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American Morning

Battle in Fallujah; Pigs Fly in Congress; Interview with Anita Hill

Aired April 07, 2004 - 9:00   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: Good morning. Battles wage across Iraq again today. Some of the most intense fighting in the town of Fallujah. In a matter of moments here, we'll talk with a reporter embedded with the Marines in that dangerous city today.
The coalition vowing to take down the army of a radical cleric. How real is the danger that more Shiites will join his movement?

And are coalition forces spread too thin? The tactical challenge for U.S. forces as that urban warfare returns.

All ahead this hour here 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. Nine o'clock here in New York. Welcome back. Soledad is off today. Heidi Collins works with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

A number of stories we're watching this hour in addition to what's happening in Iraq. A look at the hundreds of millions of dollars spent every year in pork barrel programs. Joe Johns in D.C. talks about the most interesting projects. You have yourself an indoor rain forest in Iowa.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Cool.

HEMMER: I think Jack was talking about that a couple of weeks ago, in fact. Recreational facilities in the North Pole, or something very close to the North Pole, Alaska. We'll get to that in a moment here.

COLLINS: Yes. You have to move a lot and really fast when you live up there.

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: Also, a little bit later on, we are going to be talking about Condoleezza Rice's testimony happening tomorrow with someone with her own experience in the national spotlight. You remember the name Anita Hill. We'll be talking with her.

HEMMER: Also, to Jack Cafferty.

Good morning to you. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Is June 30 a realistic date for the Hanover of power in Iraq given everything that's going on there, particularly in the last few days? AM@CNN.com is our e-mail.

HEMMER: Less than 90 days for that. Thanks, Jack.

COLLINS: To the news now.

A German court has released the only person convicted in connection with the September 11th terror attacks. Mounir al- Motassadeq was found guilty last year of aiding an al Qaeda cell. A federal appeals court overturned the verdict last month. His lawyers say Motassadeq will be free until a retrial expected to begin in June.

An audiotape reportedly from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The suspected al Qaeda operative claims responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks in Iraq. The tape has been posted on an Arabic language political Web site. In it, Zarqawi also claims credit for the bombing of a U.N. facility in Baghdad.

Middle Eastern intelligence sources say the tape is 100 percent genuine. But questions do remain about its authenticity.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry criticizing the deadline for the power Hanover in Iraq. The Massachusetts senator is suggesting the June 30th date may have more to do with the November presidential elections than with stability in Iraq. President Bush's aides say the comments are "another example of John Kerry playing politics."

In California, voters in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood are saying no to a super-sized Wal-Mart. More than 60 percent of the people voted down plans for the sprawling shopping center, the size of 17 football fields. Andy Serwer is going to talk more on this in just a moment.

And the University of Connecticut now the first school in history to win both the men and women's basketball titles in the same year. The Lady Huskies beat Tennessee last night, 70-61. On Monday night, the men's team beat Georgia Tech. But celebrating in Connecticut got a little out of hand. Police arrested at least five people for flipping two cars and throwing garbage cans. The same exact thing happened when the guys won.

HEMMER: That's right. It's title town. And they can party, too, can't they?

COLLINS: I guess.

HEMMER: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: The store from Iraq today moving on a number of fronts. Here is what we know at this point.

In the anti-American hotbed of Fallujah, U.S. Marines locked in battles there with Iraqi insurgents. Some heavy weaponry being put to work there, including M1A1 tanks and AC-130 gunshots. Dozens of Iraqis reportedly dead as a result of the fighting there. It is the third day now of Operation Vigilant Resolve, which began as an effort to find those responsible for the killing of four Americans just about a week ago.

Nearby in Ramadi, 25 miles west of Fallujah, the U.S. says it remains in firm control in that town. A dozen Marines killed in Ramada yesterday in a gun battle with insurgents. One general says some Syrian fighters were also captured in that battle in addition to Fallujah.

And this morning, near the town of Baqubah, an American helicopter made a controlled landing after taking some small arms fire. No injuries to the pilots onboard. There was some damage to the chopper there. That is northeast, again, of Baghdad.

We received some excellent frontline reporting earlier today inside of Fallujah. LA. Times reporter Tony Perry is there embedded with the 1st Marine Division. But earlier today, we talked by telephone for about 20 minutes. He said a lot during that period. Here is a portion of that conversation as to what is happening today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY PERRY, REPORTER, L.A. TIMES: This all began 24 hours ago, when the insurgents attacked a Marine patrol that has only ventured maybe two dozen yards beyond the checkpoint into the city. They were attacked, and three Marines were wounded. And the Marines counterattacked very ferociously with tanks and infantry and covert helicopters.

And then the battle was on, and the insurgents used at least rudimentary strategy. There were platoon-sized groups. They brought in buses; they blocked off streets.

They hit the Marines with counter-fire. They had some anti- aircraft facilities that were shooting at the helicopters.

And the Marines responded. And it took, I think, three additional casualties. But killed dozens of the insurgents, pushing them out of this neighborhood.

They're pushing them into the center of Fallujah. And the Marines will ultimately be chasing them down there.

Marines are making slow, but good progress, and have been. The insurgents, in essence, took the bait. The Marines wanted them to come out and fight during the daylight. They have done it, and now the fight is on.

HEMMER: How much control do the Marines have in Fallujah now? And how much have they penetrated that town? PERRY: Oh, they've penetrated a good deal. They're not at the core of the city; they don't need to be in the core of the city.

You have to think of Fallujah as one of those cities that really doesn't -- it's rather like Los Angeles. There is no downtown. There's nothing but suburbs, if you will.

So they are deep into Fallujah. They will be deeper with every passing hour. Whether they get to the core in a day or 36 hours or six hours from now is unknown. Because they know that even when they get there the fight isn't really over.

You don't wipe out a movement like this that's been here for decades and that is exceedingly well armed in a day, two days, a week, maybe not even a month. The Marines have said this is the first step in many steps, but it is the first step. And it is going down right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And, again, Tony Perry from the L.A. Times, embedded with the Marines there. A few other things he passed along to us. Fifty Syrian fighters have been apprehended inside of Fallujah. He says there did not appear to be elements of the Republican Guard. There had been reports of the Republican Guard fighting the Marines in Ramadi, which is west of Fallujah.

Later in that interview, he says the Iraqis have take an number of casualties. He says, "I'm being vague at this point, but I would say they have died by the dozens." At one point he said, "They are stacked up like cord (ph) wood in one part of Fallujah."

Ken Pollack, an expert on Iraq, back with us from D.C.

Ken, good morning to you. And I want to get your reaction to what we're hearing here. First of all, the Syrian fighters in Fallujah, does that surprise you that they're finding this number of foreign fighters in that town?

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: It does and it doesn't. It doesn't surprise me. We knew that there were foreign fighters that had been moving into Iraq. We knew that there were Syrians moving in.

Remember, right after the invasion of Iraq, the Syrians opened their border. You had a lot of really nasty people flowing that way. I think the interesting questions is whether these were organized in a group and whether they had any kind of connection with the Syrian government.

GRASSLEY: Also, Ken, there's a report today, and I don't know what your takeaway on this is. We have not confirmed it here at CNN that there might be collaboration on behalf of the Shiite population and the Sunnis. Your reaction to that possibility?

POLLACK: Look, it is of real concern, and it's one of things that I think we ought to be looking at in terms of the events of the last few days. I don't see this as necessarily the sign of complete collapse in Iraq. I think there has been a little bit of exaggeration. But I do see this as a real wake-up call.

And I think that the administration needs to take it to heart that enough people, both Sunnis and Shia, are starting to get unhappy, are starting to get impatientant with the United States, that you may have people who otherwise would have hated each other starting to find common cause and opposition to the United States.

It's very early, it's just starting. But I think it's an important thing to take note of.

HEMMER: In a moment, we're going to put up a map of the Sunni Triangle to give our viewers a better idea of what we're talking about here. Let's move away from Fallujah, further west to Ramadi, about -- in fact, 25 miles to the west. Does it surprise you that the fighting was that fierce, taking out a dozen U.S. Marines and possibly linked to the former Republican Guard, at least based on the reports we're getting from there?

POLLACK: I'm not surprised by this at all, Bill. And, to tell you the truth, what's going on in Fallujah and Ramadi is something that should have happened a year ago.

It's strange to say this, but what the Marines are doing is the right thing. They're finally going in and trying to pacify these parts of Iraq that were left absolutely lawless, that were left in the hands of the opposition figures for 12 months. This was an enormous mistake. And, as a result, the fighting is always going to be hard, but it's a lot harder now than it would have been if we did this 12 months ago.

So I think the Marines have got a really tough job ahead of them. These insurgents have had 12 months to solidify their control over these different cities in the Sunni Triangle. It's going to be tough to take them down, but it's good that someone is finally doing this.

HEMMER: Let's go back to Barbara Starr's report from the Pentagon 40 minutes ago. She says the biggest concern for the Pentagon and the U.S. military is not Fallujah, and it's not Ramadi. It's whether or not this radical Muslim cleric can get more attention and attract more support from the Shiite population. Would that be your biggest concern also?

POLLACK: Yes, I absolutely share that concern. Here, again, I think this ought to be a bit of a wake-up call for the administration.

It is clear, I think, still, that Muqtada al-Sadr is not the major leader of the Shia in Iraq. I think it is still clear that he is still a rather marginal figure. But he has shown that he has a lot more support than I think the administration believed up to this point in time. And, again, I read that as increasing numbers of Shias, still probably in the minority, but increasing numbers becoming frustrated with the United States and willing to listen to someone like Muqtada al-Sadr, who has opposed the reconstruction from the beginning. HEMMER: Thanks, Ken. Good to talk to you, as always. Ken Pollack in D.C.

POLLACK: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, pork. It's not just the other white meat. Some lawmakers seem to be enjoying a steady diet of pork barrel projects. We'll explain. Live to Capitol Hill next.

And the Kobe Bryant case. On at least one point, Bryant and his accuser agree. We'll tell you why straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Politics can be a dirty business. In fact, the 108th Congress is being compared to a pigsty. But this is really no laughing matter. Joe Johns is live on Capitol Hill with the latest dirt.

Hey, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi. We're talking about 10,656 projects for the folks back home. Projects generally not requested by the president, not debated by the Congress. They're what people here call pork.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Congress is pigging out on taxpayers' money, according to Citizens Against Government Waste.

TOM SCHATZ, PRESIDENT, CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE There's a bipartisan spending party going on in Washington at the taxpayers' expense.

JOHNS: The most eye-popping pork project, $50 million to build an indoor rain forest in Iowa corn country. Money secured by Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassly. But this year's undisputed champion of pork and winner of the Whole Hog Award, Senate Appropriations committee chairman Ted Stevens of Alaska.

Stevens brought home a whopping $524 million in projects, including $5 million that goes almost into thin air to an Alaska research program on heating the upper atmosphere, and $2 million to North Pole. Alaska, home to just 1,500 people for recreation facilities.

Stevens is unapologetic. He says federal restrictions on growth in Alaska without adequate reimbursement justifies seeking money from almost every available source.

And it's not just Republicans. Senator Daniel Inouye is the Democrat's top pork producer, bringing $494 million home to Hawaii, including $750,000 for fish research. Anti-pork crusader John McCain says enough is enough.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: And they're spending money like a drunken sailor. I've often said, I have never known a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination of these people.

JOHNS: But, in an election year, bringing home the bacon works.

STUART ROTHENBERG, POLITICAL ANALYST: It's really important for incumbents to be able to go back home to the voters and say, look at the projects I'm bringing you, look at the jobs I'm bringing you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Many members here do argue there are justifications for their projects. Senator Grassly, for example, say the Iowa rain forecast project is bringing jobs and tourists to his state -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Joe Johns at Capitol Hill this morning. Joe, thanks so much.

HEMMER: A quick weather note for you. Heavy flooding causing problems in central Texas today. Two quick-moving storm systems dropped more than an inch of rain in about 30 minutes. Some highways have been closed; at least one death reported after a car was swept away in the rain.

Smoke and flames spewed from an Austin-area home as well. It is believed a lightning strike is responsible for that. Fire crews brought it under control. No one was home at the time of that, luckily for the folks living there.

In a moment here, widespread fighting in Iraq. The latest on the uprising there.

Senator John Kerry taking aim at the White House yet again today. The candidate says that June 30 Iraqi Hanover date is arbitrary.

More on this as we continue on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Jack here now with the Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.

Things getting worse in Iraq. American troops suffering their heaviest casualties in a year over there now.

American commanders insist they're going to arrest the rebel Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. He continues to incite his followers, urging others to join in resistance against the coalition.

Meanwhile, Paul Bremer, the boss over there, says that Iraq is on track for a June 30 Hanover of power. But lawmakers are now saying in both parties that maybe that deadline should be revisited. That's the question: is June 30 a realistic deadline for turning over power to the Iraqis?

Cathy in Minnesota: "June 30 of what millennium? Honestly, those people have not been able to run their lives since time immemorial. The suggestion they'll be capable of such by June 30 is comedy, and bad comedy at that."

Jerry in Memphis, Tennessee: "They should stay with the date. Iraq will remain an anarchy for many years. And the local government might as well get involved now. It can work toward restoring an economy and rebuilding a middle class which will work better than American taxpayers funding multinational corporations to develop a global industry."

Ron in Arlington, Texas: "The date of June 30 totally unrealistic. It was established to provide political cover for the president and was aimed at voters who only pay attention to the headlines. For the Bush administration to change it would require admitting a mistake, and we know that this administration never makes mistakes."

Finally, Michael in Jackson, Ohio: "How can we turn over power to these people with all that's going on right now? Move the date back. What's wrong with eating a little crow? Let's not make it political and try to save as many troops as we can. We have lost enough."

One more batch of these in about a half an hour.

HEMMER: Also in this debate is the argument, how do the Iraqis respond if you are to move this date back? A lot of people from Iraq are telling us it would be a step backwards. And then what's the effect on the ground there? These are big issues.

CAFFERTY: It's a troubling problem.

HEMMER: It is. And we're coming up quickly on that June 30 deadline, too. Less than three months, Jack.

On a much different topic, here in New York City, in fact, a few blocks from where we are right here on Sixth Avenue, a plot of land often referred to as the crossroads of the world, Times Square, 100 years old. Jason Carroll is there live talking about that anniversary.

Jason, good morning over there.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Bill.

A hundred years, can you believe it? Just a little bit of trivia for you.

Times Square got its name from The New York Times when it move under to the neighborhood about 100 years ago or so. Just a little bit of the trivia we learned at we looked at the history of Times Square during the past 100 years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL (voice-over): Say "Times Square" and this is probably the image that comes to mind: crowds, cheers and lots of confetti.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greetings from Times Square.

CARROLL: For nearly a century, it has been party central for New Year's Eve. But through the decades, Times Square has evolved. From the roaring '20s sight of glamorous showgirls to Broadway's great white way to the peep show paradise that came in the '60s and '70s to the cleaned-up family-focused tourist destination we see today.

JAMES TRAUB, TIMES SQUARE HISTORIAN: It's the new Times Square. We're about to get run over at the new Times Square.

CARROLL: Meet historian James Traub.

TRAUB: The rule as a pedestrian in New York is, if you can get away with it, you can do it.

CARROLL: He helped us navigate through the decades. He knows all that is Times Square...

(on camera): TRL over here, what was that?

(voice-over): ... and was.

TRAUB: It was called the Astor Hotel.

CARROLL: Many of the local landmarks are long gone. So, too, is much of the crime that plagued the area in the '70s. Now, it's Disney, Gap and ESPN. But some say there is still enough here for every taste.

ED KOCH, FMR. MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: This is a street that is attractive to singles on the make and families that want to show their kids a good time.

CARROLL: So from a few New Yorkers this message to Times Square...

MARIO CUOMO, FMR. GOVERNOR NEW YORK: Happy 100th birthday Times Square. I hope I'm here for your 125th.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy 100th birthday Times Square from us here at MTV. You're still acting young to us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Technically, you're not even a square. You're more of a...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy birthday Times Square. I'm naked cowboy.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL: Yeah, well, it definitely takes all kinds. One of the last landmarks in Times Square, the Palace Theater. That's where vaudeville acts used to do their thing back in the days sandwiched between "Aida" and "The Producers."

Happy birthday Times Square. May the next 100 be just as exciting.

Bill, back to you.

GRASSLEY: What a place it is in Manhattan, too, and well deserved. Thanks, Jason. Nice report there a few blocks away here. Nice to see you.

Now Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, just about 24 hours from now until Condoleezza Rice faces the 9/11 Commission's questions. Just ahead, we'll talk to another African-American woman who once faced the glare of the spotlight on Capitol Hill.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Almost 9:30. Opening bell in a matter of moments here.

Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Soledad is out for the week here. Heidi Collins is with us.

Good morning yet again today.

COLLINS: Good morning.

HEMMER: The next 30 minutes, talking about urban warfare in Iraq. Retired General Don Shepperd is back with us in a moment. The challenges for U.S. troops fighting armed insurgents now in so many parts of Iraq all at once. The difficulties therein in a moment here.

COLLINS: Also, this time tomorrow, Condoleezza Rice testifying before the 9/11 Commission. We'll look at her time in the national spotlight with someone who has been there before, Ms. Anita Hill.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: All right. To the news now.

The only suspect convicted in connection with the September 11 attacks has left a German prison. Mounir al-Motassadeq was found guilty last year of aiding an al Qaeda cell. A federal appeals court through out the conviction last month, saying that Motassadeq didn't get a fair trial. He'll be free, pending the outcome of his retrial, which is scheduled to start in June.

FBI agents have been sent to the scene of an Amtrak train derailment in Mississippi. One person is dead, 35 others injured, at least three of them critically. The New Orleans to Chicago train slipped off the track about 25 miles north of Jackson. An emergency official says the derailment is believed to be an accident.

Kobe Bryant says he wants a speedy trial. Bryant's lawyers are insisting they want the case to move forward because the ordeal is taking a grueling personal and professional toll on the L.A. Laker. Prosecutors accuse Bryant of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a Colorado resort last June.

And Lee Fastow, the wife of the former Enron finance chief, will learn if she is getting a split sentence today. A federal judge will decide if she gets five months in prison and five months house arrest. Lee Fastow pleaded guilty in January to filing a false tax form. It was part of a larger plea deal involving her husband's criminal case.

HEMMER: Don Shepperd is up in a moment from Tucson, Arizona.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: American forces doing battle again today in Iraq. A wide swath of conflict today. A firefight, an intense one, too, in the town of Fallujah. The third day of conflict there.

U.S. troops suffering heavy casualties so far this week. The Iraqis suffering even heavier casualties on their side.

CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd with us here on AMERICAN MORNING live in Tucson, Arizona.

Don, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Great to have you here. Want to get your thoughts on the fighting in Fallujah. What is the difficulty or the difference in fighting in that town and taking on al-Sadr's militia?

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Well, the fighting itself isn't that much different, Bill. But the consequences of the fighting are much more understandable in the Sunni Triangle.

These are the Republican Guard and the Fedayeen Saddam that melted away, that we did not attack in house-to-house fighting in Baghdad that we expected to. They melted into the Sunni Triangle, and we're now having to clean up the Sunni Triangle. That's very understandable.

The al-Sadr is much more troubling. That's a splinter group, if you will, in the Shia community. And the danger there is that it spreads into a Shia-on-Shia civil war or the Shia community unites against the coalition. So Fallujah is much more understandable and much less worrying, if you will, even though it is heavy combat, than the Shia portion.

HEMMER: One of the things Barbara Starr said an hour ago from the Pentagon, one of the big concerns right now is all the conflict in so many parts of Iraq, including urban warfare. The U.S. military certainly know well their capabilities. At this point, given what they have on the ground there, what's your concern with the hot spots today?

SHEPPERD: Yes. Here's what's going on.

You're having rotation of troops. About 130,000 rotating. The people who have been there for almost a year rotating out, new troops coming in, supposedly going down to 110,000.

Now, the first question is, do you need more than 110,000? Secretary Rumsfeld has said, if you do, they will be sent. The likelihood is that you will delay the rotation home of some of those troops.

Another major concern is not just the numbers, but new troops coming in have to get the lay of the land, have to learn the lessons that a year of fighting has taught the people rotating out. And also, then, the relationships with the people that you work with on the ground that give you intelligence. All those things suffer in a big troop rotation, and it's a difficult time, Bill.

HEMMER: Thirty minutes ago, Ken Pollack said this it's overdue. Do you agree?

SHEPPERD: Well, it's overdue in the sense that you have to deal with the Sunni Triangle at some point. The coalition forces had hoped that they could forge instead of combat a political solution in the Sunni Triangle. It appears that that now is not possible, set off by these events we've been watching over the past week.

And so you're dealing with it now, and it's the worst kind of nightmare, if you will, for the soldier himself, which is house-to- house fighting day and night, clearing out embedded insurgents that know the territory when you don't. It's very troubling and very difficult.

HEMMER: Don, listen, I want to spring this on you. The Associated Press now reporting out of Fallujah -- CNN has not confirmed this -- there is an embedded reporter from the L.A. Times working with the Marines there -- but a reporter is saying that a mosque was hit by U.S. missiles. At least 40 people are dead inside that mosque.

We haven't confirmed it. Again, oftentimes the details are sketchy, as you well knows. Your reaction right now knowing the U.S. in the past has strayed clear and away from religious sites?

SHEPPERD: Well, we try to minimize collateral damage to civilian and to sensitive sites all over. And this is the type of incident that can spread and grow all of a sudden, if you will. We saw how the incident of attacking the two cars with the civilians spread into mob violence. The same thing can happen if you attack a mosque.

So that's the type of thing we don't want to do, and we take great pains to avoid. We'll just have to wait to see the details.

HEMMER: Indeed, we will. Let's keep in Fallujah for a second here. That L.A. Times reporter we spoke to earlier today, Tony Perry, he dismissed the suggestion that knowing the Marines have been in the Sunni Triangle for only about 10 days after taking over for the Army, he dismissed the suggestion that the strategy had been in the works for some time.

You get fresh troops in the theater, and that's when you make your move. Do you agree with that possibility as to now taking action in places like Fallujah?

SHEPPERD: No. I think the action in Fallujah was set off by the mob reaction to the attack on the two civilian vehicles that killed the four Americans. And then the mob violence and the desecration of the bodies that went off afterwards. I think that's what caused this.

I don't think it was a plan with the rotation of troops. I think the Marines were hoping to come in and spread peace and stability and people-to-people contact like they did further south when they were there before, Bill.

HEMMER: Don Shepperd, thanks, again. Tucson, Arizona. Always a pleasure. Come back any time.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

HEMMER: Thank you.

Heidi?

COLLINS: Spreading violence in Iraq left 12 Marines dead in Ramadi yesterday. Now worried family members are waiting for word at Camp Pendleton in California.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is live from there now with more -- Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

As you can imagine, the mood is somewhat somber out here in this area. Of the 25,000 Marines now in Iraq, about 19,000 are from Camp Pendleton.

Now, there has been no official word yet from the base on the casualties from yesterday. And one of the families that we talked to say not knowing and not having word makes the wait incredibly difficult.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): On this night, in this military housing complex in the hills of San Diego, one wife nervously watches her door for the visit every military family dreads.

FRAN MARTINEZ, WIFE OF MARINE: I tend to look at the door, hoping that nobody is going to ring my doorbell. Just hoping.

GUTIERREZ: It is a difficult time for Fran Martinez. Her husband, naval corpsmen Mark Martinez is on the ground in Iraq with part of the Marine force that suffered heavy casualties in Tuesday's combat.

MARTINEZ: When they say there's been casualties, that makes me sick to my stomach because that could be Mark. And then I feel guilty even thinking that, because it's somebody else's husband, it's somebody else's son.

MARK MARTINEZ, MARINES: I miss you a lot, you know? You're my true love.

GUTIERREZ: All of this is hard on Zachary.

(on camera): Do you miss your daddy?

(voice-over): He hasn't seen his father since February. Until he returns home, this videotape is all Zachary has.

F. MARTINEZ: Give daddy kiss.

He knows where daddy is. He knows when I watch the news I point to it and I say, "There's daddy. He's over there in Iraq."

GUTIERREZ: It is the second time Martinez has been deployed to Iraq, leaving Fan to tend to Zachary and 18-month-old Jocelyn (ph) all by herself. The new wave of violence in Iraq is especially unnerving.

F. MARTINEZ: I thought it was going to be easier because I thought there was going to be less danger. But now that everything is going down, it's like it's the same thing all over again.

M. MARTINEZ: I'll be home about 5:30 I think.

GUTIERREZ: Fran saves every message her husband leaves her. She last heard from him on Monday before the bloody battle.

F. MARTINEZ: I freak out when the phone rings because I always think it's him. Yes, especially now it would be very great to get a phone call.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Fran Martinez says she knows she is not alone. And she finds some comfort working with some of the other families out there who are awaiting some kind of sign that their loved ones are OK. But, so far, for Fan, no word yet on her husband.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: And not knowing has got to be the absolute hardest. Thelma Gutierrez live at Camp Pendleton today. Thanks so much, Thelma.

HEMMER: In a moment here, all eyes on Condoleezza Rice tomorrow at this time, in fact,when she testifies before the commission. In a moment, we'll talk with a woman who has a rather unique perspective on this. Anita Hill on what it is like to testify while the nation is watching. Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: At this time tomorrow, Condoleezza Rice will be testifying before the 9/11 Commission. Live coverage right here on CNN. As national security adviser, Rice is accustomed to being in the fish bowl.

Back in 1991, Anita Hill was a little known law professor when she was thrust into the glare of the Washington spotlight. It was during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Anita Hill joins us now from Watertown, Massachusetts.

Good morning, Ms. Hill. Thanks for being with us. We appreciate your time this morning.

ANITA HILL, PROFESSOR, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

COLLINS: You know, of course, your situation was very, very different from what Condoleezza Rice is going through right now, but there are some parallels to make. Like you, Condoleezza Rice is going to be facing some very highly-anticipated public testimony. How difficult is it to step into the spotlight when all that attention is focused on you?

HILL: Well, it's hard for me to assess exactly how difficult it will be for her. I think the situations are quite different because she does have the resources of the White House to help her prepare for this testimony. And, as you say, she has been in the spotlight before. But the nature of this intensity, as well as the political stakes behind it, will sort of ratchet up the anxiety, I'm sure, that she is feeling.

COLLINS: Your situation was very much about conflicting testimony. He said, she said, if you will. Is that the case here? Of course, referring to Richard Clarke versus Condoleezza Rice, if you will.

HILL: Well, I think that's the way that in many ways the committee, some members of the committee, as well as the media, tempted to frame it. But in this situation, what you have is a body of evidence, a large body of evidence that includes a number of different witnesses.

It includes documentation's about various meetings that took place. It includes a lot of information that hopefully the committee will review, that they will analyze. It also includes some decisions that were made about -- that were judgment decisions about whether or not activity -- antiterrorism activity was appropriate and necessary and effective.

And so there is a broader body of evidence, there are different types of evidence. And so that makes it somewhat different from the typical, what we call he said, she said scenario.

COLLINS: Do you think Rice was hurt about all the back and forth that went on in Washington before allowing her to testify?

HILL: Well, I'm not sure if she was hurt. I don't think she was helped by it. We will see how her testimony goes tomorrow. But, unfortunately, I think the public's confidence in the proceeding might have been hurt by it.

The resistance to her testimony seemed to suggest that somehow the commission was doing something that was inappropriate, attempting to force her to testify before it. Or that she was, perhaps, doing something that was not cooperative. And I don't think anybody benefited from that. But, most importantly, the public confidant in the process may have been lost because of that wrangling back and forth. And that's truly unfortunate.

COLLINS: Ms. Hill, just a few seconds left here. Again, your situation very different from Condoleezza Rices's. But do you notice any parallels?

HILL: Well, the level of the intensity, the attention that's being paid to this, the high political stakes, the high level of media attention. I think that what we will remember about Condoleezza Rice, in large part, will be her testimony before this commission.

As well, I think there will be images of her played over and over again being sworn in. And, unfortunately, that's only a small part of her life and her contribution. But that may be the most important and the most memorable part of her experience.

COLLINS: Anita Hill, thanks so much for your time this morning. Sure do appreciate it.

HILL: Thank you.

COLLINS: Again, live coverage tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

HEMMER: In a moment here, the biggest deal yet in this business of outsourcing. Name the U.S. company buying one of the major outsourcing firms. Andy can and will right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. A major American company making a major outsourcing deal overseas. Again, this is to India. We'll get to that, also a check on the markets.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," back with us here. We'll get to that company in a moment.

The markets are doing what today?

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Well, we're slipping a little bit. Slipping and sliding here in the morning. Let's check out the Big Board. Down about 40 -- exactly 49.91 points on the Dow.

What's happening this morning? Alcoa after the bell announcing, I've mentioned, that was a little bit lighter than expected. That stock is down 80 cents.

Papa Johns, the problem with the cheese. Rising cheese prices hurting that company. That stock is down 85 cents to $30.

And, after the bell tonight, we will be checking in on Yahoo. It is earnings season, folks. So fasten your seat belts.

OK. Big company making a bill deal overseas. This, according to Reuters.

IBM buying and outsourcing -- buying an outsourcing company in India called Daksh. It's the third biggest outsourcing company there. And 6,000 employees, 10 clients, including Amazon.

In other words, when you call Amazon up to ask for help, perhaps you'll get Daksh. Bill, of course, the word "Daksh" in Hindi means what? Alert.

HEMMER: Alert.

SERWER: It means alert. We went to the Daksh Web site. Here's what they're looking for in employees, two things I want to mention: Be open to working nightshifts. Right, because of the time.

And here's another one: Be able to appreciate multiple perspectives of voice -- American/British/Australian. Isn't that something? So you have to know who you're talking to.

HEMMER: The training involved.

SERWER: Yes. Interesting stuff. And, you know, this just keeps on going. All those companies over there very, very busy right now.

HEMMER: See you later.

SERWER: See you.

HEMMER: All right. Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: I can't believe you didn't know that word. It was Hindi.

HEMMER: I thought it was outsourcing.

SERWER: Daksh. Swing and a miss.

COLLINS: Coming up on CNN, more from Iraq. U.S. forces squared off in Iraq with insurgents and followers of a radical Shiite Muslim cleric. It is a story we'll be covering all day here on CNN.

All the latest coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan.

AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Before we get out of here, one more reminder. Tomorrow at this time, Condoleezza Rice's testimony from the 9/11 Commission. We'll have it for you live.

COLLINS: You'll be in D.C.

CAFFERTY: Anita Hill looked pretty good, didn't she?

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: That was 13 years ago she did that thing. She looks good.

HEMMER: That's exactly right. Quite well, huh?

The testimony was gripping. Well passed the normal shutdown hours, too, for that testimony.

We've got to run. A lot to talk about in Iraq. Daryn Kagan picks it up from here.


Aired April 7, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Battles wage across Iraq again today. Some of the most intense fighting in the town of Fallujah. In a matter of moments here, we'll talk with a reporter embedded with the Marines in that dangerous city today.
The coalition vowing to take down the army of a radical cleric. How real is the danger that more Shiites will join his movement?

And are coalition forces spread too thin? The tactical challenge for U.S. forces as that urban warfare returns.

All ahead this hour here 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. Nine o'clock here in New York. Welcome back. Soledad is off today. Heidi Collins works with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

A number of stories we're watching this hour in addition to what's happening in Iraq. A look at the hundreds of millions of dollars spent every year in pork barrel programs. Joe Johns in D.C. talks about the most interesting projects. You have yourself an indoor rain forest in Iowa.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Cool.

HEMMER: I think Jack was talking about that a couple of weeks ago, in fact. Recreational facilities in the North Pole, or something very close to the North Pole, Alaska. We'll get to that in a moment here.

COLLINS: Yes. You have to move a lot and really fast when you live up there.

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: Also, a little bit later on, we are going to be talking about Condoleezza Rice's testimony happening tomorrow with someone with her own experience in the national spotlight. You remember the name Anita Hill. We'll be talking with her.

HEMMER: Also, to Jack Cafferty.

Good morning to you. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Is June 30 a realistic date for the Hanover of power in Iraq given everything that's going on there, particularly in the last few days? AM@CNN.com is our e-mail.

HEMMER: Less than 90 days for that. Thanks, Jack.

COLLINS: To the news now.

A German court has released the only person convicted in connection with the September 11th terror attacks. Mounir al- Motassadeq was found guilty last year of aiding an al Qaeda cell. A federal appeals court overturned the verdict last month. His lawyers say Motassadeq will be free until a retrial expected to begin in June.

An audiotape reportedly from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The suspected al Qaeda operative claims responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks in Iraq. The tape has been posted on an Arabic language political Web site. In it, Zarqawi also claims credit for the bombing of a U.N. facility in Baghdad.

Middle Eastern intelligence sources say the tape is 100 percent genuine. But questions do remain about its authenticity.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry criticizing the deadline for the power Hanover in Iraq. The Massachusetts senator is suggesting the June 30th date may have more to do with the November presidential elections than with stability in Iraq. President Bush's aides say the comments are "another example of John Kerry playing politics."

In California, voters in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood are saying no to a super-sized Wal-Mart. More than 60 percent of the people voted down plans for the sprawling shopping center, the size of 17 football fields. Andy Serwer is going to talk more on this in just a moment.

And the University of Connecticut now the first school in history to win both the men and women's basketball titles in the same year. The Lady Huskies beat Tennessee last night, 70-61. On Monday night, the men's team beat Georgia Tech. But celebrating in Connecticut got a little out of hand. Police arrested at least five people for flipping two cars and throwing garbage cans. The same exact thing happened when the guys won.

HEMMER: That's right. It's title town. And they can party, too, can't they?

COLLINS: I guess.

HEMMER: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: The store from Iraq today moving on a number of fronts. Here is what we know at this point.

In the anti-American hotbed of Fallujah, U.S. Marines locked in battles there with Iraqi insurgents. Some heavy weaponry being put to work there, including M1A1 tanks and AC-130 gunshots. Dozens of Iraqis reportedly dead as a result of the fighting there. It is the third day now of Operation Vigilant Resolve, which began as an effort to find those responsible for the killing of four Americans just about a week ago.

Nearby in Ramadi, 25 miles west of Fallujah, the U.S. says it remains in firm control in that town. A dozen Marines killed in Ramada yesterday in a gun battle with insurgents. One general says some Syrian fighters were also captured in that battle in addition to Fallujah.

And this morning, near the town of Baqubah, an American helicopter made a controlled landing after taking some small arms fire. No injuries to the pilots onboard. There was some damage to the chopper there. That is northeast, again, of Baghdad.

We received some excellent frontline reporting earlier today inside of Fallujah. LA. Times reporter Tony Perry is there embedded with the 1st Marine Division. But earlier today, we talked by telephone for about 20 minutes. He said a lot during that period. Here is a portion of that conversation as to what is happening today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY PERRY, REPORTER, L.A. TIMES: This all began 24 hours ago, when the insurgents attacked a Marine patrol that has only ventured maybe two dozen yards beyond the checkpoint into the city. They were attacked, and three Marines were wounded. And the Marines counterattacked very ferociously with tanks and infantry and covert helicopters.

And then the battle was on, and the insurgents used at least rudimentary strategy. There were platoon-sized groups. They brought in buses; they blocked off streets.

They hit the Marines with counter-fire. They had some anti- aircraft facilities that were shooting at the helicopters.

And the Marines responded. And it took, I think, three additional casualties. But killed dozens of the insurgents, pushing them out of this neighborhood.

They're pushing them into the center of Fallujah. And the Marines will ultimately be chasing them down there.

Marines are making slow, but good progress, and have been. The insurgents, in essence, took the bait. The Marines wanted them to come out and fight during the daylight. They have done it, and now the fight is on.

HEMMER: How much control do the Marines have in Fallujah now? And how much have they penetrated that town? PERRY: Oh, they've penetrated a good deal. They're not at the core of the city; they don't need to be in the core of the city.

You have to think of Fallujah as one of those cities that really doesn't -- it's rather like Los Angeles. There is no downtown. There's nothing but suburbs, if you will.

So they are deep into Fallujah. They will be deeper with every passing hour. Whether they get to the core in a day or 36 hours or six hours from now is unknown. Because they know that even when they get there the fight isn't really over.

You don't wipe out a movement like this that's been here for decades and that is exceedingly well armed in a day, two days, a week, maybe not even a month. The Marines have said this is the first step in many steps, but it is the first step. And it is going down right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And, again, Tony Perry from the L.A. Times, embedded with the Marines there. A few other things he passed along to us. Fifty Syrian fighters have been apprehended inside of Fallujah. He says there did not appear to be elements of the Republican Guard. There had been reports of the Republican Guard fighting the Marines in Ramadi, which is west of Fallujah.

Later in that interview, he says the Iraqis have take an number of casualties. He says, "I'm being vague at this point, but I would say they have died by the dozens." At one point he said, "They are stacked up like cord (ph) wood in one part of Fallujah."

Ken Pollack, an expert on Iraq, back with us from D.C.

Ken, good morning to you. And I want to get your reaction to what we're hearing here. First of all, the Syrian fighters in Fallujah, does that surprise you that they're finding this number of foreign fighters in that town?

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: It does and it doesn't. It doesn't surprise me. We knew that there were foreign fighters that had been moving into Iraq. We knew that there were Syrians moving in.

Remember, right after the invasion of Iraq, the Syrians opened their border. You had a lot of really nasty people flowing that way. I think the interesting questions is whether these were organized in a group and whether they had any kind of connection with the Syrian government.

GRASSLEY: Also, Ken, there's a report today, and I don't know what your takeaway on this is. We have not confirmed it here at CNN that there might be collaboration on behalf of the Shiite population and the Sunnis. Your reaction to that possibility?

POLLACK: Look, it is of real concern, and it's one of things that I think we ought to be looking at in terms of the events of the last few days. I don't see this as necessarily the sign of complete collapse in Iraq. I think there has been a little bit of exaggeration. But I do see this as a real wake-up call.

And I think that the administration needs to take it to heart that enough people, both Sunnis and Shia, are starting to get unhappy, are starting to get impatientant with the United States, that you may have people who otherwise would have hated each other starting to find common cause and opposition to the United States.

It's very early, it's just starting. But I think it's an important thing to take note of.

HEMMER: In a moment, we're going to put up a map of the Sunni Triangle to give our viewers a better idea of what we're talking about here. Let's move away from Fallujah, further west to Ramadi, about -- in fact, 25 miles to the west. Does it surprise you that the fighting was that fierce, taking out a dozen U.S. Marines and possibly linked to the former Republican Guard, at least based on the reports we're getting from there?

POLLACK: I'm not surprised by this at all, Bill. And, to tell you the truth, what's going on in Fallujah and Ramadi is something that should have happened a year ago.

It's strange to say this, but what the Marines are doing is the right thing. They're finally going in and trying to pacify these parts of Iraq that were left absolutely lawless, that were left in the hands of the opposition figures for 12 months. This was an enormous mistake. And, as a result, the fighting is always going to be hard, but it's a lot harder now than it would have been if we did this 12 months ago.

So I think the Marines have got a really tough job ahead of them. These insurgents have had 12 months to solidify their control over these different cities in the Sunni Triangle. It's going to be tough to take them down, but it's good that someone is finally doing this.

HEMMER: Let's go back to Barbara Starr's report from the Pentagon 40 minutes ago. She says the biggest concern for the Pentagon and the U.S. military is not Fallujah, and it's not Ramadi. It's whether or not this radical Muslim cleric can get more attention and attract more support from the Shiite population. Would that be your biggest concern also?

POLLACK: Yes, I absolutely share that concern. Here, again, I think this ought to be a bit of a wake-up call for the administration.

It is clear, I think, still, that Muqtada al-Sadr is not the major leader of the Shia in Iraq. I think it is still clear that he is still a rather marginal figure. But he has shown that he has a lot more support than I think the administration believed up to this point in time. And, again, I read that as increasing numbers of Shias, still probably in the minority, but increasing numbers becoming frustrated with the United States and willing to listen to someone like Muqtada al-Sadr, who has opposed the reconstruction from the beginning. HEMMER: Thanks, Ken. Good to talk to you, as always. Ken Pollack in D.C.

POLLACK: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, pork. It's not just the other white meat. Some lawmakers seem to be enjoying a steady diet of pork barrel projects. We'll explain. Live to Capitol Hill next.

And the Kobe Bryant case. On at least one point, Bryant and his accuser agree. We'll tell you why straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Politics can be a dirty business. In fact, the 108th Congress is being compared to a pigsty. But this is really no laughing matter. Joe Johns is live on Capitol Hill with the latest dirt.

Hey, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi. We're talking about 10,656 projects for the folks back home. Projects generally not requested by the president, not debated by the Congress. They're what people here call pork.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Congress is pigging out on taxpayers' money, according to Citizens Against Government Waste.

TOM SCHATZ, PRESIDENT, CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE There's a bipartisan spending party going on in Washington at the taxpayers' expense.

JOHNS: The most eye-popping pork project, $50 million to build an indoor rain forest in Iowa corn country. Money secured by Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassly. But this year's undisputed champion of pork and winner of the Whole Hog Award, Senate Appropriations committee chairman Ted Stevens of Alaska.

Stevens brought home a whopping $524 million in projects, including $5 million that goes almost into thin air to an Alaska research program on heating the upper atmosphere, and $2 million to North Pole. Alaska, home to just 1,500 people for recreation facilities.

Stevens is unapologetic. He says federal restrictions on growth in Alaska without adequate reimbursement justifies seeking money from almost every available source.

And it's not just Republicans. Senator Daniel Inouye is the Democrat's top pork producer, bringing $494 million home to Hawaii, including $750,000 for fish research. Anti-pork crusader John McCain says enough is enough.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: And they're spending money like a drunken sailor. I've often said, I have never known a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination of these people.

JOHNS: But, in an election year, bringing home the bacon works.

STUART ROTHENBERG, POLITICAL ANALYST: It's really important for incumbents to be able to go back home to the voters and say, look at the projects I'm bringing you, look at the jobs I'm bringing you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Many members here do argue there are justifications for their projects. Senator Grassly, for example, say the Iowa rain forecast project is bringing jobs and tourists to his state -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Joe Johns at Capitol Hill this morning. Joe, thanks so much.

HEMMER: A quick weather note for you. Heavy flooding causing problems in central Texas today. Two quick-moving storm systems dropped more than an inch of rain in about 30 minutes. Some highways have been closed; at least one death reported after a car was swept away in the rain.

Smoke and flames spewed from an Austin-area home as well. It is believed a lightning strike is responsible for that. Fire crews brought it under control. No one was home at the time of that, luckily for the folks living there.

In a moment here, widespread fighting in Iraq. The latest on the uprising there.

Senator John Kerry taking aim at the White House yet again today. The candidate says that June 30 Iraqi Hanover date is arbitrary.

More on this as we continue on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Jack here now with the Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.

Things getting worse in Iraq. American troops suffering their heaviest casualties in a year over there now.

American commanders insist they're going to arrest the rebel Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. He continues to incite his followers, urging others to join in resistance against the coalition.

Meanwhile, Paul Bremer, the boss over there, says that Iraq is on track for a June 30 Hanover of power. But lawmakers are now saying in both parties that maybe that deadline should be revisited. That's the question: is June 30 a realistic deadline for turning over power to the Iraqis?

Cathy in Minnesota: "June 30 of what millennium? Honestly, those people have not been able to run their lives since time immemorial. The suggestion they'll be capable of such by June 30 is comedy, and bad comedy at that."

Jerry in Memphis, Tennessee: "They should stay with the date. Iraq will remain an anarchy for many years. And the local government might as well get involved now. It can work toward restoring an economy and rebuilding a middle class which will work better than American taxpayers funding multinational corporations to develop a global industry."

Ron in Arlington, Texas: "The date of June 30 totally unrealistic. It was established to provide political cover for the president and was aimed at voters who only pay attention to the headlines. For the Bush administration to change it would require admitting a mistake, and we know that this administration never makes mistakes."

Finally, Michael in Jackson, Ohio: "How can we turn over power to these people with all that's going on right now? Move the date back. What's wrong with eating a little crow? Let's not make it political and try to save as many troops as we can. We have lost enough."

One more batch of these in about a half an hour.

HEMMER: Also in this debate is the argument, how do the Iraqis respond if you are to move this date back? A lot of people from Iraq are telling us it would be a step backwards. And then what's the effect on the ground there? These are big issues.

CAFFERTY: It's a troubling problem.

HEMMER: It is. And we're coming up quickly on that June 30 deadline, too. Less than three months, Jack.

On a much different topic, here in New York City, in fact, a few blocks from where we are right here on Sixth Avenue, a plot of land often referred to as the crossroads of the world, Times Square, 100 years old. Jason Carroll is there live talking about that anniversary.

Jason, good morning over there.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Bill.

A hundred years, can you believe it? Just a little bit of trivia for you.

Times Square got its name from The New York Times when it move under to the neighborhood about 100 years ago or so. Just a little bit of the trivia we learned at we looked at the history of Times Square during the past 100 years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL (voice-over): Say "Times Square" and this is probably the image that comes to mind: crowds, cheers and lots of confetti.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greetings from Times Square.

CARROLL: For nearly a century, it has been party central for New Year's Eve. But through the decades, Times Square has evolved. From the roaring '20s sight of glamorous showgirls to Broadway's great white way to the peep show paradise that came in the '60s and '70s to the cleaned-up family-focused tourist destination we see today.

JAMES TRAUB, TIMES SQUARE HISTORIAN: It's the new Times Square. We're about to get run over at the new Times Square.

CARROLL: Meet historian James Traub.

TRAUB: The rule as a pedestrian in New York is, if you can get away with it, you can do it.

CARROLL: He helped us navigate through the decades. He knows all that is Times Square...

(on camera): TRL over here, what was that?

(voice-over): ... and was.

TRAUB: It was called the Astor Hotel.

CARROLL: Many of the local landmarks are long gone. So, too, is much of the crime that plagued the area in the '70s. Now, it's Disney, Gap and ESPN. But some say there is still enough here for every taste.

ED KOCH, FMR. MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: This is a street that is attractive to singles on the make and families that want to show their kids a good time.

CARROLL: So from a few New Yorkers this message to Times Square...

MARIO CUOMO, FMR. GOVERNOR NEW YORK: Happy 100th birthday Times Square. I hope I'm here for your 125th.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy 100th birthday Times Square from us here at MTV. You're still acting young to us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Technically, you're not even a square. You're more of a...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy birthday Times Square. I'm naked cowboy.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL: Yeah, well, it definitely takes all kinds. One of the last landmarks in Times Square, the Palace Theater. That's where vaudeville acts used to do their thing back in the days sandwiched between "Aida" and "The Producers."

Happy birthday Times Square. May the next 100 be just as exciting.

Bill, back to you.

GRASSLEY: What a place it is in Manhattan, too, and well deserved. Thanks, Jason. Nice report there a few blocks away here. Nice to see you.

Now Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, just about 24 hours from now until Condoleezza Rice faces the 9/11 Commission's questions. Just ahead, we'll talk to another African-American woman who once faced the glare of the spotlight on Capitol Hill.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Almost 9:30. Opening bell in a matter of moments here.

Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Soledad is out for the week here. Heidi Collins is with us.

Good morning yet again today.

COLLINS: Good morning.

HEMMER: The next 30 minutes, talking about urban warfare in Iraq. Retired General Don Shepperd is back with us in a moment. The challenges for U.S. troops fighting armed insurgents now in so many parts of Iraq all at once. The difficulties therein in a moment here.

COLLINS: Also, this time tomorrow, Condoleezza Rice testifying before the 9/11 Commission. We'll look at her time in the national spotlight with someone who has been there before, Ms. Anita Hill.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: All right. To the news now.

The only suspect convicted in connection with the September 11 attacks has left a German prison. Mounir al-Motassadeq was found guilty last year of aiding an al Qaeda cell. A federal appeals court through out the conviction last month, saying that Motassadeq didn't get a fair trial. He'll be free, pending the outcome of his retrial, which is scheduled to start in June.

FBI agents have been sent to the scene of an Amtrak train derailment in Mississippi. One person is dead, 35 others injured, at least three of them critically. The New Orleans to Chicago train slipped off the track about 25 miles north of Jackson. An emergency official says the derailment is believed to be an accident.

Kobe Bryant says he wants a speedy trial. Bryant's lawyers are insisting they want the case to move forward because the ordeal is taking a grueling personal and professional toll on the L.A. Laker. Prosecutors accuse Bryant of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a Colorado resort last June.

And Lee Fastow, the wife of the former Enron finance chief, will learn if she is getting a split sentence today. A federal judge will decide if she gets five months in prison and five months house arrest. Lee Fastow pleaded guilty in January to filing a false tax form. It was part of a larger plea deal involving her husband's criminal case.

HEMMER: Don Shepperd is up in a moment from Tucson, Arizona.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: American forces doing battle again today in Iraq. A wide swath of conflict today. A firefight, an intense one, too, in the town of Fallujah. The third day of conflict there.

U.S. troops suffering heavy casualties so far this week. The Iraqis suffering even heavier casualties on their side.

CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd with us here on AMERICAN MORNING live in Tucson, Arizona.

Don, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Great to have you here. Want to get your thoughts on the fighting in Fallujah. What is the difficulty or the difference in fighting in that town and taking on al-Sadr's militia?

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Well, the fighting itself isn't that much different, Bill. But the consequences of the fighting are much more understandable in the Sunni Triangle.

These are the Republican Guard and the Fedayeen Saddam that melted away, that we did not attack in house-to-house fighting in Baghdad that we expected to. They melted into the Sunni Triangle, and we're now having to clean up the Sunni Triangle. That's very understandable.

The al-Sadr is much more troubling. That's a splinter group, if you will, in the Shia community. And the danger there is that it spreads into a Shia-on-Shia civil war or the Shia community unites against the coalition. So Fallujah is much more understandable and much less worrying, if you will, even though it is heavy combat, than the Shia portion.

HEMMER: One of the things Barbara Starr said an hour ago from the Pentagon, one of the big concerns right now is all the conflict in so many parts of Iraq, including urban warfare. The U.S. military certainly know well their capabilities. At this point, given what they have on the ground there, what's your concern with the hot spots today?

SHEPPERD: Yes. Here's what's going on.

You're having rotation of troops. About 130,000 rotating. The people who have been there for almost a year rotating out, new troops coming in, supposedly going down to 110,000.

Now, the first question is, do you need more than 110,000? Secretary Rumsfeld has said, if you do, they will be sent. The likelihood is that you will delay the rotation home of some of those troops.

Another major concern is not just the numbers, but new troops coming in have to get the lay of the land, have to learn the lessons that a year of fighting has taught the people rotating out. And also, then, the relationships with the people that you work with on the ground that give you intelligence. All those things suffer in a big troop rotation, and it's a difficult time, Bill.

HEMMER: Thirty minutes ago, Ken Pollack said this it's overdue. Do you agree?

SHEPPERD: Well, it's overdue in the sense that you have to deal with the Sunni Triangle at some point. The coalition forces had hoped that they could forge instead of combat a political solution in the Sunni Triangle. It appears that that now is not possible, set off by these events we've been watching over the past week.

And so you're dealing with it now, and it's the worst kind of nightmare, if you will, for the soldier himself, which is house-to- house fighting day and night, clearing out embedded insurgents that know the territory when you don't. It's very troubling and very difficult.

HEMMER: Don, listen, I want to spring this on you. The Associated Press now reporting out of Fallujah -- CNN has not confirmed this -- there is an embedded reporter from the L.A. Times working with the Marines there -- but a reporter is saying that a mosque was hit by U.S. missiles. At least 40 people are dead inside that mosque.

We haven't confirmed it. Again, oftentimes the details are sketchy, as you well knows. Your reaction right now knowing the U.S. in the past has strayed clear and away from religious sites?

SHEPPERD: Well, we try to minimize collateral damage to civilian and to sensitive sites all over. And this is the type of incident that can spread and grow all of a sudden, if you will. We saw how the incident of attacking the two cars with the civilians spread into mob violence. The same thing can happen if you attack a mosque.

So that's the type of thing we don't want to do, and we take great pains to avoid. We'll just have to wait to see the details.

HEMMER: Indeed, we will. Let's keep in Fallujah for a second here. That L.A. Times reporter we spoke to earlier today, Tony Perry, he dismissed the suggestion that knowing the Marines have been in the Sunni Triangle for only about 10 days after taking over for the Army, he dismissed the suggestion that the strategy had been in the works for some time.

You get fresh troops in the theater, and that's when you make your move. Do you agree with that possibility as to now taking action in places like Fallujah?

SHEPPERD: No. I think the action in Fallujah was set off by the mob reaction to the attack on the two civilian vehicles that killed the four Americans. And then the mob violence and the desecration of the bodies that went off afterwards. I think that's what caused this.

I don't think it was a plan with the rotation of troops. I think the Marines were hoping to come in and spread peace and stability and people-to-people contact like they did further south when they were there before, Bill.

HEMMER: Don Shepperd, thanks, again. Tucson, Arizona. Always a pleasure. Come back any time.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

HEMMER: Thank you.

Heidi?

COLLINS: Spreading violence in Iraq left 12 Marines dead in Ramadi yesterday. Now worried family members are waiting for word at Camp Pendleton in California.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is live from there now with more -- Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

As you can imagine, the mood is somewhat somber out here in this area. Of the 25,000 Marines now in Iraq, about 19,000 are from Camp Pendleton.

Now, there has been no official word yet from the base on the casualties from yesterday. And one of the families that we talked to say not knowing and not having word makes the wait incredibly difficult.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): On this night, in this military housing complex in the hills of San Diego, one wife nervously watches her door for the visit every military family dreads.

FRAN MARTINEZ, WIFE OF MARINE: I tend to look at the door, hoping that nobody is going to ring my doorbell. Just hoping.

GUTIERREZ: It is a difficult time for Fran Martinez. Her husband, naval corpsmen Mark Martinez is on the ground in Iraq with part of the Marine force that suffered heavy casualties in Tuesday's combat.

MARTINEZ: When they say there's been casualties, that makes me sick to my stomach because that could be Mark. And then I feel guilty even thinking that, because it's somebody else's husband, it's somebody else's son.

MARK MARTINEZ, MARINES: I miss you a lot, you know? You're my true love.

GUTIERREZ: All of this is hard on Zachary.

(on camera): Do you miss your daddy?

(voice-over): He hasn't seen his father since February. Until he returns home, this videotape is all Zachary has.

F. MARTINEZ: Give daddy kiss.

He knows where daddy is. He knows when I watch the news I point to it and I say, "There's daddy. He's over there in Iraq."

GUTIERREZ: It is the second time Martinez has been deployed to Iraq, leaving Fan to tend to Zachary and 18-month-old Jocelyn (ph) all by herself. The new wave of violence in Iraq is especially unnerving.

F. MARTINEZ: I thought it was going to be easier because I thought there was going to be less danger. But now that everything is going down, it's like it's the same thing all over again.

M. MARTINEZ: I'll be home about 5:30 I think.

GUTIERREZ: Fran saves every message her husband leaves her. She last heard from him on Monday before the bloody battle.

F. MARTINEZ: I freak out when the phone rings because I always think it's him. Yes, especially now it would be very great to get a phone call.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Fran Martinez says she knows she is not alone. And she finds some comfort working with some of the other families out there who are awaiting some kind of sign that their loved ones are OK. But, so far, for Fan, no word yet on her husband.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: And not knowing has got to be the absolute hardest. Thelma Gutierrez live at Camp Pendleton today. Thanks so much, Thelma.

HEMMER: In a moment here, all eyes on Condoleezza Rice tomorrow at this time, in fact,when she testifies before the commission. In a moment, we'll talk with a woman who has a rather unique perspective on this. Anita Hill on what it is like to testify while the nation is watching. Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: At this time tomorrow, Condoleezza Rice will be testifying before the 9/11 Commission. Live coverage right here on CNN. As national security adviser, Rice is accustomed to being in the fish bowl.

Back in 1991, Anita Hill was a little known law professor when she was thrust into the glare of the Washington spotlight. It was during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Anita Hill joins us now from Watertown, Massachusetts.

Good morning, Ms. Hill. Thanks for being with us. We appreciate your time this morning.

ANITA HILL, PROFESSOR, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

COLLINS: You know, of course, your situation was very, very different from what Condoleezza Rice is going through right now, but there are some parallels to make. Like you, Condoleezza Rice is going to be facing some very highly-anticipated public testimony. How difficult is it to step into the spotlight when all that attention is focused on you?

HILL: Well, it's hard for me to assess exactly how difficult it will be for her. I think the situations are quite different because she does have the resources of the White House to help her prepare for this testimony. And, as you say, she has been in the spotlight before. But the nature of this intensity, as well as the political stakes behind it, will sort of ratchet up the anxiety, I'm sure, that she is feeling.

COLLINS: Your situation was very much about conflicting testimony. He said, she said, if you will. Is that the case here? Of course, referring to Richard Clarke versus Condoleezza Rice, if you will.

HILL: Well, I think that's the way that in many ways the committee, some members of the committee, as well as the media, tempted to frame it. But in this situation, what you have is a body of evidence, a large body of evidence that includes a number of different witnesses.

It includes documentation's about various meetings that took place. It includes a lot of information that hopefully the committee will review, that they will analyze. It also includes some decisions that were made about -- that were judgment decisions about whether or not activity -- antiterrorism activity was appropriate and necessary and effective.

And so there is a broader body of evidence, there are different types of evidence. And so that makes it somewhat different from the typical, what we call he said, she said scenario.

COLLINS: Do you think Rice was hurt about all the back and forth that went on in Washington before allowing her to testify?

HILL: Well, I'm not sure if she was hurt. I don't think she was helped by it. We will see how her testimony goes tomorrow. But, unfortunately, I think the public's confidence in the proceeding might have been hurt by it.

The resistance to her testimony seemed to suggest that somehow the commission was doing something that was inappropriate, attempting to force her to testify before it. Or that she was, perhaps, doing something that was not cooperative. And I don't think anybody benefited from that. But, most importantly, the public confidant in the process may have been lost because of that wrangling back and forth. And that's truly unfortunate.

COLLINS: Ms. Hill, just a few seconds left here. Again, your situation very different from Condoleezza Rices's. But do you notice any parallels?

HILL: Well, the level of the intensity, the attention that's being paid to this, the high political stakes, the high level of media attention. I think that what we will remember about Condoleezza Rice, in large part, will be her testimony before this commission.

As well, I think there will be images of her played over and over again being sworn in. And, unfortunately, that's only a small part of her life and her contribution. But that may be the most important and the most memorable part of her experience.

COLLINS: Anita Hill, thanks so much for your time this morning. Sure do appreciate it.

HILL: Thank you.

COLLINS: Again, live coverage tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

HEMMER: In a moment here, the biggest deal yet in this business of outsourcing. Name the U.S. company buying one of the major outsourcing firms. Andy can and will right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. A major American company making a major outsourcing deal overseas. Again, this is to India. We'll get to that, also a check on the markets.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," back with us here. We'll get to that company in a moment.

The markets are doing what today?

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Well, we're slipping a little bit. Slipping and sliding here in the morning. Let's check out the Big Board. Down about 40 -- exactly 49.91 points on the Dow.

What's happening this morning? Alcoa after the bell announcing, I've mentioned, that was a little bit lighter than expected. That stock is down 80 cents.

Papa Johns, the problem with the cheese. Rising cheese prices hurting that company. That stock is down 85 cents to $30.

And, after the bell tonight, we will be checking in on Yahoo. It is earnings season, folks. So fasten your seat belts.

OK. Big company making a bill deal overseas. This, according to Reuters.

IBM buying and outsourcing -- buying an outsourcing company in India called Daksh. It's the third biggest outsourcing company there. And 6,000 employees, 10 clients, including Amazon.

In other words, when you call Amazon up to ask for help, perhaps you'll get Daksh. Bill, of course, the word "Daksh" in Hindi means what? Alert.

HEMMER: Alert.

SERWER: It means alert. We went to the Daksh Web site. Here's what they're looking for in employees, two things I want to mention: Be open to working nightshifts. Right, because of the time.

And here's another one: Be able to appreciate multiple perspectives of voice -- American/British/Australian. Isn't that something? So you have to know who you're talking to.

HEMMER: The training involved.

SERWER: Yes. Interesting stuff. And, you know, this just keeps on going. All those companies over there very, very busy right now.

HEMMER: See you later.

SERWER: See you.

HEMMER: All right. Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: I can't believe you didn't know that word. It was Hindi.

HEMMER: I thought it was outsourcing.

SERWER: Daksh. Swing and a miss.

COLLINS: Coming up on CNN, more from Iraq. U.S. forces squared off in Iraq with insurgents and followers of a radical Shiite Muslim cleric. It is a story we'll be covering all day here on CNN.

All the latest coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan.

AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Before we get out of here, one more reminder. Tomorrow at this time, Condoleezza Rice's testimony from the 9/11 Commission. We'll have it for you live.

COLLINS: You'll be in D.C.

CAFFERTY: Anita Hill looked pretty good, didn't she?

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: That was 13 years ago she did that thing. She looks good.

HEMMER: That's exactly right. Quite well, huh?

The testimony was gripping. Well passed the normal shutdown hours, too, for that testimony.

We've got to run. A lot to talk about in Iraq. Daryn Kagan picks it up from here.