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American Morning
U.S. Forces, Iraqi Police Raid Home of Ahmed Chalabi; 3-Year- Old Girl Abandoned in Baltimore
Aired May 20, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An Iraqi politician once seen as one of the United States' strongest allies -- so why have U.S. forces raided his home in Baghdad?
Massive destruction in Texas. Two freight trains collide head on spilling fuel, fire and tons of cargo.
And the rising waters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm lucky to be alive because I can't swim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Emergency workers put to the test when floodwaters rush in. Those stories all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody. Seven o'clock here in New York.
Other stories this hour, the president taking questions today from Republicans on Capitol Hill. There is a special meeting to talk about Iraq and energy policy and the budget.
The significance of that session still to come this hour. We'll get to it in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning a really heart breaking story out of Baltimore. A little girl abandoned two weeks ago by a man believed to be her father.
So far nobody has come forward to claim her. In just a few minutes we're going to talk to an official who is trying to reunite that little girl with her family.
She's only about three and a half years old.
HEMMER: That she is.
O'BRIEN: That doesn't provide a lot of information.
HEMMER: They think she's from New York, they think she might be homeless, but beyond that, they are pretty much clueless today.
O'BRIEN: Cute little girl, though.
HEMMER: Yes, very much so.
Jack Cafferty, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm feeling clueless this morning. I find myself deeply troubled and confused about the upcoming presidential election, but once again, we will turn to the viewers of this fine program and seek wisdom and understanding as the next three hours unfold.
O'BRIEN: Did you start out saying I, too, am clueless?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: That's what I thought you said. All right.
CAFFERTY: That's a lot of weird stuff going on in the world. You've got kids dying in Gaza; you've got kids dying allegedly at a wedding reception in Iraq.
What the hell's going on? I mean, things are getting a little out of hand, aren't they?
O'BRIEN: You know what, Jack? Where do we agree on this? I think we may see eye to eye.
CAFFERTY: Some day you'll learn that I'm always right, Soledad, and you should have agreed with me.
O'BRIEN: Yes, my mother says the same thing, you know. We're not there yet, Jack. Don't get ahead of yourself.
CAFFERTY: Your mother and I are about the same age.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our top stories this morning and, in fact, we begin in the Middle East where at least six Palestinians are dead in the latest round of violence in Gaza.
Palestinian sources say a 3-year-old boy was among the victims after his neighborhood was hit by Israeli fire. This after Israeli strikes left at least ten Palestinians dead during a protest in Rafah yesterday.
Israeli officials are saying the helicopter fired only flares into the refugee camp. Meanwhile President Bush during a cabinet meeting is continuing to urge restraint in the region.
The Pentagon denying reports that a U.S. air strike in Western Iraq targeted a wedding party near the Syrian border. Iraqi officials are saying more than 40 people, including children, were killed in the attack yesterday.
U.S. military officials think the target was a suspected foreign fighter's safe house. An investigation is now underway.
New photos have surfaced in the Iraq prison abuse scandal. They appear to show American soldiers smiling over a dead body. In one, Spc. Charles Graner of the 372nd Military Police is seen smiling, giving the thumbs up.
In the other Spc. Sabrina Harmon, a member of the same unit is in a similar pose.
While the pictures have not yet been authenticated, the soldiers who appear in them are among those who already face charges in the prisoner abuse scandal.
In Texas, there was a fiery crash as two freight trains hit head on. Cars derailed rocks from onboard the trains flew everywhere.
There are also reports at least one person dead in that accident. It was just a mangled mess in the rural area just about 50 miles from Dallas. The trains ended up looking basically like an accordion and it's unclear how both of those trains actually ended up on the same track.
The fire was sparked by the fuel on board. Four crewmembers were injured.
Heavy rain caused flash flooding in Kansas City, Missouri, where many drivers had to be rescued from rising waters. Police and firefighters got at least 30 calls from stuck drivers who couldn't get out of their cars or their trucks because of the high water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Came down this hill and there it went, the car just swished on over there and stopped at that tree there and after about an hour and 45 minutes...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you on top of your car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On top of my car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you lucky to be alive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm lucky to be alive, because I can't swim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Not good to not be able to swim in that. Emergency crews used boats to rescue a few people from their flooded houses as well.
HEMMER: That was in Missouri. Also flooding in southeastern Ohio as well. Lots to talk about weather wise.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Let's start in Iraq today. U.S. forces and Iraqi police today raiding the home of Ahmed Chalabi. Chalabi heads the Iraqi National Congress, is a member of the Iraqi Governing Council.
The INC compound said to be also searched today.
Straight to Baghdad and Harris Whitbeck for more on this. Harris, what are we learning?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN: Hello, Bill. U.S. forces and members of the Iraqi National Police passed around to the compound housing the Iraqi National Congress. As you know, that was headed by governing council member Ahmed Chalabi.
Now Chalabi was once considered the darling of hardliners in Washington, and he was one of those who helped press the case for war.
So far he has not been heard of, but some of the people who were at the INC headquarters when the raid took place this morning say that computers and personal effects were taken from them with no warning so they describe the taking of that material as theft.
They also said that they believe that this raid stems from a political dispute that ensued after Chalabi indicated from his post in the Iraqi Governing Council that the governing council and Iraq's new political leaders would want more independence from Washington after June 30.
Again, this is speculation that was expressed by apparent members of the INC on the ground there at INC headquarters. Now the Pentagon, you'll remember, decided just a few weeks ago to cut off more than $300,000 in a month in funding that they had been giving to the INC, and you'll also recall that Chalabi and the INC provided information to the United States that indicated at the time the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that information was used to help press the case for war.
Of course it was later determined that that information turned out to be false -- Bill.
HEMMER: Harris, on the battlefront, the U.S. says it was firing on a safe house of insurgents in western Iraq. Just short of the Syrian border. The Iraqis are saying this was simply a wedding party. A day later has that story moved forward in any way?
WHITBECK: Well, a lot of angry reaction in Baghdad as people have digested the news, seen the pictures that have been shown on television of bodies being buried. Bodies including those of young, small children, and also its been dominating the local paper headlines here.
The reactions that we've been able to monitor range from is this the democracy that the United States wants to impose on Iraq to how could they do that to us.
Again, the U.S. insisting that they were firing upon a safe house that was the refuge for foreign fighters who have been infiltrating Iraq from Syria. The area where this attack occurred is known to be an area of influence by weapon smugglers and apparently the U.S. forces have been monitoring that area for quite some time.
The United States insisting again that it was not firing upon a wedding but locals say that the U.S. soldiers confused traditional celebratory gunfire for an attack on them. Bill.
HEMMER: Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad. A lot to cover. Thanks. Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The chaotic situation in Iraq continues to apply pressure on the Bush administration. This morning President Bush will hold a rare meeting with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Elaine Quijano is standing by for us this morning at the White House. Elaine, good morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN: Good morning, Soledad.
The president's visit to Capitol Hill comes at a sensitive time for the White House on a number of fronts.
First, in the Middle East, the president has been trying to remain focused on achieving his two state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The ongoing violence in the region continuing to set back that effort.
At the same time, President Bush has been trying to shore up international support for the Iraq mission, and yesterday as part of that continuing effort, the president met with the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi at the White House.
Now coming out of that meeting, the president said the two leaders discussed a strategy for transferring sovereignty to interim Iraqi authority on June 30. The two also talked about how to broaden the coalition and about the need for security forces to be in place in Iraq in advance of elections.
Now at a dinner held by an Italian-American Association last night, President Bush also underscored what he said before that these weeks before the handover of power in Iraq are critical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As June 30 approaches, the enemies of freedom grow even more desperate to prevent the rise of democracy in Iraq. That's what you're seeing on your TV screens. The desperate tactics of a hateful few. People who cannot stand the thought of free societies in their midst.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And again this morning the president heading to Capitol Hill where he'll meet with Senate and House Republicans at a time when the administration has been facing some harsh scrutiny from Congress over the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, this will be a chance for the president to rally those lawmakers behind him -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano for us this morning -- Elaine thanks.
Top generals were on Capitol Hill yesterday facing tough questioning about the prison abuse scandal. A Senate committee is trying to find out who knew what and when and whether orders from senior officers set the scene for the abuse.
Joining us this morning from Capitol Hill is Senator Susan Collins. She's a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Nice to see you, Senator. Thanks for joining us.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: We heard in testimony from the three generals yesterday that there were systemic problems; that there definitely seems to be a lack of a definite sense of who was in charge.
But at the same time the generals said that the abuse was isolated and they also deny that there was any sort of culture of abuse.
Those things actually sound contradictory. Do they sound contradictory to you?
COLLINS: I think there are still many unanswered questions about who was in charge of this prison and whether the band of prisoners -- I mean, guards -- acted on their own or pursuant to directions from military intelligence or those up the chain of command.
O'BRIEN: So you don't necessarily agree with the generals' theory that what I sometimes call the bad apple theory. It's a handful of bad apples that sort of created this abuse and are responsible for it and it doesn't go any further than that?
COLLINS: We still don't know the answer to that question. I'm skeptical that a small group of out of control guards would chose to humiliate and abuse these prisoners in a way that was specifically calculated to be particularly offensive to Muslim men. That strikes me as too much knowledge for these guards to have.
O'BRIEN: Senator Byrd had a question for General Abazaid yesterday. I'm going to read it to you. He said, essentially, does anyone in a civilian leadership of the Pentagon need to approve the rules of interrogation operations and Gen. Abazaid answered my answer is no it is our responsibility as -- telling him essentially that decisions are made by commanders in the field.
In your mind, does that answer, essentially clear any sort of high-ranking Pentagon officials including the Secretary of Defense?
COLLINS: It's still not clear in my mind whether there was some kind of directive that these detainees should be treated differently, that perhaps the Geneva Conventions did not apply to all of them because they were not technically prisoners of war. Those are among the unanswered questions that we do need to resolve. O'BRIEN: You wrap up your interviews with the three generals or at least this part of it. Who do you want to hear from?
I mean, who do you need to talk to to get the answers to those questions because you seem to be saying there's lots of things that are unclear to you and the commission I imagine as well?
COLLINS: To me, we need to know more about the role of the intelligence agencies and military intelligence in particular.
A General Fay is doing a review of the military intelligence issues. I expect that that report will come to our committee as well as to the Pentagon. That will be a signpost for whom we should call before the committee next.
But to me, I'd like to hear more from military intelligence about their role in running this prison, in participating in the interrogations, and what directions if any they gave to the prison guards.
O'BRIEN: Senator Susan Collins of Maine joining us this morning. Nice to see you, Senator, thanks.
COLLINS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Fourteen past the hour. In a moment here, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani responding after being heckled yesterday during those 9/11 hearings. What he had to say in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, who is this little girl? Where did she come from? We're going to get to the very latest on the efforts to find her family this morning.
HEMMER: Also hold those surly comments next time you fly. One airline giving out free tickets for being nice. I like it.
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's nice.
HEMMER: Back in a moment after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Angry families heckled former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani at the 9/11 Commission hearings here in New York.
Families of Trade Center victims shouted at the former mayor, disrupting his appearance yesterday. They insisted he poorly addressed important issues at the hearing examining the city's emergency response on 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: I couldn't go to the World Trade Center, Ground Zero -- I still can't drive past it -- I try to avoid it. When I do drive past it or I have to go there for a ceremony, I am very, very angry. But I've always been able to channel my anger absolutely 100 percent on the terrorists who did this.
They accomplished this horrible deed. Everything else that happened, the things that were done right, and the things that were done wrong and maybe even the mistakes that were made were all made by people acting in good faith trying to deal with an impossible and a very, very difficult situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: We're going to talk with former mayor Rudy Giuliani this morning. That's coming up at 8:00 Eastern time right here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, 3-year-old Courtney needs your help. She was abandoned in Baltimore two weeks ago, and the man believed to be her father left her with a stranger and never came back.
She says her name is Courtney; she's three years of age, lives in Brooklyn, New York. Nothing else, though, is known about her.
Baltimore officials appealing to the public for help. Earlier today I talked with Christopher McCabe. He's the secretary of Maryland's Department of Human Resources -- if anyone has come forward yet today with any credible information his answer to that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER McCABE, SECRETARY MARYLAND DEPT. OF HUMAN RESOURCES: We are delighted at the exposure that Courtney and her life story is receiving here in Maryland and across the country and as a result of that exposure we've received a number of calls from a variety of different individuals, including New York City where we have some reason to believe that she is from based on her own account and based on other information we had that what we believe to be her father is from New York City.
Based on this, yesterday I can tell you that we did receive a phone call from a shelter in New York City where someone recognized or believed they recognized Courtney from the pictures on TV and we received contact from that shelter. They believed that they recognized her and perhaps the father that was also with her.
And so we are tracking that lead as we speak. We also understand from New York City authorities that her picture is being placed in other shelters in New York City so we're still at a relatively early stage but I cannot thank enough the media for providing the attention to this story.
You should know that here in Maryland Courtney is by all accounts happy, healthy -- she is living with a foster family in Baltimore City that is caring for her.
She is very verbal and she wants to see her mommy and we're doing everything here -- Governor Robert Ehrlich, the governor of our state and me and our employees of the Baltimore City of Social Services are doing everything we can to find information that would lead us to her family.
HEMMER: What has Courtney told you?
McCABE: Well, she's told us that she's from Brooklyn, New York. That she wants to see her mommy and that she really doesn't have too much more information to provide for us.
And I mean I'm not privy, Bill, to all the background information...
HEMMER: How is she doing, then, Mr. McCabe?
McCABE: Well, from the accounts that I've received that she's well nourished, she's happy and healthy and living in a good family foster care setting but like all little kids they want to find their parents and we are dedicated here in our state to try to find a permanent and positive outcome for Courtney and that will take some time but without the help of CNN and other media outlets, we really rely on the community to come forward with information that can help Courtney.
HEMMER: You say you've attracted an awful lot of interest across the country about the fate of this little girl; give me an idea about who's calling and why.
McCABE: Well, we get a number of different leads and kind of like the police when there is an incident that has occurred, they get a lot of leads that have to be tracked down but we received a phone call just yesterday from Salt Lake -- a woman in Salt Lake City who saw the picture of Courtney and volunteered to adopt her and while we're very grateful for that it's really premature to say that we were looking for her to be adopted.
I would encourage anyone in -- across the country who volunteered to do that to think about children in their own state that really need help and need a permanent home and so -- typically in a case like this where the state gets information about a girl or a boy who's been abandoned and we try to find out where their family is and we are unable to -- probably after two months we would begin a process in which we would try to develop a permanency plan for the child.
HEMMER: If I could, a phone number if anyone has any information or recognizes this girl, where do they call?
McCABE: Sure, it's area code 410-361-2235. Let me repeat that -- area code 410-361-2235.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And Christopher McCabe earlier today in Baltimore, Maryland talking about the case of Courtney.
Bringing you up to date now about an abandoned child we first reported about a year ago. Adoption proceedings for the California boy who became as Mateo reportedly near completion. He was found wandering the streets of Bakersfield, California around this same time last year.
A human services official telling us he's happy, he's a loving little boy flourishing in his current surroundings. There has been no word, though, from any family members -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Israel's latest action ignores a U.N. condemnation and U.S. criticism. We'll have the latest on the situation there.
And is there an X-factor draining the Kerry campaign? A look at that is ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back everybody; it's time for the Cafferty File and the "Question of the Day" from Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Soledad.
John Kerry cannot afford to focus only on President Bush. The Senator met yesterday with Impendent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. The man who many Democrats think cost Al Gore the White House in 2000.
Nader didn't quit the race; Senator Kerry didn't ask him to quit the race. Nader said they agreed to keep the lines of communication open between the two campaigns, blah, blah, blah, blah.
At the same time, Democratic groups are working to dissuade voters from supporting Ralph Nader. Nader insists he'll take more votes away from President Bush than from John Kerry. I have no idea how he came up with that.
But Senator Kerry says a vote for Nader is a vote for President Bush. So here's the question -- what should John Kerry do about Ralph Nader? And the e-mail address, am@cnn.com -- what I don't understand is, if you don't like President Bush, if you don't want President Bush to get a second term in office, why in the hell would you vote for somebody who has absolutely no chance of defeating President Bush, i.e., Ralph Nader?
Why wouldn't you vote for the only person on the ballot who has some modicum of a chance to win the election? That would be the part that confuses me.
HEMMER: Well, we know there's one issues that theses two men clearly are divided on; that's the future of Iraq. Ralph Nader has said if he were president he'd take the troops home...
CAFFERTY: But he's not going to be president. He'll never be president.
HEMMER: Correct, but apparently the reports we're getting -- they didn't even talk about that topic yesterday. To be put on the back shelf for a day...
CAFFERTY: There's nothing to talk to Ralph Nader about when it comes to Iraq because he'll never have anything to say what happens in Iraq, ever.
He's not going to be the president of the United States. Why would you talk to him about Iraq?
HEMMER: For those people who believe the U.S. should not be in there they would go with...
CAFFERTY: But he's not the guy that will make the decision about whether we're there or not because he'll never be in charge.
O'BRIEN: But he speaks to them and so they vote for him. Wouldn't that be the theory that that's...
CAFFERTY: But if they vote for him, then we're going to have a repeat of have -- I mean, I don't care who wins, I don't care who you vote for, but why if you don't like President Bush would you in your right mind go vote for a guy who is going to lose?
HEMMER: We've got two hours and...
CAFFERTY: I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. It makes no sense.
HEMMER: It's a great question and not just today will this be settled but it will be an issue for six months counting.
In a moment here these Iraqi deaths near the Syrian border nothing but confusion today about the circumstances. The bodies are being buried. A look at that and what's happening in a moment when we continue right on AMERICAN MORNING.
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Aired May 20, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An Iraqi politician once seen as one of the United States' strongest allies -- so why have U.S. forces raided his home in Baghdad?
Massive destruction in Texas. Two freight trains collide head on spilling fuel, fire and tons of cargo.
And the rising waters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm lucky to be alive because I can't swim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Emergency workers put to the test when floodwaters rush in. Those stories all ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody. Seven o'clock here in New York.
Other stories this hour, the president taking questions today from Republicans on Capitol Hill. There is a special meeting to talk about Iraq and energy policy and the budget.
The significance of that session still to come this hour. We'll get to it in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning a really heart breaking story out of Baltimore. A little girl abandoned two weeks ago by a man believed to be her father.
So far nobody has come forward to claim her. In just a few minutes we're going to talk to an official who is trying to reunite that little girl with her family.
She's only about three and a half years old.
HEMMER: That she is.
O'BRIEN: That doesn't provide a lot of information.
HEMMER: They think she's from New York, they think she might be homeless, but beyond that, they are pretty much clueless today.
O'BRIEN: Cute little girl, though.
HEMMER: Yes, very much so.
Jack Cafferty, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm feeling clueless this morning. I find myself deeply troubled and confused about the upcoming presidential election, but once again, we will turn to the viewers of this fine program and seek wisdom and understanding as the next three hours unfold.
O'BRIEN: Did you start out saying I, too, am clueless?
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: That's what I thought you said. All right.
CAFFERTY: That's a lot of weird stuff going on in the world. You've got kids dying in Gaza; you've got kids dying allegedly at a wedding reception in Iraq.
What the hell's going on? I mean, things are getting a little out of hand, aren't they?
O'BRIEN: You know what, Jack? Where do we agree on this? I think we may see eye to eye.
CAFFERTY: Some day you'll learn that I'm always right, Soledad, and you should have agreed with me.
O'BRIEN: Yes, my mother says the same thing, you know. We're not there yet, Jack. Don't get ahead of yourself.
CAFFERTY: Your mother and I are about the same age.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our top stories this morning and, in fact, we begin in the Middle East where at least six Palestinians are dead in the latest round of violence in Gaza.
Palestinian sources say a 3-year-old boy was among the victims after his neighborhood was hit by Israeli fire. This after Israeli strikes left at least ten Palestinians dead during a protest in Rafah yesterday.
Israeli officials are saying the helicopter fired only flares into the refugee camp. Meanwhile President Bush during a cabinet meeting is continuing to urge restraint in the region.
The Pentagon denying reports that a U.S. air strike in Western Iraq targeted a wedding party near the Syrian border. Iraqi officials are saying more than 40 people, including children, were killed in the attack yesterday.
U.S. military officials think the target was a suspected foreign fighter's safe house. An investigation is now underway.
New photos have surfaced in the Iraq prison abuse scandal. They appear to show American soldiers smiling over a dead body. In one, Spc. Charles Graner of the 372nd Military Police is seen smiling, giving the thumbs up.
In the other Spc. Sabrina Harmon, a member of the same unit is in a similar pose.
While the pictures have not yet been authenticated, the soldiers who appear in them are among those who already face charges in the prisoner abuse scandal.
In Texas, there was a fiery crash as two freight trains hit head on. Cars derailed rocks from onboard the trains flew everywhere.
There are also reports at least one person dead in that accident. It was just a mangled mess in the rural area just about 50 miles from Dallas. The trains ended up looking basically like an accordion and it's unclear how both of those trains actually ended up on the same track.
The fire was sparked by the fuel on board. Four crewmembers were injured.
Heavy rain caused flash flooding in Kansas City, Missouri, where many drivers had to be rescued from rising waters. Police and firefighters got at least 30 calls from stuck drivers who couldn't get out of their cars or their trucks because of the high water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Came down this hill and there it went, the car just swished on over there and stopped at that tree there and after about an hour and 45 minutes...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you on top of your car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On top of my car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you lucky to be alive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm lucky to be alive, because I can't swim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Not good to not be able to swim in that. Emergency crews used boats to rescue a few people from their flooded houses as well.
HEMMER: That was in Missouri. Also flooding in southeastern Ohio as well. Lots to talk about weather wise.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Let's start in Iraq today. U.S. forces and Iraqi police today raiding the home of Ahmed Chalabi. Chalabi heads the Iraqi National Congress, is a member of the Iraqi Governing Council.
The INC compound said to be also searched today.
Straight to Baghdad and Harris Whitbeck for more on this. Harris, what are we learning?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN: Hello, Bill. U.S. forces and members of the Iraqi National Police passed around to the compound housing the Iraqi National Congress. As you know, that was headed by governing council member Ahmed Chalabi.
Now Chalabi was once considered the darling of hardliners in Washington, and he was one of those who helped press the case for war.
So far he has not been heard of, but some of the people who were at the INC headquarters when the raid took place this morning say that computers and personal effects were taken from them with no warning so they describe the taking of that material as theft.
They also said that they believe that this raid stems from a political dispute that ensued after Chalabi indicated from his post in the Iraqi Governing Council that the governing council and Iraq's new political leaders would want more independence from Washington after June 30.
Again, this is speculation that was expressed by apparent members of the INC on the ground there at INC headquarters. Now the Pentagon, you'll remember, decided just a few weeks ago to cut off more than $300,000 in a month in funding that they had been giving to the INC, and you'll also recall that Chalabi and the INC provided information to the United States that indicated at the time the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that information was used to help press the case for war.
Of course it was later determined that that information turned out to be false -- Bill.
HEMMER: Harris, on the battlefront, the U.S. says it was firing on a safe house of insurgents in western Iraq. Just short of the Syrian border. The Iraqis are saying this was simply a wedding party. A day later has that story moved forward in any way?
WHITBECK: Well, a lot of angry reaction in Baghdad as people have digested the news, seen the pictures that have been shown on television of bodies being buried. Bodies including those of young, small children, and also its been dominating the local paper headlines here.
The reactions that we've been able to monitor range from is this the democracy that the United States wants to impose on Iraq to how could they do that to us.
Again, the U.S. insisting that they were firing upon a safe house that was the refuge for foreign fighters who have been infiltrating Iraq from Syria. The area where this attack occurred is known to be an area of influence by weapon smugglers and apparently the U.S. forces have been monitoring that area for quite some time.
The United States insisting again that it was not firing upon a wedding but locals say that the U.S. soldiers confused traditional celebratory gunfire for an attack on them. Bill.
HEMMER: Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad. A lot to cover. Thanks. Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The chaotic situation in Iraq continues to apply pressure on the Bush administration. This morning President Bush will hold a rare meeting with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Elaine Quijano is standing by for us this morning at the White House. Elaine, good morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN: Good morning, Soledad.
The president's visit to Capitol Hill comes at a sensitive time for the White House on a number of fronts.
First, in the Middle East, the president has been trying to remain focused on achieving his two state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The ongoing violence in the region continuing to set back that effort.
At the same time, President Bush has been trying to shore up international support for the Iraq mission, and yesterday as part of that continuing effort, the president met with the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi at the White House.
Now coming out of that meeting, the president said the two leaders discussed a strategy for transferring sovereignty to interim Iraqi authority on June 30. The two also talked about how to broaden the coalition and about the need for security forces to be in place in Iraq in advance of elections.
Now at a dinner held by an Italian-American Association last night, President Bush also underscored what he said before that these weeks before the handover of power in Iraq are critical.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As June 30 approaches, the enemies of freedom grow even more desperate to prevent the rise of democracy in Iraq. That's what you're seeing on your TV screens. The desperate tactics of a hateful few. People who cannot stand the thought of free societies in their midst.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And again this morning the president heading to Capitol Hill where he'll meet with Senate and House Republicans at a time when the administration has been facing some harsh scrutiny from Congress over the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, this will be a chance for the president to rally those lawmakers behind him -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano for us this morning -- Elaine thanks.
Top generals were on Capitol Hill yesterday facing tough questioning about the prison abuse scandal. A Senate committee is trying to find out who knew what and when and whether orders from senior officers set the scene for the abuse.
Joining us this morning from Capitol Hill is Senator Susan Collins. She's a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Nice to see you, Senator. Thanks for joining us.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: We heard in testimony from the three generals yesterday that there were systemic problems; that there definitely seems to be a lack of a definite sense of who was in charge.
But at the same time the generals said that the abuse was isolated and they also deny that there was any sort of culture of abuse.
Those things actually sound contradictory. Do they sound contradictory to you?
COLLINS: I think there are still many unanswered questions about who was in charge of this prison and whether the band of prisoners -- I mean, guards -- acted on their own or pursuant to directions from military intelligence or those up the chain of command.
O'BRIEN: So you don't necessarily agree with the generals' theory that what I sometimes call the bad apple theory. It's a handful of bad apples that sort of created this abuse and are responsible for it and it doesn't go any further than that?
COLLINS: We still don't know the answer to that question. I'm skeptical that a small group of out of control guards would chose to humiliate and abuse these prisoners in a way that was specifically calculated to be particularly offensive to Muslim men. That strikes me as too much knowledge for these guards to have.
O'BRIEN: Senator Byrd had a question for General Abazaid yesterday. I'm going to read it to you. He said, essentially, does anyone in a civilian leadership of the Pentagon need to approve the rules of interrogation operations and Gen. Abazaid answered my answer is no it is our responsibility as -- telling him essentially that decisions are made by commanders in the field.
In your mind, does that answer, essentially clear any sort of high-ranking Pentagon officials including the Secretary of Defense?
COLLINS: It's still not clear in my mind whether there was some kind of directive that these detainees should be treated differently, that perhaps the Geneva Conventions did not apply to all of them because they were not technically prisoners of war. Those are among the unanswered questions that we do need to resolve. O'BRIEN: You wrap up your interviews with the three generals or at least this part of it. Who do you want to hear from?
I mean, who do you need to talk to to get the answers to those questions because you seem to be saying there's lots of things that are unclear to you and the commission I imagine as well?
COLLINS: To me, we need to know more about the role of the intelligence agencies and military intelligence in particular.
A General Fay is doing a review of the military intelligence issues. I expect that that report will come to our committee as well as to the Pentagon. That will be a signpost for whom we should call before the committee next.
But to me, I'd like to hear more from military intelligence about their role in running this prison, in participating in the interrogations, and what directions if any they gave to the prison guards.
O'BRIEN: Senator Susan Collins of Maine joining us this morning. Nice to see you, Senator, thanks.
COLLINS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Fourteen past the hour. In a moment here, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani responding after being heckled yesterday during those 9/11 hearings. What he had to say in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, who is this little girl? Where did she come from? We're going to get to the very latest on the efforts to find her family this morning.
HEMMER: Also hold those surly comments next time you fly. One airline giving out free tickets for being nice. I like it.
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's nice.
HEMMER: Back in a moment after this.
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O'BRIEN: Angry families heckled former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani at the 9/11 Commission hearings here in New York.
Families of Trade Center victims shouted at the former mayor, disrupting his appearance yesterday. They insisted he poorly addressed important issues at the hearing examining the city's emergency response on 9/11.
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RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: I couldn't go to the World Trade Center, Ground Zero -- I still can't drive past it -- I try to avoid it. When I do drive past it or I have to go there for a ceremony, I am very, very angry. But I've always been able to channel my anger absolutely 100 percent on the terrorists who did this.
They accomplished this horrible deed. Everything else that happened, the things that were done right, and the things that were done wrong and maybe even the mistakes that were made were all made by people acting in good faith trying to deal with an impossible and a very, very difficult situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: We're going to talk with former mayor Rudy Giuliani this morning. That's coming up at 8:00 Eastern time right here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, 3-year-old Courtney needs your help. She was abandoned in Baltimore two weeks ago, and the man believed to be her father left her with a stranger and never came back.
She says her name is Courtney; she's three years of age, lives in Brooklyn, New York. Nothing else, though, is known about her.
Baltimore officials appealing to the public for help. Earlier today I talked with Christopher McCabe. He's the secretary of Maryland's Department of Human Resources -- if anyone has come forward yet today with any credible information his answer to that question.
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CHRISTOPHER McCABE, SECRETARY MARYLAND DEPT. OF HUMAN RESOURCES: We are delighted at the exposure that Courtney and her life story is receiving here in Maryland and across the country and as a result of that exposure we've received a number of calls from a variety of different individuals, including New York City where we have some reason to believe that she is from based on her own account and based on other information we had that what we believe to be her father is from New York City.
Based on this, yesterday I can tell you that we did receive a phone call from a shelter in New York City where someone recognized or believed they recognized Courtney from the pictures on TV and we received contact from that shelter. They believed that they recognized her and perhaps the father that was also with her.
And so we are tracking that lead as we speak. We also understand from New York City authorities that her picture is being placed in other shelters in New York City so we're still at a relatively early stage but I cannot thank enough the media for providing the attention to this story.
You should know that here in Maryland Courtney is by all accounts happy, healthy -- she is living with a foster family in Baltimore City that is caring for her.
She is very verbal and she wants to see her mommy and we're doing everything here -- Governor Robert Ehrlich, the governor of our state and me and our employees of the Baltimore City of Social Services are doing everything we can to find information that would lead us to her family.
HEMMER: What has Courtney told you?
McCABE: Well, she's told us that she's from Brooklyn, New York. That she wants to see her mommy and that she really doesn't have too much more information to provide for us.
And I mean I'm not privy, Bill, to all the background information...
HEMMER: How is she doing, then, Mr. McCabe?
McCABE: Well, from the accounts that I've received that she's well nourished, she's happy and healthy and living in a good family foster care setting but like all little kids they want to find their parents and we are dedicated here in our state to try to find a permanent and positive outcome for Courtney and that will take some time but without the help of CNN and other media outlets, we really rely on the community to come forward with information that can help Courtney.
HEMMER: You say you've attracted an awful lot of interest across the country about the fate of this little girl; give me an idea about who's calling and why.
McCABE: Well, we get a number of different leads and kind of like the police when there is an incident that has occurred, they get a lot of leads that have to be tracked down but we received a phone call just yesterday from Salt Lake -- a woman in Salt Lake City who saw the picture of Courtney and volunteered to adopt her and while we're very grateful for that it's really premature to say that we were looking for her to be adopted.
I would encourage anyone in -- across the country who volunteered to do that to think about children in their own state that really need help and need a permanent home and so -- typically in a case like this where the state gets information about a girl or a boy who's been abandoned and we try to find out where their family is and we are unable to -- probably after two months we would begin a process in which we would try to develop a permanency plan for the child.
HEMMER: If I could, a phone number if anyone has any information or recognizes this girl, where do they call?
McCABE: Sure, it's area code 410-361-2235. Let me repeat that -- area code 410-361-2235.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And Christopher McCabe earlier today in Baltimore, Maryland talking about the case of Courtney.
Bringing you up to date now about an abandoned child we first reported about a year ago. Adoption proceedings for the California boy who became as Mateo reportedly near completion. He was found wandering the streets of Bakersfield, California around this same time last year.
A human services official telling us he's happy, he's a loving little boy flourishing in his current surroundings. There has been no word, though, from any family members -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Israel's latest action ignores a U.N. condemnation and U.S. criticism. We'll have the latest on the situation there.
And is there an X-factor draining the Kerry campaign? A look at that is ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
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O'BRIEN: Welcome back everybody; it's time for the Cafferty File and the "Question of the Day" from Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Soledad.
John Kerry cannot afford to focus only on President Bush. The Senator met yesterday with Impendent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. The man who many Democrats think cost Al Gore the White House in 2000.
Nader didn't quit the race; Senator Kerry didn't ask him to quit the race. Nader said they agreed to keep the lines of communication open between the two campaigns, blah, blah, blah, blah.
At the same time, Democratic groups are working to dissuade voters from supporting Ralph Nader. Nader insists he'll take more votes away from President Bush than from John Kerry. I have no idea how he came up with that.
But Senator Kerry says a vote for Nader is a vote for President Bush. So here's the question -- what should John Kerry do about Ralph Nader? And the e-mail address, am@cnn.com -- what I don't understand is, if you don't like President Bush, if you don't want President Bush to get a second term in office, why in the hell would you vote for somebody who has absolutely no chance of defeating President Bush, i.e., Ralph Nader?
Why wouldn't you vote for the only person on the ballot who has some modicum of a chance to win the election? That would be the part that confuses me.
HEMMER: Well, we know there's one issues that theses two men clearly are divided on; that's the future of Iraq. Ralph Nader has said if he were president he'd take the troops home...
CAFFERTY: But he's not going to be president. He'll never be president.
HEMMER: Correct, but apparently the reports we're getting -- they didn't even talk about that topic yesterday. To be put on the back shelf for a day...
CAFFERTY: There's nothing to talk to Ralph Nader about when it comes to Iraq because he'll never have anything to say what happens in Iraq, ever.
He's not going to be the president of the United States. Why would you talk to him about Iraq?
HEMMER: For those people who believe the U.S. should not be in there they would go with...
CAFFERTY: But he's not the guy that will make the decision about whether we're there or not because he'll never be in charge.
O'BRIEN: But he speaks to them and so they vote for him. Wouldn't that be the theory that that's...
CAFFERTY: But if they vote for him, then we're going to have a repeat of have -- I mean, I don't care who wins, I don't care who you vote for, but why if you don't like President Bush would you in your right mind go vote for a guy who is going to lose?
HEMMER: We've got two hours and...
CAFFERTY: I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. It makes no sense.
HEMMER: It's a great question and not just today will this be settled but it will be an issue for six months counting.
In a moment here these Iraqi deaths near the Syrian border nothing but confusion today about the circumstances. The bodies are being buried. A look at that and what's happening in a moment when we continue right on AMERICAN MORNING.
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