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American Morning
General John Abizaid Holds Press Briefing; Michael Jackson Case
Aired April 30, 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: U.S. Marines in Iraq say that they have begun to pull back from parts of Fallujah in a tentative deal to transfer power to Iraqi forces. It comes after a week's long siege there. There are some new pictures you're looking at showing the damage in Fallujah. Military sources say they believe Iraqi troops may have better luck persuading insurgents to disarm.
We expect to get an update from the coalition in just a moment from Qatar. We're going to bring that to you live whenever that happens.
An historic session before the 9/11 Commission being described as somewhat predictable but productive by commission sources. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the panel for some three hours in the Oval Office yesterday. Sources say the President noted that of the intelligence leading up to 9/11, most of it suggested that al Qaeda was planning attacks on U.S. interests overseas.
NASA describing the landing of a Russian rocket in Kazakhstan as flawless today. The Russian Soyuz spacecraft bringing up crewmembers from the International Space Station, a Russian and an American who spent six months in space. A Dutchman also hitched a ride following a nine-day space mission.
And emergency crews in California working to contain an oil spill. But officials say it is not as bad as was first thought. A diesel pipeline owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners burst earlier this week. It could be back in service as early as today.
HEMMER: Yes. About 9:02 now here in New York.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: We're waiting on this live briefing that we've been talking about, this update on the latest out of Iraq coming to us from General John Abizaid. He's expected to start speaking really just momentarily live from Qatar this morning. And of course, Bill, there are many questions that need to be answered. We're talking about what's been happening in Fallujah and the latest in the last 24, 48 hours.
Big advances there. And then, of course, the violence in Najaf. This is John Abizaid taking the podium. Let's listen in.
O'BRIEN: We'll talk for just a little bit about what we expect to hear this morning. And then we'll expect them once they get... HEMMER: The ugly side of television there.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's what makes it look perfect when he actually gets up there and starts talking. But as we were talking about, there's a ton for him to discuss today. And I think the reporters we'll be asking many questions.
HEMMER: And two critical questions here. What happens in Fallujah with these Iraqi generals? Can they broker some sort of truce? If the Iraqis go patrolling throughout the city, can they be effective in finding the insurgents, getting them to put down their weapons?
Then in Najaf, Muqtada al-Sadr showed up at a mosque today for Friday prayers. That was a surprise. Many people didn't expect him to come there. We talked with a reporter earlier today and she said he came there to try to recruit more support for his private militia there to give support to get the coalition out of not just Najaf, but the entire country of Iraq.
O'BRIEN: And then, of course, reports that some of the insurgents in Fallujah may actually have escaped into Ramada, which would, of course, put the question to, is the fight being held back for just another day or -- you know, and the question of how many people are going to be part of this Fallujah brigade, which is what the four generals, Iraqi generals are proposing. How many of them have actually been gunmen originally in this insurgent group that's been attacking the U.S. Marines?
I mean, so many questions. And it sounds like there's a lot of hope coming out of the area maybe because there are not so many good options.
All of this coming with the backdrop of the month of April, the deadliest of dates for U.S. troops there in Iraq. Also, the Pentagon reporters participating in this briefing. They'll be asking questions in D.C. The other reports in Qatar.
Let's start now with General Abizaid.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CENTRAL COMMAND: Good afternoon from Qatar. Good morning to those of you who are in Washington, D.C. And I would like to say I'm just back from a trip to Afghanistan. And recently, last week, back from a trip that I took to Iraq, where, of course, I went to Fallujah and other places.
So I have reasonably current information that I'd like to share with you. But first, I'd like to take about 10 minutes worth of your time and go over where we have been conducting operations for the past month.
So I know the Pentagon press corps does not like military briefings, but I'm going to give you a quick one anyway. And then we'll go to questions.
So if I could have the first slide, please. As all of you know, the U.S. Central Command area of operations is one of the most active in the world with regard to terrorist activities and counterterrorist operations by friendly forces that operate in the area. And when I say "friendly forces," I don't only mean the friendly forces of the United States of America, but of our many partner nations that continue to conduct actions to destroy terrorists that they find in their area.
And as you look at this map and you see the various activities that have happened since January, you can see that there are not only a lot of incidents and counterterrorist operations going on, but what you can't see here is the web of money, recruits, information operations campaigns and other connecting activity that links these activities one to the other, nation to nation, in a borderless war against not only the United States of America but, more importantly, against each and every one of the nations in the regions.
And if we were to look at a broader world map, we would see the same sort of activity in places certainly as far distanced as Spain. And if we were to extend our timeframe, we certainly know that the people here who are operating in the Middle East and conducting operations here are also conducting them against us in our own country, as we know from September 11.
This extremist ideology that is led by people like Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri, Zarqawi, shown up in groups like al Qaeda, Ansar al- Islam, et cetera, they desire to not only overthrow the legitimate governments of the region, but also to cause multiple casualties on innocent people. And if you look at these attacks, the one thing that maybe at least should strike everybody is the attacks have been merciless against civilian targets. And, as you see, the targets in Muslim countries give a clear eye to the idea that their only target is the United States of America and western interests.
Next slide.
I know that over the past month we have talked an awful lot about operations primarily in Iraq, and for good reason, because the fighting in Iraq this month has been more intense than at any time since the major combat operations of March and April of last year. But we also have to remember that we're conducting operations in Afghanistan, and very successfully so.
We have a combined forces command in Afghanistan that's headquartered in Kabul. It's commanded by Lieutenant General Dave Barnow (ph). The primary formation that is under his command is the 25th Infantry Division that's stationed in Bagram Airfield to the north.
We also have the International Security and Assistance Force, which is a NATO formation commanded by Canadian Lieutenant General Hillier (ph). And you see here the number of forces of the United States in Afghanistan is up to 20,000. That's higher than normal because of the offensive operations we're conducting up along the border area, and it's also higher than normal because we're in the middle of a rotation between units of the 25th Infantry Division and the 10th Mountain Division.
The coalition contribution to the United States Operation Enduring Freedom there is 2,000. The two biggest formations that fight with us happen to be a Romanian infantry battalion and a French special operations battalion that do great work in the conduct of these operations.
The blue arrows here show you the primary focus of our operations primarily in the Kandahar area to defeat the remnants of the Taliban, and in and around the Gardez area on the Pakistani border area primarily to prevent the escape of al Qaeda forces that are being pushed out of Pakistan as a result of Pakistani operations, and also to defeat those elements of the Taliban and other anti-coalition forces that are working with al Qaeda in that area of Afghanistan.
Military operations in Afghanistan throughout the past several months have been successful despite many reports. Whenever you see some notion of attacks in Kandahar, Kabul or elsewhere, the situation is indeed under the control of coalition military forces. And President Karzai extends the influence of his government on a daily basis.
Let's go to the next slide.
It really shows you where the strategy of bringing stability to Afghanistan will actually pay off the most. It won't be in the military operations. Military operations are necessary to set the conditions for the return of the Afghan national government throughout the country. But in doing so, there are a series of provincial reconstruction teams in the building of the Afghan national army, which will speed reconstruction efforts and allow the government of Afghanistan to get Afghan military units into the interior and exercise greater control.
You can see here on the map a large number of different nations. I know it's probably busy, it's probably difficult for people to see on their television screens. But I imagine the Pentagon press corps there in Washington can notice that up in (UNINTELLIGIBLE), for example, we have a German PRT. And in Mazar-i-Sharif we have a British one.
It's our hope that over time NATO will take over more and more of the northern PRTs in an effort to extend NATO command and control into the northern regions and work in conjunction with the International Security and Assistance Force, which is also with NATO. So if I were to say strategically what are we trying to do in Afghanistan, I would summarize it by saying the American forces will conduct robust combat operations on the border area with Afghanistan and Pakistan, primarily to defeat al Qaeda, to destroy the remnants of the Taliban, and also to increase Afghan military capacity out there, to increase reconstruction efforts through provincial reconstruction teams throughout the country, and to internationalize that provincial reconstruction team effort to a greater and greater degree. And then, finally, to increase the capacity of the Afghan central government to control the security situation throughout the country. I believe the strategy is on track. I believe that President Karzai is pleased with the efforts that he has achieved to date. Certainly, there is much, much work to be done in Afghanistan. Certainly, the central government does not control all of the country.
There is a drug problem, there's a problem that also has to be dealt with, with certain individuals in the country that may believe that they have the right to maintain individual armies. But over time, this strategy to bring Afghanistan back into the responsible community of nations, where they do not support terrorism, is one that I think is working.
I'd also like to say that while I was in Afghanistan yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to 1st Lieutenant Dave Utman (ph) of the 1st Ranger Battalion -- of the Ranger Battalion. Maybe I've got the wrong Ranger battalion that he was with. He was the platoon leader of Pat Tillman.
I asked him yesterday how operations were going. I asked him about Pat Tillman. He said, "Pat Tillman was a great Ranger and a great soldier. And what more can I say about him?" And I'd say that about every one of those young men and women that are fighting not only in Afghanistan, but in Iraq.
I will also probably bear some understanding that that lieutenant I was talking to happened to be a former first captain of Corps of Cadets at West Point. And when he was talking to me, he was still nursing a large number of wounds that he sustained in that firefight where Pat Tillman lost his life.
These soldiers are fighting hard, they're fighting well, they're fighting courageously. And the only thing that the lieutenant could say to me is that he needed to get back in the field to his troops.
Let's turn to Iraq. Next slide.
In Iraq, I just want to go over the situation with regard to the positioning of coalition forces at the present time, because there have been a lot of changes, and it bears some repetition here so we know who's operating where.
First of all, you have General Rick Sanchez in charge of military operations in Baghdad. And within a month or so, we will transition his command of multinational force Iraq, and eventually we look to make that command a four-star multinational command. And we look forward to that being able to provide greater command and control capacity, not only for coalition forces, but also for Iraqi forces over time.
Up in the Kirkuk area, the 1st Infantry Division, the famous Big Red 1 is operating up there. Task force Olympia is the Stryker brigade, along with associated units from the Fort Lewis, Washington, area and elsewhere. They're doing a great job in the Mosul area.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force led by three-star General Conway, Jim Conway is fighting in the west and, indeed, it's in the west where we've had the most of our fighting. And we can talk about that to some degree.
In the central south section, you have the Polish division. The Polish division having three primary brigades: a polish, a Spanish and a Ukrainian brigade. And, of course, I think we all know that the Spanish brigade is in the immediate operation of withdrawing their forces, pulling them out of patrol duties, and moving them into containment areas eventually for their rapid re-deployment to Spain.
You see here south of Baghdad, the 1st Armored Division. The 1st Armored Division, until recently, under the command of Marty Dempsey, and still under the command of Marty Dempsey, was in charge of operations in the Baghdad city area. That's now under the command of Pete Corelli (ph) in the 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad.
As you know, the 1st Armored Division, along with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, was scheduled to go home during this time period. But as the security situation started to deteriorate with two major challenges to the stability of Iraq, it became obvious that it was necessary to leave that formation in the country in order to be able to operate against insurgent forces and to ensure that the lines of communication to all of the forces would remain open, and also to assist the multinational division center south -- down in the south.
At the current time, the 1st Armored Division has forces primarily south of Baghdad. And, of course, we know that the United Kingdom maintains a very robust presence down in the south.
They have a U.K. brigade and battalion brigade, a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) battle group. Coalition forces are around 25,000; U.S. forces about 138,000 in Iraq. Coalition forces and U.S. forces doing a good job there.
Next slide.
Now, I think that this slide will probably be difficult for you to see. It shows a lot of boxes, and these military boxes represent a lot of military units that are battalion strength Iraqi Civil Defense Corps units and Iraqi National Army Brigade headquarters units.
What's important for you to realize here is that in the security operations that took place during the month of April, a number of the units of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, a number of police units, and to a certain extent, some Iraqi National Army units, were unable to perform their missions. And you see the units in gray as being those units that are having to be reconstituted, retrained, and, to a certain extent, re-equipped.
I think the most important lesson that we've learned from this is we must have reliable Iraqi leadership all the way from the national level, down to the level of the lowest private in these organizations. When I say "reliable" I mean reliable and loyal to the Iraqi government and to the Iraqi people.
It's so important that they have a sense of fighting for their own country. And it is so important that we give them the opportunity to be trained and ready to stand up to the inevitable pressures that they will come under as Iraq moves back to full independence and sovereignty.
This having been said, the reconstitution effort is going on. Major General Dave Portrayas (ph), former commander of the 1st Airborne Division that was up in Mosul, has been given permission to reorganize the forces, to retrain them. And certainly, it's very, very important that new leadership be found for the units that failed in their mission, and that the entire force be looked over with an eye to making it more reliable, tougher, and loyal to the new Iraqi sovereign authority.
The most important thing I'd probably like to mention, however, is that if we look to the period since September, all the way up until present, there have been more Iraqi police, ICDC, and army personnel killed in the line of duty fighting for a new Iraq than there have been Americans. And this is something that should not be lost on any of us. And while it is difficult for them to stand up to some of the challenges and the intimidation of former regime elements, it is, nevertheless, important for all of us to understand that ultimately the battle for Iraq will be won by Iraqis.
Now, if we could go to the next slide.
This slide shows in the two shaded areas the two primary crises, security-wise, that we had to deal with in the month of April and that we will have to deal with, to a certain extent, in the month of May as well. You look in the area of Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, to a certain extent, up north into Samarra and Tikrit. This is primarily the area where former regime elements, especially in the Fallujah area, conducted operations against coalition security forces and where terrorist activities led by Zarqawi and where extremist organizations led by some of the most extreme religious elements of the country decided to fight against coalition forces.
Down in the south, the forces of the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr conducted operations that were aimed at hinging coalition forces and essentially taking over the Shia south. I'll talk about how things have evolved first with the next slide.
O'BRIEN: You've been listen to go a live briefing, an update on the latest in Iraq and Afghanistan, coming to you from the commander of the U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid, speaking from Qatar this morning. We are expecting that he will actually take some questions as well. And if he does indeed go to questions from the journalists who are there, we'll break back in with him.
HEMMER: In the meantime, there is other news to talk about. In a moment, pop star Michael Jackson back in court today. He makes another court appearance, and we'll hear the charges against him. A live report on what is happening there in California after this.
O'BRIEN: And a little boy makes a last special wish for his friends. We've got his inspiring story just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Time to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad.
Ted Koppel's "Nightline" on ABC will not be seen in seven markets today. The host plans to read the names of all the U.S. troops who have been killed in the Iraq war.
Sinclair Broadcast Group is preempting the show on seven stations. They say it's politically motivated. Four top executives of Sinclair have given contributions to President Bush's reelection campaign.
ABC says the program is an honor to our fallen soldiers. The question is, is the "Nightline" special a tribute? Is it a political statement? Is it a little of both?
Doreen in Cary, North Carolina says, "Gosh, I'm so glad that there is someone out there to help me decide what I can watch and what I can't. With so many choices, I get confused. I sure wouldn't want to watch anything to remind me that more than 700 people have been killed for reasons I still can't figure out."
Got to go, Jack. I'm off to find the Sinclair Group Broadcast Web site. I want to be sure they know my feelings on this."
Kevin in Naples, Florida, "Ted Koppel is above reproach. Anything with his name on it has journalistic integrity. The man has been a bastion of truth and information ever since the Iran hostage incident. I generally would be watching the rerun of 'Law & Order' at that time, but now thanks for mentioning it."
Michael in Huron, South Dakota, "Our fallen have already been honored by their families and communities. ABC only seeks ratings or a political agenda with their special. Congratulations, Koppel, you're doing more to destroy moral than any enemy possibly could."
Jacqueline writes: "I can't believe you have a job where you sit and ask for and read e-mails from people. And your views are so far left, and you make that obvious to everyone. I try to change the channel when I see you on. Get a real job!"
O'BRIEN: Wow! Half those people write that your views are so far the other way. Jacqueline, you're not listening all the time, clearly.
HEMMER: That means he's doing something right.
CAFFERTY: I won't be going to Jacqueline's for dinner.
O'BRIEN: And she's already changed the channel. It doesn't even matter.
Still to come this morning, a risky new high. Why what looks like a lollipop has sparked police investigations and worry about teenagers. That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: It's just exactly half-past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Tomorrow, the one-year anniversary of President Bush's speech declaring major combat over in Iraq. He's taken lots of heat since then. He's getting even more now. Jeff Greenfield is going to join us in just a little bit to talk about the political price for that speech.
HEMMER: Also, from California, a lot of attention today. Michael Jackson's arraignment is today. Fans lining up outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California. Many of them have been bussed in from other states, we are told.
O'BRIEN: Other nations, too.
HEMMER: Yes. We'll get a live update on what's happening there in a moment today.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our top stories, though, first this morning.
U.S. Marines in Iraq say they've begun to pull back from parts of Fallujah. The tentative deal to transfer power from Iraqi forces comes after about a month-long siege there.
Meanwhile, authorities in Najaf are trying to broker a similar agreement. The military there hopes the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps will take control of that city.
An historic session before the 9/11 Commission being described as somewhat predictable but productive, at the same time, by commission sources. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the panel for about three hours in the Oval Office yesterday. Sources also said the president noted that most of the intelligence leading up to 9/11 suggested that al Qaeda was planning attacks on U.S. interests overseas.
A California man who has served nearly 20 years in prison might be innocent. John Stoll was convicted back in 1984 on 17 counts of child molestation. But now, five witnesses have recanted their testimony. A current county judge will rule on the new evidence today.
And in Cuba, 13,000 chess players are hoping to beat the world record for the most people playing chess simultaneously. Former world chess champion Anatoli Karpov was among those who were participating yesterday. He made the first move on several of the chessboards. The gathering took place in Santa Clara, where revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevera is buried.
HEMMER: You've been to Cuba and so have I.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Never saw 13,000 chess players.
HEMMER: No. But you see a lot of them, though, in the parks there out on nice days there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In California, groups of Michael Jackson fans making their way to Santa Barbara County Superior Court, where Jackson will formally hear a charge from the grand jury against him. Today's court appearance related to a child molestation matter right now. Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria, California, now, where the sun has now come up.
Miguel, good morning.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sun is up. It's a very good sign out here. It means we're moving closer to that hearing. And I can tell you, it's a little different so far today than it was in January.
Fewer fans here. Probably more press here at this point. But officials here taking every precaution not to hear what happened last time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ (voice-over): They are lessons officials in Santa Maria, California, learned last time Jackson was in court. Fans pushed on makeshift barricades, media outnumbered uniformed officers, and crowds shut down traffic after an impromptu show.
DARREL PARKER, SANTA BARBARA SUPERIOR COURT: The last time, the crowds were pressing in against the fence. And what you saw was deputy sheriffs holding the fence up.
MARQUEZ: This time around, Santa Maria has fortified the fencing by sinking it into the asphalt. Brand new interlocking barricades surround the court complex, and the streets around it look more like they're prepared for a military onslaught than an arraignment.
PARKER: There is worldwide media attention here. So every precaution that you would assume you should take I believe has been taken.
MARQUEZ: Jackson will be arraigned on charges handed out by a grand jury. Whatever the charges are, they will supersede an earlier criminal complaint in which Jackson was charged with seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under 14, and two counts of serving alcohol to a minor to assist in the acts. By Jackson's side will be new counsel, Los Angeles attorney Thomas Mesereau.
THOMAS MESEREAU, MICHAEL JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: I'm not going to comment.
MARQUEZ: Mesereau, who recently parted ways with actor Robert Blake, took over Jackson's defense after the pop star broke with his high-profile, bicoastal legal team of Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman. Another change, the Nation of Islam will not provide security for the king of pop. Instead, says a defense source, a security company with a low-key appearance will be on hand. One thing not changing, Jackson supporters will be bussed in to show their love for the king of pop.
NAJEE ALI, MICHAEL JACKSON SUPPORTER: But we have buses leaving from Orange County, we have buses leaving from Nevada, and we have other buses that are leaving throughout southern California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, Michael Jackson has proclaimed his innocence throughout this entire affair, and he's expected to do the same thing today, pleading not guilty to whatever the judge reads him from that grand jury. You get a sense from his Web site just how his team is expecting today to go. They've asked his fans to obey court decorum -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, we'll be watching it from here. Thanks in California.
Soledad?
O'BRIEN: This is the last day of the bloodiest month for U.S. forces since the invasion of Iraq. Tomorrow, May 1, marks a years since President Bush declared major combat operations over during that speech on the aircraft carrier, Abraham Lincoln. Well, that speech has been used in TV ads by Democratic presidential nominee in waiting, Senator John Kerry, and other Democrats this week have also criticized President Bush's Iraq policy on the Senate floor.
A major part of the criticism was the "Mission Accomplished" banner that hung on the carrier Lincoln during the president's visit. Well, after the speech, the White House was forced to admit that it produced and paid for the banner. Officials first said the ship's crew had put it up.
Joining us this morning to talk about all of this is senior analyst Jeff Greenfield.
Nice to see you, as always. Lots to talk about.
One year ago, we saw the carrier, we saw the banner, we saw the speech. The president really spelled out the premise behind the war and also what he was looking forward to. What was that premise?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, I think that the premise both spoken and unspoken was that the swift military victory, accomplished with fewer troops than the Defense Department generals had wanted -- civilians said you'll need this many -- that that success was going to be accompanied by success in the postwar phase, the reconstruction phase, the rebuilding of Iraq and its move to democracy. And I think what we've seen is that, while the military premise was quite right -- it was a quick, decisive military victory with relatively few troops -- the lack of enough troops, even hawks are now saying really made the reconstruction much more difficult and much more costly. So while the premise "mission accomplished" was right, if all you're defining is a military accomplishment, the accomplishment of building a stable, getting to democracy Iraq, that mission wasn't and still hasn't been accomplished.
O'BRIEN: There are a zillion questions that are now coming out of Iraq. And one of them is how Iraq is going to end up. Theoretically, it could happen that the kind of government that the Iraqis want is really not the kind of government that the administration wants.
GREENFIELD: You know, we've been talking about this on and off for months, that the whole idea of getting toward a, "democratic Iraq" may produce a result that is not at all in the United States' interest. You've had -- I think we've had Fareed Zacari (ph) on, who talks about the liberal democracy. And here's what he's worried about -- and particularly with Iraq.
Let's say you have a free election in which the Shiite majority, 60 percent of the country, establishes something like an Islamic republic. Well, it's a democracy in the sense that majority rules. Will they protect minority rights? Will they protect the Kurds in Kurdistan? Will they make common calls with the Shiites in Iran? Will they continue to subsidize terrorist groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah?
So, in other words, the idea that we're moving toward a democracy, if that's right, doesn't tell you we're moving toward a result that is supposed to do what this war was to accomplish, to re- stage the Middle East terrain to make it less unstable, less prone to support terrorism. That word "democracy" is very tricky.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about a New York Times-CBS poll that came out just yesterday. It showed that the president's approval rating is at 46 percent. That's down from 71 percent back in March, when the war -- March of last year, when the war had started. Obviously, we have seen the rating go up and down.
GREENFIELD: Right.
O'BRIEN: What do these numbers tell us, do you think?
GREENFIELD: I think the real numbers to look at is what people are going to say about the basis for going to war in the first place. I mean, at the risk of quoting myself -- but who better?
O'BRIEN: Can you do that?
GREENFIELD: No. We were talking months ago about the fact that the people are going to judge the entrance of the war through the prism of what has happened. The more things go well in Iraq, the more people are going to say, all right, no weapons of mass destruction, we can accept that, because the results were good.
The more it looks like a quagmire, more and more American deaths and the United States seems to be in a no-win situation, that's when people are going to say, should we have gone in the first place? Were we given the straight scoop?
One of the war hawks on Iraq who was for this war is now saying, you know, I'm glad -- I think we should have gone in, but the administration didn't level with us. And those are the numbers that I think I'll be looking at. I know I'll be looking at in the next few months, are people going to recalculate their assessment of whether we should have gone in the first place.
O'BRIEN: It all depends on what happens in the end, doesn't it?
GREENFIELD: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: As always, Jeff Greenfield, thanks. Appreciate it.
Still to come, a big deal on Wall Street. It's about Google mania. How can you get a piece of the biggest IPO in years? We'll explain.
HEMMER: Also, the inspiring story of a boy whose last wish was a gift for his friends. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Our weekly "Extra Effort" series pays tribute to those who go the extra mile to help others. And this morning it's a posthumous profile.
Nine-year-old Mak Shulist died three weeks ago from a rare brain tumor. Despite losing his sight and the ability to do many of the things he loved, Mak's final days are remembered for an unforgettable act of kindness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Mak Shulist loved to laugh. And at nine years old, almost more than anything else, he loved to play on the playground. For a little boy who was athletic and sociable, it was one of the best places he could ever be.
But those who loved him will tell you something else about Mak. He was kind and he was caring.
In the final weeks of his life, Mak had a chance through the Make a Wish Foundation to make a dream come true. Some children want to meet a celebrity or take a trip. But Mak wished for a rock-climbing wall for his elementary school, a place where kids could play and laugh a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I want to jump down.
O'BRIEN: His schoolmates played on the climbing wall for the first time on April 8, the day before Mak died. His kindness has touched them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could have wished for anything like to meet the president, anything he wants. He wished this for us. (END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: I recently spoke with Mak Shulist's mother, Judi, and I asked her about her son's dying wish.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDI SHULIST, MAK'S MOTHER: When we actually first talked about the wish, it didn't seem like a remarkable thing. We talked about it as the wish being something that we wouldn't normally do. And so the whole idea of building something on the playground just seemed pretty remarkable. So I guess at the time it didn't focus or zero in on me that it was anything extraordinary or unique.
O'BRIEN: Was he able to understand the thank you? Did he have a sense this project was coming to fruition and how grateful everybody was for what he had done?
SHULIST: He did. The time that it got very difficult to understand what he did was really just the very kind of last day or so. Up until that point, we had signals from him and understood.
He clearly heard us. So I think it was really just toward the very last day that we weren't completely sure.
O'BRIEN: The story, as you well know, was told locally. And then it was told sort of regionally. And then it became national and, to some degree, international as well. Has that surprised you, the impact that your little boy's life has had, and really his final gesture?
SHULIST: Surreal is the word that I used a lot over the last few weeks. It was always something I thought, oh, it will be in some little community paper, if anything. I never ever would have anticipated where it's gone from there and the reach that it's has.
And we sort of wound of riding the wave, I think of it, because every day something new and more unexpected happened. And it continued to grow. And it wound up in a way that my husband and I certainly never expected being comforting, because so many of us often wonder what is our purpose on this Earth, how many people do we touch? Do we leave anything good behind? And while we never get all of those answers, we certainly got one amazing glimpse of what Mak was able to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Yes, she did. Judy Shulist says she hopes that Mak's rock climbing wall teaches kids that giving is one of the best things you can do.
Bill?
HEMMER: A nice message, too, Soledad. Thanks.
In a moment here, Google s going public. Wall Street is buzzing about this deal. What you need to know to get in on the action. Andy has got that after this. And Jack, too, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All right. The mania is among us on Wall Street: Google mania. A check of that and the market open. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" here on a Friday morning.
Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Good morning -- indeed.
HEMMER: Down day yesterday?
SERWER: Yes, but an up day this morning.
The pullback in Fallujah seems to be pulling up stocks. Up 16, you can see that there.
What's happening this morning, Procter & Gamble, pride of Cincinnati, announcing earnings. The stock is up nicely.
Same, too, with Chevron, the giant oil company. It's stock is up $1.35.
A lot happening this weekend. Of course, the Kentucky Derby.
Another thing, Winn-Dixie, some sad news. The large supermarket chain in the South cutting 156 stores. Then thousand jobs cut. That's going to put us in the hole for this month for starting off.
All right. Let's talk about Google. That is the big news on Wall Street right now.
Of course, they are going public. You probably heard, $2.7 billion initial public offering. They're doing things different, the two guys, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. If you don't know them, you will, because they're billionaires. They'll probably be buying sports teams in a couple of years.
They're only 30, 31 years old. Seriously. I mean, these are the kind of people...
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Here's another thing. These guys do think differently. Here is what they said in their prospectus.
"A management team distracted by a series of short-term targets is at pointless as a dieter stepping on a scale every half-hour." In other words, we're not going to pay attention to Wall Street every 50 seconds. We're going to do things our way.
And the interesting thing here, of course, is this Dutch auction. It's not going to be a regular IPO. What does that mean? It means you're going to be able to bid on the price of where you think the shares are.
Ordinary investors can get in. You need to open an account at a Morgan Stanley or a CFSB. It's not for those who are connected. You just have to be smart.
You guess what the price is. Then later the company comes back and picks the highest bidders. If you're one of those higher bidders, you'll be able to get in on the action.
Of course, you may be bidding too much. It's just like an auction, and we'll be talking about this over the coming weeks because it's not going to happen for a couple of months.
HEMMER: It is interesting.
SERWER: It really, really is.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: The first soap that floats, by the way, Ivory Soap...
SERWER: Procter & Gamble.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
Next hour here on CNN, Michael Jackson back in court about a half an hour, hour and a half, actually, from now. Full coverage with Daryn Kagan on that next hour.
We're back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: You have a good weekend. You, also, Jack. All right?
CAFFERTY: Oh, is it Friday already? I lost time.
SERWER: Checking his watch.
HEMMER: Here is Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center.
Aired April 30, 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: U.S. Marines in Iraq say that they have begun to pull back from parts of Fallujah in a tentative deal to transfer power to Iraqi forces. It comes after a week's long siege there. There are some new pictures you're looking at showing the damage in Fallujah. Military sources say they believe Iraqi troops may have better luck persuading insurgents to disarm.
We expect to get an update from the coalition in just a moment from Qatar. We're going to bring that to you live whenever that happens.
An historic session before the 9/11 Commission being described as somewhat predictable but productive by commission sources. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the panel for some three hours in the Oval Office yesterday. Sources say the President noted that of the intelligence leading up to 9/11, most of it suggested that al Qaeda was planning attacks on U.S. interests overseas.
NASA describing the landing of a Russian rocket in Kazakhstan as flawless today. The Russian Soyuz spacecraft bringing up crewmembers from the International Space Station, a Russian and an American who spent six months in space. A Dutchman also hitched a ride following a nine-day space mission.
And emergency crews in California working to contain an oil spill. But officials say it is not as bad as was first thought. A diesel pipeline owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners burst earlier this week. It could be back in service as early as today.
HEMMER: Yes. About 9:02 now here in New York.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: We're waiting on this live briefing that we've been talking about, this update on the latest out of Iraq coming to us from General John Abizaid. He's expected to start speaking really just momentarily live from Qatar this morning. And of course, Bill, there are many questions that need to be answered. We're talking about what's been happening in Fallujah and the latest in the last 24, 48 hours.
Big advances there. And then, of course, the violence in Najaf. This is John Abizaid taking the podium. Let's listen in.
O'BRIEN: We'll talk for just a little bit about what we expect to hear this morning. And then we'll expect them once they get... HEMMER: The ugly side of television there.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's what makes it look perfect when he actually gets up there and starts talking. But as we were talking about, there's a ton for him to discuss today. And I think the reporters we'll be asking many questions.
HEMMER: And two critical questions here. What happens in Fallujah with these Iraqi generals? Can they broker some sort of truce? If the Iraqis go patrolling throughout the city, can they be effective in finding the insurgents, getting them to put down their weapons?
Then in Najaf, Muqtada al-Sadr showed up at a mosque today for Friday prayers. That was a surprise. Many people didn't expect him to come there. We talked with a reporter earlier today and she said he came there to try to recruit more support for his private militia there to give support to get the coalition out of not just Najaf, but the entire country of Iraq.
O'BRIEN: And then, of course, reports that some of the insurgents in Fallujah may actually have escaped into Ramada, which would, of course, put the question to, is the fight being held back for just another day or -- you know, and the question of how many people are going to be part of this Fallujah brigade, which is what the four generals, Iraqi generals are proposing. How many of them have actually been gunmen originally in this insurgent group that's been attacking the U.S. Marines?
I mean, so many questions. And it sounds like there's a lot of hope coming out of the area maybe because there are not so many good options.
All of this coming with the backdrop of the month of April, the deadliest of dates for U.S. troops there in Iraq. Also, the Pentagon reporters participating in this briefing. They'll be asking questions in D.C. The other reports in Qatar.
Let's start now with General Abizaid.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CENTRAL COMMAND: Good afternoon from Qatar. Good morning to those of you who are in Washington, D.C. And I would like to say I'm just back from a trip to Afghanistan. And recently, last week, back from a trip that I took to Iraq, where, of course, I went to Fallujah and other places.
So I have reasonably current information that I'd like to share with you. But first, I'd like to take about 10 minutes worth of your time and go over where we have been conducting operations for the past month.
So I know the Pentagon press corps does not like military briefings, but I'm going to give you a quick one anyway. And then we'll go to questions.
So if I could have the first slide, please. As all of you know, the U.S. Central Command area of operations is one of the most active in the world with regard to terrorist activities and counterterrorist operations by friendly forces that operate in the area. And when I say "friendly forces," I don't only mean the friendly forces of the United States of America, but of our many partner nations that continue to conduct actions to destroy terrorists that they find in their area.
And as you look at this map and you see the various activities that have happened since January, you can see that there are not only a lot of incidents and counterterrorist operations going on, but what you can't see here is the web of money, recruits, information operations campaigns and other connecting activity that links these activities one to the other, nation to nation, in a borderless war against not only the United States of America but, more importantly, against each and every one of the nations in the regions.
And if we were to look at a broader world map, we would see the same sort of activity in places certainly as far distanced as Spain. And if we were to extend our timeframe, we certainly know that the people here who are operating in the Middle East and conducting operations here are also conducting them against us in our own country, as we know from September 11.
This extremist ideology that is led by people like Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri, Zarqawi, shown up in groups like al Qaeda, Ansar al- Islam, et cetera, they desire to not only overthrow the legitimate governments of the region, but also to cause multiple casualties on innocent people. And if you look at these attacks, the one thing that maybe at least should strike everybody is the attacks have been merciless against civilian targets. And, as you see, the targets in Muslim countries give a clear eye to the idea that their only target is the United States of America and western interests.
Next slide.
I know that over the past month we have talked an awful lot about operations primarily in Iraq, and for good reason, because the fighting in Iraq this month has been more intense than at any time since the major combat operations of March and April of last year. But we also have to remember that we're conducting operations in Afghanistan, and very successfully so.
We have a combined forces command in Afghanistan that's headquartered in Kabul. It's commanded by Lieutenant General Dave Barnow (ph). The primary formation that is under his command is the 25th Infantry Division that's stationed in Bagram Airfield to the north.
We also have the International Security and Assistance Force, which is a NATO formation commanded by Canadian Lieutenant General Hillier (ph). And you see here the number of forces of the United States in Afghanistan is up to 20,000. That's higher than normal because of the offensive operations we're conducting up along the border area, and it's also higher than normal because we're in the middle of a rotation between units of the 25th Infantry Division and the 10th Mountain Division.
The coalition contribution to the United States Operation Enduring Freedom there is 2,000. The two biggest formations that fight with us happen to be a Romanian infantry battalion and a French special operations battalion that do great work in the conduct of these operations.
The blue arrows here show you the primary focus of our operations primarily in the Kandahar area to defeat the remnants of the Taliban, and in and around the Gardez area on the Pakistani border area primarily to prevent the escape of al Qaeda forces that are being pushed out of Pakistan as a result of Pakistani operations, and also to defeat those elements of the Taliban and other anti-coalition forces that are working with al Qaeda in that area of Afghanistan.
Military operations in Afghanistan throughout the past several months have been successful despite many reports. Whenever you see some notion of attacks in Kandahar, Kabul or elsewhere, the situation is indeed under the control of coalition military forces. And President Karzai extends the influence of his government on a daily basis.
Let's go to the next slide.
It really shows you where the strategy of bringing stability to Afghanistan will actually pay off the most. It won't be in the military operations. Military operations are necessary to set the conditions for the return of the Afghan national government throughout the country. But in doing so, there are a series of provincial reconstruction teams in the building of the Afghan national army, which will speed reconstruction efforts and allow the government of Afghanistan to get Afghan military units into the interior and exercise greater control.
You can see here on the map a large number of different nations. I know it's probably busy, it's probably difficult for people to see on their television screens. But I imagine the Pentagon press corps there in Washington can notice that up in (UNINTELLIGIBLE), for example, we have a German PRT. And in Mazar-i-Sharif we have a British one.
It's our hope that over time NATO will take over more and more of the northern PRTs in an effort to extend NATO command and control into the northern regions and work in conjunction with the International Security and Assistance Force, which is also with NATO. So if I were to say strategically what are we trying to do in Afghanistan, I would summarize it by saying the American forces will conduct robust combat operations on the border area with Afghanistan and Pakistan, primarily to defeat al Qaeda, to destroy the remnants of the Taliban, and also to increase Afghan military capacity out there, to increase reconstruction efforts through provincial reconstruction teams throughout the country, and to internationalize that provincial reconstruction team effort to a greater and greater degree. And then, finally, to increase the capacity of the Afghan central government to control the security situation throughout the country. I believe the strategy is on track. I believe that President Karzai is pleased with the efforts that he has achieved to date. Certainly, there is much, much work to be done in Afghanistan. Certainly, the central government does not control all of the country.
There is a drug problem, there's a problem that also has to be dealt with, with certain individuals in the country that may believe that they have the right to maintain individual armies. But over time, this strategy to bring Afghanistan back into the responsible community of nations, where they do not support terrorism, is one that I think is working.
I'd also like to say that while I was in Afghanistan yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to 1st Lieutenant Dave Utman (ph) of the 1st Ranger Battalion -- of the Ranger Battalion. Maybe I've got the wrong Ranger battalion that he was with. He was the platoon leader of Pat Tillman.
I asked him yesterday how operations were going. I asked him about Pat Tillman. He said, "Pat Tillman was a great Ranger and a great soldier. And what more can I say about him?" And I'd say that about every one of those young men and women that are fighting not only in Afghanistan, but in Iraq.
I will also probably bear some understanding that that lieutenant I was talking to happened to be a former first captain of Corps of Cadets at West Point. And when he was talking to me, he was still nursing a large number of wounds that he sustained in that firefight where Pat Tillman lost his life.
These soldiers are fighting hard, they're fighting well, they're fighting courageously. And the only thing that the lieutenant could say to me is that he needed to get back in the field to his troops.
Let's turn to Iraq. Next slide.
In Iraq, I just want to go over the situation with regard to the positioning of coalition forces at the present time, because there have been a lot of changes, and it bears some repetition here so we know who's operating where.
First of all, you have General Rick Sanchez in charge of military operations in Baghdad. And within a month or so, we will transition his command of multinational force Iraq, and eventually we look to make that command a four-star multinational command. And we look forward to that being able to provide greater command and control capacity, not only for coalition forces, but also for Iraqi forces over time.
Up in the Kirkuk area, the 1st Infantry Division, the famous Big Red 1 is operating up there. Task force Olympia is the Stryker brigade, along with associated units from the Fort Lewis, Washington, area and elsewhere. They're doing a great job in the Mosul area.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force led by three-star General Conway, Jim Conway is fighting in the west and, indeed, it's in the west where we've had the most of our fighting. And we can talk about that to some degree.
In the central south section, you have the Polish division. The Polish division having three primary brigades: a polish, a Spanish and a Ukrainian brigade. And, of course, I think we all know that the Spanish brigade is in the immediate operation of withdrawing their forces, pulling them out of patrol duties, and moving them into containment areas eventually for their rapid re-deployment to Spain.
You see here south of Baghdad, the 1st Armored Division. The 1st Armored Division, until recently, under the command of Marty Dempsey, and still under the command of Marty Dempsey, was in charge of operations in the Baghdad city area. That's now under the command of Pete Corelli (ph) in the 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad.
As you know, the 1st Armored Division, along with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, was scheduled to go home during this time period. But as the security situation started to deteriorate with two major challenges to the stability of Iraq, it became obvious that it was necessary to leave that formation in the country in order to be able to operate against insurgent forces and to ensure that the lines of communication to all of the forces would remain open, and also to assist the multinational division center south -- down in the south.
At the current time, the 1st Armored Division has forces primarily south of Baghdad. And, of course, we know that the United Kingdom maintains a very robust presence down in the south.
They have a U.K. brigade and battalion brigade, a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) battle group. Coalition forces are around 25,000; U.S. forces about 138,000 in Iraq. Coalition forces and U.S. forces doing a good job there.
Next slide.
Now, I think that this slide will probably be difficult for you to see. It shows a lot of boxes, and these military boxes represent a lot of military units that are battalion strength Iraqi Civil Defense Corps units and Iraqi National Army Brigade headquarters units.
What's important for you to realize here is that in the security operations that took place during the month of April, a number of the units of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, a number of police units, and to a certain extent, some Iraqi National Army units, were unable to perform their missions. And you see the units in gray as being those units that are having to be reconstituted, retrained, and, to a certain extent, re-equipped.
I think the most important lesson that we've learned from this is we must have reliable Iraqi leadership all the way from the national level, down to the level of the lowest private in these organizations. When I say "reliable" I mean reliable and loyal to the Iraqi government and to the Iraqi people.
It's so important that they have a sense of fighting for their own country. And it is so important that we give them the opportunity to be trained and ready to stand up to the inevitable pressures that they will come under as Iraq moves back to full independence and sovereignty.
This having been said, the reconstitution effort is going on. Major General Dave Portrayas (ph), former commander of the 1st Airborne Division that was up in Mosul, has been given permission to reorganize the forces, to retrain them. And certainly, it's very, very important that new leadership be found for the units that failed in their mission, and that the entire force be looked over with an eye to making it more reliable, tougher, and loyal to the new Iraqi sovereign authority.
The most important thing I'd probably like to mention, however, is that if we look to the period since September, all the way up until present, there have been more Iraqi police, ICDC, and army personnel killed in the line of duty fighting for a new Iraq than there have been Americans. And this is something that should not be lost on any of us. And while it is difficult for them to stand up to some of the challenges and the intimidation of former regime elements, it is, nevertheless, important for all of us to understand that ultimately the battle for Iraq will be won by Iraqis.
Now, if we could go to the next slide.
This slide shows in the two shaded areas the two primary crises, security-wise, that we had to deal with in the month of April and that we will have to deal with, to a certain extent, in the month of May as well. You look in the area of Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, to a certain extent, up north into Samarra and Tikrit. This is primarily the area where former regime elements, especially in the Fallujah area, conducted operations against coalition security forces and where terrorist activities led by Zarqawi and where extremist organizations led by some of the most extreme religious elements of the country decided to fight against coalition forces.
Down in the south, the forces of the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr conducted operations that were aimed at hinging coalition forces and essentially taking over the Shia south. I'll talk about how things have evolved first with the next slide.
O'BRIEN: You've been listen to go a live briefing, an update on the latest in Iraq and Afghanistan, coming to you from the commander of the U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid, speaking from Qatar this morning. We are expecting that he will actually take some questions as well. And if he does indeed go to questions from the journalists who are there, we'll break back in with him.
HEMMER: In the meantime, there is other news to talk about. In a moment, pop star Michael Jackson back in court today. He makes another court appearance, and we'll hear the charges against him. A live report on what is happening there in California after this.
O'BRIEN: And a little boy makes a last special wish for his friends. We've got his inspiring story just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Time to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad.
Ted Koppel's "Nightline" on ABC will not be seen in seven markets today. The host plans to read the names of all the U.S. troops who have been killed in the Iraq war.
Sinclair Broadcast Group is preempting the show on seven stations. They say it's politically motivated. Four top executives of Sinclair have given contributions to President Bush's reelection campaign.
ABC says the program is an honor to our fallen soldiers. The question is, is the "Nightline" special a tribute? Is it a political statement? Is it a little of both?
Doreen in Cary, North Carolina says, "Gosh, I'm so glad that there is someone out there to help me decide what I can watch and what I can't. With so many choices, I get confused. I sure wouldn't want to watch anything to remind me that more than 700 people have been killed for reasons I still can't figure out."
Got to go, Jack. I'm off to find the Sinclair Group Broadcast Web site. I want to be sure they know my feelings on this."
Kevin in Naples, Florida, "Ted Koppel is above reproach. Anything with his name on it has journalistic integrity. The man has been a bastion of truth and information ever since the Iran hostage incident. I generally would be watching the rerun of 'Law & Order' at that time, but now thanks for mentioning it."
Michael in Huron, South Dakota, "Our fallen have already been honored by their families and communities. ABC only seeks ratings or a political agenda with their special. Congratulations, Koppel, you're doing more to destroy moral than any enemy possibly could."
Jacqueline writes: "I can't believe you have a job where you sit and ask for and read e-mails from people. And your views are so far left, and you make that obvious to everyone. I try to change the channel when I see you on. Get a real job!"
O'BRIEN: Wow! Half those people write that your views are so far the other way. Jacqueline, you're not listening all the time, clearly.
HEMMER: That means he's doing something right.
CAFFERTY: I won't be going to Jacqueline's for dinner.
O'BRIEN: And she's already changed the channel. It doesn't even matter.
Still to come this morning, a risky new high. Why what looks like a lollipop has sparked police investigations and worry about teenagers. That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: It's just exactly half-past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Tomorrow, the one-year anniversary of President Bush's speech declaring major combat over in Iraq. He's taken lots of heat since then. He's getting even more now. Jeff Greenfield is going to join us in just a little bit to talk about the political price for that speech.
HEMMER: Also, from California, a lot of attention today. Michael Jackson's arraignment is today. Fans lining up outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California. Many of them have been bussed in from other states, we are told.
O'BRIEN: Other nations, too.
HEMMER: Yes. We'll get a live update on what's happening there in a moment today.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our top stories, though, first this morning.
U.S. Marines in Iraq say they've begun to pull back from parts of Fallujah. The tentative deal to transfer power from Iraqi forces comes after about a month-long siege there.
Meanwhile, authorities in Najaf are trying to broker a similar agreement. The military there hopes the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps will take control of that city.
An historic session before the 9/11 Commission being described as somewhat predictable but productive, at the same time, by commission sources. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the panel for about three hours in the Oval Office yesterday. Sources also said the president noted that most of the intelligence leading up to 9/11 suggested that al Qaeda was planning attacks on U.S. interests overseas.
A California man who has served nearly 20 years in prison might be innocent. John Stoll was convicted back in 1984 on 17 counts of child molestation. But now, five witnesses have recanted their testimony. A current county judge will rule on the new evidence today.
And in Cuba, 13,000 chess players are hoping to beat the world record for the most people playing chess simultaneously. Former world chess champion Anatoli Karpov was among those who were participating yesterday. He made the first move on several of the chessboards. The gathering took place in Santa Clara, where revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevera is buried.
HEMMER: You've been to Cuba and so have I.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Never saw 13,000 chess players.
HEMMER: No. But you see a lot of them, though, in the parks there out on nice days there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In California, groups of Michael Jackson fans making their way to Santa Barbara County Superior Court, where Jackson will formally hear a charge from the grand jury against him. Today's court appearance related to a child molestation matter right now. Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria, California, now, where the sun has now come up.
Miguel, good morning.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sun is up. It's a very good sign out here. It means we're moving closer to that hearing. And I can tell you, it's a little different so far today than it was in January.
Fewer fans here. Probably more press here at this point. But officials here taking every precaution not to hear what happened last time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ (voice-over): They are lessons officials in Santa Maria, California, learned last time Jackson was in court. Fans pushed on makeshift barricades, media outnumbered uniformed officers, and crowds shut down traffic after an impromptu show.
DARREL PARKER, SANTA BARBARA SUPERIOR COURT: The last time, the crowds were pressing in against the fence. And what you saw was deputy sheriffs holding the fence up.
MARQUEZ: This time around, Santa Maria has fortified the fencing by sinking it into the asphalt. Brand new interlocking barricades surround the court complex, and the streets around it look more like they're prepared for a military onslaught than an arraignment.
PARKER: There is worldwide media attention here. So every precaution that you would assume you should take I believe has been taken.
MARQUEZ: Jackson will be arraigned on charges handed out by a grand jury. Whatever the charges are, they will supersede an earlier criminal complaint in which Jackson was charged with seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under 14, and two counts of serving alcohol to a minor to assist in the acts. By Jackson's side will be new counsel, Los Angeles attorney Thomas Mesereau.
THOMAS MESEREAU, MICHAEL JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: I'm not going to comment.
MARQUEZ: Mesereau, who recently parted ways with actor Robert Blake, took over Jackson's defense after the pop star broke with his high-profile, bicoastal legal team of Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman. Another change, the Nation of Islam will not provide security for the king of pop. Instead, says a defense source, a security company with a low-key appearance will be on hand. One thing not changing, Jackson supporters will be bussed in to show their love for the king of pop.
NAJEE ALI, MICHAEL JACKSON SUPPORTER: But we have buses leaving from Orange County, we have buses leaving from Nevada, and we have other buses that are leaving throughout southern California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, Michael Jackson has proclaimed his innocence throughout this entire affair, and he's expected to do the same thing today, pleading not guilty to whatever the judge reads him from that grand jury. You get a sense from his Web site just how his team is expecting today to go. They've asked his fans to obey court decorum -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, we'll be watching it from here. Thanks in California.
Soledad?
O'BRIEN: This is the last day of the bloodiest month for U.S. forces since the invasion of Iraq. Tomorrow, May 1, marks a years since President Bush declared major combat operations over during that speech on the aircraft carrier, Abraham Lincoln. Well, that speech has been used in TV ads by Democratic presidential nominee in waiting, Senator John Kerry, and other Democrats this week have also criticized President Bush's Iraq policy on the Senate floor.
A major part of the criticism was the "Mission Accomplished" banner that hung on the carrier Lincoln during the president's visit. Well, after the speech, the White House was forced to admit that it produced and paid for the banner. Officials first said the ship's crew had put it up.
Joining us this morning to talk about all of this is senior analyst Jeff Greenfield.
Nice to see you, as always. Lots to talk about.
One year ago, we saw the carrier, we saw the banner, we saw the speech. The president really spelled out the premise behind the war and also what he was looking forward to. What was that premise?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, I think that the premise both spoken and unspoken was that the swift military victory, accomplished with fewer troops than the Defense Department generals had wanted -- civilians said you'll need this many -- that that success was going to be accompanied by success in the postwar phase, the reconstruction phase, the rebuilding of Iraq and its move to democracy. And I think what we've seen is that, while the military premise was quite right -- it was a quick, decisive military victory with relatively few troops -- the lack of enough troops, even hawks are now saying really made the reconstruction much more difficult and much more costly. So while the premise "mission accomplished" was right, if all you're defining is a military accomplishment, the accomplishment of building a stable, getting to democracy Iraq, that mission wasn't and still hasn't been accomplished.
O'BRIEN: There are a zillion questions that are now coming out of Iraq. And one of them is how Iraq is going to end up. Theoretically, it could happen that the kind of government that the Iraqis want is really not the kind of government that the administration wants.
GREENFIELD: You know, we've been talking about this on and off for months, that the whole idea of getting toward a, "democratic Iraq" may produce a result that is not at all in the United States' interest. You've had -- I think we've had Fareed Zacari (ph) on, who talks about the liberal democracy. And here's what he's worried about -- and particularly with Iraq.
Let's say you have a free election in which the Shiite majority, 60 percent of the country, establishes something like an Islamic republic. Well, it's a democracy in the sense that majority rules. Will they protect minority rights? Will they protect the Kurds in Kurdistan? Will they make common calls with the Shiites in Iran? Will they continue to subsidize terrorist groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah?
So, in other words, the idea that we're moving toward a democracy, if that's right, doesn't tell you we're moving toward a result that is supposed to do what this war was to accomplish, to re- stage the Middle East terrain to make it less unstable, less prone to support terrorism. That word "democracy" is very tricky.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about a New York Times-CBS poll that came out just yesterday. It showed that the president's approval rating is at 46 percent. That's down from 71 percent back in March, when the war -- March of last year, when the war had started. Obviously, we have seen the rating go up and down.
GREENFIELD: Right.
O'BRIEN: What do these numbers tell us, do you think?
GREENFIELD: I think the real numbers to look at is what people are going to say about the basis for going to war in the first place. I mean, at the risk of quoting myself -- but who better?
O'BRIEN: Can you do that?
GREENFIELD: No. We were talking months ago about the fact that the people are going to judge the entrance of the war through the prism of what has happened. The more things go well in Iraq, the more people are going to say, all right, no weapons of mass destruction, we can accept that, because the results were good.
The more it looks like a quagmire, more and more American deaths and the United States seems to be in a no-win situation, that's when people are going to say, should we have gone in the first place? Were we given the straight scoop?
One of the war hawks on Iraq who was for this war is now saying, you know, I'm glad -- I think we should have gone in, but the administration didn't level with us. And those are the numbers that I think I'll be looking at. I know I'll be looking at in the next few months, are people going to recalculate their assessment of whether we should have gone in the first place.
O'BRIEN: It all depends on what happens in the end, doesn't it?
GREENFIELD: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: As always, Jeff Greenfield, thanks. Appreciate it.
Still to come, a big deal on Wall Street. It's about Google mania. How can you get a piece of the biggest IPO in years? We'll explain.
HEMMER: Also, the inspiring story of a boy whose last wish was a gift for his friends. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Our weekly "Extra Effort" series pays tribute to those who go the extra mile to help others. And this morning it's a posthumous profile.
Nine-year-old Mak Shulist died three weeks ago from a rare brain tumor. Despite losing his sight and the ability to do many of the things he loved, Mak's final days are remembered for an unforgettable act of kindness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Mak Shulist loved to laugh. And at nine years old, almost more than anything else, he loved to play on the playground. For a little boy who was athletic and sociable, it was one of the best places he could ever be.
But those who loved him will tell you something else about Mak. He was kind and he was caring.
In the final weeks of his life, Mak had a chance through the Make a Wish Foundation to make a dream come true. Some children want to meet a celebrity or take a trip. But Mak wished for a rock-climbing wall for his elementary school, a place where kids could play and laugh a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I want to jump down.
O'BRIEN: His schoolmates played on the climbing wall for the first time on April 8, the day before Mak died. His kindness has touched them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could have wished for anything like to meet the president, anything he wants. He wished this for us. (END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: I recently spoke with Mak Shulist's mother, Judi, and I asked her about her son's dying wish.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDI SHULIST, MAK'S MOTHER: When we actually first talked about the wish, it didn't seem like a remarkable thing. We talked about it as the wish being something that we wouldn't normally do. And so the whole idea of building something on the playground just seemed pretty remarkable. So I guess at the time it didn't focus or zero in on me that it was anything extraordinary or unique.
O'BRIEN: Was he able to understand the thank you? Did he have a sense this project was coming to fruition and how grateful everybody was for what he had done?
SHULIST: He did. The time that it got very difficult to understand what he did was really just the very kind of last day or so. Up until that point, we had signals from him and understood.
He clearly heard us. So I think it was really just toward the very last day that we weren't completely sure.
O'BRIEN: The story, as you well know, was told locally. And then it was told sort of regionally. And then it became national and, to some degree, international as well. Has that surprised you, the impact that your little boy's life has had, and really his final gesture?
SHULIST: Surreal is the word that I used a lot over the last few weeks. It was always something I thought, oh, it will be in some little community paper, if anything. I never ever would have anticipated where it's gone from there and the reach that it's has.
And we sort of wound of riding the wave, I think of it, because every day something new and more unexpected happened. And it continued to grow. And it wound up in a way that my husband and I certainly never expected being comforting, because so many of us often wonder what is our purpose on this Earth, how many people do we touch? Do we leave anything good behind? And while we never get all of those answers, we certainly got one amazing glimpse of what Mak was able to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Yes, she did. Judy Shulist says she hopes that Mak's rock climbing wall teaches kids that giving is one of the best things you can do.
Bill?
HEMMER: A nice message, too, Soledad. Thanks.
In a moment here, Google s going public. Wall Street is buzzing about this deal. What you need to know to get in on the action. Andy has got that after this. And Jack, too, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All right. The mania is among us on Wall Street: Google mania. A check of that and the market open. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" here on a Friday morning.
Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Good morning -- indeed.
HEMMER: Down day yesterday?
SERWER: Yes, but an up day this morning.
The pullback in Fallujah seems to be pulling up stocks. Up 16, you can see that there.
What's happening this morning, Procter & Gamble, pride of Cincinnati, announcing earnings. The stock is up nicely.
Same, too, with Chevron, the giant oil company. It's stock is up $1.35.
A lot happening this weekend. Of course, the Kentucky Derby.
Another thing, Winn-Dixie, some sad news. The large supermarket chain in the South cutting 156 stores. Then thousand jobs cut. That's going to put us in the hole for this month for starting off.
All right. Let's talk about Google. That is the big news on Wall Street right now.
Of course, they are going public. You probably heard, $2.7 billion initial public offering. They're doing things different, the two guys, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. If you don't know them, you will, because they're billionaires. They'll probably be buying sports teams in a couple of years.
They're only 30, 31 years old. Seriously. I mean, these are the kind of people...
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Here's another thing. These guys do think differently. Here is what they said in their prospectus.
"A management team distracted by a series of short-term targets is at pointless as a dieter stepping on a scale every half-hour." In other words, we're not going to pay attention to Wall Street every 50 seconds. We're going to do things our way.
And the interesting thing here, of course, is this Dutch auction. It's not going to be a regular IPO. What does that mean? It means you're going to be able to bid on the price of where you think the shares are.
Ordinary investors can get in. You need to open an account at a Morgan Stanley or a CFSB. It's not for those who are connected. You just have to be smart.
You guess what the price is. Then later the company comes back and picks the highest bidders. If you're one of those higher bidders, you'll be able to get in on the action.
Of course, you may be bidding too much. It's just like an auction, and we'll be talking about this over the coming weeks because it's not going to happen for a couple of months.
HEMMER: It is interesting.
SERWER: It really, really is.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: The first soap that floats, by the way, Ivory Soap...
SERWER: Procter & Gamble.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
Next hour here on CNN, Michael Jackson back in court about a half an hour, hour and a half, actually, from now. Full coverage with Daryn Kagan on that next hour.
We're back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: You have a good weekend. You, also, Jack. All right?
CAFFERTY: Oh, is it Friday already? I lost time.
SERWER: Checking his watch.
HEMMER: Here is Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center.
