seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Downtown Etc. LCC. Bar employees allegedly ignited grain alcohol in the bar’s steel well, which flared in the early morning hours of April 18, 2002. 

click here  to read past Iowa Morning Reports