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American Morning
New Zawahiri Tape; Attack on Terror; U.S. Military Discusses Death of Zarqawi
Aired June 09, 2006 - 08:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A new tape out this morning from al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. More about that message just ahead.
Another person in Florida attacked by an alligator. He suffered serious injuries. It could have been worse, though.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A class valedictorian is told to stay away from graduation. School officials fear gang revenge after his sister testifies in a murder trial.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing for a sequel. We're not talking about Hollywood. We're talking about Sacramento. We've got John King's interview with the governor just ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: And quite an inspirational tale here. It's about high school basketball players and their coach, but it's really a lot -- about a lot more than that. We'll tell you about the real meaning of being on a team ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm Miles O'Brien. Welcome to Friday.
S. O'BRIEN: We start this morning with some new developments involving al Qaeda and its number two man. Just about an hour ago, the Al-Jazeera Arab television network aired the latest tape from Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Octavia Nasr is CNN's senior editor for Arab Affairs, and she's at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
Octavia, good morning.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Of course this tape was -- was recorded before the attack on Zarqawi and the death of Zarqawi in it. Ayman al-Zawahiri praises Zarqawi as the "Lion of Islam."
The other important points on that tape -- one is Palestine. He focuses a lot on Palestine, basically saying Palestine is not up for compromise or bargaining or any bargaining on the part of the Palestinian Authority. Very clearly calling on people to boycott the referendum that was called on by the president of the Palestinian Authority.
He also calls on people -- he says all Muslims around the world should support their brothers in Palestine by sending them money and by sending them Mujahedeen. So clearly a focus that's shifting sort of from Iraq to the Palestinian territories, and also trying to create a rift, if you will, between the Palestinian Authority and the newly- elected government led by Hamas.
A very interesting tape indeed, but nothing earth-shattering on this tape. Same rhetoric, except a little focus on Palestine that was not so in previous tapes. Before he was still focusing more on Iraq. Now the focus seems to be shifting towards Palestine.
S. O'BRIEN: Is there a sense, Octavia, that there's another tape coming?
NASR: Absolutely. You know, anyone who monitors al Qaeda, anyone who monitors Zawahiri and bin Laden knows that any big event, especially as big as the death of Zarqawi in Iraq, and the way he was finished, that will prompt a response from al Qaeda.
Now, the question is going to be, who will be the one to have this response? We expect more Zawahiri to be the vocal person, because bin Laden has been sending out tapes very rarely. As a matter of fact, was there about a year and a half between his last tape and the tape that we saw a couple of months ago.
So we expect Zawahiri -- he seems to be the one with access to a camera, he seems to be the one with access to couriers to send out these tapes. So we expect him to make a statement.
He's been talking about Zarqawi a lot, talking about him as the "Lion of Islam," sending him advice and so forth, describing him as the emir of Al Qaeda in Iraq. So we expect Zawahiri to come up with a tape. When? We don't know.
S. O'BRIEN: Octavia Nasr for us this morning.
Octavia, thanks.
NASR: Any time.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: This morning at the Pentagon they are filling in some blanks on that stunningly lethal bombing mission that took out the terror mastermind in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
CNN's Barbara Starr has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The day after the airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, more photos and video now emerging from the Pentagon. The first picture we can show is an aerial photograph of the safe house north of Baquba, where F-16s dropped two 500-pound bombs.
By all accounts, two bombs were used because the structure apparently was made of reinforced concrete, and they wanted to ensure that the building would, in fact, be destroyed and all inside of it would be killed. There is also this wider black and white aerial shot that shows the wider view of the location, the groves of trees that surrounded it, the road nearby, and just how remote this area was.
In the aftermath of the strike, the Pentagon has also released video of the site as we see U.S. troops walking around the rubble, looking at the destruction of the area where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the others were killed. There is also released by the Pentagon yet another photograph of the dead Zarqawi, a slightly different view than what was shown yesterday.
It is now emerging that perhaps the key tip that led to this raid came some time ago from Jordanian sources who identified Sheikh Abid al-Rahman (ph) as Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, a man who would likely be traveling with him. And as sources say, as the intelligence community, as the military began to track Rahman (ph), they learned that Zarqawi would be close by and that's when they moved in and staged this airstrike.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Of course, the death of al-Zarqawi doesn't mean U.S. troops can relax. They remain the target of Iraq's homegrown insurgency. And there's much concern al Qaeda in Iraq will try to take some revenge as well.
CNN's John Vause live now from Baghdad.
I guess there's some concern, John, it could be a very dangerous time right now for U.S. troops.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, that is what could lie ahead. But it has been a very quiet day here in Baghdad, and it's not often you can say that. It has also been very quiet in city of Baquba, to the north.
The reason for that is because there has been a ban on all traffic to coincide with noon Friday prayers. The reason for that traffic ban, because in the past Zarqawi has sent his suicide bombers to Shiite mosques, especially on a Friday, to cause maximum bloodshed.
The question now is, whoever takes over Al Qaeda in Iraq, whenever that is, will he change the tactics, the brutal tactics carried out by Zarqawi, targeting civilians in particular? Which has cost him a lot of support, not just among Iraqis, but also within al Qaeda himself. Will this new leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq hook up with other insurgent groups and turn their fire power on coalition forces? Right now no one is certain what al Qaeda in Iraq will do. One thing most people are certain of, that Zarqawi's death does not mean the violence will end anytime soon. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: But I think with his demise there is an opportunity, as I said before, to work to improve the security situation so the Iraqi leaders make the right decisions, which is very important for them to do given that they have a government of national unity now. But at the same time, it's important to recognize that violence is likely to continue not only from the terrorists who were associated with Zarqawi, but from the other sources as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But what most are hoping from the U.S. administration, from the Iraqi prime minister, and even ordinary Iraqis themselves, is that this new government can make the most of this opportunity, at least make a start on trying to end the violence -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: John Vause in Baghdad.
Thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The Congressional Black Caucus defending embattled Louisiana lawmaker William Jefferson. He, of course, is the focus of a bribery investigation. Top Democrats want him to resign from the influential Ways and Means Committee, but the leader of the Black Caucus says Jefferson should be presumed innocent, and they say the congressman is being singled out because he's black.
Jefferson hasn't been charged with anything and has denied wrongdoing.
New information this morning on the rape case against those Duke lacrosse players. The other stripper who was hired for the party where the alleged assault took place says the allegations are "a crock."
At the outset of the investigation, Kim Roberts -- seen right there -- said she doubted the story of her fellow stripper who claimed that three lacrosse team members raped her at that party back in March. Roberts says she was with the accuser most of the night. Later, she changed her story, saying that she now thinks the Duke players are guilty.
Time might be running out for two stranded mountain climbers in Alaska. They were last seen at the base camp nearly a month ago. A radio, a backpack and a sleeping bag were spotted last week after an avalanche. Bad weather is keeping rescue helicopters grounded.
You're the senior class president, honor roll student, basketball and football team captain, and you're not allowed to go to your own graduation. A Pennsylvania high school is banning Tyrone Lewis (ph) from the ceremony. His sister testified in a street gang murder case, and the school is afraid of retaliatory attacks. Lewis (ph) is going to give his speech tonight from an undisclosed, secure location. Shark attack on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. A 7-year- old girl bitten while wading in about two feet of water. Nobody saw the shark, but it left a tooth behind. Doctors took the tooth out of the little girl's leg. She's reported to be doing just fine.
A man in central Florida is nursing wounds from an alligator bite to his head this morning. Look at those pictures. He was snorkeling in a canal when the alligator swam up to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DIAZ, JR., ATTACK VICTIM: It didn't run in fear, like you'd figure a wild animal should. It kind of eyed me down a little bit. When the gator hit me in the back of the head, I guess it bit down. And it didn't get a good grip because of my hard skull.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: He looks like he's in pretty good shape for a guy who was just bitten in the head by a gator. The gator about three feet long. The animal has since been found and trapped.
And a sports car purring, but not because of the engine. A mommy cat in Florida hid her two newborn kittens in the Corvette. Luckily, a doorman saw the whole thing, called the animal rescue before the car was ever turned on. The little wandering kitties and their mom all reunited.
A happy story with a happy ending.
A true-blue friend gets a Purple Heart. We'll continue our animal of the morning theme.
Aaron the German Shepherd shot in the jaw -- can you believe this -- while he was chasing a suspect. The dog keeps going, catches the guy. The Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police awarded him with a Purple Heart last night. He got a standing O, too.
And at least one family in southern Montana needs a boat to get to their back yard. Take a look at this, a river running right through it, literally. A tiny creek near the town of Brandenburg swelled several times its size and turned a relatively small stream right into a raging river.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's go live right now to Baghdad. We're getting a briefing now from Major General William Caldwell on the day after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was reported killed by the U.S. military.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. ARMY: They've appointed the minister of defense, interior, and national security. The prime minister now has a full cabinet. He's got a plan for Baghdad he's announced, a Baghdad security plan. And we're actually very optimistic as we move forward here having set a lot of conditions that give them that opportunity to take greater control of their country with us working in support of them.
So, really, with that, I'll just take whatever questions you all have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, thank you. We'll go right into it.
Bob, why don't you go ahead.
BOB BURNS, ASSOCIATED PRESS: General Caldwell, this is Bob Burns from AP.
Could you first give us...
CALDWELL: Hey, Bob.
BURNS: Hi. Could you give us the definitive word on how many...
CALDWELL: I'm sorry.
BURNS: Just the delay, I believe. Can you hear me?
CALDWELL: Yes, I can hear you now, Bob.
BURNS: Could you give us the definitive word on how many people were killed in the airstrike? And also, give us the rationale for choosing to take Zarqawi out, kill him outright rather than try to capture him and exploit the intelligence value, capture him alive?
CALDWELL: OK. I just came from -- I just flew back in here about two hours ago from a location where I was getting some of the debriefing material to look at so I can better answer some of your all's questions.
What I would tell you is, I have not sat and talked to them and asked them exactly why the decision was made to attempt to take him utilizing an airstrike. I'll have to go back and ask that question. But clearly, that was the decision that was made by the commander on the ground.
I would assume that if we would had gone in there and tried to have captured him, that would have taken some kind of overwhelming force at that point in time, and that perhaps they didn't have it ready. But we'll have to check on that. I'm not sure what the processes were that went into that decision.
BURNS: And the first question, General, how many people were killed in the attack? And who was the commander on the ground that you referred to?
CALDWELL: The attack casualties I was asking again about today to clarify that. I was told that they're still giving me the final confirmation.
As with any operation that ever occurs, first reports are never 100 percent correct. And we do continue to follow up to make sure we have established exactly what the facts were on the ground.
I do know from what they told me this afternoon that there were six people that were killed in that airstrike, three males, three females. Different than what I was read in the report yesterday, and so I had asked them to go back and double-check it one more time so that we could be definitively sure exactly what it was. But the report that they were reading today in the back (ph) brief with me was three males and three females.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barbara, go ahead.
STARR: General Caldwell, Barbara Starr from CNN.
Also, can you give us the definitive word now, do you have any information that Zarqawi initially survived the airstrike, that he was alive at any point in the hands of either Iraqi or U.S. forces? And can you tell us if one of the women was identified as one of Zarqawi's wives or someone related to him?
CALDWELL: Barbara, what I can tell you is that, again, from the debriefs this morning, which gave us greater clarity than what we had before, is, Zarqawi, in fact, did survive the airstrike. The report specifically states that nobody else did survive, though, from what they know.
The first people on the scene were the Iraqi police. They had found him and put him into some kind of gurney stretcher kind of thing, and then American coalition forces arrived immediately thereafter on site.
They immediately went to the person in the stretcher, were able to start identifying him by some distinguishing marks on his body. They had some kind of visual facial recognition. According to the person on the ground, Zarqawi attempted to sort of turn away off the stretcher.
They -- everybody re-secured him back on to the stretcher, but he died almost immediately thereafter from the wounds he had received from this airstrike. As far as anybody else, again, the report says nobody else survived.
STARR: To clarify then, you can confirm that U.S. troops themselves saw and can confirm to you that Zarqawi was alive. That is confirmed by U.S. troops on the ground? And his attempt to turn away, would you describe that as an attempt even in the state he was in to escape at that point? Why did you -- was he strong enough for anyone to have to re-secure him?
CALDWELL: Again, I'm reading the report. I did not talk specifically to any uniformed person, but according to the report we did in fact see him alive. There was some kind of movement he had on the stretcher, and he died shortly thereafter. But yes, it was confirmed by other than the Iraqi police that he was alive initially.
STARR: Sorry, did anyone render medical assistance to him? Did U.S. troops try to render medical assistance?
CALDWELL: Again, Barbara, as I was reading the report, they went into the process to provide medical care to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will.
WILL DUNHAM, REUTERS: General, this is Will Dunham with Reuters.
How long, how many minutes was Zarqawi alive after the bombing and before he eventually expired? And had he been shot?
CALDWELL: Will, when I was there today, that's -- it became apparent that this kind of question would be asked. We're trying to put that exact minutes together from the time that we saw the Iraqi police arrive on site to when the first coalition forces arrived on site, and when they were able to report that they thought he had -- he had died there. And we'll provide that. We can put that together. We just don't have it at the moment.
DUNHAM: Sir, had he been shot?
CALDWELL: There is nothing that I saw in the report, but I'll go back and specifically ask that. But no, was there nothing in the report that said he had received any wounds from some kind of weapons system like that.
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI, NBC: Brian (ph), Jim Miklaszewski with NBC. Or General, I'm sorry.
Will there be an autopsy performed, number one? And number two, was Zarqawi able to speak? Did he say anything either to the Iraqi police or the American soldiers?
CALDWELL: If he said something to the Iraqi police, I'm not aware of it. According to the reports by the coalition forces that arrived on site, he mumbled a little something, but it was indistinguishable and it was very short.
MIKLASZEWSKI: An autopsy -- will an autopsy be performed?
CALDWELL: They in fact have done some analysis of his body. I'll have to get -- make sure I have the proper definition of what was done with Zarqawi's body, but I know they have done some kind of analysis. And I'll get that for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeff, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: General, Jeff Sholda (ph) with "Stars and Stripes".
Two quick questions. How can you be sure that he died -- that Zarqawi died as a result of the wounds he received from the explosion without a formal autopsy? And secondly, when you were cleaning him up, did you have to PhotoShop his face or anything to make him more recognizable for the picture?
CALDWELL: To take your second question first, yes, Jeff, his face was very, very bloodied. And we made a conscious decision that if we were going to take photographs of him and make them available publicly, like we did in the press conference, that we were going clean him up. Despite the fact that this person actually had no regard for human life, we were not going to treat him in the same manner. And so they did clean his face up for the shots that were shown publicly.
As far as the autopsy goes, there wasn't -- I know there was an autopsy done, but I'm going to go back to make sure that it was performed by whatever the certified person that we're supposed to have so we can call it an "autopsy" and make sure I'm exactly correct before I tell you that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A follow-up. Did you have to digitally enhance the photos at all to clean him up to show him to the world?
CALDWELL: No. The photographs there are the straight photographs. We did no digital enhancement from this end.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pamela.
PAM HESS, UPI: General, this is Pam Hess with UPI.
What's going on happen to Zarqawi's body after the autopsy? Does he get returned to Jordan to his family? And do you have anything on the identity of the other -- the others killed in the -- in the strike? Was it six victims total, including Zarqawi, or was it seven?
CALDWELL: Right now we are in consultation of the government of Iraq as far as the disposition of Zarqawi's body. I know that dialogue has been going on since after the -- shortly after the strike, and he was brought under coalition force's control. So that's still being deliberated.
They may have made a decision late here this afternoon. They had not as of noon today.
As far as the identification of the other personnel goes, I know they're still working it. The only two that have been positively identified at this point, of course, is Zarqawi and al-Rahman. And again, those we were able to do through fingerprint identification.
DNA results have still not come back as of noon today. And we're awaiting those results, though, too. The other four they are trying to attempt to identify, but as of noon today, again, we had not.
HESS: There was a report yesterday that a child was killed in that. Are you saying that that's not the case right now?
CALDWELL: I'm saying I'm not certain at the moment because the initial report that I was provided in fact said that there was a child. And then when I went through the after-action review today, again, as with any military operation, you'll get the first reports in, they're fairly accurate, but they're never complete. And then you give follow-on work to establish exactly what the factual facts are. And the report today says it was six people, three males and three females, no children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jon.
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: General, Jonathan Karl with ABC News.
You mentioned -- is he saying something?
General, Jonathan Karl with ABC News.
You mentioned yesterday that there were 17 raids conducted simultaneously in and around Baghdad after Zarqawi was confirmed dead. Can you give us any more information on this treasure trove of documents and information you got? And how many people were detained as a result of those raids?
CALDWELL: We obviously did conduct those 17 raids, and last night we conducted an additional 39 operations across Iraq. Some directly related to the information we had received, others have not a direct relationship.
I can show you some pictures from one of the raids. We did get some digital photos back from one site where they went in and they found a cache of things.
In fact, if you wouldn't mind, the technical guys back there, can you throw that up?
All right.
These are some pictures that just came back in this morning from that raid the other night. You can see this is a floor element here underneath the floor in the house -- they were putting a lot of military gear and suicide gear. We'll pull it out here and a couple of following photographs and lay it out and show it to you.
Next slide, please.
You can see they had everything from passports, identification cards. On the top right there you'll see a night observation device.
Next slide.
On the left side over here you'll see they had some Iraqi army uniforms in this cache.
Next slide.
And again, some more of the armament.
Next slide.
That's it laid out so you can see the amount of stuff. You'll see they have some license plates for cars there, too, about the top middle. And a lot of vests -- those vests primarily over there are just ammunition vests.
Next slide.
Again, more of the armament.
Next slide.
A close-up of the ammunition vest, and then the uniforms on the right side, the Iraqi army uniforms.
Next slide. Next slide.
Close-up ammunition belt.
Next slide.
Not sure -- it's either a Flak vest or some type of bulletproof vest there that they could wear. On the far right, that white thing -- and I'll show you another picture of it here in a second -- is a suicide belt.
The next slide.
That's a more close-up view of the suicide belt. I have another picture of it.
Next slide.
And that's a close-up of it. You can see the activation device there in the center.
I think that's it.
Next slide.
OK, another picture of it.
Next slide.
And again, that's the hole there in that house where they went in and conducted the raid and found all of that underneath the floorboard.
I think that's it, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where -- sir, where is that raid, please?
CALDWELL: I'll have to get that location for you. It's in and around the Baghdad area. I looked at the 17 sites today. All of them were either inside Baghdad or within about a 15-mile radius right around Baghdad. But centered, all 17, around the Baghdad area.
KARL: How many people you detained as a result of these raids?
CALDWELL: I will get you that exact number. I was going through the figures today. I saw two different numbers.
One showed a detention of 25 personnel with one killed. Another one had a different number. But I'll give you that number.
That's lower of the two until I can confirm it. Twenty-five detained, one KIA. That's an enemy. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes -- go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: General, it's Nick Simeon (ph) at FOX.
I was unclear whether you said it was six including Zarqawi that was killed, or whether Zarqawi makes seven. And secondly, was there any plastic surgery used to reconstruct his face to make it more presentable before yesterday's news conference?
CALDWELL: That number is six, which includes Zarqawi. So it's not seven, but just six total.
There was none that I know of. I'll verify that by going back and asking the question. But I didn't see it stated anywhere that, in fact, that had occurred. So I don't think it did, but I'll verify that for you.
MIKLASZEWSKI: And General, everybody is asking the question how possibly could he have survived, seemingly intact, after two 500-pound bombs were dropped on that -- on that facility. Was he outside? Was he thrown clear? Is there any visibility on why he was able to survive those two bombs?
CALDWELL: Well, that's the exact same question I asked today when I sat down with several Air Force officers that included some that were associated with the whole operation. And they assured me that there are cases when people in fact can survive even an attack like that on a building structure.
Obviously, the other five in the building did not, but he did for some reason. And I -- we do not know. And I've looked at the reports as to whether or not it was because he might have been right outside, or whatever. We just don't have that granularity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tony.
TONY CAPASSIO, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Hi, sir. Tony Capassio with Bloomberg News. Two questions.
One, the $25 million tip award, what's the latest thinking on will anybody receive that?
CALDWELL: OK. Just -- just one question?
CAPASSIO: But I'm not going to give you a (INAUDIBLE).
CALDWELL: OK. All right.
I think what everybody needs to understand is that when the coalition forces put together the information that led to this strike the other day, it was a painstaking effort, very focused over about three weeks. And during that time period there was a lot of information that came in allowing us to build that puzzle that led us to that evening when we able to ascertain that Zarqawi was in that -- and Rahman were in that building together. The information we had was never somebody coming forward and saying, at this time, at this place you will find Zarqawi in this building. That did not occur.
In fact, it was the result of some tremendous work by coalition forces, intelligence agencies, partners in our global war on terrorism, that all came together feeding different parts and pieces to allow us to build that puzzle to establish the patterns, the methods, the techniques which allowed us to track and then monitor things which led us to that building that night to find Zarqawi in there. As far...
CAPASSIO: Go ahead.
CALDWELL: ... get involved with that.
CAPASSIO: In the planning that went into this, was there any going in assumption that you would try to take Zarqawi alive rather than kill him, or was there always the assumption, we'll have to kill him rather than try to use any force to capture him?
CALDWELL: I did not specifically talk to the operational commander or the ground about that question, but I do know that if in fact U.S. military or coalition forces, in the execution of a target that is going lead to exorbitant American or coalition forces losses, that we'll use proportional force rather than put young men and women's lives at risk. So I'll have to go back and ask the logic that went in behind that.
But I think what they did was very appropriate and proportional to the fact that Zarqawi is the number one terrorist in Iraq. He has proven to be a brutal murder that has absolutely no consideration for civilian life. So their actions that night -- and you have to ask yourself, is it worth putting American men and women's lives at risk to go in to what was probably a heavily fortified and guarded thing in order to grab him?
CAPASSIO: (INAUDIBLE) commanders call? It was General Casey's call or General Chiarelli's call. It was the local commanders call?
CALDWELL: Well, as we talked -- you know, General Casey has done a tremendous job in powering his commanders in the field here to make those kind of tactical decisions that are necessary to prosecute this war against terrorists and that work in support of the government of Iraq. At the lowest level possible, that decision was made by an operations officer down there, based on what he was operating with, with many factors being utilized. And just before executing, went ahead and insured that his commanders above him had situational awareness of what was about to go down, as they had just a couple of minutes there as they called that F-16 in, because they had two of them up there flying. One was sitting at tanker, so as they called in and asked for the operation to be executed, the other one couldn't come off the tanker, so that single bird came in on a single ship and executed that, which gave them a few minutes to do the notification up that they were about to take down Zarqawi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have time for one or two more. Let's go to Pam, real quick.
QUESTION: It's Pam Hess again. Would you tell us a little bit more about these 17 raids? You hinted yesterday in your opening statement that you'd been watching people in order to lead you to Zarqawi. So the 17 raids go back and focus on the people that you had been watching to lead you to Zarqawi?
And would you tell us more about al-Masri, who you identified yesterday as being the guy that you expect to take over.
CALDWELL: The 17 raids -- there was obviously more operations that occurred in and around Iraq yesterday -- or, the day before -- than the 17. Those are 17 focused ones that were directly related to the intense intelligence effort that had been going on in tracking Zarqawi.
There are certain personnel that we had been watching, that we have been monitoring, that the coalition forces had made the decision not to take down at that time because they were giving us key indicators as different points in time as to where Zarqawi might be. So they were just monitored, watched and tracked. But once Zarqawi went down, then that enabled us to go in and conduct those operations, the 17 focused operations directly related to targeting Zarqawi.
I mean, if that helps them in painting that picture there.
QUESTION: Al-Masri: what more can you tell us about him, and is he one of the 25 you detained?
CALDWELL: Unfortunately, he's not one of the ones we picked up. What we do know about him, he's Egyptian-born. We know that he and Zarqawi met each other at the al-Faruq training camp in Afghanistan probably some time in the early 2001-2002 time period. We know that al-Masri came to Iraq before Zarqawi did, probably located somewhere around the Baghdad area, some time in around 2003, established probably the first al Qaeda in Iraq cell here in the Baghdad area. And that they've continued a very close relationship since that time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going finish up here. Barbara, do you want to take the last one.
STARR: General Caldwell, Barbara Starr from CNN. Al-Masri: does he, to your knowledge, have any relationship at this point or communication with Osama bin Laden or Zawahiri?
CALDWELL: We know he had communication with Zawahiri. Anything else beyond that would be in operational channels and probable not something we should talk about. But it's very clear that, you know, he had very close contacts with Zarqawi.
QUESTION: ...contact with Zawahiri -- how long ago?
CALDWELL: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: How long ago was the contact you said that you that he had with Zawahiri? CALDWELL: The specifics of that I'd have to go back and get for you. I'm not sure that's declassified yet.
QUESTION: First name of al-Masri, please?
CALDWELL: What was the question on al-Masri?
QUESTION: His first name, please?
CALDWELL: Abu -- I'll spell it A-y-y-u-b, so Abu A-b-u, the next word is A-y-y-u-b and al, and them Masri is M-a-s-r-i.
STARR: Barbara Starr one last time. I'm very sorry, but with respect to -- you say that he had communications with Zawahiri. Does that not also really by definition mean he was in communication with bin Laden?
CALDWELL: Barbara, again, for operational reasons, I really can't discuss any contact he had with anybody else at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We've really come to the end of our time, and a little bit beyond, I know. So we just, again, want to thank you. And let me turn it back to you, in case you have anything you wanted to say, as we close this up.
CALDWELL: I guess the only thing I would say is, you know, for the first time in three years the Iraqi people really do have a real chance here. They have a duly-elected government, they now have the ministers of Interior and Defense and National Security, which they did not have previously, which gives...
M. O'BRIEN: Lieutenant General William Caldwell is the chief military spokesman talking to reporters at the Pentagon via teleconference, he in Baghdad, they in Washington.
Lead item from this, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was not killed instantly by the that air attack by the U.S. Air Force. Two 500-pound bombs, and nevertheless, when Iraqi police arrived on the scene as the dust, and smoke and flames settled out, he was in fact alive. And according to people on the scene there, attempted to sort of turn away in the structure, and may in fact have mumbled something. We don't know what.
A couple of other key points, the military saying no plastic surgery conducted to clean up Zarqawi's face in that picture. No Photoshop or electronic enhancement, although they obviously did clean up his face to put the picture out to the world. A total of six dead. There was some confusion yesterday. A lot of reports indicated seven dead, or maybe even eight. At one point, it was Zarqawi and seven accomplices. Six total, including Zarqawi.
As to the $25 million bounty, the military basically saying this is a three-week effort to put together a puzzle. Numerous people involved. Without saying so, they seemed to indicate that there would be no reward issued in this case, and because of the fact that it was such a collaborative effort. Finally, we're getting a little more fidelity on who might succeed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. His name is Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, an Egyptian, it might be for al Qaeda in Iraq, so that's a name we'll soon be talking about more about, no doubt.
Back with more in a moment.
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S. O'BRIEN: In the wake of the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, President Bush was able to give a praise to U.S. forces.
Listen.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: And Americans can be enormously proud of the men and women of our Armed Forces, who worked tirelessly with their Iraqi counterparts to track down this brutal terrorist and to put him out of business.
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S. O'BRIEN: Seven marines stand accused of shooting 24 civilians in Haditha last November, and then covering it up. It's all still under investigation.
Lieutenant Jesse Grapes once commanded some of those accused marines, at least their platoon, and he knows some of the men who are now under investigation. He's in Palo Alto this morning in California.
JESSE GRAPES, FMR. MARINE PLATOON LEADER: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's begin by reiterating what's really important here, which is you have no knowledge of what happened in Haditha. You were not with the platoon at the time that the massacre is alleged to have taken place. You've actually returned to civilian life. And even though you've left, you could be called up one day. But you do know some of the people who are involved. Give us a little insight, with all those caveats. What do you know about some of these men?
GRAPES: Well, that's true. I was not their commander while they were in Haditha, but up to two years, for two years prior to that incident, I was the commander of that platoon. And so I know these men very, very well, and I think it's important to give some insight and back-story onto their lives and what they've accomplished in Iraq leading up to this last deployment and the incident in Haditha.
S. O'BRIEN: So, fill in some of the blanks for us, then. Characterize for us some of these men.
GRAPES: Sure. Well, it's important to note, I think, that every one of these men has served in a combat environment before, either in Fallujah or Najaf, with the exception of possibly a few more additions to the platoon. And these men, not only have they served their country, but they served with honor and distinction, to which I can personally testify to. They were a great credit to themselves and to the Marine Corps and to their country.
And in situations where it would be easy to lose that moral compass that every marine and soldier has to have in combat -- and I can describe for you a few vignettes where these marines could have easily lost that, but maintained their composure in difficult transitions, from counterinsurgency to very intense combat.
S. O'BRIEN: So it sounds like you're saying there were circumstances that were, I guess, similar to what appears to have been the trigger for Haditha. And we should really say that the investigation is continuing. But you saw similar circumstances?
GRAPES: Oh, absolutely. When we went out, our deployment in 2004 to Fallujah, the first five months of that operation were pure counterinsurgency in the suburbs of that town, as it was pretty much quarantined to U.S. military forces. And these men were being attacked daily by an omnipresent but unidentifiable enemy force.
And oftentimes, you'll hear that referred to as a faceless enemy. Well, I think that's incorrect. Oftentimes in those situations, you know that these insurgents are operating, you know, in and around you and in the villages, in the towns. And so their faces become all of the faces that you see and you're constantly, operating out of, you know, fear and wonderment of who is your friend and who is your foe.
In five months, I can honestly say these marines being attacked daily from rockets, mortars and IEDs, only fired one shot. There was one shooting in five months of counterinsurgency operations. And that was on an enemy insurgent that had detonated an IED on a marine patrol, wounding a bunch of marines. And ironically, the marine who was commended for that act, for destroying that insurgent, happens to be the marine who was killed in the Haditha incident.
S. O'BRIEN: So then what explains, if you believe the allegations -- and as you well know, there are certainly many military investigators who say that there's credibility to those allegations -- what explains what happened? People said, well, they snapped. People have said this young man who was killed originally, sort of setting off the whole thing, was such an important member of the team that that might have been the cause of the snapping. Can you explain that to me?
GRAPES: Well, what I can absolutely explain is the fellowship that exists between a group of men, a group of marines in combat together. These young men, most of them between the ages of 19 to 22 years old, develop bonds of friendship and closeness that most of us don't even develop with our own immediate family. And I can, you know, testify to that myself.
And so any time that you lose a comrade in combat under any circumstances, it is greatly upsetting. It causes anguish and fear. And it's a difficult thing for any soldier to bear. But at the same time, these marines were in Fallujah (AUDIO GAP). S. O'BRIEN: It looks like we've just lost our satellite. Talking to Jesse Grapes, a former marine platoon leader -- sorry about that, but he's -- ditched out of the satellite there. What a fascinating insight, really, I mean, to have -- to talk about every day being -- you know, the idea of the faceless insurgent. He said, no, actually, we see their faces all the time and that's actually a bigger problem. These are people you see day after day after day. Obviously, the investigation continues. We'll see if we can get more information from Mr. Grapes.
M. O'BRIEN: You have to walk a mile in those boots before you really understand.
Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING...
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DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian in Mason City, Iowa, where we wrap up our series, "Paying the Price in the Heartland." This morning, we are at an ethanol plant. Could this corn end up in the tank of your car? I'll explain, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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M. O'BRIEN: It's the dreaded music, people. The latest CNN "Gas Gauge." What's the average? $2.90. Last month $2.89. A year ago, $2.12.
And now the final installment of "Paying the Price in the Heartland." AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian has crisscrossed Iowa,seeing how high fuel prices are impacting people there. He joins us from Mason City, Iowa. That's the real river city of "Music Man" fame, where they got trouble, and that begins with T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for petroleum. Dan has been putting his ear to the ground there and he has found ears may, in fact, be the answer.
Good morning, Dan.
LOTHIAN: That's -- good morning, Miles.
Well, just a few seconds, this truck just wrapped up dumping some corn here. And the big question is, will the corn end up in the tank of your car? A lot of people here believe so in this state, where they have created something of a gold rush.
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LOTHIAN (voice over): All across the heartland, a new crop is sprouting out of the ground and the harvest is golden.
DAVE SOVEREIGN, GOLDEN GRAIN ENERGY: This is a home run for real America.
LOTHIAN: Tucked in between corn fields and often snuggled next to key railroad distribution lines, ethanol plants, like Golden Grain Energy in Mason City, Iowa, are seen as a good bet against high energy prices.
SOVEREIGN: We're using corn and partially the storage (ph) grains from . . .
LOTHIAN: Dave Sovereign, a farmer for much of his life, is also this company's chairman. He's invested heavily in four ethanol producing plants and one other alternative fuel project and his spending spree isn't over.
SOVEREIGN: Ethanol's just a natural part of that agriculture. In fact, an extension of what we've been doing.
LOTHIAN: With so much corn to fuel production, Iowa has become the country's leading maker of ethanol. The fuel touted as a cleaner, more efficient alternative to gas. Twenty-five plants have been built here so far. Three in just one week. At least 17 more are on the way. The boom is projected to create thousands of jobs and struggling farmers who got in early are reaping huge benefits.
DWYANE LYNCH, GOLDEN GRAIN ENERGY: It makes you feel pretty good when you walk uptown and you run in to these people.
LOTHIAN: Golden Grain, which is expanding, says it's 750 investors received more than $9 million in tax credits and cash dividends last year. The gold rush starts here as soon as the corn arrives. It then enters a maze of conveyor belts, pipes and vats. A fully automated system starts breaking it down.
CHAD KUHLERS, PLANT MANAGER: You're milling and your cooking. Now you're fermenting. Then you start distilling. Then you decant.
LOTHIAN: And then, three days later, out pours this clear liquid, ethanol.
Is this really the answer for our fuel needs?
SOVEREIGN: This is definitely a part of the answer.
LOTHIAN: Nothing is wasted in the process of turning corn into fuel. This mountain, the by-product, is sold as cattle feed. While everything is running so smoothly right now, Sovereign, who has experienced the highs and lows in farming, realizes there is a potential risk in this business, too.
SOVEREIGN: I think, overall, there's going to be some growing pains, but, overall, we're going to survive it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: To show you how interest has spiked when sovereign first started going around trying to collect money, investors for this operations some four years ago. It took him 90 days. He said that was pretty fast then, says that could happen in about 24 hours. And just about every day, he gets calls from rest investors who want in -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: I think it's the in thing, ethanol.com here, as we said earlier.
Once again, let's go to the tote board and figure out how much gas you've been buying. And you know, we should tell folks, you're not driving a '75 Suburban there. You've got a little newer version.
LOTHIAN: No, I'm not. It's a much newer one, and we have traveled so far in the entire time that we've been here 1,358 miles. We've purchased 82.1 gallons of gas. We spent $224.54. Average price per gallon, $2.72 -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, and this is a flex fuel vehicle, is that right?
LOTHIAN: Pardon?
M. O'BRIEN: Was it a flex fuel vehicle?
LOTHIAN: Yes, we did have flex fuel. It's a flex fuel Suburban, usually getting 10 percent ethanol. We were able on to find the E-85 at some of the gas stations. That's a big issue as well, because not everyone is selling that.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, great job this week, Dan Lothian, a real eye-opener for all of us, and we'll see you next week somewhere. Thanks very much.
LOTHIAN: OK, thanks a lot -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: "CNN LIVE TODAY" is coming up next. Tony Harris is in for Daryn this morning.
Hey, Tony, good morning.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning to you.
Here's a look at what we're working on for the top of the hour. New detail about the airstrikes that killed Iraq's top terrorist, including word that al-Zarqawi was alive initially after the airstrike. We'll have the unfolding details. And the FDA approved a vaccine for cervical cancer. You may be surprised by the target group. Those stories and much more.
Betty joins me at the top of the hour for LIVE TODAY.
Soledad, back to you.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Tony, thank you very much.
Andy Joins me with a look at what's coming up as he minds your business.
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.
I'll tell you why one big American company is rooting for both teams in the NBA Finals, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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S. O'BRIEN: Short break. We're back in just a moment.
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