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CNN Live Today
Rumsfeld to Testify Before Congress: Should He Be Fired?; American Arrested in Connection with Madrid Train Bombings; Low Carb Diets Pricey
Aired May 07, 2004 - 11:00 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, ANCHOR: It's 11 a.m. on the East Coast and 8 a.m. in the west. And from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be fighting for his job this hour when he goes before the first of two congressional panels today. He's got a lot to explain after the world saw photographs of U.S. soldiers humiliating naked Iraqi prisoners.
Wolf Blitzer anchors our CNN coverage at the bottom of the hour. But first we want to get the big picture from the Pentagon, and that's where we find our Elaine Quijano -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, there's a sense of anticipation here, certainly a palpable buzz in the air in anticipation of the secretary's appearances on Capitol Hill.
I can tell you that the secretary, according to sources, has been meeting with staff members this morning in advance of those appearances just a short time from now.
We also understand that the secretary will be bringing with him to Capitol Hill a poster-sized copy of a news release. Now, this news release was dated January 16 of this year, announcing an investigation into abuse allegations of detainees.
That news release, though, just about four or five sentences long, very brief, not naming by name the Abu Ghraib prison, not going into any specifics about what those abuse allegations were.
Now, at the same time, we understand the secretary, according to a senior Republican aide, on Capitol Hill, the secretary is expected to issue an apology to Congress for not informing lawmakers sooner about the details of the investigation of the allegations. That is something new that we have heard just this morning, according to that senior Republican aide.
But, again, a buzz here, a sense of anticipation. This secretary certainly has been under some harsh criticism by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, from Democrats and Republicans who say they feel they were not kept in the loop, they were not kept informed. And for that we understand the secretary will apologize -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Very interesting. Thank you very much, Elaine Quijano at the Pentagon.
President Bush for the first time is apologizing for the U.S. treatment of those Iraqi prisoners. In a White House appearance with Jordan's King Abdullah, the president said the words "I'm sorry," twice, in an effort to tone down outrage in the Arab world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners. And the humiliation suffered by their families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: A Gallup poll released this morning shows Americans are worried by events in Iraq. Just over a third say things are going well for the U.S. in the country. Two-thirds say the post war effort is going poorly.
Well, two of the senators who will be questioning Secretary Rumsfeld today appeared on CNN this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: The politics are just not in this debate at all. Republicans and Democrats are both deeply dismayed by these actions, by the failure of the Pentagon to deal properly with these actions.
I -- If I thought that Rumsfeld's departure would change the policies, I'd be all for it because it's the policies which have led to so much mismanagement in this war. But I don't see that that would automatically follow from his departure.
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, it's pretty obvious there are a lot of upset people on Capitol Hill over the issue, not just of the incident itself but what happened following the incident.
Why did it take so long for Congress to get notified about this information? And what's been happening since the incident was discovered? What investigation has taken place? What's happened to the individuals involved? And more significantly what's going to happen to the chain of command leading all the way up to Secretary Rumsfeld?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: All right. Those are some of the senators who are going to be listening to the defense secretary come at 11:45, in about 40 minutes.
Let's get a preview now from our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry. He is standing by on Capitol Hill this morning.
Ed, what are you going to be listening for today? ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Carol.
Electricity is in the air this morning. Great anticipation for Secretary Rumsfeld's testimony to both the Senate and the House Armed Services Committee. The technician for the microphones are in that hearing room at 5 a.m. this morning to get ready. People have been lining up for a couple of hours to get a glimpse of it from the general public.
Also, members of Congress getting ready, heading over there within the hour in the Senate to start off the testimony as Secretary Rumsfeld begins this battle to save his job.
As you heard from Elaine, he is going to be talking about -- first he will issue an apology for leaving Congress out of the loop. He will also talk about appointing an independent commission. And he will also bring the memo that Elaine mentioned.
But the bottom line is that Republicans privately here are saying that this may be too little too late, that these gestures should have been done a long time ago.
Other Republicans are saying that Rumsfeld's political health can be saved. And that he can make it through this storm. It's all going to come down to this testimony and what he has to say.
One other quick thing that is coming up this morning. Republicans are privately saying they believe that there is a very interesting name that will surface at this hearing, in the Senate, General William Boykin.
You'll remember that name from last fall. He made some anti- Muslim comments that drew a rebuke from the president. Also saw a Pentagon investigation still ongoing.
The point here is that Secretary Rumsfeld left the general in place. He is the No. 2 intelligence official at the Pentagon at this point.
And Republicans are privately saying that this gets to Rumsfeld's management style. He did not listen to members of Congress who said that Boykin should have gone and that maybe leaving him in that job sent the wrong signal overseas to U.S. military personnel about attitudes toward Muslim prisoners.
I think that's a very interesting angle that may pop up at these hearings. Look for that. Everybody is waiting with great anticipation, Carol.
LIN: That's right. And the devil is in the details, Ed. I'm wondering, is if the defense secretary expected to know answers to specific questions? For example, whether these enlisted personnel in Iraq were acting on their own in these abusive photos? Or if they were acting on orders from superiors?
HENRY: Carol, that is definitely one question I've heard senators in both parties say they will be hitting him with, whether or not people were acting on their own or not.
Also another question is going to be the use of private contractors. Why were private contractors, who were not necessarily answerable to the Pentagon, cannot be punished by the Pentagon, why were they put in place at some of these prisons?
And I think you're also going to see the most important question perhaps of all from Capitol Hill: why did the secretary keep Congress in the dark? You hear not just Democrats but Republicans complaining about that.
And these calls for resignation from Democrats will not matter that much unless Republicans join it. Watch what Chairman John Warner, the Republican, says. Watch what Republican Senator John McCain says. He's on the Armed Services Committee. Republican opinion will matter much more than what Democrats are saying, Carol.
LIN: We're going to be watching very closely. Thank you very much, Ed Henry from Capitol Hill.
HENRY: Thank you.
LIN: Well, a "New York Times" editorial is calling today for Secretary Rumsfeld to resign over the prisoner abuse scandal.
And it reads like this: "It is time now for Mr. Rumsfeld to go, and not only because he bears personal responsibility for the scandal of Abu Ghraib. The United States has been humiliated to a point where government officials could not release this year's international human rights report this week for fear of being scoffed at by the rest of the world."
Now, the "Wall Street Journal" on its editorial page today disagrees. The paper says, "The only exit strategy is to finish the job and win. Put another way," the editorial continues, "if Mr. Bush fires Mr. Rumsfeld, the voters may well conclude it is time to fire him."
Now those clamoring for Rumsfeld's resignation say he should be held accountable for the prisoner abuse scandal. CNN's Jeanne Meserve looks beyond the uproar and rhetoric to examine whether firing him is really the answer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Demands that heads should roll for the alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib prison from some publications, pundits and Democratic politicians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For our country, I believe Mr. Rumsfeld has to resign.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: I am calling for Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Ladies and gentlemen, the commander in chief.
MESERVE: President Bush says Rumsfeld will stay. That is consistent with his reputation for loyalty and his history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look at the major traumatic events during his presidency, the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, there was no acknowledgement of responsibility and certainly no one in his administration was asked to pay a price.
MESERVE: But a new Gallup poll shows public approval of the president's handling of Iraq tumbling in the last two weeks. And the numbers may not yet reflect the full impact of the prison abuse story.
Tossing Rumsfeld or some other top official might stop the slide, or it could give the president's political opponents new ammunition to say his policies have failed.
ALLAN LIGHTMAN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: If he fires someone now it's going to look like did he so under pressure from the press and under pressure from the Democrats. If he was going to fire anyone, he should have done it yesterday before the cascade of pressure began.
MESERVE (on camera): Ultimately, whether higher ups stay or go may not depend on political calculations or rhetoric but on the facts of who knew and condoned what happened at Abu Ghraib.
Jean Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: There, we've set the stage for you. So CNN will bring you live coverage, special coverage of Secretary Rumsfeld's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. It's scheduled to begin this hour at 11:45 Eastern, 8:45 Pacific, in about 35 minutes.
Well, British officials say a soldier has given military police information about alleged prisoner abuse by British troops.
Now the soldier told a London newspaper about the allegations. The "Daily Mirror" broke the story last weekend with photos. That sparked outrage in Britain.
A defense ministry official says the officials take the allegations very seriously. And anyone with more information should come forward.
Two journalists working for Polish TV have been killed in an ambush in Iraq. A Polish embassy official says the journalists were traveling south when they were ambushed.
Poland's TVP identified one of those killed as a correspondent for a network. The other was an ethnic Algerian who was a long-time employee.
Now so far there have been no demands from Iraqis holding an American hostage. Footage of Aban Elias surfaced on the Arab TV network al-Arabiya yesterday.
Elias' mother and brother in Denver confirmed his identity. They say he is an Iraqi American who returned to help his native country rebuild after the war.
Well, the family of former hostage Thomas Hamill says his homecoming will be a quiet affair. His hometown of Macon, Mississippi, called off plans for a big parade at the family's request.
Hamill and his wife are in Germany, where he was being treated for an arm injury. They are now expected to head home this weekend.
Well, is the most wanted man in the world trying to turn the tables on those chasing him? Osama bin Laden may now be offering a reward of his own. The story behind a new audiotape is next.
And speaking of audiotapes, why is one recording of the 9/11 attacks now missing?
And the Madrid train bombing investigation leads all the way to the U.S. What does an Oregon lawyer have to do with that attack?
CNN LIVE TODAY is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: The CIA now says a new audiotape is most likely from Osama bin Laden. And for the first time, the al Qaeda leader offers a reward to anyone who kills certain U.S. and U.N. officials.
The voice on the tape also criticizes the June hand-over of power in Iraq.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): The so- called hand-over for the Iraqis is nothing but a mockery for the people and also weakens the military opposition. This was understood by the Iraqi Mujahideen, who knew that the authority for a true hand- over will never happen until the last crusader soldier leaves Iraqi soil.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LIN: On the tape the speaker offers 22 pounds of gold to anyone who kills Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer. Also mentioned specifically in the bounty offer, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his special envoy in Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi.
Well, the FBI is holding an Oregon lawyer this morning in connection with the investigation into the March train bombings in Madrid.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is working the story for us in Portland, and she joins us live right now on this -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, this is one of the places that FBI agents served a search warrant yesterday when Brandon Mayfield was arrested. The other was his home nearby.
This is Beaverton, Oregon. It's a small law office that reportedly he ran using his wife as his secretary.
Now, what we're able to piece together about Mayfield. Apparently, he did serve some time in the Army up at Fort Lewis in Washington. He passed the bar in 2000 and has been an immigration attorney.
Now, he has -- is being held in connection with a Madrid bombings, which of course killed 191 people in March. Reportedly his fingerprints were found on a plastic bag near the bombing site.
But a former attorney of Mayfield's cautions against a rush to judgment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS NELSON, MAYFIELD'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Mr. Mayfield is not named as a suspect or defendant. He is merely in custody in order to assure his presence at -- for testimony for the grand jury here in Portland, Oregon.
That's emphatic to note, because engaging in the presumption of innocence, which is entitled to all of us, particularly for a witness who hasn't been charged with anything, it's important to tell the public, particularly his clients, friends, family, and those in the community out here in Portland that he has not been charged with anything, contrary to a lot of the innuendo that is coming out of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Well, apparently Mayfield did defend one of the so- called Portland Seven. It was a well-publicized case here over the last year where seven men were convicted of conspiring to aid the Taliban and al Qaeda.
He didn't defend them in this case but he did represent one of the defendants in a custody case.
Also, Mayfield apparently did convert to Islam sometime in the '80s. He apparently married an Egyptian woman.
Right now, he's being held as a material witness. He can be held indefinitely. And we're just going to have to see. Details are still very sketchy about the case. And because of his status as a material witness it's likely to remain that way -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Very good. Thank you very much, Rusty Dornin, live in Portland.
Well, in the hours after the 9/11 attacks, six air traffic controllers sat down in New York and recorded their recollection of events that day. But an FAA manager destroyed the tape several months later, crushing the audiocassette in his hand and cutting the strands of tape into small pieces.
Investigators don't believe anyone ever listened to the recording. And they say there's nothing to indicate the controllers had anything to hide about 9/11. They've cited FAA managers for poor judgment for allowing the tape to be destroyed.
Well, the defense in Terry Nichols' state murder trial is trying to blame others for the 1995 attack on the Oklahoma City federal building.
Attorneys are presenting witnesses who suggest Timothy McVeigh had help in planning the bombings. They even flashed sketches of an early suspect known as John Doe No. 2 on courtroom monitors.
Now the defense say Nichols was set up to take the fall. He's already serving a life term after a federal trial. But he could get the death penalty if convicted by the state.
All right, they say you can never be too rich or too thin, but do you need to be rich to get thin? The high cost of a small waistline is next.
And later, live coverage as Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Stay with us for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Low carb diets can slim your waistline and your wallet, it turns out.
In our "Daily Dose" of health news, we take a closer look at the high cost of going low carb and what you can do to save money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blueberries, salmon, asparagus, sea bass, goat cheese. Can you afford to go on a low carb diet?
PHIL LEMPERT, SHOPPING EXPERT: There's no question if you're going low carb you've got to have a lot of money.
COHEN (on camera): We decided to go to a grocery store to see how much it costs to go on the South Beach Diet, one of the most popular low carb diets.
(voice-over) Here's just part of the shopping list for one day's meal plan. Many recipes call for berries. These are $4 a box.
This London broil will set you back nearly $10. Asparagus is $3.50 per pound, peppers $4 a pound.
When you break it all down, one shopping expert says going on South Beach or Atkins costs nearly $100 a week for one person, double what most Americans spend on groceries.
And that doesn't even include the prepared foods that are on the market. This Atkins chocolate bar costs $2.50.
Super market expert Phil Lempert say low carb diets don't have to be expensive. One hint, buy frozen blueberries instead of fresh.
LEMPERT: And keep in mind, the frozen ones are actually packed at the time of freshness. So you're going to get a fresher tasting product. You could save, 10, 20, 30 even 40 percent.
COHEN: Here's some other tips. Replace fish and red meat with chicken. Buy frozen fish and vegetables. Buy unpackaged lettuce instead of the ones in the bags.
And of course you don't have to go on a special diet to lose weight. Exercise is cheap, and so is good old fashioned just eating less.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: That wraps it up for us right now.
Up next, Wolf Blitzer takes us through live coverage as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld takes the hot seat. He is testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, coming up in just about 20 minutes. Our special coverage up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 7, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, ANCHOR: It's 11 a.m. on the East Coast and 8 a.m. in the west. And from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be fighting for his job this hour when he goes before the first of two congressional panels today. He's got a lot to explain after the world saw photographs of U.S. soldiers humiliating naked Iraqi prisoners.
Wolf Blitzer anchors our CNN coverage at the bottom of the hour. But first we want to get the big picture from the Pentagon, and that's where we find our Elaine Quijano -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, there's a sense of anticipation here, certainly a palpable buzz in the air in anticipation of the secretary's appearances on Capitol Hill.
I can tell you that the secretary, according to sources, has been meeting with staff members this morning in advance of those appearances just a short time from now.
We also understand that the secretary will be bringing with him to Capitol Hill a poster-sized copy of a news release. Now, this news release was dated January 16 of this year, announcing an investigation into abuse allegations of detainees.
That news release, though, just about four or five sentences long, very brief, not naming by name the Abu Ghraib prison, not going into any specifics about what those abuse allegations were.
Now, at the same time, we understand the secretary, according to a senior Republican aide, on Capitol Hill, the secretary is expected to issue an apology to Congress for not informing lawmakers sooner about the details of the investigation of the allegations. That is something new that we have heard just this morning, according to that senior Republican aide.
But, again, a buzz here, a sense of anticipation. This secretary certainly has been under some harsh criticism by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, from Democrats and Republicans who say they feel they were not kept in the loop, they were not kept informed. And for that we understand the secretary will apologize -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Very interesting. Thank you very much, Elaine Quijano at the Pentagon.
President Bush for the first time is apologizing for the U.S. treatment of those Iraqi prisoners. In a White House appearance with Jordan's King Abdullah, the president said the words "I'm sorry," twice, in an effort to tone down outrage in the Arab world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners. And the humiliation suffered by their families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: A Gallup poll released this morning shows Americans are worried by events in Iraq. Just over a third say things are going well for the U.S. in the country. Two-thirds say the post war effort is going poorly.
Well, two of the senators who will be questioning Secretary Rumsfeld today appeared on CNN this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: The politics are just not in this debate at all. Republicans and Democrats are both deeply dismayed by these actions, by the failure of the Pentagon to deal properly with these actions.
I -- If I thought that Rumsfeld's departure would change the policies, I'd be all for it because it's the policies which have led to so much mismanagement in this war. But I don't see that that would automatically follow from his departure.
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, it's pretty obvious there are a lot of upset people on Capitol Hill over the issue, not just of the incident itself but what happened following the incident.
Why did it take so long for Congress to get notified about this information? And what's been happening since the incident was discovered? What investigation has taken place? What's happened to the individuals involved? And more significantly what's going to happen to the chain of command leading all the way up to Secretary Rumsfeld?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: All right. Those are some of the senators who are going to be listening to the defense secretary come at 11:45, in about 40 minutes.
Let's get a preview now from our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry. He is standing by on Capitol Hill this morning.
Ed, what are you going to be listening for today? ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Carol.
Electricity is in the air this morning. Great anticipation for Secretary Rumsfeld's testimony to both the Senate and the House Armed Services Committee. The technician for the microphones are in that hearing room at 5 a.m. this morning to get ready. People have been lining up for a couple of hours to get a glimpse of it from the general public.
Also, members of Congress getting ready, heading over there within the hour in the Senate to start off the testimony as Secretary Rumsfeld begins this battle to save his job.
As you heard from Elaine, he is going to be talking about -- first he will issue an apology for leaving Congress out of the loop. He will also talk about appointing an independent commission. And he will also bring the memo that Elaine mentioned.
But the bottom line is that Republicans privately here are saying that this may be too little too late, that these gestures should have been done a long time ago.
Other Republicans are saying that Rumsfeld's political health can be saved. And that he can make it through this storm. It's all going to come down to this testimony and what he has to say.
One other quick thing that is coming up this morning. Republicans are privately saying they believe that there is a very interesting name that will surface at this hearing, in the Senate, General William Boykin.
You'll remember that name from last fall. He made some anti- Muslim comments that drew a rebuke from the president. Also saw a Pentagon investigation still ongoing.
The point here is that Secretary Rumsfeld left the general in place. He is the No. 2 intelligence official at the Pentagon at this point.
And Republicans are privately saying that this gets to Rumsfeld's management style. He did not listen to members of Congress who said that Boykin should have gone and that maybe leaving him in that job sent the wrong signal overseas to U.S. military personnel about attitudes toward Muslim prisoners.
I think that's a very interesting angle that may pop up at these hearings. Look for that. Everybody is waiting with great anticipation, Carol.
LIN: That's right. And the devil is in the details, Ed. I'm wondering, is if the defense secretary expected to know answers to specific questions? For example, whether these enlisted personnel in Iraq were acting on their own in these abusive photos? Or if they were acting on orders from superiors?
HENRY: Carol, that is definitely one question I've heard senators in both parties say they will be hitting him with, whether or not people were acting on their own or not.
Also another question is going to be the use of private contractors. Why were private contractors, who were not necessarily answerable to the Pentagon, cannot be punished by the Pentagon, why were they put in place at some of these prisons?
And I think you're also going to see the most important question perhaps of all from Capitol Hill: why did the secretary keep Congress in the dark? You hear not just Democrats but Republicans complaining about that.
And these calls for resignation from Democrats will not matter that much unless Republicans join it. Watch what Chairman John Warner, the Republican, says. Watch what Republican Senator John McCain says. He's on the Armed Services Committee. Republican opinion will matter much more than what Democrats are saying, Carol.
LIN: We're going to be watching very closely. Thank you very much, Ed Henry from Capitol Hill.
HENRY: Thank you.
LIN: Well, a "New York Times" editorial is calling today for Secretary Rumsfeld to resign over the prisoner abuse scandal.
And it reads like this: "It is time now for Mr. Rumsfeld to go, and not only because he bears personal responsibility for the scandal of Abu Ghraib. The United States has been humiliated to a point where government officials could not release this year's international human rights report this week for fear of being scoffed at by the rest of the world."
Now, the "Wall Street Journal" on its editorial page today disagrees. The paper says, "The only exit strategy is to finish the job and win. Put another way," the editorial continues, "if Mr. Bush fires Mr. Rumsfeld, the voters may well conclude it is time to fire him."
Now those clamoring for Rumsfeld's resignation say he should be held accountable for the prisoner abuse scandal. CNN's Jeanne Meserve looks beyond the uproar and rhetoric to examine whether firing him is really the answer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Demands that heads should roll for the alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib prison from some publications, pundits and Democratic politicians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For our country, I believe Mr. Rumsfeld has to resign.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: I am calling for Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Ladies and gentlemen, the commander in chief.
MESERVE: President Bush says Rumsfeld will stay. That is consistent with his reputation for loyalty and his history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look at the major traumatic events during his presidency, the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, there was no acknowledgement of responsibility and certainly no one in his administration was asked to pay a price.
MESERVE: But a new Gallup poll shows public approval of the president's handling of Iraq tumbling in the last two weeks. And the numbers may not yet reflect the full impact of the prison abuse story.
Tossing Rumsfeld or some other top official might stop the slide, or it could give the president's political opponents new ammunition to say his policies have failed.
ALLAN LIGHTMAN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: If he fires someone now it's going to look like did he so under pressure from the press and under pressure from the Democrats. If he was going to fire anyone, he should have done it yesterday before the cascade of pressure began.
MESERVE (on camera): Ultimately, whether higher ups stay or go may not depend on political calculations or rhetoric but on the facts of who knew and condoned what happened at Abu Ghraib.
Jean Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: There, we've set the stage for you. So CNN will bring you live coverage, special coverage of Secretary Rumsfeld's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. It's scheduled to begin this hour at 11:45 Eastern, 8:45 Pacific, in about 35 minutes.
Well, British officials say a soldier has given military police information about alleged prisoner abuse by British troops.
Now the soldier told a London newspaper about the allegations. The "Daily Mirror" broke the story last weekend with photos. That sparked outrage in Britain.
A defense ministry official says the officials take the allegations very seriously. And anyone with more information should come forward.
Two journalists working for Polish TV have been killed in an ambush in Iraq. A Polish embassy official says the journalists were traveling south when they were ambushed.
Poland's TVP identified one of those killed as a correspondent for a network. The other was an ethnic Algerian who was a long-time employee.
Now so far there have been no demands from Iraqis holding an American hostage. Footage of Aban Elias surfaced on the Arab TV network al-Arabiya yesterday.
Elias' mother and brother in Denver confirmed his identity. They say he is an Iraqi American who returned to help his native country rebuild after the war.
Well, the family of former hostage Thomas Hamill says his homecoming will be a quiet affair. His hometown of Macon, Mississippi, called off plans for a big parade at the family's request.
Hamill and his wife are in Germany, where he was being treated for an arm injury. They are now expected to head home this weekend.
Well, is the most wanted man in the world trying to turn the tables on those chasing him? Osama bin Laden may now be offering a reward of his own. The story behind a new audiotape is next.
And speaking of audiotapes, why is one recording of the 9/11 attacks now missing?
And the Madrid train bombing investigation leads all the way to the U.S. What does an Oregon lawyer have to do with that attack?
CNN LIVE TODAY is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: The CIA now says a new audiotape is most likely from Osama bin Laden. And for the first time, the al Qaeda leader offers a reward to anyone who kills certain U.S. and U.N. officials.
The voice on the tape also criticizes the June hand-over of power in Iraq.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): The so- called hand-over for the Iraqis is nothing but a mockery for the people and also weakens the military opposition. This was understood by the Iraqi Mujahideen, who knew that the authority for a true hand- over will never happen until the last crusader soldier leaves Iraqi soil.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LIN: On the tape the speaker offers 22 pounds of gold to anyone who kills Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer. Also mentioned specifically in the bounty offer, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his special envoy in Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi.
Well, the FBI is holding an Oregon lawyer this morning in connection with the investigation into the March train bombings in Madrid.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is working the story for us in Portland, and she joins us live right now on this -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, this is one of the places that FBI agents served a search warrant yesterday when Brandon Mayfield was arrested. The other was his home nearby.
This is Beaverton, Oregon. It's a small law office that reportedly he ran using his wife as his secretary.
Now, what we're able to piece together about Mayfield. Apparently, he did serve some time in the Army up at Fort Lewis in Washington. He passed the bar in 2000 and has been an immigration attorney.
Now, he has -- is being held in connection with a Madrid bombings, which of course killed 191 people in March. Reportedly his fingerprints were found on a plastic bag near the bombing site.
But a former attorney of Mayfield's cautions against a rush to judgment.
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THOMAS NELSON, MAYFIELD'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Mr. Mayfield is not named as a suspect or defendant. He is merely in custody in order to assure his presence at -- for testimony for the grand jury here in Portland, Oregon.
That's emphatic to note, because engaging in the presumption of innocence, which is entitled to all of us, particularly for a witness who hasn't been charged with anything, it's important to tell the public, particularly his clients, friends, family, and those in the community out here in Portland that he has not been charged with anything, contrary to a lot of the innuendo that is coming out of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Well, apparently Mayfield did defend one of the so- called Portland Seven. It was a well-publicized case here over the last year where seven men were convicted of conspiring to aid the Taliban and al Qaeda.
He didn't defend them in this case but he did represent one of the defendants in a custody case.
Also, Mayfield apparently did convert to Islam sometime in the '80s. He apparently married an Egyptian woman.
Right now, he's being held as a material witness. He can be held indefinitely. And we're just going to have to see. Details are still very sketchy about the case. And because of his status as a material witness it's likely to remain that way -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Very good. Thank you very much, Rusty Dornin, live in Portland.
Well, in the hours after the 9/11 attacks, six air traffic controllers sat down in New York and recorded their recollection of events that day. But an FAA manager destroyed the tape several months later, crushing the audiocassette in his hand and cutting the strands of tape into small pieces.
Investigators don't believe anyone ever listened to the recording. And they say there's nothing to indicate the controllers had anything to hide about 9/11. They've cited FAA managers for poor judgment for allowing the tape to be destroyed.
Well, the defense in Terry Nichols' state murder trial is trying to blame others for the 1995 attack on the Oklahoma City federal building.
Attorneys are presenting witnesses who suggest Timothy McVeigh had help in planning the bombings. They even flashed sketches of an early suspect known as John Doe No. 2 on courtroom monitors.
Now the defense say Nichols was set up to take the fall. He's already serving a life term after a federal trial. But he could get the death penalty if convicted by the state.
All right, they say you can never be too rich or too thin, but do you need to be rich to get thin? The high cost of a small waistline is next.
And later, live coverage as Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Stay with us for that.
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LIN: Low carb diets can slim your waistline and your wallet, it turns out.
In our "Daily Dose" of health news, we take a closer look at the high cost of going low carb and what you can do to save money.
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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blueberries, salmon, asparagus, sea bass, goat cheese. Can you afford to go on a low carb diet?
PHIL LEMPERT, SHOPPING EXPERT: There's no question if you're going low carb you've got to have a lot of money.
COHEN (on camera): We decided to go to a grocery store to see how much it costs to go on the South Beach Diet, one of the most popular low carb diets.
(voice-over) Here's just part of the shopping list for one day's meal plan. Many recipes call for berries. These are $4 a box.
This London broil will set you back nearly $10. Asparagus is $3.50 per pound, peppers $4 a pound.
When you break it all down, one shopping expert says going on South Beach or Atkins costs nearly $100 a week for one person, double what most Americans spend on groceries.
And that doesn't even include the prepared foods that are on the market. This Atkins chocolate bar costs $2.50.
Super market expert Phil Lempert say low carb diets don't have to be expensive. One hint, buy frozen blueberries instead of fresh.
LEMPERT: And keep in mind, the frozen ones are actually packed at the time of freshness. So you're going to get a fresher tasting product. You could save, 10, 20, 30 even 40 percent.
COHEN: Here's some other tips. Replace fish and red meat with chicken. Buy frozen fish and vegetables. Buy unpackaged lettuce instead of the ones in the bags.
And of course you don't have to go on a special diet to lose weight. Exercise is cheap, and so is good old fashioned just eating less.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: That wraps it up for us right now.
Up next, Wolf Blitzer takes us through live coverage as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld takes the hot seat. He is testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, coming up in just about 20 minutes. Our special coverage up next.
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