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American Morning
Three U.S. Soldiers Wounded in Rocket Attack; Interview with Senator Carl Levin
Aired April 01, 2004 - 08:00 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: Their deaths will not go unpunished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Paul Bremer saying the battle in Iraq is between dignity and barbarism. How will the U.S. respond after the gruesome attacks in Falluja?
Joy and relief in Wisconsin. A missing college student is found alive. Police, though, a bit quiet yet again today on many of the details in that strange case.
And the decision by OPEC that will hit almost every American family in the wallet. Gasoline prices are high and may be going higher.
Ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right, good morning.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Good to have you here.
Heidi Collins with us today.
Soledad has a bit of time off.
Nice to have you back in New York.
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, sir.
Appreciate that.
I want to let you know about the stories we're following today. A fight going on in Oklahoma about whether a Muslim student has the right to wear a head scarf to school. The school says no. The family is suing and now the Justice Department is involved. We're going to talk about that and meet the girl. And there she is -- good morning to you -- and hear from the school district's attorney, as well.
HEMMER: Also this hour, Dr. Sanjay Gupta here. People looking for cheaper prescription drugs often think of Canada. There are lower prices here in the U.S., we are told, and Sanjay knows where to find them. He'll have it for you this hour, so stay tuned.
COLLINS: Sanjay always knows -- Jack Cafferty, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Coming up in the Cafferty File, it is April Fool's Day. We have a poll that has selected the most foolish American. And we'll also tell you who finished second, third, fourth and fifth. And we'll find out why people tend to look more like their pure bred dogs than their mutts, if that makes sense.
HEMMER: Hmm, perhaps it does.
COLLINS: I have one of each. I'm trying to figure out which is true. Kind of a frightening thought.
CAFFERTY: Look in the mirror.
COLLINS: Yes.
CAFFERTY: It'll come to you.
COLLINS: You shark, Jack Cafferty.
All right, we want to move on to the news, though, this morning, gratefully.
OPEC's decision to cut oil production goes into effect today. Analysts say this will cause gas prices, already hitting record highs, to go up even more. The White House says President Bush is disappointed by OPEC's decision. White House officials are urging Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to try to reverse the move.
More than three dozen NATO troops on a manhunt for a wanted war crimes suspect in Bosnia. The troops were looking for former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, indicted by the U.N. tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands for the 1995 massacre of up to 8,000 Muslims. Karadzic has a $5 million reward posted on him.
The Bush administration says it will examine a World Court ruling ordering it to review the cases of more than 50 Mexican inmates on death row. The World Court ruled yesterday the U.S. violated the rights of the Mexican prisoners by failing to give them access to a Mexican consular officer. One of the men is scheduled to be put to death next month. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry recovering at home from shoulder surgery. It took doctors in Boston 45 minutes to repair a tendon in Kerry's right shoulder and a tear in his bicep. Kerry, who is 60, hurt himself back in January while bracing himself during an abrupt stop on his campaign bus in Iowa. The incident aggravated an earlier injury.
And Michael Jackson is apparently considering a concert tour in Africa to raise money to fight AIDS. Jackson's appearance on Capitol Hill yesterday caused quite a stir. The tour, though, is in doubt, as Jackson had to surrender his passport when he was arrested back in November. The visit comes the same week that prosecutors in Santa Barbara, California have begun presenting a child molestation case against him to a grand jury there.
HEMMER: Tough to cross a border without a passport.
COLLINS: It is very tough, indeed.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Back to Iraq this morning now.
Three U.S. soldiers wounded in a rocket attack on their base in the northern town of Kirkuk earlier today. That is just one incident in a surge of violence that started yesterday after the brutal deaths of four American contractors in the town of Falluja.
Back to Baghdad and Jim Clancy, who has more for us this hour -- Jim, good afternoon there.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill.
And repercussions still sounding out of the events of yesterday. Nine U.S. citizens, five of them soldiers, four of them civilians, as you noted, particularly of concern, those civilians that were killed because of the jubilant mob that dragged their charred bodies from the cars, dragged then through the streets and otherwise desecrated them.
The U.S. civil administrator here in charge of the occupation first of all told a group of graduating police cadets this day not only would this not go unpunished, but he said that if the goal was to try to dissuade the U.S. from supporting Iraqis, that wouldn't work, either. The U.S. will stay the course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREMER: The coalition is here and will remain here to support you, to cooperate with you and to ease your burden. After June 30th and for as long as necessary, the coalition will continue to do what is necessary for Iraq to defend itself against murderers and terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: But the attacks did continue. There was an attack near Falluja, apparently an attack. There was a burning Humvee vehicle from a U.S. military convoy along a roadside. Iraqis probed around the vehicle. U.S. military authorities say they have no information on this incident. But they did have information on another incident. Two roadside bombs aimed at a fuel convoy, a supply line. One civilian was wounded, an Iraqi. Then a few minutes later, a second bomb went off in the heart of that convoy that had stopped far behind it. None of the fuel ignited, but a driver was wounded by shrapnel or glass flying when the bomb exploded and shattered his windshield. He was evacuated, as well.
So you see another day developing in Iraq, more violence. At the same time, it should be noted, Bill, also raids have been carried out and for the first time overnight, the ICDC, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, carried out its first anti-insurgent raids in the middle of the night. They picked up one suspect. They were looking for three of them -- Bill.
HEMMER: A point well taken at the end, if I could, Jim.
I know your movement is limited. It's extremely dangerous, especially to go outside at nighttime and you're in Baghdad and not Falluja.
But do you have a firm understanding for how much military activity is going on right now in the town of Falluja itself?
CLANCY: Not really. We do know that the Marines have been very aggressive on that front. They have said that we will try the nice approach, but only when the Iraqis are nice to us.
There was a lot of reaction here, Bill, this day, as well from the Iraqis, too. And many of them look upon Falluja as being a stronghold of former Baathists, former supporters of Saddam Hussein. They weren't necessarily surprised by what they saw on video yesterday.
The military has been going in there from time to time. But clearly, as they put the pressure on Falluja, they are being very careful. What they want to do is minimize their own casualties while getting in to do something to uncover, to get intelligence, to seize weapons, arms, explosives from the insurgents that are launching these attacks.
It's a tough job for them -- Bill.
HEMMER: Indeed, it is.
Jim, thanks.
Senator Carl Levin just back from Iraq.
He's with us now, the Michigan Democrat from Capitol Hill.
Senator, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING and good morning to you.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Good being with you.
HEMMER: Just pick up a newspaper and you can see the evidence right there quite clearly. Anywhere you look in this country today, they're reverting back to the attacks of yesterday.
What do you believe is the fallout from the violence of yesterday?
LEVIN: Well, what they do, are they just dramatize the huge challenges that we have, both security wise, but politically, as well. Right now the whole focus is on the attacks on us and that's understandable given the horrific attacks yesterday. But there is a challenge politically which is just as great, and that is what happens on June 30th?
We've announced, and I think arbitrarily, that we're going to turn over the -- or restore the sovereignty to some Iraqi authority on June 30th, but no one knows who that authority is and we'd better have it in place and we'd better have the support of the Iraqi people for that authority or else it could actually unleash even worse violence, as much as a civil war, if we don't have an entity in place on June 30th to whom we can turn over sovereignty with the support of the Iraqi forces -- people.
HEMMER: Take that point a step further, Senator.
How much support were you able to gauge for the Iraqi Governing Council when you were there?
LEVIN: We weren't really able to gauge that because we weren't able to talk with Iraqi people. We did talk with a member of the Governing Council. But the public opinion polls show a division in Iraq on that. That's not going to work. We can't turn this over to the Governing Council and say that they reflect the will of the Iraqi people, because we picked the Governing Council.
We've got to get the Iraqi people involved in this and all three of the major entities have got to be supportive of what -- whoever we turn this sovereignty over to, or else we've got big problems. And I think we made a mistake in adopting a fixed date without having -- without knowing to whom we were going to restore that sovereignty.
HEMMER: Senator, many have suggested this may be a 10 year war.
Have you thought about that possibility?
LEVIN: I have. We've been in Korea for a long time and I think we're going to be in Iraq for a long time. And we shouldn't underestimate the challenge. But the first challenge is that June 30th date. Everyone's got to focus on that while we're trying to address these security concerns as to who are we going to turn this sovereignty over to. It, again, is THE major challenge that we face politically. Militarily, we will be there, Bill, for a long, long time, in support, hopefully, of a government in Iraq that has the support of the Iraqi people.
HEMMER: Thank you, Senator Carl Levin, again.
Come back any time.
Nice to talk to you.
LEVIN: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Audrey Seiler is back home with her family today, but a man she described as her abductor has not been found. The search for the missing University of Wisconsin student ended yesterday less than two miles from where she was last seen.
Jonathan Freed live now in Madison, Wisconsin -- Jonathan, good morning.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
The sun is up here in Madison, Wisconsin and this town is considerably more relaxed today than it has been for the last few days. Yesterday, of course, Audrey Seiler found alive, back home with her family this morning. But the questions that everybody is focusing on right now is where is the suspect that Audrey Seiler says abducted her now five days ago at knifepoint early Saturday morning?
And that speaks of the headline in today's paper here, the "Wisconsin State Journal." It says, "One Search Ends and, Of Course, Another One Begins and Continues."
Now, police are focused on some key elements of this case this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFC. LARRY KAMHOLZ: There's a lot of things that we have to sit down and go through and try to piece some more information together so we can identify the person that's involved. And that's going to take some time here. I anticipate the interview with Audrey is going to last for several hours. But it's just something that we're going to have to take our time with and make sure that we have the correct and accurate information from Audrey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREED: So when you listen, Heidi, to what the police were saying this morning and you want to revisit that headline, you might say one search ends, but a different type of questioning seems to be beginning -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jonathan, on that note, earlier you told us that when the search for the suspect resumes this morning, it will be with less officers or investigators, if you will.
I'm wondering, how seriously are police taking this? Some are suggesting this case might be a hoax. FREED: Well, those questions are being asked and, in fact, I asked the police this morning, the spokesperson who was here earlier, just as the sun was coming up, whether or not they were still holding the same line that they were yesterday. And when I asked that question, the officer appeared to quicken his pace. That was something that he didn't really want to get into.
But if you listen closely to what they're saying, they're definitely suggesting that they want to talk for several hours to Audrey Seiler today. They're giving her a chance to visit with her family. But there are certain elements about this, her story of two months ago when she was attacked and she woke up alone but she wasn't robbed, these are things that have been puzzling police all along. And they want to poke at that today.
COLLINS: All right, Jonathan Freed live from Madison this morning.
Thanks, Jonathan.
HEMMER: In a moment here, the White House decision to allow Condoleezza Rice to testify. Was that the right move? Both sides of that issue, in a moment here, will pick up on it.
COLLINS: A Muslim girl who wants to wear her religious head scarf in school now getting some big support. We're going to hear from her and her attorneys, on both sides, coming up next.
HEMMER: Also, Martha Stewart's attorneys want a new trial because of what one juror did not mention during jury selection. Do they have a case? That's ahead also, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: An update for you on the Martha Stewart matter. Her lawyers have filed a motion for a new trial. They contend her guilty verdict should be overturned because a juror lied on his questionnaire. They contend that Juror Number Eight, Chappell Hartridge, did not disclose during jury selection that he had been arrested and charged with physically abusing his girlfriend.
Stewart now scheduled to be sentenced in mid-June. We'll see if this goes anywhere. Stay tuned -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The Justice Department is supporting a Muslim student's right to wear a religious head scarf in a public school. Twelve-year- old Nashala Hearn was suspended last year from her school in Oklahoma for wearing the head scarf. Her family sued the school district and now the federal government is backing them in their legal battle.
We're going to hear both sides of this debate this morning.
Joining us from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Nashala Hearn and her attorney, Leah Farish.
Good morning to you, ladies. Thanks for being with us.
NASHALA HEARN: Good morning.
LEAH FARISH, ATTORNEY FOR NASHALA HEARN: Good morning.
COLLINS: Also with us, John Tucker, attorney for the Muskogee, Oklahoma school district.
Mr. Tucker, thanks to you, as well, for being here.
JOHN TUCKER, ATTORNEY, MUSKOGEE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT: Thank you.
COLLINS: Ms. Farish, I want to begin with you, if I could. If you could just take us back and tell us a little bit about what happened to Nashala.
Why did the school tell her that she was not able to wear the head scarf any more? I know that she was able to for the first month or so.
HEARN: Right. She had been wearing it without incident for a few weeks and on September 11, she was reprimanded for wearing something that looked like a bandana, they said, which is one of the things forbidden by their dress code. A hejab, or head scarf is not in that list.
But at that time, she and her parents started discussing this with the school district and ultimately she was suspended.
She returned again in a hejab and was suspended again and since then she has been at school, wearing the hejab, under an agreement that the school district says allows them to indefinitely deliberate on whether they are going to make an exception to their dress code or change their dress code.
COLLINS: So then on what grounds are Nashala and her father suing the school?
FARISH: Well, there are several constitutional grounds and state law grounds. But we recently, most recently what triggered the Justice Department's ability to be involved, we found some facts that indicated a violation of the equal protection clause of the constitution.
COLLINS: Well, in fact, you bring up a point -- Mr. Tucker, actually, I want to get to you.
The Hearns are saying that the school is violating Nashala's religious freedom. We have heard this already. But now the U.S. Justice Department, of course, has issued a statement, as we've just been hearing, filed a motion in support of the Hearns.
We want to go ahead and put that on the screen for our viewers. It says: "No student should be forced to choose between following her faith and enjoying the benefits of a public education."
What's your response to that?
TUCKER: It's twofold. Number one, the school district has a dress code which is not a religious-based dress code. This is not a religious issue. For the school, this is about the safety and welfare of the students. A dress code is to ensure that all students are treated equally. The United States Department of Education sets guidelines for dress codes.
In 1955, after Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the United States Department of Education specifically authorized an exception to dress codes and directed schools that yarmulkes and head scarves would be appropriate if worn for religious purpose as a part of a student's religious beliefs.
However, in 1998, those regulations were changed by the United States government because the Supreme Court declared that Religious Freedom & Restoration Act to be unconstitutional. That exception for yarmulkes and head scarves was removed.
The Muskogee school district wants a dress code that applies consistently to all students. And head wear is not permitted because of the opportunities to use headwear to present signs of things that would be considered inappropriate and might lead to gang behavior.
COLLINS: All right, Mr. Tucker, thanks so much.
Nashala, I want to get to you, if I could.
Talk to us just for a moment about how this has felt for you, at the center of quite a controversy here.
Have your friends been helping you out? Have they been supportive to you?
HEARN: Yes.
COLLINS: How so?
HEARN: They just told me that I'm doing a good job in keeping up the work and stuff. And they support me and stuff.
COLLINS: How does it feel, Nashala, to walk through the school, the doors of the school, with your hejab on right now?
HEARN: It feels great for people to know that like they can't, they can suspend me but I'm going to just come back on doing my job.
COLLINS: All right, doing your job at school, as you should be.
Nashala Hearn, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
As well to Leah Farish and John Tucker.
Thanks again, guys. HEMMER: In a moment here, that University of Wisconsin student found yesterday. She is safe, she is alive, but the investigation continues and some strange answers that are still elusive today. The latest on that.
Also, Boston bracing for the Democratic convention in late July. There are fears that security may create a nightmare for commuters. Is the city better safe than sorry?
Back with that story and more in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to go ahead and check in now with Jack, The Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: A huge response -- Heidi, thank you -- to the story about the murder of four civilians yesterday in Falluja. A difficult decision for the news media. The aftermath of that attack included hours of celebration by Iraqis in the streets, cheering children, one of them photographed beating one of the corpses with a shoe; mutilation and hanging of bodies from a bridge; tough stuff.
Newspapers, television stations having to decide how much of this to show their viewers and/or readers.
So the question we're monkeying around with this morning is should the media show the most graphic images out of Falluja.
De De in Hampton, Virginia says: "When I read of the horrific incident yesterday, I was sickened by just imagining the images. I did not need to see it. The "New York Times" was totally irresponsible in showing the actual picture on their front page."
The "Times" had a picture of the bodies hanging from the bridge on the front page this morning.
"Would their editor have made the same decision if it had been one of his family members? I think not. I am disgusted."
Michael in Manchester, Connecticut writes: "The media has a responsibility to show these images so that people can see what truly goes on in a war zone. However, they should have a warning before the images are aired so people with weak stomachs or children have the option of turning away."
Bob in Virginia Beach says: "Is the media so poorly equipped with good journalists that they must show photos of these horrific acts of violence? We have achieved an all time low when the front page of our newspapers must be hidden from our children."
Amie in Wilmington, North Carolina: "Your question raises issues beyond the proprietary of any horrific image. In a society desensitized by any number of forms of violence, pictures such as the one shown in the "Times" may be deemed something of a necessity. What else will grab our attention, raise our awareness, inflame our passion?"
And Wistar in Flowery Branch, Georgia writes: "It would be an interesting counterpoint to the Bush story that we're winning the peace. Showing the body bags returning and the images of the brutality of war helped Americans to see the truth and helped end Vietnam."
Am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: Were you as surprised as I was to see that front page picture today in the "New York Times?"
CAFFERTY: I was not surprised to see the picture somewhere. I was surprised to see it in the "Times" on the front page, above the fold.
COLLINS: On the front page.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: Right.
CAFFERTY: That's -- I don't recall -- I've lived in New York for 26, seven years...
HEMMER: '68, '65?
CAFFERTY: '77. And I don't remember seeing the "Times" do something quite that stark.
HEMMER: As a network, I know we debated it heavily yesterday. We contained it in a package, a piece on videotape. But there was a lot of consideration given to make sure that families were notified from this company in North Carolina prior to the airing of that videotape that is extremely graphic. And our folks in Atlanta have seen it. I have not seen it personally, but they say it is every bit as worse, if not more, than what happened in Somalia.
COLLINS: Somalia, right.
CAFFERTY: The disturbing thing to me is you've got little kids cheering this. That's the real thing that...
COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: ... that bothers me more than the picture of a dead body.
COLLINS: I know. It's...
CAFFERTY: The fact that there are kids, 10, 12 years old...
HEMMER: What does that say to you?
CAFFERTY: I don't know. But it raises a lot of questions.
COLLINS: Do they know what they're cheering for?
CAFFERTY: Those 12-year-old kids aren't former officials of the Saddam Hussein regime.
HEMMER: No, there's a suggestion, also, the "Wall Street Journal" had a piece today saying that the fact that they can just do this and get away with this lets them know that there is no punishment there.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: That there is no military activity happening. We know the Marines are there, but how can they enforce the law of the land on the Iraqi mobs that got loose yesterday?
CAFFERTY: We're getting a lot of mail from people suggesting that there should be some retribution. And they're not talking about taking away, you know, imposing a curfew. They're saying seal off the city, go in and take care of business.
HEMMER: Wow.
Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Back in a moment here.
Let's get a break here.
The reversal on Condoleezza Rice before that Commission. Is the issue pure politics? Kamber and May back with us right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 1, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: Their deaths will not go unpunished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Paul Bremer saying the battle in Iraq is between dignity and barbarism. How will the U.S. respond after the gruesome attacks in Falluja?
Joy and relief in Wisconsin. A missing college student is found alive. Police, though, a bit quiet yet again today on many of the details in that strange case.
And the decision by OPEC that will hit almost every American family in the wallet. Gasoline prices are high and may be going higher.
Ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right, good morning.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Good to have you here.
Heidi Collins with us today.
Soledad has a bit of time off.
Nice to have you back in New York.
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, sir.
Appreciate that.
I want to let you know about the stories we're following today. A fight going on in Oklahoma about whether a Muslim student has the right to wear a head scarf to school. The school says no. The family is suing and now the Justice Department is involved. We're going to talk about that and meet the girl. And there she is -- good morning to you -- and hear from the school district's attorney, as well.
HEMMER: Also this hour, Dr. Sanjay Gupta here. People looking for cheaper prescription drugs often think of Canada. There are lower prices here in the U.S., we are told, and Sanjay knows where to find them. He'll have it for you this hour, so stay tuned.
COLLINS: Sanjay always knows -- Jack Cafferty, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Coming up in the Cafferty File, it is April Fool's Day. We have a poll that has selected the most foolish American. And we'll also tell you who finished second, third, fourth and fifth. And we'll find out why people tend to look more like their pure bred dogs than their mutts, if that makes sense.
HEMMER: Hmm, perhaps it does.
COLLINS: I have one of each. I'm trying to figure out which is true. Kind of a frightening thought.
CAFFERTY: Look in the mirror.
COLLINS: Yes.
CAFFERTY: It'll come to you.
COLLINS: You shark, Jack Cafferty.
All right, we want to move on to the news, though, this morning, gratefully.
OPEC's decision to cut oil production goes into effect today. Analysts say this will cause gas prices, already hitting record highs, to go up even more. The White House says President Bush is disappointed by OPEC's decision. White House officials are urging Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to try to reverse the move.
More than three dozen NATO troops on a manhunt for a wanted war crimes suspect in Bosnia. The troops were looking for former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, indicted by the U.N. tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands for the 1995 massacre of up to 8,000 Muslims. Karadzic has a $5 million reward posted on him.
The Bush administration says it will examine a World Court ruling ordering it to review the cases of more than 50 Mexican inmates on death row. The World Court ruled yesterday the U.S. violated the rights of the Mexican prisoners by failing to give them access to a Mexican consular officer. One of the men is scheduled to be put to death next month. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry recovering at home from shoulder surgery. It took doctors in Boston 45 minutes to repair a tendon in Kerry's right shoulder and a tear in his bicep. Kerry, who is 60, hurt himself back in January while bracing himself during an abrupt stop on his campaign bus in Iowa. The incident aggravated an earlier injury.
And Michael Jackson is apparently considering a concert tour in Africa to raise money to fight AIDS. Jackson's appearance on Capitol Hill yesterday caused quite a stir. The tour, though, is in doubt, as Jackson had to surrender his passport when he was arrested back in November. The visit comes the same week that prosecutors in Santa Barbara, California have begun presenting a child molestation case against him to a grand jury there.
HEMMER: Tough to cross a border without a passport.
COLLINS: It is very tough, indeed.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Back to Iraq this morning now.
Three U.S. soldiers wounded in a rocket attack on their base in the northern town of Kirkuk earlier today. That is just one incident in a surge of violence that started yesterday after the brutal deaths of four American contractors in the town of Falluja.
Back to Baghdad and Jim Clancy, who has more for us this hour -- Jim, good afternoon there.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill.
And repercussions still sounding out of the events of yesterday. Nine U.S. citizens, five of them soldiers, four of them civilians, as you noted, particularly of concern, those civilians that were killed because of the jubilant mob that dragged their charred bodies from the cars, dragged then through the streets and otherwise desecrated them.
The U.S. civil administrator here in charge of the occupation first of all told a group of graduating police cadets this day not only would this not go unpunished, but he said that if the goal was to try to dissuade the U.S. from supporting Iraqis, that wouldn't work, either. The U.S. will stay the course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREMER: The coalition is here and will remain here to support you, to cooperate with you and to ease your burden. After June 30th and for as long as necessary, the coalition will continue to do what is necessary for Iraq to defend itself against murderers and terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: But the attacks did continue. There was an attack near Falluja, apparently an attack. There was a burning Humvee vehicle from a U.S. military convoy along a roadside. Iraqis probed around the vehicle. U.S. military authorities say they have no information on this incident. But they did have information on another incident. Two roadside bombs aimed at a fuel convoy, a supply line. One civilian was wounded, an Iraqi. Then a few minutes later, a second bomb went off in the heart of that convoy that had stopped far behind it. None of the fuel ignited, but a driver was wounded by shrapnel or glass flying when the bomb exploded and shattered his windshield. He was evacuated, as well.
So you see another day developing in Iraq, more violence. At the same time, it should be noted, Bill, also raids have been carried out and for the first time overnight, the ICDC, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, carried out its first anti-insurgent raids in the middle of the night. They picked up one suspect. They were looking for three of them -- Bill.
HEMMER: A point well taken at the end, if I could, Jim.
I know your movement is limited. It's extremely dangerous, especially to go outside at nighttime and you're in Baghdad and not Falluja.
But do you have a firm understanding for how much military activity is going on right now in the town of Falluja itself?
CLANCY: Not really. We do know that the Marines have been very aggressive on that front. They have said that we will try the nice approach, but only when the Iraqis are nice to us.
There was a lot of reaction here, Bill, this day, as well from the Iraqis, too. And many of them look upon Falluja as being a stronghold of former Baathists, former supporters of Saddam Hussein. They weren't necessarily surprised by what they saw on video yesterday.
The military has been going in there from time to time. But clearly, as they put the pressure on Falluja, they are being very careful. What they want to do is minimize their own casualties while getting in to do something to uncover, to get intelligence, to seize weapons, arms, explosives from the insurgents that are launching these attacks.
It's a tough job for them -- Bill.
HEMMER: Indeed, it is.
Jim, thanks.
Senator Carl Levin just back from Iraq.
He's with us now, the Michigan Democrat from Capitol Hill.
Senator, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING and good morning to you.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Good being with you.
HEMMER: Just pick up a newspaper and you can see the evidence right there quite clearly. Anywhere you look in this country today, they're reverting back to the attacks of yesterday.
What do you believe is the fallout from the violence of yesterday?
LEVIN: Well, what they do, are they just dramatize the huge challenges that we have, both security wise, but politically, as well. Right now the whole focus is on the attacks on us and that's understandable given the horrific attacks yesterday. But there is a challenge politically which is just as great, and that is what happens on June 30th?
We've announced, and I think arbitrarily, that we're going to turn over the -- or restore the sovereignty to some Iraqi authority on June 30th, but no one knows who that authority is and we'd better have it in place and we'd better have the support of the Iraqi people for that authority or else it could actually unleash even worse violence, as much as a civil war, if we don't have an entity in place on June 30th to whom we can turn over sovereignty with the support of the Iraqi forces -- people.
HEMMER: Take that point a step further, Senator.
How much support were you able to gauge for the Iraqi Governing Council when you were there?
LEVIN: We weren't really able to gauge that because we weren't able to talk with Iraqi people. We did talk with a member of the Governing Council. But the public opinion polls show a division in Iraq on that. That's not going to work. We can't turn this over to the Governing Council and say that they reflect the will of the Iraqi people, because we picked the Governing Council.
We've got to get the Iraqi people involved in this and all three of the major entities have got to be supportive of what -- whoever we turn this sovereignty over to, or else we've got big problems. And I think we made a mistake in adopting a fixed date without having -- without knowing to whom we were going to restore that sovereignty.
HEMMER: Senator, many have suggested this may be a 10 year war.
Have you thought about that possibility?
LEVIN: I have. We've been in Korea for a long time and I think we're going to be in Iraq for a long time. And we shouldn't underestimate the challenge. But the first challenge is that June 30th date. Everyone's got to focus on that while we're trying to address these security concerns as to who are we going to turn this sovereignty over to. It, again, is THE major challenge that we face politically. Militarily, we will be there, Bill, for a long, long time, in support, hopefully, of a government in Iraq that has the support of the Iraqi people.
HEMMER: Thank you, Senator Carl Levin, again.
Come back any time.
Nice to talk to you.
LEVIN: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Audrey Seiler is back home with her family today, but a man she described as her abductor has not been found. The search for the missing University of Wisconsin student ended yesterday less than two miles from where she was last seen.
Jonathan Freed live now in Madison, Wisconsin -- Jonathan, good morning.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
The sun is up here in Madison, Wisconsin and this town is considerably more relaxed today than it has been for the last few days. Yesterday, of course, Audrey Seiler found alive, back home with her family this morning. But the questions that everybody is focusing on right now is where is the suspect that Audrey Seiler says abducted her now five days ago at knifepoint early Saturday morning?
And that speaks of the headline in today's paper here, the "Wisconsin State Journal." It says, "One Search Ends and, Of Course, Another One Begins and Continues."
Now, police are focused on some key elements of this case this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFC. LARRY KAMHOLZ: There's a lot of things that we have to sit down and go through and try to piece some more information together so we can identify the person that's involved. And that's going to take some time here. I anticipate the interview with Audrey is going to last for several hours. But it's just something that we're going to have to take our time with and make sure that we have the correct and accurate information from Audrey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREED: So when you listen, Heidi, to what the police were saying this morning and you want to revisit that headline, you might say one search ends, but a different type of questioning seems to be beginning -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jonathan, on that note, earlier you told us that when the search for the suspect resumes this morning, it will be with less officers or investigators, if you will.
I'm wondering, how seriously are police taking this? Some are suggesting this case might be a hoax. FREED: Well, those questions are being asked and, in fact, I asked the police this morning, the spokesperson who was here earlier, just as the sun was coming up, whether or not they were still holding the same line that they were yesterday. And when I asked that question, the officer appeared to quicken his pace. That was something that he didn't really want to get into.
But if you listen closely to what they're saying, they're definitely suggesting that they want to talk for several hours to Audrey Seiler today. They're giving her a chance to visit with her family. But there are certain elements about this, her story of two months ago when she was attacked and she woke up alone but she wasn't robbed, these are things that have been puzzling police all along. And they want to poke at that today.
COLLINS: All right, Jonathan Freed live from Madison this morning.
Thanks, Jonathan.
HEMMER: In a moment here, the White House decision to allow Condoleezza Rice to testify. Was that the right move? Both sides of that issue, in a moment here, will pick up on it.
COLLINS: A Muslim girl who wants to wear her religious head scarf in school now getting some big support. We're going to hear from her and her attorneys, on both sides, coming up next.
HEMMER: Also, Martha Stewart's attorneys want a new trial because of what one juror did not mention during jury selection. Do they have a case? That's ahead also, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: An update for you on the Martha Stewart matter. Her lawyers have filed a motion for a new trial. They contend her guilty verdict should be overturned because a juror lied on his questionnaire. They contend that Juror Number Eight, Chappell Hartridge, did not disclose during jury selection that he had been arrested and charged with physically abusing his girlfriend.
Stewart now scheduled to be sentenced in mid-June. We'll see if this goes anywhere. Stay tuned -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The Justice Department is supporting a Muslim student's right to wear a religious head scarf in a public school. Twelve-year- old Nashala Hearn was suspended last year from her school in Oklahoma for wearing the head scarf. Her family sued the school district and now the federal government is backing them in their legal battle.
We're going to hear both sides of this debate this morning.
Joining us from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Nashala Hearn and her attorney, Leah Farish.
Good morning to you, ladies. Thanks for being with us.
NASHALA HEARN: Good morning.
LEAH FARISH, ATTORNEY FOR NASHALA HEARN: Good morning.
COLLINS: Also with us, John Tucker, attorney for the Muskogee, Oklahoma school district.
Mr. Tucker, thanks to you, as well, for being here.
JOHN TUCKER, ATTORNEY, MUSKOGEE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT: Thank you.
COLLINS: Ms. Farish, I want to begin with you, if I could. If you could just take us back and tell us a little bit about what happened to Nashala.
Why did the school tell her that she was not able to wear the head scarf any more? I know that she was able to for the first month or so.
HEARN: Right. She had been wearing it without incident for a few weeks and on September 11, she was reprimanded for wearing something that looked like a bandana, they said, which is one of the things forbidden by their dress code. A hejab, or head scarf is not in that list.
But at that time, she and her parents started discussing this with the school district and ultimately she was suspended.
She returned again in a hejab and was suspended again and since then she has been at school, wearing the hejab, under an agreement that the school district says allows them to indefinitely deliberate on whether they are going to make an exception to their dress code or change their dress code.
COLLINS: So then on what grounds are Nashala and her father suing the school?
FARISH: Well, there are several constitutional grounds and state law grounds. But we recently, most recently what triggered the Justice Department's ability to be involved, we found some facts that indicated a violation of the equal protection clause of the constitution.
COLLINS: Well, in fact, you bring up a point -- Mr. Tucker, actually, I want to get to you.
The Hearns are saying that the school is violating Nashala's religious freedom. We have heard this already. But now the U.S. Justice Department, of course, has issued a statement, as we've just been hearing, filed a motion in support of the Hearns.
We want to go ahead and put that on the screen for our viewers. It says: "No student should be forced to choose between following her faith and enjoying the benefits of a public education."
What's your response to that?
TUCKER: It's twofold. Number one, the school district has a dress code which is not a religious-based dress code. This is not a religious issue. For the school, this is about the safety and welfare of the students. A dress code is to ensure that all students are treated equally. The United States Department of Education sets guidelines for dress codes.
In 1955, after Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the United States Department of Education specifically authorized an exception to dress codes and directed schools that yarmulkes and head scarves would be appropriate if worn for religious purpose as a part of a student's religious beliefs.
However, in 1998, those regulations were changed by the United States government because the Supreme Court declared that Religious Freedom & Restoration Act to be unconstitutional. That exception for yarmulkes and head scarves was removed.
The Muskogee school district wants a dress code that applies consistently to all students. And head wear is not permitted because of the opportunities to use headwear to present signs of things that would be considered inappropriate and might lead to gang behavior.
COLLINS: All right, Mr. Tucker, thanks so much.
Nashala, I want to get to you, if I could.
Talk to us just for a moment about how this has felt for you, at the center of quite a controversy here.
Have your friends been helping you out? Have they been supportive to you?
HEARN: Yes.
COLLINS: How so?
HEARN: They just told me that I'm doing a good job in keeping up the work and stuff. And they support me and stuff.
COLLINS: How does it feel, Nashala, to walk through the school, the doors of the school, with your hejab on right now?
HEARN: It feels great for people to know that like they can't, they can suspend me but I'm going to just come back on doing my job.
COLLINS: All right, doing your job at school, as you should be.
Nashala Hearn, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
As well to Leah Farish and John Tucker.
Thanks again, guys. HEMMER: In a moment here, that University of Wisconsin student found yesterday. She is safe, she is alive, but the investigation continues and some strange answers that are still elusive today. The latest on that.
Also, Boston bracing for the Democratic convention in late July. There are fears that security may create a nightmare for commuters. Is the city better safe than sorry?
Back with that story and more in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to go ahead and check in now with Jack, The Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: A huge response -- Heidi, thank you -- to the story about the murder of four civilians yesterday in Falluja. A difficult decision for the news media. The aftermath of that attack included hours of celebration by Iraqis in the streets, cheering children, one of them photographed beating one of the corpses with a shoe; mutilation and hanging of bodies from a bridge; tough stuff.
Newspapers, television stations having to decide how much of this to show their viewers and/or readers.
So the question we're monkeying around with this morning is should the media show the most graphic images out of Falluja.
De De in Hampton, Virginia says: "When I read of the horrific incident yesterday, I was sickened by just imagining the images. I did not need to see it. The "New York Times" was totally irresponsible in showing the actual picture on their front page."
The "Times" had a picture of the bodies hanging from the bridge on the front page this morning.
"Would their editor have made the same decision if it had been one of his family members? I think not. I am disgusted."
Michael in Manchester, Connecticut writes: "The media has a responsibility to show these images so that people can see what truly goes on in a war zone. However, they should have a warning before the images are aired so people with weak stomachs or children have the option of turning away."
Bob in Virginia Beach says: "Is the media so poorly equipped with good journalists that they must show photos of these horrific acts of violence? We have achieved an all time low when the front page of our newspapers must be hidden from our children."
Amie in Wilmington, North Carolina: "Your question raises issues beyond the proprietary of any horrific image. In a society desensitized by any number of forms of violence, pictures such as the one shown in the "Times" may be deemed something of a necessity. What else will grab our attention, raise our awareness, inflame our passion?"
And Wistar in Flowery Branch, Georgia writes: "It would be an interesting counterpoint to the Bush story that we're winning the peace. Showing the body bags returning and the images of the brutality of war helped Americans to see the truth and helped end Vietnam."
Am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: Were you as surprised as I was to see that front page picture today in the "New York Times?"
CAFFERTY: I was not surprised to see the picture somewhere. I was surprised to see it in the "Times" on the front page, above the fold.
COLLINS: On the front page.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: Right.
CAFFERTY: That's -- I don't recall -- I've lived in New York for 26, seven years...
HEMMER: '68, '65?
CAFFERTY: '77. And I don't remember seeing the "Times" do something quite that stark.
HEMMER: As a network, I know we debated it heavily yesterday. We contained it in a package, a piece on videotape. But there was a lot of consideration given to make sure that families were notified from this company in North Carolina prior to the airing of that videotape that is extremely graphic. And our folks in Atlanta have seen it. I have not seen it personally, but they say it is every bit as worse, if not more, than what happened in Somalia.
COLLINS: Somalia, right.
CAFFERTY: The disturbing thing to me is you've got little kids cheering this. That's the real thing that...
COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: ... that bothers me more than the picture of a dead body.
COLLINS: I know. It's...
CAFFERTY: The fact that there are kids, 10, 12 years old...
HEMMER: What does that say to you?
CAFFERTY: I don't know. But it raises a lot of questions.
COLLINS: Do they know what they're cheering for?
CAFFERTY: Those 12-year-old kids aren't former officials of the Saddam Hussein regime.
HEMMER: No, there's a suggestion, also, the "Wall Street Journal" had a piece today saying that the fact that they can just do this and get away with this lets them know that there is no punishment there.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: That there is no military activity happening. We know the Marines are there, but how can they enforce the law of the land on the Iraqi mobs that got loose yesterday?
CAFFERTY: We're getting a lot of mail from people suggesting that there should be some retribution. And they're not talking about taking away, you know, imposing a curfew. They're saying seal off the city, go in and take care of business.
HEMMER: Wow.
Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Back in a moment here.
Let's get a break here.
The reversal on Condoleezza Rice before that Commission. Is the issue pure politics? Kamber and May back with us right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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