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Fallout from Fallujah; National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice Appears Before 9/11 commission Next Week

Aired April 02, 2004 - 10:00   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.


DARYN KAGAN, HOST: We're get started here at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's go ahead and check the headlines at this hour.
Spanish authorities confirm to CNN the discovery of dynamite and detonation cord along the high-speed, rail line linking Madrid with Seville. Bullet train service has been halted effecting thousands of travelers. Spanish media report the 20 to 25 pound package was discovered by a railway worker.

Iraqi police are the latest targets of the insurgency. An attack in Baquba against a police convoy killed at least two officers and wounded others. And in Fallujah, the U.S. military is vowing to get those responsible for the butchering of four Americans civilians. More on story in just a moment.

In Jerusalem, Israeli police and some Palestinians clash today outside of a holy site. It apparently began with Palestinians throwing rocks at Jews at the Western Wall. Israeli police rushed in with stun grenades and rubber bullets. The site is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and is the scene of frequent confrontations.

And mark your calendars. Next Thursday beginning at 9:00 a.m., National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify under oath before the 9/11 Commission. It was a meeting the Bush White House had tried to avoid. One key issue for Rice will be, how much the administration was informed about al Qaeda by the Clinton administration.

And about one hour from now police in Madison, Wisconsin are expected to hold a news conference on the case of Audrey Seiler. Her four-day disappearance has been raising questions, especially since she was found relatively unharmed on Wednesday. A live report from Madison is coming up.

The first hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

We are going to begin on this Friday morning in Fallujah. A senior Muslim cleric saying that spiritual leaders would use weekly prayers today to denounce this week's mob mutilations of four American contractors. And U.S. officials say that if local leaders don't take action against those responsible, U.S. forces will.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us with more. Barbara. BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, good morning. There is no question now but planning is under way for the U.S. Marines to re-enter the city of Fallujah, and reassert control over that very troubled city. Now, just to tell you how seriously all of this is being taken. Yesterday here at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld meeting with CIA director George Tenet and General John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command.

Of course, it was a regularly scheduled meeting, but the talk immediately turned to that Fallujah region and what to do about the security situation there. Sources telling CNN that General Abizaid made the point that what happened in Fallujah, as horrific as it was, should not deter the U.S. from its overall security strategy in Iraq, which is to turn over security to Iraqi forces, have U.S. military forces keep a fairly lower public profile, and step in to help the Iraqis when that's needed.

But of course, that is not what happened in Fallujah, so now there is a lot of concern about making sure there's a reassertion of control in that city. So what does this all really mean? We will see U.S. military forces in the next few days reassert control of the city. How they do that still remains to be decided. They want to work with the Iraqis, see if they can identify who was responsible for those horrific attacks, arrest them and begin again to reassert control over the city.

But they also want to go for a bit of a softer touch, providing money for schools, hospitals, relief efforts within the city. Part of the effort to win over the hearts and minds of the residents of Fallujah.

So who was responsible? Officials this morning saying they still simply do not know. They are looking at those videotapes, trying to see if they can identify any faces. And they are watching very closely to see if there is any signs that Abu Musab Zarqawi, the person who is trying to incite civil war fare in Iraq between Sunni and Shiia, may be involved in any of this -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara, do they intend to go with equal zeal toward the people who did the original attack and toward the people who dragged the bodies and celebrated afterwards?

STARR: Well, they want to arrest whoever is responsible. But you raise one of the most interesting points in all of this. While they say that this attack in Fallujah was, of course, by a very small number of people, one of the things that has really disturbed the military is the number of people that were in the streets immediately afterwards cheering, taking part in that desecration of the bodies. People who clearly may not have been involved in the original attack, but came out of their houses and were part of this mob mentality on the street.

That is something of specific concern to the U.S. military because it tells them something about the climate of the city. That's part of the very key reason they want to move back in, raise the military profile and try and reassert control of the town -- Daryn. KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you.

Blackwater Security Consulting is not yet releasing the names of its four employees who were killed in that attack. And CNN is with holding the names of three of the victims, until we are sure their families have been notified. We can however, report the name of 32- year-old Jerry Zovko. His family is already speaking publicly about their loss. Earlier on "AMERICAN MORNING" Zovko's brother spoke with our Bill Hemmer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST, "AMERICN MORNING": Do you blame the Iraqi people?

TOM ZOVKO, VICTIM'S BROTHER: No. No, no, no, no, no.

HEMMER: What do you consider now about the situation of what you hear about Fallujah?

ZOVKO: I firmly agree with most of the officials that this is a small percentage, you know, of the people that want to keep it the way it was, you know? And these are the type of people that would do something like this. And that's how they kept it the way it was, by keeping control over the people by doing stuff like this. I firmly believe that. And so did my brother. You know, he was for freedom and you know, res -- human rights for everybody. Equality for everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Tom Zovko says when his brother was returning to Iraq in September, he said he just wanted to make the country a better place for Iraqis.

Well, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice appears before the 9/11 Commission next week. She will face questions about al Qaeda, what the Clinton White House passed along. And whether the Bush administration has handed over all the documents requested.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House with more.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. We'll get to that in just a moment. But first, already some reaction coming out of the White House this morning to those numbers released just today on the 308,000 new jobs created in March. The president, as he left the White House today, was asked about that and gave reporters a thumbs up.

Also, his advisers that remained very close to him, Karen Hughes, spoke to our John King earlier this morning. She says the administration is very happy about the numbers, and they are proof to her that the economy is back. Now, the president is off to an event in Huntington, West Virginia. He'll be talking to folks in -- at Marshal University about job training. From there, he will head to Georgia for a fund-raising reception and dinner before returning to the Washington area.

But on to the topic of Dr. Rice, the White House is very anxious, very eager for Condoleezza Rice to testify next Thursday before the September 11 Commission. Each day there are new developments. And yesterday it was the release of the excerpts of that speech that Dr. Rice was set to give on September 11. In which there is no mention made of al Qaeda. And the administration wants to respond in a decidedly public way and this will be their opportunity.

Officials here also want to answer those criticisms put forth by Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism chief, that the Bush administration was not focused on fighting terrorism, on fighting al Qaeda before September 11. And the administration also hopes to change the perception on the part of some of the September 11 family members that officials have something to hide. This will be their chance to do that with Dr. Rice testifying in a very public way.

Now, related to that the September 11 Commission is also checking to see whether it, in fact, has received all of the documents that it has requested from the White House. Bruce Lindsey, the former deputy White House counsel under President Bill Clinton, says he has expressed concerns about this already to the commission, that he first expressed those concerns back in February. And these num -- these papers, rather, are all papers from former President Bill Clinton's files.

Now, a spokesperson for the commission says they are looking into it at this point. But it may be a case where there are duplicates, where they have requested more than what is necessary. Or, he says there could perhaps be some other reasons. At this point, they are taking inventory and that process is expected to take about a day and a half.

Meantime, the White House spokesperson Scott McClellan says that the White House continues to cooperate with the commission -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Elaine Quijano at the White House.

The mission in Iraq formally came to an end in Iowa for about 200 National Guard soldiers, they're members of the 109 Medical Battalion out of Iowa City. And they shipped out 15 months ago to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion treated an estimated 100,000 patients.

It has been a year of -- it's been a year since the dramatic rescue of prisoner of war Jessica Lynch. She says she's adjusting to a life after the Army, the pain from her injuries, and what she sees as the mishandling of her story by over zealous military sources, who were determined to make her into a hero. She appeared last night on CNN with Paula Zahn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAULA ZAHN, HOST "CNN'S PAULA ZAHN NOW": Do you feel like you got used by the military?

JESSICA LYNCH, RESCUED POW: Yes, I did in the beginning. But now that the story has been told and everyone kind of knows the truth, I think, you know, it was just a misunderstanding. And everything is good now since the right people are getting credited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)


Aired April 2, 2004 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, HOST: We're get started here at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's go ahead and check the headlines at this hour.
Spanish authorities confirm to CNN the discovery of dynamite and detonation cord along the high-speed, rail line linking Madrid with Seville. Bullet train service has been halted effecting thousands of travelers. Spanish media report the 20 to 25 pound package was discovered by a railway worker.

Iraqi police are the latest targets of the insurgency. An attack in Baquba against a police convoy killed at least two officers and wounded others. And in Fallujah, the U.S. military is vowing to get those responsible for the butchering of four Americans civilians. More on story in just a moment.

In Jerusalem, Israeli police and some Palestinians clash today outside of a holy site. It apparently began with Palestinians throwing rocks at Jews at the Western Wall. Israeli police rushed in with stun grenades and rubber bullets. The site is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and is the scene of frequent confrontations.

And mark your calendars. Next Thursday beginning at 9:00 a.m., National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify under oath before the 9/11 Commission. It was a meeting the Bush White House had tried to avoid. One key issue for Rice will be, how much the administration was informed about al Qaeda by the Clinton administration.

And about one hour from now police in Madison, Wisconsin are expected to hold a news conference on the case of Audrey Seiler. Her four-day disappearance has been raising questions, especially since she was found relatively unharmed on Wednesday. A live report from Madison is coming up.

The first hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

We are going to begin on this Friday morning in Fallujah. A senior Muslim cleric saying that spiritual leaders would use weekly prayers today to denounce this week's mob mutilations of four American contractors. And U.S. officials say that if local leaders don't take action against those responsible, U.S. forces will.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us with more. Barbara. BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, good morning. There is no question now but planning is under way for the U.S. Marines to re-enter the city of Fallujah, and reassert control over that very troubled city. Now, just to tell you how seriously all of this is being taken. Yesterday here at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld meeting with CIA director George Tenet and General John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command.

Of course, it was a regularly scheduled meeting, but the talk immediately turned to that Fallujah region and what to do about the security situation there. Sources telling CNN that General Abizaid made the point that what happened in Fallujah, as horrific as it was, should not deter the U.S. from its overall security strategy in Iraq, which is to turn over security to Iraqi forces, have U.S. military forces keep a fairly lower public profile, and step in to help the Iraqis when that's needed.

But of course, that is not what happened in Fallujah, so now there is a lot of concern about making sure there's a reassertion of control in that city. So what does this all really mean? We will see U.S. military forces in the next few days reassert control of the city. How they do that still remains to be decided. They want to work with the Iraqis, see if they can identify who was responsible for those horrific attacks, arrest them and begin again to reassert control over the city.

But they also want to go for a bit of a softer touch, providing money for schools, hospitals, relief efforts within the city. Part of the effort to win over the hearts and minds of the residents of Fallujah.

So who was responsible? Officials this morning saying they still simply do not know. They are looking at those videotapes, trying to see if they can identify any faces. And they are watching very closely to see if there is any signs that Abu Musab Zarqawi, the person who is trying to incite civil war fare in Iraq between Sunni and Shiia, may be involved in any of this -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara, do they intend to go with equal zeal toward the people who did the original attack and toward the people who dragged the bodies and celebrated afterwards?

STARR: Well, they want to arrest whoever is responsible. But you raise one of the most interesting points in all of this. While they say that this attack in Fallujah was, of course, by a very small number of people, one of the things that has really disturbed the military is the number of people that were in the streets immediately afterwards cheering, taking part in that desecration of the bodies. People who clearly may not have been involved in the original attack, but came out of their houses and were part of this mob mentality on the street.

That is something of specific concern to the U.S. military because it tells them something about the climate of the city. That's part of the very key reason they want to move back in, raise the military profile and try and reassert control of the town -- Daryn. KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you.

Blackwater Security Consulting is not yet releasing the names of its four employees who were killed in that attack. And CNN is with holding the names of three of the victims, until we are sure their families have been notified. We can however, report the name of 32- year-old Jerry Zovko. His family is already speaking publicly about their loss. Earlier on "AMERICAN MORNING" Zovko's brother spoke with our Bill Hemmer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST, "AMERICN MORNING": Do you blame the Iraqi people?

TOM ZOVKO, VICTIM'S BROTHER: No. No, no, no, no, no.

HEMMER: What do you consider now about the situation of what you hear about Fallujah?

ZOVKO: I firmly agree with most of the officials that this is a small percentage, you know, of the people that want to keep it the way it was, you know? And these are the type of people that would do something like this. And that's how they kept it the way it was, by keeping control over the people by doing stuff like this. I firmly believe that. And so did my brother. You know, he was for freedom and you know, res -- human rights for everybody. Equality for everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Tom Zovko says when his brother was returning to Iraq in September, he said he just wanted to make the country a better place for Iraqis.

Well, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice appears before the 9/11 Commission next week. She will face questions about al Qaeda, what the Clinton White House passed along. And whether the Bush administration has handed over all the documents requested.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House with more.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. We'll get to that in just a moment. But first, already some reaction coming out of the White House this morning to those numbers released just today on the 308,000 new jobs created in March. The president, as he left the White House today, was asked about that and gave reporters a thumbs up.

Also, his advisers that remained very close to him, Karen Hughes, spoke to our John King earlier this morning. She says the administration is very happy about the numbers, and they are proof to her that the economy is back. Now, the president is off to an event in Huntington, West Virginia. He'll be talking to folks in -- at Marshal University about job training. From there, he will head to Georgia for a fund-raising reception and dinner before returning to the Washington area.

But on to the topic of Dr. Rice, the White House is very anxious, very eager for Condoleezza Rice to testify next Thursday before the September 11 Commission. Each day there are new developments. And yesterday it was the release of the excerpts of that speech that Dr. Rice was set to give on September 11. In which there is no mention made of al Qaeda. And the administration wants to respond in a decidedly public way and this will be their opportunity.

Officials here also want to answer those criticisms put forth by Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism chief, that the Bush administration was not focused on fighting terrorism, on fighting al Qaeda before September 11. And the administration also hopes to change the perception on the part of some of the September 11 family members that officials have something to hide. This will be their chance to do that with Dr. Rice testifying in a very public way.

Now, related to that the September 11 Commission is also checking to see whether it, in fact, has received all of the documents that it has requested from the White House. Bruce Lindsey, the former deputy White House counsel under President Bill Clinton, says he has expressed concerns about this already to the commission, that he first expressed those concerns back in February. And these num -- these papers, rather, are all papers from former President Bill Clinton's files.

Now, a spokesperson for the commission says they are looking into it at this point. But it may be a case where there are duplicates, where they have requested more than what is necessary. Or, he says there could perhaps be some other reasons. At this point, they are taking inventory and that process is expected to take about a day and a half.

Meantime, the White House spokesperson Scott McClellan says that the White House continues to cooperate with the commission -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Elaine Quijano at the White House.

The mission in Iraq formally came to an end in Iowa for about 200 National Guard soldiers, they're members of the 109 Medical Battalion out of Iowa City. And they shipped out 15 months ago to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion treated an estimated 100,000 patients.

It has been a year of -- it's been a year since the dramatic rescue of prisoner of war Jessica Lynch. She says she's adjusting to a life after the Army, the pain from her injuries, and what she sees as the mishandling of her story by over zealous military sources, who were determined to make her into a hero. She appeared last night on CNN with Paula Zahn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAULA ZAHN, HOST "CNN'S PAULA ZAHN NOW": Do you feel like you got used by the military?

JESSICA LYNCH, RESCUED POW: Yes, I did in the beginning. But now that the story has been told and everyone kind of knows the truth, I think, you know, it was just a misunderstanding. And everything is good now since the right people are getting credited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)