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American Morning
Military Planning for Urban Warfare Soon Put to the Test in Fallujah, Najaf
Aired April 27, 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 holiest city; how will Shi'ites react to fighting near Najaf?
Is the Vietnam War a political quagmire for Senator John Kerry? Trying to get his message out while dogged by questions about medals and records.
And after 43 witnesses and numerous delays will the Jayson Williams trial finally go to the jury on this 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: All right, good morning on a Tuesday morning. A closer look today at the serious problems U.S. troops face when forced to fight in cities.
In Fallujah, in Najaf, military planning for urban warfare will soon be put to the test, possibly in both areas. In a few moments Barbara Starr at the Pentagon looks at what U.S. troops must do to survive not only these battles but also protect the civilian innocents living there as well. We'll get to that.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning a terrorist attack said to have been thwarted in Jordan. Tons of chemicals involved. Were they actually chemical weapons, and was this the work of al Qaeda as one suspect is now saying?
We'll take a look at that.
HEMMER: Also check in with Jack in a few moments too. A good topic for you, e-mail wise, coming out of D.C.
O'BRIEN: All right, but let's begin with our top stories this morning.
Two Wisconsin sisters deciding whether to return to their National Guard units in Iraq.
Rachel and Charity Witmer have the option to be reassigned from the war zone. Their sister Michelle was killed in a convoy ambush in Baghdad earlier this month. The sisters' parents appealed to the military to transfer the women. An announcement is expected later today. Singer Michael Jackson says that he personally decided to terminate the services of defense attorneys Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman.
In a statement released yesterday, Jackson thanked both lawyers for their work, but said his new lawyers must devote their, quote, "full attention" to the case. Thomas Mesereau, who also represented actor Robert Blake, will now defend Jackson.
The pop star is expected to return to court for a second arraignment on Friday.
In Colorado, more testimony today in the mostly closed door hearings in the Kobe Bryant case. The proceedings began yesterday to determine whether the sexual history of the woman who is accusing Bryant of sexual assault should be presented to a jury.
Colorado's rape shield law normally bars this type of evidence. The hearings are scheduled to end tomorrow.
And in California, a heat wave breaking records across the state. While residents are looking for cooler ways to spend their days, firefighters are keeping an eye out for brushfires. Triple digit temperatures are reported in coastal cities. There could be some relief in sight, though.
HEMMER: It has been a warm season already going back to a month ago.
O'BRIEN: Ninety-one in San Francisco.
HEMMER: That's crazy.
O'BRIEN: Very, very rare.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Back to Iraq our top story again today.
U.S. troops fighting a bloody overnight battle with insurgents near the town of Najaf.
For more out of Baghdad, Ben Wedeman is watching that. Ben, good afternoon there.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN: Yes, hello, Bill.
Well, it was mid-evening yesterday when apparently a battle broke out between U.S. forces and members of the Mahdi army -- that is loyalists to Muqtada al-Sadr that rebellious Shi'ite cleric.
According to coalition spokesmen 43 members of the Mahdi army were killed in that clash which involved, among other things, U.S. helicopters as well as an AC-130 gunship, which coalition spokesmen say took out what they described as an antiaircraft system. Now there were about 2,500 U.S. troops deployed around Najaf, which has been in a state of rebellion now for almost three weeks. We heard yesterday chief U.S. administrator for Iraq Paul Bremer describing the situation down there as dangerous. Other U.S. spokesmen saying that they have information that arms are being stored in mosques, shrines and schools.
Now the coalition of course wants to get their hands on Muqtada al-Sadr, a man who is accused of involvement in the murder last year of a Shi'ite -- a prominent Shi'ite cleric -- in April of 2003, but what we do see is that the coalition is clearly hesitant to send troops inside Najaf, a Shi'ite holy city dear to all Shi'ites not only in Iraq but outside of the country, as well.
What they're hoping is that somehow this rebellion will be contained by other Shi'ite leaders who are weary of Muqtada al-Sadr political ambitions -- Bill.
HEMMER: Now, Ben, that's in Najaf west of Baghdad. In Fallujah, word today that the extended deadline has been extended again; talks will continue? What have you learned about that in Fallujah?
WEDEMAN: Yes, that's correct. Also there the coalition wants to allow diplomacy, essentially to get a full run and therefore according to a senior military spokesman here in Baghdad they're going to extend it.
They don't really have a hard and fast deadline, but it was expected today, Bill, that some of the insurgents would hand in their weapons, that there would be joint Iraqi police and U.S. Marine patrols in the city.
It looks like neither of those is going to happen, so they're going to let the top try to work this situation out but the same senior military spokesman -- or rather, officer -- told us that part of the problem that they have in Fallujah is they're not quite sure the people they're talking to which aren't the insurgents but local tribal and community leaders -- they're not quite sure they have the power and influence to bring the insurgents under control.
HEMMER: Ben Wedeman from Baghdad, thanks for that, Ben.
So the extension has been -- gone through today and also in addition to that patrols not taking place.
Earlier I talked on the phone with "Christian Science Monitor" -- the reporter there, Scott Peterson, their international correspondent.
He's embedded with the Marines at Camp Fallujah, which is about six miles east of town. Asked him what he has seen at that base camp over the past few days. Here's Scott Peterson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT PETERSON, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": What I've seen over the last several days has been a real shift in U.S. strategy and tactics in terms of Fallujah.
It was just a few days ago that we heard very strong rhetoric coming from U.S. commanders here, basically giving an ultimatum to insurgents in Fallujah to give up their weapons within days, saying that they only had days, not weeks, before the U.S. might launch an all-out offensive to regain control of Fallujah.
Just in the last day or two on the -- however -- what we've seen in a complete turnaround in real moderating of the rhetoric and we have top commanders now talking about giving diplomacy a chance and also recognizing that there could be a massive political and military fall out, especially for the future of Fallujah if the military were just to roll in and take control.
HEMMER: The last part of your answer, is that the reason for the delay again today?
PETERSON: I think that it's one of the reasons for the delay. What we have is when the diplomats made the decision over the weekend to -- to bring out joint patrols, I think that there wasn't enough thought given to how quickly or how ready either the Iraqi or the American side could be to launch these joint patrols.
What we're hearing on the ground at the moment is that it will be at least Thursday or Friday before these joint patrols are staged and of course that's only one step of what would need to be many different steps in order to bring this situation to a calm state.
HEMMER: So what you're saying, Scott, the reason for the delay on the patrols today has to do with both sides not being ready to conduct these in Fallujah?
PETERSON: I think its logistics is the primary thing, but I think also it does not give everybody's mind is this very serious fire fight that took place yesterday in Fallujah, of course, there was supposed to be e in place, but what we've seen and what I heard speaking to some of the U.S. Marines who took part in that firefight, they said that it was between 50 and possibly as many as 150 insurgents attacked them yesterday morning.
It was a real -- it was a real battle, there were eight Marines wounded and one killed. It was -- but it was a real surprise for the Marines how organized they came, how organized the resistance proves to be, and I think it kind of, one of the arguments that has -- that the Marines have used against the cease fire because they feel that in many respects it's giving the insurgents a chance to rebuild and I think we've seen the case study of that yesterday.
HEMMER: Scott, I've asked the case where you've heard from Marines is that the resistance had been fierce in organization, has been good. What are they saying about the potential for how difficult an all-out assault might be if that happens in Fallujah?
PETERSON: Well, what we hear from -- from everyone from grunts on the ground right up to the top brass is a supreme confidence that if they wanted to take control militarily of Fallujah that they could pull that off in 24 hours. They talk about "bone crushing" force, you hear this word -- I mean there really is a confidence that way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Scott Peterson, "Christian Science Monitor", international correspondent, embedded there with the U.S. Marines east of Fallujah a bit earlier today talking from Iraq -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Here in this country, this morning the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case involving Vice-President Dick Cheney. It tests the constitutional balance between the right to private confidentiality and public scrutiny for government leaders.
CNN's national correspondent Bob Franken live for us at the Supreme Court with a preview of this case -- hey, Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Soledad, and of course politically this is highly controversial, as is Vice- President Dick Cheney these days.
Legally, this is an issue that really goes back to the Supreme Court's nearly earliest beginnings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: The fight over Vice-President Cheney's right to confidentiality is a battle that goes all the way back to 1803 and the Supreme Court's decision supporting judicial review and oversight over the White House.
The vice-president claims this time the lists of participants in his meetings to formulate energy policy are the business of the Executive Branch alone and involvement, in effect, is meddling.
DICK CHENEY, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We start down that road; we're setting a terrible precedent. We're saying the vice- president cannot have confidential meetings.
FRANKEN: The vice president has refused to provide a list of those who participated. His adversaries argue it would show heavy influence by corporate energy interests including the likes of ousted Enron chief executive Ken Lay.
DAVID BOOKBINDER, SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DIR.: The final report of the Energy Task Force reads as if it was written by the energy industry.
FRANKEN: Add to the intrigue one adamant Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia, who has rejected demands to remove himself from the case after disclosures Cheney had taken him on a duck hunting trip.
If it is reasonable, said Scalia, to think that a Supreme Court justice can be bought so cheap, the nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined.
BOOKBINDER: This is a question of public confidence in the courts. FRANKEN: The entire matter, says the vice president, amounts to a tempest in a teapot.
CHENEY: It's a classic sort of feeding frenzy in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: As a political issue, the parameters of this are very, very easy to see. As a legal issue, the use of legal terminology, Soledad, the vice president is saying his adversaries should cut him some slack -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bob, what's the timeline here? When will any decisions come down?
FRANKEN: Well, we can expect the decision by the end of this term, which would be the end of June.
This is an interesting, controversial issue. The justices probably, if they hold true to form, save their most juicy cases, so to speak, until the last week, some time right before July 1.
O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's national correspondent Bob Franken for us this morning -- Bob, thanks.
HEMMER: How juicy it is, and Jack Cafferty and the "Question of the Day."
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the question is this, should the Supreme Court force Vice-President Cheney to release information about those energy meetings? You can e-mail us your thoughts on that at am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: Indeed, and we'll get to it. Jack, thanks for that.
In a moment here, a shocking terrorist plot foiled. Details about the al Qaeda threat in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Also, controversy swirls around Senator John Kerry and his Vietnam War medals. What -- will what appear to be his biggest strength potentially lead to his undoing?
HEMMER: Also jurors in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial may finally start deliberating today -- or will they? Ahead in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: They say the best defense is a good offense and Senator John Kerry is striking back at political ads that have raised doubts about his anti-war activities more than 30 years ago.
Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Hit hard by job drain, West Virginia could be fertile ground for John Kerry's economic pitch, but Monday the senator was going over old ground.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It has nothing to do with this election whatsoever, and if these guys want to argue about Vietnam 35 years ago, let's go do it.
CROWLEY: 1971, Washington, D.C., Kerry, a decorated Vietnam vet is part of a weeklong protest culminating with vets tossing their medals over a Capitol fence.
KERRY: In a real sense, this administration forced us to return our medals.
CROWLEY: In fact, Kerry returned his ribbons not his medals.
KERRY: I didn't have them with me -- it was very simple. And I threw some medals back that belonged to some folks who asked me to throw them back for them.
CROWLEY: It took several years for that to become clear, but the senator says he never misled anyone into thinking differently and then "The New York Times" and ABC found this, an interview Kerry gave to local Washington station WRC shortly after the protest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
KERRY: I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well you were (UNINTELLIGIBLE) three Purple Hearts.
KERRY: Well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CROWLEY: Faced with the newly discovered tape, Kerry shoved back.
KERRY: This is a complete distraction by the Bush administration; it's their attack method. This is what they do and it's coming from a president who can't even prove that he actually showed up for duty in the National Guard.
CROWLEY: Kerry now says he never made any distinction between medals and ribbons and returning one is the same as the other.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning from Washington with his take on this uproar over Senator Kerry and his war medals is CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider. Hey, Bill, good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad. O'BRIEN: Kind of an interesting strategy isn't it? Taking the senator's war record, which is arguably one of his biggest assets and turning it somehow into a liability. What do you think of that strategy?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it's certainly something that the president needs to do because he has to counter John Kerry's claim to match him on national security.
Look, the Democrats learned a bitter lesson in the 2002 midterm which is they cannot just set the national security issue aside. This is a threshold issue.
John Kerry has to have credibility on national security for people even to listen to him at a time when Americans believe the nation is under threat. If they don't think he can match Bush on national security, they're not going to listen to what he has to say about health care or the economy or anything else and that's why the White House is very eager to discredit him on that issue.
O'BRIEN: As you just heard in Candy's piece two moments ago, you heard Senator Kerry firing back, saying this is coming from a president who can't prove he showed up for duty in the National Guard. What do you make of that kind of retort? Is it going to work?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it's what he has to do. I mean, he simply doesn't want to appear to be a wimp; he doesn't want to get beaten up. He's fighting back and that's a good thing to do.
The problem is it may not work simply because President Bush while there are serious questions about his service and whether or not he showed up for National Guard duty, that might have been devastating in the 2000 election when he was pretty much unknown but now he's the president of the United States, he's commander in chief, he's taken the United States through two wars, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, one can quarrel with the outcome of those wars but the fact is the Taliban regime and the Saddam Hussein regime have been overthrown.
So, at this point, Americans are not inclined to doubt Mr. Bush's credibility on national security. Kerry remains unknown and undefined to a lot of people. That's why the White House is trying to define him.
O'BRIEN: So, that may not work then. Is there a risk both to Senator Kerry and also to President Bush in their various strategies of backfiring and somehow working against them?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think there is. I think what Senator Kerry wants to do instead of getting involved in a confrontation with the White House he wants to get over this issue, get beyond it so that he can talk about the issues he and the Democrats really want to talk about which is jobs, jobs, jobs and also health care and the price of gasoline and some other issues as well as the influence of business on this administration.
This administration has some real vulnerabilities, which they really cannot exploit until they get beyond the national security issue and the White House says that's the whole election, national security.
O'BRIEN: How long do you think this debate over this specific goes on for?
SCHNEIDER: As long as information keeps coming out like that tape Candy just showed in her piece. When information like that comes out which seems to show inconsistencies in Kerry's explanation of his record, then the issue just lives on day after day.
Look, what Americans like about George Bush is that they see him as a straight talker even though he has flip-flopped on a number of issues like the Homeland Security department and the 9/11 Commission and Condoleezza Rice's testimony, the fact is the image of this president is pretty much fixed in a lot of people's minds.
Axis of Evil, straight talker, dead or alive, and that's where he stands. Kerry, I think, has some vulnerability because he is so undefined.
O'BRIEN: We got a long way to go, though, till the election, so lots of time to define both of them.
All right, Bill Schneider for us this morning. Bill, thanks.
HEMMER: In a moment here, back to Iraq and this overnight battle with Iraqi insurgents near Najaf and save up that milk money.
Apparently its not just gas prices on the rise. Andy's back with that right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All right, got milk? If not you may want to stock up now and why are the Norwegians going on a beer binge?
One man knows this answer, that's Andy Serwer who is "Minding Your Business" this morning -- nice to see you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Very specialized little bit of knowledge there, don't you think? Beer and milk -- yes.
HEMMER: I would say. First homogenized requirement.
SERWER: Yes, let's talk about milk. We're only talking about two dollars for a gallon of gasoline in this country. Are you ready for four dollars for a gallon of milk? It's -- prices are going up here.
And I'll tell you what; they've been going up about 25 or 30 percent over the past couple of months. Price of milk, like gasoline varies across the country but in New York City, for instance, you're looking at $3.80 a gallon up from $2.60 last year.
You can still get it for around $2.00 a gallon at Costco across the country but it is going up, up, up and the reasons why? Higher feed prices, fewer cows, you can't bring the cows in from Canada, remember that. And also, greater demand pushing up not only milk but also the price of cheese and ice cream.
O'BRIEN: Why greater demand for dairy products do you think?
SERWER: Well, I think again the economy is picking up and on the margin, Soledad, when economic activity picks up, more people go out and just a little more ice cream, a little more cheese, a little bit more pizza -- you can relate to this.
O'BRIEN: I'm guilty of that. All right...
HEMMER: On to Norway. I don't associate the Norwegians with beer.
SERWER: Well, they drink a little bit of beer up there. They also have very, very high taxes.
What's going on there is a price war that is out of control making the retail price of beer below the tax, OK? And the government is stepping in saying we're going to have to raise prices.
Right now, people in Norway though are affording beer; they're buying cases and cases of beer. The price of beer, for instance, is about a dollar for a third of a liter and the tax is actually higher than that so the stores are feeling the pinch and Norwegians are running out and buying tons of beer.
O'BRIEN: Want to recap the preview of the market?
SERWER: Let's do both, OK?
O'BRIEN: OK.
SERWER: Yesterday we kind of went sideways and then down, an incredibly strong housing report yesterday fanned inflation fears; we've been talking about that a lot, you can see there the Dow is down. One stock we want to talk about yesterday though just amazing.
A pharmaceutical company called OSI yesterday had a positive -- that's a spike. OK, here's what happened. They had a very positive test for a cancer drug called Tarceva and the stock was up $53 to $91 yesterday. Futures are mixed this morning.
HEMMER: That's not a wild pen mark is it?
SERWER: No, that's not an error, that is a spike. You wished you owned that one yesterday.
HEMMER: Indeed we do.
SERWER: OK.
HEMMER: In a moment here did the Jordanian government in Amman prevent a major al Qaeda attack in its own capitol city? Live to Amman for the story on that and the fall out today right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 27, 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 holiest city; how will Shi'ites react to fighting near Najaf?
Is the Vietnam War a political quagmire for Senator John Kerry? Trying to get his message out while dogged by questions about medals and records.
And after 43 witnesses and numerous delays will the Jayson Williams trial finally go to the jury on this 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: All right, good morning on a Tuesday morning. A closer look today at the serious problems U.S. troops face when forced to fight in cities.
In Fallujah, in Najaf, military planning for urban warfare will soon be put to the test, possibly in both areas. In a few moments Barbara Starr at the Pentagon looks at what U.S. troops must do to survive not only these battles but also protect the civilian innocents living there as well. We'll get to that.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning a terrorist attack said to have been thwarted in Jordan. Tons of chemicals involved. Were they actually chemical weapons, and was this the work of al Qaeda as one suspect is now saying?
We'll take a look at that.
HEMMER: Also check in with Jack in a few moments too. A good topic for you, e-mail wise, coming out of D.C.
O'BRIEN: All right, but let's begin with our top stories this morning.
Two Wisconsin sisters deciding whether to return to their National Guard units in Iraq.
Rachel and Charity Witmer have the option to be reassigned from the war zone. Their sister Michelle was killed in a convoy ambush in Baghdad earlier this month. The sisters' parents appealed to the military to transfer the women. An announcement is expected later today. Singer Michael Jackson says that he personally decided to terminate the services of defense attorneys Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman.
In a statement released yesterday, Jackson thanked both lawyers for their work, but said his new lawyers must devote their, quote, "full attention" to the case. Thomas Mesereau, who also represented actor Robert Blake, will now defend Jackson.
The pop star is expected to return to court for a second arraignment on Friday.
In Colorado, more testimony today in the mostly closed door hearings in the Kobe Bryant case. The proceedings began yesterday to determine whether the sexual history of the woman who is accusing Bryant of sexual assault should be presented to a jury.
Colorado's rape shield law normally bars this type of evidence. The hearings are scheduled to end tomorrow.
And in California, a heat wave breaking records across the state. While residents are looking for cooler ways to spend their days, firefighters are keeping an eye out for brushfires. Triple digit temperatures are reported in coastal cities. There could be some relief in sight, though.
HEMMER: It has been a warm season already going back to a month ago.
O'BRIEN: Ninety-one in San Francisco.
HEMMER: That's crazy.
O'BRIEN: Very, very rare.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Back to Iraq our top story again today.
U.S. troops fighting a bloody overnight battle with insurgents near the town of Najaf.
For more out of Baghdad, Ben Wedeman is watching that. Ben, good afternoon there.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN: Yes, hello, Bill.
Well, it was mid-evening yesterday when apparently a battle broke out between U.S. forces and members of the Mahdi army -- that is loyalists to Muqtada al-Sadr that rebellious Shi'ite cleric.
According to coalition spokesmen 43 members of the Mahdi army were killed in that clash which involved, among other things, U.S. helicopters as well as an AC-130 gunship, which coalition spokesmen say took out what they described as an antiaircraft system. Now there were about 2,500 U.S. troops deployed around Najaf, which has been in a state of rebellion now for almost three weeks. We heard yesterday chief U.S. administrator for Iraq Paul Bremer describing the situation down there as dangerous. Other U.S. spokesmen saying that they have information that arms are being stored in mosques, shrines and schools.
Now the coalition of course wants to get their hands on Muqtada al-Sadr, a man who is accused of involvement in the murder last year of a Shi'ite -- a prominent Shi'ite cleric -- in April of 2003, but what we do see is that the coalition is clearly hesitant to send troops inside Najaf, a Shi'ite holy city dear to all Shi'ites not only in Iraq but outside of the country, as well.
What they're hoping is that somehow this rebellion will be contained by other Shi'ite leaders who are weary of Muqtada al-Sadr political ambitions -- Bill.
HEMMER: Now, Ben, that's in Najaf west of Baghdad. In Fallujah, word today that the extended deadline has been extended again; talks will continue? What have you learned about that in Fallujah?
WEDEMAN: Yes, that's correct. Also there the coalition wants to allow diplomacy, essentially to get a full run and therefore according to a senior military spokesman here in Baghdad they're going to extend it.
They don't really have a hard and fast deadline, but it was expected today, Bill, that some of the insurgents would hand in their weapons, that there would be joint Iraqi police and U.S. Marine patrols in the city.
It looks like neither of those is going to happen, so they're going to let the top try to work this situation out but the same senior military spokesman -- or rather, officer -- told us that part of the problem that they have in Fallujah is they're not quite sure the people they're talking to which aren't the insurgents but local tribal and community leaders -- they're not quite sure they have the power and influence to bring the insurgents under control.
HEMMER: Ben Wedeman from Baghdad, thanks for that, Ben.
So the extension has been -- gone through today and also in addition to that patrols not taking place.
Earlier I talked on the phone with "Christian Science Monitor" -- the reporter there, Scott Peterson, their international correspondent.
He's embedded with the Marines at Camp Fallujah, which is about six miles east of town. Asked him what he has seen at that base camp over the past few days. Here's Scott Peterson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT PETERSON, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": What I've seen over the last several days has been a real shift in U.S. strategy and tactics in terms of Fallujah.
It was just a few days ago that we heard very strong rhetoric coming from U.S. commanders here, basically giving an ultimatum to insurgents in Fallujah to give up their weapons within days, saying that they only had days, not weeks, before the U.S. might launch an all-out offensive to regain control of Fallujah.
Just in the last day or two on the -- however -- what we've seen in a complete turnaround in real moderating of the rhetoric and we have top commanders now talking about giving diplomacy a chance and also recognizing that there could be a massive political and military fall out, especially for the future of Fallujah if the military were just to roll in and take control.
HEMMER: The last part of your answer, is that the reason for the delay again today?
PETERSON: I think that it's one of the reasons for the delay. What we have is when the diplomats made the decision over the weekend to -- to bring out joint patrols, I think that there wasn't enough thought given to how quickly or how ready either the Iraqi or the American side could be to launch these joint patrols.
What we're hearing on the ground at the moment is that it will be at least Thursday or Friday before these joint patrols are staged and of course that's only one step of what would need to be many different steps in order to bring this situation to a calm state.
HEMMER: So what you're saying, Scott, the reason for the delay on the patrols today has to do with both sides not being ready to conduct these in Fallujah?
PETERSON: I think its logistics is the primary thing, but I think also it does not give everybody's mind is this very serious fire fight that took place yesterday in Fallujah, of course, there was supposed to be e in place, but what we've seen and what I heard speaking to some of the U.S. Marines who took part in that firefight, they said that it was between 50 and possibly as many as 150 insurgents attacked them yesterday morning.
It was a real -- it was a real battle, there were eight Marines wounded and one killed. It was -- but it was a real surprise for the Marines how organized they came, how organized the resistance proves to be, and I think it kind of, one of the arguments that has -- that the Marines have used against the cease fire because they feel that in many respects it's giving the insurgents a chance to rebuild and I think we've seen the case study of that yesterday.
HEMMER: Scott, I've asked the case where you've heard from Marines is that the resistance had been fierce in organization, has been good. What are they saying about the potential for how difficult an all-out assault might be if that happens in Fallujah?
PETERSON: Well, what we hear from -- from everyone from grunts on the ground right up to the top brass is a supreme confidence that if they wanted to take control militarily of Fallujah that they could pull that off in 24 hours. They talk about "bone crushing" force, you hear this word -- I mean there really is a confidence that way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Scott Peterson, "Christian Science Monitor", international correspondent, embedded there with the U.S. Marines east of Fallujah a bit earlier today talking from Iraq -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Here in this country, this morning the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case involving Vice-President Dick Cheney. It tests the constitutional balance between the right to private confidentiality and public scrutiny for government leaders.
CNN's national correspondent Bob Franken live for us at the Supreme Court with a preview of this case -- hey, Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Soledad, and of course politically this is highly controversial, as is Vice- President Dick Cheney these days.
Legally, this is an issue that really goes back to the Supreme Court's nearly earliest beginnings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: The fight over Vice-President Cheney's right to confidentiality is a battle that goes all the way back to 1803 and the Supreme Court's decision supporting judicial review and oversight over the White House.
The vice-president claims this time the lists of participants in his meetings to formulate energy policy are the business of the Executive Branch alone and involvement, in effect, is meddling.
DICK CHENEY, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We start down that road; we're setting a terrible precedent. We're saying the vice- president cannot have confidential meetings.
FRANKEN: The vice president has refused to provide a list of those who participated. His adversaries argue it would show heavy influence by corporate energy interests including the likes of ousted Enron chief executive Ken Lay.
DAVID BOOKBINDER, SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DIR.: The final report of the Energy Task Force reads as if it was written by the energy industry.
FRANKEN: Add to the intrigue one adamant Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia, who has rejected demands to remove himself from the case after disclosures Cheney had taken him on a duck hunting trip.
If it is reasonable, said Scalia, to think that a Supreme Court justice can be bought so cheap, the nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined.
BOOKBINDER: This is a question of public confidence in the courts. FRANKEN: The entire matter, says the vice president, amounts to a tempest in a teapot.
CHENEY: It's a classic sort of feeding frenzy in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: As a political issue, the parameters of this are very, very easy to see. As a legal issue, the use of legal terminology, Soledad, the vice president is saying his adversaries should cut him some slack -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bob, what's the timeline here? When will any decisions come down?
FRANKEN: Well, we can expect the decision by the end of this term, which would be the end of June.
This is an interesting, controversial issue. The justices probably, if they hold true to form, save their most juicy cases, so to speak, until the last week, some time right before July 1.
O'BRIEN: All right, CNN's national correspondent Bob Franken for us this morning -- Bob, thanks.
HEMMER: How juicy it is, and Jack Cafferty and the "Question of the Day."
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the question is this, should the Supreme Court force Vice-President Cheney to release information about those energy meetings? You can e-mail us your thoughts on that at am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: Indeed, and we'll get to it. Jack, thanks for that.
In a moment here, a shocking terrorist plot foiled. Details about the al Qaeda threat in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Also, controversy swirls around Senator John Kerry and his Vietnam War medals. What -- will what appear to be his biggest strength potentially lead to his undoing?
HEMMER: Also jurors in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial may finally start deliberating today -- or will they? Ahead in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
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O'BRIEN: They say the best defense is a good offense and Senator John Kerry is striking back at political ads that have raised doubts about his anti-war activities more than 30 years ago.
Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Hit hard by job drain, West Virginia could be fertile ground for John Kerry's economic pitch, but Monday the senator was going over old ground.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It has nothing to do with this election whatsoever, and if these guys want to argue about Vietnam 35 years ago, let's go do it.
CROWLEY: 1971, Washington, D.C., Kerry, a decorated Vietnam vet is part of a weeklong protest culminating with vets tossing their medals over a Capitol fence.
KERRY: In a real sense, this administration forced us to return our medals.
CROWLEY: In fact, Kerry returned his ribbons not his medals.
KERRY: I didn't have them with me -- it was very simple. And I threw some medals back that belonged to some folks who asked me to throw them back for them.
CROWLEY: It took several years for that to become clear, but the senator says he never misled anyone into thinking differently and then "The New York Times" and ABC found this, an interview Kerry gave to local Washington station WRC shortly after the protest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
KERRY: I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well you were (UNINTELLIGIBLE) three Purple Hearts.
KERRY: Well, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CROWLEY: Faced with the newly discovered tape, Kerry shoved back.
KERRY: This is a complete distraction by the Bush administration; it's their attack method. This is what they do and it's coming from a president who can't even prove that he actually showed up for duty in the National Guard.
CROWLEY: Kerry now says he never made any distinction between medals and ribbons and returning one is the same as the other.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning from Washington with his take on this uproar over Senator Kerry and his war medals is CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider. Hey, Bill, good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad. O'BRIEN: Kind of an interesting strategy isn't it? Taking the senator's war record, which is arguably one of his biggest assets and turning it somehow into a liability. What do you think of that strategy?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it's certainly something that the president needs to do because he has to counter John Kerry's claim to match him on national security.
Look, the Democrats learned a bitter lesson in the 2002 midterm which is they cannot just set the national security issue aside. This is a threshold issue.
John Kerry has to have credibility on national security for people even to listen to him at a time when Americans believe the nation is under threat. If they don't think he can match Bush on national security, they're not going to listen to what he has to say about health care or the economy or anything else and that's why the White House is very eager to discredit him on that issue.
O'BRIEN: As you just heard in Candy's piece two moments ago, you heard Senator Kerry firing back, saying this is coming from a president who can't prove he showed up for duty in the National Guard. What do you make of that kind of retort? Is it going to work?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it's what he has to do. I mean, he simply doesn't want to appear to be a wimp; he doesn't want to get beaten up. He's fighting back and that's a good thing to do.
The problem is it may not work simply because President Bush while there are serious questions about his service and whether or not he showed up for National Guard duty, that might have been devastating in the 2000 election when he was pretty much unknown but now he's the president of the United States, he's commander in chief, he's taken the United States through two wars, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, one can quarrel with the outcome of those wars but the fact is the Taliban regime and the Saddam Hussein regime have been overthrown.
So, at this point, Americans are not inclined to doubt Mr. Bush's credibility on national security. Kerry remains unknown and undefined to a lot of people. That's why the White House is trying to define him.
O'BRIEN: So, that may not work then. Is there a risk both to Senator Kerry and also to President Bush in their various strategies of backfiring and somehow working against them?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think there is. I think what Senator Kerry wants to do instead of getting involved in a confrontation with the White House he wants to get over this issue, get beyond it so that he can talk about the issues he and the Democrats really want to talk about which is jobs, jobs, jobs and also health care and the price of gasoline and some other issues as well as the influence of business on this administration.
This administration has some real vulnerabilities, which they really cannot exploit until they get beyond the national security issue and the White House says that's the whole election, national security.
O'BRIEN: How long do you think this debate over this specific goes on for?
SCHNEIDER: As long as information keeps coming out like that tape Candy just showed in her piece. When information like that comes out which seems to show inconsistencies in Kerry's explanation of his record, then the issue just lives on day after day.
Look, what Americans like about George Bush is that they see him as a straight talker even though he has flip-flopped on a number of issues like the Homeland Security department and the 9/11 Commission and Condoleezza Rice's testimony, the fact is the image of this president is pretty much fixed in a lot of people's minds.
Axis of Evil, straight talker, dead or alive, and that's where he stands. Kerry, I think, has some vulnerability because he is so undefined.
O'BRIEN: We got a long way to go, though, till the election, so lots of time to define both of them.
All right, Bill Schneider for us this morning. Bill, thanks.
HEMMER: In a moment here, back to Iraq and this overnight battle with Iraqi insurgents near Najaf and save up that milk money.
Apparently its not just gas prices on the rise. Andy's back with that right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
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HEMMER: All right, got milk? If not you may want to stock up now and why are the Norwegians going on a beer binge?
One man knows this answer, that's Andy Serwer who is "Minding Your Business" this morning -- nice to see you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Very specialized little bit of knowledge there, don't you think? Beer and milk -- yes.
HEMMER: I would say. First homogenized requirement.
SERWER: Yes, let's talk about milk. We're only talking about two dollars for a gallon of gasoline in this country. Are you ready for four dollars for a gallon of milk? It's -- prices are going up here.
And I'll tell you what; they've been going up about 25 or 30 percent over the past couple of months. Price of milk, like gasoline varies across the country but in New York City, for instance, you're looking at $3.80 a gallon up from $2.60 last year.
You can still get it for around $2.00 a gallon at Costco across the country but it is going up, up, up and the reasons why? Higher feed prices, fewer cows, you can't bring the cows in from Canada, remember that. And also, greater demand pushing up not only milk but also the price of cheese and ice cream.
O'BRIEN: Why greater demand for dairy products do you think?
SERWER: Well, I think again the economy is picking up and on the margin, Soledad, when economic activity picks up, more people go out and just a little more ice cream, a little more cheese, a little bit more pizza -- you can relate to this.
O'BRIEN: I'm guilty of that. All right...
HEMMER: On to Norway. I don't associate the Norwegians with beer.
SERWER: Well, they drink a little bit of beer up there. They also have very, very high taxes.
What's going on there is a price war that is out of control making the retail price of beer below the tax, OK? And the government is stepping in saying we're going to have to raise prices.
Right now, people in Norway though are affording beer; they're buying cases and cases of beer. The price of beer, for instance, is about a dollar for a third of a liter and the tax is actually higher than that so the stores are feeling the pinch and Norwegians are running out and buying tons of beer.
O'BRIEN: Want to recap the preview of the market?
SERWER: Let's do both, OK?
O'BRIEN: OK.
SERWER: Yesterday we kind of went sideways and then down, an incredibly strong housing report yesterday fanned inflation fears; we've been talking about that a lot, you can see there the Dow is down. One stock we want to talk about yesterday though just amazing.
A pharmaceutical company called OSI yesterday had a positive -- that's a spike. OK, here's what happened. They had a very positive test for a cancer drug called Tarceva and the stock was up $53 to $91 yesterday. Futures are mixed this morning.
HEMMER: That's not a wild pen mark is it?
SERWER: No, that's not an error, that is a spike. You wished you owned that one yesterday.
HEMMER: Indeed we do.
SERWER: OK.
HEMMER: In a moment here did the Jordanian government in Amman prevent a major al Qaeda attack in its own capitol city? Live to Amman for the story on that and the fall out today right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
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