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Pat Tillman Investigation; Standoff With Iran: Captured British Troops; Victims to Heroes: Women Honored After Attacks

Aired March 26, 2007 - 06:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Farewell surprise. America's outgoing ambassador in Iraq reveals that he tried to make peace with insurgents.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The truth about the death of Pat Tillman. A new report due out today could explain who withheld the facts and why.

O'BRIEN: And on the heels of this shocking videotape -- remember this, a beating of that bartender. Well, guess what, looks like there's another one again involving off-duty police officers and again caught on tape.

ROBERTS: And touchdown. Tornadoes in the Southwest, high water in the Midwest. Your extreme weather forecast ahead this morning.

We're live from Baghdad, Tehran, London, Washington and New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: And, good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Monday, March 26th. I'm Soledad O'Brien in New York.

Good morning to you, John.

ROBERTS: Good morning to you, Soledad. I'm John Roberts in Washington, D.C. In this week for Miles O'Brien. Thanks very much for joining us.

Got a busy day. Lots ahead of us today, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely. And thank you for helping us out all this week.

We're going to begin this morning with news from the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. His name is Zalmay Khalilzad. He gave his final news conference in Baghdad this morning. And in this morning's "New York Times" he says he met with leaders of Iraqi insurgent groups. Khalilzad is on his way to becoming the new U.N. ambassador. He was honored at a farewell celebration on Sunday. This morning he was upbeat about the U.S. mission in Iraq. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, OUTGOING U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: In my view, though difficult challenges lie ahead and there is a long way to go, Iraq is fundamentally headed in the right direction and success is possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Khalilzad told "The New York Times" that he talked with rebels in Iraq early last year. He said that those talks stalled after the bombing in Samarra.

Also in Iraq this morning, kind of a new twist in the suicide blast that seriously injured Iraq's deputy prime minister. Remember you saw the first pictures of it right here on AMERICAN MORNING. We brought it to you right after the attack. This happened on Friday. Well, now the Associated Press says the bomber is believed to be, in fact, a distant relative of the target, the deputy prime minister, Salam al-Zubaie. That that relative was working as one of his bodyguards. Now these new developments are prompting calls for a big security shakeup in Iraq. CNN's Kyra Phillips is live for us in Baghdad again this morning.

Kyra, lots to cover here. First and foremost, reports that, in fact, somehow a distant relative of the official had a hand in the attack.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we actually had a lot of this information on Friday, Soledad. We had some incredible sources inside that inside job at the home of the deputy prime minister when this all happened. We had heard that either it was a bodyguard, somebody associated with the bodyguard or possibly the cook. So we knew that our sources were giving us good information.

Now learning that, indeed, we can confirm that this suicide bomber was let in by his bodyguard, by the deputy prime minister's personal bodyguard. He had been working for the deputy prime minister for about four months and now a group linked to al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for what happened in his home on Friday. This assassination attempt.

And that's interesting too because we talked about this battle going on in the deputy prime minister's hometown of Zoba (ph) between the Sunni party and al Qaeda. So the facts that we were able to get and the sources that we talked to on the scene and also afterwards, those facts are starting to add up and we're able to confirm a lot of this information now.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you were talking about that, how early on it looked like a inside job. Which leads to the question then, what do they do about it? And, obviously, not (ph) only the deputy prime minister, but everybody. I mean if anybody could theoretically be an attacker, what's the plan now?

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's interesting because everybody's been talking about this new security plan and is the security getting even tighter and more intense as this happened? I can tell you what has changed, and that is the security around his compound. You see more guards. You see a more intense effort to check everybody coming through there and the cars.

As a matter of fact, we had gone over there and actually went through one of the checkpoints and they didn't recognize us and guns were drawn and they were right on us and so we saw the beef-up in security for him, in particular, ourselves.

But around Iraq, throughout Iraq, in Baghdad, things are pretty much the same. I mean, security is on everybody's mind and everybody is trying to work out the safety, whether at the checkpoints, into compounds or just for daily life of Iraqis.

O'BRIEN: Kyra Phillips for us in Baghdad again today.

Thanks, Kyra, appreciate it.

John, back to you.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Soledad.

Here at home today, the Senate begins debate on its war spending bill that includes a plan to bring troops home from Iraq by March of next year. Many Senate Republicans say that decision should be left to military commanders. On Friday, the House passed $124 billion bill calling for troops to leave Iraq by September of next year.

Now to a new report that's expected to be released today in the Pat Tillman case. Higher-ups getting the blame for misleading his family and the public about the way he died in Afghanistan. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken live with me in Washington.

Good morning to you, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

This is a tragic story that has now lasted for years. The story of distortions that have led to bitter embarrassment at the very least.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN, (voice over): Pat Tillman was a national symbol of unselfish patriotism when he turned away from his highly lucrative NFL stardom to join the Army Rangers. Today, the handling of his death has become to his family and friends a story of military ineptitude and deceit. We are now aware that U.S. officials knew almost right away what took five weeks for Pat Tillman's family to find out, that their son was killed by friendly fire in a remote area of Afghanistan.

Before the truth came out, the president had paid tribute to Tillman.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The loss of Army Corporal Pat Tillman last week in Afghanistan brought home the sorrow that comes with every loss and reminds us of the character of the men and women who serve on our behalf FRANKEN: At a memorial service 11 days after the incident, the Army repeated the claim that Tillman had been gunned down in a conventional ambush. Why it took so long for the truth to come out and who bears responsibility is the subject of Defense Department reports due out today. They will reportedly place blame on several high ranking officers. But according to the Associated Press, they will rule out a conspiracy.

Congressman Mike Honda, a Democrat of San Jose, California, where Tillman was raised, was one of the members who pushed for these reports, but he's angry at the way they're been leaked.

REP. MIKE HONDA, (D) CALIFORNIA: And this has happened at every juncture when a report is ready to be released, that it seems to be leaked out before the family gets to know. And I think that's very irritating to them too.

FRANKEN: Tillman's father, Pat Sr., said he had no intention of commenting until he had been briefed later today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Since the shooting, seven have been punished, although none has been court-martialed so far. The Army says, John, it's going to take "appropriate action."

ROBERTS: Bob, any idea what time this report is expected to be released today? What time we'll have further word on it?

FRANKEN: It's coming out this afternoon. It's going to be made public after the Tillman family is briefed. As you know, the congressman who complained about it is bitter that the leaks had occurred. He's going to be briefed about it and he's going to decide after that in consultation with the Tillman family whether he wants to proceed with congressional hearings into this.

ROBERTS: All right, Bob, thanks. We'll hear from you a little bit later on this morning on that. Appreciate it.

Here's what we know about the day that Pat Tillman died. His platoon was operating in eastern Afghanistan among the high ridges and deep valleys near the border with Pakistan. When a humvee broke down, they were ordered to split into two groups over the objections of the platoon leader.

Tillman's group was ordered along a narrow canyon road toward the town of Mana (ph). The other group tried a different route but eventually was forced by rugged terrain to take the same road that Tillman was on about a half hour behind them. That's when the second group was ambushed.

Hearing the gunfire behind him, Tillman double backed and lead a small rifle team to the top of a ridge to engage the enemy, but his fellow platoon members, not knowing that Tillman had come to their aid, mistook a friendly Afghan soldier with him for the enemy and started shooting at them. Tillman and the Afghan died in a hail of friendly fire.

So why has it taken so long for the truth to come out? And we'll talk with a member of Tillman's platoon, Sergeant Brad Jacobson (ph), in our 8:00 hour. So be sure that you're around for that.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: That's such a brutally sad story, isn't it?

Well, the British and the Iranians are turning up the heat in this standoff over captured British troops. Iran will not release 15 British sailors and marines. And they're now threatening to charge them with illegally entering Iranian waters. It happened on Friday. You'll remember we bloke that story here on AMERICAN MORNING. The sailors were part of an Iraqi part of the disputed Shatt al-Arab channel. The British prime minister, Tony Blair, says he wants his troops back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I hope that this can be resolved over the next few days. But the quicker it is resolved, the easier it will be for all of us. But they should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which was unjustified and wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Tehran for us this morning.

Aneesh, what's the latest? Good morning.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Soledad, good morning.

Those 15 British military personnel now for a fourth day in Iranian custody. Over the weekend, some developments to tell you about.

First, a top Iranian military commander says all British military personnel that have been seized confessed to illegally entering Iranian waters during interrogations. No further detail was given about those confessions. The Iranians also say they have evidence that supports that charge. They have called this an act of "blatant aggression" and have rejected the British claim that the prime minister reiterated over the weekend, that their military personnel were, in fact, in Iraqi and not in Iranian waters.

So where do we go from here? That is the big guesting game on the ground. The only thing we have to try and predict how long this standoff could last is a similar incident that took place in June 2004, also in this Shatt al-Arab waterway, just in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. Eight British military personnel were captured there by Iranian forces.

At the times, then as they do now, the Iranians say they illegally passed into Iranian waters. At the time then, as they do now, the British said, no, they were in Iraqi waters. They were held for some three days, during which they were broadcast on Iranian state-run television. Chilling images of them blindfolded.

Again, though, that is a guessing game on the ground in terms of how long this could last. That's all we have to go by. Three days was the last time.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. We're continuing to watch it. Aneesh Raman for us this morning.

Thanks, Aneesh.

Iran is also issuing a new warning to the United States this morning. A senior military leader saying, "if America starts a war against Iran, it won't be the one who finishes it." The comments appeared in the Iranian military overnight.

Iran also scaling back its ties with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency over the weekend. The U.N. Security Council approved a new round of sanctions to try to force Iran to end its nuclear program.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Jordan this morning, talking Mideast peace. She's going to meet again with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah. Also meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah. This is Secretary Rice's seventh visit to the region in eight months.

John.

ROBERTS: Republican support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is slipping. Three top GOP senators came out on Sunday to question his honesty over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last fall. Gonzales has said that he was not involved in any discussions of the firings, but a newly released document shows that he was at a meeting to talk about the firings near the end of November of last year. Some top Republicans say that raises questions about his credibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: There's no doubt that what has happened has had a very chilling effect on the United States attorneys.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL, (R) NEBRASKA: Unfortunately, the attorney general is dealing with a cloud hanging over his credibility, and the president is going to have to deal with that.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: But he has been wounded. He's going to have to come to the Senate and re-establish his credibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Wounded, but not fatal yet. Gonzales is going to get a chance to give his side of the story to Congress next month. He's scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April the 17th.

Presidential hopeful John Edwards, and his wife Elizabeth, are defending their decision to push forward with his campaign. The couple announced last week that Elizabeth is again battling breast cancer. In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," she explained why the disease wouldn't stop the couple from living their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: Either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday or you start dying. That seems to me your only two choices. If I had given up everything that my life was about, first of all, I'd let cancer win before it need to. You know, maybe eventually it will win, but I let it win before it need to. And I just basically start dying.

I don't want to do that. I want to live. And I want to do the work that I -- I want next year to look like last year and the year after that and the year after that. And the only way to do that is to say, I'm going to keep on with my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Elizabeth Edwards also told "60 Minutes" that the cancer may have spread to one of her hips. Still no word on any tests on some small abnormalities that were found previously on one of her lungs.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, the media circus has died down quite a bit, but this morning going to get the official word on just how Anna Nicole Smith died. Now authorities in Florida are releasing her autopsy report today. You might remember that Smith died suddenly back on February 8th in a motel room in Hollywood, Florida. The results have been repeatedly delayed. The results of the autopsy, that is. In part because of additional evidence the Broward County medical examiner has been receiving from investigators.

Ahead this morning, tornadoes sent people in Texas running for cover. Take a look at this twister that was caught on tape. That's quite a funnel cloud right there. Chad is tracking today's extreme weather. We'll get to check in with him in just a moment.

Also, aftershocks early this morning in Japan, a day after a powerful earthquake hit there. We're going to check in on the damage.

And then remember this videotape? That Chicago cop accused of beating that female bartender. Well, believe it or not, it may have happened again with off-duty police officers in Chicago. We've got a live update from Chicago straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.

People in western Japan on alert today for more aftershocks. A 6.9 magnitude quake hit under the ocean on Sunday about 300 miles west of Tokyo. It buckled roads, triggered landslides and shook hundreds of homes and buildings. At least one person was killed, more than 200 injured. The quake triggered several aftershocks, including one this morning. No serious injuries or damage reported though.

Seventeen minutes now after the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center watching for extreme weather in Texas this morning.

Chad, what's that all about.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Let's kick it over to Soledad now.

O'BRIEN: All right, John, thank you.

Another black eye to tell you about for the Chicago police department. You remember the department is still reeling after this videotape. Remember this? This is an off-duty police officer allegedly beating a female bartender. She's 130 pounds. Look at it. He just punches her. He punches and then he stomps her with his foot. Caught on tape. OK.

Well now there's another incident. Very similar. Also caught on tape. Also involving Chicago's finest. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is in Chicago for us this morning.

All right, Keith, what are the details of this latest incident?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Soledad, I should point out that we have not yet seen the videotape from this latest incident that we're hearing about. In fact, the attorney for the alleged victims in this case haven't seen the tape either. But the fact that it exists is putting the Chicago police on the defensive this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM, (voice over): Chicago police officials confirm they are investigating allegations that six off-duty cops beat four men at a bar in an upscale area of Chicago. Attorneys for the victims say their clients were attacked last December. That one man suffered broken ribs and another man needed reconstructive surgery on his face. It was a beating, they say, that was captured by surveillance cameras.

You may remember last week we reported about another incident caught on tape.

KAROLINA, OBRYCKA, BEATING VICTIM: There's one hit. OPPENHEIM: This woman, Karolina Obrycka, came forward, saying she too was beaten by an off-duty police officer last month when she refused to serve him any more alcohol. That officer, Anthony Abbate, is now facing charges of felony aggravated battery. In the video, he punches her repeatedly. Karolina gets up, despite multiple hits to her head, back, and ribs. As bystanders keep a distance, Officer Abbate walks away.

Karolina, what is your reaction that the person who beat you is a police officer?

OBRYCKA: I always thought police were to serve and protect, not to beat up people.

OPPENHEIM: In both cases, the police department is now investigating the actions of their officers caught on tape.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: Now, back to this latest incident we're hearing about, Soledad. We spoke to the attorneys for the four men who were attacked in the bar and the attorney says that this attack was unprovoked. And she said she couldn't believe that it has taken three months for the Chicago police to come around to really investigating this incident seriously.

Back to you.

O'BRIEN: OK. So it happened back in December. Is anyone disputing that there is, in fact, videotape or does everyone know there's tape? They haven't seen it yet.

OPPENHEIM: Soledad, no one's disputing that there's tape. The tape, we understand, is in the possession of the Chicago police and the Cook County state's attorney, which is mulling over whether or not there will be charges in the case. So whether or not we see this tape probably depends on whether there are charges. And probably, as soon as there are, I would think we will see what this tape looks like.

O'BRIEN: Sometimes it works the reverse. They show the tape then people pressure for the charges, right? We'll see how it goes.

OPPENHEIM: Yes, yes, that could work too. Yes.

O'BRIEN: Keith Oppenheim for us this morning.

Thanks for watching it, Keith.

Ahead this morning, Wall Street coming off its best week in a year. It's been kind of a short year so far. The oil prices are on their way up too, though. We're "Minding Your Business" straight ahead.

And two passengers survive a fall from a cruise ship. How did it happen? We'll take a look. And remember this? Oh, these two little old ladies who survived a beating at the hands of that heartless mugger, have gone from victim to hero. We'll tell you what happened. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, with the price of gas jumping once again. A look at the CNN "Gas Gauge" this morning. The current national average for unleaded regular is $2.58 a gallon. That's up from $2.30 a gallon just a month ago.

Citigroup could be facing some big, big changes. Twenty-six minutes past the hour. That means it's time for Stephanie, who's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Big changes in the bad way.

ELAM: In the bad way. In the job cuts way. That's what we're really looking at. It is expected that possibly in a restructuring that is coming out from Citigroup that they may propose cutting about $15,000 jobs. This is according to "The Wall Street Journal."

Now one option here may be to not replace some of the 50,000 Citigroup employees who do leave the company each year. This is what someone close to the deal is saying.

Now this restructuring plan is still being developed at this point, but they're under increasing pressure to go ahead and cut their expenses because they're rising more quickly than revenues are. And, obviously, that's not a good thing for a company.

O'BRIEN: I'm not the business reporter and I know that's not going to work.

ELAM: So that's pretty basic, right? Yes. So that's causing some problem there. Their new plan should be out before or on April 16th. So we'll be watching to see that.

Now let's talk a little bit about the markets. Here's some good news. The markets have been all over the place. But last week, it was on the up side. In fact, the Dow was up over 3 percent last week. And that was the biggest percentage gain since July of last year.

Now in case you're following all this, the S&P 500 was up for the biggest jump in four years and the Nasdaq was up as well by 3.5 percent last week, even though it did close on to the down side on Friday. But the Dow was also up and it was up about 20 points. So, overall.

O'BRIEN: So the good news is outweighing the bad news?

ELAM: Yes. And we are ahead for the year.

O'BRIEN: All right. All right. I like that.

Stephanie, thank you.

What do you have coming up?

ELAM: We are going to take a look at Porsche. They are upping their stake in a company we all know. So we'll talk about that.

O'BRIEN: Oh, interesting. I like that. All right. We'll see about that.

Thanks, Stephanie.

John.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Soledad.

The top stories of the morning are coming up next.

The Pat Tillman investigation. A few hours from now we're going to find out who's to blame for misleading the public about the death of the former NFL star killed in Afghanistan. But will anyone be punished for it?

Standoff with Iran. Strong words from Prime Minister Tony Blair demanding the release of those British troops. We go live to London just ahead.

Plus, lost and found. Why it took a year for this happy couple to finally get a glimpse of their wedding day. It's an intriguing story. You're going to want to hear about it. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's Monday, March 26th.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

ROBERTS: I'm John Roberts, in Washington, D.C., in for Miles O'Brien, where everybody is celebrating, Soledad, because the Georgetown Hoyas beat UNC last night. They're advancing to the final four. It's a great day for Washington.

O'BRIEN: And, you know, Miles went to Georgetown last night right after the game. My husband said, "Miles is celebrating, and not just because he's on vacation."

ROBERTS: I'm sure he was.

O'BRIEN: We're watching lots of developing stories for you this morning, as well.

A new report comes out today about the death of NFL-player- turned-Army-Ranger Pat Tillman. You'll remember he died from friendly fire in Afghanistan. Well, today's report is expected to come down very hard on the military. We're going to get an early glimpse of that report -- John.

ROBERTS: Also, British Prime Minister Tony Blair takes aim at Iran for seizing those 15 British sailors. This, as Iran sends a new threat to the United States overnight.

O'BRIEN: And they're celebrating two of New York's toughest ladies. We're going to take you to a big bash for those two women. Remember how they were attacked?

I mean, these pictures right here, oh, these were brutal to watch. One's 85. One is 101 years old. Beaten by a mugger, and they stood up to him.

Anyway, they're having the last laugh, I guess you could say, today as they have a big celebration. We'll tell you about that.

Let's begin though with that report expected on the Pat Tillman case. The Associated Press is reporting that nine officers, including four generals, could be held accountable for just how the Army revealed to the public and to Tillman's family how he died.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken is live in Washington for us.

Good morning to you, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

So far, seven have been punished. They've been lower level members of the military. None has received a court-martial.

We all know the sad details that, in April of 2004, Pat Tillman, who had left his very, very lucrative professional football career out of patriotism and become an Army Ranger, had been shot. And for five weeks, even though so many people knew it in the military, the public story was that he had been killed in an ambush.

It was only after that five weeks that the family was told he had, in fact, been killed by friendly fire. That was after a memorial service.

Now, all these years later, the military is still investigating. The investigation this time by the inspector general is expected to put out a report which blames higher-ups, including, as you pointed out, the four generals.

At the same time, Soledad, there will be a second report saying there was no criminal action and there was no concerted cover-up. And it's going to be interesting to see when the publicity is made about these reports how they're going to be able to reconcile the fact of no cover-up with the fact that their laying blame at higher-ups -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Those two things almost seem like they completely conflict with each other, I mean, because the problem was that there was a sense that they were trying to spin a better story because, of course, Pat Tillman's story was so well known when he enlisted in the first place.

Is there an expectation that the people now will be punished in some significant way, Bob?

FRANKEN: Well, it's hard to see. It's hard to know that exactly, but very ominously, the Army has put out a statement in advance of the report saying that the Army will take "appropriate action".

O'BRIEN: Whatever that means. All right. I guess we'll watch it.

Thanks, Bob.

And later this morning we're going to be talking to a member of Tillman's platoon. He says he knew very early on, within hours, that, in fact, it was friendly fire. So why didn't that word get out? We'll talk to him in our 8:00 a.m. hour -- John.

ROBERTS: That's the question everybody is asking, Soledad, why it took so long.

This morning, five more American military families are shattered by violent attacks in Iraq. Separate roadside bombings killed five U.S. soldiers over the weekend. Insurgents targeted American convoys in the Diyala Province and in Baghdad.

A revelation this morning from the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. He was honored at a farewell ceremony on Sunday. In this morning's "New York Times," Khalilzad says in a farewell interview he met with leaders of Iraqi insurgent groups. In his final news conference in Baghdad this morning, Khalilzad was upbeat about the U.S. mission in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, OUTGOING U.S. AMB. TO IRAQ: In my view, though difficult challenges lie ahead, and there is a long way to go, Iraq is fundamentally headed in the right direction and success is possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Khalilzad told "The New York Times" that he talked with rebels in Iraq early last year, but talks stalled after that bombing of the mosque in Samarra at the end of February.

Here at home today, the Senate begins debate on its war spending bill. It includes a plan to bring troops home from Iraq by March of next year. Many Senate Republicans say that decision should be left to military commanders.

On Friday, the House passed a $124 billion bill calling for troops to leave Iraq by September of next year. It was also loaded with all kinds of pork -- $25 million for spinach support, for example -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that was a -- that was an interesting twist there. All right.

The British and the Iranians turning up the heat in that standoff over those captured British troops. Iran is not releasing 15 British sailors and Marines who were seized on Friday between the Iraqi and the Iranian coast. You can see on the map right there where that's marked.

Now, Iran is saying, well, these military personnel were in their territory. The British say, no, they were on the Iraqi side.

CNN's Robin Oakley has some late developments for us this morning from London.

Good morning to you, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Soledad.

And that argument, of course, is going on, but amid the diplomatic standoff, we had some strong words from Tony Blair at the weekend when he was at a meeting with other EU leaders. Very firm warning to Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is a very serious situation, and there is no doubt at all that these people were taken from the boat in Iraqi water. It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters. And I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OAKLEY: Strong words from Tony Blair, but backing from President Jacques Chirac of France, from the German presidency of the European Union, and a comment today from Iraq's foreign minister confirming that the British sailors and marines were definitely in Iraqi waters -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Right. Well, he uses the word "fundamentally," which I'm not sure exactly what he's trying to say there. I mean, what can, if indeed, as some reports indicate, that the British soldiers could stand trial, what would the British administration do?

OAKLEY: There would be pretty angry reaction to that suggestion, though, of course, some relief after it had been suggested on some Web site, some people connected to the Iranian leadership, that the British troops could face trial under espionage charges. Clearly, that is not being suggested.

The words we had from the Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, was suggesting that if there are to be charges -- and he says it's a question that is being examined -- it would be charges of trespassing into Iranian waters, a lesser matter. But since the British authorities have maintained from the start, the military authorities, the foreign office, Tony Blair himself, that they were strictly in Iraqi waters, as they had a right to be, then obviously the British will contest any such charges very strongly -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Robin Oakley for us in London this morning.

Thank you, Robin.

Iran is also issuing a new warning to the United States this morning. A senior Iranian military leader said this: "If America starts a war against Iran, it won't be the one who finishes it." The comment appeared in the Iranian media overnight.

Iran is also scaling back its ties with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency. Over the weekend, the U.N. Security Council approved a new round of sanctions to try to force Iran to end its nuclear program -- John.

ROBERTS: Got a little bit of good news for you this morning, Soledad. For a Wisconsin woman, her wedding was just a memory, not because it was so long ago, but because someone broke into her photographer's car and stole all of his gear, including the camera. In other words, no photos of the big day except for what the guests took. Then last week, this happened...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES BOESEN, WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS: I'm here to ask you if you believe in miracles.

KAREN NORDLINDER, NEWLYWED: Did you find my pictures? Oh, my god! You're kidding me!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The photographer's camera was returned this week. The memory chip was in it, and all of the photos were on it, completely intact. She is one happy lady now -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that is a happy ending to that story, isn't it?

Ahead this morning, the threat of more flooding today in the heartland. Severe weather expert Chad Myers will give us the rainy forecast straight ahead. It's been quite a mess there.

And the mad dash for cash -- why John McCain is trying to lower some expectations. And, of course, what it all means for his campaign.

Plus, we're hearing again from the 100-year-old and 85-year-old victims who faced off against a heartless thug when they were beaten up. One of them has some pretty tough words for the guy. That's straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

The most news in the morning is right here on CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Catching you up on political news of the morning, John Edwards and his wife recently said that they were not going to give up the campaign. And they haven't.

They were campaigning in Las Vegas, talking about their decision to fight on the campaign, even with her battle with incurable cancer going on at the same time, including the news that it might have spread to her hip. They talked with Katie Couric last night on "60 Minutes".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: Either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday, or you start dying. That seems to me your only two choices.

I want to live. And I want to do the work that I -- I want next year to look like last year, and the year after that and the year after that. And the only way to do that is to say, I'm going to keep on with my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The Edwards were in Las Vegas to discuss health care, particularly how to pay for universal health care for the 45 million uninsured Americans. Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich all attended the forum. It sponsored by the Service Employees International Union an the Center for American Progress action fund.

Tom Vilsack, the first major Democrat to officially run for president and the first to withdraw all in a couple of weeks, will throw his support behind Hillary Clinton today. That's according to a source close to Vilsack. Vilsack's support could help Clinton in Iowa, a key state where Edwards is running very strong. Vilsack is the former governor of Iowa.

This week, presidential candidates will have to report how much money they have raised so far this year. And Senator John McCain is worried this morning. He says his campaign's late start has hurt it in fund-raising, while his top rivals, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, have been raising millions of dollars. That first quarter report sort of gives a sense of viability for the candidates.

Speculation this morning that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg might have his eye on the White House. "The Washington Post" reports that Mayor Bloomberg may join the race as an Independent. He's not expected to make a decision until next year.

Analysts point out that Bloomberg certainly has the money for a run. He's worth an estimated $5 billion.

And, of course, all the day's political news is available any time, day or night, at cnn.com/ticker -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: Got an update, John, this morning on those two elderly women who was brutally attacked earlier this month in New York City. It was all caught on tape by a security camera. And when you look at this attack, it is hard to believe that the victims, who were age 85 and age 101 years old, could even survive such a brutal beating.

But Jim Dolan, who's with our affiliate WABC, reports that Rose Morat and Solange Elizee have gone from victim to heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM DOLAN, REPORTER, WABC (voice over): They gave Rose Morat an entrance befitting a 101-year-old woman who took a street thug's best shot and lived to tell the tale.

ROSE MORAT, 101-YEAR-OLD MUGGING VICTIM: We're still alive and we're still going strong.

DOLAN: And that in itself is some kind of miracle. This is Rose getting robbed and mugged. A couple of weeks ago -- 101 years old, beaten and left in a pool of blood. It is video that shocked even the most hardened New Yorker.

MORAT: But I guess they're just bad at heart. They don't have any heart at all. They're cowards, I would say.

DOLAN: The same night Rose was mugged, 87-year-old Solange Elizee was beaten by the same man. It was savage. She had already been hurt, hit several times.

SOLANGE ELIZEE, 87-YEAR-OLD MUGGING VICTIM: And when I was crying, he say to me, "If you don't stop crying I will do you something worse."

DOLAN: The ladies got plaques from the city and applause from their friends at the Ridgewood Senior Center. They are bonded together forever now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Jim Dolan of our affiliate WABC reporting for us.

Despite all the attention, believe it or not, John, you know what? You know, they keep showing that videotape over and over again. This guy is still on the loose. They haven't caught him yet.

ROBERTS: It's incredible, but it's amazing to see how those two little old ladies fought back the way they did.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know what she said? She said, "If I hadn't have been 101 years old, he probably wouldn't have survived the attack." She's a tough nut. Good for her, huh?

ROBERTS: Maybe she's doing Taekwondo in her spare time. Who knows? O'BRIEN: Maybe.

ROBERTS: Hey, it's coming up now to 48 minutes after the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center, watching the remnants of the severe flooding in the Midwest.

They've been doing some sandbagging there, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Really, it all happened Saturday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Chad, thanks much.

Coming up, mystery at sea. Two cruise ship passengers survive a 50-foot fall overboard. How could it happen?

Plus, if you love chocolate, you're going to love this story coming up. New research says a chocolate bar a day might help keep the doctor away, sweet.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Some health headlines for you this morning.

News for your heart coming out of the American College of Cardiologists Conference this week talking about stents. Those are those tiny mesh screens that prop open the arteries in the heart.

Well, researchers are working on a new stent that would dissolve after two years. That could lower the risk of blood clots. And also, they're working on stents that are coated with anti-clotting drugs. The market for stents worth $6 billion in the U.S. alone.

The American Heart Association says some children could benefit from statins, those cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor and Zocor. Right now statins are prescribed only for adults. The new guidelines, though, specifically target kids who've got high cholesterol, diabetes or a family history of heart disease.

And chocoholics can rejoice. Researchers say it is clear that eating dark chocolate improves the function of blood vessels. It was a very small study, just 45 people. They got eight ounces of dark chocolate every day, and it improved their blood flow significantly.

Researchers say people shouldn't start binging on chocolate. Oh, that's too bad, that that wasn't their finding. What they do say though is they need larger studies to prove their findings.

And a new study shows a new use for iPods for your doctor. This week's "Newsweek" says the goal was to teach medical students to detect heart problems. Well, researchers at Temple University's medical school put the five most common heart murmurs on to students' iPods -- just the audio.

See if you can tell a difference. This is a healthy heartbeat.

OK. Now listen to this one. This is a heartbeat that has a murmur.

I can tell. The studies showed that the student who had the training with listening on their iPod could actually diagnose a heart murmur correctly 80 percent of the time. That was twice as good as people who hadn't been trained -- John.

ROBERTS: That sounded like somebody breathing heavily in my ear.

O'BRIEN: I know. If that's all it took, I could be a doctor, too. Wow. That was easy.

ROBERTS: Yes. All it takes is an iPod.

I hear, by the way, that that chocolate is particularly effective if it's chocolate ice cream, too. So...

O'BRIEN: Really?

ROBERTS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: No.

ROBERTS: No.

O'BRIEN: That's not true at all. It's just chunks of dark chock, which we all know is not as good as the candy bars.

ROBERTS: Hey, whatever works for you right?

A battle of the German giants. Is Porsche ready to take on Volkswagen?

We're "Minding Your Business".

Plus, in just a few hours, we're going to find out who is to blame for misleading the public about the death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. But will anyone be held accountable?

And new questions this morning over Alberto Gonzales' future from top Republicans.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, there are lots of questions this morning, but two people who fell off of a Princess cruise liner are alive. The ship had been barely at sea for even a day when the couple fell from a cabin balcony, dropped 50 feet right into the Gulf of Mexico.

Luckily, witnesses saw what happened. The captain turned the ship around, and in about four hours both of them were rescued.

We spoke to the Coast Guard this morning about how it could have happened. They said it's actually very difficult to fall off a cruise ship -- thank goodness, I guess -- but once you do fall, because of the aerodynamics of the ship, instead of landing on the -- you know, the next level below you, you could be blown out to sea.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, that's so scary.

O'BRIEN: To get over that railing, because the aerodynamics can push you out.

The passengers, a 22-year-old guy, a 20-year-old woman, back on board. Apparently -- this is the part I find really weird -- they decided they're going to continue on with their vacation.

ELAM: Well, you know, they paid for it. Keep on going with it after a nice little -- in fact, maybe it's like sky diving.

O'BRIEN: Yes -- duh.

ELAM: It's better than if you go under the ship, though.

O'BRIEN: I suppose it is.

ELAM: Anyway -- yes.

O'BRIEN: All right. Business news now. Stephanie's "Minding Your Business" for us.

Good morning. What are you talking about?

ELAM: Yes, we're going to talk about a different kind of way to travel. Let's talk about Porsche.

The company here is saying that they're going to raise their stake in Volkswagen to about 31 percent. That's up from about over 27 percent that it originally had.

It's because the German law forces them to increase their stake, so now they've made a bid, but they're low-balling the bid, because they really don't want all of the company here. But still, they will be one of the controlling companies in Porsche.

I also want to just tell you really quickly that a federal judge has ordered a permanent injunction against Vonage, and this is because of technology that is actually patented by Verizon. They've been using that.

This will affect two million Vonage customers, but obviously they have two weeks here to get it together.

The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

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