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American Morning
Violence Raging Across Iraq; Will White House Declassify Document That Could Shed Light on Pre-9/11 Terror Warnings?
Aired April 09, 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The world watched as the statue of Saddam fell in Baghdad. The symbolic collapse of his regime.
Now on this first anniversary, violence raging across that country and Fallujah. With reporter in the city about conflicting accounts of a U.S. ceasefire.
On the day after Condoleezza Rice testifies, will the White House declassify a document that could shed light on pre-9/11 terror warnings?
And in Florida, a wild scene on the beach as bystanders try to save a pair of teenage girls after their parasail rope snaps in two.
Those stories are all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: And good morning, welcome everybody. Bill Hemmer is off today, but Anderson Cooper is sitting in.
Nice to have you, as always.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It is nice to be here.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
This morning, we're going to be talking with 9/11 Commission member Tim Roemer. He was among those who were questioning National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice yesterday.
We'll ask him the question is he satisfied and, also, we're going to talk with a man who lost his wife in the attacks and see if he's satisfied by what he heard yesterday, as well.
COOPER: Yes, it was interesting testimony, indeed. Also, we've seen very heavy U.S. and Iraqi casualties in the Sunni triangle during the last week.
In a few minutes, we'll talk to a national guardsman just back from the area, and get a firsthand account of the dangers, the realities on the streets.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry for making you sick.
CAFFERTY: Oh, that's quite all right. Somebody had to do it.
On a lighter note, Janet Jackson does this lame imitation of an over-the-hill topless dancer during the Super Bowl halftime show, and now Howard Stern is picking up the tab as the federal government proves to us all once again it hasn't a clue. We'll talk about that in a few minutes.
O'BRIEN: All right, Mr. Cafferty, thank you very much.
Right to our top story. One year to the day since the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in Baghdad, it is a varied situation across Iraq right now. Particularly in the rest of city of Fallujah where U.S. Marines have been locked in a battle with Sunni Muslim insurgents all week.
For the very latest on that situation we're joined from Baghdad by Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt. He is the deputy director of U.S. military operations in Iraq and he joins us by phone.
Nice to have you, sir. Thanks for your time. Lets get right to it.
Talk a little bit about the suspension in the offensive. First we heard that any kind of military operations were being suspended. Then we heard that in fact that ceasefire was off. Now we're hearing again that maybe that suspension is back on. What is the latest right now?
VOICE OF BRIGADIER GENERAL MARK KIMMITT: Yes, Soledad. Today at 1200 the coalition forces initiated a unilateral suspension of offensive operations in Fallujah. And that suspension still holds.
O'BRIEN: There -- there was some word about whether or not the Iraqi security forces were going to step up their role. Are you seeing that right now? And what exactly is going to happen in the meanwhile?
KIMMITT: Well, that's unconnected to the suspension. We are suspending all coalition activities to include those of the Iraqi security forces, but there is a significant Iraqi security presence in Fallujah operating side-by-side with the coalition forces.
O'BRIEN: There was some word that in the wake of an attack on a car that was carrying humanitarian materials that in fact there was some gun fire, and that suspension had been called off at that time. Is that not the case; is that misinformation coming in?
KIMMITT: That's misinformation. I just finished speaking with the First Marine Expeditionary Force. The suspension is still in effect. Now, again, that suspension only suspends offensive operations. If our Marines are being shot at, they're going to return fire. They have an inherent right to self-defense and they're going to execute that inherent right.
O'BRIEN: Can you talk at this time about any casualties both civilian casualties, casualties among the insurgents and also the casualties that the military forces are taking at this time?
KIMMITT: Well, as you know, we run extremely precise operations. We try to narrow our operations from the smallest possible scope. We go out of our way to reduce the number of collateral damage and accidental deaths to an absolute minimum and I think we've done very well not only in the Fallujah operation but in all the operations that we have ongoing here in Iraq.
O'BRIEN: What's the status of this delegation that's supposed to be coming in from the city to meet with U.S. commanders that obviously this is part of the reason why this cease-fire was called in the first place?
KIMMITT: Well in fact the meeting will not be between U.S. commanders and the delegation but this is a meeting between the interim governing council of the Iraqis, the Fallujah leadership and the anti-coalition forces in an attempt to try to reduce the violence as well as try to get some additional supplies in from the Iraqi government and allow the residents of Fallujah to tend to some of their injured and dead.
O'BRIEN: And is this meeting taking place and when do you expect that to happen?
KIMMITT: We expect that to happen today.
O'BRIEN: All right. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt was joining us by phone this morning. Thank you sir for that -- Anderson.
COOPER: Let's take a look at what's going on right now at this hour's top stories.
Former president Bill Clinton has been questioned by the Commission investigating the September 11 attacks. Clinton appeared privately before the panel for more than three hours yesterday not under oath.
In a statement the Commission said they found the former president forthcoming and responsive to questions. Clinton's appearance came the same day as National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice faced questioning. We're going to have much more on her testimony and the president's throughout the show.
In health news, researchers say a new drug could prevent millions of people from having sudden heart failure. A study on mice at the University of Columbia shows the drug completely prevented death in animals with arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats.
Heart disease experts in the U.K. say it is too early to say if this drug will actually work in humans.
NASA is giving the green light to its twin Mars Rovers to continue searching the red planet for water and any evidence of life. The five-month, $15 million extension means Opportunity and Spirit can keep exploring Mars through September.
To date, the mission has cost NASA more than $800 million.
And a tornado touched down near Roswell, New Mexico. A TV camera captured some spectacular pictures -- look at these -- of the tornado as it hit four miles south of Roswell. Luckily, no one got hurt. There was no major damage reported. People who live there may not be out of the woods yet. Severe storm warnings are still in effect.
O'BRIEN: Remarkable shots to be able to see that little funnel cloud.
COOPER: I know, yes, it would be amazing to actually be there and to see it firsthand. From a distance, albeit.
O'BRIEN: I was going to say -- no, it wouldn't, actually. I'm happy to just watch it on television actually, Anderson.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: A CIA report on Osama bin Laden could be made public today. It was given to President Bush a month before 9/11.
And it emerged as the central piece of information yesterday as the 9/11 Commission questioned National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Jeanne Meserve is at the White House for us this morning with more on that -- Jeanne, good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN: Good morning, Soledad.
The White House says it is actively working to declassify the one and a half page secret document, which officials say may have been distorted or taken out of context.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The presidential daily brief of August 6, 2001 figured prominently in Rice's appearance before the 9/11 Commission. Because the administration believed that summer that any terrorist attack would likely be overseas, even the PDB's title provoked a tough exchange.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I believe the title was Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States. Now, the -- the PDB -- no, you -- I would like to finish my point here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know there was a point.
RICE: You asked me whether or not it warned of attacks...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked you what the title was.
RICE: You said did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information.
MESERVE: But Rice disclosed the brief mentioned seventy FBI investigations into al Qaeda cells in the U.S. and the possibility of hijacking.
BOB KERREY, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: That the FBI indicates patterns of suspicious activity in the United States consistent with preparations for hijacking. That's what -- that's the language of the memo that was briefed to the president on the 6th of August.
RICE: And that was checked out and steps were taken through FAA circulars to warn of hijackings.
MESERVE: But Rice said she had never been briefed on the use of planes as missiles, though intelligence agencies had warned of the danger as early as 1995.
Rice denied claims by her former counterterrorism aide Richard Clarke that the Bush administration under-reacted to al Qaeda the summer before 9/11 saying the government was on full alert. At least one panel member was skeptical.
JAMIE GORELICK, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Have you actually looked at the analaxed (PH) messages that the FBI put out?
RICE: Yes.
GORELICK: To me -- and you're free to comment on them -- they are feckless. They don't tell anybody anything. They don't bring anyone to battle stations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Rice said there was no silver bullet that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks and she blamed structural problems that prevented the sharing of intelligence.
That will be the subject of 9/11 Commission hearings next week. They'll be hearing from the Attorney General and the directors of the CIA and the FBI. Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve at the White House for us this morning. Jeanne, thanks.
For those who lost loved ones on 9/11, yesterday's testimony from Condoleezza Rice was especially significant.
Stephen Push's wife Lisa Raines was on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.
Stephen worked for two years with victims and with Congress trying to help establish the 9/11 Commission, and he was in the hearing room yesterday listening to the national security adviser's testimony. Stephen Push joins us this morning from Washington -- nice to see you, Stephen, thanks for being with us.
STEPHEN PUSH, 9/11 WIDOWER: Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Overall, give me an assessment of your reaction to what you heard yesterday.
PUSH: Well, I thought that Dr. Rice was correct when she said that there were long-term structural problems that led to the 9/11 attacks. This goes back many administrations. But I didn't think she made her case effectively when she tried to argue that the Bush administration during its first 233 days had done everything it possibly could to prevent attacks.
It seems increasingly clear that the Bush administration put too low a priority on counterterrorism before 9/11.
O'BRIEN: Some of the questioning was interrupted by applause by -- from -- some of the family members who were also in attendance. Give me a sense of what the mood was like among those family members including yourself who were watching this.
PUSH: Well, the -- what I felt is that Dr. Rice was being evasive on some of the -- to some of the questions that were asked. She clearly had her talking points well rehearsed. Very often the commissioners would ask questions, very specific questions, yes or no, did such and such happen or did you know such and such. And she would go into an irrelevant discussion of some of her talking points and never really answer the question.
And I think some of the applause at least was geared towards congratulating the commissioners for asking follow up questions to try to keep her on point.
O'BRIEN: Richard Clarke, the counterterrorism expert as you well know apologized early on in his testimony to some of the family members of 9/11 victims. Were you expecting something more from Condoleezza Rice?
PUSH: I was hoping for but not expecting it. I really think the Bush administration would have served the country and itself much better if a long time ago, back in September of 2001, they had just said something similar to what Richard Clarke said. Listen, we tried, we failed, we understand what the problems were that allowed us to be so vulnerable and we're taking steps to change this so this doesn't happen again.
That would have gone a long way. Instead, by resisting the Commission, resisting the release of documents, resisting testifying in public and now resisting releasing the presidential daily briefing until today, they have just prolonged and intensified this debate rather than put it behind them.
O'BRIEN: As you well know, much of the debate centered around this PDB dated August 6, presidential daily brief. It's now going to be declassified the White House is saying. It's working as fast as it can to get it declassified. Are you happy with that, are you satifisfied with that? PUSH: Yes, I think that's an excellent move to declassify that, it's a critical piece of information in this investigation. Dr. Rice has characterized it in one way, many of the commissioners have characterized it in a very different way and the public should be able to read the document for themselves and come to their own conclusion as to whether that really was a warning of an impending domestic attack or not.
O'BRIEN: Stephen Push who lost his wife in the 9/11 attacks. As always, nice to see you and talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
PUSH: Thank you again Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Anderson.
COOPER: And coming up in just a few moments we're going to hear from one of the 9/11 commissioners. Also, a year ago today the first American tanks rolled into Baghdad and brought down a regime.
We have next a company commander back from Iraq joins us to look at that and the latest wave of violence.
O'BRIEN: Three Japanese nationals in fact remain held hostage in Iraq. Just how serious is the rise of hostage taking there?
COOPER: And shock jock Howard Stern gets the boot from Clear Channel Communications. Can he still remain the King of All Media? Talk about that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well for some headlines from Iraq now, U.S. Marines have suspended offensive military operations in the city of Fallujah just briefly the -- actually the operations are -- there was a short firefight -- the operations have been suspended and they plan on having a meeting later on today.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told us from Baghdad that the Marines remain in their positions and will return fire if fired upon. Coalition forces are once again in control of the town of Kut, which had fallen to militia loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr.
And Japan says its troops will stay in Iraq despite threats that three Japanese civilian hostages will be killed unless those troops are pulled out. Our next guest has spent most of the last year and the rest of Sunni triangle in Ramadi where so much fighting has taken place.
Florida Army National Guard Capt. Joe Lyon was a company commander in Ramadi, Iraq where 12 Marines were killed on Tuesday. He joins us from Tampa. Capt. Lyon thank you very much for being with the program -- for being on the program.
Let me ask you, how surprised were you -- you have spent a lot of time in Ramadi -- how surprised were you by the scope and the level of the violence there in the last several days? CAPT. JOE LYON, FLORIDA ARMY NATL. GUARD: Well as far as the scope of violence, we faced small attacks throughout the year that my company was present in Ramadi but not on it seems the large scale, the size that the Marines have faced recently.
COOPER: Yes, I mean, 12 Marines killed on Tuesday. Apparently hundreds of Iraqis have died although the numbers really are not clear at this point. How big of concern is it the information that this of course a Sunni stronghold, Ramadi is, yet now there's word that posters of this Shiite cleric Sadr have appeared in the city. Did that surprise you?
LYON: It didn't surprise me. The information operations that we faced were quite extensive. However, we -- there were constant possibly what we call graffiti in America on walls trying to persuade the neutral civilians in Ramadi toward their sides and their actions against us.
COOPER: How much confidence did you have? I know you worked very closely with Iraqi security forces trying to bolster the Iraqi police. How confident are you in their abilities to aide U.S. forces?
LYON: Early on and I would say early on in May around May 2003, no confidence at all in their security forces. They would show up to work and it sometimes was very hard and difficult to get them on the streets. However, working through the training program with them, and one thing that the National Guard had was much -- I had police officers from detention facility, individuals where we could train the police force in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) province, particularly Ramadi.
And we hired 2500 new police officers and put them to work on the streets. Joint patrols with them, very confident towards the end. However, it wasn't an easy task.
COOPER: What is it like for you personally when you -- you know we've all seen some of these images from Ramadi, we've all heard the causality figures. What is it like for you personally? You have been on these streets, you know these streets, you probably recognize where some of these pictures have been taken. What's it like watching this stuff?
LYON: Oh, it's not easy right now. I could tell you that. You invest so much with the civilians and the people, particularly the police force. I've made many friends and many Iraqi friends and seeing what is taking place is very difficult for me to sit back and watch. We're action people and to not be on the ground right now is -- I'm not saying it's a bad thing to be at home with my family and I'm sure but it's very difficult to sit back and watch what's happening.
COOPER: Well Capt. Joe Lyon I appreciate you being on the program and I appreciate the work you've been doing over there and here as well. Thank you very much.
LYON: Thank you. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, when will the White House declassify a document that could shed light on pre-9/11 terror warnings? A look at that is just ahead.
And, look at this. The dramatic parasail rescue after two teenagers go on one wild ride.
Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: You know the thing I look forward to most about doing this program?
O'BRIEN: I assume its Jack Cafferty.
COOPER: It's finding out what's in the Cafferty Files.
CAFFERTY: Don't start with me, Cooper.
O'BRIEN: That's a lot of sucking up for you today.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Tiresome, isn't it? All right, Howard Stern -- let me just say I'm no particular fan of his, but nevertheless I think he's got a point.
He says he's the victim of a witch-hunt. Yesterday Clear Channel dumped Stern from its six radio stations that carried his program. This came after the FCC fined Clear Channel $495,000 -- the FCC says they may now go after Howard Stern Syndicated.
Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting and that fine could be over a million dollars. Of course this sudden crackdown on indecency goes back to that infamous Super Bowl halftime show, featuring Janet Jackson's chest. Neither Jackson nor MTV which produced that show, nor CBS which aired it has paid a nickel in fines over that deal and that stunt was sprung on an unsuspecting audience of tens of millions of people who thought they were tuning in to watch the football game.
The Howard Stern Show, whether you like it or not has been around for 20 years. People know full well what they're getting when they turn on Howard Stern. They didn't realize what they were in for when they tuned in to the Super Bowl. The question is this, should Howard Stern be the poster child for cleaning up the nation's airwaves? am@cnn.com
As I say, I'm no particular fan of his, but you know if you turn on Howard Stern you know you're going to get -- you know -- what' you're going to get.
COOPER: No big surprise.
CAFFERTY: Yes. And I mean all of a sudden you know he's being fined and his show's being kicked off the air. What was the fine for these morons that did this thing during the Super Bowl? Nobody paid a dime in fines there.
COOPER: I think you're going to get...
CAFFERTY: It's an outrage.
COOPER: I think you're going to get some e-mails.
CAFFERTY: It's an outrage.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Keep saying that after every one. It's an outrage; e- mail us.
CAFFERTY: Keeps me from having to be out there doing something else.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
Dozens of people joined together to rescue a pair of young parasailers in Florida yesterday. Teenage friends Chelsea Waddell and Theresa Blanford were parasailing off Madera Beach near St. Petersburg when their towrope snapped.
As the wind carried the screaming girls towards land, people on the beach began grabbing at the dangling line. The crowd steered the girls around a line of telephone poles before hauling them down.
Now that is help from a crowd. Chelsea and Theresa only wanted one thing, they say, when they were stuck in the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA BLANFORD, RESCUED PARASAILER: I want down, pretty much. Like I was saying that pretty much the whole ride because it was really windy.
CHELSEA WADDELL, RESCUED PARASAILER: Yes. I fell off and the rope went around her leg, so...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had to be terrified.
WADDELL: Oh, yes. Very scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: No surprise here. The girls say they're done with parasailing.
COOPER: I can understand that.
O'BRIEN: The company that put them on the ride is not commenting and the Coast Guard is now investigating. Boy, I mean can you imagine...
COOPER: Have you done that? O'BRIEN: No, and you know what? I'm not going to.
No, I never would. I don't want to be up in the air. I have enough drama in my life without hanging from a -- you know. I don't need that.
COOPER: All right, no more drama. Still to come, national security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration did not have enough information to prevent the September 11 attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICE: But they don't tell us when, they don't tell us where, they don't tell us who, and they don't tell us how.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: After nearly three hours yesterday, the 9/11 Commission still thinks the White House has more information to make public. We'll talk about that coming up. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 9, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The world watched as the statue of Saddam fell in Baghdad. The symbolic collapse of his regime.
Now on this first anniversary, violence raging across that country and Fallujah. With reporter in the city about conflicting accounts of a U.S. ceasefire.
On the day after Condoleezza Rice testifies, will the White House declassify a document that could shed light on pre-9/11 terror warnings?
And in Florida, a wild scene on the beach as bystanders try to save a pair of teenage girls after their parasail rope snaps in two.
Those stories are all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: And good morning, welcome everybody. Bill Hemmer is off today, but Anderson Cooper is sitting in.
Nice to have you, as always.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It is nice to be here.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
This morning, we're going to be talking with 9/11 Commission member Tim Roemer. He was among those who were questioning National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice yesterday.
We'll ask him the question is he satisfied and, also, we're going to talk with a man who lost his wife in the attacks and see if he's satisfied by what he heard yesterday, as well.
COOPER: Yes, it was interesting testimony, indeed. Also, we've seen very heavy U.S. and Iraqi casualties in the Sunni triangle during the last week.
In a few minutes, we'll talk to a national guardsman just back from the area, and get a firsthand account of the dangers, the realities on the streets.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry for making you sick.
CAFFERTY: Oh, that's quite all right. Somebody had to do it.
On a lighter note, Janet Jackson does this lame imitation of an over-the-hill topless dancer during the Super Bowl halftime show, and now Howard Stern is picking up the tab as the federal government proves to us all once again it hasn't a clue. We'll talk about that in a few minutes.
O'BRIEN: All right, Mr. Cafferty, thank you very much.
Right to our top story. One year to the day since the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in Baghdad, it is a varied situation across Iraq right now. Particularly in the rest of city of Fallujah where U.S. Marines have been locked in a battle with Sunni Muslim insurgents all week.
For the very latest on that situation we're joined from Baghdad by Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt. He is the deputy director of U.S. military operations in Iraq and he joins us by phone.
Nice to have you, sir. Thanks for your time. Lets get right to it.
Talk a little bit about the suspension in the offensive. First we heard that any kind of military operations were being suspended. Then we heard that in fact that ceasefire was off. Now we're hearing again that maybe that suspension is back on. What is the latest right now?
VOICE OF BRIGADIER GENERAL MARK KIMMITT: Yes, Soledad. Today at 1200 the coalition forces initiated a unilateral suspension of offensive operations in Fallujah. And that suspension still holds.
O'BRIEN: There -- there was some word about whether or not the Iraqi security forces were going to step up their role. Are you seeing that right now? And what exactly is going to happen in the meanwhile?
KIMMITT: Well, that's unconnected to the suspension. We are suspending all coalition activities to include those of the Iraqi security forces, but there is a significant Iraqi security presence in Fallujah operating side-by-side with the coalition forces.
O'BRIEN: There was some word that in the wake of an attack on a car that was carrying humanitarian materials that in fact there was some gun fire, and that suspension had been called off at that time. Is that not the case; is that misinformation coming in?
KIMMITT: That's misinformation. I just finished speaking with the First Marine Expeditionary Force. The suspension is still in effect. Now, again, that suspension only suspends offensive operations. If our Marines are being shot at, they're going to return fire. They have an inherent right to self-defense and they're going to execute that inherent right.
O'BRIEN: Can you talk at this time about any casualties both civilian casualties, casualties among the insurgents and also the casualties that the military forces are taking at this time?
KIMMITT: Well, as you know, we run extremely precise operations. We try to narrow our operations from the smallest possible scope. We go out of our way to reduce the number of collateral damage and accidental deaths to an absolute minimum and I think we've done very well not only in the Fallujah operation but in all the operations that we have ongoing here in Iraq.
O'BRIEN: What's the status of this delegation that's supposed to be coming in from the city to meet with U.S. commanders that obviously this is part of the reason why this cease-fire was called in the first place?
KIMMITT: Well in fact the meeting will not be between U.S. commanders and the delegation but this is a meeting between the interim governing council of the Iraqis, the Fallujah leadership and the anti-coalition forces in an attempt to try to reduce the violence as well as try to get some additional supplies in from the Iraqi government and allow the residents of Fallujah to tend to some of their injured and dead.
O'BRIEN: And is this meeting taking place and when do you expect that to happen?
KIMMITT: We expect that to happen today.
O'BRIEN: All right. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt was joining us by phone this morning. Thank you sir for that -- Anderson.
COOPER: Let's take a look at what's going on right now at this hour's top stories.
Former president Bill Clinton has been questioned by the Commission investigating the September 11 attacks. Clinton appeared privately before the panel for more than three hours yesterday not under oath.
In a statement the Commission said they found the former president forthcoming and responsive to questions. Clinton's appearance came the same day as National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice faced questioning. We're going to have much more on her testimony and the president's throughout the show.
In health news, researchers say a new drug could prevent millions of people from having sudden heart failure. A study on mice at the University of Columbia shows the drug completely prevented death in animals with arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats.
Heart disease experts in the U.K. say it is too early to say if this drug will actually work in humans.
NASA is giving the green light to its twin Mars Rovers to continue searching the red planet for water and any evidence of life. The five-month, $15 million extension means Opportunity and Spirit can keep exploring Mars through September.
To date, the mission has cost NASA more than $800 million.
And a tornado touched down near Roswell, New Mexico. A TV camera captured some spectacular pictures -- look at these -- of the tornado as it hit four miles south of Roswell. Luckily, no one got hurt. There was no major damage reported. People who live there may not be out of the woods yet. Severe storm warnings are still in effect.
O'BRIEN: Remarkable shots to be able to see that little funnel cloud.
COOPER: I know, yes, it would be amazing to actually be there and to see it firsthand. From a distance, albeit.
O'BRIEN: I was going to say -- no, it wouldn't, actually. I'm happy to just watch it on television actually, Anderson.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: A CIA report on Osama bin Laden could be made public today. It was given to President Bush a month before 9/11.
And it emerged as the central piece of information yesterday as the 9/11 Commission questioned National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Jeanne Meserve is at the White House for us this morning with more on that -- Jeanne, good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN: Good morning, Soledad.
The White House says it is actively working to declassify the one and a half page secret document, which officials say may have been distorted or taken out of context.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The presidential daily brief of August 6, 2001 figured prominently in Rice's appearance before the 9/11 Commission. Because the administration believed that summer that any terrorist attack would likely be overseas, even the PDB's title provoked a tough exchange.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I believe the title was Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States. Now, the -- the PDB -- no, you -- I would like to finish my point here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know there was a point.
RICE: You asked me whether or not it warned of attacks...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked you what the title was.
RICE: You said did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information.
MESERVE: But Rice disclosed the brief mentioned seventy FBI investigations into al Qaeda cells in the U.S. and the possibility of hijacking.
BOB KERREY, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: That the FBI indicates patterns of suspicious activity in the United States consistent with preparations for hijacking. That's what -- that's the language of the memo that was briefed to the president on the 6th of August.
RICE: And that was checked out and steps were taken through FAA circulars to warn of hijackings.
MESERVE: But Rice said she had never been briefed on the use of planes as missiles, though intelligence agencies had warned of the danger as early as 1995.
Rice denied claims by her former counterterrorism aide Richard Clarke that the Bush administration under-reacted to al Qaeda the summer before 9/11 saying the government was on full alert. At least one panel member was skeptical.
JAMIE GORELICK, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: Have you actually looked at the analaxed (PH) messages that the FBI put out?
RICE: Yes.
GORELICK: To me -- and you're free to comment on them -- they are feckless. They don't tell anybody anything. They don't bring anyone to battle stations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Rice said there was no silver bullet that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks and she blamed structural problems that prevented the sharing of intelligence.
That will be the subject of 9/11 Commission hearings next week. They'll be hearing from the Attorney General and the directors of the CIA and the FBI. Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve at the White House for us this morning. Jeanne, thanks.
For those who lost loved ones on 9/11, yesterday's testimony from Condoleezza Rice was especially significant.
Stephen Push's wife Lisa Raines was on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.
Stephen worked for two years with victims and with Congress trying to help establish the 9/11 Commission, and he was in the hearing room yesterday listening to the national security adviser's testimony. Stephen Push joins us this morning from Washington -- nice to see you, Stephen, thanks for being with us.
STEPHEN PUSH, 9/11 WIDOWER: Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Overall, give me an assessment of your reaction to what you heard yesterday.
PUSH: Well, I thought that Dr. Rice was correct when she said that there were long-term structural problems that led to the 9/11 attacks. This goes back many administrations. But I didn't think she made her case effectively when she tried to argue that the Bush administration during its first 233 days had done everything it possibly could to prevent attacks.
It seems increasingly clear that the Bush administration put too low a priority on counterterrorism before 9/11.
O'BRIEN: Some of the questioning was interrupted by applause by -- from -- some of the family members who were also in attendance. Give me a sense of what the mood was like among those family members including yourself who were watching this.
PUSH: Well, the -- what I felt is that Dr. Rice was being evasive on some of the -- to some of the questions that were asked. She clearly had her talking points well rehearsed. Very often the commissioners would ask questions, very specific questions, yes or no, did such and such happen or did you know such and such. And she would go into an irrelevant discussion of some of her talking points and never really answer the question.
And I think some of the applause at least was geared towards congratulating the commissioners for asking follow up questions to try to keep her on point.
O'BRIEN: Richard Clarke, the counterterrorism expert as you well know apologized early on in his testimony to some of the family members of 9/11 victims. Were you expecting something more from Condoleezza Rice?
PUSH: I was hoping for but not expecting it. I really think the Bush administration would have served the country and itself much better if a long time ago, back in September of 2001, they had just said something similar to what Richard Clarke said. Listen, we tried, we failed, we understand what the problems were that allowed us to be so vulnerable and we're taking steps to change this so this doesn't happen again.
That would have gone a long way. Instead, by resisting the Commission, resisting the release of documents, resisting testifying in public and now resisting releasing the presidential daily briefing until today, they have just prolonged and intensified this debate rather than put it behind them.
O'BRIEN: As you well know, much of the debate centered around this PDB dated August 6, presidential daily brief. It's now going to be declassified the White House is saying. It's working as fast as it can to get it declassified. Are you happy with that, are you satifisfied with that? PUSH: Yes, I think that's an excellent move to declassify that, it's a critical piece of information in this investigation. Dr. Rice has characterized it in one way, many of the commissioners have characterized it in a very different way and the public should be able to read the document for themselves and come to their own conclusion as to whether that really was a warning of an impending domestic attack or not.
O'BRIEN: Stephen Push who lost his wife in the 9/11 attacks. As always, nice to see you and talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
PUSH: Thank you again Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Anderson.
COOPER: And coming up in just a few moments we're going to hear from one of the 9/11 commissioners. Also, a year ago today the first American tanks rolled into Baghdad and brought down a regime.
We have next a company commander back from Iraq joins us to look at that and the latest wave of violence.
O'BRIEN: Three Japanese nationals in fact remain held hostage in Iraq. Just how serious is the rise of hostage taking there?
COOPER: And shock jock Howard Stern gets the boot from Clear Channel Communications. Can he still remain the King of All Media? Talk about that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well for some headlines from Iraq now, U.S. Marines have suspended offensive military operations in the city of Fallujah just briefly the -- actually the operations are -- there was a short firefight -- the operations have been suspended and they plan on having a meeting later on today.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told us from Baghdad that the Marines remain in their positions and will return fire if fired upon. Coalition forces are once again in control of the town of Kut, which had fallen to militia loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr.
And Japan says its troops will stay in Iraq despite threats that three Japanese civilian hostages will be killed unless those troops are pulled out. Our next guest has spent most of the last year and the rest of Sunni triangle in Ramadi where so much fighting has taken place.
Florida Army National Guard Capt. Joe Lyon was a company commander in Ramadi, Iraq where 12 Marines were killed on Tuesday. He joins us from Tampa. Capt. Lyon thank you very much for being with the program -- for being on the program.
Let me ask you, how surprised were you -- you have spent a lot of time in Ramadi -- how surprised were you by the scope and the level of the violence there in the last several days? CAPT. JOE LYON, FLORIDA ARMY NATL. GUARD: Well as far as the scope of violence, we faced small attacks throughout the year that my company was present in Ramadi but not on it seems the large scale, the size that the Marines have faced recently.
COOPER: Yes, I mean, 12 Marines killed on Tuesday. Apparently hundreds of Iraqis have died although the numbers really are not clear at this point. How big of concern is it the information that this of course a Sunni stronghold, Ramadi is, yet now there's word that posters of this Shiite cleric Sadr have appeared in the city. Did that surprise you?
LYON: It didn't surprise me. The information operations that we faced were quite extensive. However, we -- there were constant possibly what we call graffiti in America on walls trying to persuade the neutral civilians in Ramadi toward their sides and their actions against us.
COOPER: How much confidence did you have? I know you worked very closely with Iraqi security forces trying to bolster the Iraqi police. How confident are you in their abilities to aide U.S. forces?
LYON: Early on and I would say early on in May around May 2003, no confidence at all in their security forces. They would show up to work and it sometimes was very hard and difficult to get them on the streets. However, working through the training program with them, and one thing that the National Guard had was much -- I had police officers from detention facility, individuals where we could train the police force in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) province, particularly Ramadi.
And we hired 2500 new police officers and put them to work on the streets. Joint patrols with them, very confident towards the end. However, it wasn't an easy task.
COOPER: What is it like for you personally when you -- you know we've all seen some of these images from Ramadi, we've all heard the causality figures. What is it like for you personally? You have been on these streets, you know these streets, you probably recognize where some of these pictures have been taken. What's it like watching this stuff?
LYON: Oh, it's not easy right now. I could tell you that. You invest so much with the civilians and the people, particularly the police force. I've made many friends and many Iraqi friends and seeing what is taking place is very difficult for me to sit back and watch. We're action people and to not be on the ground right now is -- I'm not saying it's a bad thing to be at home with my family and I'm sure but it's very difficult to sit back and watch what's happening.
COOPER: Well Capt. Joe Lyon I appreciate you being on the program and I appreciate the work you've been doing over there and here as well. Thank you very much.
LYON: Thank you. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, when will the White House declassify a document that could shed light on pre-9/11 terror warnings? A look at that is just ahead.
And, look at this. The dramatic parasail rescue after two teenagers go on one wild ride.
Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: You know the thing I look forward to most about doing this program?
O'BRIEN: I assume its Jack Cafferty.
COOPER: It's finding out what's in the Cafferty Files.
CAFFERTY: Don't start with me, Cooper.
O'BRIEN: That's a lot of sucking up for you today.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Tiresome, isn't it? All right, Howard Stern -- let me just say I'm no particular fan of his, but nevertheless I think he's got a point.
He says he's the victim of a witch-hunt. Yesterday Clear Channel dumped Stern from its six radio stations that carried his program. This came after the FCC fined Clear Channel $495,000 -- the FCC says they may now go after Howard Stern Syndicated.
Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting and that fine could be over a million dollars. Of course this sudden crackdown on indecency goes back to that infamous Super Bowl halftime show, featuring Janet Jackson's chest. Neither Jackson nor MTV which produced that show, nor CBS which aired it has paid a nickel in fines over that deal and that stunt was sprung on an unsuspecting audience of tens of millions of people who thought they were tuning in to watch the football game.
The Howard Stern Show, whether you like it or not has been around for 20 years. People know full well what they're getting when they turn on Howard Stern. They didn't realize what they were in for when they tuned in to the Super Bowl. The question is this, should Howard Stern be the poster child for cleaning up the nation's airwaves? am@cnn.com
As I say, I'm no particular fan of his, but you know if you turn on Howard Stern you know you're going to get -- you know -- what' you're going to get.
COOPER: No big surprise.
CAFFERTY: Yes. And I mean all of a sudden you know he's being fined and his show's being kicked off the air. What was the fine for these morons that did this thing during the Super Bowl? Nobody paid a dime in fines there.
COOPER: I think you're going to get...
CAFFERTY: It's an outrage.
COOPER: I think you're going to get some e-mails.
CAFFERTY: It's an outrage.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Keep saying that after every one. It's an outrage; e- mail us.
CAFFERTY: Keeps me from having to be out there doing something else.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
Dozens of people joined together to rescue a pair of young parasailers in Florida yesterday. Teenage friends Chelsea Waddell and Theresa Blanford were parasailing off Madera Beach near St. Petersburg when their towrope snapped.
As the wind carried the screaming girls towards land, people on the beach began grabbing at the dangling line. The crowd steered the girls around a line of telephone poles before hauling them down.
Now that is help from a crowd. Chelsea and Theresa only wanted one thing, they say, when they were stuck in the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA BLANFORD, RESCUED PARASAILER: I want down, pretty much. Like I was saying that pretty much the whole ride because it was really windy.
CHELSEA WADDELL, RESCUED PARASAILER: Yes. I fell off and the rope went around her leg, so...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had to be terrified.
WADDELL: Oh, yes. Very scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: No surprise here. The girls say they're done with parasailing.
COOPER: I can understand that.
O'BRIEN: The company that put them on the ride is not commenting and the Coast Guard is now investigating. Boy, I mean can you imagine...
COOPER: Have you done that? O'BRIEN: No, and you know what? I'm not going to.
No, I never would. I don't want to be up in the air. I have enough drama in my life without hanging from a -- you know. I don't need that.
COOPER: All right, no more drama. Still to come, national security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration did not have enough information to prevent the September 11 attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICE: But they don't tell us when, they don't tell us where, they don't tell us who, and they don't tell us how.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: After nearly three hours yesterday, the 9/11 Commission still thinks the White House has more information to make public. We'll talk about that coming up. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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