Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Interview with Wayne Allard; Local Warlords Begin Negotiations With al Qaeda Fighters In Waziristan
Aired March 21, 2004 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. There is a new book out critical of President Bush. Claiming that he ignore warnings prior to September 11. The author is not a Democratic opponent, but rather his former adviser of counterterrorism. More on that story in a moment.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCRHO: And what's the view on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq? I'll speak with a Senator who just returned from a tour of both nations.
And what you don't know can cost you when it comes to filling out your tax returns. We'll tell you about some little-known tax deductions that could fatten your refund.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at the headlines.
A rocket attack in Iraq apparently targeting Baghdad's green zone killed two Iraqi civilians today. Six others wounded including a U.S. soldier. The heavily fortified green zone is headquarters for the U.S.-led coalition. North of Baghdad a U.S. soldier was shot and killed in the town of Samarra.
Hundreds are reported dead in fighting between Maoist rebels and government forces in Nepal. Most of the bloodshed appears concentrated 175 west of Kathmandu. Rebels attacked a police post, and army barracks and a district office. It's the second major offensive aimed at a district headquarters since a cease-fire collapsed last August.
Arizona Senator John McCain says he has no plans to leave the Republican Party and become Senator John Kerry's running mate. Speculation that he might do that hit a high note when mccain defended Kerry's record on defense last week.
Discount giant Wal-Mart is still No. 1. IT's topping "Fortune 500's" list of largely traded companies for a third year in a row. Last year the chain, founded by Sam Walton had sales of almost $259 billion dollars. This is "Fortune" magazines the fiftyth year of publishing the annual ranking.
We begin with new criticism leveled at the Bush administration. The former White House counterterrorism adviser accuses President Bush of ignoring ominous intelligence and making the country less safe. Richard Clarke is making the allegations in a new book, and on telephone vision tonight. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us with more details.
MALVEAUX: Fred, what makes this so significant is who Richard Clark is. As you had mentioned before, he is the chief adviser of counterterrorism for President Bush, but he also served under presidents Reagan, Bush sr. as well as Clinton. And he is making these accuization nornl in his book but on "60 Minutes" later this evening.
Here is what he is saying. He is saying in the early days following September 11 that President Bush pressured him to link 9/11 al Qaeda to Iraq, and to saddam Hussein, going after him. He says that in his assessment he also did not take the threat of al Qaeda seriously enough. That it was not a strong enough, or high enough priority. And he says as a member of the inner circle of counterterrorism, that President Bush failed miserably in this.
Now here is an excerpt from "60 Minutes." He says, "I find it outrageous the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he has done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11."
There a lot of talk about this statement today, Fred. The White House, of course, as you know, this comes at a time when both Bush as well as Clinton administration officials will go before the 9/11 commission this week to talk about what it is they knew before these attacks.
The White House clearly does not want to be embarrassed. They are on the offensive about this as well. White House communications director Dan Bartlett making himself available for interviews today. I spoke with him earlier. He vehemently denies that President Bush was threatening or pressuring Clarke in any way to make the connection between 9/11, al Qaeda as well as Iraq, and he believes that this is something that is politically motivated on Clarke's part.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMM. DIR: I think everybody in America would expect in 24 hours after one of the worst attacks on our country, that the president of the United States was asking his counterterrorism official, tell me everything. Tell me any possible link to this attack? I want to know everything. I want to know about Iraq. I want to know about other affiliates, regimes, that may somehow be implicated in 9/11.
Because he was going through a decision-making process in which he wanted to understand all the information available to make the best decision on a military operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Bartlett also said he believes that this is politically motivate because of Clarke's own close connections to Senator Kerry's camp, to the campaign itself. But as can you imagine, Fred, there is going to be a lot of discussion over what Clarke says, not only in this book, but also in that interview this evening.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne I wonder, given the timing with the 9/11 commission hearings begins this week, is there any chance that Richard Clarke might be called to testify?
MALVEAUX: Well, actually, he is going to be speaking before the 9/11 commission. He is one of many officials Bush as well as the Clinton administration official who will come forward and he will talk about it. He has already given quite a bit of testimony before the commission about his stories.
A lot of this is not new, but the fact that he has come out and worded this so harshly really has hit a cord with a lot of those within the Bush administration. But you will see a number of people taking stand this week. Is going to be extraordinary. Talking about Secretary Powell, Secretary Rumsfeld as well as their former counterparts in the Clinton administration.
WHITFIELD: All right. As well as George Tenet, who's had experience in both administrations. Thanks, Suzanne Malveaux from the White House.
Well, now to Iraq where the U.S. casualty list is growing. Two U.S. soldiers were killed last night in a rocket attack in Fallujah.
Another U.S. soldier was shot and killed today in a non-combat incident in Samarra. A civilian was among at least 6 people wounded in an attack in Baghdad. Two Iraqis killed when rockets were fired toward coalition headquarters. U.S. military officials say such tactics won't cause them to back down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, DEP. DIR. OF OPERATIONS: Every day we have American soldiers wounded in action, some dreadfully killed in action from these devices. The important issue is that these are terror weapons, the intent is to intimidate, to cause fear, far more than to cause destruction. It is going for an affect on the will rather than a physical affect, and the best way to stand up to these people who have tried intimidate us is to just say, we're not going to be intimidated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: One doctor at the hospital treating the wounded called the violence a terrorist act.
It was also a violent day in Afghanistan. The country's civil aviation minister was killed in fighting sparked by an attempt on his father's life. It happened in the city of Herat.
The minister's father a prominient warlord survived the assassination attempt. The minister was leading father's supporters on an attack against government forces when he was killed. Afghanistan's government is sending more troops to the region to end the cashes. The fighting has eased in the battle along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Travel leaders persuaded the Pakistani army to cut back on the assaults on suspected al Qaeda fighters, in exchange leaders agreed to negotiate with villagers protecting fighters.
Pakistani officials had suggested al Qaeda's second in command may be among the militants. Now, officials now are less certain. Some pundits say Pakistan may have mentioned the al Qaeda leader's name to deflect questions about Pakistan's commitment to the war on terror. Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. says, that's not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHRAF JEHANGIR QAZI, APKISTAN AMB. TO U.S.: The fact is, that there is no basis at all for this speculation. We have a huge amount of intelligence sharing with the United States. We couldn't be inventing this -- this incident on our own. The United States is on the other side along with the forces of the border. You think that conniving with us in a phantom operation? That's as ridiculous as one can get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Nic Robertsson has more from Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fighting subsided Sunday. Pakistani military officials say they stopped their artillary barrage, stop using their Cobra attack helicopters as they allowed a period of negotiations. They have ask local tribal leaders to go in and negotiate with the al Qaeda elements in the area, to negotiate their surrender.
There will be, we are told, a second round of negotiations Monday morning. The Pakistani military this time hoping they can avoid getting into a heavy confrontation again.
They do say, however, this window of opportunity will close. They have had limited military engagements on Sunday. They say this window of opportunity will not last, however, and they are quite ready to resume the artillery barrage and the helicopter gunship attack.
We have also found out that a number of dead, suspected al Qaeda members, their bodies removed, that according to Pakistani military officials. According to Pakistani intelligence sources, U.S. experts will be giving DNA analysis on those bodies to find out exactly who they are.
We also understand from Pakistani intelligence sources, that as many as 20 Pakistani paramilitaries affiliated with the Pakistan army, hoping the Pakistan army fight against these al Qaeda elements, 20 of these paramilitaries, at least 20, have been taken captive, by the elements in waziristan. Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Three Senators recently completed a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, Iraq and other hot spots. One of the joins us now from Denver. Senator Wayne Allard is a Republican from Colorado. He's also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Good to see you, Senator.
SEN. WAYNE ALLARD, (R) COLORADO: Thank you, Fredricka. It's good to be with you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Your impressions of Afghanistan, particularly now there there is some picked up activity there?
ALLARD: Well, in Afghanistan, you know, we have the military aspect of it pretty well stabilized. The part that concerns me is the long-term economic prospects for that country. They don't have any natural resources and they have a long ways to go to develop their economy.
But right now, from a military aspect, it's relatively stable. We're in the process of training Afghans to have their own army and there's some 34 nations or so that are our allies, that are helping to do that training. I saw some of the training fields, and everything seems to be moving in a positive direction.
WHITFIELD: Do you have any concerns about other countries who have made promises to financially help Afghanistan, which have not yet delivered?
ALLARD: Well I do. I hope that they step forward. We need to have their help in Afghanistan. And it's a long-term proposition. You know, Afghanistan's got a long ways to recover their economy. This is a great opportunity for our allies to be able to help out, particularly, if they want to be helpful but don't want to get their citizens in a battlefield arena, then they ought to be prepared to come in and help the economic growth of Afghanistan.
WHITFIELD: During your visit in Iraq, did you get an impression from the citizens of Iraq that they feel that they are better off now since the fall of Saddam Hussein?
ALLARD: Well I didn't have an opportunity to visit with any of the citizens with any great length. My main purpose for going over there with two other colleagues was to visit our soldiers over there and to review some military systems that were relatively new.
But my perception, when we had a helicopter fly over the city of Mosul, for example, the downtown area was very busy. You could see a lot of people reconstructing their businesses, building their homes. I think nearly every building had a satellite dish on top of it, and the impression that I got from the air was that things were moving along, and people were feeling about about their community and trying to rebuild it.
So, what I was able to note at a distance, things seemed to be doing very well for them. WHITFIELD: There has been a reported increase of attacks involving the Iraqi civilians, incident bystanders killed or maimed. As a result, do you have concerns about the handover? The planned handover for June 30? Whether indeed that could and should take place?
ALLARD: Well I think they need to continue to move ahead the way they have been, and that is, that we're continuing to pull back forces gradually, testing the Iraqi army. They're new. See how they handle themselves. And if they need help from time to time, we step forward and provide them that extra help they may need.
I think that's a reasonable approach. I don't think anybody's willing to say we're going to meet a certain timeline.
But I do see things moving in a favorable way there. It seems to me the Iraqis are willing to take on more and more responsibility and when they do take over that responsibility, they're doing a reasonable job. That's not to say that from time to time we have to advance our troops to give them a support.
WHITFIELD: How concerned are you about the commitment U.S. forces have to make to maintain the peace even after planned sovereign tin.
ALLARD: We'll have to maintain forces I believe for some time to give that backup support, and I think that we can do that. I think we do have the military technology and the personnel to be able to do it. We have noticed -- I've observed in this particular conflict with Iraq that we do, perhaps, need to increase our force somewhat, and that's happened. Now, hopefully, we can begin to pull that back.
WHITFIELD: Senator Wayne Allard out of Denver. Thanks for joining us this Sunday.
ALLARD: Thank you. Good to be with you.
WHITFIELD: Should you have to give your name to police even if you've done nothing wrong. Details on that constitutional battle, straight ahead. Plus, accusations of a stolen election and demands for a recount. Taiwan appears to be taking a page out of American history. But this one has an unusual twist.
And still to come, we'll tell you if the power of "The Passion" can hold on at the box office.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week on some thorny issues concerning your constitutional rights. Michael Newdow thought his daughter had the First Amendment right contest saying "under god" when her public school cites the pledge of allegiance. In 2002 a federal appeals court agreed with the Sacramento, California atheist. The high court hears the case on Wednesday. The schoolgirl can't attend because of a custody dispute between between Newdow and his ex-wife. His ex-wife will argue that Newdow didn't have standing to bring the case because he didn't get her permission.
A cowboy standing outside his pick-up truck thought he had the right to say no, when police demanded he identify himself. His Supreme Court case coming up tomorrow raises questions about Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections in this age of terrorism. CNN's Elaine Quijano.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cowboy Larry Dudley Hibel was standing outside his pickup truck parked along a Nevada road, his 17-year-old daughter inside when a Sheriff's deputy investigating a call about a domestic disturbance started asking questions. As shown in captioning provided by Hibel supporters, 11 times the deputy told him to produce I.D. each time the rancher refused.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm being cooperative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see some I.D..
QUIJANO: The encounter ended with Hibel hancuffed, taken to jail and fined $250 for causing a delay to a peace officer. Prosecutors eventually dropped domestic violence charges against him.
DAVID ALLISON, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, HUMBOLDT COUNTY NEVADA: This is a small intrusion poon individual's rights balanced against the need of the state to know who is doing what.
HARRIET CUMMINGS, HIBEL'S ATTORNEY: We believe that it runs contrary to core American values to make it a crime for someone not to identify themselves.
QUIJANO (on camera): Hibel's case is one of six search and seizure cases before the Supreme Court this term. Already, the high court has sided with police on two of those cases. Now, with civil liberties taking the spotlight in this post 9/11 world, experts say what happens with Hibel's case could have far reaching implications.
EDWARD LAZARUS, FRM. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLERK: We have idealistic notion in this country we can live in a kind of splendid anonymity. We can walk around and be left alone. And this question really raises in the post-9/11 era the issue of whether that's really true anymore.
LARRY DUDLEY HIBEL, NEVADA RANCHER: This case isn't just about me this is about all Americans. What happened on the road I think is alien to all Americans. I think we've enjoyed our freedoms and I don't think most Americans want them trampled on.
QUIJANO (voice-over): A delicate balance the high court must strike between an individual's rights and public safety. Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And we'll continue the debate over civil rights versus police power. Coming up at 6:00 Eastern a chat with George Washington University law professor, Mary Cheh.
The Big Apple is under a confection invasion curtesy of the japanese. Jeanne Moos takes a look at Krispy Kreme's newest competition later a little later in the hour.
And still to come, a Methodist Church puts a lesbian minister on trial. We'll have the verdict.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just certain things that I know I that can't do. If I can't change it...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Remember that marine? Well, he was having a tough time in the early days of the Iraq war. We'll find out what happened to him a year after combat began.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The war in Iraq brought enduring images, portraits of struggle and hardship, success and failure. One image in particular was of a young U.S. marine. He seemed an underdog in his platoon, nervous, unsure, but he made it through. Now he's home. Our Jason Bellini caught up with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was three days before crossing into Iraq with the U.S. Marines, and Private Arnaldo Polonco was in trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at me.
BELLINI: Polonco's superiors believed he was faking heat exhaustion. This was becoming a frequent affair, Polonco refusing to carry the same weight in his pack as his platoon mates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just certain things that I know that I can't do. And I can't change it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But should we be called upon to cross the border and his current actions, could that be a liability there? Yes, it could.
BELLINI: On the eve of the war, Polonco begged his superiors not to leave him behind. They didn't. What happened to Private Polonco?
A year later, I caught up with him in New York City. He's still in uniform, now a security guard. After four years in the Marines, he got an honorable discharge. Polonco tells me he joined the military because he saw it as a way, out of a world of gangs, drugs and despair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was a little kid, there used to be shootings, everything. We used to be playing baseball right here. Pop, pop, pop. You hear gunshots. And all we did was just like keep on playing baseball.
BELLINI (on camera): When you got back and you started telling your friends about what the war was like for you, what did you tell them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, most of my friends, the only thing they wanted to know was like, how many people did you kill, this, this and that? I basically told them, no, it was just crazy. It was a lot of people dying and a lot of people not dying.
BELLINI (voice-over): For the first week of the war, Polonco was assigned to a different squad. His job, guarding other Marine's packs.
(on camera): Why were you in a different squad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why was I in a different squad? The captain put me with a different squad because -- I have no idea.
BELLINI (voice-over): I interviewed Private Polonco once during the war for a story not about him, but about the mail that had just arrived.
(on camera): Did you get anything this time around?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yet.
BELLINI: No?
(voice-over): Viewers responded. By the time the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit got back to ship, Polonco had hundreds of boxes of letters waiting for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For some reason, I was the one getting the most packages. And at first, I was like, who's this? Because it was name that I have never heard of.
BELLINI: Some Marines teased it, called it pity mail. Polonco says he gave much of it away to boost the morale of others.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to say thank you, too, to all those that ever sent me something. I would like to say thank you and we appreciate it.
BELLINI: Polonco says he's the only guy on his block ever to see the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to prove to myself that I could do something that's hard in life, so that could give me buildup steps and tell me, yes, if I could do this, I could do anything.
BELLINI: And Polonco says he will forever be proud he was a U.S. Marine.
Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A terrorist group issue as request to Spain's new government. We'll have the response. Plus, did Spanish voters let emotion take control at the ballot box last week? I'll speak with an international security expert who's taking a critical look at that nation's recent elections.
An important Muslim ally with the U.S. holds elections. A battle between moderates and fundamentalists. Find out which side won.
And still to come, finding some extra tax deductions.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Negotiations With al Qaeda Fighters In Waziristan>
Aired March 21, 2004 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. There is a new book out critical of President Bush. Claiming that he ignore warnings prior to September 11. The author is not a Democratic opponent, but rather his former adviser of counterterrorism. More on that story in a moment.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCRHO: And what's the view on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq? I'll speak with a Senator who just returned from a tour of both nations.
And what you don't know can cost you when it comes to filling out your tax returns. We'll tell you about some little-known tax deductions that could fatten your refund.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at the headlines.
A rocket attack in Iraq apparently targeting Baghdad's green zone killed two Iraqi civilians today. Six others wounded including a U.S. soldier. The heavily fortified green zone is headquarters for the U.S.-led coalition. North of Baghdad a U.S. soldier was shot and killed in the town of Samarra.
Hundreds are reported dead in fighting between Maoist rebels and government forces in Nepal. Most of the bloodshed appears concentrated 175 west of Kathmandu. Rebels attacked a police post, and army barracks and a district office. It's the second major offensive aimed at a district headquarters since a cease-fire collapsed last August.
Arizona Senator John McCain says he has no plans to leave the Republican Party and become Senator John Kerry's running mate. Speculation that he might do that hit a high note when mccain defended Kerry's record on defense last week.
Discount giant Wal-Mart is still No. 1. IT's topping "Fortune 500's" list of largely traded companies for a third year in a row. Last year the chain, founded by Sam Walton had sales of almost $259 billion dollars. This is "Fortune" magazines the fiftyth year of publishing the annual ranking.
We begin with new criticism leveled at the Bush administration. The former White House counterterrorism adviser accuses President Bush of ignoring ominous intelligence and making the country less safe. Richard Clarke is making the allegations in a new book, and on telephone vision tonight. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us with more details.
MALVEAUX: Fred, what makes this so significant is who Richard Clark is. As you had mentioned before, he is the chief adviser of counterterrorism for President Bush, but he also served under presidents Reagan, Bush sr. as well as Clinton. And he is making these accuization nornl in his book but on "60 Minutes" later this evening.
Here is what he is saying. He is saying in the early days following September 11 that President Bush pressured him to link 9/11 al Qaeda to Iraq, and to saddam Hussein, going after him. He says that in his assessment he also did not take the threat of al Qaeda seriously enough. That it was not a strong enough, or high enough priority. And he says as a member of the inner circle of counterterrorism, that President Bush failed miserably in this.
Now here is an excerpt from "60 Minutes." He says, "I find it outrageous the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he has done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11."
There a lot of talk about this statement today, Fred. The White House, of course, as you know, this comes at a time when both Bush as well as Clinton administration officials will go before the 9/11 commission this week to talk about what it is they knew before these attacks.
The White House clearly does not want to be embarrassed. They are on the offensive about this as well. White House communications director Dan Bartlett making himself available for interviews today. I spoke with him earlier. He vehemently denies that President Bush was threatening or pressuring Clarke in any way to make the connection between 9/11, al Qaeda as well as Iraq, and he believes that this is something that is politically motivated on Clarke's part.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COMM. DIR: I think everybody in America would expect in 24 hours after one of the worst attacks on our country, that the president of the United States was asking his counterterrorism official, tell me everything. Tell me any possible link to this attack? I want to know everything. I want to know about Iraq. I want to know about other affiliates, regimes, that may somehow be implicated in 9/11.
Because he was going through a decision-making process in which he wanted to understand all the information available to make the best decision on a military operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Bartlett also said he believes that this is politically motivate because of Clarke's own close connections to Senator Kerry's camp, to the campaign itself. But as can you imagine, Fred, there is going to be a lot of discussion over what Clarke says, not only in this book, but also in that interview this evening.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne I wonder, given the timing with the 9/11 commission hearings begins this week, is there any chance that Richard Clarke might be called to testify?
MALVEAUX: Well, actually, he is going to be speaking before the 9/11 commission. He is one of many officials Bush as well as the Clinton administration official who will come forward and he will talk about it. He has already given quite a bit of testimony before the commission about his stories.
A lot of this is not new, but the fact that he has come out and worded this so harshly really has hit a cord with a lot of those within the Bush administration. But you will see a number of people taking stand this week. Is going to be extraordinary. Talking about Secretary Powell, Secretary Rumsfeld as well as their former counterparts in the Clinton administration.
WHITFIELD: All right. As well as George Tenet, who's had experience in both administrations. Thanks, Suzanne Malveaux from the White House.
Well, now to Iraq where the U.S. casualty list is growing. Two U.S. soldiers were killed last night in a rocket attack in Fallujah.
Another U.S. soldier was shot and killed today in a non-combat incident in Samarra. A civilian was among at least 6 people wounded in an attack in Baghdad. Two Iraqis killed when rockets were fired toward coalition headquarters. U.S. military officials say such tactics won't cause them to back down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, DEP. DIR. OF OPERATIONS: Every day we have American soldiers wounded in action, some dreadfully killed in action from these devices. The important issue is that these are terror weapons, the intent is to intimidate, to cause fear, far more than to cause destruction. It is going for an affect on the will rather than a physical affect, and the best way to stand up to these people who have tried intimidate us is to just say, we're not going to be intimidated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: One doctor at the hospital treating the wounded called the violence a terrorist act.
It was also a violent day in Afghanistan. The country's civil aviation minister was killed in fighting sparked by an attempt on his father's life. It happened in the city of Herat.
The minister's father a prominient warlord survived the assassination attempt. The minister was leading father's supporters on an attack against government forces when he was killed. Afghanistan's government is sending more troops to the region to end the cashes. The fighting has eased in the battle along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Travel leaders persuaded the Pakistani army to cut back on the assaults on suspected al Qaeda fighters, in exchange leaders agreed to negotiate with villagers protecting fighters.
Pakistani officials had suggested al Qaeda's second in command may be among the militants. Now, officials now are less certain. Some pundits say Pakistan may have mentioned the al Qaeda leader's name to deflect questions about Pakistan's commitment to the war on terror. Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. says, that's not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHRAF JEHANGIR QAZI, APKISTAN AMB. TO U.S.: The fact is, that there is no basis at all for this speculation. We have a huge amount of intelligence sharing with the United States. We couldn't be inventing this -- this incident on our own. The United States is on the other side along with the forces of the border. You think that conniving with us in a phantom operation? That's as ridiculous as one can get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Nic Robertsson has more from Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fighting subsided Sunday. Pakistani military officials say they stopped their artillary barrage, stop using their Cobra attack helicopters as they allowed a period of negotiations. They have ask local tribal leaders to go in and negotiate with the al Qaeda elements in the area, to negotiate their surrender.
There will be, we are told, a second round of negotiations Monday morning. The Pakistani military this time hoping they can avoid getting into a heavy confrontation again.
They do say, however, this window of opportunity will close. They have had limited military engagements on Sunday. They say this window of opportunity will not last, however, and they are quite ready to resume the artillery barrage and the helicopter gunship attack.
We have also found out that a number of dead, suspected al Qaeda members, their bodies removed, that according to Pakistani military officials. According to Pakistani intelligence sources, U.S. experts will be giving DNA analysis on those bodies to find out exactly who they are.
We also understand from Pakistani intelligence sources, that as many as 20 Pakistani paramilitaries affiliated with the Pakistan army, hoping the Pakistan army fight against these al Qaeda elements, 20 of these paramilitaries, at least 20, have been taken captive, by the elements in waziristan. Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Three Senators recently completed a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, Iraq and other hot spots. One of the joins us now from Denver. Senator Wayne Allard is a Republican from Colorado. He's also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Good to see you, Senator.
SEN. WAYNE ALLARD, (R) COLORADO: Thank you, Fredricka. It's good to be with you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Your impressions of Afghanistan, particularly now there there is some picked up activity there?
ALLARD: Well, in Afghanistan, you know, we have the military aspect of it pretty well stabilized. The part that concerns me is the long-term economic prospects for that country. They don't have any natural resources and they have a long ways to go to develop their economy.
But right now, from a military aspect, it's relatively stable. We're in the process of training Afghans to have their own army and there's some 34 nations or so that are our allies, that are helping to do that training. I saw some of the training fields, and everything seems to be moving in a positive direction.
WHITFIELD: Do you have any concerns about other countries who have made promises to financially help Afghanistan, which have not yet delivered?
ALLARD: Well I do. I hope that they step forward. We need to have their help in Afghanistan. And it's a long-term proposition. You know, Afghanistan's got a long ways to recover their economy. This is a great opportunity for our allies to be able to help out, particularly, if they want to be helpful but don't want to get their citizens in a battlefield arena, then they ought to be prepared to come in and help the economic growth of Afghanistan.
WHITFIELD: During your visit in Iraq, did you get an impression from the citizens of Iraq that they feel that they are better off now since the fall of Saddam Hussein?
ALLARD: Well I didn't have an opportunity to visit with any of the citizens with any great length. My main purpose for going over there with two other colleagues was to visit our soldiers over there and to review some military systems that were relatively new.
But my perception, when we had a helicopter fly over the city of Mosul, for example, the downtown area was very busy. You could see a lot of people reconstructing their businesses, building their homes. I think nearly every building had a satellite dish on top of it, and the impression that I got from the air was that things were moving along, and people were feeling about about their community and trying to rebuild it.
So, what I was able to note at a distance, things seemed to be doing very well for them. WHITFIELD: There has been a reported increase of attacks involving the Iraqi civilians, incident bystanders killed or maimed. As a result, do you have concerns about the handover? The planned handover for June 30? Whether indeed that could and should take place?
ALLARD: Well I think they need to continue to move ahead the way they have been, and that is, that we're continuing to pull back forces gradually, testing the Iraqi army. They're new. See how they handle themselves. And if they need help from time to time, we step forward and provide them that extra help they may need.
I think that's a reasonable approach. I don't think anybody's willing to say we're going to meet a certain timeline.
But I do see things moving in a favorable way there. It seems to me the Iraqis are willing to take on more and more responsibility and when they do take over that responsibility, they're doing a reasonable job. That's not to say that from time to time we have to advance our troops to give them a support.
WHITFIELD: How concerned are you about the commitment U.S. forces have to make to maintain the peace even after planned sovereign tin.
ALLARD: We'll have to maintain forces I believe for some time to give that backup support, and I think that we can do that. I think we do have the military technology and the personnel to be able to do it. We have noticed -- I've observed in this particular conflict with Iraq that we do, perhaps, need to increase our force somewhat, and that's happened. Now, hopefully, we can begin to pull that back.
WHITFIELD: Senator Wayne Allard out of Denver. Thanks for joining us this Sunday.
ALLARD: Thank you. Good to be with you.
WHITFIELD: Should you have to give your name to police even if you've done nothing wrong. Details on that constitutional battle, straight ahead. Plus, accusations of a stolen election and demands for a recount. Taiwan appears to be taking a page out of American history. But this one has an unusual twist.
And still to come, we'll tell you if the power of "The Passion" can hold on at the box office.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week on some thorny issues concerning your constitutional rights. Michael Newdow thought his daughter had the First Amendment right contest saying "under god" when her public school cites the pledge of allegiance. In 2002 a federal appeals court agreed with the Sacramento, California atheist. The high court hears the case on Wednesday. The schoolgirl can't attend because of a custody dispute between between Newdow and his ex-wife. His ex-wife will argue that Newdow didn't have standing to bring the case because he didn't get her permission.
A cowboy standing outside his pick-up truck thought he had the right to say no, when police demanded he identify himself. His Supreme Court case coming up tomorrow raises questions about Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections in this age of terrorism. CNN's Elaine Quijano.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cowboy Larry Dudley Hibel was standing outside his pickup truck parked along a Nevada road, his 17-year-old daughter inside when a Sheriff's deputy investigating a call about a domestic disturbance started asking questions. As shown in captioning provided by Hibel supporters, 11 times the deputy told him to produce I.D. each time the rancher refused.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm being cooperative.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see some I.D..
QUIJANO: The encounter ended with Hibel hancuffed, taken to jail and fined $250 for causing a delay to a peace officer. Prosecutors eventually dropped domestic violence charges against him.
DAVID ALLISON, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, HUMBOLDT COUNTY NEVADA: This is a small intrusion poon individual's rights balanced against the need of the state to know who is doing what.
HARRIET CUMMINGS, HIBEL'S ATTORNEY: We believe that it runs contrary to core American values to make it a crime for someone not to identify themselves.
QUIJANO (on camera): Hibel's case is one of six search and seizure cases before the Supreme Court this term. Already, the high court has sided with police on two of those cases. Now, with civil liberties taking the spotlight in this post 9/11 world, experts say what happens with Hibel's case could have far reaching implications.
EDWARD LAZARUS, FRM. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLERK: We have idealistic notion in this country we can live in a kind of splendid anonymity. We can walk around and be left alone. And this question really raises in the post-9/11 era the issue of whether that's really true anymore.
LARRY DUDLEY HIBEL, NEVADA RANCHER: This case isn't just about me this is about all Americans. What happened on the road I think is alien to all Americans. I think we've enjoyed our freedoms and I don't think most Americans want them trampled on.
QUIJANO (voice-over): A delicate balance the high court must strike between an individual's rights and public safety. Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And we'll continue the debate over civil rights versus police power. Coming up at 6:00 Eastern a chat with George Washington University law professor, Mary Cheh.
The Big Apple is under a confection invasion curtesy of the japanese. Jeanne Moos takes a look at Krispy Kreme's newest competition later a little later in the hour.
And still to come, a Methodist Church puts a lesbian minister on trial. We'll have the verdict.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just certain things that I know I that can't do. If I can't change it...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Remember that marine? Well, he was having a tough time in the early days of the Iraq war. We'll find out what happened to him a year after combat began.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The war in Iraq brought enduring images, portraits of struggle and hardship, success and failure. One image in particular was of a young U.S. marine. He seemed an underdog in his platoon, nervous, unsure, but he made it through. Now he's home. Our Jason Bellini caught up with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was three days before crossing into Iraq with the U.S. Marines, and Private Arnaldo Polonco was in trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at me.
BELLINI: Polonco's superiors believed he was faking heat exhaustion. This was becoming a frequent affair, Polonco refusing to carry the same weight in his pack as his platoon mates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just certain things that I know that I can't do. And I can't change it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But should we be called upon to cross the border and his current actions, could that be a liability there? Yes, it could.
BELLINI: On the eve of the war, Polonco begged his superiors not to leave him behind. They didn't. What happened to Private Polonco?
A year later, I caught up with him in New York City. He's still in uniform, now a security guard. After four years in the Marines, he got an honorable discharge. Polonco tells me he joined the military because he saw it as a way, out of a world of gangs, drugs and despair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was a little kid, there used to be shootings, everything. We used to be playing baseball right here. Pop, pop, pop. You hear gunshots. And all we did was just like keep on playing baseball.
BELLINI (on camera): When you got back and you started telling your friends about what the war was like for you, what did you tell them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, most of my friends, the only thing they wanted to know was like, how many people did you kill, this, this and that? I basically told them, no, it was just crazy. It was a lot of people dying and a lot of people not dying.
BELLINI (voice-over): For the first week of the war, Polonco was assigned to a different squad. His job, guarding other Marine's packs.
(on camera): Why were you in a different squad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why was I in a different squad? The captain put me with a different squad because -- I have no idea.
BELLINI (voice-over): I interviewed Private Polonco once during the war for a story not about him, but about the mail that had just arrived.
(on camera): Did you get anything this time around?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yet.
BELLINI: No?
(voice-over): Viewers responded. By the time the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit got back to ship, Polonco had hundreds of boxes of letters waiting for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For some reason, I was the one getting the most packages. And at first, I was like, who's this? Because it was name that I have never heard of.
BELLINI: Some Marines teased it, called it pity mail. Polonco says he gave much of it away to boost the morale of others.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to say thank you, too, to all those that ever sent me something. I would like to say thank you and we appreciate it.
BELLINI: Polonco says he's the only guy on his block ever to see the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to prove to myself that I could do something that's hard in life, so that could give me buildup steps and tell me, yes, if I could do this, I could do anything.
BELLINI: And Polonco says he will forever be proud he was a U.S. Marine.
Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A terrorist group issue as request to Spain's new government. We'll have the response. Plus, did Spanish voters let emotion take control at the ballot box last week? I'll speak with an international security expert who's taking a critical look at that nation's recent elections.
An important Muslim ally with the U.S. holds elections. A battle between moderates and fundamentalists. Find out which side won.
And still to come, finding some extra tax deductions.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Negotiations With al Qaeda Fighters In Waziristan>
