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CNN Live At Daybreak
How Many Insurgents?; 'War Room'; Madrid Explosion; Analyzing Rice; Zoloft Murder Trial
Aired February 09, 2005 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
Spain's capital has been rocked by a powerful car bomb, went off near the Madrid Convention Center about two hours ago, wounding more than 30 people. Someone claiming to be with a Basque separatist group reportedly phoned in a warning before the blast.
In Iraq, gunmen burst into the home of a TV reporter this morning, shooting him dead. It happened in the southern city of Basra. The reporter worked for an Arab language network funded by the United States.
Two top U.S. officials are overseas this morning. Condoleezza Rice is lunching with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium. She's nearing the end of her first trip as secretary of state.
In the meantime, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is launching an overseas trip himself this morning. He is also focusing on NATO, attending a meeting of alliance defense ministers in Nice, France.
To the Forecast Center now and, Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol, did you walk outside this morning and think it was summer?
COSTELLO: It was pretty nice.
MYERS: It's like 50 degrees there. And then they're forecasting, well we're forecasting, snow to move in behind this thing, although it's going to start out as rain.
COSTELLO: Great.
MYERS: There's a big storm coming in from the west. There you go.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you.
COSTELLO: We'll be here. Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: In the fight for Iraq, more violence today, an interior ministry official is killed, an indication the insurgency forces are still at work. But just how many insurgents are there?
Our Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre takes on that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This newly-released video from a U.S. Air Force Predator spy plane shows a Hellfire missile launched at a window a sniper was using to pin down Marines in Najaf last summer.
Another video shows a dark patch in a road near Baghdad where insurgents are thought to be melting the asphalt to bury a bomb. A missile is launched by Air Force pilots who control the unmanned spy plane, not from Iraq but half a world away at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
All told, the U.S. believes it has killed between 10,000 and 15,000 insurgents in Iraq last year, including an estimated 3,000 enemy deaths in the siege of Falluja alone.
But even as U.S. commanders claim success, a senior military official tells CNN there are still as many insurgents left as have been killed. According to an internal estimate, some 12,000 to 15,000 are Sunni Baathist insurgents. As many as 1,000 are fighters loyal to terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and 500 or fewer are listed as foreign fighters.
But the highly committed insurgents are thought to number only 5,000 to 7,000, with the rest so-called fence sitters, who the U.S. hopes will begin to support the new Iraqi government.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I think one of the things that we know from the elections, there will be a lot less fence-sitters, because they saw their fellow citizens go out and vote.
MCINTYRE: Some Iraqi estimates have put the number of hard-core insurgents as high as 40,000, 200,000, if you count part-timers. U.S. commanders dismiss that as vastly overstated. But having underestimated the insurgency early on, the Pentagon is reluctant to make its estimates public, even as Congress presses for hard numbers.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: I don't know how you defeat an insurgency unless you have some handle on the number of people that you are facing.
MCINTYRE (on camera): Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently suggested that the Iraqi elections might be a tipping point in the war against the insurgents, but also cautioned it's too soon to tell.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: To "The War Room" now to find out what role NATO might play in post election Iraq. The U.S. wants Europe to do more, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making her case over there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I do not think that NATO needs to become the policemen of the world. I think that would be asking too much of this alliance. It needs to be focused. It is a bulwark for democratic states, and it can therefore play an important role in the spread of democracy and liberty. But we have other means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: For more on what she means, let's head live to our senior international editor David Clinch. He's in Atlanta.
Good morning -- David.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol, good morning.
Secretary Rice has just arrived in Brussels, and she's meeting both with NATO and with European Union officials today, separately. And there are two separate issues here. With NATO, both Secretary Rice and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, who will be in Europe today as well, meeting with NATO officials, primarily to talk about Iraq, what NATO can do in terms of helping in Iraq.
And on that level, on the political and military level, there is a growing degree of agreement with the European allies that NATO can play a role in the new Iraq, offering training for Iraqi forces and support in logistics. No great amount of troops on the ground in Iraq, but a lot more cooperation there in the new Iraq from NATO allies than we've seen before.
But on the other level, in terms of talking to the European Union and also to NATO allies, both Secretary Rice and Secretary Rumsfeld facing still a lot of resistance to any idea of preemptive strikes against other countries like Iran.
We have seen Secretary Rice over the last few days and again today saying that while diplomacy is the order of the day on Iran, that the European Union needs to do more and the world needs to do more to put Iran on notice that if it does not stop its nuclear ambitions that the U.N. Security Council and potentially sanctions are looming for Iran. And on that level, the European Union and NATO both very nervous about the idea of preemptive strikes. So cooperation on Iraq, still a lot of nervousness and tension over the idea of Iran.
COSTELLO: That all sounds so familiar, because I'm just reading more of her comments now in Brussels, Condoleezza Rice's comments that is. And she is suggesting that the U.N. Security Council threaten sanctions against Iran if it doesn't go along with this European deal. Will the Security Council act? CLINCH: Well this is the question. After September the 11th, the paradigm shifted for the U.S. They started to talk about preemptive strikes, and that has made the Europeans very nervous. They saw what happened in Iraq. It changed from being a viable threat of force against Iraq to almost inevitability of force, from a European point of view.
And they are very nervous about the idea that these threats against Iran, whether it's sanctions or military force, if they start talking about threats, they become inevitable, not just a viable threat, but inevitable. The Europeans do not want to get into that arena right now.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, live in Atlanta this morning, thank you.
More now on some breaking news out of Spain's capital, a powerful explosion has rocked Madrid. It happened just over two hours ago.
CNN's Al Goodman, he's actually in a taxi going to the city's main convention center, which is where this car bomb went off.
Al, tell us more, what are you hearing?
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I'm hearing sirens, because now I'm just a very short distance away. I need to get out of this car and walk a very short distance, a few blocks, and I'll be at the scene of this car bomb. I can hear a police helicopter overhead. Thirty-one people have been injured, by official count, 21 of them to hospital. The good news, Carol, most of them are said to be with slight wounds, not serious wounds.
Now police are increasing their estimate of the amount of explosives in this car bomb that is blamed on the Basque separatist group, ETA. Fifty kilos, more than a hundred pounds of explosives, they believe. They're making that estimate, Carol, because there was another ETA car bomb just last month in northern Spain, and they think this one was at least as powerful, maybe more, and that one had 50 kilos in it -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Al, why the convention center?
GOODMAN: Well, Contri (ph) is near the convention center. It's a couple of very long blocks from the convention center, Carol. Initial reports said it was right outside.
Now later this day, the main contemporary art fair, that's an annual event with hundreds of art galleries from Spain and around the world, was due to be inaugurated by Spanish royalty. They typically come and inaugurate this event. So the security outside the convention center probably would have been very tight, maybe explaining why this car bomb was set a couple blocks away.
As to why this is happening today, we know that there is an election campaign on in Spain for the European Union Constitution coming up on February 20. We know that there were about 12 suspected ETA members arrested in northern Spain this day. Officials aren't getting into exactly why this happened right now, just two hours ago, 9:30 a.m. local time. They basically say ETA will continue to strike whenever it can. It's been doing this for more than 30 years -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Al, we'll let you get up to the scene there. We know you're on foot and on the road and we'll get back to you when you have more information and actually arrive at that convention center or near there where that car bomb went off.
Are the United States and France ready to be friends again? Condoleezza Rice says yes. And next, we'll get the French perspective on if the relationship can be repaired.
And later on, Chinese around the world ring in the Year of the Rooster.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And you're just seeing live pictures just into CNN, actually. This is Donald Rumsfeld. He's arriving in Nice this morning. He is in France for an informal meeting with NATO defense ministers. And hopefully he will talk to reporters. We got word that he might. So if he does make any remarks, of course we'll bring those remarks to you. Again, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is in Nice, France this morning to meet with NATO defense ministers.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:42 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
A powerful car bomb has wounded more than 30 people in Spain. Went off near Madrid's main convention center. Someone claiming to be with a Basque separatist group reportedly phoned in a warning before the blast.
The pilot of an American Airlines flight says a laser beam hit the cockpit just before the plane landed safely in Dallas. There have been several incidents in recent months of lasers being beamed at U.S. aircraft.
In money news, the government might owe you some money. The IRS says nearly two million people are missing out on more than $2 billion in refunds from their 2001 taxes. You have until April 15 to file a claim.
In culture, the sweet smell of success. "Sex in the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker has just signed a deal to launch a line of perfume. The brand name and the scents are still in the works, but Parker says it will be fresh. The fragrance should be in stores this fall.
In sports, Boston College fell from the ranks of the undefeated with a 68 to 65 loss to Notre Dame. That leaves Illinois at 24 and 0 as the only undefeated team left in major college basketball -- Chad. MYERS: Still, that's a great record for Boston College. They will go a long way. I'm sure we will see them in the elite eight there coming up.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
You know it seems like yesterday when there was a move to take the French out of fries. Freedom fries was the moniker that proved just how much Americans disliked the French and their opposition to the Iraq war. The new Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, is doing what she said she would do, she's using diplomacy to mend fences. But did she succeed?
Let's head live to Paris and Christian Malard, France 3 TV's senior foreign analyst.
Thank you for joining us this morning.
CHRISTIAN MALARD, SENIOR FOREIGN ANALYST, FRANCE 3 TV: Good morning, Carol, glad to talk to you again.
COSTELLO: Secretary Rice chose France to give her first major policy speech, did that make an impact -- Christian?
MALARD: Yes, definitely. Yesterday I've been following the speech. I was at the Elysees Palace where President Chirac hosted Secretary Rice. And I can tell you that the French president was very, very happy with the content of the speech that she delivered on many things. On the notion of liberty, on freedom defined by the Bush administration, which say that now freedom must not be imposed to any country in the Middle East, which would like to get this freedom, it must not be imposed from the outside world, it has to get from inside.
Chirac has been very happy to see that the United States want to associate Europe, to have Europe involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiation. And at the same time, President Chirac is very happy to see that, and Condoleezza Rice told him about that, that for the first time for a long time, the United States is determined to exert pressure upon Palestinians for security for Israel, but at the same time, upon Ariel Sharon.
And telling that the only way to reach a global peace agreement is to withdrawal from all occupied territories, which Chirac has been fighting for for long, long time in his different speeches. And Chirac was very, very happy when he heard Condi Rice saying that Lebanon has to recover its sovereignty, and that the Syrian troops, which has been in the focus of the American administration, has to withdrawal from Lebanon.
COSTELLO: What about Iraq and Iran, though, because for most Americans those are the areas where they say this country needs help and maybe France can help them out now. Will France step up and do that?
MALARD: On Iraq, I'm sure that Secretary Rumsfeld in Nice, as you alluded to it, probably Secretary Rumsfeld is going to ask Europe, and the French in particular, what are you able to do to help us on the ground? I think, unfortunately, Secretary Rumsfeld might be disappointed, because on this specific problem, President Chirac has not changed his position at all.
He is not ready to send French troops to Iraq. He is ready to help for the formation of army people, security people in Iraq, outside of Iraq in Jordan, on the Qatar Kingdom. But I think the Bush administration said it was not enough. And I'm sure that France, unfortunately, is not ready to share the financial burden.
Now concerning Iran, Carol, you put the finger on one big thing is I totally agree with the Bush administration saying that Iran is a country backing terrorism, that the people, if they want to choose for freedom, they have to move. But the French and most of the Europeans are still making business with this country and keep alive a regime, which is a terrorist regime.
And I'm not sure that I put the question to Condi Rice yesterday evening during their joint press conference with French Secretary Barnei (ph), she was very clear on the position of the United States. But I'm not sure that the French pressure or British or German pressure upon the Iranians will work out. I think the only language, which is the good one, is the one held by America concerning Iran.
COSTELLO: Well what about pressuring the Security Council of the United Nations to issue sanctions against Iran?
MALARD: That would be...
COSTELLO: Would the French help the Americans do that?
MALARD: Yes, I'm sure. On this specific board you are mentioning, the French would be helping. If it gets through the U.N. and the whole United Nations, the whole Security Council puts Iran facing its responsibilities and tell them now we are going to exert an embargo or take sanctions against you, the French would go for that.
The French are not standing for any military interventions, but even the United States doesn't care about that because they are too much involved in Afghanistan and Iraq and they couldn't be on the Iranian front. So U.N. is a possibility. You are right, Carol. And on this I'm sure that the French, the Germans, the British and most of the Europeans would sign with the Bush administration, because Iran is a big, big problem.
COSTELLO: Christian, I'm going to ask you a question that maybe isn't so important in the grander scheme of life, but are the French people aware of all of the jokes and the distrust and maybe the dislike that Americans, some Americans feel towards the French? MALARD: Not really, because as I was talking to some of my press colleagues from your great country, from CNN, by the way, and other people from other media yesterday, they didn't have the feeling that there was really enmity between France and United States. Once more, it belongs to the past, that time of tension between two presidents, George Bush and Jacques Chirac.
But believe me, Carol, and we know each other, I've been in your studio in New York with Bill Hemmer and all that, there is no real problem between the two people, the two countries. The French are really feeling that we have to be siding together. We are in a world now with a lot of challenges ahead, Muslim fundamentalism. We have to be siding together. We have to be together to face these challenges and don't have anymore gaps. We need to bridge the gaps as soon as possible because we need to be together to face these common challenges we have.
COSTELLO: Christian Malard, from France 3 TV, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.
The trial of a South Carolina teenager is reopening wounds for other families around the country. We'll hear some of their stories next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Did the antidepressant drug Zoloft make a boy gun down his grandparents in their bed? Jurors could begin deliberating Christopher Pittman's case by the end of this week. A child psychiatrist testified that the 12-year-old boy was psychotic the night he killed his grandparents. The prosecution says Pittman was simply angry because he was disciplined by his grandparents. Pittman is now 15 years old and he's being tried as an adult.
But other children have apparently been victims of antidepressants, and their families are rallying behind Pittman.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tom Woodward sits in this South Carolina courtroom and he cries. He cries for Christopher Pittman, who at age 12 killed his grandparents as they slept and burned the house down around them.
TOM WOODWARD, PITTMAN SUPPORTER: He is not a monster. Those were monstrous acts but he was not a monster. I believe those monstrous acts were brought about by the drugs he was on.
COHEN: Woodward feels a bond with Pittman. He says he was a good kid, loved his sister, loved his grandparents and was ruined by this drug, Zoloft, much like Woodward's daughter, who was prescribed the antidepressant after going through what he calls a normal teenage rough patch.
WOODWARD: Seven days after taking her first pill she took her life.
COHEN: Lisa Vansyckel teenage daughter tried to kill herself after taking a similar drug, Paxil. Several families like hers identify with the young defendant. The Vansyckels even went so far as to put up $175,000 bail last week when he was released to his family and she rented them a house.
LISA VANSYCKEL, PITTMAN SUPPORTER: I've come to know Christopher. I've come to love him as if he were my own son. I told Christopher that I would do everything in my power as a mother to protect him.
COHEN: She says she wants to warn other families about antidepressants. Last October, the Food and Drug Administration linked antidepressants, like Zoloft and Paxil, to some suicides among teens and told parents to be on the lookout for impulsive and hostile behavior.
Pfizer, which makes the drug, says there's no link between their drug and violence against others and South Carolina prosecutors say pills weren't to blame. They say Pittman was a troubled kid who was angry at his grandparents. Some psychiatrists say these families, who publicize their stories, may be doing more harm than good.
DR. HAROLD EIST, AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION: That's just not right to give the public a distorted image like that. It's just wrong.
COHEN: He says the drugs have helped millions of depressed kids. But when the FDA warnings came out last fall, the number of prescriptions to young people went down.
EIST: And it would be a lot worse for them without the treatments.
COHEN: Despite this, the Woodwards and Vansyckels say they'll keep rallying around Christopher Pittman, a double murderer to some, but a victim to them.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Bidding for a piece of history, items from the Kennedy family once again being put on the auction block. We have pictures so you can find out what's up for grabs.
Also, history fried, what's up with McDonald's and the Lincoln- shaped French fry? They're making big bucks off of that one. Stay with us to find out how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We have live pictures now. This is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arriving at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. She's going to be discussing preparations for a visit by President Bush in about two weeks with the foreign ministers there.
President and leaders of the other 25 allied nations will be holding a summit then. And of course, as you probably know, Rice, in comments Tuesday, said NATO's role is evolving in the aftermath of elections in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And when we see Condoleezza Rice, which we have not yet, but we do believe -- has she arrived yet, do we know? She has not arrived yet. Those were other officials arriving at Brussels, Belgium. When Condoleezza Rice does arrive, of course we'll head back to Brussels again live.
We've also been telling you this morning about something else, which is a new British reality TV show. It's based on alleged practices at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now get this, during the show seven male volunteers are exposed to things like sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures and mild physical contact, as well as periods of enforced nudity and religious and sexual humiliation.
Producers say the purpose of this show is to examine the widespread use of government torture and whether it can ever be justified. And of course they're saying that all of this allegedly happened at Guantanamo Bay.
We wanted to know what you thought about this reality show this morning. British torture show: reality TV gone too far? And we've gotten some interesting e-mails so far -- Chad.
MYERS: A couple of people have way too much time this morning or else they're still up from last night, because we have some really great answers.
Actually, one here from Austin, Texas, I ask you this, which is worse, British TV show like this or "Desperate Housewives?" At least we can learn something from the British show -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is the British torture show going too far? Must not be, since I hear Fox is working on a spin-off. Possible names being considered include that "1570 Show,"...
MYERS: This is funny.
COSTELLO: ... "CSI: Ramallah," "Jihad & Order," "Enemy Combatant," "Survivor: Abu Ghraib," "The Desperate Infidels." That's from Jeff (ph) in Saratoga, California.
MYERS: I did like that. I picked that one out myself, too.
From Bill (ph), all reality shows are ridiculous. Why would anybody want to watch them is beyond my understanding. People just seem to prefer watching stupidity. Instead of reality TV, why not just go out and watch society, that is reality -- Carol.
COSTELLO: This is from Kevin (ph). No, the British have not gone too far. If Americans will pay as much attention as they did to see Jesus Christ tortured on screen for two-and-a-half hours, then why not watch seven men be tortured on British TV?
That will get people in our audience hot.
Thank you for your e-mails this morning. We appreciate it.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.
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Aired February 9, 2005 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
Spain's capital has been rocked by a powerful car bomb, went off near the Madrid Convention Center about two hours ago, wounding more than 30 people. Someone claiming to be with a Basque separatist group reportedly phoned in a warning before the blast.
In Iraq, gunmen burst into the home of a TV reporter this morning, shooting him dead. It happened in the southern city of Basra. The reporter worked for an Arab language network funded by the United States.
Two top U.S. officials are overseas this morning. Condoleezza Rice is lunching with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium. She's nearing the end of her first trip as secretary of state.
In the meantime, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is launching an overseas trip himself this morning. He is also focusing on NATO, attending a meeting of alliance defense ministers in Nice, France.
To the Forecast Center now and, Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol, did you walk outside this morning and think it was summer?
COSTELLO: It was pretty nice.
MYERS: It's like 50 degrees there. And then they're forecasting, well we're forecasting, snow to move in behind this thing, although it's going to start out as rain.
COSTELLO: Great.
MYERS: There's a big storm coming in from the west. There you go.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you.
COSTELLO: We'll be here. Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: In the fight for Iraq, more violence today, an interior ministry official is killed, an indication the insurgency forces are still at work. But just how many insurgents are there?
Our Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre takes on that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This newly-released video from a U.S. Air Force Predator spy plane shows a Hellfire missile launched at a window a sniper was using to pin down Marines in Najaf last summer.
Another video shows a dark patch in a road near Baghdad where insurgents are thought to be melting the asphalt to bury a bomb. A missile is launched by Air Force pilots who control the unmanned spy plane, not from Iraq but half a world away at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
All told, the U.S. believes it has killed between 10,000 and 15,000 insurgents in Iraq last year, including an estimated 3,000 enemy deaths in the siege of Falluja alone.
But even as U.S. commanders claim success, a senior military official tells CNN there are still as many insurgents left as have been killed. According to an internal estimate, some 12,000 to 15,000 are Sunni Baathist insurgents. As many as 1,000 are fighters loyal to terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and 500 or fewer are listed as foreign fighters.
But the highly committed insurgents are thought to number only 5,000 to 7,000, with the rest so-called fence sitters, who the U.S. hopes will begin to support the new Iraqi government.
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I think one of the things that we know from the elections, there will be a lot less fence-sitters, because they saw their fellow citizens go out and vote.
MCINTYRE: Some Iraqi estimates have put the number of hard-core insurgents as high as 40,000, 200,000, if you count part-timers. U.S. commanders dismiss that as vastly overstated. But having underestimated the insurgency early on, the Pentagon is reluctant to make its estimates public, even as Congress presses for hard numbers.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: I don't know how you defeat an insurgency unless you have some handle on the number of people that you are facing.
MCINTYRE (on camera): Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently suggested that the Iraqi elections might be a tipping point in the war against the insurgents, but also cautioned it's too soon to tell.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: To "The War Room" now to find out what role NATO might play in post election Iraq. The U.S. wants Europe to do more, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making her case over there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I do not think that NATO needs to become the policemen of the world. I think that would be asking too much of this alliance. It needs to be focused. It is a bulwark for democratic states, and it can therefore play an important role in the spread of democracy and liberty. But we have other means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: For more on what she means, let's head live to our senior international editor David Clinch. He's in Atlanta.
Good morning -- David.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol, good morning.
Secretary Rice has just arrived in Brussels, and she's meeting both with NATO and with European Union officials today, separately. And there are two separate issues here. With NATO, both Secretary Rice and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, who will be in Europe today as well, meeting with NATO officials, primarily to talk about Iraq, what NATO can do in terms of helping in Iraq.
And on that level, on the political and military level, there is a growing degree of agreement with the European allies that NATO can play a role in the new Iraq, offering training for Iraqi forces and support in logistics. No great amount of troops on the ground in Iraq, but a lot more cooperation there in the new Iraq from NATO allies than we've seen before.
But on the other level, in terms of talking to the European Union and also to NATO allies, both Secretary Rice and Secretary Rumsfeld facing still a lot of resistance to any idea of preemptive strikes against other countries like Iran.
We have seen Secretary Rice over the last few days and again today saying that while diplomacy is the order of the day on Iran, that the European Union needs to do more and the world needs to do more to put Iran on notice that if it does not stop its nuclear ambitions that the U.N. Security Council and potentially sanctions are looming for Iran. And on that level, the European Union and NATO both very nervous about the idea of preemptive strikes. So cooperation on Iraq, still a lot of nervousness and tension over the idea of Iran.
COSTELLO: That all sounds so familiar, because I'm just reading more of her comments now in Brussels, Condoleezza Rice's comments that is. And she is suggesting that the U.N. Security Council threaten sanctions against Iran if it doesn't go along with this European deal. Will the Security Council act? CLINCH: Well this is the question. After September the 11th, the paradigm shifted for the U.S. They started to talk about preemptive strikes, and that has made the Europeans very nervous. They saw what happened in Iraq. It changed from being a viable threat of force against Iraq to almost inevitability of force, from a European point of view.
And they are very nervous about the idea that these threats against Iran, whether it's sanctions or military force, if they start talking about threats, they become inevitable, not just a viable threat, but inevitable. The Europeans do not want to get into that arena right now.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, live in Atlanta this morning, thank you.
More now on some breaking news out of Spain's capital, a powerful explosion has rocked Madrid. It happened just over two hours ago.
CNN's Al Goodman, he's actually in a taxi going to the city's main convention center, which is where this car bomb went off.
Al, tell us more, what are you hearing?
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I'm hearing sirens, because now I'm just a very short distance away. I need to get out of this car and walk a very short distance, a few blocks, and I'll be at the scene of this car bomb. I can hear a police helicopter overhead. Thirty-one people have been injured, by official count, 21 of them to hospital. The good news, Carol, most of them are said to be with slight wounds, not serious wounds.
Now police are increasing their estimate of the amount of explosives in this car bomb that is blamed on the Basque separatist group, ETA. Fifty kilos, more than a hundred pounds of explosives, they believe. They're making that estimate, Carol, because there was another ETA car bomb just last month in northern Spain, and they think this one was at least as powerful, maybe more, and that one had 50 kilos in it -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Al, why the convention center?
GOODMAN: Well, Contri (ph) is near the convention center. It's a couple of very long blocks from the convention center, Carol. Initial reports said it was right outside.
Now later this day, the main contemporary art fair, that's an annual event with hundreds of art galleries from Spain and around the world, was due to be inaugurated by Spanish royalty. They typically come and inaugurate this event. So the security outside the convention center probably would have been very tight, maybe explaining why this car bomb was set a couple blocks away.
As to why this is happening today, we know that there is an election campaign on in Spain for the European Union Constitution coming up on February 20. We know that there were about 12 suspected ETA members arrested in northern Spain this day. Officials aren't getting into exactly why this happened right now, just two hours ago, 9:30 a.m. local time. They basically say ETA will continue to strike whenever it can. It's been doing this for more than 30 years -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Al, we'll let you get up to the scene there. We know you're on foot and on the road and we'll get back to you when you have more information and actually arrive at that convention center or near there where that car bomb went off.
Are the United States and France ready to be friends again? Condoleezza Rice says yes. And next, we'll get the French perspective on if the relationship can be repaired.
And later on, Chinese around the world ring in the Year of the Rooster.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And you're just seeing live pictures just into CNN, actually. This is Donald Rumsfeld. He's arriving in Nice this morning. He is in France for an informal meeting with NATO defense ministers. And hopefully he will talk to reporters. We got word that he might. So if he does make any remarks, of course we'll bring those remarks to you. Again, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is in Nice, France this morning to meet with NATO defense ministers.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:42 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
A powerful car bomb has wounded more than 30 people in Spain. Went off near Madrid's main convention center. Someone claiming to be with a Basque separatist group reportedly phoned in a warning before the blast.
The pilot of an American Airlines flight says a laser beam hit the cockpit just before the plane landed safely in Dallas. There have been several incidents in recent months of lasers being beamed at U.S. aircraft.
In money news, the government might owe you some money. The IRS says nearly two million people are missing out on more than $2 billion in refunds from their 2001 taxes. You have until April 15 to file a claim.
In culture, the sweet smell of success. "Sex in the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker has just signed a deal to launch a line of perfume. The brand name and the scents are still in the works, but Parker says it will be fresh. The fragrance should be in stores this fall.
In sports, Boston College fell from the ranks of the undefeated with a 68 to 65 loss to Notre Dame. That leaves Illinois at 24 and 0 as the only undefeated team left in major college basketball -- Chad. MYERS: Still, that's a great record for Boston College. They will go a long way. I'm sure we will see them in the elite eight there coming up.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
You know it seems like yesterday when there was a move to take the French out of fries. Freedom fries was the moniker that proved just how much Americans disliked the French and their opposition to the Iraq war. The new Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, is doing what she said she would do, she's using diplomacy to mend fences. But did she succeed?
Let's head live to Paris and Christian Malard, France 3 TV's senior foreign analyst.
Thank you for joining us this morning.
CHRISTIAN MALARD, SENIOR FOREIGN ANALYST, FRANCE 3 TV: Good morning, Carol, glad to talk to you again.
COSTELLO: Secretary Rice chose France to give her first major policy speech, did that make an impact -- Christian?
MALARD: Yes, definitely. Yesterday I've been following the speech. I was at the Elysees Palace where President Chirac hosted Secretary Rice. And I can tell you that the French president was very, very happy with the content of the speech that she delivered on many things. On the notion of liberty, on freedom defined by the Bush administration, which say that now freedom must not be imposed to any country in the Middle East, which would like to get this freedom, it must not be imposed from the outside world, it has to get from inside.
Chirac has been very happy to see that the United States want to associate Europe, to have Europe involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiation. And at the same time, President Chirac is very happy to see that, and Condoleezza Rice told him about that, that for the first time for a long time, the United States is determined to exert pressure upon Palestinians for security for Israel, but at the same time, upon Ariel Sharon.
And telling that the only way to reach a global peace agreement is to withdrawal from all occupied territories, which Chirac has been fighting for for long, long time in his different speeches. And Chirac was very, very happy when he heard Condi Rice saying that Lebanon has to recover its sovereignty, and that the Syrian troops, which has been in the focus of the American administration, has to withdrawal from Lebanon.
COSTELLO: What about Iraq and Iran, though, because for most Americans those are the areas where they say this country needs help and maybe France can help them out now. Will France step up and do that?
MALARD: On Iraq, I'm sure that Secretary Rumsfeld in Nice, as you alluded to it, probably Secretary Rumsfeld is going to ask Europe, and the French in particular, what are you able to do to help us on the ground? I think, unfortunately, Secretary Rumsfeld might be disappointed, because on this specific problem, President Chirac has not changed his position at all.
He is not ready to send French troops to Iraq. He is ready to help for the formation of army people, security people in Iraq, outside of Iraq in Jordan, on the Qatar Kingdom. But I think the Bush administration said it was not enough. And I'm sure that France, unfortunately, is not ready to share the financial burden.
Now concerning Iran, Carol, you put the finger on one big thing is I totally agree with the Bush administration saying that Iran is a country backing terrorism, that the people, if they want to choose for freedom, they have to move. But the French and most of the Europeans are still making business with this country and keep alive a regime, which is a terrorist regime.
And I'm not sure that I put the question to Condi Rice yesterday evening during their joint press conference with French Secretary Barnei (ph), she was very clear on the position of the United States. But I'm not sure that the French pressure or British or German pressure upon the Iranians will work out. I think the only language, which is the good one, is the one held by America concerning Iran.
COSTELLO: Well what about pressuring the Security Council of the United Nations to issue sanctions against Iran?
MALARD: That would be...
COSTELLO: Would the French help the Americans do that?
MALARD: Yes, I'm sure. On this specific board you are mentioning, the French would be helping. If it gets through the U.N. and the whole United Nations, the whole Security Council puts Iran facing its responsibilities and tell them now we are going to exert an embargo or take sanctions against you, the French would go for that.
The French are not standing for any military interventions, but even the United States doesn't care about that because they are too much involved in Afghanistan and Iraq and they couldn't be on the Iranian front. So U.N. is a possibility. You are right, Carol. And on this I'm sure that the French, the Germans, the British and most of the Europeans would sign with the Bush administration, because Iran is a big, big problem.
COSTELLO: Christian, I'm going to ask you a question that maybe isn't so important in the grander scheme of life, but are the French people aware of all of the jokes and the distrust and maybe the dislike that Americans, some Americans feel towards the French? MALARD: Not really, because as I was talking to some of my press colleagues from your great country, from CNN, by the way, and other people from other media yesterday, they didn't have the feeling that there was really enmity between France and United States. Once more, it belongs to the past, that time of tension between two presidents, George Bush and Jacques Chirac.
But believe me, Carol, and we know each other, I've been in your studio in New York with Bill Hemmer and all that, there is no real problem between the two people, the two countries. The French are really feeling that we have to be siding together. We are in a world now with a lot of challenges ahead, Muslim fundamentalism. We have to be siding together. We have to be together to face these challenges and don't have anymore gaps. We need to bridge the gaps as soon as possible because we need to be together to face these common challenges we have.
COSTELLO: Christian Malard, from France 3 TV, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.
The trial of a South Carolina teenager is reopening wounds for other families around the country. We'll hear some of their stories next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Did the antidepressant drug Zoloft make a boy gun down his grandparents in their bed? Jurors could begin deliberating Christopher Pittman's case by the end of this week. A child psychiatrist testified that the 12-year-old boy was psychotic the night he killed his grandparents. The prosecution says Pittman was simply angry because he was disciplined by his grandparents. Pittman is now 15 years old and he's being tried as an adult.
But other children have apparently been victims of antidepressants, and their families are rallying behind Pittman.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tom Woodward sits in this South Carolina courtroom and he cries. He cries for Christopher Pittman, who at age 12 killed his grandparents as they slept and burned the house down around them.
TOM WOODWARD, PITTMAN SUPPORTER: He is not a monster. Those were monstrous acts but he was not a monster. I believe those monstrous acts were brought about by the drugs he was on.
COHEN: Woodward feels a bond with Pittman. He says he was a good kid, loved his sister, loved his grandparents and was ruined by this drug, Zoloft, much like Woodward's daughter, who was prescribed the antidepressant after going through what he calls a normal teenage rough patch.
WOODWARD: Seven days after taking her first pill she took her life.
COHEN: Lisa Vansyckel teenage daughter tried to kill herself after taking a similar drug, Paxil. Several families like hers identify with the young defendant. The Vansyckels even went so far as to put up $175,000 bail last week when he was released to his family and she rented them a house.
LISA VANSYCKEL, PITTMAN SUPPORTER: I've come to know Christopher. I've come to love him as if he were my own son. I told Christopher that I would do everything in my power as a mother to protect him.
COHEN: She says she wants to warn other families about antidepressants. Last October, the Food and Drug Administration linked antidepressants, like Zoloft and Paxil, to some suicides among teens and told parents to be on the lookout for impulsive and hostile behavior.
Pfizer, which makes the drug, says there's no link between their drug and violence against others and South Carolina prosecutors say pills weren't to blame. They say Pittman was a troubled kid who was angry at his grandparents. Some psychiatrists say these families, who publicize their stories, may be doing more harm than good.
DR. HAROLD EIST, AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION: That's just not right to give the public a distorted image like that. It's just wrong.
COHEN: He says the drugs have helped millions of depressed kids. But when the FDA warnings came out last fall, the number of prescriptions to young people went down.
EIST: And it would be a lot worse for them without the treatments.
COHEN: Despite this, the Woodwards and Vansyckels say they'll keep rallying around Christopher Pittman, a double murderer to some, but a victim to them.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Bidding for a piece of history, items from the Kennedy family once again being put on the auction block. We have pictures so you can find out what's up for grabs.
Also, history fried, what's up with McDonald's and the Lincoln- shaped French fry? They're making big bucks off of that one. Stay with us to find out how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We have live pictures now. This is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arriving at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. She's going to be discussing preparations for a visit by President Bush in about two weeks with the foreign ministers there.
President and leaders of the other 25 allied nations will be holding a summit then. And of course, as you probably know, Rice, in comments Tuesday, said NATO's role is evolving in the aftermath of elections in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And when we see Condoleezza Rice, which we have not yet, but we do believe -- has she arrived yet, do we know? She has not arrived yet. Those were other officials arriving at Brussels, Belgium. When Condoleezza Rice does arrive, of course we'll head back to Brussels again live.
We've also been telling you this morning about something else, which is a new British reality TV show. It's based on alleged practices at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now get this, during the show seven male volunteers are exposed to things like sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures and mild physical contact, as well as periods of enforced nudity and religious and sexual humiliation.
Producers say the purpose of this show is to examine the widespread use of government torture and whether it can ever be justified. And of course they're saying that all of this allegedly happened at Guantanamo Bay.
We wanted to know what you thought about this reality show this morning. British torture show: reality TV gone too far? And we've gotten some interesting e-mails so far -- Chad.
MYERS: A couple of people have way too much time this morning or else they're still up from last night, because we have some really great answers.
Actually, one here from Austin, Texas, I ask you this, which is worse, British TV show like this or "Desperate Housewives?" At least we can learn something from the British show -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is the British torture show going too far? Must not be, since I hear Fox is working on a spin-off. Possible names being considered include that "1570 Show,"...
MYERS: This is funny.
COSTELLO: ... "CSI: Ramallah," "Jihad & Order," "Enemy Combatant," "Survivor: Abu Ghraib," "The Desperate Infidels." That's from Jeff (ph) in Saratoga, California.
MYERS: I did like that. I picked that one out myself, too.
From Bill (ph), all reality shows are ridiculous. Why would anybody want to watch them is beyond my understanding. People just seem to prefer watching stupidity. Instead of reality TV, why not just go out and watch society, that is reality -- Carol.
COSTELLO: This is from Kevin (ph). No, the British have not gone too far. If Americans will pay as much attention as they did to see Jesus Christ tortured on screen for two-and-a-half hours, then why not watch seven men be tortured on British TV?
That will get people in our audience hot.
Thank you for your e-mails this morning. We appreciate it.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: The next hour of DAYBREAK starts right now.
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