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Insurgents Launch Attacks on Shiite Pilgrims as They Celebrate Holy Day; Iraq Strategy; Story of a Champion
Aired January 30, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Tony.
I'm Betty Nguyen. Heidi Collins is off today.
HARRIS: For the next three hours, watch events as they come in to the NEWSROOM live on this Tuesday, the 30th day of January.
Here's what's on the rundown.
NGUYEN: Iraqi soldiers tested when they take the lead in a major battle. And today American commanders measuring that performance.
HARRIS: Champ honored. Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro losing the race of his life. The horse euthanized after a catastrophic leg injury.
NGUYEN: A Texas town tries to criminalize a racial slur, and that sets off a lot of talk about free speech. "N-Word" showdown right here in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: At the top this morning in Iraq, violence once again proves nothing, nothing is sacred. Insurgents today launch attacks on Shiite pilgrims as they celebrate a holy day. Dozens are dead, more than a hundred are wounded. And a divided country seems ever closer to civil war.
CNN's Arwa Damon has the latest for us in Baghdad.
And Arwa, first of all, talk to us about this latest round of violence.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it does come despite security measures that were being put into place both by the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. military. But attacks focusing mainly in Baghdad and just to the north of the capital, Diyala Province, claimed the lives of dozens of Shia pilgrims and wounded over 100.
In Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying Shia pilgrims from a western part of the city to one of the holy Shia shrines here. That attack killed at least seven pilgrims and wounded another seven Iraqis. But the deadliest attack that we saw today coming in the northern province of Diyala, just north of the capital, Baghdad.
It really is a very volatile province, something of a microcosm of the entire country. But there, in front of the main gate of a Shia mosque, a suicide bomber was awaiting pilgrims as they entered that mosque, detonating his explosives, killing at least 19 Iraqis, wounding dozens more in that attack alone.
But despite this violence, Tony, that we have seen, millions of Shia pilgrims have been flocking to holy sites throughout the day, commemorating the death of Imam Hussein in the ritual that is known as Ashura -- Tony.
HARRIS: Well, let me ask you about that for just a second here, Arwa. Talk me through this. Is the violence having impact on the Shias, as you mentioned, in large numbers, carrying out the ritual of Ashura?
DAMON: Well, Tony, not so much. In fact, we have not seen the flow of pilgrims in Karbala, where most of the commemorations are taking place, or in Najaf, or, in fact, in the capital, Baghdad.
In Kadhamiya, we had a CNN team down there with CNN's Michael Holmes. They saw at least 1.5 million Iraqis in that area. So, for the most part, Shias really are going ahead with this commemoration.
HARRIS: Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.
Arwa, thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, Iraq always a key concern for President Bush. As the Senate debates his war strategy today, the president is warning lawmakers they'll send the wrong message if they oppose his troop buildup plan.
Let's go to the White House right now and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.
Suzanne, I understand the president reacted to Wolf Blitzer's interview with vice President Dick Cheney. Is he contradicting his own vice president when it comes to addressing the situation in Iraq?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, that really is the question, because Wolf Blitzer had asked Vice President Cheney really to give an assessment of the situation in Iraq, and Cheney had talked about these enormous string of successes. He talked about taking out and crippling al Qaeda, taking down Saddam Hussein, these democratic elections that the Iraqis held.
All of this in light of the sectarian violence that continues. And President Bush himself acknowledging these string of failures. This even led Senate majority whip Dick Durbin to call Cheney "delusional." So the question that was presented to the president was whether or not there is a disconnect between what the vice president and the president are saying regarding Iraq.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the vice president is a -- is a person reflecting a half-glass-full mentality. And that is, he's been able to look at, as have I, and I hope other Americans have, the fact that the tyrant was removed, 12 million people voted, there is an Iraqi constitution in place that is a model for and unique for the Middle East.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Betty, you can hear what the administration is doing here. Cheney, on the one hand, saying, look, we've had a lot of successes. They don't want the American public to give up on this mission. At the same time, the president trying to acknowledge, trying to give the message here, that, look, he gets it.
Betty, they also used the interview again, once again, for the president to try too intimidate Iran to get it to force it to cooperate. The president issuing this warning, saying, "If Iran escalates its military actions in Iraq to the detriment of our troops and/or innocent Iraqi people, we will respond firmly."
And what is he talking about? He is talking about not only the possibility of U.S. military capturing, but also killing Iranian agents inside of Iraq who are working with the Iraqi militia -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.
We thank you.
And eyewitness accounts from Iraq to tell you about. But these are not soldiers. They're lawmakers returning from their visit with the power to shape the future there.
We have a top Democrat joining us in the NEWSROOM. That is next hour.
HARRIS: All right. Here's the thing, Betty. There is cold and then there is just stuff that's happening in the Dakotas and in Minnesota right now.
Chad, that's bone-chilling, cold temperatures we're talking about.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure is.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: All right, Chad. Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
HARRIS: Well, it's the story of a champion, but there's no happy ending. Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro euthanized to save him from more pain.
CNN's Jason Carroll reports from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was not supposed to end this way, not for a champion. Barbaro's tale was a story of beating the odds, of success. But now also one of disappointment and sadness.
GRETCHEN JACKSON, BARBARO'S CO-OWNER: I'd like now for all of us to say a prayer for Barbaro and for all of those that have loved him so much. Certainly grief is the price we all pay for love.
CARROLL: Heartbreak from Barbaro's owners and from his doctor, who early Monday had to euthanize the 4-year-old colt after complications from surgery on his leg.
DEAN RICHARDSON, BARBARO'S DOCTOR: We stated, and we meant what we said, that if we couldn't control his discomfort, we wouldn't go on. And that's why the decision was made.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barbaro wins by seven!
CARROLL: Barbaro captured last year's Kentucky Derby, racing in a way that left fans breathless.
STEVEN CRISTO, DAILY RACING FORM: Well, Barbara was a terrifically talented racehorse. We'll never really know how good he might have been.
CARROLL: No horse had won the coveted Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Affirmed's got a nose in front as they come down to the wire.
CARROLL: The nation, it seemed, put their hope and hearts in Barbaro. But during his second race for the title the Preakness, a devastating blow. Barbaro shattered his right hind leg, an injury so severe most horses would have been put down right away. Not Barbaro.
Doctors fused his joints, operating several times on both legs over eight months. It seemed fitting a horse that fought so hard and captured the hearts of so many would survive. His tale was to have a Hollywood ending, like "Sea Biscuit" or "The Black Stallion," but real champions don't always finish the way we want them to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this horse was loved because, you know, he was a great athlete. Everybody knew he was a great athlete. People love greatness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And Jason Carroll joins us live now.
Jason, what is it -- I don't know, what was it, perhaps, is a better way to put it, about Barbaro's condition that made doctors choose to euthanize him now? CARROLL: Well, over the weekend they performed a surgery on his right leg. They were trying to put some pins in there to try to stabilize it. And the surgery did not go well. And you'll also remember that his left leg wasn't doing well, there was a problem there. His two front legs were having problems.
His doctors literally described it as being -- he had the type of situation where he literally didn't have a leg to stand on. And they could see it in his eyes. They could see the pain in his eyes, Tony. And that's why the owner -- his owners and the doctors made that final decision.
HARRIS: Any regrets from the family? For example, from Gretchen Jackson, one of the co-owners that you talked to there, if the co- owners had the opportunity to do this again, do you think they would make the same set of decisions?
CARROLL: I think they would have, I really do, based on what they said and based on how Barbaro was during the past eight months or so. I mean, he was a happy horse after that terrible accident during the Preakness.
I mean, he was looking at other mares. He was eating. He had life in his eyes. He wanted to get out, he wanted to run.
It was just really during, you know, this last final days, really, where they saw this significant change in him, saw that he was in pain, and really saw that they were out of options.
HARRIS: Yes.
CNN's Jason Carroll for us this morning.
Jason, thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, the Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial -- a once jailed reporter now set to testify today. But damage to the defense already done by a former member of the administration.
That is ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Illinois, a car rams into a school cafeteria during lunchtime. The tragic ending to this story is ahead in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: And a town turns on a mayor's best-laid plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have opened up a can of worms. And it's time for it to be stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Banning the "N-word" ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: You know, the pictures keep popping up on the Internet. And charges of racism keep flying -- college theme parties filled with racial stereotypes. Yesterday, we told you about such parties in Texas and Connecticut. Now pictures surface from Clemson University in South Carolina.
Jennifer Phillips of our affiliate station WHNS has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER PHILLIPS, REPORTER, WHNS (voice over): As students at Clemson University head to class, some are taking a break to talk about what they call disturbing pictures, pictures taken at an off- campus party. This guy painted his body black, another Clemson University showed up gripping battles of malt liquor, 40 ounces, with their hands duct-taped to the bottles.
Ron Smalls says it is very offensive.
RON SMALLS, CLEMSON STUDENT: They acted out of ignorance.
PHILLIPS: The theme, a "Living the Dream" party held on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
SMALLS: It promotes a negative image on black people as a whole, a race of people.
PHILLIPS: There are more pictures. This girl is showing off some gold teeth and is wearing a T-shirt that shows someone smiling with a gold grill.
ADEDOYIN SALAMI, CLEMSON STUDENT: It's my role to break the stereotype.
PHILLIPS: And this girl stuffed her pants to enlarge her behind. And there are several people sporting gold chain, jerseys and baggy clothes. But some say the most offensive thing, this poster at the party, which shows Martin Luther King with the words "drink more" coming out of his mouth.
Adedoyin Salami went to the party.
SALAMI: It went from making fun of a culture phenomena to making fun of a culture of people. And at that point it became offensive. A lot of other people left the party.
PHILLIPS: Adedoyin says he left, too, but originally came dressed in business attire. He says he went hoping to change minds.
SALAMI: There are differences amongst people, and we just have to learn to work with each other in a way where we're not always just stereotyping one another.
PHILLIPS: So we decided to show these pictures to other students on campus to see what they thought.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It seems almost racist.
PHILLIPS: Some couldn't believe it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This doesn't represent Clemson. And I think this is poor judgment on their part.
PHILLIPS: Others say it didn't offend them at all.
JUSTIN GRIFFITH, CLEMSON STUDENT: These kind of theme parties -- I mean, even lingerie parties, I mean, those are popping up a lot more often, too. So, I mean, I guess it's pretty commonplace, to tell you the truth.
You see here, you have got white and black people here. So, I mean, that's not really defining anybody.
PHILLIPS (on camera): No, that's a white guy in black face.
GRIFFITH: Ah. Ah.
PHILLIPS (voice over): Now these students who came here to learn say they want to teach others a lesson. One of respect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Wow.
From a college in South Carolina to one in North Carolina, a campus divided by hate crime allegations. Was it just a ruckus or a racially motivated attack? That story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Also, grief counselors will be on hand at an elementary school in Illinois today. A car plowed into the school cafeteria yesterday, killing an 8-year-old boy. Two other children received minor injuries. The 84-year-old woman driving that car was hospitalized and police plan to question her today. But so far, no indication of what may have led to that crash.
Outlawing the "N-word". A small-town mayor decides that his move is reaching a big bump in the road, shall we say.
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL RICHARDS, COMEDIAN: He's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When comedian Michael Richards launched in to this racially offensive meltdown, the scandal over the "N-word" hit home in an unlikely place -- Brazoria, Texas, a small town of nearly 3,000 people near Houston.
For Mayor Ken Corley, it brought back an old demon. MAYOR KEN CORLEY, BRAZORIA, TEXAS: I've also been asked if I have used the "N-word." And to answer that question, I have. I'm not proud of it, I no longer use that word. And I'm thankful that I've made a change in my life.
LAVANDERA: Corley decided to erase the word from his town's vocabulary, too, making it a crime to use the "N-word," disturbing the peace with a $500 fine.
CORLEY: I think the racial problem is everywhere. It's somewhat swept under the rug. You know? And a lot of people don't want to admit that they have racial issues.
LAVANDERA: So this hard-charging (ph) former car salesman set out to win people over, starting with black ministers in town.
Bishop Ricky Jones liked what he heard.
RICKY JONES, BRAZORIA RESIDENT: This word has been used to demonize, demoralize and degrade black people as a whole. I believe that what has taken place here can really be a trendsetter for the rest of the nation.
LAVANDERA (on camera): When the mayor came up with the idea of banning the "N-word," he thought it was slam-dunk idea, couldn't imagine why anyone would be against it. But he quickly discovered he was wrong.
(voice over): Around town, most black and white residents thought it was a horrible idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see no reason for doing it. We'll probably be the ones will probably get fined the most anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get rid of the "F" word. Let's get rid of some of the really repulsive curse words that we hear on the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many words are you going to pick out? Just that one?
LAVANDERA: Opposition was so intense that a public hearing on the issue couldn't fit in the city council chamber. So, instead, 200 people gathered under the lights in the city hall parking lot to let the mayor have it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This ordinance is not going to combat racism going on under the table.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have opened up a can of worms.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's time for it to be stopped.
LAVANDERA: Mayor Corley knew this was the end of the road. CORLEY: Now, you all have spoken overwhelmingly against this ordinance, and I think that this evening you will hear the last of it.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Was that rough to go through?
CORLEY: Yes, sir. Probably the roughest thing I have ever had to deal with in my 62 years. You know?
LAVANDERA (voice over): Ken Corley walked into the darkness a defeated man, but hoping that if nothing else, people here are a little more aware of the power of their words.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Brazoria, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A new place to heal and a message for wounded troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The war in which you have fought has divided the American people, but it has divided no American in their admiration for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Ahead, what senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton have to say about Iraq.
NGUYEN: Also, busted by racial profiling. Critics claim immigration raids are netting more than bad guys.
We have that story ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Testimony continues this morning in the perjury trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Former "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller is scheduled to appear. Miller, you may remember, went to prison for 85 days. She had refused to reveal Libby as her source. Her testimony will follow an appearance by a key prosecution witness yesterday.
CNN's Brian Todd has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A pivotal moment for prosecutors. Their witnesses offer a window into the spin machine of the Bush White House, a machine that prosecutors contend went into overtime in the summer of 2003, countering claims by this war critic, former ambassador Joe Wilson, that the White House twisted intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq.
The star witness, the one time public face of the White House. Former press secretary Ari Fleischer testified about a private conversation he shared with Vice President Cheney's point man, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Fleischer says Libby told him Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. He told the court he believes Libby even divulged her name, Valerie Plame-Wilson, and that Libby said the information was "hush-hush." Fleischer says that meeting occurred on July 7, 2003, three days before Libby claims he learned Plame's classified identity from Tim Russert of NBC News.
It can be illegal to knowingly out a CIA operative, but Libby is on trial for lying to federal investigators. Libby claims he forgot details of his conversations about Plame.
DAVID SCHERTLER, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: The prosecution is trying to show the jury that even in the life -- a day of the life of Lewis Libby, this issue was so important to the vice president that it isn't something that he would forget.
TODD: But on cross-examination, the defense punches holes in Fleischer's memory, asking, "Can you say with absolute certainty that Libby said Plame's name?" Fleischer's answer, "With absolute certainty, no."
Fleischer got him immunity from prosecution because he thought he'd be in trouble for telling reporters that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA before it was reported publicly. Fleischer contends he did not give Plame's name to reporters and didn't realize until much later that her identity was classified.
Other key prosecution witness whose have given behind-the-scenes portrayals of the White House war council, former Cheney press aide Kathy Martin, two former CIA officers, and a former State Department official.
(on camera): And with each witness, the defense tries to question their memory of important events, their access to key meetings and information. Soon to take the stand, high-profile members of the media who had exchanges with Scooter Libby about the identity of Valerie Plame-Wilson.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We'll give you some live pictures right now out of Washington. You see there Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. This is the Senate Armed Services Committee, and it is poised today to confirm Navy Admiral William Fallon as the top commander in the Middle East. Of course, that hearing will take place shortly.
It's a move that would put a Navy man in charge of overseeing the Middle East and two land wars. The 62-year-old admiral is known as "Fox," which is his call sign, as he was a Navy pilot.
Of course, we're going to learn much more about him as this Senate confirmation hearing gets under way. And when it does, we'll bring you those details. In the meantime, though, the battle of Najaf. A fierce firefight, perhaps the model for the future. We'll put it in perspective in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Questioning the response to Katrina. Senators take a trip to New Orleans, but did they get a complete look at what's really going on?
That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
NGUYEN: Iraqi troops taking the lead, U.S. forces in support, not seen as a key to victory in Najaf, but a model for the future.
CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Najaf was the biggest battle yet for Iraq's much maligned military. More than a day of fierce fighting with fanatical insurgents described by Iraqis as cult-like religious extremists. When the haze of battle cleared, the U.S. had lost two soldiers in a helicopter crash. But at least 100, perhaps more than 200, insurgents were dead.
While the Iraqi forces had taken the lead in Najaf, in the end, it took U.S. firepower and air support to finish the battle. The U.S. military issued a statement quoting former top spokesman and now division commander, Brigadier General Vince Brookes as saying: "This is an example of a promise kept. Everything worked just as it should h."
The U.S. argues this is the model for the future -- Iraqi troops out front, with the U.S. backing them up only when needed.
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: It is certainly very positive when you see the Iraqis on the point. That is what they want. That is certainly what we are looking for, as well.
MCINTYRE: The U.S. believes the Iraqi offensive thwarted a diabolical plot in which hundreds of gunmen would disguise themselves as pilgrims and murder clerics on the holiest day of the year, including perhaps the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, something experts say could have only made things far worse.
KENNETH POLLACK, SABAN CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST POLICY: It was Ayatollah Sistani consistently saying to the Shia, do not fight the Americans, do not fight the reconstruction, this is what we want, this is how we are going to have a better future -- that has been critical in whatever success we have had in Iraq so far. Without Ayatollah Sistani, things might have fallen apart even sooner than they already are. MCINTYRE: The U.S. likes to portray the enemy in Iraq as a combination of disaffected Baathists and foreign terrorists, but Iraqi officials say the militants this time included both Shia and Sunni extremists, as well as members of several fringe splinter groups. It makes finding peace that much more difficult.
JUAN COLE, MIDEAST HISTORY PROFESSOR: Iraq has become a cauldron of religious activism of a fundamentalist sort often resorting to terror and heavy weaponry. And that, I think, for anyone who knew the old Iraq is a real surprise.
MCINTYRE: One thing this latest battle seems to show is that what Iraq is facing has moved from a clear cut insurgency to what military experts increasingly agree is an all-out civil war.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Understanding the desperation of Katrina. A few select members of Congress take a trip to New Orleans to hear and see the problems still at hand.
CNN's Susan Roesgen has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of America's top political talent looked around New Orleans and tried to figure out what's gone so wrong.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: This money that has been allocated is still not reaching ordinary folks here in New Orleans and in Louisiana. And until it does, all the numbers and the meetings and the planning that's being done is inadequate.
ROESGEN: This hearing of the Senate's Homeland Security Committee was the first to focus on Katrina recovery since Democrats took control of Congress. And the senators grilled federal officials in charge. Then they took a tour through miles and miles of New Orleans that are still devastated, stopping to check repair work at one of the levee breaks that flooded much of the city.
(On camera): The senators got to see the rebuilding of the levee. But if their busses stopped here, right along the levee, they could have gotten a firsthand account from a Katrina victim of how hard it is to rebuild a home here.
AMY SIMS, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: you work, you work, you work. Then you get up the next day and you work all over again and nothing seems to get accomplished.
ROESGEN: Amy sins says she and her husband were forced to rebuild because they're still paying a mortgage and they're afraid no one else would buy their home so close to the levee that broke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These doors are actually blown out of the wall. And we don't know if it was from the wind, from the water. We don't know.
ROESGEN: Seven feet of water poured through the house, leaving a foot of mud behind. For months the power company and the water company refused to restore service to the neighborhood and mail service still hasn't come back. What would you like to tell the Senators on that bus?
SIMS: Help. Get things done. Cut the hurdles. Make it happen.
ROESGEN: The Senators said they share that frustration. Listening to hours of explanations and excuses, a hearing that ended with a promise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The federal government has put $110 billion on the table, a generous response. We'll probably have to do more in the future. But too little of it has gotten to the victims. And we're going to stay on top of this until we make sure hat more of it does more quickly.
ROESGEN: But how to get money to the Freedom Victim's Morgue, quickly. Still no answer to that.
Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Check this out. Bus by racial profiling. Critics claim immigration raids are netting more than just bad guys. We have that story in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And the Clinton campaign, what role would the former president play in a new Clinton White House? we take a look in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There is a new call for freeze on deportation follwing the latest ICE raids on illegal immigrants.
And CNN's Casey Wian explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUIS CARRILLO, ATTORNEY: Let's take a vote. Who says English first?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A sign of the times, a news conference starting with a vote on whether to begin in English or Spanish.
CARRILLO: This young woman here was a victim of the recent ICE raids. WIAN: Last week, ICE arrested more than 750 Los Angeles-area illegal aliens, one of the biggest sweeps of criminal foreign nationals in U.S. history. Now illegal alien advocacy groups claim ICE is using racial profiling to also target otherwise law-abiding illegal aliens, such as this 20-year-old mother of three.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ICE said that I was illegal. And the agent proceeded to arrest me.
CARRILLO: ICE has given the impression to the public that they're only going after persons with criminal backgrounds, when the truth is that they're picking up workers, mothers, fathers, day laborers. ICE has a historic custom and practice of engaging in racial profiling, stopping only Latinos.
WIAN: The facts prove otherwise. ICE deported illegal aliens from 189 nations last year, including 1,364 Jamaicans, 624 Canadians, 489 Chinese. 431 Filipinos, and 405 Indians.
The majority of deportations, both criminal and otherwise, do involve Latin American citizens. But ICE says that's only because those are the home countries of the overwhelming majority of illegal aliens. ICE says its recent raids only targeted illegal aliens already ordered deported by a judge. However, ICE says there were collateral arrests.
Now a growing number of illegal alien advocates are demanding the federal government stop enforcing immigration law.
JAVIER RODRIGUEZ, MARCH 25 COALITION: We demand, we demand a moratorium against deportations. On deportations and the raids.
WIAN: The same groups behind last year's pro-amnesty street demonstrations are threatening more protests and marches this spring.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A warrior's story. His vehicle hit by an RPG in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I knew I couldn't move out of my seat, and I knew something was bad because I couldn't move at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Now, an inspiring new chapter moves out of that veteran's story and others like him. Anderson Cooper has it in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Let's take you live to Washington. The man there, Admiral William Fallon. As you can see this is the Senate confirmation hearing, as he is likely to become the top commander in the Middle East. It's a move that would put a Navy man in charge of the Middle East and two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If confirmed, which is it likely, again, that he will be, he'll oversee U.S. forces from North Africa to Central Asia, and he would be responsible for, as we mentioned, overseeing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. So we'll stay on top of this and bring you the developments as they occur.
HARRIS: It is a state-of-the-art facility for America's wounded warrior. The Center for the Intrepid opened yesterday in San Antonio, Texas. It is dedicated to helping severely wounded veterans resume their lives.
Our Anderson Cooper sat down with two of those vets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm honored to be joined now by two of the service members who will be receiving treatment at this facility when it finally opens its doors.
On my left is Corporal Aaron Mankin, who's a Marine who was wounded in al Anbar province, burned over 25 percent of his body. And sergeant -- Staff Sergeant Daniel Barnes is a soldier, obviously, who will be receiving treatment here. He was wounded -- he was in Baghdad, correct?
STAFF SGT. DANIEL BARNES, U.S. ARMY: Yes.
COOPER: Right. And your wife Gretchen was kind enough to join us, too. Aaron, what is it like seeing this facility finally opening its doors?
CPL. AARON MANKIN, MARINE: Well, I know that when I arrived here in May of 2005, Brooke Army Medical Center took care of me -- took care of me at the very beginning. And I've seen this process going on close to two years now.
And to finally arrive at a place that's not just a building or facility or a rehab center, but it's a dream that over hundreds of thousands of people have contributed to, and that's the reason why we're here.
COOPER: How are you -- how were you injured?
MANKIN: I was wounded with an improvised explosive device. Covering as a combat correspondent, covering 325 Lima Company in Ubeti (ph), north of the Euphrates River.
COOPER: And then you were -- it was an RPG which hit your vehicle?
D. BARNES: Yes, sir. I was on a mission, road clearance mission at night about 21:00 when my vehicle was struck by an RPG.
COOPER: And did you know that your legs were gone at that point?
D. BARNES: I knew that I couldn't move out of my seat and I knew that something was bad, because I couldn't move at all. I didn't know the extent of it, but I knew that it was really bad.
COOPER: And Gretchen, when you first heard what had happened to Daniel, what went through your mind?
GRETCHEN BARNES, WIFE OF DANIEL BARNES: I thought, well, he's alive. I knew that was the best part. But I knew it was bad because he didn't call me. The Army came to the door.
COOPER: What do you want people to know about you, Aaron, and about the other Marines and soldiers who will be here?
MANKIN: This facility is not just about the service members that are here. It's about the ones that are coming through the door, the ones that have yet to be wounded. And they can rest assured knowing that the facilities are here. They're available to them, and they will be taken care of to the best of any country's standards. This is state of the world.
COOPER: And your wife is a Marine. She's also living on this base with you, and you have a brand-new baby daughter.
MANKIN: I do, yes.
COOPER: That's remarkable. And what is it -- I mean, this is really your family life has changed. This is not just something that has happened to you. This happened to your entire family.
MANKIN: We picked up and moved here.
D. BARNES: Two kids and one going through school. And my wife now they moved right down here. We had to get back on track.
COOPER: Do people look at you differently? Do people treat you differently?
D. BARNES: Yes, but it's not all bad. It's good. People try to help you out if you're in the store or you need something off the shelf and you can't get it, you know, they'll help you out. But there are some people who give you that crazy look, like, you know, don't know what to say or don't know what to do for you.
COOPER: Like you're suddenly a different person.
D. BARNES: Yes. You get it everywhere you go, I think. I do.
COOPER: Is he a different person?
G. BARNES: No. Minus the legs, but no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Anderson Cooper's interview from the Center for the Intrepid. Join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: Just some breaking news to tell you about. Let's get you straight to CNN's T.J. Holmes in the NEWSROOM with the latest on a school bus accident -- T.J.?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, these are some strange pictures. You don't ever want to see a school bus in that position. An overturned school bus is the picture we're getting here -- this is out of Jefferson County in Missouri.
And you can see what has been the end result here. But what authorities say, are telling local affiliates there is that a school bus was involved in an accident and that bus overturned, as you saw, and ended up in this position.
Now local authorities are telling the affiliates there that they do believe that there are injuries on the scene there. However, they say that the children, they don't believe are among those who have been injured. Again, this school bus was reportedly packed with students. But right now, don't know about injuries. But initially, local affiliates were at least telling the affiliates there that the children were not injured, but there are other reports now that there are of course injuries at the scene.
This happened -- this was about 8:00 this morning. This was Highway 30, if you do know the area there. And the students were from a school House Springs School, the school district there in House Springs. And this is about 30 miles southwest of St. Louis.
But right now, injuries in this accident. But authorities are saying that none of the children were injured. And that's a good thing and a miraculous thing because they do also say that that school bus was packed actually, loaded with children involved in this accident. But right now, don't hear that the students were injured. Also don't know the extent of injuries of anyone else, how serious those injuries may be. But you see the end result.
NGUYEN: Yes, it does raises a lot of questions, when you're seeing a bus like that on its side and you're hearing of injuries, but none of the children are involved in those injuries.
I do have to ask you though T.J., we're hearing of another bus accident, what do you know about this one?
HOLMES: Yes, this one is going to move you from Missouri actually to Texas. This is in the Houston area, specifically Deer Park, where 15 people were injured. And these 15 people were going to a Shell plant. These were workers who were heading to work, and they were on a Shell bus going to the Shell plant this morning, when they were struck by a train, according to police there.
At least 15 people were injured. Don't know the extent of those injuries right now either. But right now, this is a pretty new accident, fresh accident. Authorities right now don't have a lot of details about this. We're trying to get those details. But 15 people injured, don't know how serious those injuries are, after they were struck -- the bus they were on was struck by a train. This is in the area of Deer Park, just outside of Houston.
So we've got two stories, we're certainly trying to get more details on about what happened in injures and what not. But we're on it right now for you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Two buses, just one a school bus though. OK, we'll stay on top of that. Thank you, T.J.
HARRIS: A holy day for Shiite Muslims, a great opportunity for bloodthirsty insurgents. A massive celebration shattered by a new series of killings. Details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: And dancing on his grave? Some Miami officials are planning a party of all things, when Fidel Castro dies. That is ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The Clinton campaign, what role would the former president play in a new Clinton White House? We take a look in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: You already know how to catch us weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern. But did you know you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod? That's right, the CNN NEWSROOM podcast. It is available 24/7 right on your iPod.
HARRIS: Just nine-years-old, in trouble with the law and in court for a hearing yesterday. You may remember this young man from earlier this month. Do you? He ran away from his Seattle area home and managed to get on a flight to Texas. The day before that trip, police say he stole a car and led authorities on a chase. His court appearance involved the car theft accusation. Look at the little man. A judge found a probable cause to schedule another hearing for two weeks from now.
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