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American Morning

Saudi Blast; Trouble for Cease-Fire in Fallujah; Interview With Madeleine Albright

Aired April 21, 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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Incredible damage in the Midwest from tornadoes. Scores of homes destroyed overnight. More risk for severe weather today.
The Saudi capital of Riyadh hit again by a terrorist bomb. Massive destruction, and it could have been much worse.

Iraq in crisis again this morning. Sixty-eight Iraqis killed by car bombers striking in Basra. While in Fallujah, U.S. Marines have their hands full, as new fighting with insurgents break the cease- fire.

Those stories are all ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. Good morning. Welcome back. Busy day here on AMERICAN MORNING, and a busy day in Iraq, too.

The former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, in a few moments, talks about the situation there. Strong words and criticism directed at the White House. We'll look at the politics involved and the military realities on the ground. A lot to cover regarding Iraq in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, is the end finally in sight for the Jayson Williams trial? The defense resting for a second time in just 21 days. We'll have a report on that for you as well this morning.

HEMMER: Also, Jack Cafferty.

Good morning again, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel suggesting the burden of the war in Iraq is not being borne fairly, and he says it's time for this country to revisit the idea of a military draft. AM@CNN.com if you have thoughts on that.

HEMMER: Big interest, too, huh? Computer smoking today.

CAFFERTY: On fire.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Jack. (WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: A suicide bomber set off a powerful explosion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today. Details on the extent of the damage still coming in to us. Khaled Al Maeena is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Arab News, and he joins us by phone this morning from Jetta.

Thanks for being with us. I certainly appreciate it.

We heard word early that there was a tip that came in. Six bombs were set, five actually exploded. Tell me, do we know at this point who phoned in this tip? Who's responsible?

KHALED AL MAEENA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ARAB NEWS: Nobody has claimed responsibility. But the explosions, the powerful explosion, many cars were blown. Many people injured. And ambulances are still rushing in and out of the area.

There's shattered glass, smoke billowing out, helicopters overhead. It's a very sad scene.

O'BRIEN: We heard reports that there were some 20 ambulances on the scene at one point. Do you have any hard numbers on how many people may have been killed, how many other casualties there might have been?

MAEENA: Well, these things are very difficult to sort of come up with immediately. But anything between 10 and 25. There have been 25 people injured, some seriously. Ambulances are still coming in and going out, as I said.

I spoke to quite a few people down there. Very powerful blast. Some people who live about half a mile away had their windows shattered. There was a man who told me his young son was in the balcony minutes before the explosion, went inside, and then found that the whole balcony windows shattered. So it must have been a really powerful blast.

O'BRIEN: We heard some reports that the building continued to shake for some 15 minutes after the original blast. I believe the main building that we've been seeing is the general security building, several stories high. A large building with everything blown out of it. And then we see shots of what looked like residences, also very badly damaged. Can you describe the neighborhood where this took place?

MAEENA: Well, it's a neighborhood that has buildings. It is not very far from the Ministry of Information or the other side, that is the Foreign Affairs Ministry. It's a mixture, commercial and residential. Working class people live there. And it's apartments, and the tenants mainly are working people, as I said.

It was afternoon time. People going home for the midday break. Some people going back to office. A pretty ominous sight. O'BRIEN: No question about that. As we mentioned, six bombs originally set. And there was a tip about those bombs. Five of them were defused. What were the other five targets?

MAEENA: Well, the ministry has not sort of fixed those targets yet or said anything about them. But, presumably, they may have been public buildings. If you remember, the past two weeks there have been a series of incidents where the Saudi security authorities have, in fact, got some of these terrorists and killed some of them. So I think this is the series and the spate of attacks that have been going on.

O'BRIEN: Khaled Al Maeena is the editor-in-chief of Arab News, a newspaper. And he joins us by phone this morning.

Thank you for your insight. We sure appreciate it.

Bill?

HEMMER: Other top stories this morning just into us here at CNN, the president, the vice president, Dick Cheney, now will appear before that 9/11 Commission on the 29th of April. That's according to officials out of Washington. That's next Wednesday, for the president, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney before the 9/11 Commission.

Also, other news about plans to try Saddam Hussein are getting under way. Iraqi leaders setting up a tribunal for the former leader and his officials. A spokesperson says a U.S.-educated lawyer has been named as general director, and the first batch of judges and prosecutors so far have been selected. The court will eventually determine the charges against Saddam Hussein. A trial date has not been set.

Israeli nuclear informant Mordecai Vanunu was released from an Israeli prison today. He was convicted of treason and espionage for leaking details of Israel's nuclear program to a London newspaper in 1986. He says he's proud of what he did and calls his imprisonment cruel and barbaric.

A warm welcome as the International Space Station crew got some vis tors. The Russian spacecraft called the Soyuz Capsule successfully docked in space carrying a Russian, an American and a Dutchman. The Russian and American remain at the outpost. The Dutch astronaut will do a few experiments, then return to Earth with the current space station crew a bit later this month.

Sports note for you today. Lebron James, what a year. Cleveland Cavaliers now the youngest winner, the Rookie of the Year Award. He's 19.

He received the honor yesterday at the NBA store here in New York City. It marks the second straight year that a player jumping from high school to the NBA has won that award. What a year, huh? That will top it off for Lebron James.

O'BRIEN: That's pretty amazing, 19.

HEMMER: I'm telling you. Remember what Isaiah Thomas said last week? Imagine that guy in high school still with that ability?

O'BRIEN: Winning a lot of games.

Let's turn and talk about our top story this morning, Iraq. Trouble for the cease-fire in Fallujah. U.S. Marines battled as many as 40 insurgents there today. Some of those Iraqis were killed. We are told that there are a few injuries among the Marines.

Jim Clancy is standing by in Baghdad for with us this morning with the very latest from there.

Jim, good morning.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you from Baghdad, Soledad.

And, yes, we'll get to Fallujah in just a moment. I want to start, though -- certainly everyone had thought that Iraq's second largest city, Basra, in the far South of the country, was a bit of an oasis from the violence that has gripped the country through the month of April. Any dreams, any notions of that shattered this morning as five separate suicide car bombs targeted three police stations and a police training academy.

They caught a lot of people that were going to work, or taking children to school. In fact, many schoolchildren are among the 68 people killed in some of these blasts.

In addition, there's more than 100 people wounded. These are blasts that the acting head of the Iraqi Governing Council says have just horrified the people of Iraq. In his words, "We were shocked by the whole thing. We strongly condemn this act of terrorism against the population and the civilians of the people of Basra."

Now, he also adds that his own personal condolences in all of that. But he has a different view about the operation ongoing in Fallujah, where he thinks Iraqi authorities should be the ones that are deciding what military action may come next.

U.S. military commanders have warned if the situation there doesn't calm, if insurgents don't hand in their arms, there could be a renewed military fight. There was fighting today that wounded three Marines, killed an estimated 17 of the insurgents. This battle has raged for about three hours there in Fallujah -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jim Clancy wrapping up for us exactly what's been happening in Baghdad and outside of Baghdad, as well, this morninging for us. Evening where he is.

Thanks, Jim. Appreciate it.

Bill? HEMMER: A bit earlier here on AMERICAN MORNING we were joined by the former secretary of state, Madeleine albright. She had been a strong proponent of more U.N. involvement in Iraq. I asked her what might be the incentive now for the U.N. to get back involved when it was quite literally blown out of that country last summer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: What we have done is undercut the credibility of the United Nations by the way that it was treated before. And now we need it. And I think the incentive can only be that the U.N. believes in the fact that this kind of fighting cannot go on.

And the U.N. is basically the sum of its parts, all the member states who do not want to see this kind of chaos going on. But we have to be supportive of the U.N. and not decide that it's a useless organization, and then ask it to do more than it needed to do in the first place.

HEMMER: I want to talk about Bob Woodward's book that is getting a lot of attention this past week. Secretary of State Colin Powell in the book is described as a guy who's out of the loop with regard to the war in Iraq. Yesterday, yet again, he refuted that. Listen to how he parsed his words yesterday in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: No decision was made to go to war until a decision was made to go to war in March, regardless of what speculation there is about when the president made the decision. He made the decision in March, and we all received that decision together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Where's the truth in this?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think we have to see. I have the highest respect for Secretary Powell, and I think that he is trying to explain that he, in fact, knew a great deal about whatever plans there were. And I think we just have to see. It's very hard to say.

Being secretary of state, I can testify, is a very difficult job, and he has a hard job to do. And at the moment, as you've described, it's a little bit of a food fight Washington.

HEMMER: If I can go back to Iraq for a moment here, Spain is set to pull its troops out at some point within the next six weeks. Honduras has said it will as well. The Dominican Republic, with about 350 soldiers, says it will follow suit as well.

Militarily, this may not be that significant for what's happening with relation to the coalition in Iraq. Politically, what is the statement that is sent there regarding the coalition? ALBRIGHT: I think the statements that are being sent is that the U.S. is beginning to really see the effects of our lack of credibility. That people have not understood how this war is being prosecuted, why it had to happen now, and that there were not adequate plans made for what next. And it's basically, I think, a sense that there's doubt about American leadership.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state, earlier today here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, searching for survivors after a tornado tears across Illinois.

HEMMER: Also, jurors in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial may start deliberating his fate by Friday. We'll see on that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And facing questions about his time in Vietnam, Democratic presidential Senator John Kerry opens up his military records.

Those stories all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Jayson Williams' manslaughter trial now in its final phase. And again, defense attorneys reopening their case after a dispute with prosecutors over evidence. Now they've rested for a second time. And the judge perhaps gave the prosecution a bit of a damaging blow yesterday.

Deborah Feyerick with more on that trial now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former NBA star Jayson Williams scored big Tuesday. The judge presiding over his manslaughter trial tossing out tests by the prosecutor's chief gun expert.

JUDGE EDWARD COLEMAN, N.J. SUPERIOR COURT: There's nothing to indicate that this is an accepted test within the scientific community.

FEYERICK: Without those test results, prosecutors could have a hard time proving their theory there was nothing wrong with the gun. Williams says it misfired the night limo driver Gus Christophi was killed. But state police detective Sergeant James Ryan says he tried several times and could not get the gun to fire accidentally.

BILLY MARTIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This court should not be the forum in which a police officer is entitled to come in, create a test that cannot be in any way duplicated.

FEYERICK: At the prosecutor's request, the judge said he would consider tossing out tests by a gun expert working for the defense if prosecutors present compelling information. The expert, Richard Ernest (ph), was called back to the stand by Williams' lawyers. He criticized prosecutors, saying an engineer for the gun maker should never have been allowed to take the gun apart unsupervised by the defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To allow a representative of a gun company with a vested interest in the case like that...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection, your honor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... it's like a fox in a chicken house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Non-responsive.

FEYERICK: In one of many tense exchanges, the chief prosecutor tried to downplay what Williams' team calls a secret disassembly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he alone with the shot shotgun, yes or no?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not responding.

FEYERICK (on camera): For a second time, the defense rested its case. The state not calling any rebuttal witnesses as it had originally planned. After three months of testimony and evidence, the jury will hear closing arguments Thursday.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And if it sticks to schedule, closing arguments Thursday, as Deb points out. Perhaps the jury gets to that case Friday, by week's end.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, insurgents cast a shadow over the coming transfer of power in Iraq.

And first President Bush had to defend his military record. Well, now it's Senator John Kerry's turn. A look at that is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Question of the Day, and back with Jack.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, sir.

With violence escalating in Iraq, Senator Chuck Hagel suggested yesterday the U.S. may be forced to reinstate the draft. A Republican lawmaker says we should, "ask everybody to carry some burden." He says it's always the middle class and lower class who are on the front lines and not "the sons and daughters of the wealthy and powerful."

The question is, do you agree with the Senator that the U.S. should bring back the draft?

"The last thing we need," writes R.J. in Gardenia, California "are hordes of reluctant malcontent draftees with only eight weeks of combat training. The U.S. has an all-volunteer military populated by professionals. Let's strive to keep it that way and not let the senator's sense of social equity pollute our military."

Robert in Lakeland, Florida, says, "Yes, we should bring back the draft so we can see how deep support for liberating Iraq really is. Also, a draft might help slim down all those fat teenagers."

And Roger in Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. Army retired, writes this: "I have long said the U.S. needed to implement a two-year draft. Draftees could serve in the military, health care or other national service. I think this would not only serve the country's needs, but help to instill a pride in one's country and reinforce the fact that freedom isn't free and its price should be born by all."

Finally, Donovan in Pasadena weighs in with, "Start up the draft again and you may find the number of people who identify themselves as being homosexuals flip from 10 percent to 90 percent. That's cool. It would be fun for us gays to be in the majority for a change."

Some of you are not taking this very seriously.

O'BRIEN: Really. The first couple of e-mail groupings were really serious. Now it's basically circling the drain.

CAFFERTY: Well, some of it.

HEMMER: I tell you, every time I go over seas in Iraq with the U.S. military, the men and women over there, I am consistently impressed by how professional they are, how mature they are, how smart.

O'BRIEN: How young.

HEMMER: How well trained they are. Not just -- young, yes, very true for the most part. But you'd also be surprised by how many people you find over there in their mid 30s, 35, 36, 37 years of age who have made the military their career. And they are doing their best.

CAFFERTY: I've got a little letter I'm going read you at about five minutes to 10:00 that will get your attention along those very lines.

O'BRIEN: Good.

HEMMER: Terrific. Excellent. Thanks, Jack.

O'BRIEN: OK. Look forward to that, I think. Still to come...

CAFFERTY: Well, you don't have to.

O'BRIEN: I'm just not sure where you're going with it.

Continued violence and a hotbed of Iraqi insurgency has a cease- fire there looking more and more shaky. A look at that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: And lots of major stories that we are watching this morning outside of the world of business. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And in Iraq, another explosive day; 68 Iraqis now killed in Basra today in a string of car bombings there. In Fallujah, there is fighting. In just a few moments, we're going to talk to the commander of the Army's 1st Armored Division, Major General Martin Dempsey, to find out just what coalition forces should be doing right now.

HEMMER: Also, in this country, presidential politics. The controversy over military records from Vietnam. This time it's Senator John Kerry feeling the heat on the topic. Kelly Wallace is here in New York telling us how serious this controversy over the Purple Heart is getting.

Kelly's across the room. We're going to get to her in a moment here, so stay tuned.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Kelly. Good morning to you.

Also this morning, we've been telling you about this explosion that took place in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The explosion was set off by a suicide bomber in an area near the Saudi Information Ministry.

Saudi authorities apparently had information on six bombs. They were able to defuse five of them. The sixth did go off, though.

So far, there are reports of at least one person killed. But that number could go way up. Officials say at least 40 people have been take to the hospital. And, of course, when you look at the pictures of the devastation, no surprise there if in fact those numbers do increase.

In Iraq, nearly 70 Iraqis killed in a series of blasts in the southern city of Basra. Among the victims, about 20 schoolchildren who were said to be making their way to school.

Meanwhile, the fighting continues in Fallujah. At least three Marines were wounded there during an insurgent attack. We'll have much more on the situation in Iraq coming up in just a moment when we talk with Major General Martin Dempsey in a few minutes. A third country now announcing plans to withdraw troops from Iraq. The Dominican Republic says more than 300 soldiers will come home as soon as possible. Spain and Honduras announced plans to pull out their troops just days ago.

Here in the U.S., at least three people have been killed after wild twisters blew through the Midwest. It really reeked havoc. The search now on for more who could be trapped. Tornadoes tore through central Illinois yesterday, knocking down buildings, ripping the roof off an elementary school.

The three people who died were inside a tavern which collapsed in the town of Utica, about 90 miles outside of Chicago. The governor of Illinois plans to travel to the area today.

HEMMER: Quite indicative of our news content today. I mean, normally, this is a story that goes right to the beginning of every hour. But with the news out of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, it's sliding just a little bit. Nonetheless, still serious weather to talk about.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: We now know when the vice president and the president will meet with that commission investigating the attacks of 9/11. To the White House and Suzanne Malveaux, who is working this story for us now.

Good morning there.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, officials confirmed to me this morning that the president, as well as the vice president, will meet before that full commission. This is next Thursday, April 29. It will be here at the White House in the morning.

We are told that they are going to answer questions informally. It is not going to be under oath. As you know, Bill, of course this comes at a time after a lot of pressure from lawmakers, as well as top Republicans, and after accusations from the former counterterrorism chief, Richard Clarke, before the 9/11 Commission, saying this administration did not do enough to combat these terrorist threats prior to September 11.

Well, this administration will be answering those charges. The two will jointly be answering those questions next Thursday here at the White House -- Bill.

HEMMER: Just to be specific, no specific timeframe given, correct?

MALVEAUX: Well, that's right. We are told by officials that they will answer all of the questions that the commissioners put forward. You may recall that initially they were just going to go before the chair and the vice chair. But they have since relented, saying they will go before the full body, the full commission, and they will answer all of their questions. So there are no time limits on this interview.

HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks. Suzanne Malveaux from the front lawn there at the White House.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Car bombs killed nearly 70 Iraqis in Basra today. U.S. Marines in Fallujah battled Iraqi insurgents in three separate incidents overnight. And U.S. forces are still positioned outside the holy city of Najaf.

Major General Martin Dempsey joins us this morning from Baghdad.

General, thank you for being with us. We've got a lot to cover, so we'll get right to it.

And I know some of these areas are not your specific area of expertise, but, generally, I want to ask you questions. Let's start with Fallujah and the violence there.

We've seen incredible pictures of this firefight with Marines, taking fire from some insurgents. There is this tentative cease-fire in place. Is the cease-fire still on? And can it -- if it is, can it possibly hold after things like this?

MAJ. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, COMMANDER, 1ST ARMORED DIVISION: Well, what we have to decide or determine is whether that was an isolated pocket that chose to go against the wishes of whoever on that side is trying to negotiate. If, on the other hand, it turns out to have been a general discrediting of the cease-fire, then of course it won't stand. But at this point, the Marines are fighting back when attacked, and they are trying honor the cease-fire.

O'BRIEN: Negotiations are ongoing. There have been some who complain that when you negotiate with essentially insurgent elements, you raise their profile, and it's not good for the soldiers there who are fighting. Do you disagree with that?

DEMPSEY: I do disagree with that. I mean, I don't think that it's ever a good idea to stop trying to negotiate.

The problem that we've had in dealing with the Sunni side of the equation is that they haven't really coalesced into any body that can negotiate. And so we've got that challenge. In every case, I think we should never discount the value of negotiations in trying to reach a solution.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about Basra, the devastation there. Again, you've seen the pictures in the wake of the suicide bombings. Twenty school children, by some counts, killed in those attacks. How do you go about fighting these kind of guerrilla tactics?

DEMPSEY: Well, I mean, the first step is to determine who's fighting you. And I think it's become clear to all of us, certainly to me -- I have been here now over a year and in the region for three -- that there are several different kinds of enemies confronting us.

One of those enemies is international terrorists, or international terrorism. And what we've seen over the course of time is these kinds of spectacular attacks, with the kind of devices placed in these vehicles and martyrs, typically, when you run it back, it begins to look more like an international influence.

So the answer to your question on fighting those kinds of attacks is we just have to continue to maintain as much momentum as possible in fight international terrorism. It's pretty clear that international terrorism is a fight that the entire civilized world needs to be involved in.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's turn and talk about Najaf. There are reports that there were attacks on a Spanish base there, overnight, at least. Any idea at this point who attacked them? Because, of course, we have the insurgent cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who has said that he would not attack any of the forces that have promised to withdraw, Spanish troops, among others, who have now said that they're leaving. So who attacked them?

DEMPSEY: Well, we don't know yet. And, in fact, that is part of my new responsibility here, is that part of the country. And we're -- it's going to take us some time to develop the intelligence that we became very good at in Baghdad. And once we do, we'll be able to address that threat.

But I wouldn't say that the threat in that part of the country is limited to the militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr. I think there's probably some of these former regime elements down there. And it wouldn't surprise me if I found out that they were trying take advantage of the unsettled situation to do some damage as well.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. Spain, Honduras, the Dominican Republic now announcing all withdrawing from the coalition. What's the impact of that? I mean, is it overstating it to say that the coalition is beginning to crumble?

DEMPSEY: I don't know the answer to that politically. I think militarily we'll have to shift some resources around. And we have adequate resources to shift around to account for that.

And again, there's a political dimension to this that is out of my lane. But I have spent a lot of time now in the past few weeks, as I have changed my mission, with the multinational division center South (ph). And it remains very strong, these three countries' decision, notwithstanding.

O'BRIEN: Major General Martin Dempsey joining us this morning from outside our Baghdad bureau.

Thanks for being with us, sir. We certainly appreciate it. I know you've got a lot to do.

DEMPSEY: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: You've got your hands full today, certainly with all the news that we're getting from the area. So we'll let you get back to work. Appreciate it.

DEMPSEY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: About 20 minutes before the hour now, Soledad.

Some news in the race for the White House. John Kerry seeking to end the controversy about his own service in Vietnam. Kerry's posting his military records on his campaign Web site amid questions from critics and Republicans. Kelly Wallace watching the Kerry story and the Kerry campaign live in New York for more here.

Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, here they are, more than 100 pages of documents posted early this morning on the Web site. The question now is, will these documents put an end to the main controversy? And that is Republican critics charges that John Kerry might not have deserved the first of his three Purple Hearts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): The move comes as John Kerry's former commanding officer says during Vietnam he questioned whether the senator earned the first of his three Purple Hearts. Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard (ph) told the Boston Globe last week, "People in the office were saying, 'I don't think we've got any fire. And there is this guy holding a little piece of shrapnel in his palm.'"

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Kerry was asked if, to answer that charge, he would follow President Bush's lead and release all his military records?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're available to you to come and look at. I think that's a very unfair characterization by that person. I mean, politics is politics. The medical records show that I had shrapnel removed from my arm.

WALLACE: A handful of documents on the Web site Tuesday evening include previously released information, such as the three certificates noting Kerry was awarded Purple Hearts for wounds received in action. John Dalton is a former Navy secretary and now a Kerry supporter.

JOHN DALTON, FMR. NAVY SECRETARY: When you're in a military combat zone and you get hit by enemy fire, you deserve a Purple Heart, period. I mea, that's the way it is. WALLACE: The Bush-Cheney campaign waded into the controversy, accusing the senator of waffling about releasing his records.

KEN MEHLMAN, BUSH CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I think what we're pointing out is that on this issue, like on many issues, what John Kerry says and what John Kerry does are two very different things.

WALLACE: A Kerry campaign spokesman fired back, saying if the Republicans want to compare Kerry's military service with President Bush's noncombat service during Vietnam, "We welcome that."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And the spokesman saying this is a record the senator is running on, not, Bill, running from.

HEMMER: If you watched him on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert Sunday morning, he said, "Come down to my headquarters. You can see everything you want." Well, here we are Wednesday, and you've got a stack of papers in your hand.

WALLACE: Here's the problem: because then the Boston Globe reporter, one of the lead reporters who's been working on the story, went to the campaign on Monday and says that the campaign did not turn over these new documents. So on Tuesday, the campaign was facing pressure from Republicans who said, hey, he said he would turn over these documents. He's not doing it. Now the documents are here.

HEMMER: Indicative of the heated campaign we'll all have in the next six-and-a-half months. Thanks, Kelly.

WALLACE: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Good to see you here.

WALLACE: Sure.

HEMMER: Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Andy's got the very latest on the market and how Alan Greenspan's talk on Capitol Hill might affect stocks.

HEMMER: Also, some sweet stories from the South. They're hilarious and charming. The "Queen of the Turtle Derby" -- the author is our guest here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: For years, Julia Reed has entertained and educated readers with her take on all things southern. She's written for Vogue and Newsweek, the New York Times Magazine. Her new book further proved that deep in her heart she is still a Dixie chick. Its called "Queen of the Turtle Derby." And Julia Reed is here with us today on AMERICAN MORNING.

Nice to see you.

JULIA REED, "QUEEN OF THE TURTLE DERBY": Nice to see you.

HEMMER: You say living in the South is like living in the Old Testament? What do you mean?

REED: New Orleans is where I have been for the last several years off and on. It is kind of like -- we have a lot of plagues and pestilence. I mean, we have flying termites and the most mosquitoes and, you know, highest humidity level, and lots of hurricanes and tornadoes that blow trailer parks across country lines and things. I mean, it's not funny, as we saw earlier this morning, but it happens to us a lot.

HEMMER: And the fire ants, too, are down there. Don't leave them out.

REED: Oh, you know.

HEMMER: You spend most of your time in your adult life in New York City and also in Washington, D.C. You went back to the South in the early '90s. Something made an impression on you.

REED: Well, it was a period of time when it was sort of chic to say that the South was losing its identity as a separate place. And I went down there to cover an election between David Duke, the notorious racist, and Edwin Edwards, who's a sort of notorious rascal. And I was in Louisiana driving all over the place with these guys, and I'm looking around like, I think we're still -- we've still got our regional identity intact, for sure. So I decided to come up with some ample evidence and give it to my readers.

HEMMER: The title is "Queen of the Turtle Derby." This came out of Arkansas, 1930s? What gives?

REED: That was the first turtle derby in Arkansas in LaPanta, Arkansas, which is a little farming town where they apparently don't have a lot do. So once a year there's a turtle race. And, of course, we have to have a queen of the turtle race. So she's the queen of the turtle derby.

HEMMER: You know, you make a claim, you say southerners can adapt to the North much easier than northerners can adapt to the South. Back that up.

REED: Well, you know, it would be a shock -- I mean, it was a shock for me to come home. I mean, you forget how like sort of hot it is and it's a little slow-moving still. I mean, those plagues and the pestilence is a little hard to take.

I mean, when I first went back to New Orleans, my house was infested with flying termites one night. And I woke up and an entire beam in my attic was gone. And to get to sleep without freaking out, I had to drink about three bottles of wine. And I realize why we drink so much down there.

HEMMER: Listen, I lived in Atlanta for seven years before coming to Manhattan.

REED: Yes, I know.

HEMMER: Southern hospitality, does it exist or is it a myth?

REED: Oh, no, it definitely exists. But I have to say that we also have the highest crime rate in the country. But I think it's sort of touching that we kill most people -- more people that we know than any other region. I think it's sort of the flip side of our hospitality and our reputation for being neighborly, because we know somebody well enough to know when they need killing.

HEMMER: You're tough. Julia Reed, thanks. "Queen of the Turtle Derby." Appreciate you sharing with us today.

REED: Thank you so much, Bill.

HEMMER: What's next, by the way? Going back to the South to write again?

REED: No, I think I'm going to have to like start following the campaign for Vogue and Newsweek. So it will be sort of a welcomed change.

HEMMER: Good deal. We'll see you out there, OK? "Trigger Happiness," chapter two, we didn't get to that. All kinds of stuff in there. Good luck to you.

REED: Thanks so much.

HEMMER: In a moment here, why is a big retailer coming out in opposition to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward and that new book out on Monday this past week? Andy has the answer after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Ah, the markets open. Bob Woodward's book is shaking things up at the White House. But why is Pottery Barn then getting so upset? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Before we get to that story, a very funny story, I think, let's talk about the market.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: It is. Yes, let's do that.

Stocks selling off a little bit at the outset here. Maybe some overseas jitters having to do with that. Down 36 points.

Big news is Alan Greenspan's going to be testifying again at the top of the hour. Uh-oh. He caused that big sell-off yesterday.

Some stocks moving we talked about before. Motorola saying its cell phone business going like gangbusters. The stock's up to about $20. That was about $7 last year. Why don't I ever own these things? Ford also moving.

Let's talk about Pottery Barn. Soledad was talking about this.

Bob Woodward's book causing all kinds of controversy in Washington, but this one will surprise you. You may remember in the book there was a report about Colin Powell suggesting to the president that we go into Iraq and, you break it, you own it. He called that the Pottery Barn rule.

You break it, you own it. Guess what? Pottery Barn doesn't have a rule. There's no rule like that at Pottery Barn. And the Pottery Barn people are outraged. "We don't have a rule like that."

They say if you break something at Pottery Barn, you don't own it. You can break stuff. And we'll just absorb the loss.

So I'm going to go over there today, drop a goblet and see what happens. No, I'm not. People across the country are going to be doing -- I hope they don't. Don't mean to suggest doing that. There's 174 stores across the country.

Speaking of retail, this is a funny little end note here. Giorgio Armani was in China, did a little shopping, and picked up a watch on a sidewalk in Shanghai. It was a fake, and he knew it. He bought a fake Giorgio Armani watch for $22.

O'BRIEN: Does he really make watches?

SERWER: They do. They do have licensed watches. And someone confronted him and he goes, "Hey, imitation is a serious form of flattery. I did it. I know it. It's fine. It's cool."

I just think that's a little strange.

O'BRIEN: I'm not sure he'd appreciate it if everyone else ran out and bought a fake Armani watch.

SERWER: Or dropped goblets all over the place. I'm not going to suggest that.

O'BRIEN: Back to Pottery Barn.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Is the watch still working? That's the question.

O'BRIEN: Well, of course not. It works for three days.

SERWER: A couple days.

O'BRIEN: That's what happens when you buy the knockoffs.

HEMMER: All right.

We're going to get a break here in a moment. We're going to get that e-mail from Jack that he talked about earlier. Also, next hour on CNN, the stories in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All the stories across Iraq, from Fallujah to Basra. Daryn Kagan has more on that.

Also, back to the tornadoes in Illinois. We are back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAFFERTY: A piece of tape earlier on this program that got my attention. A young U.S. Marine, his uniform soaked in blood, standing next to his comrades firing his weapon in pursuit of his duty. And I referred to him on the air as a kid because anybody younger than dirt is a kid to me.

But I got a note from a guy named Andy in Texas. "I understand the sentiment behind the term 'kids.' Having said this, in my opinion, that young Marine with the blood-soaked shirt and assault rifle on his shoulder is a lot of things. He's a hero, he's an American icon, he's a patriot. Those all come to mind."

"He's a kid only to his mom and dad. Men like him are the very definition of America, defenders of freedom."

And I just wanted to share that letter, because I think Andy gets it.

O'BRIEN: It would be interesting if they ever track down who that young man is, and talk to him about that fight. Because you see, as you mentioned, he gets down, he gets up, he gets down. You know.

SERWER: They probably will.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure they will.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Watch that videotape over and over. It is heated in Fallujah today.

We've got to run. A very busy Wednesday here. Here's Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center, picking up where we leave off now.

Daryn, good morning.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. I want to get to a lot of news right here in the U.S., especially what's happening in the Midwest.

Good morning to all of you from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at the top stories at this hour.

The date is set for President Bush and Vice President Cheney to meet with the 9/11 Commission. Bush and Cheney will answer the commission's questions on the morning of April 29th. The two will appear together, and officials say they'll stay as long as needed. Neither Bush nor Cheney will be under oath, and each will answer questions informally.


Aired April 21, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Incredible damage in the Midwest from tornadoes. Scores of homes destroyed overnight. More risk for severe weather today.
The Saudi capital of Riyadh hit again by a terrorist bomb. Massive destruction, and it could have been much worse.

Iraq in crisis again this morning. Sixty-eight Iraqis killed by car bombers striking in Basra. While in Fallujah, U.S. Marines have their hands full, as new fighting with insurgents break the cease- fire.

Those stories are all ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. Good morning. Welcome back. Busy day here on AMERICAN MORNING, and a busy day in Iraq, too.

The former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, in a few moments, talks about the situation there. Strong words and criticism directed at the White House. We'll look at the politics involved and the military realities on the ground. A lot to cover regarding Iraq in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, is the end finally in sight for the Jayson Williams trial? The defense resting for a second time in just 21 days. We'll have a report on that for you as well this morning.

HEMMER: Also, Jack Cafferty.

Good morning again, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel suggesting the burden of the war in Iraq is not being borne fairly, and he says it's time for this country to revisit the idea of a military draft. AM@CNN.com if you have thoughts on that.

HEMMER: Big interest, too, huh? Computer smoking today.

CAFFERTY: On fire.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Jack. (WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: A suicide bomber set off a powerful explosion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today. Details on the extent of the damage still coming in to us. Khaled Al Maeena is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Arab News, and he joins us by phone this morning from Jetta.

Thanks for being with us. I certainly appreciate it.

We heard word early that there was a tip that came in. Six bombs were set, five actually exploded. Tell me, do we know at this point who phoned in this tip? Who's responsible?

KHALED AL MAEENA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ARAB NEWS: Nobody has claimed responsibility. But the explosions, the powerful explosion, many cars were blown. Many people injured. And ambulances are still rushing in and out of the area.

There's shattered glass, smoke billowing out, helicopters overhead. It's a very sad scene.

O'BRIEN: We heard reports that there were some 20 ambulances on the scene at one point. Do you have any hard numbers on how many people may have been killed, how many other casualties there might have been?

MAEENA: Well, these things are very difficult to sort of come up with immediately. But anything between 10 and 25. There have been 25 people injured, some seriously. Ambulances are still coming in and going out, as I said.

I spoke to quite a few people down there. Very powerful blast. Some people who live about half a mile away had their windows shattered. There was a man who told me his young son was in the balcony minutes before the explosion, went inside, and then found that the whole balcony windows shattered. So it must have been a really powerful blast.

O'BRIEN: We heard some reports that the building continued to shake for some 15 minutes after the original blast. I believe the main building that we've been seeing is the general security building, several stories high. A large building with everything blown out of it. And then we see shots of what looked like residences, also very badly damaged. Can you describe the neighborhood where this took place?

MAEENA: Well, it's a neighborhood that has buildings. It is not very far from the Ministry of Information or the other side, that is the Foreign Affairs Ministry. It's a mixture, commercial and residential. Working class people live there. And it's apartments, and the tenants mainly are working people, as I said.

It was afternoon time. People going home for the midday break. Some people going back to office. A pretty ominous sight. O'BRIEN: No question about that. As we mentioned, six bombs originally set. And there was a tip about those bombs. Five of them were defused. What were the other five targets?

MAEENA: Well, the ministry has not sort of fixed those targets yet or said anything about them. But, presumably, they may have been public buildings. If you remember, the past two weeks there have been a series of incidents where the Saudi security authorities have, in fact, got some of these terrorists and killed some of them. So I think this is the series and the spate of attacks that have been going on.

O'BRIEN: Khaled Al Maeena is the editor-in-chief of Arab News, a newspaper. And he joins us by phone this morning.

Thank you for your insight. We sure appreciate it.

Bill?

HEMMER: Other top stories this morning just into us here at CNN, the president, the vice president, Dick Cheney, now will appear before that 9/11 Commission on the 29th of April. That's according to officials out of Washington. That's next Wednesday, for the president, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney before the 9/11 Commission.

Also, other news about plans to try Saddam Hussein are getting under way. Iraqi leaders setting up a tribunal for the former leader and his officials. A spokesperson says a U.S.-educated lawyer has been named as general director, and the first batch of judges and prosecutors so far have been selected. The court will eventually determine the charges against Saddam Hussein. A trial date has not been set.

Israeli nuclear informant Mordecai Vanunu was released from an Israeli prison today. He was convicted of treason and espionage for leaking details of Israel's nuclear program to a London newspaper in 1986. He says he's proud of what he did and calls his imprisonment cruel and barbaric.

A warm welcome as the International Space Station crew got some vis tors. The Russian spacecraft called the Soyuz Capsule successfully docked in space carrying a Russian, an American and a Dutchman. The Russian and American remain at the outpost. The Dutch astronaut will do a few experiments, then return to Earth with the current space station crew a bit later this month.

Sports note for you today. Lebron James, what a year. Cleveland Cavaliers now the youngest winner, the Rookie of the Year Award. He's 19.

He received the honor yesterday at the NBA store here in New York City. It marks the second straight year that a player jumping from high school to the NBA has won that award. What a year, huh? That will top it off for Lebron James.

O'BRIEN: That's pretty amazing, 19.

HEMMER: I'm telling you. Remember what Isaiah Thomas said last week? Imagine that guy in high school still with that ability?

O'BRIEN: Winning a lot of games.

Let's turn and talk about our top story this morning, Iraq. Trouble for the cease-fire in Fallujah. U.S. Marines battled as many as 40 insurgents there today. Some of those Iraqis were killed. We are told that there are a few injuries among the Marines.

Jim Clancy is standing by in Baghdad for with us this morning with the very latest from there.

Jim, good morning.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you from Baghdad, Soledad.

And, yes, we'll get to Fallujah in just a moment. I want to start, though -- certainly everyone had thought that Iraq's second largest city, Basra, in the far South of the country, was a bit of an oasis from the violence that has gripped the country through the month of April. Any dreams, any notions of that shattered this morning as five separate suicide car bombs targeted three police stations and a police training academy.

They caught a lot of people that were going to work, or taking children to school. In fact, many schoolchildren are among the 68 people killed in some of these blasts.

In addition, there's more than 100 people wounded. These are blasts that the acting head of the Iraqi Governing Council says have just horrified the people of Iraq. In his words, "We were shocked by the whole thing. We strongly condemn this act of terrorism against the population and the civilians of the people of Basra."

Now, he also adds that his own personal condolences in all of that. But he has a different view about the operation ongoing in Fallujah, where he thinks Iraqi authorities should be the ones that are deciding what military action may come next.

U.S. military commanders have warned if the situation there doesn't calm, if insurgents don't hand in their arms, there could be a renewed military fight. There was fighting today that wounded three Marines, killed an estimated 17 of the insurgents. This battle has raged for about three hours there in Fallujah -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jim Clancy wrapping up for us exactly what's been happening in Baghdad and outside of Baghdad, as well, this morninging for us. Evening where he is.

Thanks, Jim. Appreciate it.

Bill? HEMMER: A bit earlier here on AMERICAN MORNING we were joined by the former secretary of state, Madeleine albright. She had been a strong proponent of more U.N. involvement in Iraq. I asked her what might be the incentive now for the U.N. to get back involved when it was quite literally blown out of that country last summer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: What we have done is undercut the credibility of the United Nations by the way that it was treated before. And now we need it. And I think the incentive can only be that the U.N. believes in the fact that this kind of fighting cannot go on.

And the U.N. is basically the sum of its parts, all the member states who do not want to see this kind of chaos going on. But we have to be supportive of the U.N. and not decide that it's a useless organization, and then ask it to do more than it needed to do in the first place.

HEMMER: I want to talk about Bob Woodward's book that is getting a lot of attention this past week. Secretary of State Colin Powell in the book is described as a guy who's out of the loop with regard to the war in Iraq. Yesterday, yet again, he refuted that. Listen to how he parsed his words yesterday in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: No decision was made to go to war until a decision was made to go to war in March, regardless of what speculation there is about when the president made the decision. He made the decision in March, and we all received that decision together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Where's the truth in this?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think we have to see. I have the highest respect for Secretary Powell, and I think that he is trying to explain that he, in fact, knew a great deal about whatever plans there were. And I think we just have to see. It's very hard to say.

Being secretary of state, I can testify, is a very difficult job, and he has a hard job to do. And at the moment, as you've described, it's a little bit of a food fight Washington.

HEMMER: If I can go back to Iraq for a moment here, Spain is set to pull its troops out at some point within the next six weeks. Honduras has said it will as well. The Dominican Republic, with about 350 soldiers, says it will follow suit as well.

Militarily, this may not be that significant for what's happening with relation to the coalition in Iraq. Politically, what is the statement that is sent there regarding the coalition? ALBRIGHT: I think the statements that are being sent is that the U.S. is beginning to really see the effects of our lack of credibility. That people have not understood how this war is being prosecuted, why it had to happen now, and that there were not adequate plans made for what next. And it's basically, I think, a sense that there's doubt about American leadership.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state, earlier today here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, searching for survivors after a tornado tears across Illinois.

HEMMER: Also, jurors in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial may start deliberating his fate by Friday. We'll see on that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And facing questions about his time in Vietnam, Democratic presidential Senator John Kerry opens up his military records.

Those stories all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Jayson Williams' manslaughter trial now in its final phase. And again, defense attorneys reopening their case after a dispute with prosecutors over evidence. Now they've rested for a second time. And the judge perhaps gave the prosecution a bit of a damaging blow yesterday.

Deborah Feyerick with more on that trial now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former NBA star Jayson Williams scored big Tuesday. The judge presiding over his manslaughter trial tossing out tests by the prosecutor's chief gun expert.

JUDGE EDWARD COLEMAN, N.J. SUPERIOR COURT: There's nothing to indicate that this is an accepted test within the scientific community.

FEYERICK: Without those test results, prosecutors could have a hard time proving their theory there was nothing wrong with the gun. Williams says it misfired the night limo driver Gus Christophi was killed. But state police detective Sergeant James Ryan says he tried several times and could not get the gun to fire accidentally.

BILLY MARTIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This court should not be the forum in which a police officer is entitled to come in, create a test that cannot be in any way duplicated.

FEYERICK: At the prosecutor's request, the judge said he would consider tossing out tests by a gun expert working for the defense if prosecutors present compelling information. The expert, Richard Ernest (ph), was called back to the stand by Williams' lawyers. He criticized prosecutors, saying an engineer for the gun maker should never have been allowed to take the gun apart unsupervised by the defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To allow a representative of a gun company with a vested interest in the case like that...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection, your honor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... it's like a fox in a chicken house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Non-responsive.

FEYERICK: In one of many tense exchanges, the chief prosecutor tried to downplay what Williams' team calls a secret disassembly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he alone with the shot shotgun, yes or no?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not responding.

FEYERICK (on camera): For a second time, the defense rested its case. The state not calling any rebuttal witnesses as it had originally planned. After three months of testimony and evidence, the jury will hear closing arguments Thursday.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And if it sticks to schedule, closing arguments Thursday, as Deb points out. Perhaps the jury gets to that case Friday, by week's end.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, insurgents cast a shadow over the coming transfer of power in Iraq.

And first President Bush had to defend his military record. Well, now it's Senator John Kerry's turn. A look at that is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Question of the Day, and back with Jack.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, sir.

With violence escalating in Iraq, Senator Chuck Hagel suggested yesterday the U.S. may be forced to reinstate the draft. A Republican lawmaker says we should, "ask everybody to carry some burden." He says it's always the middle class and lower class who are on the front lines and not "the sons and daughters of the wealthy and powerful."

The question is, do you agree with the Senator that the U.S. should bring back the draft?

"The last thing we need," writes R.J. in Gardenia, California "are hordes of reluctant malcontent draftees with only eight weeks of combat training. The U.S. has an all-volunteer military populated by professionals. Let's strive to keep it that way and not let the senator's sense of social equity pollute our military."

Robert in Lakeland, Florida, says, "Yes, we should bring back the draft so we can see how deep support for liberating Iraq really is. Also, a draft might help slim down all those fat teenagers."

And Roger in Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. Army retired, writes this: "I have long said the U.S. needed to implement a two-year draft. Draftees could serve in the military, health care or other national service. I think this would not only serve the country's needs, but help to instill a pride in one's country and reinforce the fact that freedom isn't free and its price should be born by all."

Finally, Donovan in Pasadena weighs in with, "Start up the draft again and you may find the number of people who identify themselves as being homosexuals flip from 10 percent to 90 percent. That's cool. It would be fun for us gays to be in the majority for a change."

Some of you are not taking this very seriously.

O'BRIEN: Really. The first couple of e-mail groupings were really serious. Now it's basically circling the drain.

CAFFERTY: Well, some of it.

HEMMER: I tell you, every time I go over seas in Iraq with the U.S. military, the men and women over there, I am consistently impressed by how professional they are, how mature they are, how smart.

O'BRIEN: How young.

HEMMER: How well trained they are. Not just -- young, yes, very true for the most part. But you'd also be surprised by how many people you find over there in their mid 30s, 35, 36, 37 years of age who have made the military their career. And they are doing their best.

CAFFERTY: I've got a little letter I'm going read you at about five minutes to 10:00 that will get your attention along those very lines.

O'BRIEN: Good.

HEMMER: Terrific. Excellent. Thanks, Jack.

O'BRIEN: OK. Look forward to that, I think. Still to come...

CAFFERTY: Well, you don't have to.

O'BRIEN: I'm just not sure where you're going with it.

Continued violence and a hotbed of Iraqi insurgency has a cease- fire there looking more and more shaky. A look at that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: And lots of major stories that we are watching this morning outside of the world of business. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And in Iraq, another explosive day; 68 Iraqis now killed in Basra today in a string of car bombings there. In Fallujah, there is fighting. In just a few moments, we're going to talk to the commander of the Army's 1st Armored Division, Major General Martin Dempsey, to find out just what coalition forces should be doing right now.

HEMMER: Also, in this country, presidential politics. The controversy over military records from Vietnam. This time it's Senator John Kerry feeling the heat on the topic. Kelly Wallace is here in New York telling us how serious this controversy over the Purple Heart is getting.

Kelly's across the room. We're going to get to her in a moment here, so stay tuned.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Kelly. Good morning to you.

Also this morning, we've been telling you about this explosion that took place in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The explosion was set off by a suicide bomber in an area near the Saudi Information Ministry.

Saudi authorities apparently had information on six bombs. They were able to defuse five of them. The sixth did go off, though.

So far, there are reports of at least one person killed. But that number could go way up. Officials say at least 40 people have been take to the hospital. And, of course, when you look at the pictures of the devastation, no surprise there if in fact those numbers do increase.

In Iraq, nearly 70 Iraqis killed in a series of blasts in the southern city of Basra. Among the victims, about 20 schoolchildren who were said to be making their way to school.

Meanwhile, the fighting continues in Fallujah. At least three Marines were wounded there during an insurgent attack. We'll have much more on the situation in Iraq coming up in just a moment when we talk with Major General Martin Dempsey in a few minutes. A third country now announcing plans to withdraw troops from Iraq. The Dominican Republic says more than 300 soldiers will come home as soon as possible. Spain and Honduras announced plans to pull out their troops just days ago.

Here in the U.S., at least three people have been killed after wild twisters blew through the Midwest. It really reeked havoc. The search now on for more who could be trapped. Tornadoes tore through central Illinois yesterday, knocking down buildings, ripping the roof off an elementary school.

The three people who died were inside a tavern which collapsed in the town of Utica, about 90 miles outside of Chicago. The governor of Illinois plans to travel to the area today.

HEMMER: Quite indicative of our news content today. I mean, normally, this is a story that goes right to the beginning of every hour. But with the news out of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, it's sliding just a little bit. Nonetheless, still serious weather to talk about.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: We now know when the vice president and the president will meet with that commission investigating the attacks of 9/11. To the White House and Suzanne Malveaux, who is working this story for us now.

Good morning there.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, officials confirmed to me this morning that the president, as well as the vice president, will meet before that full commission. This is next Thursday, April 29. It will be here at the White House in the morning.

We are told that they are going to answer questions informally. It is not going to be under oath. As you know, Bill, of course this comes at a time after a lot of pressure from lawmakers, as well as top Republicans, and after accusations from the former counterterrorism chief, Richard Clarke, before the 9/11 Commission, saying this administration did not do enough to combat these terrorist threats prior to September 11.

Well, this administration will be answering those charges. The two will jointly be answering those questions next Thursday here at the White House -- Bill.

HEMMER: Just to be specific, no specific timeframe given, correct?

MALVEAUX: Well, that's right. We are told by officials that they will answer all of the questions that the commissioners put forward. You may recall that initially they were just going to go before the chair and the vice chair. But they have since relented, saying they will go before the full body, the full commission, and they will answer all of their questions. So there are no time limits on this interview.

HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks. Suzanne Malveaux from the front lawn there at the White House.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Car bombs killed nearly 70 Iraqis in Basra today. U.S. Marines in Fallujah battled Iraqi insurgents in three separate incidents overnight. And U.S. forces are still positioned outside the holy city of Najaf.

Major General Martin Dempsey joins us this morning from Baghdad.

General, thank you for being with us. We've got a lot to cover, so we'll get right to it.

And I know some of these areas are not your specific area of expertise, but, generally, I want to ask you questions. Let's start with Fallujah and the violence there.

We've seen incredible pictures of this firefight with Marines, taking fire from some insurgents. There is this tentative cease-fire in place. Is the cease-fire still on? And can it -- if it is, can it possibly hold after things like this?

MAJ. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, COMMANDER, 1ST ARMORED DIVISION: Well, what we have to decide or determine is whether that was an isolated pocket that chose to go against the wishes of whoever on that side is trying to negotiate. If, on the other hand, it turns out to have been a general discrediting of the cease-fire, then of course it won't stand. But at this point, the Marines are fighting back when attacked, and they are trying honor the cease-fire.

O'BRIEN: Negotiations are ongoing. There have been some who complain that when you negotiate with essentially insurgent elements, you raise their profile, and it's not good for the soldiers there who are fighting. Do you disagree with that?

DEMPSEY: I do disagree with that. I mean, I don't think that it's ever a good idea to stop trying to negotiate.

The problem that we've had in dealing with the Sunni side of the equation is that they haven't really coalesced into any body that can negotiate. And so we've got that challenge. In every case, I think we should never discount the value of negotiations in trying to reach a solution.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about Basra, the devastation there. Again, you've seen the pictures in the wake of the suicide bombings. Twenty school children, by some counts, killed in those attacks. How do you go about fighting these kind of guerrilla tactics?

DEMPSEY: Well, I mean, the first step is to determine who's fighting you. And I think it's become clear to all of us, certainly to me -- I have been here now over a year and in the region for three -- that there are several different kinds of enemies confronting us.

One of those enemies is international terrorists, or international terrorism. And what we've seen over the course of time is these kinds of spectacular attacks, with the kind of devices placed in these vehicles and martyrs, typically, when you run it back, it begins to look more like an international influence.

So the answer to your question on fighting those kinds of attacks is we just have to continue to maintain as much momentum as possible in fight international terrorism. It's pretty clear that international terrorism is a fight that the entire civilized world needs to be involved in.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's turn and talk about Najaf. There are reports that there were attacks on a Spanish base there, overnight, at least. Any idea at this point who attacked them? Because, of course, we have the insurgent cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who has said that he would not attack any of the forces that have promised to withdraw, Spanish troops, among others, who have now said that they're leaving. So who attacked them?

DEMPSEY: Well, we don't know yet. And, in fact, that is part of my new responsibility here, is that part of the country. And we're -- it's going to take us some time to develop the intelligence that we became very good at in Baghdad. And once we do, we'll be able to address that threat.

But I wouldn't say that the threat in that part of the country is limited to the militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr. I think there's probably some of these former regime elements down there. And it wouldn't surprise me if I found out that they were trying take advantage of the unsettled situation to do some damage as well.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. Spain, Honduras, the Dominican Republic now announcing all withdrawing from the coalition. What's the impact of that? I mean, is it overstating it to say that the coalition is beginning to crumble?

DEMPSEY: I don't know the answer to that politically. I think militarily we'll have to shift some resources around. And we have adequate resources to shift around to account for that.

And again, there's a political dimension to this that is out of my lane. But I have spent a lot of time now in the past few weeks, as I have changed my mission, with the multinational division center South (ph). And it remains very strong, these three countries' decision, notwithstanding.

O'BRIEN: Major General Martin Dempsey joining us this morning from outside our Baghdad bureau.

Thanks for being with us, sir. We certainly appreciate it. I know you've got a lot to do.

DEMPSEY: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: You've got your hands full today, certainly with all the news that we're getting from the area. So we'll let you get back to work. Appreciate it.

DEMPSEY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: About 20 minutes before the hour now, Soledad.

Some news in the race for the White House. John Kerry seeking to end the controversy about his own service in Vietnam. Kerry's posting his military records on his campaign Web site amid questions from critics and Republicans. Kelly Wallace watching the Kerry story and the Kerry campaign live in New York for more here.

Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, here they are, more than 100 pages of documents posted early this morning on the Web site. The question now is, will these documents put an end to the main controversy? And that is Republican critics charges that John Kerry might not have deserved the first of his three Purple Hearts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): The move comes as John Kerry's former commanding officer says during Vietnam he questioned whether the senator earned the first of his three Purple Hearts. Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard (ph) told the Boston Globe last week, "People in the office were saying, 'I don't think we've got any fire. And there is this guy holding a little piece of shrapnel in his palm.'"

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Kerry was asked if, to answer that charge, he would follow President Bush's lead and release all his military records?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're available to you to come and look at. I think that's a very unfair characterization by that person. I mean, politics is politics. The medical records show that I had shrapnel removed from my arm.

WALLACE: A handful of documents on the Web site Tuesday evening include previously released information, such as the three certificates noting Kerry was awarded Purple Hearts for wounds received in action. John Dalton is a former Navy secretary and now a Kerry supporter.

JOHN DALTON, FMR. NAVY SECRETARY: When you're in a military combat zone and you get hit by enemy fire, you deserve a Purple Heart, period. I mea, that's the way it is. WALLACE: The Bush-Cheney campaign waded into the controversy, accusing the senator of waffling about releasing his records.

KEN MEHLMAN, BUSH CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I think what we're pointing out is that on this issue, like on many issues, what John Kerry says and what John Kerry does are two very different things.

WALLACE: A Kerry campaign spokesman fired back, saying if the Republicans want to compare Kerry's military service with President Bush's noncombat service during Vietnam, "We welcome that."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And the spokesman saying this is a record the senator is running on, not, Bill, running from.

HEMMER: If you watched him on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert Sunday morning, he said, "Come down to my headquarters. You can see everything you want." Well, here we are Wednesday, and you've got a stack of papers in your hand.

WALLACE: Here's the problem: because then the Boston Globe reporter, one of the lead reporters who's been working on the story, went to the campaign on Monday and says that the campaign did not turn over these new documents. So on Tuesday, the campaign was facing pressure from Republicans who said, hey, he said he would turn over these documents. He's not doing it. Now the documents are here.

HEMMER: Indicative of the heated campaign we'll all have in the next six-and-a-half months. Thanks, Kelly.

WALLACE: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Good to see you here.

WALLACE: Sure.

HEMMER: Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Andy's got the very latest on the market and how Alan Greenspan's talk on Capitol Hill might affect stocks.

HEMMER: Also, some sweet stories from the South. They're hilarious and charming. The "Queen of the Turtle Derby" -- the author is our guest here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: For years, Julia Reed has entertained and educated readers with her take on all things southern. She's written for Vogue and Newsweek, the New York Times Magazine. Her new book further proved that deep in her heart she is still a Dixie chick. Its called "Queen of the Turtle Derby." And Julia Reed is here with us today on AMERICAN MORNING.

Nice to see you.

JULIA REED, "QUEEN OF THE TURTLE DERBY": Nice to see you.

HEMMER: You say living in the South is like living in the Old Testament? What do you mean?

REED: New Orleans is where I have been for the last several years off and on. It is kind of like -- we have a lot of plagues and pestilence. I mean, we have flying termites and the most mosquitoes and, you know, highest humidity level, and lots of hurricanes and tornadoes that blow trailer parks across country lines and things. I mean, it's not funny, as we saw earlier this morning, but it happens to us a lot.

HEMMER: And the fire ants, too, are down there. Don't leave them out.

REED: Oh, you know.

HEMMER: You spend most of your time in your adult life in New York City and also in Washington, D.C. You went back to the South in the early '90s. Something made an impression on you.

REED: Well, it was a period of time when it was sort of chic to say that the South was losing its identity as a separate place. And I went down there to cover an election between David Duke, the notorious racist, and Edwin Edwards, who's a sort of notorious rascal. And I was in Louisiana driving all over the place with these guys, and I'm looking around like, I think we're still -- we've still got our regional identity intact, for sure. So I decided to come up with some ample evidence and give it to my readers.

HEMMER: The title is "Queen of the Turtle Derby." This came out of Arkansas, 1930s? What gives?

REED: That was the first turtle derby in Arkansas in LaPanta, Arkansas, which is a little farming town where they apparently don't have a lot do. So once a year there's a turtle race. And, of course, we have to have a queen of the turtle race. So she's the queen of the turtle derby.

HEMMER: You know, you make a claim, you say southerners can adapt to the North much easier than northerners can adapt to the South. Back that up.

REED: Well, you know, it would be a shock -- I mean, it was a shock for me to come home. I mean, you forget how like sort of hot it is and it's a little slow-moving still. I mean, those plagues and the pestilence is a little hard to take.

I mean, when I first went back to New Orleans, my house was infested with flying termites one night. And I woke up and an entire beam in my attic was gone. And to get to sleep without freaking out, I had to drink about three bottles of wine. And I realize why we drink so much down there.

HEMMER: Listen, I lived in Atlanta for seven years before coming to Manhattan.

REED: Yes, I know.

HEMMER: Southern hospitality, does it exist or is it a myth?

REED: Oh, no, it definitely exists. But I have to say that we also have the highest crime rate in the country. But I think it's sort of touching that we kill most people -- more people that we know than any other region. I think it's sort of the flip side of our hospitality and our reputation for being neighborly, because we know somebody well enough to know when they need killing.

HEMMER: You're tough. Julia Reed, thanks. "Queen of the Turtle Derby." Appreciate you sharing with us today.

REED: Thank you so much, Bill.

HEMMER: What's next, by the way? Going back to the South to write again?

REED: No, I think I'm going to have to like start following the campaign for Vogue and Newsweek. So it will be sort of a welcomed change.

HEMMER: Good deal. We'll see you out there, OK? "Trigger Happiness," chapter two, we didn't get to that. All kinds of stuff in there. Good luck to you.

REED: Thanks so much.

HEMMER: In a moment here, why is a big retailer coming out in opposition to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward and that new book out on Monday this past week? Andy has the answer after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Ah, the markets open. Bob Woodward's book is shaking things up at the White House. But why is Pottery Barn then getting so upset? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Before we get to that story, a very funny story, I think, let's talk about the market.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: It is. Yes, let's do that.

Stocks selling off a little bit at the outset here. Maybe some overseas jitters having to do with that. Down 36 points.

Big news is Alan Greenspan's going to be testifying again at the top of the hour. Uh-oh. He caused that big sell-off yesterday.

Some stocks moving we talked about before. Motorola saying its cell phone business going like gangbusters. The stock's up to about $20. That was about $7 last year. Why don't I ever own these things? Ford also moving.

Let's talk about Pottery Barn. Soledad was talking about this.

Bob Woodward's book causing all kinds of controversy in Washington, but this one will surprise you. You may remember in the book there was a report about Colin Powell suggesting to the president that we go into Iraq and, you break it, you own it. He called that the Pottery Barn rule.

You break it, you own it. Guess what? Pottery Barn doesn't have a rule. There's no rule like that at Pottery Barn. And the Pottery Barn people are outraged. "We don't have a rule like that."

They say if you break something at Pottery Barn, you don't own it. You can break stuff. And we'll just absorb the loss.

So I'm going to go over there today, drop a goblet and see what happens. No, I'm not. People across the country are going to be doing -- I hope they don't. Don't mean to suggest doing that. There's 174 stores across the country.

Speaking of retail, this is a funny little end note here. Giorgio Armani was in China, did a little shopping, and picked up a watch on a sidewalk in Shanghai. It was a fake, and he knew it. He bought a fake Giorgio Armani watch for $22.

O'BRIEN: Does he really make watches?

SERWER: They do. They do have licensed watches. And someone confronted him and he goes, "Hey, imitation is a serious form of flattery. I did it. I know it. It's fine. It's cool."

I just think that's a little strange.

O'BRIEN: I'm not sure he'd appreciate it if everyone else ran out and bought a fake Armani watch.

SERWER: Or dropped goblets all over the place. I'm not going to suggest that.

O'BRIEN: Back to Pottery Barn.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Is the watch still working? That's the question.

O'BRIEN: Well, of course not. It works for three days.

SERWER: A couple days.

O'BRIEN: That's what happens when you buy the knockoffs.

HEMMER: All right.

We're going to get a break here in a moment. We're going to get that e-mail from Jack that he talked about earlier. Also, next hour on CNN, the stories in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All the stories across Iraq, from Fallujah to Basra. Daryn Kagan has more on that.

Also, back to the tornadoes in Illinois. We are back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAFFERTY: A piece of tape earlier on this program that got my attention. A young U.S. Marine, his uniform soaked in blood, standing next to his comrades firing his weapon in pursuit of his duty. And I referred to him on the air as a kid because anybody younger than dirt is a kid to me.

But I got a note from a guy named Andy in Texas. "I understand the sentiment behind the term 'kids.' Having said this, in my opinion, that young Marine with the blood-soaked shirt and assault rifle on his shoulder is a lot of things. He's a hero, he's an American icon, he's a patriot. Those all come to mind."

"He's a kid only to his mom and dad. Men like him are the very definition of America, defenders of freedom."

And I just wanted to share that letter, because I think Andy gets it.

O'BRIEN: It would be interesting if they ever track down who that young man is, and talk to him about that fight. Because you see, as you mentioned, he gets down, he gets up, he gets down. You know.

SERWER: They probably will.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure they will.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Watch that videotape over and over. It is heated in Fallujah today.

We've got to run. A very busy Wednesday here. Here's Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center, picking up where we leave off now.

Daryn, good morning.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. I want to get to a lot of news right here in the U.S., especially what's happening in the Midwest.

Good morning to all of you from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at the top stories at this hour.

The date is set for President Bush and Vice President Cheney to meet with the 9/11 Commission. Bush and Cheney will answer the commission's questions on the morning of April 29th. The two will appear together, and officials say they'll stay as long as needed. Neither Bush nor Cheney will be under oath, and each will answer questions informally.