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Disturbing Information About Soldiers Killed This Week in Iraq; Capture or Kill Policy; Black Market Uranium For Right Price; Amber Alert Issued In Maricopa, Arizona; Small Town Texas Mayor Wants To Make People Pay For Using "N" Word

Aired January 26, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

New and disturbing theories about four U.S. soldiers killed in Karbala. Did Iraqi commandos kidnap them first?

PHILLIPS: A busy Baghdad street becomes a ghost town as fear takes up residence.

LEMON: And zipping up and buttoning down in the Northeast. The severe weather center casts a cold eye on the forecast.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And we're following news from the Pentagon today, where military sources are reversing themselves about the way several U.S. soldiers died this week in Iraq.

CNN's Kathleen Koch has some info that just came to light.

Kathleen, what do you know?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this is potentially disturbing information about this very brazen attack that occurred in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala. That was last week.

Karbala is located about 50 miles south of Baghdad. That was the instance when militants dressed in U.S. military uniforms speaking English, driving black GMC Suburbans, went past several checkpoints and went into a government compound, where they then killed these five U.S. soldiers.

Now, at the time, we were led to believe they all died on location. But now U.S. military officials tell CNN that four of the -- the bodies of four of those soldiers were instead found later some 20 to 25 miles away.

Now at the time of the attack, Iraqi officials told CNN that the abandoned vehicles, these GMC Suburbans, were found in Babil Province. So one can assume again that is where the bodies of the four soldiers were located. Military officials say right now it is not clear whether or not they were killed at this government compound and then their bodies put into the Suburbans, whether they were killed while the Suburbans were on their way to this site where they were eventually abandoned, or whether they were killed once the vehicles arrived at that final site.

So very, very disturbing information. The U.S. military would not put out, however, exactly how they were killed other than what was in the initial release, and that was that they died "from wounds sustained when their patrol was ambushed" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, have the families been told the whole story?

KOCH: All we know is that the families have been notified that their bodies, again, were not found at this government compound where it was initially understood that they had been killed. So we don't know exactly how much detail they've been given.

But, obviously, this is disturbing, because we don't know the manner of death, and obviously this does raise the same concerns as the family of Pat Tillman had when he was killed, the football star, the Army Ranger. His family didn't find out until nearly two months later that he was actually killed by friendly fire.

The military acting more quickly this time straightening out the story in about a week.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kathleen Koch from the Pentagon.

Appreciate it.

KOCH: You bet.

LEMON: And more on Iraq now, starting with a man who is on his way back with a new mission. He's Army General David Petraeus, confirmed today unanimously, as expected, by the U.S. Senate. The vote puts him in charge of all coalition forces in Iraq. It also means a fourth star for an Iraq war veteran who's starting his third tour of duty.

Unannounced and down to business. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she and a few congressional colleagues met Iraq's prime minister today. The group will stay in Iraq through the weekend.

And more violence, more death. A bomb exploded in a pet marketplace in Baghdad today. Fifteen people killed, 35 hurt. A suicide car bomber killed two others also in Baghdad.

Besides a new commander for coalition forces, there are new rules for engagement in Iraq for insurgents who come from Iran: capture or kill.

More on those fronts from CNN's White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux.

And Suzanne, why have the rules of engagement changed? SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, as you know, those rules of engagement have changed. The policy now, it is capture or kill Iranian agents who are inside of Iraq if there is some sort of intelligence, actionable intelligence that they are working a plot or planned attacks against American or Iraqi or coalition forces.

The reason why this has changed is, we are told, that because the sectarian violence has gotten so bad, the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, they have seen increasing signs, more evidence of Iranian agents training, providing weapons for these Iraqi militia. That is the first thing.

The second thing is, is that U.S. officials are really trying to put pressure on the Iranian government to try to get it to cooperate, to give up its nuclear program. So far they have not been very successful, putting in pressure from the United Nations, some tough sanctions, some tough words from the United States. But again, Iran has been defiant. They are certainly hoping that this action shows that the United States is serious and that perhaps it will weaken the Iranian regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Does it make sense that if somebody is trying to harm our troops or stop us from achieving our goal or killing innocent citizens in Iraq, that we will -- we will stop them? It's an obligation we all have, is to protect -- is to protect our folks and achieve our goals.

Now, some are trying to say that because we're enforcing helping ourselves in Iraq by stopping outside influence from killing our soldiers or hurting Iraqi people that we want to expand this beyond the borders. That's a presumption that simply is not accurate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Don, that was a response from a question whether or not this was really a provocative policy here. There was a lot of debate within the administration. We understand discussions going back to November, whether or not this was really a good idea. But ultimately, the president signed off on it just a couple of months ago. He believes, as well as many others in the administration, that they need to take this tough stance against Iran -- Don.

LEMON: Suzanne, how is all this going to work?

MALVEAUX: Well, essentially what they are going to do is, if there is actionable intelligence that there are Iranian agents, those from the Revolutionary Party (sic) that are actually involved in some way in plotting or planning against American or Iraqi or coalition forces, that they would be able to not only capture, but to kill them. And sometimes this would be the United States acting on its own. Sometimes it would be in collaboration with Iraqi forces.

LEMON: How is it -- how is it being received, all this that they are supposed to do?

MALVEAUX: Well, we certainly heard from the Iranian mission at the United Nations who said that he does not support this, that it is certainly not helpful. But we have also heard on CNN from Iraqi's foreign minister. His name, Zebari. And he said that he thought that, look, this is not some sort of blank order to kill Iranians inside of Iraq, but rather very specific and very targeted for those who are actually responsible for killing the Iraqi people.

So, obviously, there is some collaboration here, but it is a very controversial proposal. And it's far from clear, Don, whether or not this is going to work.

LEMON: Yes, absolutely. OK.

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

Thank you so much for that.

PHILLIPS: Should Congress reauthorize war in Iraq under new terms and conditions? Well, the new House majority leader says that's an option. Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer spoke today at the Brookings Institution, regretful about the vote that he cast years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD), MAJORITY LEADER: Despite these strongly held views, I would not have supported House joint Resolution 114 had I known then what I know now, that the United States of America could and would prosecute a war and manage a nation-building effort in such an incompetent, arrogant, unplanned and unsuccessful manner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Hoyer says that he never felt there were sufficient numbers of U.S. forces in Iraq. In his words, too few troops to win the peace.

LEMON: The Afghan cause comes to Brussels. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today asked NATO foreign ministers to come up with more cash to help secure Afghanistan. Rice says the U.S. will do its part. The White House plans to request another $11 billion from Congress to help with reconstruction and security. Rice's deputy says that demonstrates a U.S. commitment to the Afghan people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS BURNS, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a major strategic step by the United States to, in a very dramatic way, increase our assistance to Afghanistan, to show support for President Karzai and the Afghan people, and to make sure that the Afghan national army and the police are ready to undertake their responsibilities. And that NATO and the United States of America can be stronger in the effort that we undertake.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: And the European Union today pledged more than $850 million for Afghanistan. That money will be used to improve rural healthcare and to move Afghanistan's economy away from the illegal opium trade.

PHILLIPS: Weapons-grade uranium up for grabs, and the price is right -- if the price is right. That doomsday scenario played out last year in the Republic of Georgia, but details are just now coming to light.

CNN's Jill Dougherty following today's twists and turns from Washington. This was her beat for quite some time.

Hey, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, there really are a lot of twists and turns on this one. And you're right. Interestingly, the information on this is now just coming out a year after it happened.

But in a nutshell, what happened was, in Georgia, which is one of the former republics of the Soviet Union, now an independent country, a man was picked up, a Russian man, picked up in a sting operation in which he was trying to sell highly enriched uranium. Now, that can be used for bombs.

It wasn't a lot of it, about 3.5 ounces. But a very disturbing thing that he, apparently thinking that he was selling it to some type of terrorist organization, was trying to sell it for about a million bucks. And it did not happen.

He was arrested and he's been held. He hasn't been very cooperative. But the question is, where did it come from?

And at this point, the Russians -- first suspicion would be that it came from Russia. The Russians are saying they can't really confirm that it did because a lot of countries process it the same way.

By the way, the FBI was brought into it by the Georgians, who are very friendly with the United States. They wanted to find out exactly where it came from. And all of this coming in the midst of a lot of concern, Kyra, about where material like this could end up. Concern, of course, that it could end up in the hands of terrorists.

PHILLIPS: Right. And Jill, I think that a lot of our viewers might -- we think a lot about Iraq and Afghanistan and the threat in those certain -- that certain part of the region. But we seem to forget the growth of al Qaeda and the growth of terrorism that happens in that part of the world as well. And it can affect us here in the United States.

DOUGHERTY: Well, it is one of the concerns for a lot of different countries, which is, could al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization pay the money -- which would not be that hard for them -- pay the money to buy this type of material? And it does not have to be used in bombs. You'd have to say a small amount like this, however, could cause chaos if it was used in a dirty bomb. And just a question of where this came from.

Remember, going back to the end of the Soviet Union, this was supposed to be locked up. And the United States and Russia cooperated. The United States funding it. Actually, about a billion dollars went into securing the sites where this had been produced.

And so there is concern. Could it be material that was taken out quite awhile ago? Perhaps from Russia? Or could it be material that more recently was obtained?

And how did this man happen to get it? You know, he had it in plastic bags, in his pocket, trying to sell it.

PHILLIPS: Jill Dougherty from Washington.

Thank you.

LEMON: A curfew helps restore calm, but can it hold when political passions are so intense? Ahead, the NEWSROOM takes you live to Lebanon, where the living is uneasy.

PHILLIPS: Attention, Northeast. Brutal cold is on the march, in case you hadn't noticed. How low will it go? Only the severe weather center knows for sure.

Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Breaking news into the CNN newsroom. Let's get straight to Fredricka Whitfield with the very latest -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Don, out of Nashville, Tennessee, they are looking at the rubble of a brick building that collapsed. They are looking closely because there were two workers inside this building.

This is a building that housed an antique shop, as well as was the place of a comedy cafe-type shop. But the entire building was under renovation. So that's why they had the two workers in there.

So the rescue teams continue to look through the building to see if there was anybody aside from the two workers whose lives are in jeopardy. It's unclear right now. While police are saying one person was injured and one possibly dead, it's unclear whether those two people happen to be the workers who were doing any kind of work in that building.

So the investigation is under way. You can see the rescue teams there who have responded.

And, of course, we try to work our sources to find out a little bit more about the one person reported dead, the one person reported injured. And the search continuing for any other persons that may have been in this building which was under renovations there just south of downtown Nashville -- Don.

LEMON: And if you look at that video, I mean, that roof is just flattened, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And I don't know how many stories this building was, just that it was at one point a brick structure.

So I don't know what this roof is concealing for us, if it was a one-story building or if it's something more than that. But bottom line, you are right. That is a pretty disturbing view of that crumpled rooftop now and of these rescue teams kind on the periphery there trying to determine the safest way to try and get in there and investigate.

LEMON: Fredricka, thank you, as always. And we'll check back with you.

WHITFIELD: OK.

PHILLIPS: It took blood on the streets, an overnight curfew, and military patrols, but all sides in Beirut are calling for calm today. And calm is pretty much what they are getting.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now from the Lebanese capital -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, a lot of Lebanese army on the streets today, particularly around that university where the violence yesterday killed four people, wounded more than 150. In a Hezbollah stronghold, if you will, in Beirut, there was a funeral for one of those people killed. A very emotional funeral.

Several thousand people turned out. The man's wife was at the grave site in the funeral. She was bemoaning the fact that she was pregnant with his unborn son. She was saying that she should have revenge.

But not from civilians, she said. From the militias, from military, she said and many other people believe were shooting down on the crowds, down on that violence. There's no hard evidence to support the fact that was happening, but a lot of people there at that funeral believing that there were gunmen from the opposing side, pro- government gunmen, firing down on the crowd.

But they were very emotional in the crowd at the funeral today. A lot of support for Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, but at the same time that crowd calling for the death -- "Death to America," they said, and death for Lebanon's -- Lebanon's prime minister.

Very tense, very sectarian in nature, the violence at this particular time. And added to this evening, a Christian leader, a pro-government Christian leader, came out on television this evening and said in as many words that if Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, continues in this current direction, that there will be civil war -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, what about Siniora and his government? Do you think he can survive this?

ROBERTSON: He says he can. He says they'll stay united, and he says that they'll continue. This is a showdown in the making. And that's exactly where it stands right now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson, appreciate it.

LEMON: The deep freeze in the Northeast, well, when will the mercury begin to rise? That's the question. Details next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Fredricka Whitfield getting word on an Amber Alert in Arizona.

What's the deal?

WHITFIELD: Right. A very disturbing situation out of Maricopa, Arizona.

The search is on for a 6-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted from her home in Maricopa by a man who is said to be a family friend of that residence and said to be a registered sex offender out of Louisiana. His name is 26-year-old George Richard Horner (ph). That's the photograph.

He is described as a man to be believed driving a green or blue 1993 Nissan Pathfinder with Louisiana license plates. The plate number PKL399.

Again, 26-year-old George Richard Horner is suspected of abducting this 6-year-old girl from her home out of Maricopa, Louisiana (sic). Police believe that Horner may be in his vehicle with the little girl driving for Lafayette, Louisiana.

The little girl is described this way: as 3'10", weighing just 60 pounds, with shoulder length strawberry-blonde hair, and was last seen wearing her pink pajamas with footies. Apparently, according to police, the abduction took place at about 8:00 a.m. local time out of Maricopa, Arizona, early this morning.

And so now this Amber Alert has been issued, and anyone who may see the description of this little girl or this 26-year-old man, or the vehicle that I described just moments ago, to call authorities. There again, the Louisiana plates, PKL399 on a green or blue 1993 Nissan Pathfinder -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So Louisiana plates, from Louisiana, registered sex offender in Louisiana, but it's Maricopa, Arizona, where he could be somewhere with the 6-year-old girl.

WHITFIELD: Or at least still in that proximity, given that it took place just a few hours ago today.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep tracking it, Fred. Thanks.

LEMON: Well, it's that time of year again. Offices are buzzing with talk about the big game. That may be fun for you, but it could be bad for your employer.

Susan Lisovicz joining us from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about the Super Bowl slowdown.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're at the half hour now, and we're still following a developing story out of Arizona.

This is what we can tell you so far. An Amber Alert has been issued in Maricopa, Arizona. This is what we know. A six-year-old girl has been abducted, authorities believe, by this man; 26-year-old George Richard Horner. He's a registered sex offender in Louisiana. He's driving either a green or blue Nissan Pathfinder, it actually has Louisiana plates, PKL-399.

He's a registered sex offender in Louisiana, but this story is unfolding in Maricopa, Arizona. A six-year-old girl believed to be abducted by him. We're getting in these pictures from one of our affiliates, KPNX in Maricopa, Arizona.

We believe this is the neighborhood where the six-year-old was abducted, possibly the home that she lives in. Police, right now, looking for him. Any information you have, you are asked to call authorities immediately.

LEMON: Time now to talk about the weather. Bitterly cold, dangerously cold across parts of the Northeast. A frightening sight outside Erie, Pennsylvania. Cars -- look at that -- and big rigs, even an ambulance in a twisted heap. The pile-up blamed on lake effect snow that blinded dozens of drivers, one of them was killed. Ten miles of I-90 was shut down for almost 15 hours.

From Maine to Maryland, it is just plain raw. An arctic blast has brought the coldest temperatures of the season so far. The entire state of Massachusetts is under a wind chill advisory. How long will the arctic air hang around and where will it blow next?

PHILLIPS: Our Rob Marciano knows.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Haifa Street, the main drag in a bad neighborhood, in the world's most dangerous city. It's a battlefield. But also a starting point in a combined effort to take back Baghdad. CNN's Arwa Damon is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ARWA DAMON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the window of a crumbling theater, it could almost be a normal world outside. But this is Haifa Street in central Baghdad, where we can't venture out to talk to people, but snatch quick conversations in doorways. This man doesn't want his face shown.

"The street from here to here is safe," he says. "But if you go down there, it's very bad." In one direction, kids play soccer in the street, apparently oblivious to the battleground close by. But down the street, Iraqi and U.S. forces try to dislodge insurgents.

"We are happy to see the Iraqis and the Americans, but we can't be seen saying that," he says. "They will slaughter us."

"They" are Sunni extremists, says Ali Hussein, a Shia who lives here. He calls them "The Others".

"It's sort of a sectarian thing. But here we have Sunnis, too. But down there, they are different."

He tells us, "There was a girl who went to the market down there, with her child and a sniper shot them."

And down there is where we are going with a Stryker platoon, into an area that U.S. and Iraqi units have been trying to clear of insurgents.

(on camera): This is one of the Iraqi army patrol bases located on Haifa Street. It was formerly one of Saddam Hussein's palaces and would have been off limits to all of these men. They are fairly optimistic. The Americans here, however, are moving with extreme caution.

(voice-over): Because no one knows who is still out there, or where. When it's not a battlefield, Haifa Street can feel like a ghost town. The snipers, the battles, the intimidation has driven most residents away. But thousands remain, most too afraid to step outside.

This 25-year-old and her mother are taking advantage of a lull in the fighting. As they speak of the horrors they have endured, they can't conceal their rage.

"Bodies in the street, and dogs are eating them? Is this how cheap humans have become," she asked? "The Americans have to protect us, otherwise, they should just leave and let people slaughter each other."

But the Americans say they are not going to leave. They are just beginning a new operation to retake Baghdad.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A quantum leap for Iranian nukes. The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency expects Iran to begin installing as many as 3,000 centrifuges as soon as next month. Muhammad ElBaradei spoke to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Centrifuges are used to spin uranium gases into enriched material to produce nuclear fuel.

Iran says it just wants to generate power, but the West suspects it wants to build bombs. Just last month the U.N. levied sanctions and today the Bush administration warned that a move on centrifuges would bring, quote, "universal international opposition."

PHILLIPS: Terror in Islamabad. A suicide bomber struck the entrance to the five-star Marriott Hotel today, in the Pakistani capital for such attack in almost two years. A security guard was killed, seven others wounded. The guard, we're told, stopped the bomber from getting into the building, thus preventing a lot more bloodshed.

No one has claimed responsibility, but last week, a pro-Taliban militant leader vowed to avenge a Pakistani air strike on a suspected Al Qaeda hideout.

LEMON: It is ugly. It is hurtful and a lot of folks don't want to hear it anymore. Now a Texas mayor comes up with a way to make you pay for saying it. That word ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: A parent's unbearable pain, a child stillborn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had dark, curly hair. And she was beautiful. Except, she was silent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now some mothers are fighting for something to honor their lost children. Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's painful just to think about it, a stillborn child. Mothers who have lost their babies are looking for a simple way to honor them. But in many states, it's against the law.

CNN's Peter Viles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Sunida Param pregnancy was a joy.

SUNIDA PARAM, DAUGHTER WAS STILLBORN: It was easy. It was comfortable. I was super active.

VILES: But at 38 weeks, doctors suddenly could not find the baby's heartbeat. The next day, she delivered a girl.

PARAM: She was perfect. She was perfect. She was five pounds, one ounce, she was 18 3/4 inches, and she had dark curly hair, and she was beautiful, except she was silent.

VILES: Her daughter, Suroya, was dead, stillborn. It happens 26,000 times a year in America. In most states the heartbroken parents receive a death certificate, but no birth certificate. To Sunida that is unacceptable.

PARAM: We need to be able to give our child the dignity that she deserves, to be acknowledged, that she was born.

VILES: Sunida and other mothers of stillborn children are lobbying to change California law so parents of stillborn babies receive special birth certificates. Fourteen states now offer that option. Pro choice groups have often opposed such legislation fearing it will lead to new rights for the unborn. And, therefore, new restrictions on abortion.

KIM GANDY, PRESIDENT, NOW: We understand this. It's a terrible loss. And it's very reasonable for you to want to memorialize this loss. At the same time we need to make it optional, put rules in place, so that it can't be used for an unintended purpose.

VILES: NOW insists that such birth certificates be limited to late-term still births as opposed to miscarriages or abortions, and be optional, issued only at the request of the parents.

Like Sunida, Sari Edber had a happy pregnancy, but at 37 weeks, her baby's heart suddenly stopped. She delivered a boy, Jacob, the next day.

SARI EDBER, SON WAS STILLBORN: There was this little part of me that just said, you are going to be that miracle baby that proves everybody wrong. And when that didn't happen, the silence in the room was unbearable.

VILES: Her son was also stillborn. But would a birth certificate make a difference? Well, it would to her.

EDBER: This is my way of being a mom. I am taking care of him. And making sure that he gets the respect and the honor and the recognition that he deserves.

VILES: Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Five years have come and gone, and bone fragments are still being found at the site of the World Trade Center in New York. The latest find has yet to undergo DNA testing. If they are determined to be the remains of 9/11 victims, families will be told. Since October about 276 human remains have been found where the World Trade Center once stood; 766 remains have been uncovered at the bank building there which is being dismantled.

LEMON: Five-year prison terms for a prank that got out of hand at Seton Hall University. Jason Lepore (ph) and Sean Ryan (ph), now both 26 years old, apologized in court today for a dormitory fire that killed three fellow students in January of 2000. Dozens more students were hurt. Lepore and Ryan pleaded guilty to setting the fire. They could be eligible for parole in 16 months.

It is an a word that is so controversial most people won't even say it. Now a small town mayor in Texas wants to make people pay for using the word, the "N" word.

Rucks Russell of CNN affiliate KHOU explains how.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUCKS RUSSELL, KHOU REPORTER (voice-over): To say, or not to say the "N" word in Brazoria.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's important that the word never be used.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't tell people what to do.

MAYOR KEN CORLEY, BRAZONIA, TEXAS: This word is a problem.

RUSSELL: But if mayor Ken Corley has his way, soon the usage of this racial slur will be a thing of a past here, a relic as distance as the old Jim Crow laws that once ruled the day in this city of 2800.

CORLEY: I'm obviously not black, OK? But if I was, and that word was used to me -- or against me -- it would offend me seriously.

RUSSELL: Under his proposed ordinance, a person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly uses the word "N" in an abuses, indecent, hurtful, degrading or insulting way in a public place. Violators could be fined up to $500.

(on camera): Brazoria is accustomed to being first in Texas. First to pass an ordinance prohibiting sex offenders from living near children, and now possibly the first to restrict the usage of the "N" word.

(voice-over): The mayor's plan has already won the backing of some on city council, along with a group of prominent local black ministers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just applaud him for having, what I feel, like the courage.

RUSSELL: We took a copy of the draft ordinance to the streets to see what others had to say about this effort to keep them from saying something many consider offensive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am all for it.

(on camera): You would support this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody should be really using this word.

CORLEY: This is, no doubt in my mind, a quality of life issue.

RUSSELL: A quality that could cost some people a lot to maintain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates holding an informal briefing with the media. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

QUESTION: The initial reports that said that five American soldiers were killed in the attack on that building. Can you explain what's known now about reports that, in fact, they were abducted alive and taken and killed some miles away?

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am aware of the -- I have just been made aware of the discrepancy in the account, and I've asked for the specifics about it. I am about where you all are on it at this point.

I think as they have investigated and tried to figure out what was going on that this other report has come out.

QUESTION: Is it clear that if that is in fact what happened, that they were taken away?

GATES: I don't know for sure. I have read that. But I haven't independently confirmed it.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Senator Lieberman says the Senate resolution opposing the 21,000 increase in troops would offer some encouragement to the enemy. Would you agree with that?

GATES: Well, I think it's pretty clear that a resolution that, in effect, says that the general going out to take command of the arena shouldn't have the resources, he thinks he needs, to be successful certainly emboldens the enemy, and our adversaries.

I think it's hard to measure that with any precision. But it seems pretty straightforward that any indication of flagging will in the United States gives encouragement to those folks, and I'm sure that that's not the intent behind the resolutions, but I think it may be the effect.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that the question of resources. In the questioning in the Senate confirmation hearing, General Petraeus conceded that he had what he thought was the minimum amount of forces he needed, if he counted in private contractors, and everybody else in Baghdad.

If he needs more forces, will he be able to get them? And he also asked that the forces that were coming be sent as quickly as possible. Does that mean that the timetable that you laid out could possibly be accelerated? GATES: We are going to see if the timetable for the dispatch of the brigades can be accelerated. There are certain, simply some logistical constraints that make it difficult to do a lot. But I've asked people to look at it and see to what extent they could be -- or some portion of it -- could be accelerated.

General Petraeus has indicated that he believes the force that has been allocated is what he needs to do the job. And I think we'll wait and let him get over there and get into it before answering a hypothetical about whether more beyond that would be needed.

QUESTION: I'd like to follow up on that...

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary give your commanders a blank check to ask for more troops.

GATES: What I have done is asked the commanders what they think they need to be successful in their mission. Those requests are then vetted by the Joint Staff, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

So there is no blank check. There is a thorough process that is then -- and before making a final decision, I also discuss it with the president. So I would say what we have done, I hope is create an environment in which the commanders feel open to requesting what they think they need. And then we will evaluate it here in the Department to see what's available and how much of that request we can satisfy.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you address this report today that there's new authority for the troops in Iraq to -- is it, put capture and kill Iranian operatives? I don't expect you to discuss rules of engagement, but was there some decision that troops now can kill Iranian operatives, rather than catch them and release them, as the story said?

GATES: Well, my impression is that -- my recollection of the story is the significant part of it covered a period before I got into government. But my impression is there are a number of inaccuracies in this story.

What I will say is what the president said this morning, and that is that our forces are authorized to go after those who are trying to kill them.

(END LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

PHILLIPS: The new Sec Def Gates, there, briefing reporters within the last hour. We're going to break away from that, though for a moment, because we have developing news out of Arizona. We've been following that Amber Alert. That search for the six-year-old girl who apparently been abducted by a registered sex offender. Fredricka Whitfield has been working the details, what do we know now, Fred?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the good news is we understand from authorities that they found the little girl. She is safe. And she is in the custody now of authorities. We don't know the circumstances, however, as to how she was located. Perhaps the Amber Alert that has been issued, since at least a couple of hours ago, helped considerably by getting the community very engaged in looking for this suspect right Here, George Richard Horner who was, allegedly, the one who abducted this little girl about 8:00 a.m. from her home in Maricopa, Arizona.

We were able to describe the vehicle that this little girl and this man were allegedly in, and the description of what the little girl was wearing. And so possibly someone in the community was able to assist law enforcement in locating the pair.

And now we know, good news is, the six-year-old girl is safe and in the custody of authorities. We don't know, however, what the circumstances are for the man who allegedly abducted her. And where they might be in Arizona, if still in Arizona.

All we know is that the man that -- whose picture you saw a moment ago was a registered sex offender out of Louisiana and authorities thought he may be en route to Lafayette, Louisiana. So good news.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred, we are getting word here that they are still searching for the suspect. I just was hearing that from our producers, even though she has been found alive, they're still in an all-out manhunt for him.

You said they believe he may be on his way to Lafayette?

WHITFIELD: Well, that was the report before we learned the little girl was located. That possibly he may be on his way to Lafayette. But then within the last few minutes we were able to learn the six-year-old girl was safe and in custody of authorities. But, again, we don't know about this gentleman and where he might be. If he's still en route or if the little girl was dropped off somewhere. We're still waiting for all of those details.

PHILLIPS: All right, the hunt for George Richard Horner, registered sex offender out of Louisiana. The hunt is still on.

Fred, thanks. We'll keep following it.

We're going to take a quick break, more from the NEWSROOM coming up next.

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