Michael talks to Wolf about what happened at Sadr City.

Length: 4:21

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today insisted that American forces remove the cordon around Sadr City (where they are searching for the missing American soldier and a few of the most violent militia leaders). And the cordon was removed. Maliki needs the support of Muqtada al-Sadr to stay in office; America needs al-Maliki to stay in office to have any chance of an even mildly positive end to this mess.
 
(So AT BEST, Iraq will end up with a marionette leader whose strings are held by one of the most radical Shia clerics. Our boys are dying for this?? Brilliant planning...)

Length: 4:28

Michael discusses the recent report about missing American weapons.

Length: 2:34

Host John Roberts (in Baghdad) interviews Michael and former Washington Post Baghdad Bureau Chief Rajiv Chandraskaran about the current pressures on Nouri al-Maliki's government following a week of very public policy disputes between DC and Baghdad.

Length: 6:43

Michael talks to Betty Nguyen and T.J. Holmes about the state of things in Iraq.

Length: 4:36 / 4:27 / 1:32

How fragile is the Iraqi government? It's not hard to figure that anything propped up by us and by the very militias we are trying to eliminate can't be all that stable. Michael discusses it with Wolf.

Length: 2:55

Michael updates the situation in the capital and beyond.

Length: 2:45

Michael discusses the end-of-Ramadan decrease in violence within Baghdad.

Length: 1:56 / 2:45 / 2:39

Michael updates Wolf on the implications of the latest 'adjustments.'

Length: 3:59

Michael breaks down who the players are in the insurgency. Considering many people in our government can't tell a Sunni from a Shia, this ought to be required viewing...

Length: 4:17

Wolf asks Michael to comment on President Bush's assertion that we are winning the war in Iraq.

Length: 3:32

John Roberts is reporting from Baghdad for the next couple of weeks; tonight he and Michael talk to Larry. Updates on the search for the missing American soldier and today's press conference.

Length: 6:53

Michael updates Lou on today's events.

Length: 1:39

Michael talks to Wolf about the possibilities of changing course in Iraq.

Length: 4:09

Three reports regarding the search for a missing US soldier, reported kidnapped while visiting famiily in Iraq, and a pre-recorded piece about today's press conference complete with more reality checks on the "new" benchmarks announced there.

Length: 2:07 / 2:26 / 3:02

Hala Gorani asks Michael to assess statements made today during the press conference.

Length: 5:23

Mick gets to relax in the Green Zone for a couple hours while covering the Casey/Khalilzad press conference, and does a stand-up from there to assess what was discussed. (Kind of looks like a college campus there, doesn't it?)

Length: 3:35

Michael talks to John King about the realities on the ground in Iraq.

Length: 3:33

Michael does a summation of today's violence in Iraq.

Length: 1:22

Michael speaks with Wolf about the current conditions in Iraq.

Length: 3:25

Anderson talks to Michael (and Peter Bergen) about the current situation in Iraq. Also, Anderson addresses the controversy caused by last night's airing of the sniper video.

Length: 1:36 / 0:48 / 1:57

Michael and General David Grange talk about the reality on the ground in Baghdad.

Length: 2:30 / 1:45

Al Qaeda today announced that Iraq is now "The Islamic State of Iraq." I guess among the lessons they learned from Vietnam is the "Declare victory" part...

Length: 2:25

Michael talks about the current situation in Baghdad and Muqtada al-Sadr's ability to get American forces to release his associate, suspected of insurgent activities.

Length: 4:33

The sniper video, more on the insurgent video, and comments on both of them.

Length: 8:10 / 5:25 / 5:02

Paula asks Michael about the ongoing violence and the number of displaced Iraqi civilians.

Length: 2:52

Wolf asks Michael about whether the insurgency is ramping up the violence to coincide with the midterm elections and the comparisons to Vietnam. (Anyone else thinking about Haig's "cannon fodder" comment?)

Length: 3:37

A brief piece on the deaths in Iraq over the past few days.

Length: 1:23

Wolf shows a clip from Tony Snow's press conference where he discussed the videotape offer from the Sunni insurgent group to have direct talks with the US.
 
This interview also aired during the third hour of TSR.

Length: 3:16

Michael talks to Paula about the tape.

Length: 3:16

Michael talks to Wolf about the tape and gives a little more detail about who this group is and what they want.

Length: 5:29

A pre-recorded piece about the video.
 
Note: This piece also ran on Your World Today at 9 a.m. PT.

Length: 2:38

More about the video from Islamic Army of Iraq, the coalition (as it were) or many of the Sunni insurgent groups. In the first clip, Michael talks to Soledad about the tape and its implications; the second clip is a brief "Around the World" promo; the third is a recorded piece on the video.
 
Note: the piece from the third clip also aired on NewsRoom as noon PT and Lou Dobbs Tonight at 3 pm PT.

Length: 3:26 / 0:36 / 2:51

Michael's back in Baghdad, and has an exclusive video-response interview with the leader of one of the largest insurgent groups. (CNN sent a list of questions, they received a video back with the replies.)
 
Of course, the offer to meet with American officials to discuss a ceasefire will not be accepted; there is simply no way that US officials will acquiesce to the conditions mentioned. (A "formal recognition" of the insurgency? To give them diplomatic equality with the elected government, no matter how ineffectual that government may be, would be to undo the whole point of our going in there.) It would be nice to think that this is the first step in something that might lead to talks, but I'm far too cynical to think that will happen.

Length: 3:40

A prepared piece, obviously recorded at the same time as last night's piece for AC360. (He looks, and sounds, exhausted. Does anyone really ever get used to the kinds of conditions the troops live in when they are deployed? I can't imagine how they even function, let alone excel.)

Length: 2:56

Michael finally has video contact, and speaks with Anderson about General Dannatt's comments and the effect that British forces are having in Iraq.

Length: 4:45

Michael is on the phone with Wolf discussing the British mission in Basra and the feelings of troops and commanders within the US and UK forces.

Length: 5:03

Michael is embedded with British forces in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. He speaks with Tony Harris by telephone on the troops current situation and the level agreement with British commander General Sir Richard Dannatt that the forces should leave Iraq soon because they are exacerbating the violence.

Length: 3:59

Michael talks to Paula about SecState Rice's visit to Baghdad and the deadly October statistics.

Length: 3:08

Wolf asks Michael about the reasons behind SecState Rice's visit to Baghdad.

Length: 3:21

Michael makes three appearances on American Morning, discussing early reports that the new al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was killed by coalition forces.

Length: 2:07 / 2:52 / 2:38

Mick speaks with John Roberts about the latest from Baghdad: the death squads, the police units, and the crossover between them.

Length: 4:27

WOLF: President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld want the U.S. military, the U.S. policy to stay the course, if you will, to continue doing what it has been doing. Colin Powell is quoted as saying today, "Staying the course isn't good enough because a course has to have an end."
 
MICHAEL: Colin Powell is right. Staying the course will only further strengthen America's enemies.
 
Any questions?

Length: 4:00

Michael talks to Kyra Phillips about the brigade of Iraqi police taken off the streets due to their infiltration by Shiite death squads.

Length: 3:21

Michael talks to Jim Clancy about the violence, the death squads, the Iraqi government's involvement... same old-same old, only worse every day. They took an entire brigade of Iraqi police off the streets in order to investigate their involvement in the kidnappings and tortures. Not only are the Iraqis not standing up, they are using us to help them settle scores.

Length: 4:19

Michael talks to Miles about the latest efforts by the al-Maliki government to look like they are cracking down on the death squads.
 
And an "Around the World" brief.

Length: 3:29 / 0:48

Mick does a report on American deaths in Iraq... 12 so far, in three days.

Length: 2:19

Iraqi officials set up their own Ramadan propaganda campaign: they claim they will have al-Masri by the end of the month. It's not the first time they've made that kind of challenge, just the first directed at him.

Length: 2:20