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CNN Live Today
Rumsfeld Travels Overnight For Surprise Visit to Baghdad
Aired May 13, 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.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Daryn Kagan.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad. He's meeting with military field commanders as well as the troops. And he also makes a stop at Abu Ghraib prison, but he denies the trip is about turning down the heat on the prisoner abuse scandal.
It's Paul Wolfowitz turn to come to Congress with his hand out. The deputy defense secretary is appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon wants $25 billion more for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Was Nick Berg in the custody of Iraqi police or U.S. authorities prior to his beheading in Iraq? Friends say Berg was held in a coalition detention facility for nearly two weeks. His family blames the American government for his death. But U.S. officials say they warned Berg to leave Iraq and even offered him a flight out of the country before he disappeared.
And the anti-Bush movie, made by Michael Moore, may still be coming to a theater near you. Miramax Films plans to buy back "Fahrenheit 9/11" from parent company Walt Disney and look for another distributor. The movie criticizes the president's handling of 9/11 and links the Bush family with Osama bin Laden.
Well, we begin this hour with a midnight mission to Baghdad. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld travels overnight for a surprise visit. One of his first military stops, the military prison at the center of the abuse scandal is one of his first stops. Let's get the latest on this developing story. We want to go live on the phone to Ben Wedeman -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, well, a short while a (AUDIO GAP)
NGUYEN: OK, we are having some technical difficulty with getting Ben Wedeman's report. We want to go live now to Karl Penhaul for the latest on this trip. Rumsfeld in Iraq.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Betty. Yes, I think what Ben was trying to bring us up-to-date with was the visit by Donald Rumsfeld to Abu Ghraib prison. He's there now as we speak, along with what we understand is also Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers. During this visit to Abu Ghraib prison, he'll also be receiving an update on the prison abuse scandal that has occurred there. First of all, U.S. officials saying this was just a few bad apples carrying out the abuse, now it looks like it was something a little more systematic.
And certainly Donald Rumsfeld will want to visit the facilities for himself to get a better impression, get a better impression of the layout, get a better impression of the people involved, the chain of command, and whether the chain of command that he handed down was actually being fulfilled.
He was also asked on the plane over whether any more of these prisoner abuse photos would be released. And he said that possibly they would be if that was his personal preference, but was saying that Pentagon lawyers were telling him that probably it wouldn't be a good idea to do so. But he did say that the worse could still yet to be to come on this prisoner abuse scandal -- Betty.
NGUYEN: OK. Karl Penhaul in Baghdad, thank you for that.
For more on the Rumsfeld trip, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us.
Good morning to you.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Betty. Well, Secretary Rumsfeld and General Myers now in Iraq, as we see, taking great pains to say that they are not just there to throw cold water on the scandal, that they are there to conduct substantive business to find out what has been going on. Now, Secretary Rumsfeld spoke at length with reporters on the 15-hour plane ride from Washington to Baghdad. He said that he is going to wait for the investigations to be finished, before he comes to a conclusion about whether the abuse was an aberration or systemic.
Also, he's saying he is not going to publicly acknowledge at this point that there was any violation of the Geneva Convention. He says he has a very good reason for that, which is he doesn't want to jeopardize any military prosecution by making any public statements about that. And as Karl Penhaul just said, the secretary for the first time now saying it's very unlikely that the photographs, seen by Congress yesterday, those disturbing new photos, will be seen by the public. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: My first choice would be to release them. But it's my understanding that, at the present time, the people who have an obligation to take into account privacy issues, legal requirements under privacy laws, and Geneva Convention, are advising against it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So, now the focus is really far beyond just these terrible photographs. More investigations going on. A lot of focus now on the next investigation into military intelligence. When military intelligence took over administrative or tactical control, if you will, of Abu Ghraib prison last November, somehow was the order to do that misinterpreted? Was there some sort of inappropriate activity between military intelligence and military police? Were there violations of the Geneva Convention in some of the approved interrogation practices? Something very different than this criminal activity that's been going on; but still, something very serious that Congress says it wants answers to -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Barbara, we understand that Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq with some Pentagon lawyers in tote. What do you make of that? Do you expect any progress?
STARR: We're not clear at this point why those lawyers were on board. Now, there may be a couple of reasons.
NGUYEN: Barbara, we're going to have to interrupt you right now. We have Ben Wedeman back on the phone; he is traveling with Donald Rumsfeld.
Ben, can you hear us? Tell us what you've seen so far today on this trip. Ben, can you hear us?
OK, we are having some more technical difficulties, trying to get in touch with Ben Wedeman in Iraq. He is traveling with Donald Rumsfeld on that surprise visit.
Two more U.S. soldiers have been ordered to military court to face court-martial proceedings in the prisoner abuse scandal. Sergeant Javal Davis and Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick face charges, including assault and maltreating prisoners, conspiracy to maltreat prisoners and dereliction of duty. Relatives of the two say the charges are hard to believe. Their military trials will follow the court martial of Specialist Jeremy Sivits next week in Baghdad.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers who were given a private screening of more than 1600 photos say many show sexual abuses; others are more like tourist snapshots. But at least one senator says they should be made public in the interest of full disclosure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I would support them consistent with the code of the military conduct that they ought to be out and they should be released. The more the information gets out, the more extensive these hearings, the more knowledge that we have, the better off we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The abuse scandal has reverberated around the world and thundered through the halls of the White House. A looming question has been whether it will cost any administration officials their jobs.
CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has more on that.
Hi, Suzanne. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty. Administration officials tell us that there is pressure from Congress that a senior ranking official from the Pentagon be held accountable for this prison abuse scandal. Two senior administration officials telling CNN that this is pressure coming from Congress not from the White House. It was yesterday that President Bush, returning from an education event in Maryland, he came back to the White House. He met with the chairman, as well as the ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the House International Affairs Committee to look for the head -- what is happening in Iraq at the security situation, at the political fallout here.
And administration officials tell us that since President Bush endorsed and is standing by Rumsfeld at the Pentagon that the call for his resignation has greatly diminished. But however, there are some calls from Congress, even quietly from some Republicans that the Undersecretary Defense for Intelligence, Steven Cambone, that he is the one who should step down. He is the one who encouraged military police to work with the military intelligence units. He had testified before the Senate as well. He was the one who thought that perhaps by cooperating, these two groups, they could get information from prisoners.
There are some members in Congress who believe that this at least led to the climate of confusion and perhaps prison abuse. And that he is the one who should step down. So far, however, Betty, the White House not yet weighing in on this. They say that this kind of pressure is coming from members of Congress.
In the meantime, President Bush is going to be going on another education event in the West Virginia today, to try to take some of the attention off of this whole Iraq scandal, as well as international events and to highlight his domestic agenda as well -- Betty.
NGUYEN: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you.
And there's a report out today blaming the CIA uses harsh interrogation methods that are causing concern within the agency. According to "The New York Times," only high-level al Qaeda leaders and operatives are subjected to the escalating levels of force. Current and former counter-terrorism officials say one technique involves holding a subject's head under water. At least one agency employee has been disciplined for threatening a detainee with a gun.
Well, in light of the scandal, the military officials who specialize in interrogation have been facing tough questions of their own. The most central are troops trained to abuse?
CNN's Ed Lavandera offers this peek into the program.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is site uniform, our field training exercise.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the dusty hills of southeastern Arizona, the newest Army intelligence interrogators are completing their final training exercise. The Army wants the world to know that when these soldiers leave here, they're not equipped with techniques of torture and humiliation.
MAJ. GEN. JAMES MARKS, U.S. ARMY: We train soldiers to do what's right. Our Army is values based. So if a soldier feels like he or she is moving down a path that they are uncomfortable with, we also have a thing called the chain of command. And you go up through the chain of command and get support from them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I'm asking to find out is your chain of command here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do I know I can trust an American?
LAVANDERA: Inside the Fort Wachuka, soldiers are taught the fine points of interrogation; role-playing teaches each soldier how to approach different personalities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How else did you set fire to the garbage cans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we doused the cans with gasoline and lit a match.
LAVANDERA: The 16-week training course teaches soldiers to get into a prison area's mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, you're not going to let them finish whatever they're asking. Eventually the person is going to want to be heard.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Army officials here up to 90 percent of useful intelligence in Iraq comes from interrogations. But to get that information from a hardened terrorist or a militant fighter can require a tough approach.
MARKS: We don't strip anybody of their dignity, but I want them to be tired. I want them to be afraid of me. I want them when they breathe, I want them to think that the interrogator gave them the right to expand their lungs...
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Officials here say it's done under strict guidelines. No touching, no humiliation. Chief Warrant Officer Lon Castleton just returned from Iraq. He found a kinder, gentler approach is the most effective way of dealing with Iraqi prisoners.
CWO LON CASTLETON, U.S. ARMY: Yes. The things I saw with these people, they expected to be beaten. and that's the way Saddam Hussein used to treat them. In fact, they figured they'd never be seen again. So when you treat them with kindness, they're a lot more open. In fact, in a lot of cases, they're surprised.
LAVANDERA: The need for interrogators is so great that more than 500 soldiers will be put through this course this year. SPEC. JASON HICKMAN, INTERROGATION TRAINEE: I have a foundation for what it's going to take to do my real job in the real world. But until I actually get out there and do it in the real world, I'm not going to know what it's going to be like.
LAVANDERA: No matter how real the training might appear, soldiers won't know what it will take to be effective, until they come face-to-face with an enemy prisoner.
Ed Lavandera, Fort Wachuka, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: On the ground in Iraq, we'll have more on Donald Rumsfeld's surprise visit to the region. He's expected to meet with U.S. troops. And we'll bring that to you live when it happens.
And several tornadoes spotted in the Midwest. We'll tell you where and a check of severe weather.
Later, oil production in Iraq still not back to prewar levels but that could soon change. This is CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Are editorial newspapers questioning U.S. policy in Iraq? Not enough says one media member. Greg Mitchell is editor-in- chief of "Editor & Publisher" magazine. His new column asks when will the first major newspaper call for a pull out in Iraq.
Good morning to you.
GREG MITCHELL, "EDITOR & PUBLISHER" MAGAZINE: Hello.
NGUYEN: Well, as you've heard, this morning Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq. And in light of the pictures that were released yesterday to Congress, is the climate ripe for this kind of a statement by a major newspaper?
MITCHELL: Well, I think a lot has changed in the last month or two. And what's odd to me is that latest CNN/Gallup survey shows that 47 percent of the American public now favor that some or all American troops be pulled out of Iraq soon. And yet, not a major -- not a single leading American newspaper advocates this position or seemingly has seriously considered it.
NGUYEN: So, if the climate is ripe, as you say according to the polls, people are split on this issue, why hasn't it happened yet?
MITCHELL: Well, it's interesting. I think newspapers really have a -- and the press in general has a great responsibility for the mess that we're in right now. Going back to before the war: accepting in some cases without question the administration's arguments for the war, the existence of weapons of mass destruction, the link of -- the alleged link of Saddam to al Qaeda. And throughout this whole process, although there has been a tremendous amount of great reporting on the ground, editorially, newspapers have been afraid to challenge the administration or the war policy. And that's continued to this day. I guess my point is that an awful lot has changed in the last month. Coming back to the American casualty, the surge in fatalities, and of course, with the prison abuse scandal now really changes the whole outlook for us there. And yet, editorials have not responded so far.
NGUYEN: So, when and if this does happen, do you expect a backlash with the media? We're already taking some heat over these pictures and how it's been in all of the news reports throughout the past week or so.
MITCHELL: Well, I don't think so. I think that, you know, sometime in the next month there will be a major newspaper that will call for a phased pullout. Not an immediate withdrawal, of course, but over the next six months, nine months or a year. This is quite different than what has been the case so far, where many newspapers have called for sending more troops. So I think once that happens, when one leading paper and then another starts to take this position seriously, you're going to see a snowball effect.
And my column in "Editor and Publisher," which is online, the -- I mention Walter Cronkite now famous statement to the American people in 1968, when he said that he had seen the light and that we really needed to start to get out of Vietnam. Had a tremendous effect on other members of the media and partly led to the real changeover in Vietnam that came after.
NGUYEN: Quickly, we're almost out of time. But what do you hope to accomplish by this article? Do you expect a newspaper to do as you say, call for a pullout?
MITCHELL: Well, no. I'm not really. I don't think they're going to necessarily respond to my column. But I do think in the natural order of things, they have to be more strongly consider this option. I think until recently, this has been seen as a very fringe position. And of course, we created this mess in Iraq and we have to do right and make things right for the Iraqi people. I guess the point of my column was that it may be reaching that point, where actually America's presence there is doing more harm than good. That we're impeding what could be a changeover there that actually could proceed satisfactorily in the long haul, if Americans start to get out.
NGUYEN: All right. Greg Mitchell, editor and chief of "Editor and "Publisher" magazine. We thank you for your time.
MITCHELL: Thank you.
NGUYEN: The Iraqi national soccer team is going to the Athens games! The Iraqi team beat Saudi Arabia 3-1 Wednesday to earn a spot. The Iraqi home game had to be played in Jordan because Iraq is still not safe enough for international sports. The win triggered celebratory gunfire throughout Baghdad, with some people mistaking the noise for an attack. This is the first time Iraq's soccer team has qualified for the Olympics.
Well, a frightening sight on the horizon. This tornado was one of many spotted in the Midwest. Your complete look at weather, that's straight-ahead.
And new questions about Nicholas Berg's murder. A live report from his hometown when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, it is springtime in the nation's Tornado Alley. State emergency official say tornadoes touched down in south central Kansas near the Oklahoma border. Check it out. A few homes were damaged in Attica but no injuries are reported. Those are some amazing pictures.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Really cool, Betty. Especially the one where it shows the idea wider shot, right on the edge of that super cell. And you can see how that tornado really picking up the dust around it and getting caught in the updraft. and that guy looks like it's retreating back into the clouds. That amateur video is pretty...
NGUYEN: Not very amateur.
MARCIANO: ... pretty darn professional, isn't it. Nice stuff there. And of course, the best news is that...
NGUYEN: No one was injured.
MARCIANO: ... no injuries. A little bit of damage there. Eighteen reports of tornadoes yesterday.
NGUYEN: Eighteen?
MARCIANO: Yes, in mostly rural spots. And we'll probably see a few more.
NGUYEN: That time of year, right? Tornado Alley.
MARCIANO: It is that time of year. Exactly.
NGUYEN: Well, now we want to try to go back live now to Ben Wedeman on the phone. He is in Iraq traveling with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Ben, what have you seen so far this morning?
WEDEMAN: What we've seen is the secretary went to Abu Ghraib prison, where he was greeted by hundreds of U.S. servicemen and women in the mess hall at the prison; and was very enthusiastic reception. and the secretary certainly, despite the long flight from the U.S., despite the uproar over the prisoner abuse scandal, seemed to be in very high spirits. If anything, looked a bit like a pep rally at a high school. He made reference to the prisoner abuse scandal, describing it as a "body blow." But he said that it would be something that would be dealt with. They would get over it. He said that he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers had come to Iraq expressly to meet with the troops. And in his words, to look them in the eye and tell them how much they admire their noble work, his words. Now, General Myers, afterwards, made also comments to the soldiers there. And he said that he did have complete confidence in the military justice system, and he said that those who have committed crime will be brought to justice.
Now, the second time I saw the Secretary Rumsfeld doing was going on a tour of the new visitors center at Abu Ghraib prison. That visitor center obviously for relatives coming to see people who are inside the prison. He was taken off that by Major General Geoffrey Miller who, of course, was brought to Abu Ghraib from the Guantanamo Detention Center to clean up house at the prison -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Ben, when Donald Rumsfeld met with hundreds of troops there at Abu Ghraib, did they get a chance to ask him any questions? And if so, what is on the minds of those troops'? What is their main concern right now?
WEDEMAN: Well, to answer the first part of your question. Certainly, he didn't really have an opportunity. Rather, the troops didn't have much of an opportunity to speak with him, except for an exchange pleasantries and shake hands. But we did speak to some of the soldiers beforehand and they were adamant that those who committed the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison did not -- were not -- did not represent the vast majority of the troops there. Many of them, in fact, had arrived in camp in country in February of this year. So their arrival, of course, was after the alleged incidents of abuses, which we're told occurred last November.
NGUYEN: All right. Ben Wedeman reporting live in Iraq today.
And we do want to remind you we are waiting for Donald Rumsfeld to speak with troops there in Baghdad. And of course, we will take that live when it happens. So stay tuned to CNN LIVE TODAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 13, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Daryn Kagan.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad. He's meeting with military field commanders as well as the troops. And he also makes a stop at Abu Ghraib prison, but he denies the trip is about turning down the heat on the prisoner abuse scandal.
It's Paul Wolfowitz turn to come to Congress with his hand out. The deputy defense secretary is appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon wants $25 billion more for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Was Nick Berg in the custody of Iraqi police or U.S. authorities prior to his beheading in Iraq? Friends say Berg was held in a coalition detention facility for nearly two weeks. His family blames the American government for his death. But U.S. officials say they warned Berg to leave Iraq and even offered him a flight out of the country before he disappeared.
And the anti-Bush movie, made by Michael Moore, may still be coming to a theater near you. Miramax Films plans to buy back "Fahrenheit 9/11" from parent company Walt Disney and look for another distributor. The movie criticizes the president's handling of 9/11 and links the Bush family with Osama bin Laden.
Well, we begin this hour with a midnight mission to Baghdad. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld travels overnight for a surprise visit. One of his first military stops, the military prison at the center of the abuse scandal is one of his first stops. Let's get the latest on this developing story. We want to go live on the phone to Ben Wedeman -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, well, a short while a (AUDIO GAP)
NGUYEN: OK, we are having some technical difficulty with getting Ben Wedeman's report. We want to go live now to Karl Penhaul for the latest on this trip. Rumsfeld in Iraq.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Betty. Yes, I think what Ben was trying to bring us up-to-date with was the visit by Donald Rumsfeld to Abu Ghraib prison. He's there now as we speak, along with what we understand is also Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers. During this visit to Abu Ghraib prison, he'll also be receiving an update on the prison abuse scandal that has occurred there. First of all, U.S. officials saying this was just a few bad apples carrying out the abuse, now it looks like it was something a little more systematic.
And certainly Donald Rumsfeld will want to visit the facilities for himself to get a better impression, get a better impression of the layout, get a better impression of the people involved, the chain of command, and whether the chain of command that he handed down was actually being fulfilled.
He was also asked on the plane over whether any more of these prisoner abuse photos would be released. And he said that possibly they would be if that was his personal preference, but was saying that Pentagon lawyers were telling him that probably it wouldn't be a good idea to do so. But he did say that the worse could still yet to be to come on this prisoner abuse scandal -- Betty.
NGUYEN: OK. Karl Penhaul in Baghdad, thank you for that.
For more on the Rumsfeld trip, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us.
Good morning to you.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Betty. Well, Secretary Rumsfeld and General Myers now in Iraq, as we see, taking great pains to say that they are not just there to throw cold water on the scandal, that they are there to conduct substantive business to find out what has been going on. Now, Secretary Rumsfeld spoke at length with reporters on the 15-hour plane ride from Washington to Baghdad. He said that he is going to wait for the investigations to be finished, before he comes to a conclusion about whether the abuse was an aberration or systemic.
Also, he's saying he is not going to publicly acknowledge at this point that there was any violation of the Geneva Convention. He says he has a very good reason for that, which is he doesn't want to jeopardize any military prosecution by making any public statements about that. And as Karl Penhaul just said, the secretary for the first time now saying it's very unlikely that the photographs, seen by Congress yesterday, those disturbing new photos, will be seen by the public. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: My first choice would be to release them. But it's my understanding that, at the present time, the people who have an obligation to take into account privacy issues, legal requirements under privacy laws, and Geneva Convention, are advising against it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So, now the focus is really far beyond just these terrible photographs. More investigations going on. A lot of focus now on the next investigation into military intelligence. When military intelligence took over administrative or tactical control, if you will, of Abu Ghraib prison last November, somehow was the order to do that misinterpreted? Was there some sort of inappropriate activity between military intelligence and military police? Were there violations of the Geneva Convention in some of the approved interrogation practices? Something very different than this criminal activity that's been going on; but still, something very serious that Congress says it wants answers to -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Barbara, we understand that Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq with some Pentagon lawyers in tote. What do you make of that? Do you expect any progress?
STARR: We're not clear at this point why those lawyers were on board. Now, there may be a couple of reasons.
NGUYEN: Barbara, we're going to have to interrupt you right now. We have Ben Wedeman back on the phone; he is traveling with Donald Rumsfeld.
Ben, can you hear us? Tell us what you've seen so far today on this trip. Ben, can you hear us?
OK, we are having some more technical difficulties, trying to get in touch with Ben Wedeman in Iraq. He is traveling with Donald Rumsfeld on that surprise visit.
Two more U.S. soldiers have been ordered to military court to face court-martial proceedings in the prisoner abuse scandal. Sergeant Javal Davis and Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick face charges, including assault and maltreating prisoners, conspiracy to maltreat prisoners and dereliction of duty. Relatives of the two say the charges are hard to believe. Their military trials will follow the court martial of Specialist Jeremy Sivits next week in Baghdad.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers who were given a private screening of more than 1600 photos say many show sexual abuses; others are more like tourist snapshots. But at least one senator says they should be made public in the interest of full disclosure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I would support them consistent with the code of the military conduct that they ought to be out and they should be released. The more the information gets out, the more extensive these hearings, the more knowledge that we have, the better off we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The abuse scandal has reverberated around the world and thundered through the halls of the White House. A looming question has been whether it will cost any administration officials their jobs.
CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has more on that.
Hi, Suzanne. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty. Administration officials tell us that there is pressure from Congress that a senior ranking official from the Pentagon be held accountable for this prison abuse scandal. Two senior administration officials telling CNN that this is pressure coming from Congress not from the White House. It was yesterday that President Bush, returning from an education event in Maryland, he came back to the White House. He met with the chairman, as well as the ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the House International Affairs Committee to look for the head -- what is happening in Iraq at the security situation, at the political fallout here.
And administration officials tell us that since President Bush endorsed and is standing by Rumsfeld at the Pentagon that the call for his resignation has greatly diminished. But however, there are some calls from Congress, even quietly from some Republicans that the Undersecretary Defense for Intelligence, Steven Cambone, that he is the one who should step down. He is the one who encouraged military police to work with the military intelligence units. He had testified before the Senate as well. He was the one who thought that perhaps by cooperating, these two groups, they could get information from prisoners.
There are some members in Congress who believe that this at least led to the climate of confusion and perhaps prison abuse. And that he is the one who should step down. So far, however, Betty, the White House not yet weighing in on this. They say that this kind of pressure is coming from members of Congress.
In the meantime, President Bush is going to be going on another education event in the West Virginia today, to try to take some of the attention off of this whole Iraq scandal, as well as international events and to highlight his domestic agenda as well -- Betty.
NGUYEN: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you.
And there's a report out today blaming the CIA uses harsh interrogation methods that are causing concern within the agency. According to "The New York Times," only high-level al Qaeda leaders and operatives are subjected to the escalating levels of force. Current and former counter-terrorism officials say one technique involves holding a subject's head under water. At least one agency employee has been disciplined for threatening a detainee with a gun.
Well, in light of the scandal, the military officials who specialize in interrogation have been facing tough questions of their own. The most central are troops trained to abuse?
CNN's Ed Lavandera offers this peek into the program.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is site uniform, our field training exercise.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the dusty hills of southeastern Arizona, the newest Army intelligence interrogators are completing their final training exercise. The Army wants the world to know that when these soldiers leave here, they're not equipped with techniques of torture and humiliation.
MAJ. GEN. JAMES MARKS, U.S. ARMY: We train soldiers to do what's right. Our Army is values based. So if a soldier feels like he or she is moving down a path that they are uncomfortable with, we also have a thing called the chain of command. And you go up through the chain of command and get support from them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I'm asking to find out is your chain of command here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do I know I can trust an American?
LAVANDERA: Inside the Fort Wachuka, soldiers are taught the fine points of interrogation; role-playing teaches each soldier how to approach different personalities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How else did you set fire to the garbage cans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we doused the cans with gasoline and lit a match.
LAVANDERA: The 16-week training course teaches soldiers to get into a prison area's mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, you're not going to let them finish whatever they're asking. Eventually the person is going to want to be heard.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Army officials here up to 90 percent of useful intelligence in Iraq comes from interrogations. But to get that information from a hardened terrorist or a militant fighter can require a tough approach.
MARKS: We don't strip anybody of their dignity, but I want them to be tired. I want them to be afraid of me. I want them when they breathe, I want them to think that the interrogator gave them the right to expand their lungs...
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Officials here say it's done under strict guidelines. No touching, no humiliation. Chief Warrant Officer Lon Castleton just returned from Iraq. He found a kinder, gentler approach is the most effective way of dealing with Iraqi prisoners.
CWO LON CASTLETON, U.S. ARMY: Yes. The things I saw with these people, they expected to be beaten. and that's the way Saddam Hussein used to treat them. In fact, they figured they'd never be seen again. So when you treat them with kindness, they're a lot more open. In fact, in a lot of cases, they're surprised.
LAVANDERA: The need for interrogators is so great that more than 500 soldiers will be put through this course this year. SPEC. JASON HICKMAN, INTERROGATION TRAINEE: I have a foundation for what it's going to take to do my real job in the real world. But until I actually get out there and do it in the real world, I'm not going to know what it's going to be like.
LAVANDERA: No matter how real the training might appear, soldiers won't know what it will take to be effective, until they come face-to-face with an enemy prisoner.
Ed Lavandera, Fort Wachuka, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: On the ground in Iraq, we'll have more on Donald Rumsfeld's surprise visit to the region. He's expected to meet with U.S. troops. And we'll bring that to you live when it happens.
And several tornadoes spotted in the Midwest. We'll tell you where and a check of severe weather.
Later, oil production in Iraq still not back to prewar levels but that could soon change. This is CNN LIVE TODAY.
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NGUYEN: Are editorial newspapers questioning U.S. policy in Iraq? Not enough says one media member. Greg Mitchell is editor-in- chief of "Editor & Publisher" magazine. His new column asks when will the first major newspaper call for a pull out in Iraq.
Good morning to you.
GREG MITCHELL, "EDITOR & PUBLISHER" MAGAZINE: Hello.
NGUYEN: Well, as you've heard, this morning Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq. And in light of the pictures that were released yesterday to Congress, is the climate ripe for this kind of a statement by a major newspaper?
MITCHELL: Well, I think a lot has changed in the last month or two. And what's odd to me is that latest CNN/Gallup survey shows that 47 percent of the American public now favor that some or all American troops be pulled out of Iraq soon. And yet, not a major -- not a single leading American newspaper advocates this position or seemingly has seriously considered it.
NGUYEN: So, if the climate is ripe, as you say according to the polls, people are split on this issue, why hasn't it happened yet?
MITCHELL: Well, it's interesting. I think newspapers really have a -- and the press in general has a great responsibility for the mess that we're in right now. Going back to before the war: accepting in some cases without question the administration's arguments for the war, the existence of weapons of mass destruction, the link of -- the alleged link of Saddam to al Qaeda. And throughout this whole process, although there has been a tremendous amount of great reporting on the ground, editorially, newspapers have been afraid to challenge the administration or the war policy. And that's continued to this day. I guess my point is that an awful lot has changed in the last month. Coming back to the American casualty, the surge in fatalities, and of course, with the prison abuse scandal now really changes the whole outlook for us there. And yet, editorials have not responded so far.
NGUYEN: So, when and if this does happen, do you expect a backlash with the media? We're already taking some heat over these pictures and how it's been in all of the news reports throughout the past week or so.
MITCHELL: Well, I don't think so. I think that, you know, sometime in the next month there will be a major newspaper that will call for a phased pullout. Not an immediate withdrawal, of course, but over the next six months, nine months or a year. This is quite different than what has been the case so far, where many newspapers have called for sending more troops. So I think once that happens, when one leading paper and then another starts to take this position seriously, you're going to see a snowball effect.
And my column in "Editor and Publisher," which is online, the -- I mention Walter Cronkite now famous statement to the American people in 1968, when he said that he had seen the light and that we really needed to start to get out of Vietnam. Had a tremendous effect on other members of the media and partly led to the real changeover in Vietnam that came after.
NGUYEN: Quickly, we're almost out of time. But what do you hope to accomplish by this article? Do you expect a newspaper to do as you say, call for a pullout?
MITCHELL: Well, no. I'm not really. I don't think they're going to necessarily respond to my column. But I do think in the natural order of things, they have to be more strongly consider this option. I think until recently, this has been seen as a very fringe position. And of course, we created this mess in Iraq and we have to do right and make things right for the Iraqi people. I guess the point of my column was that it may be reaching that point, where actually America's presence there is doing more harm than good. That we're impeding what could be a changeover there that actually could proceed satisfactorily in the long haul, if Americans start to get out.
NGUYEN: All right. Greg Mitchell, editor and chief of "Editor and "Publisher" magazine. We thank you for your time.
MITCHELL: Thank you.
NGUYEN: The Iraqi national soccer team is going to the Athens games! The Iraqi team beat Saudi Arabia 3-1 Wednesday to earn a spot. The Iraqi home game had to be played in Jordan because Iraq is still not safe enough for international sports. The win triggered celebratory gunfire throughout Baghdad, with some people mistaking the noise for an attack. This is the first time Iraq's soccer team has qualified for the Olympics.
Well, a frightening sight on the horizon. This tornado was one of many spotted in the Midwest. Your complete look at weather, that's straight-ahead.
And new questions about Nicholas Berg's murder. A live report from his hometown when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
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NGUYEN: Well, it is springtime in the nation's Tornado Alley. State emergency official say tornadoes touched down in south central Kansas near the Oklahoma border. Check it out. A few homes were damaged in Attica but no injuries are reported. Those are some amazing pictures.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Really cool, Betty. Especially the one where it shows the idea wider shot, right on the edge of that super cell. And you can see how that tornado really picking up the dust around it and getting caught in the updraft. and that guy looks like it's retreating back into the clouds. That amateur video is pretty...
NGUYEN: Not very amateur.
MARCIANO: ... pretty darn professional, isn't it. Nice stuff there. And of course, the best news is that...
NGUYEN: No one was injured.
MARCIANO: ... no injuries. A little bit of damage there. Eighteen reports of tornadoes yesterday.
NGUYEN: Eighteen?
MARCIANO: Yes, in mostly rural spots. And we'll probably see a few more.
NGUYEN: That time of year, right? Tornado Alley.
MARCIANO: It is that time of year. Exactly.
NGUYEN: Well, now we want to try to go back live now to Ben Wedeman on the phone. He is in Iraq traveling with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Ben, what have you seen so far this morning?
WEDEMAN: What we've seen is the secretary went to Abu Ghraib prison, where he was greeted by hundreds of U.S. servicemen and women in the mess hall at the prison; and was very enthusiastic reception. and the secretary certainly, despite the long flight from the U.S., despite the uproar over the prisoner abuse scandal, seemed to be in very high spirits. If anything, looked a bit like a pep rally at a high school. He made reference to the prisoner abuse scandal, describing it as a "body blow." But he said that it would be something that would be dealt with. They would get over it. He said that he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers had come to Iraq expressly to meet with the troops. And in his words, to look them in the eye and tell them how much they admire their noble work, his words. Now, General Myers, afterwards, made also comments to the soldiers there. And he said that he did have complete confidence in the military justice system, and he said that those who have committed crime will be brought to justice.
Now, the second time I saw the Secretary Rumsfeld doing was going on a tour of the new visitors center at Abu Ghraib prison. That visitor center obviously for relatives coming to see people who are inside the prison. He was taken off that by Major General Geoffrey Miller who, of course, was brought to Abu Ghraib from the Guantanamo Detention Center to clean up house at the prison -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Ben, when Donald Rumsfeld met with hundreds of troops there at Abu Ghraib, did they get a chance to ask him any questions? And if so, what is on the minds of those troops'? What is their main concern right now?
WEDEMAN: Well, to answer the first part of your question. Certainly, he didn't really have an opportunity. Rather, the troops didn't have much of an opportunity to speak with him, except for an exchange pleasantries and shake hands. But we did speak to some of the soldiers beforehand and they were adamant that those who committed the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison did not -- were not -- did not represent the vast majority of the troops there. Many of them, in fact, had arrived in camp in country in February of this year. So their arrival, of course, was after the alleged incidents of abuses, which we're told occurred last November.
NGUYEN: All right. Ben Wedeman reporting live in Iraq today.
And we do want to remind you we are waiting for Donald Rumsfeld to speak with troops there in Baghdad. And of course, we will take that live when it happens. So stay tuned to CNN LIVE TODAY.
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