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CNN Live At Daybreak

Fight For Iraq; Girl Murdered; Another Nail in the Wall

Aired April 28, 2004 - 05:30   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. warplanes blast insurgent positions in Fallujah and deliver a dire warning, terrorists beware, your last day was yesterday.
And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date.

Religious leaders are going to Fallujah to try to facilitate peace in the embattled city. The new negotiations come a day after U.S. warplanes hit an ammunition site.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is in Berlin this morning for a conference on anti-Semitism. The two-day international conference was called due to a perceived rise in anti-Semitic activity in parts of Europe.

In Syria, two suspected terrorists were killed during a gun battle with security forces. The unidentified militants detonated an explosive device near a former United Nations office.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: The fight for Iraq is moving in several different directions this morning. You have got sheikhs heading to Fallujah today to try to end the deadly standoff between U.S. forces and insurgents. The fighting there is still going on and the U.S. is moving forward with hand over plans.

Want to get more now on the security and the sovereignty issues. Joining us live from London is military expert Dan Plesch, a Research Fellow at the University of London.

Welcome -- Dan.

DAN PLESCH, RESEARCH FELLOW, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Hello.

COSTELLO: The military says that this was not a major military offensive in Fallujah. How should we characterize it? PLESCH: Well I think they were, the U.S. Marines appear to have been trying to deal with some attacks from insurgents on the edge of the city. One thing that is clear is that early on in the month in response to the killing of the four contractors, the U.S. Marines attempted to storm into the center of the city. They have now withdrawn under pressure from the insurgents a couple of weeks ago now and they are now on the outskirts looking, as it were, to nibble their way through the city in bite sized chunks.

I think the problem for the outside world is that what looks like a bide-the-time approach for the Marines taking the city looks to the outside world as something rather more long, drawn out and violent.

COSTELLO: Dan, we have been getting a lot of response from our viewers here on DAYBREAK who say that they believe that the way to solve the problem in Fallujah is through military action. Is there a military solution?

PLESCH: Well certainly I think there is strong view that the toughest policy is the best policy. And that, for example, is the theme of the recent book on winning the war on terror by Richard Pearle and David Frum.

I think that many other people within the U.S. military, and certainly within the British military, start from the position that all experience suggests that there is no military solution to terrorism. That you have to deal -- and indeed to insurgency -- that you have to deal with political grievances and stay within the rule of law. In addition, you need to have a very well coordinated policy.

And I think one of the things that most concerns people, for example, is whether or not the decision to shut down Mr. al-Sadr's newspaper was actually coordinated with the American military. Because if you read the CENTCOM briefings of that time, they say that al-Sadr's supporters were declining and he was of marginal influence. Why then enflame the situation with shutting down his newspaper? You can argue over the action, you can argue over whether or not you want to be tough or not. But I think there is a real problem just in the fact that the way the U.S. is set up with a political and a military commend separate is a recipe for confusion itself. And that certainly we can ill afford.

COSTELLO: But certainly you have to agree that the coalition forces are trying a political situation. They are going to be patrolling the streets with Iraqi security forces. And sheikhs from all over the country are supposedly heading to Iraq to talk about this situation.

PLESCH: Well, first of all, the U.S. military I think are learning on the job about the, as it were, the non-assault negotiating approach. One of the problems is that they aren't properly trained in this and that the culture in Washington despises what people regard as social work. This disables the American force as a whole from conducting these sorts of operations in a less than forceful way.

In addition, I think we have to look at the way in which the First Marine Expeditionary force sought effectively to take Fallujah in the first week of April and we would appear were beaten off by the insurgents. And this part of the mix, I think, prevents -- presents a huge dilemma now. They are looking at some political solutions.

But, for example, for many Iraqis, the Iraqi Civil Defense Force are simply regarded as stooges of the coalition. And this is a very poor situation. If one listens to Mr. Brahimi, for example, he ended his remarks at the U.N. saying the redress of grievances created by the coalition since the beginning of the occupation are critical to a political solution. And as part of that, of course, is the continued delay in having elections.

COSTELLO: You know I can hear many of our viewers becoming angry at what you are saying right now, because many out there say that the Americans have been patient. But how can you fight insurgents that hide out in mosques, hide in homes, use Iraqi citizens as human shields?

PLESCH: Well I didn't say it was in the least easy. But one has to realize that when people fire at you from a mosque that their political objective is to get you to blow up the mosque. Now that's a very uncomfortable situation. There is no good answer. But if you respond in simply in a forceful way, that is you meet force with force, what you do is to deliver a political victory to the other side, which overrides the military victory you may have scored in that particular sector of the city. And it's that type of political analysis which, I think, seems to be somewhat lacking.

And to give another example, I know that the U.K.'s representative, Jeremy Greenstock, has gone on record saying that it really isn't acceptable to reply to incoming mortar fire with an artillery barrage into the neighborhood where the mortars have come from. Particularly if the guys with the mortars have just slung their weapon in the back of a pickup truck and are long gone before the incoming artillery gets there and the people on the receiving end are simply civilians.

Now these are very harsh tactics and very harsh decisions, but the use of overwhelming power, the might is right in as many ways simply plays into the hands of the insurgents.

COSTELLO: Dan Plesch, military expert and a Research Fellow at the University of London, joining DAYBREAK live this morning. Thank you.

Just a reminder to all of you out there, we're soliciting your response this morning to the situation in Fallujah where, of course, U.S. Marines have been battling the insurgents. Send your opinions to DAYBREAK@CNN.com, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

All right. Our senior international editor David Clinch is here with us now.

There's really a lot going on this morning.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Carol. Yes, it's fascinating stuff. I mean just in Iraq, for instance, we were talking to the expert there and what we're seeing on the ground today, both the military aspect and the political aspect going full guns today.

We're somewhere between the two most interesting phases that came out -- phrases that came out during the day yesterday that I thought were very interesting. Donald Rumsfeld saying that the people on the ground in Baghdad telling him that the negotiations in both Fallujah and Najaf were -- quote -- "worth a try." But on the other hand, he was also emphasizing, the U.S. military emphasizing in leaflets they dropped in Fallujah yesterday that any insurgent that didn't give up their weapons had lived their last day. So we are somewhere between those two things.

The political situation, both in Fallujah and Najaf, very hard to read. It's very difficult for us to know at a distance exactly who is talking to who in Fallujah or Najaf. It's not clear to us whether anybody is listening in either place. So we'll be watching closely.

And in fact, we have sent our Jane Arraf down towards Najaf today. We have been watching this situation in Fallujah for the last few days. We think it's time to take a closer look in Najaf as well. So Jane is going down with the 1st ID down to around Najaf. And we need to be clear there as well, they are in the environs of the city, not in the city itself. So interesting stuff in both locations there as well.

And the situation in Syria, we've got Brent Sadler in Damascus today. A country that hasn't seen terrorism in quite some time, apparently the victim of at least an attempted terrorist attack in Damascus yesterday. Just a very interesting regional pattern there. You had Syria yesterday, we had Jordan within the last few days saying they diverted a massive terrorist attack, Saudi Arabia dealing with terrorism, so the whole region somewhat nervous.

COSTELLO: You know and I would say that many Americans would wonder why terrorists would attack Syria because many Americans have such a negative feeling towards that country.

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: But after 9/11, Syria did help the United States a little.

CLINCH: Right. Again, somewhere sort of in between the idea that these countries are getting a taste of the same kind of al Qaeda terrorism that the United States and others have had and they are having to deal with that and those countries themselves saying this wouldn't be happening if the U.S. wasn't right here in the region in Iraq. So again, fascinating stuff.

In those countries, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, that debate is going on right now, are they the victims of al Qaeda, along with the United States, or is this caused by the United States. Very interesting stuff. COSTELLO: Interesting. David Clinch, many thanks to you.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: In this country, Monday's death of an 8-year-old girl shocked and saddened a Georgia community. Now residents are dealing with something just as hard to imagine, the arrest of a 12-year-old in the girl's murder.

CNN's Eric Philips reports from Carrollton, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yellow police tape surrounds the area where the body of 8-year-old Amy Michelle Yates was found, a small shrine growing nearby in her memory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A piece of me is gone and it can't be returned.

PHILIPS: What's worse for family and friends, news of who authorities believe killed Amy.

SHERIFF TERRY LANGLEY, CARROLL COUNTY, GEORGIA: We are at this time charging a local 12-year-old male with her murder.

PHILIPS: The two youngsters lived only doors apart at the Twin Oaks Mobile Home Park here in Carrollton, Georgia. Investigators allege the 12-year-old strangled Amy with his bare hands.

LANGLEY: We believe that he is responsible for murdering her and we believe he acted alone at this point.

PHILIPS: Police say Amy left home on her bike around 5:00 on Monday afternoon. She was going to a friend's house in the same trailer park but never showed up. Soon her bike was spotted, but it would be hours before authorities would find her body in nearby woods.

Jean Gossett (ph) says the 8-year-old was heading to her house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not right, it just hurts. This -- it shouldn't have happened.

PHILIPS: The 12-year-old is being held in a local youth detention center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, in my eyes, he was still a child. I mean I never would have thought that anything like this could have happened.

PHILIPS: Counselors were on hand at Amy's elementary school to try and make sense out of all of this for her classmates. But even adults are having difficulty coming to terms with what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was -- this is the most tragic loss I've ever had to endure. It just doesn't make any sense. PHILIPS: Eric Philips, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And just ahead on DAYBREAK, several hostages are still being held in Iraq, American, Japanese and Italian. We'll get some inside analysis on the Italian hostage situation in our next hour.

This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday, April 28.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is -- it is 5:48 Eastern Time. Here is what is all new this morning.

Religious leaders from across Iraq are heading to Fallujah today to discuss the two-week standoff in that city. The meetings come a day after U.S. warplanes hit an ammunition site.

The bodies of three soldiers who were recovered from the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter in South Carolina. The Black Hawk went down in bad weather on Monday night during a training flight.

In money news, there are just two more "Friends" episodes left. NBC is making some big money on ads for the May 10 finale. A 30- second spot is fetching $2 million. Two million bucks for 30 seconds. That's a big-time record.

In sports, NBA playoffs and the Minnesota Timberwolves take a three games to one lead over the Denver Nuggets thanks to a dominating performance by Kevin Garnett. Garnett had 27 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

In culture, "Her Name is Barbara." That's what Barbara Streisand is calling her upcoming memorabilia auction. On June 5, hundreds of Barbara's bobbles will be sold to raise money for charity.

First in line, I bet, will be none other than Chad Myers.

MYERS: Right there, Carol, with my paddle in the air.

Good morning, everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.

Understanding democracy in a place where it never existed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democracy means how to respect people's ideas and thoughts.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Iraqi students try to grasp freedom of speech and a new democratic country. Just ahead, why the looming presence of Saddam is making the transition difficult.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: At first glance, high schoolers in Iraq may seem like those from any country, they attend classes, play ball, joke with their friends, but Iraqi students share a legacy now symbolized by a nail in the wall.

CNN's Walter Rodgers has more on this story from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the best and brightest in the new Iraq, high school students, confident, yet confused, street smart, yet naive. Their whole universe must now be reconstructed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about democracy in Iraq? Can we speak about democracy in Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democracy means how to respect -- how to respect people's ideas and thoughts, how to respect their manners.

RODGERS: Until last year, these young people lived under tyranny and fear. Parents warned them never say anything about Saddam, never. Even now, classrooms have a lone nail, the stark reminder a picture of Saddam Hussein used to hang here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just looking at the Saddam picture, like yes, and I was just saying you know damn you, Saddam, I hate you. Why did you make my life so miserable?

RODGERS: Leith then said another boy, a Saddam loyalist, threatened to report him to police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I was afraid. He didn't -- I knew that he -- if the time came, they wouldn't hesitate to kill me.

RODGERS: Iraqi students laugh more now, yet they have grown up knowing little but violence and wars. Their knowledge of the outside world is limited.

(on camera): There are no political science textbooks in Iraq. That was the world according to Saddam and those books have been burned. Still, there is much Iraqi students have to unlearn and some things they will never forget.

(voice-over): Virtually every one here remembers someone Saddam had killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not forget the moment that they have killed somebody next to our local area. They shot him in the forehead. RODGERS: It's U.S. helicopters that frighten students now. Most stay off the streets, afraid of American soldiers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They treat people badly.

RODGERS: How?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They push them, they crush everything when they break into the houses.

RODGERS: Without questioning, students now believe it's U.S. soldiers who imprison Iraqi girls to make them pregnant like Saddam's people did. Iraqi students still seem to prefer conspiracies to truth, a reality unchanged by the departure of Saddam.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Walter.

We're getting some fascinating e-mails this morning from you, our viewers. The question was should U.S. Marines fight it out in Fallujah or should they continue to talk?

These are some of the responses that we got this morning.

This is from Lynn (ph) from Silver Spring, Maryland. She says I am not a soldier, nor do I have any relatives in Iraq. My house, however, adorns yellow ribbons and U.S. flags. As much as it breaks my heart when I turn CNN on every morning to hear of the American soldiers who have died, I think we need to get this done and go in with all the force we can muster. Enough talk.

This from Jerry (ph) from Memphis, Tennessee. He says winning isn't just killing everyone on the other side, they are fighting desperate people with no employment and no political future who have nothing left to lose. There will be no victory unless religious leaders can convince them they have a future instead of facing a deadline.

And this from Russ (ph) from Fletcher, North Carolina. He says should we take Fallujah? That's a no-brainer. How does America or our troops have any credibility if we do not? If they want to fight, then give them one. No limits, no holding back and I guarantee you as soon as Fallujah is gone your insurgents will be asking us where do we sign up to stop the fighting.

Keep them coming, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Also ahead in our next hour, details on talks of a two-week standoff between U.S. Marines and Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah. We're going to bring you the latest information from inside Iraq.

And another perspective, how Arabic TV is covering the U.S. presence in Iraq and the ongoing insurgency. How did Arab TV cover that fight in Fallujah yesterday?

We'll have all that and much more in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Fallujah under fire, a two-week standoff escalates into shock and awe.

It's Wednesday, April 28. This is DAYBREAK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired April 28, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. warplanes blast insurgent positions in Fallujah and deliver a dire warning, terrorists beware, your last day was yesterday.
And good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Let me bring you up to date.

Religious leaders are going to Fallujah to try to facilitate peace in the embattled city. The new negotiations come a day after U.S. warplanes hit an ammunition site.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is in Berlin this morning for a conference on anti-Semitism. The two-day international conference was called due to a perceived rise in anti-Semitic activity in parts of Europe.

In Syria, two suspected terrorists were killed during a gun battle with security forces. The unidentified militants detonated an explosive device near a former United Nations office.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: The fight for Iraq is moving in several different directions this morning. You have got sheikhs heading to Fallujah today to try to end the deadly standoff between U.S. forces and insurgents. The fighting there is still going on and the U.S. is moving forward with hand over plans.

Want to get more now on the security and the sovereignty issues. Joining us live from London is military expert Dan Plesch, a Research Fellow at the University of London.

Welcome -- Dan.

DAN PLESCH, RESEARCH FELLOW, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Hello.

COSTELLO: The military says that this was not a major military offensive in Fallujah. How should we characterize it? PLESCH: Well I think they were, the U.S. Marines appear to have been trying to deal with some attacks from insurgents on the edge of the city. One thing that is clear is that early on in the month in response to the killing of the four contractors, the U.S. Marines attempted to storm into the center of the city. They have now withdrawn under pressure from the insurgents a couple of weeks ago now and they are now on the outskirts looking, as it were, to nibble their way through the city in bite sized chunks.

I think the problem for the outside world is that what looks like a bide-the-time approach for the Marines taking the city looks to the outside world as something rather more long, drawn out and violent.

COSTELLO: Dan, we have been getting a lot of response from our viewers here on DAYBREAK who say that they believe that the way to solve the problem in Fallujah is through military action. Is there a military solution?

PLESCH: Well certainly I think there is strong view that the toughest policy is the best policy. And that, for example, is the theme of the recent book on winning the war on terror by Richard Pearle and David Frum.

I think that many other people within the U.S. military, and certainly within the British military, start from the position that all experience suggests that there is no military solution to terrorism. That you have to deal -- and indeed to insurgency -- that you have to deal with political grievances and stay within the rule of law. In addition, you need to have a very well coordinated policy.

And I think one of the things that most concerns people, for example, is whether or not the decision to shut down Mr. al-Sadr's newspaper was actually coordinated with the American military. Because if you read the CENTCOM briefings of that time, they say that al-Sadr's supporters were declining and he was of marginal influence. Why then enflame the situation with shutting down his newspaper? You can argue over the action, you can argue over whether or not you want to be tough or not. But I think there is a real problem just in the fact that the way the U.S. is set up with a political and a military commend separate is a recipe for confusion itself. And that certainly we can ill afford.

COSTELLO: But certainly you have to agree that the coalition forces are trying a political situation. They are going to be patrolling the streets with Iraqi security forces. And sheikhs from all over the country are supposedly heading to Iraq to talk about this situation.

PLESCH: Well, first of all, the U.S. military I think are learning on the job about the, as it were, the non-assault negotiating approach. One of the problems is that they aren't properly trained in this and that the culture in Washington despises what people regard as social work. This disables the American force as a whole from conducting these sorts of operations in a less than forceful way.

In addition, I think we have to look at the way in which the First Marine Expeditionary force sought effectively to take Fallujah in the first week of April and we would appear were beaten off by the insurgents. And this part of the mix, I think, prevents -- presents a huge dilemma now. They are looking at some political solutions.

But, for example, for many Iraqis, the Iraqi Civil Defense Force are simply regarded as stooges of the coalition. And this is a very poor situation. If one listens to Mr. Brahimi, for example, he ended his remarks at the U.N. saying the redress of grievances created by the coalition since the beginning of the occupation are critical to a political solution. And as part of that, of course, is the continued delay in having elections.

COSTELLO: You know I can hear many of our viewers becoming angry at what you are saying right now, because many out there say that the Americans have been patient. But how can you fight insurgents that hide out in mosques, hide in homes, use Iraqi citizens as human shields?

PLESCH: Well I didn't say it was in the least easy. But one has to realize that when people fire at you from a mosque that their political objective is to get you to blow up the mosque. Now that's a very uncomfortable situation. There is no good answer. But if you respond in simply in a forceful way, that is you meet force with force, what you do is to deliver a political victory to the other side, which overrides the military victory you may have scored in that particular sector of the city. And it's that type of political analysis which, I think, seems to be somewhat lacking.

And to give another example, I know that the U.K.'s representative, Jeremy Greenstock, has gone on record saying that it really isn't acceptable to reply to incoming mortar fire with an artillery barrage into the neighborhood where the mortars have come from. Particularly if the guys with the mortars have just slung their weapon in the back of a pickup truck and are long gone before the incoming artillery gets there and the people on the receiving end are simply civilians.

Now these are very harsh tactics and very harsh decisions, but the use of overwhelming power, the might is right in as many ways simply plays into the hands of the insurgents.

COSTELLO: Dan Plesch, military expert and a Research Fellow at the University of London, joining DAYBREAK live this morning. Thank you.

Just a reminder to all of you out there, we're soliciting your response this morning to the situation in Fallujah where, of course, U.S. Marines have been battling the insurgents. Send your opinions to DAYBREAK@CNN.com, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

All right. Our senior international editor David Clinch is here with us now.

There's really a lot going on this morning.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Carol. Yes, it's fascinating stuff. I mean just in Iraq, for instance, we were talking to the expert there and what we're seeing on the ground today, both the military aspect and the political aspect going full guns today.

We're somewhere between the two most interesting phases that came out -- phrases that came out during the day yesterday that I thought were very interesting. Donald Rumsfeld saying that the people on the ground in Baghdad telling him that the negotiations in both Fallujah and Najaf were -- quote -- "worth a try." But on the other hand, he was also emphasizing, the U.S. military emphasizing in leaflets they dropped in Fallujah yesterday that any insurgent that didn't give up their weapons had lived their last day. So we are somewhere between those two things.

The political situation, both in Fallujah and Najaf, very hard to read. It's very difficult for us to know at a distance exactly who is talking to who in Fallujah or Najaf. It's not clear to us whether anybody is listening in either place. So we'll be watching closely.

And in fact, we have sent our Jane Arraf down towards Najaf today. We have been watching this situation in Fallujah for the last few days. We think it's time to take a closer look in Najaf as well. So Jane is going down with the 1st ID down to around Najaf. And we need to be clear there as well, they are in the environs of the city, not in the city itself. So interesting stuff in both locations there as well.

And the situation in Syria, we've got Brent Sadler in Damascus today. A country that hasn't seen terrorism in quite some time, apparently the victim of at least an attempted terrorist attack in Damascus yesterday. Just a very interesting regional pattern there. You had Syria yesterday, we had Jordan within the last few days saying they diverted a massive terrorist attack, Saudi Arabia dealing with terrorism, so the whole region somewhat nervous.

COSTELLO: You know and I would say that many Americans would wonder why terrorists would attack Syria because many Americans have such a negative feeling towards that country.

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: But after 9/11, Syria did help the United States a little.

CLINCH: Right. Again, somewhere sort of in between the idea that these countries are getting a taste of the same kind of al Qaeda terrorism that the United States and others have had and they are having to deal with that and those countries themselves saying this wouldn't be happening if the U.S. wasn't right here in the region in Iraq. So again, fascinating stuff.

In those countries, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, that debate is going on right now, are they the victims of al Qaeda, along with the United States, or is this caused by the United States. Very interesting stuff. COSTELLO: Interesting. David Clinch, many thanks to you.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: In this country, Monday's death of an 8-year-old girl shocked and saddened a Georgia community. Now residents are dealing with something just as hard to imagine, the arrest of a 12-year-old in the girl's murder.

CNN's Eric Philips reports from Carrollton, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yellow police tape surrounds the area where the body of 8-year-old Amy Michelle Yates was found, a small shrine growing nearby in her memory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A piece of me is gone and it can't be returned.

PHILIPS: What's worse for family and friends, news of who authorities believe killed Amy.

SHERIFF TERRY LANGLEY, CARROLL COUNTY, GEORGIA: We are at this time charging a local 12-year-old male with her murder.

PHILIPS: The two youngsters lived only doors apart at the Twin Oaks Mobile Home Park here in Carrollton, Georgia. Investigators allege the 12-year-old strangled Amy with his bare hands.

LANGLEY: We believe that he is responsible for murdering her and we believe he acted alone at this point.

PHILIPS: Police say Amy left home on her bike around 5:00 on Monday afternoon. She was going to a friend's house in the same trailer park but never showed up. Soon her bike was spotted, but it would be hours before authorities would find her body in nearby woods.

Jean Gossett (ph) says the 8-year-old was heading to her house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not right, it just hurts. This -- it shouldn't have happened.

PHILIPS: The 12-year-old is being held in a local youth detention center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, in my eyes, he was still a child. I mean I never would have thought that anything like this could have happened.

PHILIPS: Counselors were on hand at Amy's elementary school to try and make sense out of all of this for her classmates. But even adults are having difficulty coming to terms with what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was -- this is the most tragic loss I've ever had to endure. It just doesn't make any sense. PHILIPS: Eric Philips, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And just ahead on DAYBREAK, several hostages are still being held in Iraq, American, Japanese and Italian. We'll get some inside analysis on the Italian hostage situation in our next hour.

This is DAYBREAK for Wednesday, April 28.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is -- it is 5:48 Eastern Time. Here is what is all new this morning.

Religious leaders from across Iraq are heading to Fallujah today to discuss the two-week standoff in that city. The meetings come a day after U.S. warplanes hit an ammunition site.

The bodies of three soldiers who were recovered from the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter in South Carolina. The Black Hawk went down in bad weather on Monday night during a training flight.

In money news, there are just two more "Friends" episodes left. NBC is making some big money on ads for the May 10 finale. A 30- second spot is fetching $2 million. Two million bucks for 30 seconds. That's a big-time record.

In sports, NBA playoffs and the Minnesota Timberwolves take a three games to one lead over the Denver Nuggets thanks to a dominating performance by Kevin Garnett. Garnett had 27 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

In culture, "Her Name is Barbara." That's what Barbara Streisand is calling her upcoming memorabilia auction. On June 5, hundreds of Barbara's bobbles will be sold to raise money for charity.

First in line, I bet, will be none other than Chad Myers.

MYERS: Right there, Carol, with my paddle in the air.

Good morning, everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.

Understanding democracy in a place where it never existed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democracy means how to respect people's ideas and thoughts.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Iraqi students try to grasp freedom of speech and a new democratic country. Just ahead, why the looming presence of Saddam is making the transition difficult.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: At first glance, high schoolers in Iraq may seem like those from any country, they attend classes, play ball, joke with their friends, but Iraqi students share a legacy now symbolized by a nail in the wall.

CNN's Walter Rodgers has more on this story from Baghdad.

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WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the best and brightest in the new Iraq, high school students, confident, yet confused, street smart, yet naive. Their whole universe must now be reconstructed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about democracy in Iraq? Can we speak about democracy in Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democracy means how to respect -- how to respect people's ideas and thoughts, how to respect their manners.

RODGERS: Until last year, these young people lived under tyranny and fear. Parents warned them never say anything about Saddam, never. Even now, classrooms have a lone nail, the stark reminder a picture of Saddam Hussein used to hang here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just looking at the Saddam picture, like yes, and I was just saying you know damn you, Saddam, I hate you. Why did you make my life so miserable?

RODGERS: Leith then said another boy, a Saddam loyalist, threatened to report him to police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I was afraid. He didn't -- I knew that he -- if the time came, they wouldn't hesitate to kill me.

RODGERS: Iraqi students laugh more now, yet they have grown up knowing little but violence and wars. Their knowledge of the outside world is limited.

(on camera): There are no political science textbooks in Iraq. That was the world according to Saddam and those books have been burned. Still, there is much Iraqi students have to unlearn and some things they will never forget.

(voice-over): Virtually every one here remembers someone Saddam had killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not forget the moment that they have killed somebody next to our local area. They shot him in the forehead. RODGERS: It's U.S. helicopters that frighten students now. Most stay off the streets, afraid of American soldiers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They treat people badly.

RODGERS: How?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They push them, they crush everything when they break into the houses.

RODGERS: Without questioning, students now believe it's U.S. soldiers who imprison Iraqi girls to make them pregnant like Saddam's people did. Iraqi students still seem to prefer conspiracies to truth, a reality unchanged by the departure of Saddam.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

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COSTELLO: Thank you, Walter.

We're getting some fascinating e-mails this morning from you, our viewers. The question was should U.S. Marines fight it out in Fallujah or should they continue to talk?

These are some of the responses that we got this morning.

This is from Lynn (ph) from Silver Spring, Maryland. She says I am not a soldier, nor do I have any relatives in Iraq. My house, however, adorns yellow ribbons and U.S. flags. As much as it breaks my heart when I turn CNN on every morning to hear of the American soldiers who have died, I think we need to get this done and go in with all the force we can muster. Enough talk.

This from Jerry (ph) from Memphis, Tennessee. He says winning isn't just killing everyone on the other side, they are fighting desperate people with no employment and no political future who have nothing left to lose. There will be no victory unless religious leaders can convince them they have a future instead of facing a deadline.

And this from Russ (ph) from Fletcher, North Carolina. He says should we take Fallujah? That's a no-brainer. How does America or our troops have any credibility if we do not? If they want to fight, then give them one. No limits, no holding back and I guarantee you as soon as Fallujah is gone your insurgents will be asking us where do we sign up to stop the fighting.

Keep them coming, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

Also ahead in our next hour, details on talks of a two-week standoff between U.S. Marines and Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah. We're going to bring you the latest information from inside Iraq.

And another perspective, how Arabic TV is covering the U.S. presence in Iraq and the ongoing insurgency. How did Arab TV cover that fight in Fallujah yesterday?

We'll have all that and much more in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

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COSTELLO: Fallujah under fire, a two-week standoff escalates into shock and awe.

It's Wednesday, April 28. This is DAYBREAK.

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