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American Morning

Rioting in Kabul; Atrocity in Iraq?; Indonesia Earthquake

Aired May 29, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Riots in the streets of Kabul this morning. All the anger aimed squarely at U.S. troops now under lockdown.
Help needed for victims of a major earthquake in Indonesia. They need food and shelter and medical attention, and some of it's on the way right now.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A not-so-happy homecoming. National Guard troops finding the hardest battle might be the one they fight at home.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We'll be talking about that war and the war of today coming up.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN weather center. It is a holiday, and there are some flashes on the weather map. Will your outdoor plans be spoiled this afternoon? A complete forecast is upcoming.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us on this Memorial Day.

In Afghanistan, escalating violence as the U.S. tries to thwart a spring offensive by the Taliban. A U.S.-led air strike aimed at a suspected meeting of Taliban militant leaders in southern Afghanistan, upwards of 50 suspected militants are dead. That strike took place just a few hours ago.

Meanwhile, in Kabul, rioting and gunfire after a U.S. convoy collided with a rush hour traffic jam. CNN's Barbara Starr is in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Even as the U.S. troops here in Afghanistan were remembering their fallen comrades on this Memorial Day, gunfire broke out across the city following a major incident. A U.S. military convoy traveling through Kabul was involved in a significant traffic accident. Apparently at least one Afghan civilian was killed. A number of others may have been hurt.

Protesters then took to the streets, throwing rocks at the U.S. military convoy. And there are unconfirmed reports that one military gunner may have fired shots into the air.

Here at Camp Eggers, the camp went into immediate lockdown. Military personnel were not allowed to leave the camp. At one point they were told to get into full protective gear. Then we heard gunfire across the city. Smoke rose into the air.

At this hour, the situation appears to be calm here at Camp Eggers, but the military is trying to assess exactly what has taken place here.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Iraqi police are now rushing to the scene of a car bombing. It happened just moments ago near a Baghdad mosque. The attack is one of several bombings and shootings in the capital city today.

The death toll is at 37. And that number is expected to rise.

One of today's attacks targeted a U.S. Humvee. It is not clear if any of the American troops on board were hurt.

The attacks come as some U.S. lawmakers want to know what happened in Haditha, Iraq. A group of Marines are suspected of killing 24 Iraqis last year, apparently in retaliation for a roadside bombing.

Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon for us this morning.

Jamie, what's the official word from the Pentagon about Haditha?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the official word is that the investigations are still under way. And just this morning the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Peter Pace, told CNN on AMERICAN MORNING that he believes the results of the investigations are still a couple of weeks away. He went to great lengths to point out that U.S. soldiers in the war zone are being told again that they ought to do what he says 99.9 percent of them do, which is serve with honor. And meanwhile, he says it's too soon to come to any judgment about what happened last November in Haditha.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: There are two ongoing investigations. One investigation has to do with what happened. The other investigation goes to why didn't we know about it sooner than we knew about it. To my recollection, the first we knew about it back here in D.C. was around the 10th of February, and the very next day is when the investigations began.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now, sources close to the investigation have told CNN that they are wrapping up. They're in the final phase, and that so far the evidence is "very incriminating," and that criminal charges could be forthcoming, including possibly murder charges against some of the Marines.

Meanwhile, that separate investigation that General Pace referred to is taking a look at who knew what happened in Haditha and how far up the chain of command there might have been some kind of cover-up -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question, Jamie. The Senate Armed Services Committee is saying that they are ready to start hearings looking into the incident. So, is the hearing an investigation, or is it sort of separate?

MCINTYRE: Well, John -- Senator John Warner, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has said he will hold hearings. And what that means is he wants to call up people from the Pentagon and find out -- basically get a full explanation of what happened. Very similar to what they did after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

It's not technically an investigation, although sometimes information is developed from those hearings. But he also says they will wait. His hearings will wait until the outcome of the military investigations, because he doesn't want to interfere with the military justice process. Anything they say publicly now could jeopardize the potential trials of people if there are charges forthcoming.

S. O'BRIEN: Jamie McIntyre for us at the Pentagon.

Jamie, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: International aid just now arriving in areas of Indonesia devastated by a major earthquake. Also coming to the aid of victims are teams of U.S. military doctors. The worst of the damage is centered in southern Java, not far from that active volcano we have been telling you about for a few weeks, Mount Merapi.

CNN's Dan Rivers has more from Yogyakarta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll in this earthquake is climbing ever higher, passing the 5,000 figure now. I've been up to the hospital, the main hospital here in Yogyakarta, and have seen some truly awful scenes.

There are literally hundreds of people lining every single inch of space in the hospital. There is a makeshift ward that's been erected out in the parking lot. We were told that there are 500 people awaiting urgent operations, that there are 1,700 people there for treatment in a hospital that only has a capacity for 750 patients.

They have critical shortages of basic medical supplies. They haven't got any painkillers there from what we saw. They say they haven't got enough bandages, that they haven't got any antibiotics.

We spoke to one young man who had a really nasty leg fracture and he had been waiting out in the parking lot for two days to be seen by a doctor. And he still hadn't received any painkillers for the pain of his broken leg.

We saw another woman having a minor operation outside. We saw people who had broken pelvises, head injuries.

So a really grizzly scene up at the local hospital. And this is just one of four hospitals in Yogyakarta. All of them utterly overwhelmed as the thousands of survivors who have been injured in this earthquake flood in.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Last week Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist expressed concern over the FBI's raid on Congressman William Jefferson's Capitol Hill office, his concern, of course, over the checks and balances that exist between obviously the legislative branch and the executive branch of government. Well, today he's singing a different tune.

Let's get right to CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry.

Hey, Ed. Good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

A sharp reversal for Senator Frist, giving the White House some political cover at a time when this strange controversy just keeps growing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY (voice over): Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist broke with senior House Republicans declaring the raid of Democratic Congressman William Jefferson's office was OK.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: There is no individual in the House or Senate that can be or should stand above the law. It's a matter of how the law enforcement is carried out, and I think it is appropriate as I see it today.

HENRY: Different from what Frist said at the beginning of the confrontation.

FRIST: The Constitution has a speech and debate clause in it, and the whole idea of separation of powers does need to be addressed. So I remain concerned.

HENRY: While the Frist camp denies it, a senior Republican strategist charged the change of heart is "... all about Bill Frist running for president," afraid of a public backlash for standing up for a congressman under a cloud.

House Republicans insist they are not excusing the conduct of Congressman Jefferson, accused of keeping $90,00 in bribes in his home freezer.

REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R-WI), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I don't think it would be right for a House committee to issue a subpoena to the president's office and send the Capitol Police rummaging through files, taking everything, and then deciding what wasn't relevant by themselves and returning it to the president. And that's what the Capitol -- or what the FBI did in Congressman Jefferson's office two weeks ago. A separation of powers and checks and balances is very important.

HENRY: CNN has confirmed three top Bush officials, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, threatened to resign if the president forced them to give the documents back to Congress. The president diffused the tension somewhat by ordering a 45-day freeze on the documents while the legal issues are sorted out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY: Now, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel says the problem here really is not just about this one controversy. There's lot of pent-up demand and concern among Republicans on the Hill who have felt this White House has been cavalier toward Congress and they are now letting some of this out in this controversy -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you can sense it every step of the way.

Ed Henry for us this morning.

Ed, thanks.

HENRY: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Around the country today Americans are honoring troops killed in the line of duty. In a few hours the president and Mrs. Bush will do what is customary on this day. They will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. But Americans have been paying tribute to the troops really all weekend.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken is at a very special and somber place, a place they call "The Wall," the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Good morning, Bob.

FRANKEN: Good morning.

And with the addition of four new names today, Miles, there will be 58,253 names on this wall, people who died in the Vietnam War between 1959 and 1975. Compare it to the war in Iraq, there have been, by the CNN account, 2,465 since this began, another 295 in Afghanistan.

Worth mentioning, because there's so many comparisons that are made about the two wars. But this was a weekend to remember all of the wars in the United States, Memorial Day, and all of those who have fought and died. It includes a variety of ceremonies, including the Rolling Thunder Parade, which is the group of motorcycles, huge numbers of them from the Vietnam generation that come in to pay tribute. And of course you have the people here with their pencil and paper who are trying to etch out their memories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got men on that wall who lost their lives for my freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wall isn't just a tourist attraction. It's a memorial. It's a monument to my brothers that died and are missing in action.

TOM TITUS, VIETNAM VETERAN: I have 176 names on one column. And my best friend is on column there west. He died in my arms, one of the guys on my team. But right now faces (ph) the fallen down there, and my son's portrait is there.

He wanted to carry on the family tradition. As he put it, or we read the last letter at this funeral, his simple statement was, "Before I could take advantage of the freedoms that have been given to me and have been fought for, I have to earn them myself."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much for giving of your life and giving of your time so that we today can sit and stand in this amphitheater free. Free. Free. May we never forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably want to forget about Vietnam, and we'd like to forget about Vietnam, but it's something I'll never, ever be able to do.

RON SHOUSE, VIETNAM VETERAN: I come up here every -- at least once a year, sometimes more than that, just to let them know that I still know they're alive. We were doing what we thought was right. History will say we did, or history will say we didn't.

STEVE LENTZ, VIETNAM VETERAN: Whether the war was right or wrong is immaterial. It's not up for debate anymore. We were there. We did a job. And my brothers died. And we need to honor them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: This began as Decoration Day shortly after the Civil War, and it became Memorial Day after so many years. It is, however, both a recognition that with war and all the controversy over whether the war is right or wrong, there is the sad story that lives are lost -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken at The Wall.

Thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a look at the forecast at 12 minutes past the hour. Chad is off today, but Rob is on at the CNN Center.

How is the weather looking for folks who go to The Wall or some of the other memorials around the country today, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Really warm, really humid down in D.C.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Rob. Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Rob.

Coming up on the program, we'll go live to New York City's Fleet Week celebrations. Yes, the big gun ships have steamed into New York Harbor up the Hudson River. Thousands of sailors invading Manhattan. Is it war? No, it's just kind of a party.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

Also ahead this morning, look at that. It looks like a nice time in that pool. Want to make sure that you can have a fun time with your kids and save a dime, too? We'll tell you how to do it with some fun summer tips just ahead this morning.

Stay with us.

M. O'BRIEN: And Shiloh, when I was young, I used to call you Brangelina. Yes, that's the baby. That's the latest from the Namibian maternity ward. We'll keep you updated and give you the latest scoop on the new bambino.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The war in Iraq has taxed the National Guard like no other war has in the past. And many of the people who are in the National Guard, the men and women who have day jobs, quite frankly, are getting much more or perhaps in some cases less than they bargained for, especially when they come home. It's a very difficult road with families and kids, and a really profound sense of isolation.

All this was played out in fascinating piece in "The New York Times Magazine" yesterday. I invite you to pick it up. Find it online, wherever you can.

The author of the piece is Scott Anderson, and he joins us now.

Good to have you with us, Scott.

SCOTT ANDERSON, "NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE": Nice to be here.

M. O'BRIEN: One of the people you focus on is Chuck Norris. Not that Chuck Norris, obviously. Thirty-seven-year-old Chuck Norris, part of National Guard troop from western Pennsylvania. ANDERSON: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: And what you talk about here is something that we probably don't think so much about. Active duty troops, young, in their 20s, many of them single, connected by bases and a huge infrastructure...

ANDERSON: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: ... when they come back, they sort of have this whole net there for them. The National Guard doesn't have that, does it?

ANDERSON: No. There are programs through the Veterans Administration that try to reach these -- these soldiers, but the problem is just the geography. They are scattered all across the country. Often, National Guardsmen tend to be from rural areas. So they often just end up being kind of on their own.

M. O'BRIEN: And this experience so unusual, dare we say unique, that they really don't have anybody to vent with on this kind of thing, because they are out there kind of in the wilderness.

ANDERSON: Right. That's right, yes. And the whole National Guard experience when these guys joined up with the Guard, I think that most of them imagined that if they were ever called out to so- called service, it would be in a natural disaster. They certainly didn't expect to end up in the middle of a war zone.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. A year in Baghdad was not part of the equation...

ANDERSON: No. No.

M. O'BRIEN: ... when they signed up, quite frankly.

I want to just share a couple of passages here. First of all, this one, "Many began to feel a shift." This is National Guard troops as they come home. "For some it was simple boredom, while others described it as restlessness that they couldn't shake, a vague unease. For Chuck Norris it was worse, like waking up one morning finding the whole world different, like being trapped in an elevator that won't stop dropping."

What a profound feeling. Depression...

ANDERSON: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: post-traumatic stress, obviously, related issues. Did you -- did you find a lot of them had turned to drugs and alcohol and other destructive behavior?

ANDERSON: Not quite yet. These men came back at the beginning of November. And there is this very predictable honeymoon period that they go through that usually lasts about a month. Then they start to deteriorate. M. O'BRIEN: This is -- you know, we see these pictures, and that's the last time we document it.

ANDERSON: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: And we think, isn't this wonderful, they are back.

ANDERSON: Right. Right.

M. O'BRIEN: But it's not quite like that.

ANDERSON: No. And as time goes on, the biggest thing every soldier I spoke with in this unit, every last one of them said the biggest problem they had was being unable to tell their Iraq experience to anyone that they knew back home.

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

ANDERSON: And that eats away at people over time.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you have the sense when you talk to them that we are asking too much of these 30 to almost 40-year-old family people in having them deployed out? And I mean, read the fine print of the contract, that's what they signed up. You know, and that was part of the deal.

ANDERSON: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: The letter of the law. Not necessarily the spirit, though.

ANDERSON: Right. No. I think the problem is that in the -- in the whole blueprints for Iraq, the idea was to put the National Guard in what you'd call back base positions, convoy protection.

M. O'BRIEN: But there's no such thing there.

ANDERSON: But there's no back base in Iraq.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

ANDERSON: So, in fact, what a lot of these units ended up being were in the very -- the most dangerous positions.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

This is another passage I want to share with people. "We weren't a bunch of 20-year-olds with a thirst for action. Most of us were older guys with families. We didn't want to kill anyone. So why drop us right in the middle of the Sunni Triangle? I think they kind of did wrong by us."

That's from -- that's a quote from Chuck Norris.

That says a lot right there. "The 20-year-old thirst for action" component, as opposed to a 37-year-old guy with a family. ANDERSON: Right. Right.

M. O'BRIEN: Two different types of people.

ANDERSON: Two very different -- two very different people.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Are these the people that should be on the front lines -- front line warriors for the United States? What do you think?

ANDERSON: Probably not. At the same time, they all are very proud that they went.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

ANDERSON: And the thing that's remarkable to me is that they all would be willing to go back.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

ANDERSON: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: That's -- and that was the kicker.

ANDERSON: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: That was the thing I wanted to end with here. Why after all of this?

ANDERSON: You know, I think part of it is boredom. Frankly, war, as awful as it is, it's also rather thrilling.

M. O'BRIEN: It's addictive.

ANDERSON: And then you come back to your little town in western Pennsylvania, and dealing with utility bills and everything else...

M. O'BRIEN: Right. Right.

ANDERSON: ... and it makes life very simple in an awful kind of way.

M. O'BRIEN: Right. All right. Very stark.

ANDERSON: yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And there's an adrenaline thing there.

ANDERSON: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Scott Anderson, fascinating piece.

Check it out if you missed it yesterday. His article, cover story in "The New York Times Magazine" yesterday. By the way, also has a new novel out. "Moonlight Hotel" it's called.

ANDERSON: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Give us one line on that.

ANDERSON: One line. It's set in a fictive Middle Eastern country. It's a love story between a man and woman trapped in a grand old hotel as the city goes under siege.

M. O'BRIEN: Excellent. All right. Worth a read.

Thank you very much for dropping by, Scott.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Take care.

Just ahead on the program, the stories of two soldiers, their bodies broken in war, but the friendship that bonded in peace time. One of them you might recognize, former U.S. Senator Bob Dole. We'll hear their amazing war stories coming up.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: School's going to be out soon for the summer. The kids can't wait, of course. But for parents, well, we can wait. It's going to be a lot of stress taking care of kids 24/7.

Deb Geigis Berry is a contributing editor for "Family Fun Magazine". She's got some tips to make it easier for the parents and the kids, too.

Nice to see you, Deb.

DEB GEIGIS BERRY, "FAMILY FUN MAGAZINE": Nice to see you, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think that summer should be structured or unstructured, or a little mix of both?

BERRY: I do think it has to be a mix of both. The thing is, during the school year, we're all so wedded to that school schedule and all the shuffling around.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: On time every day.

BERRY: So I say, embrace a little bit of freedom. And it can be a nice time to start a family tradition.

S. O'BRIEN: My parents used to say, "We love you too much to send you to camp," meaning we can't afford to send all six of you, so you're not going to go this year. And camp really is very expensive. I mean, $550, $600 a week sometimes.

BERRY: Sure. And sometimes there's a limited enrollment, so you can't get your child in, the child's too young. But don't worry. You can create a little camp atmosphere at home, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. You know, and sometimes I think when you -- when you say, "Let's be spontaneous," I feel like by the end of the day I've ended up with a bunch of bored children. You know, what started out as spontaneity actually ended up to just not having a plan.

BERRY: Right. Well, a little structure is good. A little pre- planning. But you don't have to go overboard.

The biggest thing I tell parents is, "You are your children's heroes." You don't have to compete with the high-price camps. Just spending time with your kids doing something simple will go a long way with them.

S. O'BRIEN: You've got some tips for some camp-like things...

BERRY: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: ... if you're not going to utilize camp this year. And I want to run through them. I think these are great ideas. First you say boss for the day. What's that?

BERRY: Well, if you dare, let your child hold the reigns of the household for a day. I let my child be boss for the day.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll be eating candy for dinner.

BERRY: Right. Well, that's exactly what I thought. And you know what Katie said to me? "Well, listen, it's sunny out. Let's just not do our chores today and head for the park and have a picnic." And I thought that was actually sound advice, because if she hadn't sort of directed us to do that, there were things around the house I would have done. So...

S. O'BRIEN: And you would have missed a beautiful day and time with your kids.

BERRY: Right. Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Hometown tourist. I love this idea. This is great idea. I mean, especially, like, if you live in a city like New York City, but other cities, too.

BERRY: Yes. Sometimes you do not see the things in your own back yard because you take them for granted. They are always there. So let this time be the someday you're going to see them.

And you can even go to your local chamber of commerce or visitors center and get discount coupons for places. Or you can just simply open the yellow pages and point so something and say, hey, that looks really interesting. Let's check that out, too. S. O'BRIEN: We used to do this all the time when I was growing up, the back yard campout. Get the giant tent. That's so much fun.

BERRY: It's really fun. And again, it's a simple idea. If you don't have a tent, just borrow one. But make up your mind you're going to spend the evening in the tent, and call the house off limits. You can even tell stories around your little hibachi if you want, and if you're feeling ambitious you can do some star gazing, as well.

S. O'BRIEN: It sounds really good. Those are excellent tips.

BERRY: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Deb Geigis Berry from "Family Fun Magazine," nice to see you.

BERRY: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Nice to see you. Thanks so much.

BERRY: Great to see you, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Soledad.

Cooking out this Memorial Day, that could be some family fun. Well, certainly you are not alone. Coming up, Andy Serwer will head to the grill and give us a sense of how sizzling hot this business is.

Later, "AM Pop" time. Ah, fans, the wait is over. Baby Brangelina is with us. We'll give you the scoop from the Namibian maternity ward on baby Shiloh ahead on AMERICAN MORNING

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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