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CNN Live Today
In Najaf, Firefights Rage Between U.S. Forces, Al Sadr's Army Militia; General Kimmitt Holds Press Conference in Iraq
Aired May 07, 2004 - 10:00 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.
CAROL LIN, GUEST HOST: Good morning, everyone. From CNN headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.
Topping the headlines at this hour. All eyes are on Capitol Hill today. Secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld is about to get a public tongue lashing over the scandalous treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces. The verbal fireworks are set to start at 11:45 a.m. Eastern.
In Karachi, Pakistan, a bomb ripped through a mosque today during afternoon prayers. At least 10 people were killed and several dozen wounded. Pakistan's president denounced the attack as a heinous act of terrorism.
In London, a British soldier is providing eyewitness accounts to the Royal Military Police of Iraqi prisoners being mistreated by British forces. Some of the graphic details appeared today in a London tabloid. Now, according to the paper, the soldier tells military investigators that vicious beatings of prisoners were routine and were condoned by the officers.
Osama bin Laden purportedly is offering a gold bounty for top coalition and U.N. officials. The reward appeared yesterday on a radical Islamic website in the form of an audio message said to be from the fugitive al Qaeda leader.
And live this hour, the latest from Iraq. A news briefing is about to get underway with the coalition's top military and administrative officials. It comes amid escalating violence and a deepening scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. There is a live picture and we will take it as soon as we get it. And that scandal is thundering through the corridors of power in Washington, where Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld faces lawmakers' questions next hour. And his job could hinge on the answers.
CNN's Dana Bash is at her post at the White House, and our Elaine Quijano is at the Pentagon right now. First, let's begin with Elaine at the Pentagon.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. There is a definite buzz, a sense of anticipation here in the hallways at the Pentagon. We are told by sources that at this hour, Secretary Rumsfeld is meeting with staff members in advance of his appearances on Capitol Hill.
Now, we understand also that he will bring with him to Capitol Hill, a poster sized copy of a news release dated January 16 of this year, announcing the investigation of the detainees -- the allegations of abuse against the detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. However, that news release four sentences long does not cite the prison by name, does not go into specifics. Yet the same news release that the officials here including Defense Secretary Rumsfeld obviously hope will bolster their argument that the military acted appropriately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO (voice-over): When Defense Secretary Rumsfeld heads to Capitol Hill, he'll bring with him a vote of confidence from President Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Secretary Rumsfeld is a really good secretary of defense.
QUIJANO: Democratic calls for Rumsfeld to resign increased after more pictures of alleged prisoner abuse surfaced Thursday. But one key senator who said it might be necessary for Rumsfeld to resign, now says lawmakers should move on.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: We should not focus on the issue of whose scalp should be delivered. We should be talking about what are we going to do?
QUIJANO: Rumsfeld is set to face off with lawmakers. Not by himself, but with Joints Chief Chairman General Richard Myers and a handful of other top defense officials. To better prepare, the secretary cancelled a planned speech Thursday in Philadelphia. Instead, dispatching Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in his place. A Pentagon official said Rumsfeld spent the day working with staff members by going over time lines and nuances.
Lawmakers want details about how the military investigated the alleged prisoner abuses by Americans at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison; cases the secretary insisted earlier this week, defense officials have handled properly.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The fact of the matter is that this is a serious problem and it's something that the department is addressing. The system works. The system works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, aides have said Rumsfeld is upbeat and anxious to tell his story. Also, a Republican senator who met with the secretary yesterday says that Rumsfeld believes there is a rational explanation for the way in which the Pentagon handled the investigation -- Carol.
LIN: All right. We'll see what he has to say today at 11:45. Thank you, very much, Elaine Quijano.
Let's go now to the White House for the administration's view. And for that we turn to CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash.
Good morning, Dana. DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. And the president is actually not here at the White House. He is on his way out to the campaign trail. He is hitting his bus, the third day of a bus tour. He is now going to Iowa and to Wisconsin.
But yesterday, of course, we remember that the president gave the secretary of defense a pretty public slap on the wrist, about the fact that he did not know, he wasn't informed by the secretary of defense that these pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse existed before they actually went on television. And about the fact that he didn't know about a classified report detailing the abuses, before that also ended up in the news reports.
However, the president also tried to make clear that he's standing by his man. Now, officials here say the president is, of course, upset. But they say that the president simply doesn't think this is a fire able offense for his secretary of defense.
And of course, this is a political year. It's a campaign year; there are other considerations as well. Officials can see that firing Donald Rumsfeld would open them up to a lot of other questions that are already being asked, about the post war planning in Iraq, about the fact that weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq. And other issues like that. So at this point, they are simply hoping that Donald Rumsfeld will use his decades of Washington experience, to try to sort of dig himself out of this on Capitol Hill with his critics there. And as you heard from Elaine, the secretary of defense says that he does have some things he think can help clarify this. That's what the White House is hoping, too -- Carol.
LIN: Dana, how much coordination, if any, has there been between the White House and the Pentagon, in terms of what the defense secretary is going to say before the two committees today?
BASH: Well, certainly there is always coordination. He is, of course, the president's defense secretary and they are involved to a certain extent. But the defense secretary is somebody who is -- who understands the ways of Washington and he has some aides whose understand it as well. But officials here at the White House have been in contact with the defense secretary throughout this, and are pretty confident in the fact that they understand what he's going to say, and perhaps what he won't say -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Dana Bash at the White House.
Republicans say Donald Rumsfeld will not benefit from partisan softballs. He's going to face some tough questioning from members of both parties. Now, last hour on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we spoke to Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He says Rumsfeld will have to offer concrete answers that go beyond the apology he's reportedly planning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: I would expect that to happen, but the secretary well knows that that's not enough, that he's got to answer the tough questions. But he's a professional and he's going to do it. He's always been very straightforward and I know that's the way he's going to be today. But it's a very sensitive situation, very delicate situation, but one where the American people and Congress are simply entitled to know the facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Now, presidential candidate John Kerry says Rumsfeld bungled the handling of the war from inception and proved himself unworthy to hold office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The entire, you know, way in which they rushed the nation to war on these assumptions that he was making, which were incorrect is a huge historic miscalculation. And I thought he should resign then, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Donald Rumsfeld's job security is also fodder for debate in newspaper editorials today. For example, "The New York Times" says, "It is time now for Mr. Rumsfeld to go, and not only because he bears personal responsibility for the scandal of Abu Ghraib."
"The Wall Street" editorial takes the opposite view. "The only," quote, ''exit strategy' is to finish the job and win. Put another way, if Mr. Bush fires Mr. Rumsfeld, the voters may well conclude it is time to fire him."
So stay with us next hour when Donald Rumsfeld begins testimony. That is scheduled to begin at 11:45 Eastern, 8:45 Pacific before the Senate Armed Services Committee. And CNN is going to carry it live.
Now, Friday is a day of worship in the Arab world and Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr used his weekly sermon today to stoke anti- American anger. In nearby Najaf, firefights raged between U.S. forces and al Sadr's army militia.
CNN's Jane Arraf is in the volatile city and she joins us right now via videophone.
Jane, any events to report today?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Carol, as you mentioned the radical Shiite cleric, who has taken control much of Najaf and the adjoining city of Kufa, is getting some mileage over that scandal over the treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. In his Friday sermon, he called for President Bush and those around him to be tried in Iraq for the treatment of Iraqi prisoners. And he said that he was showing his defiance of the U.S. military presence here by traveling from Najaf to Kufa, where he delivered this sermon. And he was surrounded by armed supporters, one of them apparently carrying a surface-to-air missile. And as you mentioned, there were clashes around Najaf and around Kufa today. Three ambushes, according to the U.S. military here, they resulted in -- the military, they say killing 22 insurgents, no U.S. casualties reported.
Now, this follows the U.S. takeover of the governor's office yesterday, coinciding with the announcement of a new governor being installed in Najaf. And a busy night as a response to that operation and others killed more than 50 insurgents in Najaf and Kufa. There were intense mortar attacks on this base. The U.S. responded by dropping a 500-pound bomb from at F-16 on one of the mortar positions -- Carol.
LIN: Jane, I think an arrest warrant is out for al Sadr. If the cameras are there recording the speech, why don't the U.S. coalition military go in and arrest him?
ARRAF: That's a great question. It's very implicated answer, but in short, they can't really go where he is. He's in a holy city. He's in the shrine in Kufa, which has a lot of religious significance for Shiias around the world. And he travels from there to the holy sites in Najaf; his military control those sites. and even though the U.S. military has a sizeable presence here at this base in Najaf, it just does not go to those holy sites. It doesn't attack them. It doesn't really fire back when it's fired upon from mosques, as it has been. The worst thing in the world, and the U.S. military is well aware of this, would be to inflame anti-American anger even further by being seen to go into those holy places -- Carol.
LIN: Tough position to be in. Thank you very much. Jane Arraf reporting live.
Well, homecoming of a freed Iraqi prisoner, Thomas Hamill will be a private affair, according to he will relatives of the Mississippi truck driver. Hamill's 92-year-old grandmother says he just wants quiet time to be with his children and when he returns with his wife, possibly this weekend. Hamill reportedly fears that too much publicity could endanger other Americans being held by insurgents.
Gold for death, an audiotape purported to be Osama bin Laden surfaces and he's put a bounty on the heads of U.S. leaders in Iraq.
And a man from Oregon is arrested. Police say he's linked to the recent terror bombings in Spain. Hear his family's reaction later in a live report. Also,"Van Helsing" takes the first stab at the summer movie season. I'm going to be asking Mr. Moviefone what he thinks of this creature feature.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: All right. We're going to go live to Baghdad right now, where General Kimmitt, the military leader of the U.S. coalition there, is explaining the latest on the firefights around Najaf.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, DEPUTY OPS DIR., U.S. MILITARY: Over the past couple of days you've been reading about our operations. Once the new governor was announced by Ambassador Bremer yesterday, we ran an operation to secure the governor's building right on the edge of Najaf. For orientation, the shrine Imam Ali mosque is down here about 2 1/2 miles away.
We remain extraordinarily sensitive to the religious significance of the town in Najaf and this restoration of the governor's building for the new governor should not be interpreted as an offensive against the city of Najaf, but simply an opportunity to restore legitimate Iraqi control by the appointment of the government, the new governor, as well as the restoration of a place for him to operate out of.
It was also reported that there were engagements yesterday in the vicinity of Najaf. The engagements were on the far side of the Euphrates, on the far side of Kufa. There were two engagements one at six -- 4:25 local p.m., one at 5:15 p.m. local. There were 12 enemies killed in the latter and there 28 killed in the former. Since then, we have -- as you know, we have a number of our coalition base camps in between the cities of Karbala and Najaf. We continue to receive mortar fire. There were two separate incidents this morning of mortar fire shot against the governor's building, three at about 5:00 and 10 later at about 10:00.
Let me give you an example of what we do to try to respond to those, as well as keep in mind the significance of not only this city, but any city that we operate in. We determined that there was a point of origin of a mortar that was firing at not only the governor's building -- excuse me, not only the governor's building but some of our base camps as well. It would have been very possible for us to have dropped ordnance right on top of that mortar location. However, we recognized as we continue to do our collateral damage estimate that if you drop the bomb there, even though it's very, very slight, there is a chance that it could have come into this area down here.
We went out of our way, adjusted the point of impact for the bomb so that it still was able to go after that mortar, but still was even further away from the civilian area. It is our estimation that there was a significant -- there was no more firing came from that mortar location. Our QRF we went out there and found some residue, and it looks like we were able to shut down that mortar. But even more so than had we had to go directly against that point of origin, the collateral damage estimation was almost zero of our opportunity that if we put the bomb there, the shock wave would take out the mortar there, but at the same time, it would go out of their way to protect the civilians in that location.
By contrast, I think all of us are very, very aware of what our adversaries are doing time after time firing from locations. We even have some reports that they were firing from the Kufa mosque of late. We continue to find weapons, ammunition and other ordnance inside schools, mosques, other locations. But I just wanted to show this to you as a highlight of the extraordinary care and effort that we take, as we take a hard look at going after the adversary inside this country.
DAN SENSOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: With that, we will be happy to take your questions. Yes.
CHARLIE MAYER, NPR CORRESPONDENT: Charlie Mayer from NPR. Can you give us any more specific (AUDIO GAP) -- and can we expect to see him here at any point?
SENOR: I would refer any questions on his, Ambassador Brimi -- Brahimi's schedule to Mr. Brahimi and his office. I know today, he was doing some interviews with a couple of the Arab satellite channels. And I think he did something with Al Iraqiya as well; so he has been visible today. As for his schedule going forward, I would contact his press office.
Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reuters News Agency. General Kimmitt, you said yesterday you killed something like fif -- 40 insurgents near Kufa.
KIMMITT: Mm-hmm. We've checked -- we've been checking with hospital sources and the Mehdi army, we can't come to the same number of casualties. We wonder how you -- how you can -- how you estimate these figures?
KIMMITT: We typically estimate those figures by actual counts. In fact, we were with the governor of Najaf this morning and his estimation was -- I believe his estimation was that the number of casualties of -- amongst the Muqtada's militia was possibly higher than the number we were quoting. As a result, we -- again, we try to get positive confirmation of our numbers rather than estimation, before we put them out.
LIN: All right. We've been willing to Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt give the latest briefing on the continuing firefights and injuries in and around the holy city of Najaf. In the meantime, reporters asking questions about the U.N. special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi who is in the country there still talking with the Governing Council about the transfer of power. How it would happen, and frankly, probably whether it will happen on June 30.
And we've got much more news ahead. So please stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: For millions of Americans, it's about time to hit the road for a summer vacation. But record high gas prices mean that trip can cost you more than ever. We have some money saving tips from CNN-FN personal finance correspondent, Gerri Willis.
Good morning, Gerri!
GERRI WILLIS, CNNFN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Carol. Good to see you. You know, my first tip today, there is a perfect storm that's coming together around gas prices. You know part of the story. Crude oil prices are rising, Americans are using more and more gas, and Americans are refining less. Bottom line, average price per gallon now $1.87.
Carol, it's going to get even worse because as the summer comes on, local governments and state governments are requiring people in some areas of the country to use a more expensive gas called reformulated gasoline. Now, this could make a big difference to your pocketbook, if you live in one of these 18 states that require it. As much as 5.4 to 7.4-cents a gallon on top of what you're already paying -- Carol.
LIN: Hmm-mm. But you're saying also that you can shop for gas prices in the same way that we shop for anything else. How is that?
WILLIS: Well, you actually can find some substantial savings if you shop around. A couple of web sites I want to mention here. If you're taking a driving trip this summer and you want to know how much you're going to pay, go to fuelcostcalculator.com. Fuelgaugereport.com can tell you about the average gas prices around the country. One of my favorites is gasbuddy.com, they tell you 9,000 stations -- prices at 9,000 -- 90,000 stations across the country rather. They link to 170 web sites where you can get local numbers, local numbers on where prices are cheapest.
LIN: Huh, that's great. You're also warning people not to buy designer brand gasoline. No such thing, huh?
WILLIS: Well, you know, this came as to news to me. But premium gas very few cars require it. You're paying extra money and you're not getting any benefits, like better mileage, cleaner ride, none of that. So just forget the premium unless your car actually requires it.
LIN: How do you know? Would you know already?
WILLIS: Well, you know, you get all kinds of materials when you buy your car. They tell you how to take care of the car, and that will tell you whether you have to have that gas or not.
LIN: All right. You're also saying don't be a gas-guzzler. That there are things we do, maybe even subconsciously that use up more gasoline than necessary.
WILLIS: Well, Carol, if you're an aggressive driver, let's say you speed a lot, you break a lot, you're going to cost yourself about 33 percent on your gas mileage, believe it or not. And even just driving 5 miles per hour over 60, for each 5 miles per hour over 60, you'll pay an extra 10 cents a gallon. So slow down, go a little bit easier, you'll get better gas mileage.
LIN: All right. And also maybe the buddy system works during these high gas prices?
WILLIS: Well, you know, it's really back to the '70s, right? Remember carpooling?
LIN: Oh, yes. WILLIS: You may have to do that again this summer. And what's more, you may think about telecommuting. Everybody's favorite solution to this problem, the hybrids; think about that because they're a big tax breaks that you're going to get for a limited amount of time here, if you buy one of these cars.
LIN: Good advice, Gerri. Thanks so much, Gerri Willis.
WILLIS: Thank you.
LIN: All right. Taking on the hot seat in Capitol Hill. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testifies just over an hour from now. We're going to get the early word from Washington up next.
And is it the voice of Osama bin Laden putting a bounty on the heads of top U.S. and U.N. officials. That story when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 7, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, GUEST HOST: Good morning, everyone. From CNN headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.
Topping the headlines at this hour. All eyes are on Capitol Hill today. Secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld is about to get a public tongue lashing over the scandalous treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces. The verbal fireworks are set to start at 11:45 a.m. Eastern.
In Karachi, Pakistan, a bomb ripped through a mosque today during afternoon prayers. At least 10 people were killed and several dozen wounded. Pakistan's president denounced the attack as a heinous act of terrorism.
In London, a British soldier is providing eyewitness accounts to the Royal Military Police of Iraqi prisoners being mistreated by British forces. Some of the graphic details appeared today in a London tabloid. Now, according to the paper, the soldier tells military investigators that vicious beatings of prisoners were routine and were condoned by the officers.
Osama bin Laden purportedly is offering a gold bounty for top coalition and U.N. officials. The reward appeared yesterday on a radical Islamic website in the form of an audio message said to be from the fugitive al Qaeda leader.
And live this hour, the latest from Iraq. A news briefing is about to get underway with the coalition's top military and administrative officials. It comes amid escalating violence and a deepening scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. There is a live picture and we will take it as soon as we get it. And that scandal is thundering through the corridors of power in Washington, where Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld faces lawmakers' questions next hour. And his job could hinge on the answers.
CNN's Dana Bash is at her post at the White House, and our Elaine Quijano is at the Pentagon right now. First, let's begin with Elaine at the Pentagon.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. There is a definite buzz, a sense of anticipation here in the hallways at the Pentagon. We are told by sources that at this hour, Secretary Rumsfeld is meeting with staff members in advance of his appearances on Capitol Hill.
Now, we understand also that he will bring with him to Capitol Hill, a poster sized copy of a news release dated January 16 of this year, announcing the investigation of the detainees -- the allegations of abuse against the detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. However, that news release four sentences long does not cite the prison by name, does not go into specifics. Yet the same news release that the officials here including Defense Secretary Rumsfeld obviously hope will bolster their argument that the military acted appropriately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO (voice-over): When Defense Secretary Rumsfeld heads to Capitol Hill, he'll bring with him a vote of confidence from President Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Secretary Rumsfeld is a really good secretary of defense.
QUIJANO: Democratic calls for Rumsfeld to resign increased after more pictures of alleged prisoner abuse surfaced Thursday. But one key senator who said it might be necessary for Rumsfeld to resign, now says lawmakers should move on.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: We should not focus on the issue of whose scalp should be delivered. We should be talking about what are we going to do?
QUIJANO: Rumsfeld is set to face off with lawmakers. Not by himself, but with Joints Chief Chairman General Richard Myers and a handful of other top defense officials. To better prepare, the secretary cancelled a planned speech Thursday in Philadelphia. Instead, dispatching Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in his place. A Pentagon official said Rumsfeld spent the day working with staff members by going over time lines and nuances.
Lawmakers want details about how the military investigated the alleged prisoner abuses by Americans at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison; cases the secretary insisted earlier this week, defense officials have handled properly.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The fact of the matter is that this is a serious problem and it's something that the department is addressing. The system works. The system works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, aides have said Rumsfeld is upbeat and anxious to tell his story. Also, a Republican senator who met with the secretary yesterday says that Rumsfeld believes there is a rational explanation for the way in which the Pentagon handled the investigation -- Carol.
LIN: All right. We'll see what he has to say today at 11:45. Thank you, very much, Elaine Quijano.
Let's go now to the White House for the administration's view. And for that we turn to CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash.
Good morning, Dana. DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. And the president is actually not here at the White House. He is on his way out to the campaign trail. He is hitting his bus, the third day of a bus tour. He is now going to Iowa and to Wisconsin.
But yesterday, of course, we remember that the president gave the secretary of defense a pretty public slap on the wrist, about the fact that he did not know, he wasn't informed by the secretary of defense that these pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse existed before they actually went on television. And about the fact that he didn't know about a classified report detailing the abuses, before that also ended up in the news reports.
However, the president also tried to make clear that he's standing by his man. Now, officials here say the president is, of course, upset. But they say that the president simply doesn't think this is a fire able offense for his secretary of defense.
And of course, this is a political year. It's a campaign year; there are other considerations as well. Officials can see that firing Donald Rumsfeld would open them up to a lot of other questions that are already being asked, about the post war planning in Iraq, about the fact that weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq. And other issues like that. So at this point, they are simply hoping that Donald Rumsfeld will use his decades of Washington experience, to try to sort of dig himself out of this on Capitol Hill with his critics there. And as you heard from Elaine, the secretary of defense says that he does have some things he think can help clarify this. That's what the White House is hoping, too -- Carol.
LIN: Dana, how much coordination, if any, has there been between the White House and the Pentagon, in terms of what the defense secretary is going to say before the two committees today?
BASH: Well, certainly there is always coordination. He is, of course, the president's defense secretary and they are involved to a certain extent. But the defense secretary is somebody who is -- who understands the ways of Washington and he has some aides whose understand it as well. But officials here at the White House have been in contact with the defense secretary throughout this, and are pretty confident in the fact that they understand what he's going to say, and perhaps what he won't say -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Dana Bash at the White House.
Republicans say Donald Rumsfeld will not benefit from partisan softballs. He's going to face some tough questioning from members of both parties. Now, last hour on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we spoke to Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He says Rumsfeld will have to offer concrete answers that go beyond the apology he's reportedly planning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: I would expect that to happen, but the secretary well knows that that's not enough, that he's got to answer the tough questions. But he's a professional and he's going to do it. He's always been very straightforward and I know that's the way he's going to be today. But it's a very sensitive situation, very delicate situation, but one where the American people and Congress are simply entitled to know the facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Now, presidential candidate John Kerry says Rumsfeld bungled the handling of the war from inception and proved himself unworthy to hold office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The entire, you know, way in which they rushed the nation to war on these assumptions that he was making, which were incorrect is a huge historic miscalculation. And I thought he should resign then, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Donald Rumsfeld's job security is also fodder for debate in newspaper editorials today. For example, "The New York Times" says, "It is time now for Mr. Rumsfeld to go, and not only because he bears personal responsibility for the scandal of Abu Ghraib."
"The Wall Street" editorial takes the opposite view. "The only," quote, ''exit strategy' is to finish the job and win. Put another way, if Mr. Bush fires Mr. Rumsfeld, the voters may well conclude it is time to fire him."
So stay with us next hour when Donald Rumsfeld begins testimony. That is scheduled to begin at 11:45 Eastern, 8:45 Pacific before the Senate Armed Services Committee. And CNN is going to carry it live.
Now, Friday is a day of worship in the Arab world and Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr used his weekly sermon today to stoke anti- American anger. In nearby Najaf, firefights raged between U.S. forces and al Sadr's army militia.
CNN's Jane Arraf is in the volatile city and she joins us right now via videophone.
Jane, any events to report today?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Carol, as you mentioned the radical Shiite cleric, who has taken control much of Najaf and the adjoining city of Kufa, is getting some mileage over that scandal over the treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. In his Friday sermon, he called for President Bush and those around him to be tried in Iraq for the treatment of Iraqi prisoners. And he said that he was showing his defiance of the U.S. military presence here by traveling from Najaf to Kufa, where he delivered this sermon. And he was surrounded by armed supporters, one of them apparently carrying a surface-to-air missile. And as you mentioned, there were clashes around Najaf and around Kufa today. Three ambushes, according to the U.S. military here, they resulted in -- the military, they say killing 22 insurgents, no U.S. casualties reported.
Now, this follows the U.S. takeover of the governor's office yesterday, coinciding with the announcement of a new governor being installed in Najaf. And a busy night as a response to that operation and others killed more than 50 insurgents in Najaf and Kufa. There were intense mortar attacks on this base. The U.S. responded by dropping a 500-pound bomb from at F-16 on one of the mortar positions -- Carol.
LIN: Jane, I think an arrest warrant is out for al Sadr. If the cameras are there recording the speech, why don't the U.S. coalition military go in and arrest him?
ARRAF: That's a great question. It's very implicated answer, but in short, they can't really go where he is. He's in a holy city. He's in the shrine in Kufa, which has a lot of religious significance for Shiias around the world. And he travels from there to the holy sites in Najaf; his military control those sites. and even though the U.S. military has a sizeable presence here at this base in Najaf, it just does not go to those holy sites. It doesn't attack them. It doesn't really fire back when it's fired upon from mosques, as it has been. The worst thing in the world, and the U.S. military is well aware of this, would be to inflame anti-American anger even further by being seen to go into those holy places -- Carol.
LIN: Tough position to be in. Thank you very much. Jane Arraf reporting live.
Well, homecoming of a freed Iraqi prisoner, Thomas Hamill will be a private affair, according to he will relatives of the Mississippi truck driver. Hamill's 92-year-old grandmother says he just wants quiet time to be with his children and when he returns with his wife, possibly this weekend. Hamill reportedly fears that too much publicity could endanger other Americans being held by insurgents.
Gold for death, an audiotape purported to be Osama bin Laden surfaces and he's put a bounty on the heads of U.S. leaders in Iraq.
And a man from Oregon is arrested. Police say he's linked to the recent terror bombings in Spain. Hear his family's reaction later in a live report. Also,"Van Helsing" takes the first stab at the summer movie season. I'm going to be asking Mr. Moviefone what he thinks of this creature feature.
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LIN: All right. We're going to go live to Baghdad right now, where General Kimmitt, the military leader of the U.S. coalition there, is explaining the latest on the firefights around Najaf.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, DEPUTY OPS DIR., U.S. MILITARY: Over the past couple of days you've been reading about our operations. Once the new governor was announced by Ambassador Bremer yesterday, we ran an operation to secure the governor's building right on the edge of Najaf. For orientation, the shrine Imam Ali mosque is down here about 2 1/2 miles away.
We remain extraordinarily sensitive to the religious significance of the town in Najaf and this restoration of the governor's building for the new governor should not be interpreted as an offensive against the city of Najaf, but simply an opportunity to restore legitimate Iraqi control by the appointment of the government, the new governor, as well as the restoration of a place for him to operate out of.
It was also reported that there were engagements yesterday in the vicinity of Najaf. The engagements were on the far side of the Euphrates, on the far side of Kufa. There were two engagements one at six -- 4:25 local p.m., one at 5:15 p.m. local. There were 12 enemies killed in the latter and there 28 killed in the former. Since then, we have -- as you know, we have a number of our coalition base camps in between the cities of Karbala and Najaf. We continue to receive mortar fire. There were two separate incidents this morning of mortar fire shot against the governor's building, three at about 5:00 and 10 later at about 10:00.
Let me give you an example of what we do to try to respond to those, as well as keep in mind the significance of not only this city, but any city that we operate in. We determined that there was a point of origin of a mortar that was firing at not only the governor's building -- excuse me, not only the governor's building but some of our base camps as well. It would have been very possible for us to have dropped ordnance right on top of that mortar location. However, we recognized as we continue to do our collateral damage estimate that if you drop the bomb there, even though it's very, very slight, there is a chance that it could have come into this area down here.
We went out of our way, adjusted the point of impact for the bomb so that it still was able to go after that mortar, but still was even further away from the civilian area. It is our estimation that there was a significant -- there was no more firing came from that mortar location. Our QRF we went out there and found some residue, and it looks like we were able to shut down that mortar. But even more so than had we had to go directly against that point of origin, the collateral damage estimation was almost zero of our opportunity that if we put the bomb there, the shock wave would take out the mortar there, but at the same time, it would go out of their way to protect the civilians in that location.
By contrast, I think all of us are very, very aware of what our adversaries are doing time after time firing from locations. We even have some reports that they were firing from the Kufa mosque of late. We continue to find weapons, ammunition and other ordnance inside schools, mosques, other locations. But I just wanted to show this to you as a highlight of the extraordinary care and effort that we take, as we take a hard look at going after the adversary inside this country.
DAN SENSOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: With that, we will be happy to take your questions. Yes.
CHARLIE MAYER, NPR CORRESPONDENT: Charlie Mayer from NPR. Can you give us any more specific (AUDIO GAP) -- and can we expect to see him here at any point?
SENOR: I would refer any questions on his, Ambassador Brimi -- Brahimi's schedule to Mr. Brahimi and his office. I know today, he was doing some interviews with a couple of the Arab satellite channels. And I think he did something with Al Iraqiya as well; so he has been visible today. As for his schedule going forward, I would contact his press office.
Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reuters News Agency. General Kimmitt, you said yesterday you killed something like fif -- 40 insurgents near Kufa.
KIMMITT: Mm-hmm. We've checked -- we've been checking with hospital sources and the Mehdi army, we can't come to the same number of casualties. We wonder how you -- how you can -- how you estimate these figures?
KIMMITT: We typically estimate those figures by actual counts. In fact, we were with the governor of Najaf this morning and his estimation was -- I believe his estimation was that the number of casualties of -- amongst the Muqtada's militia was possibly higher than the number we were quoting. As a result, we -- again, we try to get positive confirmation of our numbers rather than estimation, before we put them out.
LIN: All right. We've been willing to Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt give the latest briefing on the continuing firefights and injuries in and around the holy city of Najaf. In the meantime, reporters asking questions about the U.N. special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi who is in the country there still talking with the Governing Council about the transfer of power. How it would happen, and frankly, probably whether it will happen on June 30.
And we've got much more news ahead. So please stay right there.
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LIN: For millions of Americans, it's about time to hit the road for a summer vacation. But record high gas prices mean that trip can cost you more than ever. We have some money saving tips from CNN-FN personal finance correspondent, Gerri Willis.
Good morning, Gerri!
GERRI WILLIS, CNNFN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Carol. Good to see you. You know, my first tip today, there is a perfect storm that's coming together around gas prices. You know part of the story. Crude oil prices are rising, Americans are using more and more gas, and Americans are refining less. Bottom line, average price per gallon now $1.87.
Carol, it's going to get even worse because as the summer comes on, local governments and state governments are requiring people in some areas of the country to use a more expensive gas called reformulated gasoline. Now, this could make a big difference to your pocketbook, if you live in one of these 18 states that require it. As much as 5.4 to 7.4-cents a gallon on top of what you're already paying -- Carol.
LIN: Hmm-mm. But you're saying also that you can shop for gas prices in the same way that we shop for anything else. How is that?
WILLIS: Well, you actually can find some substantial savings if you shop around. A couple of web sites I want to mention here. If you're taking a driving trip this summer and you want to know how much you're going to pay, go to fuelcostcalculator.com. Fuelgaugereport.com can tell you about the average gas prices around the country. One of my favorites is gasbuddy.com, they tell you 9,000 stations -- prices at 9,000 -- 90,000 stations across the country rather. They link to 170 web sites where you can get local numbers, local numbers on where prices are cheapest.
LIN: Huh, that's great. You're also warning people not to buy designer brand gasoline. No such thing, huh?
WILLIS: Well, you know, this came as to news to me. But premium gas very few cars require it. You're paying extra money and you're not getting any benefits, like better mileage, cleaner ride, none of that. So just forget the premium unless your car actually requires it.
LIN: How do you know? Would you know already?
WILLIS: Well, you know, you get all kinds of materials when you buy your car. They tell you how to take care of the car, and that will tell you whether you have to have that gas or not.
LIN: All right. You're also saying don't be a gas-guzzler. That there are things we do, maybe even subconsciously that use up more gasoline than necessary.
WILLIS: Well, Carol, if you're an aggressive driver, let's say you speed a lot, you break a lot, you're going to cost yourself about 33 percent on your gas mileage, believe it or not. And even just driving 5 miles per hour over 60, for each 5 miles per hour over 60, you'll pay an extra 10 cents a gallon. So slow down, go a little bit easier, you'll get better gas mileage.
LIN: All right. And also maybe the buddy system works during these high gas prices?
WILLIS: Well, you know, it's really back to the '70s, right? Remember carpooling?
LIN: Oh, yes. WILLIS: You may have to do that again this summer. And what's more, you may think about telecommuting. Everybody's favorite solution to this problem, the hybrids; think about that because they're a big tax breaks that you're going to get for a limited amount of time here, if you buy one of these cars.
LIN: Good advice, Gerri. Thanks so much, Gerri Willis.
WILLIS: Thank you.
LIN: All right. Taking on the hot seat in Capitol Hill. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testifies just over an hour from now. We're going to get the early word from Washington up next.
And is it the voice of Osama bin Laden putting a bounty on the heads of top U.S. and U.N. officials. That story when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
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