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Abu Ghraib Guard Facing Court-Martial in Baghdad Implicates Five of Six Soldiers Accused of Mistreating Prisoners

Aired May 14, 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: From the CNN headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Daryn Kagan.
U.S. forces make their biggest push into the holy city of Najaf, attacking positions held by Muqtada al-Sadr's militia. Much of the fighting is going on less than a mile from some of the holiest Shiite shrines. U.S. military officials say a number of militiamen have been captured.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is staying in step with President Bush on Iraq. Speaking about the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal with a British newspaper, Mr. Blair said, quote, "The most important thing is that we work with our coalition partners to sort it out."

Well, no relief in east Texas today. More rain is expected after one town got more than a foot of it on Thursday. A dam also collapsed flooding neighborhoods and forcing residents to climb trees to get rescued. About 170 homes were damaged. And roads and bridges, well, they were washed out as well.

And it's a modern day fairy tale in Denmark. Four years ago when they met in a pub, she had no idea with who he was. Well, today Australian law school graduate, Mary Donaldson today will marry Crown Prince Frederick. A quarter million people on the streets of Copenhagen will try to catch a glimpse of the newest royal couple.

Live this hour, a coalition briefing is getting underway in Baghdad. One of the likely topics is the overnight offensive on Najaf, where U.S. tanks have charged into the city. It represents a major push against Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the militia that's amassed around him.

An Abu Ghraib guard facing a court-martial in Baghdad next week has implicated five of the other six soldiers accused of mistreating prisoners. Specialist Jeremy Sivits' statements to military investigators are being reported today. Sivits faces lesser charges than his colleagues for cooperating with authorities. In one incident, Sivits said Sergeant Javal Davis ran across a floor and jumped on a prisoner after they'd placed in a human pyramid. "After Davis had done this," Sivits says, "Davis then stomped on either the fingers or toes of the detainees. When he stomped on the detainees, they were in pain because they would scream out loudly."

Well, not surprisingly these accusations are not going unchallenged. Joining us now with more on that angle and other details surrounding the Sivits bombshell is CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. Well, as you say, this is the statement of Specialist Jeremy Sivits. And of course, it is just one man's statement. The other -- he is the first to go to court-martial. His court-martial will begin in Baghdad on Wednesday of next week in Baghdad. We have not fully heard from the other accused people in this matter in a legal framework. But this statement is a description by Specialist Sivits of the involvement of several other people in the prison abuse matter.

Now, let's read you in full, one of the statements that Jeremy Sivits made to investigators when he describes the involvement of other persons. He says, quote, "They put the detainees in a pile on the floor. The detainees were tossed in the middle of the floor together. That is when Sergeant Davis ran across the room, lunged in the air and landed in the middle of where the detainees were. I believe this is when Corporal Granier told Specialist Wisdom to come in and 'get him some.'"

In another part of his statement, Specialist Sivits says when Corporal Charles Granier hit one detainee, the detainee begged Granier to stop by saying, "Mister, Mister, please stop."

Now, the Houston attorney Guy Womack who is representing Corporal Granier has told CNN that, quote, "Anyone would try to deflect blame rather than accept responsibility for what he's doing." Making the very strong suggestion in his view that Specialist Sivits has basically cut a deal, if you will, implicating others in order to get -- reduce the punishment for himself. All of this, of course, remains to be seen when the Sivits court-martial begins Wednesday in Baghdad -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, there are a lot of accusations that these statements are fabricated because of that plea deal?

STARR: That, of course, is typically what happens in criminal proceedings. People say these sorts of things. But also, according to what investigators asked Specialist Sivits, they said to him, why didn't you report this up to your chain of command? If you knew what was going on, why didn't you tell somebody? And here is what Specialist Sivits says. He says, "I was asked not to and I try to be friends with everyone. I see now where trying to be friends with everyone can cost you."

So Specialist Sivits clearly making the case although he knew about it, he didn't report it. And it was a go along, get along situation in his mind -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.

One day after the British government discredited photos of purported Iraqi abuse, some lawmakers are calling for the resignation of the newspaper editor who published them. The "Daily Mirror" published the pictures May 1, along with detailed accounts of British troops abusing prisoners. Government investigations concluded the photos were not taken in Iraq and they are apparently fakes. But the "Mirror" is standing by its reporting, and counters that British military police are investigating a number of cases.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military prison at the center of the abuse scantal -- scandal that is, opened its doors today to more than 300 inmates. Buses whisked the prisoners to freedom and a barrage of questions as well, about what they may have witnessed inside the walls of Abu Ghraib.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has this report now from Baghdad.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first large batch of prisoners was released from Abu Ghraib today, a total of 315, according to a senior coalition source. Now, they left -- the first bus left Abu Ghraib prison at about 9:20 in the morning local time. Rather than stopping outside the gates of the prison however, it headed east towards Baghdad, much to the disappointment of hundreds of people who had assembled outside the prison, having heard rumors that there would be a prisoner release. In total, five buses left the prison, one apparently heading towards Fallujah, three to the northwest of Baghdad.

Now, already from those who have emerged from the prison, reports that they were abused, humiliated and mistreated. At this point, it is difficult to confirm those stories, but what seems to be clear is that those coming out are bringing with them a good deal of resentment against the U.S.-led coalition.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: The family of slain American Nick Berg plans to hold a private memorial service today, three days after his videotape beheading was shown on a terrorist Web site. The CIA now says there is a high probability that his hooded killer was Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the leader of an Islamist terrorist group linked to Osama bin Laden. Agents studied the video and the voice of the killer who read a statement.

Well, strange new details are providing an odd twist in the Berg case. An apparent chance encounter that ended with an e-mail linked to a prominent terror suspect.

CNN's Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ties between Nicholas Berg and Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with 9/11, traced back to Oklahoma. MICHAEL BERG, FATHER OF NICHOLAS BERG: Nick went to Oklahoma University and he was taken a course that was in a remote campus. And you're on bus, that remote campus was near the airport where some terrorist people, who no one knew terrorists at the time, they were just fellow students, were also taking that bus. And someone asked him how to -- asked him basically to let him or her use his computer and he did.

ARENA: U.S. officials say Berg shared his computer and his password with one individual and that password somehow ended up in Moussaoui's possession.

BERG: It turned out this guy was a terrorist and that -- and that he, you know, used my son's e-mail, amongst many other people's e-mail who he did the same thing to.

ARENA: The FBI tracked down Berg and his father said his son cooperated fully. Michael Berg said the incident happened several years ago. Moussaoui took flight lessons in Oklahoma in 2001.

(on camera): It's a curious twist and some suggest a possible reason the FBI felt compelled to interview Berg three times in Iraq before clearing him for release.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Anti-American protest, this time in Havana, Cuba. A live report from the scene, where Fidel Castro is stirring up the masses.

And a big paycheck for big risk. You'll meet a group of Halliburton employees heading to go Iraq and Afghanistan.

Later the coolest creepy crawler is back for more action, but can "Spider-Man" the sequel, live up to the first one? Stay with us for a preview to find out. This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, don't go anywhere until you check out this video. A tornado actually picks up a house in Kansas. It's not "Wizard of Oz" stuff either. The owners got out in time luckily. There were other twisters though in the area. Some damage but no injuries were reported. Where is the Tin Man when you need him?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly, that was some serious "Wizard of Oz" action. Good news, as you said, no injuries. That came across as an F-4 and the worst is a five.

NGUYEN: Right.

MARCIANO: So the winds in excess of 200 miles an hour, and obviously that thing just...

NGUYEN: I don't think I've ever seen video like that before.

MARCIANO: No. That's pretty tremendous. They say amateur but....

NGUYEN: There was nothing amateur about that.

MARCIANO: ... that was pretty good.

NGUYEN: All right. We want to go now live to Baghdad for the briefing -- the coalition briefing. Let's listen in now to coalition spokesperson Dan Senor.

OK. Right now, we want to take you live to the Troutdale -- or a city near Troutdale, Oregon and the Sandy River. You're taking a look at it right now. This is a river rescue. As you can see, there are several men in a boat there, which has been stuck on a rock. There is emergency crews are -- emergency crews are on the scene. And you can see one person is standing by. Of course, this is something you don't see every day for good reason. But it looks like emergency crews are there and hopefully, things will be taken care of. Again, that's near Portland, Oregon, a river rescue.

Now, we want to take you back to Baghdad and more of the coalition briefing there.

NGUYEN: All right. You have been listening to the daily coalition briefing in Baghdad, where they've been talking about a number of things; including the heavy fighting in Najaf, where it has been centering around a cemetery in a holy shrine. And they've also been discussing the efforts made to protect those sites. Of course, we'll have more on this later.

We also are following a rescue, a whitewater river rescue. Here is a look at a live picture from the scene. This is happening in Troutdale, Oregon. Four boaters are trapped and we'll give you the latest on that when we come back. You're watching CNN LIVE TODAY.

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 14, 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: From the CNN headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Daryn Kagan.
U.S. forces make their biggest push into the holy city of Najaf, attacking positions held by Muqtada al-Sadr's militia. Much of the fighting is going on less than a mile from some of the holiest Shiite shrines. U.S. military officials say a number of militiamen have been captured.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is staying in step with President Bush on Iraq. Speaking about the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal with a British newspaper, Mr. Blair said, quote, "The most important thing is that we work with our coalition partners to sort it out."

Well, no relief in east Texas today. More rain is expected after one town got more than a foot of it on Thursday. A dam also collapsed flooding neighborhoods and forcing residents to climb trees to get rescued. About 170 homes were damaged. And roads and bridges, well, they were washed out as well.

And it's a modern day fairy tale in Denmark. Four years ago when they met in a pub, she had no idea with who he was. Well, today Australian law school graduate, Mary Donaldson today will marry Crown Prince Frederick. A quarter million people on the streets of Copenhagen will try to catch a glimpse of the newest royal couple.

Live this hour, a coalition briefing is getting underway in Baghdad. One of the likely topics is the overnight offensive on Najaf, where U.S. tanks have charged into the city. It represents a major push against Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the militia that's amassed around him.

An Abu Ghraib guard facing a court-martial in Baghdad next week has implicated five of the other six soldiers accused of mistreating prisoners. Specialist Jeremy Sivits' statements to military investigators are being reported today. Sivits faces lesser charges than his colleagues for cooperating with authorities. In one incident, Sivits said Sergeant Javal Davis ran across a floor and jumped on a prisoner after they'd placed in a human pyramid. "After Davis had done this," Sivits says, "Davis then stomped on either the fingers or toes of the detainees. When he stomped on the detainees, they were in pain because they would scream out loudly."

Well, not surprisingly these accusations are not going unchallenged. Joining us now with more on that angle and other details surrounding the Sivits bombshell is CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. Well, as you say, this is the statement of Specialist Jeremy Sivits. And of course, it is just one man's statement. The other -- he is the first to go to court-martial. His court-martial will begin in Baghdad on Wednesday of next week in Baghdad. We have not fully heard from the other accused people in this matter in a legal framework. But this statement is a description by Specialist Sivits of the involvement of several other people in the prison abuse matter.

Now, let's read you in full, one of the statements that Jeremy Sivits made to investigators when he describes the involvement of other persons. He says, quote, "They put the detainees in a pile on the floor. The detainees were tossed in the middle of the floor together. That is when Sergeant Davis ran across the room, lunged in the air and landed in the middle of where the detainees were. I believe this is when Corporal Granier told Specialist Wisdom to come in and 'get him some.'"

In another part of his statement, Specialist Sivits says when Corporal Charles Granier hit one detainee, the detainee begged Granier to stop by saying, "Mister, Mister, please stop."

Now, the Houston attorney Guy Womack who is representing Corporal Granier has told CNN that, quote, "Anyone would try to deflect blame rather than accept responsibility for what he's doing." Making the very strong suggestion in his view that Specialist Sivits has basically cut a deal, if you will, implicating others in order to get -- reduce the punishment for himself. All of this, of course, remains to be seen when the Sivits court-martial begins Wednesday in Baghdad -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, there are a lot of accusations that these statements are fabricated because of that plea deal?

STARR: That, of course, is typically what happens in criminal proceedings. People say these sorts of things. But also, according to what investigators asked Specialist Sivits, they said to him, why didn't you report this up to your chain of command? If you knew what was going on, why didn't you tell somebody? And here is what Specialist Sivits says. He says, "I was asked not to and I try to be friends with everyone. I see now where trying to be friends with everyone can cost you."

So Specialist Sivits clearly making the case although he knew about it, he didn't report it. And it was a go along, get along situation in his mind -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.

One day after the British government discredited photos of purported Iraqi abuse, some lawmakers are calling for the resignation of the newspaper editor who published them. The "Daily Mirror" published the pictures May 1, along with detailed accounts of British troops abusing prisoners. Government investigations concluded the photos were not taken in Iraq and they are apparently fakes. But the "Mirror" is standing by its reporting, and counters that British military police are investigating a number of cases.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military prison at the center of the abuse scantal -- scandal that is, opened its doors today to more than 300 inmates. Buses whisked the prisoners to freedom and a barrage of questions as well, about what they may have witnessed inside the walls of Abu Ghraib.

CNN's Ben Wedeman has this report now from Baghdad.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first large batch of prisoners was released from Abu Ghraib today, a total of 315, according to a senior coalition source. Now, they left -- the first bus left Abu Ghraib prison at about 9:20 in the morning local time. Rather than stopping outside the gates of the prison however, it headed east towards Baghdad, much to the disappointment of hundreds of people who had assembled outside the prison, having heard rumors that there would be a prisoner release. In total, five buses left the prison, one apparently heading towards Fallujah, three to the northwest of Baghdad.

Now, already from those who have emerged from the prison, reports that they were abused, humiliated and mistreated. At this point, it is difficult to confirm those stories, but what seems to be clear is that those coming out are bringing with them a good deal of resentment against the U.S.-led coalition.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: The family of slain American Nick Berg plans to hold a private memorial service today, three days after his videotape beheading was shown on a terrorist Web site. The CIA now says there is a high probability that his hooded killer was Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the leader of an Islamist terrorist group linked to Osama bin Laden. Agents studied the video and the voice of the killer who read a statement.

Well, strange new details are providing an odd twist in the Berg case. An apparent chance encounter that ended with an e-mail linked to a prominent terror suspect.

CNN's Justice Department correspondent Kelli Arena has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ties between Nicholas Berg and Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with 9/11, traced back to Oklahoma. MICHAEL BERG, FATHER OF NICHOLAS BERG: Nick went to Oklahoma University and he was taken a course that was in a remote campus. And you're on bus, that remote campus was near the airport where some terrorist people, who no one knew terrorists at the time, they were just fellow students, were also taking that bus. And someone asked him how to -- asked him basically to let him or her use his computer and he did.

ARENA: U.S. officials say Berg shared his computer and his password with one individual and that password somehow ended up in Moussaoui's possession.

BERG: It turned out this guy was a terrorist and that -- and that he, you know, used my son's e-mail, amongst many other people's e-mail who he did the same thing to.

ARENA: The FBI tracked down Berg and his father said his son cooperated fully. Michael Berg said the incident happened several years ago. Moussaoui took flight lessons in Oklahoma in 2001.

(on camera): It's a curious twist and some suggest a possible reason the FBI felt compelled to interview Berg three times in Iraq before clearing him for release.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Anti-American protest, this time in Havana, Cuba. A live report from the scene, where Fidel Castro is stirring up the masses.

And a big paycheck for big risk. You'll meet a group of Halliburton employees heading to go Iraq and Afghanistan.

Later the coolest creepy crawler is back for more action, but can "Spider-Man" the sequel, live up to the first one? Stay with us for a preview to find out. This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, don't go anywhere until you check out this video. A tornado actually picks up a house in Kansas. It's not "Wizard of Oz" stuff either. The owners got out in time luckily. There were other twisters though in the area. Some damage but no injuries were reported. Where is the Tin Man when you need him?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly, that was some serious "Wizard of Oz" action. Good news, as you said, no injuries. That came across as an F-4 and the worst is a five.

NGUYEN: Right.

MARCIANO: So the winds in excess of 200 miles an hour, and obviously that thing just...

NGUYEN: I don't think I've ever seen video like that before.

MARCIANO: No. That's pretty tremendous. They say amateur but....

NGUYEN: There was nothing amateur about that.

MARCIANO: ... that was pretty good.

NGUYEN: All right. We want to go now live to Baghdad for the briefing -- the coalition briefing. Let's listen in now to coalition spokesperson Dan Senor.

OK. Right now, we want to take you live to the Troutdale -- or a city near Troutdale, Oregon and the Sandy River. You're taking a look at it right now. This is a river rescue. As you can see, there are several men in a boat there, which has been stuck on a rock. There is emergency crews are -- emergency crews are on the scene. And you can see one person is standing by. Of course, this is something you don't see every day for good reason. But it looks like emergency crews are there and hopefully, things will be taken care of. Again, that's near Portland, Oregon, a river rescue.

Now, we want to take you back to Baghdad and more of the coalition briefing there.

NGUYEN: All right. You have been listening to the daily coalition briefing in Baghdad, where they've been talking about a number of things; including the heavy fighting in Najaf, where it has been centering around a cemetery in a holy shrine. And they've also been discussing the efforts made to protect those sites. Of course, we'll have more on this later.

We also are following a rescue, a whitewater river rescue. Here is a look at a live picture from the scene. This is happening in Troutdale, Oregon. Four boaters are trapped and we'll give you the latest on that when we come back. You're watching CNN LIVE TODAY.

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