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American Morning
Violent Day of Unrest in Several Iraqi Towns; Discussion with Iraqi Governing Council Member
Aired April 05, 2004 - 07:00 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, U.S. battling Shiites in Baghdad and taking heavy casualties along the way.
The Sunni city of Fallujah now surrounded. U.S. Marines now targeting a group of killers inside that city.
And in Kansas, 25 years of silence. A serial killer emerges. Today we'll talk to the police chief who hunted that killer decades ago, on this 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 everyone. Heidi Collins with us for the week here. Soledad O'Brien continues on her vacation. Good morning and welcome back.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN: Thank you, very much.
HEMMER: With another week, there you go.
COLLINS: Looking forward to it.
Other stories we're following this morning, an intriguing story in the 9/11 investigation: was this photograph instrumental in the White House decision to allow Condoleezza Rice to testify before the 9/11 Commission?
Well, we'll tell you who that is, and when the picture was taken in just a few minutes.
HEMMER: Also, time to get out the baseball gloves. Serious about baseball -- today opening day for 18 teams across the country.
Josie Burke is in Cincinnati of all places today. Also looking at that cloud hanging over the game, that cloud obviously is something we've talked about for months here, the issue of steroids, and we'll get to that, as well.
Great opening day parade at Cincinnati every year, they bring the elephants down, the main street in Cincinnati...
COLLINS: More elephants, huh?
HEMMER: Big, big day -- a lot of kids take off school. American as you can get. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: In Cincinnati that happens? Well. We're going to take a look at the -- that's where Bill is from.
COLLINS: Yes, yes.
CAFFERTY: We're going to take a look at the jury system and whether or not it needs perhaps a little tinkering, a little fine- tuning, a little adjusting.
They've got Martha Stewart; you've got your Tyco case; you've got that Scott Peterson thing. And all of them are suffering from jury troubles, so we'll explore that a little bit.
COLLINS: Good question, all right, thanks so much, Jack.
Want to get to the news though this morning.
Today, President Bush is expected to roll out a proposal to revamp federally funded job training programs. Officials say the administration's goal will be to double the number of people trained every year.
The costs will be deferred by streamlining programs in the $4 billion workforce investment system.
Meanwhile, Senator John Kerry returned to the campaign trail yesterday. The Democrat will try to turn the tables by releasing a report of his own today criticizing the Bush administration's spending proposals.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to meet with leaders of Haiti's interim government today. According to a U.S. official, Powell plans to urge the new leaders not to reward criminals and human rights violators with top government jobs.
The secretary is also expected to meet with commanders of the U.S.-led multinational force in Haiti.
In Massachusetts, a settlement has been reached between the archdiocese of Boston and four people who claim they were sexually abused by former priest Paul Shanley. The attorney for the four declined to reveal the terms.
The criminal case against Shanley continues. Shanley pleaded innocent to charges and was released on bail last December.
Too much television could be harmful for very young children. A new study shows excessive TV watching could over-stimulate the developing brains of one and three year olds.
The study says that for every hour of television watched a day, the two age groups have a ten percent greater chance of developing attention problems at age seven. The study appears in the April issue of "Pediatrics." And Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be with us and have more on this story in our final hour. And in sports, the woman's final four -- Connecticut fought off Minnesota in one semifinal last night, 67-58. That gives UConn a shot at its third straight NCAA title. UConn will play Tennessee for the title tomorrow, of course. They advance with a 52 to 50 victory over LSU.
In the men's final tonight it will be UConn versus Georgia Tech. Tip off about 9:20 or so.
HEMMER: Should be a huge year for the University of Connecticut.
COLLINS: No kidding.
HEMMER: They got both the men and the women. You have their head coach, Jim Calhoun who goes in the Hall of Fame today, so we'll see what the Huskies can...
COLLINS: And key players, too.
HEMMER: Yes, very much so.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: First up today is in Iraq, and the U.S. administrator Paul Bremer vowing this morning to, quote, reassert the law and order the Iraqi people expect.
That promise follows a violent day of unrest in several Iraqi towns, leaving a number of U.S. troops and dozens of Iraqis dead.
It also comes as an American operation now underway outside of Fallujah, and for the latest on a volatile and a rapidly developing situation, live to Baghdad today, and Walter Rodgers who is standing by. Walter, good afternoon there.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN: Good morning, there, Bill.
If you were in Baghdad today you would have had a sense of deja vu. The reason? A year ago, U.S. Army forces were beginning their siege on the Iraq capitol and this morning U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters were over the city, firing rockets into portions of the city, sending up big columns of smoke.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
One of the targets, the headquarters of the fiery Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr; he is the one who has declared war on the United States occupation.
Iraq has suddenly become much worse for the Americans. These are militant Shiite Muslims. Previously they waited patiently, giving the U.S. interim regime a chance to govern Iraq. But a fiery Shiite leader, Muqtada Al-Sadr decided to challenge the U.S. military occupation sending his illegal militia soldiers into the streets in open revolt. In Basra, supposedly under British control, a large group of protestors muscled their way into the governor's office and took that over Monday morning.
But it was in cities like An Najaf and Baghdad's northern suburb of Sadar City, the Shiite revolt erupted most violently.
According to coalition officials, protesting Shiite Muslims in An Najaf opened fire on coalition soldiers there and coalition forces, mostly Spanish and Iraqi, police returned fire.
At least 20 Iraqis were killed, along with at least one coalition soldier. Well over 100 people were in hospital, the consequence of all the shooting.
U.S. officials Sunday warned the Shiite violence would not be tolerated, but Muqtada Al-Sadr shrugged off the American warning when he sent his illegal private army into the streets to challenge the American military in Sadr City.
It took American tanks to restore a modicum of quiet there, but at a cost of at least eight U.S. soldiers killed many more American soldiers were wounded, at least 40 Iraqis were killed as well, and close to 200 Iraqis are now in hospital. Iraq clearly is not going according to Washington script.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS: The U.S. Marines are, however, on the offensive in the town of Fallujah in the Sunni triangle.
They are looking for the killers of the four American civilian contractors murdered and mutilated last week in Fallujah. The Marines locked down the city early this morning, sending helicopters in, firing rockets at specific targets there, again looking for the murderers, and the Marines have sealed the city on all sides, closing a major highway between Baghdad and Jordan.
Again, nobody is getting into that city, nobody is getting out. The Marines say that this operation should last about four days -- Bill.
HEMMER: Walter, thanks for that. An awful lot to cover today.
Earlier today from Baghdad, I talked with the Iraqi Governing Council member Samir Sumaida'ie about the current situation ongoing.
I asked him first off what appears to be this new front in Iraq, and how serious he believes the clashes with the Shia have become.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: They are serious. We don't -- to underestimate them -- but let's put them in perspective.
What's happening is that the extremists on both sides -- Sunnis and the Shias -- are now both active in opposing the progress of Iraq to our sovereignty.
This is something that we have always pointed out. In Iraq, it is not so much Shiite against Sunni. This particular divide has been overplayed in the media, frankly.
The problem is between those who want progress and those who want to go back to the days of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: Within the Shiite population, sir, how much support does Muqtada Al-Sadr have?
SUMAIDA'IE: I think it's significant, but certainly not overwhelming. It's still a minority, I think in mostly Shiite. A relatively small minority, but they are substantial in numbers, and they generally try to -- poor less educated segments of the Shiite areas.
HEMMER: In Fallujah, meanwhile, the Marines that surrounded that town, military operations underway earlier today. Is this the best way taking control of Fallujah?
SUMAIDA'IE: I believe that in Fallujah, we have to be very careful how to handle this situation. Fear, of course, will not be the solution.
However, there has to be firmness. We have to make it clear that people who perpetrate such atrocities must not get away with it. They are the enemies of the local population as much as they are the enemies of Iraq.
They besmirch our reputation and reflect a very, very bad picture of Iraqi -- Iraqis as a whole. But in Fallujah, day-to-day, I believe what we need to do is to give the population on our side to fight the extremists and not to attack the population as a whole.
HEMMER: There is a suggestion here in the U.S. over the weekend that a June 30 handover date is too soon, too early. Would you agree with that?
SUMAIDA'IE: No, I believe that a transfer of sovereignty should be used -- should not be delayed. It will be a positive development, it will give us as Iraqis the legitimacy that we need; it will also deprive the extremists from this excuse of attacking the organizations of state in that there will not be a state of occupation formally.
But that does not mean that the coalition should abandon support of the security organizations in Iraq. We will need continued support because the security organizations are not yet quite up to the task.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Samir Sumaida'ie of the Iraqi governing council from Baghdad a bit earlier today -- Heidi.
COLLINS: After weeks of resistance from the White House, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify this week before the 9/11 Commission.
The White House had cited executive privilege as its reason for keeping Rice from testifying publicly and under oath. But did a simple photograph help change minds in the administration?
Here's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Bush is focusing on the economy this week to promote the latest good numbers on job growth.
But also on his schedule now, a private meeting before the 9/11 Commission, with vice-president Dick Cheney in the next two weeks.
But all eyes now are on his top adviser Condoleezza Rice, who will testify publicly and under oath Thursday. She'll make the case aides say that the administration did all it could to prevent the 9/11 attacks.
KAREN HUGHES, FMR. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR: I don't think we could envisioned that -- and done anything to have prevented it.
MALVEAUX: The White House resisted for weeks putting Rice in front of the Commission publicly, citing executive privilege.
But the Commission was so determined to have her testify, last Monday its executive director Republican Philip Zelikow faxed White House counsel a 1945 "New York Times" photo and article showing presidential chief of staff Admiral William Leahy, back then Rice's equivalent, testifying before a Congressional panel investigating Pearl Harbor.
The Commission argued history showed the White House's argument didn't hold up its spokesman said.
TIM ROEMER, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: This may have been a one of the straws on the camel's back -- that the camel certainly had the big load of the 9/11 Commission with bipartisan support insisting on Dr. Rice's public and sworn testimony.
MALVEAUX: One big question before Rice will be whether the Bush administration treated the threat of al Qaeda as an urgent matter prior to September 11.
Commission members say they'll release their final report to the public before the November elections to make sure it doesn't become an issue in the heat of the debate. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean, said yesterday the panel will release its final report well in advance of the November elections. CNN will of course bring you special coverage of Condoleezza Rice's testimony live when it happens scheduled Thursday morning at 9 Eastern.
HEMMER: We're for you there on AMERICAN MORNING, Thursday morning.
In a moment here, turmoil in the Tyco case leads to a mistrial. Where does the prosecution go now? Our Jeff Toobin stops by in a moment with legal analysis on that.
COLLINS: Has a serial killer resurfaced decades after terrorizing a Kansas community? We will talk with the former police chief who worked the case coming up.
HEMMER: And all the rewards you may reap by flying on the cheap. A new list is out. We'll get to it as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A week of turmoil in the Tyco trial ended with a bombshell on Friday.
The judge granted a mistrial in the case due to intense outside pressure on the woman known as juror number four.
Dennis Kozlowski and his former financial -- chief financial officer, that is -- Mark Schwartz now are likely to face a second trial on charges that they bilked the company of more than $600 million.
So, how might a second trial play out? Hopefully better than the first. Here now is CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Your reaction -- I mean, what happens? They're going to get another trial. Is it going to be any shorter?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think it will be.
I think both sides will try to learn from what went on. Certainly the prosecution will try to make this a more focused trial; they may actually drop some of the 32 charges so that they don't have to take six months, and the most interesting part about what we heard from the jurors is that what we in the media thought was the most significant evidence in the case and the most important evidence in the case, the evidence of the lavish spending, the famous $6,000 shower curtain, the party in Sardinia, the jury was uninterested in that evidence...
COLLINS: Why do you think that was?
TOOBIN: Well, I think you know much to their credit they focused on the judge's instructions. The judge's instructions were that the case was not about what -- whether it was appropriate to be rich or not. The issue was were they authorized to get the money. It's no crime to be rich; it never pays to call on sort of class resentment in front of ordinary people in the United States.
And basically what these jurors said, hey, it's OK if they had a lot of money. But what they -- what mattered was whether they were authorized to get it.
COLLINS: All right, now obviously, we know the reason why this whole thing turned into a mistrial was because the intimidating letter and a phone call with juror number four Ruth Jordan got. How unusual is this?
TOOBIN: Well it's incredibly unusual to have -- to have a juror reached out in this way. And I think what this raises was the performance of the press in this case.
I mean, I think the real legacy of this case may be even greater restrictions on identities of jurors and perhaps even restrictions on the press because "The New York Post" and "The Wall Street Journal" broke the convention that most of us observe in the press which is that don't identify jurors while a jury is out because they might be contacted, they might be intimidated.
That is precisely what happened here, and I think you know, there should be some soul searching going on about...
COLLINS: So do you think a mistrial could have been avoided?
TOOBIN: You know I -- it's hard -- I don't know. I mean you know you could play out the scenarios of what -- different things you could have done differently. I don't think sequestering the jury is realistic in a trial of this length because in that case you could avoid any contact but you can't get jurors to serve for six months in a sequestered jury.
Maybe like you used to do in New York is sequester a jury during deliberations only. But I think you know responsibility on the part of the news media is probably -- is what we should hope for even if we don't always get it.
COLLINS: Yes, interesting. Well next time around.
TOOBIN: Jack is thinking responsibility on the part of the news media?
CAFFERTY: Wasn't this woman causing a lot of problems on the jury long before identity was ever published by any newspaper? The answer is yes she was.
TOOBIN: Yes, she was -- well she was cranky. But I mean there are some cranky jurors but I don't think that alone means so she should be identified?
CAFFERTY: No, but I mean -- no, but you say you know the media identified her but it was after she was doing allegedly this stuff and after causing problems in the jury room according to other members of the jury. I mean, this juror was a problem before her name was ever made known to the public, no?
TOOBIN: That's true, but the precipitating event that caused this mistrial was the contact with her and that only could have taken place because she was publicly identified.
HEMMER: Well, was she a problem or was she just stubborn?
TOOBIN: She was a -- it's hard to tell. I mean, Paul Zahn talked to several of the jurors, it was very interesting.
HEMMER: And they said she was one tough lady.
TOOBIN: They said she was one tough lady. Obviously she was difficult person.
But you know there are difficult people on juries all the time and most juries wind up reaching verdicts, so.
CAFFERTY: "The New York Post" described her as a, quote, "batty blue blood."
COLLINS: Man!
CAFFERTY: Hey, go figure. The Tyco case is not the only one.
The Martha Stewart case there's a juror that apparently lied on that questionnaire that you fill out if you've ever been arrested, have you ever been convicted of this, have you ever been charged with a felony, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Turns out after the fact that yes, he didn't tell the truth on the questionnaire and now Martha's lawyers are moving for a mistrial on that.
That motor mouth in California, Mark Geragos, can't seem to find anything to his satisfaction on the Scott Peterson trial -- they've gotten one change of venue, now Geragos wants another change of venue.
All presumably because they're going to not be able to seat a jury because of pre-trial publicity in that case.
So the question we want to kind of get your thoughts on this morning is -- should the jury system be changed in some way?
It was designed a long time ago and met the needs of the country quite well until, I guess, the age of satellites and mass media and instant communication and a lot of other stuff.
So if you have some thoughts on how to fix it, please we need to get this solved so that they can get Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson and these people on trial and get them in prison where they belong.
(LAUGHTER) HEMMER: You may want to stick around.
COLLINS: Yes, please.
HEMMER: We're going to need you.
TOOBIN: Maybe we should just change juries so that Jack is in charge of deciding the guilt or innocence of all defendants in all cases.
CAFFERTY: It's only 9:00.
COLLINS: God help us all.
All right, still to come this morning, the promised U.S. response to the killing of four security contractors in Iraq is now underway. Details of Operation Vigilant Resolve coming up.
And budget airlines get a big thumbs up compared to their higher- priced rivals.
Just ahead some findings you may want to consider before making your next travel plans. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: If you're looking to fly with fewer hassles, the cheap ones are the good ones, so says the new survey and Andy Serwer's got the list for us today on a Monday morning "Minding Your Business."
Nice to see you, good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Happy Monday. Good to see you guys.
Yes, this is really a slap in the face to those full service airlines. You don't get what you pay for, apparently.
Budget airlines providing better service. This according to a new survey out this morning ranking the nation's 14 largest carriers.
Let's take a look at the numbers here, and we've got JetBlue at number one, Alaska Air, which is a full service, a smaller one.
But you can see here dominating the top here are those budget carriers and this includes on time complaints, mishandled baggage you can see here now we're going six to ten -- and Bill do you see Delta and American on the list? They're number 11 and number 12.
Now you know in defense of these guys you still don't get with the budget carriers, you don't get overseas flights, you don't get frequent fliers and you don't get first class.
HEMMER: But, you get live television on the back of your seat.
SERWER: On the JetBlue you sure do. HEMMER: With JetBlue.
SERWER: And you know they carried, I think in 1991 four percent of the total U.S. passenger traffic.
Now they're up to about 25 percent. Surveys indicate that by 2006, 40 percent and you know we're trying to look at the health of Delta and United and American going forward. Really tough in this type of environment with these kind of numbers.
HEMMER: Quickly the markets. How'd we end up last Friday?
SERWER: Well it was a huge day of course that was the day of the jobs report, 380,000 jobs created, the Dow soaring 97 points. Here's what happened last week. A very good one.
Best week for the market since October. On the other hand, we don't have this up here but the bond market tumbled.
Interest rates soaring on the ten-year bond. And this morning I'm sad to say though that futures are contracting, moving south, and that's of course because of international events.
HEMMER: All right, we're watching. UConn or Georgia Tech?
SERWER: I'm going to go out on a limb and say Georgia Tech just because conventional wisdom has UConn and you know not everyone is going to be right.
HEMMER: He's the king of unconventional wisdom.
COLLINS: Risk taker.
SERWER: So go the other way out there.
HEMMER: In a moment here, more practical joking on the way for MTV.
Ashton Kutcher ready to pump more celebrities; that's just part of our "90-Second-Pop" on a Monday morning.
Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 5, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, U.S. battling Shiites in Baghdad and taking heavy casualties along the way.
The Sunni city of Fallujah now surrounded. U.S. Marines now targeting a group of killers inside that city.
And in Kansas, 25 years of silence. A serial killer emerges. Today we'll talk to the police chief who hunted that killer decades ago, on this 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 everyone. Heidi Collins with us for the week here. Soledad O'Brien continues on her vacation. Good morning and welcome back.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN: Thank you, very much.
HEMMER: With another week, there you go.
COLLINS: Looking forward to it.
Other stories we're following this morning, an intriguing story in the 9/11 investigation: was this photograph instrumental in the White House decision to allow Condoleezza Rice to testify before the 9/11 Commission?
Well, we'll tell you who that is, and when the picture was taken in just a few minutes.
HEMMER: Also, time to get out the baseball gloves. Serious about baseball -- today opening day for 18 teams across the country.
Josie Burke is in Cincinnati of all places today. Also looking at that cloud hanging over the game, that cloud obviously is something we've talked about for months here, the issue of steroids, and we'll get to that, as well.
Great opening day parade at Cincinnati every year, they bring the elephants down, the main street in Cincinnati...
COLLINS: More elephants, huh?
HEMMER: Big, big day -- a lot of kids take off school. American as you can get. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: In Cincinnati that happens? Well. We're going to take a look at the -- that's where Bill is from.
COLLINS: Yes, yes.
CAFFERTY: We're going to take a look at the jury system and whether or not it needs perhaps a little tinkering, a little fine- tuning, a little adjusting.
They've got Martha Stewart; you've got your Tyco case; you've got that Scott Peterson thing. And all of them are suffering from jury troubles, so we'll explore that a little bit.
COLLINS: Good question, all right, thanks so much, Jack.
Want to get to the news though this morning.
Today, President Bush is expected to roll out a proposal to revamp federally funded job training programs. Officials say the administration's goal will be to double the number of people trained every year.
The costs will be deferred by streamlining programs in the $4 billion workforce investment system.
Meanwhile, Senator John Kerry returned to the campaign trail yesterday. The Democrat will try to turn the tables by releasing a report of his own today criticizing the Bush administration's spending proposals.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to meet with leaders of Haiti's interim government today. According to a U.S. official, Powell plans to urge the new leaders not to reward criminals and human rights violators with top government jobs.
The secretary is also expected to meet with commanders of the U.S.-led multinational force in Haiti.
In Massachusetts, a settlement has been reached between the archdiocese of Boston and four people who claim they were sexually abused by former priest Paul Shanley. The attorney for the four declined to reveal the terms.
The criminal case against Shanley continues. Shanley pleaded innocent to charges and was released on bail last December.
Too much television could be harmful for very young children. A new study shows excessive TV watching could over-stimulate the developing brains of one and three year olds.
The study says that for every hour of television watched a day, the two age groups have a ten percent greater chance of developing attention problems at age seven. The study appears in the April issue of "Pediatrics." And Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be with us and have more on this story in our final hour. And in sports, the woman's final four -- Connecticut fought off Minnesota in one semifinal last night, 67-58. That gives UConn a shot at its third straight NCAA title. UConn will play Tennessee for the title tomorrow, of course. They advance with a 52 to 50 victory over LSU.
In the men's final tonight it will be UConn versus Georgia Tech. Tip off about 9:20 or so.
HEMMER: Should be a huge year for the University of Connecticut.
COLLINS: No kidding.
HEMMER: They got both the men and the women. You have their head coach, Jim Calhoun who goes in the Hall of Fame today, so we'll see what the Huskies can...
COLLINS: And key players, too.
HEMMER: Yes, very much so.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: First up today is in Iraq, and the U.S. administrator Paul Bremer vowing this morning to, quote, reassert the law and order the Iraqi people expect.
That promise follows a violent day of unrest in several Iraqi towns, leaving a number of U.S. troops and dozens of Iraqis dead.
It also comes as an American operation now underway outside of Fallujah, and for the latest on a volatile and a rapidly developing situation, live to Baghdad today, and Walter Rodgers who is standing by. Walter, good afternoon there.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN: Good morning, there, Bill.
If you were in Baghdad today you would have had a sense of deja vu. The reason? A year ago, U.S. Army forces were beginning their siege on the Iraq capitol and this morning U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters were over the city, firing rockets into portions of the city, sending up big columns of smoke.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
One of the targets, the headquarters of the fiery Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr; he is the one who has declared war on the United States occupation.
Iraq has suddenly become much worse for the Americans. These are militant Shiite Muslims. Previously they waited patiently, giving the U.S. interim regime a chance to govern Iraq. But a fiery Shiite leader, Muqtada Al-Sadr decided to challenge the U.S. military occupation sending his illegal militia soldiers into the streets in open revolt. In Basra, supposedly under British control, a large group of protestors muscled their way into the governor's office and took that over Monday morning.
But it was in cities like An Najaf and Baghdad's northern suburb of Sadar City, the Shiite revolt erupted most violently.
According to coalition officials, protesting Shiite Muslims in An Najaf opened fire on coalition soldiers there and coalition forces, mostly Spanish and Iraqi, police returned fire.
At least 20 Iraqis were killed, along with at least one coalition soldier. Well over 100 people were in hospital, the consequence of all the shooting.
U.S. officials Sunday warned the Shiite violence would not be tolerated, but Muqtada Al-Sadr shrugged off the American warning when he sent his illegal private army into the streets to challenge the American military in Sadr City.
It took American tanks to restore a modicum of quiet there, but at a cost of at least eight U.S. soldiers killed many more American soldiers were wounded, at least 40 Iraqis were killed as well, and close to 200 Iraqis are now in hospital. Iraq clearly is not going according to Washington script.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS: The U.S. Marines are, however, on the offensive in the town of Fallujah in the Sunni triangle.
They are looking for the killers of the four American civilian contractors murdered and mutilated last week in Fallujah. The Marines locked down the city early this morning, sending helicopters in, firing rockets at specific targets there, again looking for the murderers, and the Marines have sealed the city on all sides, closing a major highway between Baghdad and Jordan.
Again, nobody is getting into that city, nobody is getting out. The Marines say that this operation should last about four days -- Bill.
HEMMER: Walter, thanks for that. An awful lot to cover today.
Earlier today from Baghdad, I talked with the Iraqi Governing Council member Samir Sumaida'ie about the current situation ongoing.
I asked him first off what appears to be this new front in Iraq, and how serious he believes the clashes with the Shia have become.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: They are serious. We don't -- to underestimate them -- but let's put them in perspective.
What's happening is that the extremists on both sides -- Sunnis and the Shias -- are now both active in opposing the progress of Iraq to our sovereignty.
This is something that we have always pointed out. In Iraq, it is not so much Shiite against Sunni. This particular divide has been overplayed in the media, frankly.
The problem is between those who want progress and those who want to go back to the days of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: Within the Shiite population, sir, how much support does Muqtada Al-Sadr have?
SUMAIDA'IE: I think it's significant, but certainly not overwhelming. It's still a minority, I think in mostly Shiite. A relatively small minority, but they are substantial in numbers, and they generally try to -- poor less educated segments of the Shiite areas.
HEMMER: In Fallujah, meanwhile, the Marines that surrounded that town, military operations underway earlier today. Is this the best way taking control of Fallujah?
SUMAIDA'IE: I believe that in Fallujah, we have to be very careful how to handle this situation. Fear, of course, will not be the solution.
However, there has to be firmness. We have to make it clear that people who perpetrate such atrocities must not get away with it. They are the enemies of the local population as much as they are the enemies of Iraq.
They besmirch our reputation and reflect a very, very bad picture of Iraqi -- Iraqis as a whole. But in Fallujah, day-to-day, I believe what we need to do is to give the population on our side to fight the extremists and not to attack the population as a whole.
HEMMER: There is a suggestion here in the U.S. over the weekend that a June 30 handover date is too soon, too early. Would you agree with that?
SUMAIDA'IE: No, I believe that a transfer of sovereignty should be used -- should not be delayed. It will be a positive development, it will give us as Iraqis the legitimacy that we need; it will also deprive the extremists from this excuse of attacking the organizations of state in that there will not be a state of occupation formally.
But that does not mean that the coalition should abandon support of the security organizations in Iraq. We will need continued support because the security organizations are not yet quite up to the task.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Samir Sumaida'ie of the Iraqi governing council from Baghdad a bit earlier today -- Heidi.
COLLINS: After weeks of resistance from the White House, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify this week before the 9/11 Commission.
The White House had cited executive privilege as its reason for keeping Rice from testifying publicly and under oath. But did a simple photograph help change minds in the administration?
Here's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Bush is focusing on the economy this week to promote the latest good numbers on job growth.
But also on his schedule now, a private meeting before the 9/11 Commission, with vice-president Dick Cheney in the next two weeks.
But all eyes now are on his top adviser Condoleezza Rice, who will testify publicly and under oath Thursday. She'll make the case aides say that the administration did all it could to prevent the 9/11 attacks.
KAREN HUGHES, FMR. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR: I don't think we could envisioned that -- and done anything to have prevented it.
MALVEAUX: The White House resisted for weeks putting Rice in front of the Commission publicly, citing executive privilege.
But the Commission was so determined to have her testify, last Monday its executive director Republican Philip Zelikow faxed White House counsel a 1945 "New York Times" photo and article showing presidential chief of staff Admiral William Leahy, back then Rice's equivalent, testifying before a Congressional panel investigating Pearl Harbor.
The Commission argued history showed the White House's argument didn't hold up its spokesman said.
TIM ROEMER, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: This may have been a one of the straws on the camel's back -- that the camel certainly had the big load of the 9/11 Commission with bipartisan support insisting on Dr. Rice's public and sworn testimony.
MALVEAUX: One big question before Rice will be whether the Bush administration treated the threat of al Qaeda as an urgent matter prior to September 11.
Commission members say they'll release their final report to the public before the November elections to make sure it doesn't become an issue in the heat of the debate. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean, said yesterday the panel will release its final report well in advance of the November elections. CNN will of course bring you special coverage of Condoleezza Rice's testimony live when it happens scheduled Thursday morning at 9 Eastern.
HEMMER: We're for you there on AMERICAN MORNING, Thursday morning.
In a moment here, turmoil in the Tyco case leads to a mistrial. Where does the prosecution go now? Our Jeff Toobin stops by in a moment with legal analysis on that.
COLLINS: Has a serial killer resurfaced decades after terrorizing a Kansas community? We will talk with the former police chief who worked the case coming up.
HEMMER: And all the rewards you may reap by flying on the cheap. A new list is out. We'll get to it as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
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COLLINS: A week of turmoil in the Tyco trial ended with a bombshell on Friday.
The judge granted a mistrial in the case due to intense outside pressure on the woman known as juror number four.
Dennis Kozlowski and his former financial -- chief financial officer, that is -- Mark Schwartz now are likely to face a second trial on charges that they bilked the company of more than $600 million.
So, how might a second trial play out? Hopefully better than the first. Here now is CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Your reaction -- I mean, what happens? They're going to get another trial. Is it going to be any shorter?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think it will be.
I think both sides will try to learn from what went on. Certainly the prosecution will try to make this a more focused trial; they may actually drop some of the 32 charges so that they don't have to take six months, and the most interesting part about what we heard from the jurors is that what we in the media thought was the most significant evidence in the case and the most important evidence in the case, the evidence of the lavish spending, the famous $6,000 shower curtain, the party in Sardinia, the jury was uninterested in that evidence...
COLLINS: Why do you think that was?
TOOBIN: Well, I think you know much to their credit they focused on the judge's instructions. The judge's instructions were that the case was not about what -- whether it was appropriate to be rich or not. The issue was were they authorized to get the money. It's no crime to be rich; it never pays to call on sort of class resentment in front of ordinary people in the United States.
And basically what these jurors said, hey, it's OK if they had a lot of money. But what they -- what mattered was whether they were authorized to get it.
COLLINS: All right, now obviously, we know the reason why this whole thing turned into a mistrial was because the intimidating letter and a phone call with juror number four Ruth Jordan got. How unusual is this?
TOOBIN: Well it's incredibly unusual to have -- to have a juror reached out in this way. And I think what this raises was the performance of the press in this case.
I mean, I think the real legacy of this case may be even greater restrictions on identities of jurors and perhaps even restrictions on the press because "The New York Post" and "The Wall Street Journal" broke the convention that most of us observe in the press which is that don't identify jurors while a jury is out because they might be contacted, they might be intimidated.
That is precisely what happened here, and I think you know, there should be some soul searching going on about...
COLLINS: So do you think a mistrial could have been avoided?
TOOBIN: You know I -- it's hard -- I don't know. I mean you know you could play out the scenarios of what -- different things you could have done differently. I don't think sequestering the jury is realistic in a trial of this length because in that case you could avoid any contact but you can't get jurors to serve for six months in a sequestered jury.
Maybe like you used to do in New York is sequester a jury during deliberations only. But I think you know responsibility on the part of the news media is probably -- is what we should hope for even if we don't always get it.
COLLINS: Yes, interesting. Well next time around.
TOOBIN: Jack is thinking responsibility on the part of the news media?
CAFFERTY: Wasn't this woman causing a lot of problems on the jury long before identity was ever published by any newspaper? The answer is yes she was.
TOOBIN: Yes, she was -- well she was cranky. But I mean there are some cranky jurors but I don't think that alone means so she should be identified?
CAFFERTY: No, but I mean -- no, but you say you know the media identified her but it was after she was doing allegedly this stuff and after causing problems in the jury room according to other members of the jury. I mean, this juror was a problem before her name was ever made known to the public, no?
TOOBIN: That's true, but the precipitating event that caused this mistrial was the contact with her and that only could have taken place because she was publicly identified.
HEMMER: Well, was she a problem or was she just stubborn?
TOOBIN: She was a -- it's hard to tell. I mean, Paul Zahn talked to several of the jurors, it was very interesting.
HEMMER: And they said she was one tough lady.
TOOBIN: They said she was one tough lady. Obviously she was difficult person.
But you know there are difficult people on juries all the time and most juries wind up reaching verdicts, so.
CAFFERTY: "The New York Post" described her as a, quote, "batty blue blood."
COLLINS: Man!
CAFFERTY: Hey, go figure. The Tyco case is not the only one.
The Martha Stewart case there's a juror that apparently lied on that questionnaire that you fill out if you've ever been arrested, have you ever been convicted of this, have you ever been charged with a felony, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Turns out after the fact that yes, he didn't tell the truth on the questionnaire and now Martha's lawyers are moving for a mistrial on that.
That motor mouth in California, Mark Geragos, can't seem to find anything to his satisfaction on the Scott Peterson trial -- they've gotten one change of venue, now Geragos wants another change of venue.
All presumably because they're going to not be able to seat a jury because of pre-trial publicity in that case.
So the question we want to kind of get your thoughts on this morning is -- should the jury system be changed in some way?
It was designed a long time ago and met the needs of the country quite well until, I guess, the age of satellites and mass media and instant communication and a lot of other stuff.
So if you have some thoughts on how to fix it, please we need to get this solved so that they can get Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson and these people on trial and get them in prison where they belong.
(LAUGHTER) HEMMER: You may want to stick around.
COLLINS: Yes, please.
HEMMER: We're going to need you.
TOOBIN: Maybe we should just change juries so that Jack is in charge of deciding the guilt or innocence of all defendants in all cases.
CAFFERTY: It's only 9:00.
COLLINS: God help us all.
All right, still to come this morning, the promised U.S. response to the killing of four security contractors in Iraq is now underway. Details of Operation Vigilant Resolve coming up.
And budget airlines get a big thumbs up compared to their higher- priced rivals.
Just ahead some findings you may want to consider before making your next travel plans. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: If you're looking to fly with fewer hassles, the cheap ones are the good ones, so says the new survey and Andy Serwer's got the list for us today on a Monday morning "Minding Your Business."
Nice to see you, good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Happy Monday. Good to see you guys.
Yes, this is really a slap in the face to those full service airlines. You don't get what you pay for, apparently.
Budget airlines providing better service. This according to a new survey out this morning ranking the nation's 14 largest carriers.
Let's take a look at the numbers here, and we've got JetBlue at number one, Alaska Air, which is a full service, a smaller one.
But you can see here dominating the top here are those budget carriers and this includes on time complaints, mishandled baggage you can see here now we're going six to ten -- and Bill do you see Delta and American on the list? They're number 11 and number 12.
Now you know in defense of these guys you still don't get with the budget carriers, you don't get overseas flights, you don't get frequent fliers and you don't get first class.
HEMMER: But, you get live television on the back of your seat.
SERWER: On the JetBlue you sure do. HEMMER: With JetBlue.
SERWER: And you know they carried, I think in 1991 four percent of the total U.S. passenger traffic.
Now they're up to about 25 percent. Surveys indicate that by 2006, 40 percent and you know we're trying to look at the health of Delta and United and American going forward. Really tough in this type of environment with these kind of numbers.
HEMMER: Quickly the markets. How'd we end up last Friday?
SERWER: Well it was a huge day of course that was the day of the jobs report, 380,000 jobs created, the Dow soaring 97 points. Here's what happened last week. A very good one.
Best week for the market since October. On the other hand, we don't have this up here but the bond market tumbled.
Interest rates soaring on the ten-year bond. And this morning I'm sad to say though that futures are contracting, moving south, and that's of course because of international events.
HEMMER: All right, we're watching. UConn or Georgia Tech?
SERWER: I'm going to go out on a limb and say Georgia Tech just because conventional wisdom has UConn and you know not everyone is going to be right.
HEMMER: He's the king of unconventional wisdom.
COLLINS: Risk taker.
SERWER: So go the other way out there.
HEMMER: In a moment here, more practical joking on the way for MTV.
Ashton Kutcher ready to pump more celebrities; that's just part of our "90-Second-Pop" on a Monday morning.
Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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