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CNN LIVE SUNDAY

Foreign Policy and National Security Shaping Up as Major Issues for Congressional Elections; Real or Fantasy in John Mark Karr's Story?; Hussein On Trial For Second Time Tomorrow in Baghdad

Aired August 20, 2006 - 17:28   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what's happening right "Now in the News."
Mayhem today in Baghdad. Gunmen defied heavy security and opened fire on Shiite pilgrims. At least 20 people were killed, more than 300 wounded.

Iran said today it has no plans to suspend its nuclear program. Tehran says it will make an official response on Tuesday to the U.N. incentives package.

We'll have more on the developments in Iran at the half hour.

And murder suspect John Mark Karr is on a flight this hour to Los Angeles from Bangkok, Thailand. He's accompanied by a Homeland Security official. Also on board, an investigator from Boulder, Colorado, where JonBenet Ramsey was murdered.

With less than three months to go until congressional elections, foreign policy and national security are shaping up as major issues. Some of the decisions facing President Bush could have a major impact on supporters facing re-election.

CNN White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano joins us now -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Fredricka.

Well, the political countdown clock is certainly ticking. The '08 presidential election a little over two years away. And as you noted, less than 80 days until those congressional midterm elections. All of this, the backdrop for the current foreign policy discussion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): After a weekend at Camp David, President Bush returned to Washington where the political debate over Iraq and national security grew more complex. Senator Joe Lieberman on the outs with Democrats over his staunch support of the Iraq war tried to distance himself from the president by repeating his call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to step down.

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: I believe that our conduct of the war in Iraq would benefit from some fresh leadership at the Pentagon.

QUIJANO: Lieberman was defeated in Connecticut's primary by anti-war candidate Ned Lamont. Now running as an Independent, Lieberman is standing by his assertion that setting a deadline for U.S. troop withdrawals would be a mistake.

LIEBERMAN: Terrorists, al Qaeda and the rest would use Iraq as a safe haven from which to strike other countries in the Middle East and the United States of America.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I am concerned that he is making a Republican case and he is uttering almost the same words as Vice President Cheney and I think it's inappropriate. The fact is Joe Lieberman is out of step with the people of Connecticut.

QUIJANO: Within the GOP, there is also dissatisfaction over foreign policy. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, criticized the administration's attempt to isolate countries like Iran.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: Iran probably has more influence in Iraq today than any other country. They are the big winners so far in the Middle East. I don't see how the Middle East is getting better, how America is safer, how the world is safer as a result of isolating, or attempting to isolate countries and not deal with them.

QUIJANO: And continuing disagreements on Iraq from another potential presidential hopeful, Republican Senator John McCain.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: All along we have not had enough troops on the ground to control the situation. Many, many people knew that and we are paying a heavy price for it. But I want to emphasize, we cannot lose this. It will cause chaos in Iraq and the region and I still believe that we must prevail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: And on the issue of Iran, as tensions continue to mount over Iran's nuclear program, we can tell you this weekend just a few minutes ago, in fact, the White House issuing a statement noting that the president has noted in the past certainly that Iran faces a clear choice, also noting that Iran has until the end of this month to respond to the Security Council's mandate to suspend all enrichment related and reprocessing activities. And this statement by a White House spokeswoman also going on to say that if Iran fails to comply, the United States has made clear that it will move quickly at the United Nations to impose sanctions -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks so much.

Well, it is 5:30 in New York, 2:30 in L.A. and here's what we know regarding the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. The suspect, John Mark Karr. He is on board a Thai Airways flight arriving in Los Angeles in roughly six hours. It's uncertain where Karr may be taken after his arrival here in the U.S. Besides being a suspect in the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey, there's a bench warrant out for him in Sonoma County, California, where he failed to show up in court on five misdemeanor counts of possessing child pornography back in 2001.

Real or fantasy? That's what everyone wants to know about the comments John Mark Karr made about his connection to the death of JonBenet Ramsey. Randi Kaye asked an expert in a report first airing on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Why would John Mark Karr, if he is JonBenet Ramsey's killer, be talking about it?

Renowned Criminologist James Alan Fox sees big question marks emerging in what Karr says.

JAMES ALAN FOX, CRIMINOLOGIST: I think you have to take this confession with a whole shaker of salt. That there is some question marks that emerge from hearing his story about I was there, it was an accident. This may be someone who just wants to be part of this big case.

KAYE: But, Fox says, if Karr is the killer, like most, he wants attention. He wants the world to know it.

FOX: One real possibility is that this man wanted attention and that he reached out to a professor at the University of Colorado, telling little tidbits about the crime, to intensify his celebrity. Or to make himself into a celebrity. And look, we're all talking about him today.

KAYE: Fox says it's a myth killers want to get caught. But he says the death of JonBenet's mother Patsy Ramsey may have inspired Karr to come forward. Karr told the Associated Press he sent letters to Patsy Ramsey telling her he is sorry.

KARR: It is very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much. And that her death was unintentional and it was an accident and I made several efforts to communicate with Patricia before she passed away and it is my understanding that she did read my letters and she was aware of me before she passed away.

FOX: Well, there are killers whose level of remorse is such that they cry, they apologize, they write letters to the families, expressing remorse.

KAYE: What makes this case unique, according to Fox, is the young victim's public image. Fox says that while the Ramseys may have thought it totally innocent to enter their daughter in beauty pageants, there is a small segment of society for whom it might have triggered fantasies.

The question still to be answered, did such fantasies lead Karr to kill or just to fantasize about it?

Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And that story comes to us from "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern.

On Monday, Larry King will have an exclusive interview with the Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood and the Colorado professor who led police to Karr. That's Monday, nine Eastern.

Saddam Hussein faces new charges. Find out why he is headed back to court tomorrow. And this man helped U.S. troops communicate with Iraqis, but something he said got him kicked out of the military. That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Crisis in the Middle East. Here's what we know right now. Israel says it won't allow Lebanese troops near its border unless they are accompanied by U.N. forces. Those troops are not expected in the area until late this week.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says an Israeli raid into Lebanon violated the cease-fire. Israel says the raid was aimed at preventing weapons from Iran and Syria from rearming Hezbollah. The Lebanese prime minister is vowing to crush any attempt by anyone on the Lebanese side of the border to break the truce.

Despite heavy security, there was another deadly sectarian attack in Iraq today. Snipers on rooftops and gunmen on the streets opened fire on a huge Shia procession in Baghdad. At least 20 people are dead, hundreds more hurt. The attack came despite a weekend vehicle ban imposed to head off violence during that profession.

Ian Finkenbinder was a soldier with a skill that's very much in demand in Iraq. He served there as an Arabic translator. But now he's out of a job and out of this service because he came out. CNN's Joe Johns first reported this story for "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wanted, a few good men and women who speak Arabic. For the U.S. military in Iraq, Arabic translators are absolutely vital. In some cases, Iraqis are preferred because they understand a lot more nuance, but there aren't enough to go around, plus Iraqi civilians generally cannot qualify for top secret clearances. So as of last year, the army had by one estimate about 1,850 Arabic speakers in uniform. That's right, fewer than 2,000 to translate for the tens of thousands of people it had on the ground in Iraq.

IAN FINKENBINDER, FORMER ARMY TRANSLATOR: I was collecting information on the streets with Iraqi civilians.

JOHNS: At the start of the war, Ian Finkenbinder was in the army. A trained cryptologic linguist, intercepting and interpreting intelligence information, doing critical work in Baghdad.

FINKENBINDER: Location of weapons, caches, locations of insurgent headquarters, who was insurgents, et cetera, et cetera.

JOHNS: He was so good that when his tour in Iraq ended, everyone wanted him to stay. So if Arabic speaking soldiers are so essential, why are we meeting Finkenbinder in this Baltimore coffee shop instead of a forward operating base in Iraq? If you guessed the answer, it's because Finkenbinder is no longer trying to hide it.

FINKENBINDER: I said that I was a gay soldier and would like to continue serving in the army as an openly gay soldier.

JOHNS: And that decision to come out and finally say what everyone in his unit knew or suspected, forced his commander to kick him out.

FINKENBINDER: It's really a waste -- a waste of time, talent and money.

JOHNS: Over a ten-year period, it happened to about 11,000 U.S. military personnel a study shows, at a cost of more than $363 million. Under the so-called don't ask, don't tell policy, gays in uniform have to keep their sexual orientation a secret, or they're out. Researcher Nathaniel Frank tracked this issue for years, he says a lot of people fired under the policy held sensitive jobs.

NATHANIEL FRANK, U.C. SANTA BARBARA: 800 of those have been mission-critical specialist. Over 300 have been linguists and over 55 of those have been Arabic linguists and we have a dire shortage of those. So we're really causing a brain drain here. JOHNS: The policy has always been controversial, but even now there are many who say there should be an outright ban on gays in the military.

PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: It's not just a matter of prejudice. It's a matter of not wanting to be put into those intimate situations with someone of the same sex who may be viewing you as a sexual object.

JOHNS: Finkenbinder says many in his unit knew he was gay and there were never any problems, but there is a problem for the military. The policy is costing hundreds of millions of dollars and leaving the military short of Arabic-speaking soldiers in a region where understanding the language can mean the difference between life and death. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that story from "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

In Baghdad tomorrow, Saddam Hussein goes on trial for a second time. This time he and six co-defendants are accused of genocide and war crimes. The charges relate to an offensive against Kurds two decades ago. An estimated 100,000 people were killed. Survivors say mustard gas and nerve agents were used. That offensive was known as Operation Anfal, Arabic for spoils of war. We get more now from CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cemetery near the village of Sewsaynan in Iraqi Kurdistan is a peaceful please. Grave markers carved from local stone are shaded by old, leafy trees. For the last 16 years, Gadin Mahid (ph) has visited the cemetery every two weeks. Six of her relatives are buried here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This is my husband's Optim's (ph) grave. This is my daughter's Asnin's (ph) grave. This is my other daughter's Gajal's (ph) grave, this is my son-in-law's grave and the other two graves are his parents.

WHITBECK: They all died the same day, March 22nd, 1988, killed by the mustard gas and Sarin, which prosecutors say Saddam Hussein ordered unleashed on some 2,000 villages in Kurdistan, part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing code named Al Anfal, the spoils.

Just down the road in Sewsaynan, Mohammed Abdullah keeps the photos of the 13 members of his family he lost on that day. He remembers the attack as if it were yesterday.

MOHAMMED ABDULLAH, FAMILY KILLED IN GAS ATTACK (through translator): Two hours before sunset, a plane came over this mountain and it hovered around the village for 30 minutes. During dinnertime, this village was attacked by rockets. I was at my sister's house at the time. I still remember how women and children were horrified and how they were screaming.

WHITBECK: Mohammed was saved that day because he was upwind of the area where the gas was dropped but he was condemned to relive time and again the nightmare of what he saw. As Saddam Hussein and his top Baath party officials and military commanders face trial for the Al Anfal campaign, some of the survivors will testify and Mohammed hopes the trial will somehow bring him peace.

ABDULLAH: I am happy with the trial, not only he but all Kurdish people are happy to see Saddam go through this trial. We are all ready to be witnesses against Saddam in this trial.

WHITBECK (on camera): The group Human Rights Watch say over 100,000 people died during the attacks, which lasted several weeks. Saddam Hussein and his officers are accused of being the first governments ever to use chemical weapons against its own people.

(voice-over): The Kurdish survivors think this second trial for Saddam Hussein is a luxury he doesn't deserve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He should have been executed the day he was captured because he did many horrible things in his life.

WHITBECK: Saddam Hussein already faces a death sentence if he's convicted of crimes against humanity in his first trial. He faces the same penalty if found guilty in this one. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Our in-depth coverage of Saddam Hussein's new trial begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern and it will continue throughout the day right here on CNN.

News in our "World Wrap" tonight. In western India, homes barely visible under flood waters, triggered by heavy monsoon rains. About 20,000 people have evacuated the area and the army has been sent in to help with relief work.

A close call for about 1,000 tourists visiting a religious site near Izmir in Turkey. A fire tore through a wooded area surrounding the site and the tourists had to be quickly evacuated. Two firefighters were hurt.

And Pope John Paul II says working too hard is bad for the spirit. Today the pontiff quoted a 12th Century saint as saying excessive work can cause a hardening of the heart and a loss of intelligence. The pope is heeding his own advice. Last month he was vacationing in the Italian Alps and he is spending the rest of the month at the papal palace in a lakeside town outside Rome.

Carol Lin joins us now with a look at what's ahead on more of CNN SUNDAY.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well speaking of travel, Drew Griffin did a terrific investigative piece on the fact that 98 percent of commercial cargo in passenger planes goes unchecked. So I'm going to be talking with the former head of the Transportation Security Administration to talk to him about why. I mean, this happened on his watch.

WHITFIELD: Frightening.

LIN: Exactly. And at 7:00, we want to hear more from our viewers. Last night at 10:00 we were asking people, the question whether they thought John Mark Karr had anything to do with JonBenet Ramsey's death. So we're going to be asking, soliciting e-mail from our viewers. We got some really interesting answers what night. And a lot of people think that he did not.

WHITFIELD: And everyone has a strong opinion about this case.

LIN: You bet, and especially the more information that comes out, the more bizarre the tale gets. And so I just think -- we have some new information today, so viewers may have some feedback on it.

WHITFIELD: We will be listening and watching. Thanks so much, Carol.

Well from the rubble of the World Trade Center, a five-year mystery finally solved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the last five years you basically told nobody about this.

JASON THOMAS, FORMER U.S. MARINE: Correct. My mother didn't know the details at all.

TUCHMAN: And how come you didn't tell people.

THOMAS: I just wanted to put it -- I thought that mission accomplished, you know, job done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Gary Tuchman has the untold story of the unsung hero ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We have heard so many stories of heroism and bravery since 9/11, but one of the heroes who saved lives in Tower One that day has been anonymous until now. CNN's Gary Tuchman has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Jason Thomas and his wife, Kirstie (ph), walk amid the tourists visiting Ground Zero. But Jason is a tourist with a dramatic connection to September 11, that for the most part, he has not talked about.

(on camera): For the last five years you basically told nobody about this?

SGT. JASON THOMAS, FORMER U.S. MARINE: Correct. My mother didn't know the details at all.

TUCHMAN: And how come you didn't tell people?

THOMAS: I just wanted to put it -- I felt that, you know, mission accomplished, you know? Job done.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The mission was his participation in the rescue of two Port Authority police officers buried for hours in the rubble of the World Trade Center buildings. Authorities knew two former U.S. Marines found the officers, but only knew the whereabouts of one of them. The other seemingly vanished.

The Oliver Stone movie "World Trade Center" is the story of the rescue of the two officers. And shows the Marines finding them. One of the Marines is Staff Sergeant David Carnes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anyone can hear me, yell or tap.

TUCHMAN: The other is Sergeant Thomas, so little known about him when production started that the actor playing him is a white man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recon the area, Sergeant. Our best shot is going up.

THOMAS: At one point Thomas started in that direction to the right.

TUCHMAN: Three weeks ago Sergeant Thomas was watching TV and saw a commercial for the movie which featured the two Marines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no going back. Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thomas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carnes.

TUCHMAN: And because of the movie, we are now learning Sergeant Thomas's story, how he and Sergeant Carnes started a desperate search for survivors.

THOMAS: We were yelling "United States Marines, anyone down there? United States Marines, anyone down there?" And didn't hear anyone for the first, I would say half an hour.

TUCHMAN: And then they heard someone under the fiery, smoky rubble.

THOMAS: It was a low voice. And it was saying something.

TUCHMAN (on camera): But you knew you had someone alive?

THOMAS: I knew I had someone alive. I didn't care what that person was saying. At that stage, I just wanted to get to them.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): More help came, and both seriously injured men were rescued.

THOMAS: As I got out, it was the most amazing thing. It appeared to be a gauntlet. And they was passing down this gauntlet. And everyone was clapping.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Of people?

THOMAS: Of people. And it was amazing. It was amazing. It was emotional.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Michael Shamberg is the producer of the movie.

MICHAEL SHAMBERG, PRODUCER, "WORLD TRADE CENTER": Ever since we started, we kept trying to find him. We had no idea how to find him. And I wish he played himself. If you've met him, he's the greatest guy. He looks like a Marine. He's, like, you couldn't have cast him better than he is himself.

TUCHMAN: After a couple of weeks helping out at Ground Zero Sergeant Thomas went back home to Ohio, grateful when he heard that Police Sergeant John McLaughlin and Officer Will Jimeno were recovering, but content to remain anonymous.

(on camera): How does it feel being back here? You hadn't been here for five years, right?

THOMAS: I really don't want to look over. And yes, this is my first time being over here in five years.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): However, with the movie now out, Sergeant Thomas, who works as a court officer at the Ohio Supreme Court, is hoping to soon have a reunion with the two police officers. But notably, he hasn't seen the movie. And doesn't think he will.

THOMAS: Too emotional. Too emotional for me. But I do recommend others to go see the movie.

TUCHMAN: And if you do, you'll now know that this man is this man.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And catch more of Gary Tuchman's reporting on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Watch "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. only on CNN. So much more ahead on CNN. How safe are our airports? A disturbing look at holes in the nation's airline security. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Carol Lin and more of CNN LIVE SUNDAY up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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