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American Morning
Nine U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq
Aired April 24, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: One of the war's deadliest days. Nine Americans killed, 20 wounded outside Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR TOM EARNHARDT, U.S. ARMY: It's just a sad and somber event here at Ft. Bragg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Plus, Toyota in the driver's seat, outselling GM for the first time to become the world's number one ride on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, April 24th. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: And I'm John Roberts in Washington where there's lots of news today. Thanks very much for joining us. We got lots on the radar this morning, don't we, Kiran?
CHETRY: We sure do. In fact in a couple minutes, you're going to be talking to Congressman John Murtha and also Senator John Kyle about the funding fight that is going on over the Iraq war. It should be interesting, two very different points of view on how to best handle what's going on right now in Iraq.
ROBERTS: Another investigation of Karl Rove, but guess what, this one isn't being prompted by the Democrats. It's coming from inside the White House, the office of special counsel. Never heard about it? You will. We're going to be talking with the "LA Times" reporter who broke the story. It's the lead in that newspaper today, something that you are going to want to hear about, Kiran.
CHETRY: And let's check out this video, once again. It is so hard to see, but we want you to know that this little boy is OK after being on the sidelines, a little four-year-old being tackled. He was mowed down. He was watching spring practice at Colorado State and we talked to his dad a little bit earlier and he's going to talk to us again and tell us how his little son is doing today.
ROBERTS: That's like a Sherman tank hitting a Volkswagen.
CHETRY: He's got a lot of stitches but he is OK and there's no neurological damage or anything thank goodness.
We begin in Iraq, the single deadliest attack on American ground forces there since August of '05. Nine Americans were killed at a patrol base northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province; 20 others were hurt, all from the army's 22nd airborne. CNN's Hugh Riminton is in Baghdad with more. First of all Hugh, what happened? How did this happen?
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was two suicide car bombs that went out and struck against a small U.S. patrol base, not a joint (ph) one. This did not have Iraqi army soldiers there. This was specifically U.S. soldiers in Diyala province, very much a contested province at the moment and this is desperately sad news. It's grim news, sobering news. It cannot be seen as a surprise, though. The whole purpose to the current new surge, if you like, is to put more American troops on the ground, not simply to clear insurgents out and then withdrawal, let them regain their terrain, but to clear insurgents out, take the fight to them and then hold the ground through these patrol bases. People have argued it makes these patrol bases vulnerable to attack, that was always part of the risk of taking the fight out to the insurgents in this way and we've seen some consequence of that tragically in this last few hours, Kiran?
CHETRY: It also seems to be that insurgents are shifting their tactics. The crackdown in Baghdad happened so they moved to places like Diyala. Can anything be done to try to crack down in those areas, as well?
RIMINTON: They're shifting their tactics. They are also shifting physically, as you point out. As the Baghdad security plan gets put into place, this involves, to a large degree, cordoning off whole sections of the city from each other, making it harder for insurgents to have freedom of movement, to get their ability to smuggle weapons in and out and personnel and as that process goes on, as it's also gone on in al Anbar province to the west of Iraq and had some success in those areas, then Diyala province, which stretches just to the north of Baghdad, all the way across to the Iranian border, this right now is the real hot spot and U.S. casualties have spiked there in recent months, even before the tragic news over the last few hours.
CHETRY: Hugh Riminton in Baghdad for us, thank you.
ROBERTS: Congress could make its final vote tomorrow on a war funding bill that calls for a troop withdrawal to begin in October and the president's veto could come by week's end. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday said that President Bush is out of touch with reality on Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D) MAJORITY LEADER: Describing his escalation of American troops, what he calls a surge. He further said so far the operation is meeting expectations end of quote. The White House transcript says the president made those remarks in the state of Michigan. I believe he made them in the state of denial.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: State of denial. CNN's Dana Bash is up on Capitol Hill for us this morning. Dana, you had an opportunity to interview the Senate majority leader yesterday. He's still talking tough on Iraq against President Bush, but it also seems like he's walking back a little bit on some of the things that he recently said.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was interesting, John, in that speech that you just played, it was certainly blistering. He attacked the administration for its incompetence and dishonesty in Iraq. That's also where he laid out the Democrats' plan they'll vote on this week on the Iraq funding bill, but he also in that speech didn't restate that controversial line, the war is lost. So, you're right, I did ask him about that in the interview, Republicans pounced on it last week saying that it hurt the troops in the field, Democrats I talked to were unhappy either. He simply, though, declined to pull back from it. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REID: General Petraeus has said the war cannot be won militarily. He said that. And President Bush is doing nothing economically, he's doing nothing diplomatically. He's not doing even the minimal requested by the Iraq study group. So I stick with General Petraeus. I have no doubt that the war cannot be won militarily and that's what I said last Thursday and I stick with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: You see, the senator sticking with his comments. Interesting, John, that he sort of tried to pin the war is lost phrase on General David Petraeus, the commander in Iraq. He is actually here in Washington, he'll be here on the Hill this week. The goal of the general is actually to try to convince Democrats to drop the timeline for withdrawal, but he's also going to try to convince them there is progress in this so-called surge. What Senator Reid told me is that if David Petraeus the general on the ground in Iraq tries to tell him there is progress, he won't believe him.
ROBERTS: We should clarify for the viewers too, again Dana, that what Petraeus said, not exactly the words to the effect were that Iraq cannot be won by military might alone. There has got to be that political component to it, as well. In terms of this wartime supplemental, they agreed on language yesterday in the conference. Where does it go from here?
BASH: Where it goes from here is on the House floor tomorrow, on the Senate floor likely on Thursday and then we are going to see the Democrats do what they have promised to do all along, send this to the president, even though he has said he is going to veto it, then it is going to be back to square one. But we are going to see the rhetoric that you have already seen is really hot. It's going to get even hotter as this measure makes its way through the Democratic Congress this week, John.
ROBERTS: I'm sure it will and after that veto happens, there's a good possibility that Democrats may then turn to a bill authored by Congressman John Murtha, which would fund the troops for about two or three months while they got some other support from Republicans together or at least tried to. Congressman Murtha in the studio right now. We'll be talking to him in just a few minutes about his version of the war funding bill. Dana, thanks very much.
The Bush administration and its chief strategist may be about to face a whole new problem. This morning's "Los Angeles Times" is reporting that the office of special counsel is about to launch a sweeping investigation into Karl Rove's political operations. The story by Tom Hamburger at the "LA Times," the lead story in the "LA Times" at least on the website. I haven't seen the final version of it yet. He's here to explain what's about to happen. First of all, what is the office of special counsel? A lot of people haven't heard about that.
TOM HAMBURGER, LOS ANGELES TIMES: John, the office of special counsel is an independent agency. A lot of us in Washington haven't heard about it either, set up in the Watergate era, usually monitors things like discrimination issues, military, discrimination against the armed forces and it monitors the Hatch Act and that is the jurisdiction that it has to jump into this investigation.
ROBERTS: And what are you reporting today that the office of special counsel is going to be doing in relation to Karl Rove?
HAMBURGER: The office of special counsel has been watching, in a certain extent, from afar, the congressional investigations that we have all been covering, firing of the U.S. attorneys, the missing e- mails at White House and a series of political power point presentations that went out to the cabinet agencies. And the agency has started to do a preliminary investigation into a couple of these cases and what they realized is this is a much bigger project. What they plan to do now is a sweeping investigation that will likely hit most if not all cabinet agencies asking them about contacts with the White House. They'll also be looking for these missing White House e- mails that have gotten a lot of attention lately and they're going to be focusing on at least one of the fired U.S. attorneys.
ROBERTS: Is Karl Rove in trouble as a result of this or is it just more significant than some of the other investigations that we've seen?
HAMBURGER: Hard to know. One of the things that's been interesting in all these investigations, the three that we talked about, prosecutors and the e-mail, is that investigators on the Hill have always been probing with every question. What was Karl Rove's role in this? Rove has been mentioned in some of the e-mail correspondence, we know that in one of the U.S. attorney's cases he was contacted personally. His name keeps surfacing but investigators have yet to penetrate what his role really is. Now what we have is an executive branch agency saying this is serious enough that we want to launch our own inquiry.
ROBERTS: As you said, Tom, this is an independent agency, but it is inside the executive branch. Can we expect that this will truly be an independent investigation without political influence?
HAMBURGER: John of course, that is the question. Will they investigate independently? Will the fix be in and will the White House waive --
ROBERTS: Is this just being launched to exonerate Rove or do you think they're actually going to dig?
HAMBURGER: Here's what I can tell you. I talked with Scott Block, who is the special counsel last night. He is a person who has not been without controversy himself, but what he said is that he came to the decision to launch this investigation entirely independently and he came to it because he was concerned that there was sufficient evidence to warrant digging deeper into possible violations of the Hatch Act.
ROBERTS: Potential real hot seat. Tom, it's a great article. Thanks very much for coming in and sharing, appreciate it. Kiran.
CHETRY: The families of those affected by contaminated spinach and peanut butter will appear before Congress today. E. coli in spinach as you may remember, killed three people last fall and sickened more than 200 others. The family of a two-year-old girl who nearly died after eating contaminated spinach talked to our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We're going to find out what her parents are demanding of Congress today.
A toxic cloud of ammonia has people out of their homes in northern Illinois this morning. It began leaking last night near Rockford, Illinois. Ten people went to the hospital. They were having trouble breathing. Residents there are still evacuated from the town this morning. People in two other towns nearby were also asked to leave. They have now been cleared to come home.
Overnight, there is a new king of the road. Toyota announcing it sold more vehicles than General Motors or anyone else in the first quarter of 2007. That makes it the world's biggest auto maker. Toyota sold more than 2.3 million vehicles. GM sold 2.2 million. Our Ali Velshi will have much more on this coming up at 7:25 Eastern time.
ROBERTS: Well, here's some video that you might not want to look at if you're a parent, but if you're a sports fan and you believe in a child's future on the field, here's something to take a look at. Four-year-old Caden Thomas may have a future in the game if he ever gets close to a field again, if his dad ever lets me get near one. It happened Monday at a spring game at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins. A touchdown but the momentum of a wide receiver takes him right into Caden who is standing on the sidelines. CSU lets families on the sidelines during spring practices. Last hour, we spoke with Caden's father, Michael Thomas on the telephone and asked him what went through his mind when he saw his son slammed like that.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE OF MICHAEL THOMAS, FATHER OF CADEN THOMAS: Well, there's the sickening thud. It was just tremendously worried about the rest of his life. You make automatic assumptions that there's going to be some damage when you see something that horrific and to see that he bounced back so quickly was really a blessing. He's just moving around and, you know, he's only complained that I don't let him jump on the trampoline.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ouch. Caden was a real trooper about the whole thing. He was taken to the emergency room. He had to get about 30 stitches, multiple lacerations, so they got a plastic surgeon in there so that by the time he's in college playing football he will barely even have a scar Kiran and what happened to him when he was four.
CHETRY: I think his dad did say maybe a Harry Potter like scar, hopefully it will fade over time.
ROBERTS: And hopefully it won't hurt every time (INAUDIBLE) .
CHETRY: Exactly, poor little guy, but he's doing OK, thank goodness.
Coming up, a huge wildfire is burning in Georgia right now. We're going to see how families are affected, many homes lost to this. They say it's going to be tough to battle it out because of how dry it's been in the area.
We're also going to talk with the first and most vocal advocates for getting our troops out of Iraq. It's Democratic Congressman John Murtha. He's going to join us live.
Also a college professor fired after making some controversial comments on the Virginia Tech shootings. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The most news in the morning here on CNN and check out these pictures coming to us from Georgia. Wildfires still burning in southeast Georgia near Waycross. 56,000 acres scorched so far, 18 homes destroyed and schools are, again, closed today. They have been for a full week since that fire was sparked by a downed power line.
And we have some spectacular video in this morning of a twister touching down near the town of Protection. This is in southern Kansas. You can really see the funnel. It was one of several around the state on Monday in a storm system that included strong thunderstorms. This twister, as destructive as it looks, actually caused no damage in the area.
It's 16 past the hour right now. We're going to head out to Chad Myers and, you must be fascinated because you study this stuff. When you see just that picture how dramatic it is and what a clear look we're getting of that funnel cloud.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, exactly. As it touches down, it picks up the debris, the suction spot throws dust into the air and if there was anything in the way, you would see the debris in the air, as well, whether it be a shingle or a fender of a car or whatever and that's what you need to stay away from. Very few people die from being picked up in the tornado like the "Wizard of Oz." You get injured because you get hit by something the tornado is throwing around whether it's your house or your shingles or if you're outside. That's why it is so important to get inside to the lowest level you can.
The storms continue today. Right now they have calmed down. In fact, even this watch you see on the box here, that has actually been canceled for now, but we're going to fire up weather all the way through the plains, John, from Wichita through Oklahoma City. Large, violent tornadoes, large, damaging hail all the way from Kansas City through Wichita, Tulsa, bigger cities today. Yesterday we had 20 tornadoes, but we didn't hit many towns. That's the good news. The problem today, John, is that there are cities in the way of this. Also, in the way is snow. If you're headed out to Colorado, take chains with today if you're traveling. There's going to snow in Denver tonight as well. John.
ROBERTS: My son is going out to Vail, I think, this weekend. They were hoping to do some mountain biking. Maybe they should take their skis.
MYERS: I'm afraid cross country skiing will be the way to go.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks Chad, appreciate it.
The war of words over the war in Iraq is growing louder this week. Congress could begin voting tomorrow on the $124 billion war spending bill, which orders a phased pullout of U.S. troops. All of it sets up a bitter showdown with President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will strongly reject an artificial timetable withdrawal and/or Washington politicians trying to tell those who wear the uniform how to do their job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Joining me now is one of the most vocal advocates of a pull out from Iraq, Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania. Congressman, thanks for being with us.
REP. JOHN MURTHA (D) PENNSYLVANIA: Good to be here John.
ROBERTS: You heard what President Bush said, that Congress shouldn't be micromanaging the war. What do you say?
MURTHA: That's our job, John. We have accountability. For six years they had no accountability in the White House. In fact, there's 126,000 contractors in Iraq. We appropriated $1.2 trillion over a one-year period. It's time that this White House starts to listen to people. People have been way ahead. People in Iraq want us out. People in the United States want us out. It's time for him to get a redeployment plan. If he doesn't do that, we're going to have the disaster he predicts just like we did when we went into Iraq.
ROBERTS: Let me ask you this question, in your mind, in your opinion, has the surge failed?
MURTHA: I think the surge has failed. I think there was no possibility it was going to work. I think the British had 130,000 people 50 years ago and it was 80 years ago and they only had 2.5 million people in Iraq.
ROBERTS: Well, let me ask you this question. You supported General David Petraeus. You were one of the people who voted unanimously, you didn't actually vote for his confirmation but you supported him, unqualified support for him. He says he needs until August to tell if the surge is working. Why are you saying --
MURTHA: John, this is a failed policy wrapped in illusion. I've said this over and over again. We can't win it militarily. There's no diplomatic effort. They have to reach out to the international community. I say this over and over again and they're not doing that. They have to ask international community to get involved like his dad did in the first war.
ROBERTS: Does the international community really want to get involved? It looks from where we're standing is though they just want to wash their hands.
MURTHA: They're not going to get involved as long as we keep doing it. The first war they paid $60 billion. They put 170,000 troops in the field because President Bush one asked them to. Now every time something happens, we do it. We put our troops in harm's way. Our troops are out involved in a civil war and they should be doing it themselves. The Iraqis have to solve this. We can't solve it in my estimation.
ROBERTS: Democrats keep on saying and Harry Reid said this recently that the president keeps ignoring the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. Here's what James Baker said about pulling out. He said quote , a premature departure from Iraq we unanimously concluded in the Iraq Study Group report would almost certainly produce greater sectarian violence and further deterioration of conditions in Iraq and possibly other countries. Isn't it the Democrats who are ignoring the recommendations of the study group?
MURTHA: I have a high regard for James Baker, but that's what the White House has been saying. Just because they say it doesn't mean it is true. We already have sectarian violence. We already have a civil war and our troops are caught in between. My estimation, the first step to stability and all of us want stability in the Middle East, is to redeploy our troops and put the burden on the Iraqis. We can't solve this ourself and it can't be solved militarily.
ROBERTS: So the international community has shown no appetite to get involved in Iraq other than token gestures and support. There is an article in the "USA Today" that says that Iraqi lawmakers don't think that Nouri al Maliki has got the political power to be able to pass some of the difficult laws to bring the country together. What do you think would happen if American forces were to leave Iraq right now? MURTHA: I think there would be more stability. I think the Iraqis would take over. I think the Shias would understand they have to start to deal with the Sunnis.
ROBERTS: You don't think the place would fall apart?
MURTHA: I don't think it would fall apart and these people who keep saying it, if they don't plan for redeployment, that's what's going to happen. Right now I'm worried that this president is not looking at the possibility, there's going to be redeployment, it's just a matter of when. It's not working, it hasn't worked and we got to look at how we're going to get out of there in the right way to leave not chaos. Then you got to get the international community involved. There's no question they've got to be involved. This is more important to Europe than it is to us. Stability in the Middle East is important for the world and we do it and so they sit back and don't want to get involved in it.
ROBERTS: We'll keep watching this, round one in the fight this week, round two after the president vetoes the bill. Congressman Murtha, thanks very much, always good to see you sir. Appreciate you coming in. Kiran.
CHETRY: A college professor is fired for what he said to his students about the Virginia Tech shootings. Now he's using youtube to fight back. We're going to hear what the college has to say about it, as well, this morning.
Also the story of a father and son and how a family rallied around their soldier to fight back after a devastating injury. Our children of war series continues. We're going to meet the Ecker family ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: When a Boston area professor was fired after one of his classroom discussions was deemed inappropriate by the university that that he worked for, he didn't get mad, he got on youtube. CNN's Jackie Schechner joins me this morning. What does Nicholas Winset (ph) say about his firing and why is he on youtube?
JACKIE SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How much time you got?
ROBERTS: Well I don't the 18 minutes.
SCHECHNER: Eighteen minutes, the four-part video. Nicholas Winset went on youtube because he said the media wasn't paying enough attention to what had gone on. Basically he uses these videos to describe who he is, what he did. He says that he used a dry erase marker and pointed it at students like a gun in a classroom demonstration. Let's take a listen to him in his own words. We're not hearing him speak --
ROBERTS: So he had nothing to say, basically.
SCHECHNER: Eighteen minutes of silence. No basically he said that...
ROBERTS: Oh, wait, I'm hearing him now.
SCHECHNER: Basically what he says is that no time was anybody particularly bothered and he was illuminating the point that if you're approached like that, you should fight back if you're attacked.
ROBERTS: There seem to be two parts to the story, though. There was this idea that he was sort of reenacting with some students moments of the shooting and what would have happened if people had fought back, but then there were also some opinions that he had about the kids who were involved and that sort of thing, isn't that really what sent university over the edge?
SCHECHNER: That seems to be what the university is replying to in the statement. We got a statement from them saying that they have clear standards of classroom and campus conduct and they do not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language. The interesting part is, he doesn't seem to really address in this 18- minute video that he used any sort of obscene or discriminatory language.
ROBERTS: They are reports that he called them rich white kids.
SCHECHNER: Right, that's what's coming up. But he doesn't address that in the video. We're actually not seeing any of his students responding. It will be interesting to see if those sorts of things pop up on youtube.
ROBERTS: Well, I'll tell you, if it's become the soap box that it appears to have, I think you'll hear a lot more about that. Jackie, very interesting piece. Thanks very much. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, well, it's 27 past the hour and Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business." And they're probably breaking out the champagne at Toyota today.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Toyota has surpassed GM in sales for the first quarter in this year, worldwide sales, making about 122,000 more sales than GM. A lot of people have expected this. They think this might be the year that Toyota becomes the biggest car maker in the world, a title that GM has had since the 1930s. But they might not be breaking out the champagne because the concern Toyota has is, here in the United States, it could cause a backlash. You know, there's some people who talk about buying American cars. The reality is that all car makers are making cars all over the world. So an American (INAUDIBLE) car, a Detroit car doesn't mean an American car but Toyota wants to be careful of this. One of the reasons that they sell is their reputation for reliability and now there is fuel efficiency, again a reputation with things like the Prius. Numbers out from the government indicate that on average, they calculate fuel efficiency on average by car maker, in 2006, it didn't increase a wit over 2005. North American made cars, cars and trucks average didn't increase.
CHETRY: There is going to be an increase pressure, though, to try to come up with more fuel efficient models.
VELSHI: There's no greater pressure than $2.97 or higher for a gallon is where we're at now.
CHETRY: Exactly, all right Ali, thanks so much.
Well the top stories of the morning are coming up next and for the first time, we're going to see and hear the parents of Pat Tillman speak about their son's death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
Also the families of those who ate contaminated spinach or peanut butter making new demands from Congress today about food safety. We're going to hear from them on AMERICAN MORNING as well.
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JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Stunning attack. Nine U.S. paratroopers killed in a suicide attack, one of the deadliest days in the war this morning, the deadliest for the 82nd airborne. New concerns that U.S. troops around Baghdad are more exposed than ever.
Plus, another step forward for lawmakers trying to pull the troops out of Iraq. All coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING.
It's Tuesday, April 24th. Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts in Washington, DC, today. Hey Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Hi there, good to see you. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York. We have a lot of stories on our radar this morning, including the latest out of Iraq.
ROBERTS: We're also going to hear from families affected by contaminated spinach and peanut butter. Remember those e. coli scares last fall? Dr. Sanjay Gupta talked with a family who is testifying before Congress today about how their little girl got sick from spinach. You want to hear that coming up.
CHETRY: It's just so heartbreaking and the fear -- you need to trust that when you eat food that looks like you're getting it from your grocery store that it's not going to make you sick. That's a big debate that we're going to talk about today on just how to do that better in terms of the Federal government.
Also our children of war series today. We're going to meet a family that rallied around their soldier. It's the story really of a father and son, as well, after his oldest son was injured badly in Iraq. How he dropped everything to be at his side through the long painstaking recovery. It's also though a story of hope and optimism that will leave you smiling.
ROBERTS: And here's something that you probably never, ever heard about before, the forensics of smoke. A new study that takes a look at smoke from home fires, building fires, that sort of thing. It could be a way to make your home a safer place for you and your family. Great report coming up with Sean Callebs on that, so stay tuned. We begin though with the single deadliest attack on American ground forces in Iraq in almost two years. Nine Americans are dead, 20 wounded in the province of Diyala all from the 82nd airborne out of Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, the deadliest day since the war on terror began. For that, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now from the Pentagon. Barbara, we got a claim of responsibility now for this?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right John. Just a few moments ago, the Associated Press said there is now a claim of responsibility from al Qaeda in Iraq, claiming responsibility for this attack in Diyala against U.S. troops. The U.S., however, is extremely concerned about this attack because, John, this is the second time in just about two months that there have been one of these attacks against a U.S. military combat outpost. This was a full, frontal assault, if you will. This was not the usual insurgent tactics, hit and run, sniper attacks, sneak mortar attacks, IEDs. Two suicide car bombs by all accounts making a full frontal attack against this U.S. military combat outpost, a lot of concern about just how vulnerable the U.S. troops are in these places now, John.
ROBERTS: This is all part of General Petraeus' counter insurgency strategy. We've got these joint security stations in neighborhoods in Baghdad. We now have these smaller outposts in Diyala province and as well in Anbar province. Previously all of these troops were housed in these major bases with massive fortifications, multiple security checkpoints around them. Are we just to expect that this is going to happen more and more now that al Qaeda and presumably insurgent groups are figuring a way to cut through what security there is around these outposts?
STARR: It may well, indeed because part of the security plan, part of the troop surge is to put more U.S. troops out there and by definition, that of course is going to make them more vulnerable. U.S. commanders have said for the last several weeks now, the rise in suicide car bombs is extremely disturbing to them. They don't think there isn't one solid way that they could actually stop it. While we look at these outposts and say they're so vulnerable, look at that bomb attack in the green zone just a couple weeks ago. One of the most secure areas in Baghdad and it had its security breached. So this may well turn out to be a continuing problem, indeed, John.
ROBERTS: So is anybody at the Pentagon who you talk to at this point Barbara saying maybe this isn't working so well?
STARR: Well, you know, the problem is when you ask them what's plan "B"? They say plan "B" is to make plan "A" work. There really isn't a plan "B" at this point. This is where they have put all their chips. This is what they're going with, at least until the end of summer. As we've been talking about, John, they're going to make an evaluation at the end of summer whether this plan is working and the end of summer is pretty close, maybe 20 weeks away. The clock is ticking, as General Petraeus says.
ROBERTS: And Congressman John Murtha who was just on with us told me off camera, I said, what are you going to say to General Petraeus when you meet him this week? He says, I'm going to tell him to prepare for redeployment because as far as he's concerned, it's all over. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks very much.
As you can imagine, a very difficult day at Ft. Bragg. Earlier we spoke with Major Tom Earnhardt about the lost of their soldiers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR TOM: EARNHARDT, U.S. ARMY: This is the worst incident we've had in the whole global war on terrorism. We're coping. Paratroopers have an indomitable spirit. Our families tend to adopt that same spirit and it is time to band together and we'll hug and we'll cry and we'll get through it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Very difficult day. Earnhardt added though that despite the fatal attack, as he said, the worst attack in the war on terror in the 82nd airborne, the division still believes in their mission in Iraq. Kiran?
CHETRY: And for the first time, we're going to see and hear from the parents of Pat Tillman. They're going to speak about their son's death by friendly fire in Afghanistan. They're appearing before a congressional committee, demanding to know why they were told what they call misleading information about how their son died.
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VOICE OF MARY TILLMAN, PAT TILLMAN'S MOTHER: What they did is they made up a story. That's not a misstep and that's not an error. They made up a story. It was presented on national television. And we believe they did that to promote the war.
CHETRY: Pat Tillman's mother, Mary, spoke on National Public Radio last month after meeting with Pentagon officials investigating her son's death.
TILLMAN: They always lie and I'll be quite honest with you. The meeting was a travesty.
CHETRY: Nine army officers were recommended for discipline, including four generals.
GEN. RICHARD CODY, ARMY VICE CHIEF OF STAFF: In April 2004, the army broke faith with the Tillman family and how Pat Tillman's death was reported and briefed to them. For that, I'm truly sorry, both as a general and an army father.
CHETRY: The Tillman's testify today before a House oversight committee, along with former Army private Jessica Lynch. She was wounded and captured by the Iraqis. The military is also criticized for how it handled the account of her rescue.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Military witnesses will include brigadier general Rodney Johnson of the Army criminal investigative command. The House committee is also asking the CIA about the possibility of videotape from a predator drone that may have been flying over Tillman at the time he was killed.
ROBERTS: We're also going to hear on Capitol Hill today from families personally affected by the huge spinach and peanut butter e. coli outbreaks over the last year. The first witness at a hearing on the Hill today is a mother whose little girl almost died after eating tainted spinach. She talked with our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A year ago Ashley Armstrong was a healthy, rambunctious two-year-old. Some kids won't eat vegetables, but Ashley, no problem.
ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG, MOTHER OF E.COLI VICTIM: We were very healthy eaters. We love salads, lots of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits.
GUPTA: Last September after a family dinner of lasagna and spinach salad, Ashley got sick with vomiting and diarrhea. What happened next with Ashley?
ARMSTRONG: We found blood in her diaper and that didn't seem right. It started getting worse, more frequent. That's when they saw her kidneys were failing.
GUPTA: The culprit, e. coli, 0157-h7, the bad kind. Once it was a problem in tainted hamburgers, but since 1995, there have been more than 20 outbreaks linked to fresh greens, like the baby spinach in the Armstrong salad. After weeks of fighting for her life and months of dialysis, Ashley is home again, but life will never be the same. She's on several medications. Doctors say she'll need a kidney transplant in a few years. Fresh vegetables are strictly limited.
ARMSTRONG: We thought it was safe. It says wash three times. We put it a bowl and we ate it for dinner. Our lives were changed forever.
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG, FATHER OF E.COLI VICTIM: I was pretty angry, actually, especially after we found out this is an ongoing problem. We came back and said, in two or three weeks after the outbreak, it's fine now. Spinach is fine. You can eat it, it's back on the shelf. What do they do differently? What have they changed to make it safe?
GUPTA: Most spinach growers are now taking voluntary steps to keep their spinach safe. Today Mrs. Armstrong tells Congress that's not enough. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Fishers, Indiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And still to come this morning, did you know that each fire has its own unique smoke? Greg Hunter shows us how knowing that could eventually lead to increases in technology that will save our lives. Hi, Greg.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, hi, this is polyurethane foam and if you see, it's putting off a very unique black smoke. It's what your couch is made out of. This is one of the things that Underwriters Laboratory studies, polyurethane foam. So what happens when you light an entire chair on fire with polyurethane foam? We'll light this baby up and we'll show you as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
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ROBERTS: Chad Myers has got the weather for us and it's looking pretty bad again in the Midwestern plain states. Chad, just how long is this going to go on for?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Probably until June. This is going to be a pattern where we're in one little low is going to come out and every time a low comes out, it's going to warm up in the east. It's going to cool down in the west and there will be severe weather at that breaking point. Look at New York City yesterday. Central park was 86. Boston and Hartford broke records that were 99 years old, very warm air there and it's 41 right now in Denver and it's going to snow a lot out there today.
Now, there is a cold front that's going to come through New York City, 69 in New York and only 44 in Buffalo. That's 25 degrees just across the state. That is a cool front that will certainly knock down the temperatures. It's not going to be nearly that warm in New England or New York today. This is the area that will make the severe weather, no severe weather yet this morning. We will see it later on today right through this region where there are no showers. That means there are no clouds. That means there's going to be heat during the day and by 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, those storms will be racing across Oklahoma City, Dallas, Tulsa, also into Kansas City, as well. Kiran.
CHETRY: You said it was 86 in Central Park. It's hilarious because the first nice day of the season everybody is out there in bathing suits already laying on the lawn.
MYERS: They were doing that in Denver a couple weeks ago. This is the map behind me of a foot of snow or more west of the city today. Don't get too ambitious because things change quickly in spring.
CHETRY: It's not going to snow in Central Park, I bet you $1,000 on that one.
MYERS: No.
CHETRY: Chad thanks.
MYERS: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Well, a ground breaking study just out today could be a life saver in the event of a house fire because each fire actually has it own unique smoke and knowing that could save your life. AMERICAN MORNING's Greg Hunter is live at a special smoke lab for us in North Brook, Illinois, demonstrating when you set things on fire, the various types of smoke and how much smoke comes out of it. Hi, Greg.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran. We're at a special lab at Underwriters Laboratory and this is a hood that actually vents smoke out and they just lit this chair on fire just about a minute ago and the smoke now is a lot different than smoke when this thing is fully engulfed in flames. It's going to make everything in you house concerning fire, from smoke detectors to the chairs you sit on safer in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER (voice-over): By the time a fire gets to this point, it's too late. Underwriters Laboratory conducted tests comparing fires involving natural fabrics such as leather and cotton to synthetic ones like polyurethane foam and micro-fibers. Their conclusion? The synthetic fibers burned much faster and much hotter than natural fiber.
TOM CHAPIN, UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES: It is much more resistant to the flame, obviously, than the synthetic materials.
HUNTER: So the folks at UL decided to take another look at the same fire to see exactly what happens to smoke at the very beginning of a fire to see exactly what happens to smoke at the very beginning of a fire.
CHAPIN: Smoke is uniquely different, just like the fingerprint on your hand.
HUNTER: They tested 27 different materials commonly found in the home. Some of the same materials from these fires to see how they would break down and what type of smoke they would give off. We're told this information will improve smoke detectors making them detect smoke faster and be able to tell the difference between say burning toast and a burning couch. Could that make smoke detectors go off more accurately and sooner?
CHAPIN: We believe so.
HUNTER: Not only will smoke detectors improve, but their location may change, too. That's because Chapin and his team discovered certain types of smoke may not reach your detector if it's located near the ceiling. All of this could lead to better, more accurate smoke detectors, as well as more flame retardant materials in home furnishings.
CHAPIN: Once the data is put into the hands of scientists and engineers, new technology will come out that will save lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: Kiran, now you know why I have this silver suit on. You take a look at this chair, this chair has only been burning for about two and a half minutes. It's a micro-fiber chair. It's filled with polyurethane foam and you can see the synthetic chair really puts off a big heat. You can also take a look at the smoke billowing out of this special hood that's venting the smoke out and this is part of what they studied at the smoke study to see how materials break down in a fire. You can see, that's breaking down quickly and putting out a lot of smoke. Back to you, Kiran
CHETRY: So besides looking like Liberace's coat, what does that shiny silver do to protect you?
HUNTER: I'll tell you. It's really hot. My ears are burning and the back of my head is burning. That's how hot this fire is. Now they're going to put it out. You can see right now they're putting it out. But see all the smoke that came up there, that's part of what they study. They study smoke at the very beginning and smoke at the end of a fire. It's going to help everybody from the people who design smoke detectors to firefighters to people who design furniture. That's all coming because of the study in the future. Kiran?
CHETRY: You certainly demonstrated it for us pretty neat, thanks a lot, Greg.
A father faces his fears learning that his son has been badly wounded in Iraq and a family fights its way back together from a devastating injury. The optimism of this brave, young soldier is contagious and we're going to meet them in our special series, children of war, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back, we continue today our children of war series and a soldier who's not much older than a child himself, when you think about it. Sergeant Mark Ecker II is just 21 years old. He lost both of his lower legs in an IED attack in Iraq. I recently paid a visit to Washington, D.C. to see how his return home has affected his entire family and his recovery, in particularly, his father.
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MARK ECKER, SON INJURED IN IRAQ: It was at 6:06 in the morning on February 24th and they called us up.
CHETRY (voice-over): It was the call Mark Ecker feared. His first born son, his namesake, Sergeant Mark Ecker II was severely injured in an IED attack while on patrol in Ramadi.
ECKER: When they started listing off his injuries, you just want them to stop.
CHETRY: But it didn't stop. The damage was so severe Sergeant Ecker lost both of his lower legs.
SGT. MARK ECKER, INJURED IN IRAQ: I was losing a lot of blood and I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker.
CHETRY: What is that like as a parent, having to hear that your child had to suffer like that?
ECKER: The depth of despair that I plummeted into was pretty deep.
CHETRY: Sergeant Ecker's long journey back from Ramadi ended here at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but his battle wasn't over. For the next several days and weeks, he endured grueling medical procedures including nearly a dozen surgeries. But through it all, he was never alone. What was it like having to watch him in such excruciating pain in those first days and weeks when he was getting treatment here?
ECKER: Well it was pretty awful because you have no control over your son's pain and I'm sitting there holding his hand and trying to soothe him and as a father, I had no control over it to make it stop.
ECKER II: Honestly, had my dad here through all the surgeries and stuff, I don't know if I would have been able to do it without him.
HUNTER: Sergeant Ecker says he looks around at other wounded vets recovering alone and he knows he's lucky, his wife Jen, his mom, sister and wife visit often. What also helps is the outpouring of support the Eckers have received from their hometown, from well wishers across the country and even President Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Make sure you get a picture of the tattoo, the man's proud of it.
CHETRY: But the best day for far for both father and son was when Sergeant Ecker walked for the first time with his prosthetic legs.
ECKER: Just seeing him stand up and just seeing how happy he felt. It was just amazing.
ECKER II: One of the most amazing feelings in my life just, you know, I felt like I was getting my life back. Like I had made it -- I felt like I made it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And the elder Mark Ecker took a leave of absence from his job. He was a salesman for IBM. He left that temporarily to take care of his son and he regularly updates his colleagues. In fact, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano was so inspired by the story that he is offering a $45 million donation to the U.S. government for Arabic translation technology. Sergeant Ecker told us that first hand from his experience, it is very difficult to gather intelligence in Iraq when you don't speak Arabic and you often don't have a translator with you and he believes that this technology might help track down on the IEDs so that fewer soldiers can come home with injuries like this. The technology, John, is unbelievable. You can actually just hold it up to someone who is speaking in Arabic and it comes out, the translation right there on the ground in the communities you're in in English.
ROBERTS: Incredible. I've been out in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere and if they don't have an Arabic translator with them, there's just literally no way to communicate. You only find one English speaker for every 100 Iraqis. Something like that would be really helpful. CHETRY: Absolutely and for Mark, I said where do you see yourself in six months? He said I see myself walking out of this place and being back home in Colorado with my wife and he just has such an optimism toward his future that you really can't help but think it's just going to happen for him.
ROBERTS: The determination that they have to recover and get on with their lives is just inspiring for every one of us. It's a great story.
It's one very big wildfire and it is scorching a path of destruction across parts of Georgia. We're live in the frontlines in the fight against this fire at the top of the hour.
Plus, a hip-hop pioneer says it is time for rappers to be held accountable for what they say. Just a couple of weeks ago, he said it was poetry. What changed? Russell Simmons joining us live. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is here on CNN.
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