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CNN Live At Daybreak

Memorial Service for Victims of Attack Outside Falluja; Investigation into Whether Newly Elected Iranian President Involved in Taking American Hostages in 1979

Aired July 01, 2005 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Friday, July 1 and U.S. Marines in Iraq are mourning their own. Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, one week after the deadliest day for American females serving in Iraq, those fallen heroes are being remembered.
Also ahead, just back from GITMO -- we'll hear from a reporter who spent more time than most at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

And 10 cities, dozens of bands, one common cause -- it's Live 8 weekend. We'll take you to the scene of the American stage.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

We'll have more on aid for Africa a little later on DAYBREAK.

Also ahead, handing over the evidence to keep a reporter out of jail. A major media company bows to the pressure. Why should you care?

And you probably associate his name with the color yellow. Lance Armstrong prepares for his final Tour de France.

But first, now in the news, in the Middle East, all is quiet in Gaza again. Today, the Israeli Army lifted an order of a controlled military zone. On Thursday, Israeli soldiers stormed a Gaza hotel and expelled Jewish extremists opposed to Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza next month.

About three hours ago, a suspected suicide bomber was shot to death by police in the capital of Turkey. Police say the man was running toward the prime minister's office when he was killed.

Police are searching a ranch in Mexico, where informants say executions may have taken place. Investigators report finding traces of blood, bones and clothing, but have not yet determined whether the remains are human.

Remember, you can view more CNN reports online. Just visit cnn.com, click onto "watch" and check out our most popular stories.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: We begin this hour with the fight for Iraq and a sweeping hunt for insurgents west of Baghdad. We have new pictures for you this morning. These just came in to us. This is Operation Sword. Since Tuesday, U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops have detained 13 people and the fighting goes on there to root out insurgents.

n the meantime, some new Gallup poll numbers show President Bush's approval rating is essentially unchanged after Tuesday night's speech. Forty-six percent say he's going a good job now as opposed to 45 percent who said that before the speech.

A memorial service today at the U.S. Marine camp in Falluja for six U.S. service members killed in an attack last week. Three of the victims were female Marines. Those women are known as the Lioness Team and they're on the front lines of the battle hardened streets of Iraq.

Let's head live to Falluja to find out more from our Jane Arraf -- hello, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Carol, this is the part of the country where they feel they wouldn't be able to operate without these female Marines. As you mentioned, three of them, three of the six casualties, the Marines who were killed, were women, as well as 11 of the 13. And you know what? The morning after that attack, others volunteered to go and take their place at that checkpoint.

We have one of them with me, Lance Corporal Abigail Roman.

Thanks very much for joining us.

LANCE CPL. ABIGAIL ROMAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It's not a problem.

ARRAF: Tell us, you're 22 years old. You've been in the Marines for a couple of years. You have kind of an interesting family. Your mom was a Marine.

How did that affect you growing up?

ROMAN: No different than anyone else, I can only imagine, given the fact that I wouldn't know any different growing up.

ARRAF: Now, when this attack happened, you -- you're a mail clerk, actually. You're relatively safe and sound, as much as anyone can be in Iraq. But you volunteered to actually go out and take the place of some of those Marines who were killed and wounded.

ROMAN: Yes, ma'am.

ARRAF: Why did you do that? ROMAN: It's things that need to be done. As a Marine, you're trained to get it done, move it out and as far as I can see, if you can get it done any quicker, you might as well just go and do it.

ARRAF: How does that affect people when a tragedy like that happens where there's so many casualties?

ROMAN: It's hard. It's hard on the base. It's hard on the people that know them. And as far as Americans have been dying for what we fight for for many years and unfortunately it's bad.

However, it happens and you have to carry on with the mission. America is not ready for females to be in body bags, but here we are. And we have the training, and we should do it.

ARRAF: You've got even more training than most people, right? List all your training.

ROMAN: No more than any other Marine.

ARRAF: Are you trained in urban environments and...

ROMAN: Yes, I am. Training most common to every Marine.

ARRAF: And what's this deployment been like?

ROMAN: It's my first one to Iraq and apparently I have it a lot better than other Marines, other service members, period, their first deployment. And I am relatively safe here. And as far as I can tell. It's hard but it's just things that make you grow stronger as a Marine and as a person in general so.

ARRAF: Thank you so much.

ROMAN: It's not a problem.

ARRAF: That was Lance Corporal Abigail Roman, one of the many females here in Falluja who are performing functions such as searching women, riding in convoys every day in harm's way. We are talking just a few hours after the memorial for six Marines who were killed in a suicide car bomb attack here last week -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jane Arraf reporting live from Falluja, Iraq this morning.

In Afghanistan, the bodies of 16 U.S. service members have been recovered after their chopper was shot down. These are the mountains near Pakistan where that chopper crashed on Tuesday, apparently after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade. The service members were being flown to support U.S. forces battling insurgents. It is the worst single day death toll for U.S. forces since the Afghan War began nearly four years ago.

Did the president-elect of Iran take an active role in the 1979 embassy takeover in Tehran? The mystery continues this morning. Some former U.S. hostages say he did. But others are unsure. President Bush says he doesn't have any solid information on the controversy yet, but adds it raises many questions. And at the State Department, the view is cautious.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley says they're looking into the allegations but adds this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: They obviously followed his career. He was one of a number of candidates. He was mayor of Tehran. Those events happened some time ago. He's now been elected president. He's made his views known. We're obviously going to have to deal with the Iranian government, of which he's going to head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Former President Jimmy Carter, who attempted an ill- fated rescue of the hostages in April of 1980 offers his thoughts about the allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't have any way to know if the new president was one of the captors of our hostages, which was a completely illegally and improper and despicable action. I did see in the news that his top assistant has denied that the new president was involved. I would hope that the information could come out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: For more on the controversy and the presidential reaction, let's head live to Washington and CNN Radio's Dick Uliano -- Dick, who's doing the investigation? And is there an active one going on?

DICK ULIANO, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Carol. There is an investigation underway and I guess you could say it is at the highest level of the United States government. And maybe we will hear more today from President Bush, perhaps. He has an Oval Office meeting later today with the prime minister of Kuwait. And reporters are going to be invited into the Oval Office following the meeting. He may be asked about it.

Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, has said that they are looking into this. So what does that mean? They're checking the files. So, presumably the State Department, perhaps at the CIA, to understand and to learn if the former American hostages are right or wrong about was this guy a former hostage taker.

COSTELLO: But, Dick, let's say they're right. I mean what could the United States really do about it? And does it really matter? Because other members of the government serving in Iran were part of that hostage taking process.

ULIANO: Well, apparently it does matter, because President Bush says that his involvement raises many questions. What would the United States do about it? I don't think anybody is suggesting that they would ask that he not assume office or the United States would somehow have a role in Iran's domestic policy. But this was, as President, former President Carter pointed out, this was an illegal act, a despicable act, and if the man is a former hostage taker, as these hostages -- former hostages allege, it would be an interesting twist in U.S.-Iran relations, which have never been good. But it would put, you know, one of the criminal activists of the students at the very high echelons of the government.

But I should point out quickly that there are those in Iran who say it's not true, including one of those who led the student hostage takers in 1979. He's told CNN that the Iran president-elect absolutely was not part of the group that seized hostages, though he wanted to be.

COSTELLO: I was just looking at the pictures we had up there of this young man that the American hostages say took an active part in holding them hostage and the current pictures of the president. We had an expert, Dick, look at these pictures and compare this young man to the president-elect, and he says maybe not. It doesn't look like the same guy to him.

ULIANO: Well, you know, Carol, I think it's going to be interesting, does not the intelligence community, would not the CIA be able to provide the president and other policymakers answers on this? I mean surely they must have dossiers on the students who took Americans and held them hostage for more than a year. They have said in the past they don't have good assets in Iran.

But certainly an effort is underway today in Washington to try to find out the truth.

COSTELLO: Dick Uliano reporting live from Washington.

Shifting focus now to a memorial honoring the victims of the 9/11 attacks, the five final designs for the Flight 93 national memorial go on display today in Somerset, Pennsylvania. That was the flight, of course, that crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. One member of the committee helping to choose the design talked about what people want to see there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY SINGLE, FLIGHT 93 TASK FORCE: Most people want to feel comfortable when they come to the memorial. Most people don't want the landscape to be changed dramatically. Most people don't want to see crazy looking structures or buildings, you know, on that area. And they want to feel the reverence. They want to feel the respect for the 40 passengers and crew that gave their lives on that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The final design will be chosen on September 7 in Washington.

Still to come this hour, it is a weekend for repairs after a ferry loses its brakes. Look at that. It's all caught on tape. We'll show you more.

And the concert event that promoters hope will make you and me care about Africa. But will we?

Plus, Brooke fires back. Hear what Ms. Shields is saying about Tom Cruise, psychiatry and treating moms with post-partum depression.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday.

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(AUDIO CLIP FROM U-2)

COSTELLO: I just want to keep listening to Bono this morning. That was awesome, wasn't it?

Your news, money, weather and sports.

We must get to that.

It's 6:14 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Ten cities hosting the Live 8 concerts are busy setting up for tomorrow's big extravaganza. The global concerts will bring together rockers, hip-hoppers and others to help raise awareness to poverty in Africa. And, of course, that includes Bono.

In money news, Bank of America is buying credit card company MBNA in a deal worth $35 billion. The deal is expected to lead to large job cuts between the two companies.

In culture, oh, joy, Ben Affleck finally married his honey, Jennifer. Publicists for Affleck and actress Jennifer Garner confirmed the couple did, indeed, get married this week. The publicist also confirmed that Garner is, indeed, pregnant with the couple's first child.

In sports, Venus is definitely rising at Wimbledon. Venus Williams defeated defending champ Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Listen to all that grunting, Chad. Venus has made it to the Wimbledon finals in five out of the last six years and she's won two times. Yes!

MYERS: That's exercise. But so is bowling.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, from Miami to Guantanamo Bay, it's a trip one reporter has made countless times. I think she did count them -- 150 times, she says. This morning she will share what she has seen up close at the prison camp we've come to know as GITMO.

Plus, raising awareness and money for Africa. President Bush has a plan on the eve of the G8 summit.

You are watching DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This news just in to CNN.

We have just discovered where all of the soldiers were from who died aboard that helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan near the Pakistani border. And I'm reading this right from the wire right now. It says eight Navy SEALS assigned to units in Norfolk, Virginia and San Diego were among 16 members of the U.S. military killed in that helicopter crash on Tuesday. Also, seven soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Ops Aviation Regiment that's based in Georgia. And also one soldier from Fort Campbell in Kentucky died in that helicopter crash.

We'll get you more as it comes into us, but we thought you'd like to know.

Moving on now, the G8 summit is the catalyst for this weekend's Live 8 shows. Ten cities are hosting the concerts. They span the globe from London to Tokyo to Johannesburg. The lone U.S. venue is in Philadelphia.

And that's where we find CNN's Sumi Das -- good morning, Sumi.

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Well, it's been 20 years since Live Aid. It sort of pains me to say that, because I remember those 1985 concerts so well. But now big name musicians are gathering again. However, this time it's not to raise money, it's to raise awareness.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAS (voice-over): Star-studded lineups, world famous venues, a noble cause. But will the Live 8 concerts persuade the G8 to try and make poverty history?

Bob Geldof, who headed the initial Live Aid, says it must. The British rocker launched the free concerts to raise awareness of the decision facing leaders at next week's G8 summit in Scotland -- whether to approve a plan for Africa calling for increased aid, more trade and forgiveness of the debts owed by African and other poor countries.

BOB GELDOF, LIVE 8 ORGANIZER: Instead of dealing with charity, the impulse of one individual human to help another, we could deal with the structures of poverty.

DAS: Musicians around the world support Geldof's goal. BONO, SINGER, "U-2": This is about justice. This is about people getting out on the streets, tuning in, being educated about what their tax dollars can achieve in the impoverished continent of Africa and elsewhere.

DAS: Some economists say the rockers' efforts are misguided.

IAN VASQUEZ, GLOBAL ECONOMIST, CATO INSTITUTE: There's no way that rich countries can pull Africa out of poverty. Africa has to do that on its own.

DAS: Many agree that facilitating trade would spur much needed development in Africa.

VASQUEZ: The United States and rich countries should change their hypocritical trade policies toward poor countries. They should reduce their trade barriers to poor countries that have exports.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DAS: Preparations are well underway here at the Museum of Art in Philadelphia. You can probably see the stage over my shoulder it is set up. But you can probably also see the forklifts and the trucks. They're adding the final touches.

Now, security is a concern here. We are in a post-9/11 world, unlike the former Live Aid concert. But there have been no specific threats made against the event. However, the local FBI will be on duty before and during the concert.

Live in Philadelphia, I'm Sumi Das -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm sure.

Well, Sumi, I wanted to ask you something, because there's a bit of controversy. Hugo Boss is going to give really expensive gift bags to those performing in the Live 8 concerts. Some people don't think that's, well, that's appropriate. These gift bags are going to be worth, what, $12,000 apiece?

DAS: That's right. Well, there is the Hugo Boss duffel bag, which is about $3,000. And then there are some other gifts in addition to that that the artists will receive. Basically, this has been facilitated by the local organizers. And activists say this is sort of a gray area. Some wonder why the companies who didn't donate the gifts didn't give that money to charity -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Maybe the performers will be donating their gift bags.

DAS: Perhaps.

COSTELLO: But then, you know...

DAS: That would be nice.

COSTELLO: ... what are the poor starving people in Africa going to do with Hugo Boss clothing? I don't know.

Sumi Das reporting live from Philadelphia this morning.

President Bush wants to more than double U.S. aid to Africa during the next five years. In a speech leading up to next week's G8 summit, the president said he'll ask Congress to boost spending to help fight malaria in Africa, improve legal protections for women and promote education for girls in Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our greatest challenge is to get beyond empty symbolism and discredited policies and match our good intentions with good results. First, overcoming extreme poverty requires partnership, not paternalism. Economic development is not something we do for countries, it is something they achieve with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Africa will be one of the top items on the agenda when the world leaders meet at the G8 summit in Scotland.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants summit countries to increase aid to Africa based on a percentage of their gross national product.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I would like to see effectively a doubling of the amount of money that America is paying, because I think that tied to the proper ways of using that money, to things like education and dealing with the killer diseases, to water sanitation and infrastructure, it -- the proof is there it can make a real difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This program note for u. Tune in for a CNN special report, "G8 and Global Poverty: Can We Save Them?" It's hosted by CNN chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. That airs tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

The parade of congressmen and reporters continues at GITMO. The U.S. military has thrown open the doors to allow a glimpse inside to prove there is no mistreatment going on at Guantanamo Bay. In a congressional hearing, both Republicans and Democrats praised the professionalism at Guantanamo, and the food.

A "Miami Herald" reporter, Carol Rosenberg, toured the prison herself. She's actually considered the dean of the GITMO press corps.

She joins us live now.

Good morning.

CAROL ROSENBERG, "MIAMI HERALD": Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: What, you've been there some, what, 150 times?

ROSENBERG: Well, we stopped counting at 150 days, yes.

COSTELLO: So you've been there since GITMO'S inception.

ROSENBERG: That's right.

COSTELLO: And I wanted to know what you thought about this, because President Bush has thrown open the doors. He says see for yourself. But the cynic in me says those eyewitnesses are seeing what the military wants them to see.

You have been covering this since GITMO opened its doors.

What do you see?

ROSENBERG: Well, you're right, what they're showing is the same media tour they've pretty much been showing for the past three-and-a- half years. What's different is, what I found on this last trip is new command staff. There's a new colonel in charge of the camp. He's like the warden. There's new M.P.s, military policemen. There's M.A.s, who are sailors who are specially trained to be guards. It's all -- it's an entirely new staff down there, with the exception of top leadership outside the camp. It's all rotated in in the last three months.

But the tour is the same. You see the same picture.

COSTELLO: Well, also, something interesting that I read in one or your articles is there is a change in the way the head of the prison is describing the detainees.

What is that change?

ROSENBERG: Yes, that was really interesting. The new, what we call the warden, Colonel Baumgartner, actually told one of my colleagues from Al Jazeera that he doesn't want his troops referring to these captives, the 520 men and boys they have down there, as the worst of the worst. That's the way the Bush administration has described the people at GITMO. He told, he actually told Al Jazeera that the captives there are human beings who deserve dignity and respect, something like that.

I think they've got kind of a Muslim charm campaign underway.

COSTELLO: Yes, but the question is, is has it come too late to really be effective?

ROSENBERG: If they've got an image problem, I guess they're trying to deal with it by having the media and Congress come down and have a lot of visits. They did a lot of that at the beginning, about three-and-a-half years ago.

COSTELLO: You know, there's this huge debate going on right now to close GITMO.

What's the view from the ground? Is there any evidence anyone there thinks that's a serious consideration?

ROSENBERG: It sure doesn't look like they're going anywhere. I have to tell you, on the tour you see they're putting in the building blocks of a permanent offshore prison camp, a detention center. They drove us past the new psychiatric ward. It's supposed to be for about 20 mentally ill detainees. It's near a beautiful bluff overlooking the Caribbean, but, well, it doesn't seem to have any windows. And they took us to where they're going to have a -- the new thing called Camp 6, which is going to have a hard building for about 220 prisoners. And, you know, it just doesn't look like they're making plans on the ground to go anywhere.

COSTELLO: And all of this stuff isn't cheap, like Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old company, is putting this up. The new wing that you were talking about, the psychiatric wing, I believe, is going to cost $30 million.

ROSENBERG: No, the psychiatric wing is a couple of million dollars. The new Camp Six, they just allocated $30 million, and the contract went to KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton. And you're right, that's Dick Cheney's firm -- old firm.

COSTELLO: All right, Carol Rosenberg, thank you for joining DAYBREAK.

We appreciate it.

ROSENBERG: Sure.

Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the next half hour of DAYBREAK, exclusive new video from Aruba of the two suspects in the Natalee Holloway case. We'll also have the latest.

And why should you care whether reporters are allowed to reveal their sources or not?

DAYBREAK will be right back.

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