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Pakistani Interior Ministry: Bhutto Did Not Die From Shrapnel or a Bullet Wound; Intelligence Shows al Qaeda Behind Assassination; Tragedy in Pakistan Takes Center Stage on Presidential Campaign Trail
Aired December 28, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Don Lemon, in today for Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
Some shocking new developments coming into the CNN NEWSROOM now. Here is what is on the rundown.
Benazir Bhutto laid to rest. As we just heard, more information about how she may have died and new information surrounding the attack.
LEMON: And the man who took the last pictures of the former prime minister, he's just back from the funeral and we will hear from him.
COLLINS: Storms in the U.S. right now, southern style, with a twist. We'll tell you all about it coming up right now in the NEWSROOM.
This information just into us here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Shocking new developments that we have just learned live out of Pakistan.
A spokesperson from the Interior Ministry has just said at the microphones a moment ago that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan did, in fact, die of a wound to her head, that she fell back and got in the vehicle that she was riding in. You may recall we reported late last night and this morning that she came out of the vehicle, was riding atop with her head out of the sunroof and waving to the people, to her supporters.
We had thought at the time that she had died from gunshot wounds. We had thought after that, had been told, that she died from shrapnel. And now we are just learning that, according to the Interior Ministry, that she died from hitting her head on the back of that sunroof.
A very interesting and surprising development there. Some of these pictures coming in from John Moore, a photographer with Getty Images, some of those last moments apparently of her life.
Want to get to CNN's John Vause now. He's joining us live from Karachi via broadband. John, what do you make of this? I personally am shocked.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, now a third theory coming out of just how Benazir Bhutto died in 24 hours, two coming within the last hour or so. It's all very confusing and, in fact, if you go back to the scene at the Rawalpindi hospital yesterday as doctors did try to save her life and the mass chaos that was happening at that hospital as her body was taken out in the coffin by supporters, I guess that would sort of go some way to explain why there is so much confusion about how Benazir Bhutto died.
There was also no autopsy, no medical report into the cause of death. We're only hearing from the doctors as to what may have contributed to or been the cause of the actual death of Benazir Bhutto.
What this is actually doing though in this part of the world though is simply fueling conspiracy theories about what may or may not have happened to the former Pakistani prime minister in that rally, in Rawalpindi more than 24 hours ago -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, obviously, as you mentioned and pointed out so well, John, you've got three different theories now. Whether it was these gunshot wounds that not only could -- some of the witnesses hear, but we saw on that tape, we saw the ringing of the gunfire, the flash, if you will. And then there was the theory of the shrapnel, and now this very bizarre statement in which she may have hurt her head fatally on that sunroof.
What will happen next? I mean will this -- will there be an investigation? We know, as you've just reported, there is no medical examiner, they will not do an autopsy, obviously. Will people wonder, or will it just remain the headline that the former prime minister of Pakistan is indeed dead, no matter how she was killed?
VAUSE: Well, yes, the fact remains that Benazir Bhutto died in an assassination in Rawalpindi on Thursday, and she was buried today. That's a fact, nothing is going to change that, obviously. But there will be many, many questions about just how this happened.
Now, there was no autopsy done on the body, because under the Islamic faith, it's important to get the body into the ground as soon as practically -- as soon as possible. That would have been her family's wishes.
Benazir Bhutto was a very religious woman. Some reports say that her last words were in fact, "Allah." So the family would have wanted to observe Islamic custom.
There is never -- there is quite often never an autopsy performed in these kind of cases anyway unless the family specifically requests it. We know that the government is now looking at an investigation into what actually happened at the hospital, as well as the investigation into the security surrounding her at Rawalpindi. I guess they can now add this to the list why there was no investigation done as to find out just what the precise cause of death was so we can eliminate all these theories -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. And boy, more theories as I am just talking to you now. According to The Associated Press, we have some new information, John, that is saying that the Pakistani government says it actually recorded an intelligence intercept in which an al Qaeda leader actually is congratulating his people for killing Benazir Bhutto.
So back to the two other theories possibly again. This is all according to The Associated Press at this time, but we will continue here of course to work our sources and try to learn a little bit more about what exactly may have happened here. In fact, we may really never know.
But CNN's John Vause reporting live for us via broadband.
John, thank you.
LEMON: Heidi, just to recap what you said, because this is the newest information that we've been getting since we heard about the assassination of the former prime minister, again, according to -- and this is according to The Associated Press -- the Pakistani government says it recorded an intelligence intercept in which an al Qaeda leader congratulates his people for killing Benazir Bhutto. Again, according to The Associated Press. CNN is working all of its worldwide resources to try to get confirmation on that, and also our international desk, just right here to my right, is working on that.
We also want to give you some new information from the doctor, as well as the Interior Ministry spokesperson about Benazir Bhutto's wounds and exactly what they believed caused her death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MUSSADIQ KNAN, DOCTOR WHO TREATED BHUTTO: She was brought to the hospital at about 5:35 p.m., and when she was brought to the emergency room, the doctors who saw her noticed that she was not breathing, she did not have a pulse, and her pupils, they were dilated and they were not responding to light. These are the signs that a person has had a cardiac pulmonary arrest. But yes, it was a big wound. That usually occurs when something with a lot of speed hits that area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. This new information again just coming in.
I want to add to that, because it's just coming across the wire here. Let me grab it.
According to that same person, the Interior Ministry spokesperson just said that information that I talked to you about, the e-mail, the al Qaeda e-mail congratulating folks for the death of Benazir Bhutto. Also, it says that -- congratulates people carrying out what he calls this cowardly act. They said that they find that it is unbelievable that he congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act. There's been no claim posted on radical Islamist Web sites that regularly carry such claims from an al Qaeda and other militant groups. So again, we heard that just here on our air, on CNN, from the spokesperson, the Interior Ministry, in a press conference saying that there had been a congratulatory e-mail sent around to al Qaeda and other terrorists congratulating them for the death of Benazir Bhutto.
We'll continue to follow that. And Heidi is going to follow up now with Barbara Starr.
COLLINS: Yes. In fact, we want to get to the Pentagon and our reporter there, Barbara Starr, who has been working some of these sources to bring us a little bit more context to all of this.
As we heard Brigadier General Cheema talking about this, obviously part of the Interior Ministry and the Pakistani military. It is amazing, we keep hearing all these different theories about what may have happened. Any insight into this possible recording of this intelligence intercept, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, what I can tell you is the U.S. military, the U.S. intelligence community, the highest levels of the Bush administration across town today looking at all of these reports as fast and furious as they are coming in. And what our sources are telling us here in Washington is the Bush administration's not ready to come to any conclusions yet.
They see all of these reports, al Qaeda, these intercepts, these e-mails, the statements by the Pakistani government, the various causes of death, coming in, coming across the wires. And what they have decided to do, we are told, is try and make their own evaluation, somewhat obviously, of what they think has transpired.
If there is some sort of intercept or e-mail that the Pakistanis have, that is something, of course, that the U.S. intelligence community and the White House would very much like to get its hands on and see and make some sort of evaluation. But, at the highest levels, I think it is safe to say, the U.S. view has not really changed in the last 12 to 15 hours, even overnight.
One official telling us, "We have a long list of suspects." They are looking at the possibility of al Qaeda, al Qaeda central, if you will, affiliated groups with al Qaeda, and very interestingly, officials continue to tell us that they are also looking at the possibility, believe it or not, that Pakistani intelligence services, officials with the intelligence services, or former officials with the intelligence services, could have been involved in this.
And that's not really a surprise, because it's long been the U.S. view that al Qaeda has infiltrated much of the Pakistani government. So they are really keeping a very open view here about what may have happened -- Heidi.
COLLINS: When you mention, Barbara, that the U.S. will wait to learn more themselves, is there anything that you expect that the United States government may do to learn more? We had talked yesterday briefly about possible FBI involvement.
STARR: Well, right. Now, you know, in some cases where there have been major bombings and terrorist attacks in countries, the FBI, of course, has a significant expertise, goes in and tries to take a look at the aftermath of the bomb attack, because it's very well understood that bombers often leave a signature, if you will.
COLLINS: Yes.
STARR: They traditionally make a bomb the same way, and when the FBI goes in, they can take a look and sometimes begin to determine who or what type of group may have made it based on technology that they had access to. There is no indication at this point Pakistan wants the FBI there. But this question, Heidi, of intercepts is something that the National Security Agency and the parts of the U.S. intelligence community that deal with intercepts and signals intelligence, they may now go back scouring through some of their data to see what they can learn -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, sounds like it.
All right. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, thank you.
STARR: Sure.
LEMON: And just yesterday we thought that maybe the last images we would see of Benazir Bhutto would be from Getty Images photographer John Moore. And now we are getting new images just released moments ago at a press conference from the Interior Ministry.
The Interior Ministry also announcing at that press conference, if we can look at the video, this is believed to be the last moments of her death. But they are announcing at that press conference that they have intelligence showing al Qaeda was behind Benazir Bhutto's assassination. That's according to the brigadier general, Cheema, there. Now let's take a listen to that, what he talks about that, and also from the doctor who talks about her injuries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. JAVED IZBAL CHEEMA, PAKISTAN INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: There was no foreign element in her body. So henceforth, there should be no ambiguity that, you know, she died because of the bullet hit or she died because of a pellet or because of a splinter. So our initial investigation so far all indicate that, unfortunately, this tragedy took place because, you know, that she was struck with that force with (INAUDIBLE) of her vehicle which caused...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Of course that press conference is still going on right now. Now, all of this information, I want to remind you, that it is according to the Interior Ministry. The doctor who treated Benazir Bhutto at Rawalpindi General Hospital seems to be making the same sort of claims. But, there was no autopsy done, and obviously she has been buried.
But this was from an initial investigation, Heidi, that showed -- at least the Interior Ministry is saying it believes it was some sort of blunt force or something that she was hit -- maybe hit her head on the truck, but it didn't appear to be any foreign objects in her body. That's according to the Interior Ministry.
That new video just in. That press conference is still going on.
If any more news comes out of this press conference we'll bring it to you live on the air. But if you want to continue to monitor that for yourself, go to CNN.com. All the information you need from this live press conference all right there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, how a tragedy on the world stage takes center stage in U.S. presidential politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to take a moment here now to sort of reset the stage for you. A lot of new information coming in today. Some of it very surprising about the assassination of Pakistani's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.
In fact, there was a spokesperson, Brigadier General Cheema of the Interior Ministry, talking just moments ago about what may have ultimately killed the former prime minister. We had heard several different theories.
The first was possibly from gunshots. And then we heard about shrapnel from the explosion of the suicide bomber. And then the brigadier general today, just moments ago, announced that, no, that was not the cause of her death, but in fact she died from hitting her head on the back of the sunroof.
You remember she was out of the sunroof, at the top of the vehicle, waving to the crowd. You see this video now that the Interior Ministry has in its possession, and also showed at that news conference.
It gets a little shaky near the end here. You see now that she is no longer outside of the sunroof. You also see the flash of gunfire behind her, and the two men on the back of the vehicle duck down at that time.
But it is pretty incredible video, number one. And number two, very interesting and surprising that that is what Brigadier General Cheema says is now, according to the Interior Ministry, her known cause of death, some type of wound to the back of the head from hitting her head on that sunroof.
Also want to take a moment to listen to some sound now about who the gunman may have been. Because again, as you remember, there were shots fired. Let's go ahead and listen in to Brigadier General Cheema.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEEMA: We have intelligence intercepts indicating that al Qaeda leader Batil Massoud (ph) is behind her assassination. We just have an intelligence intercept that was recorded this morning in which Batil Massoud (ph) has congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Once again, a lot of information swirling out there. We will continue to try to get to the bottom of it here at CNN with our number of correspondents on the ground, in the area, and also here that are in great coordination with the military on both sides. So we will continue to follow the story obviously very closely here.
LEMON: Yes, we will.
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the race for the White House. Now let's talk about that. The tragedy in Pakistan taking center stage on the U.S. presidential campaign trail.
CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider reports on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): Outsiders are in. It's the economy, stupid. They were becoming the conventional wisdom about the 2008 campaign. The news of Benazir Bhuttto's assassination suddenly adds a new dimension to the campaign. Candidates are touting their foreign policy credentials.
JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the one with the experience, the knowledge and the judgment, so perhaps it may serve to enhance those credentials or make people understand that I've been to Waziristan, I know Musharraf.
SCHNEIDER: The crisis gave Rudy Giuliani an opportunity to call attention to his signature issue, 9/11.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America feels a strong sense, I think, connection to something like this because of what's happened to us.
SCHNEIDER: Populist candidates and outsiders seem to be gaining momentum in this campaign -- Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mike Huckabee. But the international crisis gives their opponents an opening. Suddenly experience matters.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, (D-NY) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our next president will be sworn in January 20, 2009. Waiting on that president's desk in the Oval Office will be problems that are incredibly difficult that present challenges to our leadership in the world.
SCHNEIDER: Sure, other candidates will challenge their experience, as Obama did recently.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you are saying that this is your relevant experience, we should know what decisions you were involved in, in the White House.
SCHNEIDER: But experience and knowledge of the world may now loom larger in this campaign, as Senator Biden alluded to last month.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, (D-DE) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe people have a sense of and will increasingly get a sense of who's grown up and responsible and can -- and is ready to actually sit behind that desk and make decisions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Eyewitness to assassination. Hear from the photojournalist who captured some of the last-known images of Benazir Bhutto.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly want to sort of reassess the situation here, because, again, we are getting a lot of new information in out of Pakistan on the assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto yesterday. Want to sort of nail this down for you. Here is what we are learning from the Interior Ministry.
Apparently, Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a fractured skull after hitting her head on a lever on top of that vehicle that she was riding in. And as you see in some of these last-known pictures taken of her and last video, apparently there is some type of lever behind her, and they are saying, the Interior Ministry, that she died as a result of hitting her head on that lever, not as a result of a bullet or a splinter from some type of shrapnel in the explosion from the suicide bomber trying to get in to the rally there in Rawalpindi.
Again, they are saying that nothing entered her head. This is according to Brigadier General Cheema with the Interior Ministry.
Once again, earlier, the ministry did say in a report carried by the state-run news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan, that she was killed by shrapnel from that suicide bomb that was detonated. But again, we are learning now, according to the Interior Ministry and Brigadier General Cheema, that is not the case. In fact, she, according to them, died of a fractured skull after hitting her head on a lever of that vehicle.
LEMON: And Heidi, you know what happens in Pakistan has repercussions here in the U.S., especially when it comes to security. And the presidential candidates are talking about the turmoil in Pakistan. It is a test for the U.S. presidential candidates.
Our very own Wolf Blitzer gets reaction from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. His live interview -- it's live, it's coming up in the NEWSROOM in just a bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody. 11:30 eastern time now, I'm Heidi Collins.
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. Tony Harris has the day off. We have new information that's coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The government now says Bhutto died of a fractured skull after hitting her head on the sun roof of her vehicle, not from shrapnel, not from shrapnel for a gunshot wound as previously believed.
The doctor who treated Bhutto says she arrived at the hospital and she was unresponsive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MUSSADIQ KHAN, RAWALPINDI GENERAL HOSPITAL: When I saw Miss Bhutto she was brought to the hospital at about 5:35 p.m. And when she was brought to the emergency room, doctors who saw her noticed that she was not breathing, she did not have a pulse, and her pupils, they were dilated and they were not responding to light. These are the signs of series (ph) that a person has had a cardio pulmonary (ph) arrest and is not responding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Bhutto was attacked after a political rally. An assassin shot at her, then he blew himself up. Pakistan's GEO TV reports the interior ministry has identified Bhutto's attacker as belonging to a group with ties to al Qaeda. An interior ministry spokesperson said the government has evidence an al Qaeda connection -- of an al Qaeda connection and made that just a short time ago.
BRF. GEN. JAVED IQBAL CHEEMA, INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: We have intelligence intercepts indicating that al Qaeda leader Batula Massoud (ph) is behind her assassination. We just have an intelligence intercept that was recorded this morning in which Batula Massoud has congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act.
LEMON: Supporters of the slain opposition leader today packed the streets of her ancestral hometown. Her simple wood coffin was carried to its final resting place. Bhutto's husband and three children came from Dubai for that funeral.
The assassination of the Muslim world's first female leader is sparking widespread violence and it is happening across Pakistan. At least nine people were report killed in riots, banks and train stations and cars have been set on fire. Heidi?
COLLINS: Benazir Bhutto, a symbol of democracy in Pakistan. Her assassination, a reminder of the volatility that haunts a critical U.S. ally. Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson has spent considerable time in Pakistan. Today he is in Switzerland.
Nic, because of all this new information that we are getting in about how Benazir Bhutto may have died, it still seems obvious that the Pakistan people's party now does not have a candidate to run in these elections that will take place on January 8th.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And they must find one, and party officials I talked to today said that their party is still strong, it is still united and that they can find a new political leader. And when they do, they say they will select one, it has to be a strong person, somebody with character and charisma who can fill the role Benazir Bhutto has played.
And that won't be easy because it was a family-led political dynasty. Her children don't appear old enough yet to follow in her footsteps. She followed in her father's footsteps, a political party almost as old as Pakistan. So it will be difficult for Pakistan's people's party to make that very tough choice about who will become the next leader.
But what we're hearing today from the Pakistani government and from doctors from the hospital appears different at this stage to the information we had yesterday. And eyewitness accounts that talk of shots ringing out. The photographer who was there on the scene said he heard three shots, saw Benazir Bhutto slump down inside her vehicle.
The initial analysis from doctors at the hospital, she arrived dead, they tried to revive her, but she died from a gunshot wound to her neck. The bullet exiting the side of her skull was what we were told about 12 hours ago. Now the information that she died because of banging her head on the sun roof of the vehicle because of the force of the explosion close to the vehicle.
This is not unusual in Pakistan to get varying and often conflicting accounts of events, of the deaths in fact of senior political figures in the country. Just over a year ago, a senior political figure in Balochistan was killed, died under questionable circumstances.
The story of his death changed over the course of a week multiple times, according to government officials. It is not clear why we have contradictory information now about why and how Benazir Bhutto died. But this is not unusual in Pakistan for this to happen. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Nic Robertson. Obviously, Nic, so many more questions, and I think that they will continue to come out as we continue to follow the story here. Obviously coming to us live from Switzerland today, Nic, thank you for that.
Also want to take a moment to show you some more video we're just getting in now. Again this is video that we had not been able to show yet that the interior ministry released during their press conference, and just a few moments ago. Let's take a moment here to watch.
Sort of a different angle. Again we do warn you that there may be some footage that is disturbing to watch, some of the last images of the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as she is out of that vehicle and waving her arms through the sun roof there to some of her supporters.
You can also see the vulnerable positioning of that vehicle. She is at a stand-still in the middle of that crowd, and shortly here we will see some of these images that are now taken a little bit closer than the last time we were able to show this to you. Now she has gone down back inside that vehicle and they try to race off through that crowd.
But again these images were shown just a few minutes ago at press conference by the interior ministry who, as you also just heard from Nic Robertson they are now reporting that apparently she died of a wound suffered to the back of her head from hitting her head on a lever on the back of that vehicle on top of the sun roof. So again, new video coming in from the interior ministry of Pakistan.
LEMON: All right, news back here in the U.S., we have some severe weather happening particularly we're talking about tornadoes And warnings in the south.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Want to take a moment now to bring you some more information just now in to the CNN NEWSROOM. We have our White House Correspondent Ed Henry standing by to give us the very latest in all of this. Ed, we are understanding that there is sort of some commotion going on regarding a veto that President Bush is saying he will veto this defense spending bill.
What is all this in reference to? I know Nancy Pelosi and Henry Reid are upset obviously, to say the least.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. What CNN has learned is that the president may -- and I stress may, very shortly announce a veto of the defense authorization bill. What's significant about that, the reason why it matters so much is that if he does veto this authorization bill, it will block a 3.5 percent military pay raise, as well as increase funding for veterans health care that Democrats and Republicans had put into this defense bill.
Now as you noted, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Democratic leaders, say, and are declaring that the president has basically indicated privately to them that he is planning to veto this defense bill. What the White House says is they haven't quite declared that veto yet, but officials say privately they are concerned about one key provision that the Iraqi government is upset about. The bottom line is the provision in this defense bill was found late by the White House and would basically, potentially expose the Iraqi government to legal liability for lawsuits filed by Americans who have claims against the government of Saddam Hussein.
This has outraged the Iraqi government. They feel like it could end up costing them a lot of money and that obviously the regime is passed, Saddam Hussein is dead. They do not think that this should be signed into law. And in fact, officials are indicating the Iraqi government has privately threatened to pull up to $25 billion in money that they have in U.S. banks, pull it out because they are concerned those assets could be exposed.
Very quickly, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi just now putting out a statement saying, "the administration should have raised it's objections earlier when this issue could have been addressed without a veto. The American people have every right to be disappointed if the president vetoes this legislation needlessly delaying implementation of the troops' pay raise."
So you can see that the pay raise for their troops is going to become the flashpoint in this debate. We don't have an official veto from the president yet, but there are indications it may be coming soon, Heidi.
COLLINS: Now wait a minute, Ed. Isn't it possible that if there is a veto on this, that those two items could be taken out of this particular legislation and put in separately by way of this 3.5 military pay raise in the veterans health care? Could those be written separately and approved?
HENRY: It could, but it is unlikely the Democrats would strip that out because they want to get the whole bill through. And in fact, they've already gotten it through the House and Senate. The other complication, obviously, is the fact that House and Senate lawmakers have already gone home for the year, thinking that their work was done. Perhaps it would have to be dragged back in. It seems unlikely, though, in the next couple of days to try to deal with this.
As you know, the Senate has sort been in these seven-second sessions, very short sessions, to make sure the president doesn't do recess appointments. But to deal with something like this, you'd have to bring back the whole Congress. I doubt they would do that in the next few days. It would probably have to be dealt with in January. But the bottom line is that this is going to cause a lot of debate back and forth and military folks, expecting a pay raise, could get caught in the middle, Heidi.
COLLINS: They could. All right, we know you'll be following it for us. Thanks so much, Ed Henry, live this morning.
LEMON: New video and also new information coming in from Pakistan from the death of Benazir Bhutto. That new information is saying that she died from hitting her head on a sunroof. There were no shots, according to the interior ministry, and there was no shrapnel. We'll continue to update.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, a lot of new information coming in here to the CNN NEWSROOM, including video believed to be the last moments of former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto's, life. Let's take a look at that. This is her standing up inside of the roof of that SUV, that armored SUV, as she was leaving a political rally. Now as we have been listening to this, and our producers and sources have been listening to this, it is believed that we possibly hear the blast from the explosion in this video. Now again, this is a video coming in moments ago from the interior ministry, a spokesperson there, playing this at that press conference. And again, he is saying that Benazir Bhutto died of, according to them, from hitting her head on the sunroof and that's what she died from. He does not believe, the spokesperson, that it had anything do with shrapnel or a gunshot wound. He believes she hit her head on the lever inside of that and was not the result of a bullet or a splinter.
This all coming out moments ago. This is the newest information that we've gotten since Benazir Bhutto was assassinated yesterday. It was believed yesterday that John Moore, who is a photographer for Getty Images, he had captured the last moments. And now video of her, what's going to be her last moments. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the three shots fired. And this is -- there's a blast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So what I actually heard -- I did not hear a blast but what sounded like several gunshots, at least three gunshots going off there. But if you -- if you listen in to what the interior minister said, the interior minister spokesperson said, he -- he's saying that she died not from that explosion and not from the shrapnel but from hitting her head. But then the doctor said there was a gaping wound. So, there is going to be so much contention about exactly what killed Benazir Bhutto.
And it may never be solved as we've been listening to our correspondents and our experts, because she's already been laid to rest and it is believed that no autopsy will be done, unless there is some sort of ruling to exhume her. But in this part of the world, that's highly doubtful. But again we hear three gunshots, three gunshots and then she goes down inside of the sunroof which is believed to be what killed her, that lever on the back of the sunroof right there. New information coming in. As soon as we get more, we're going to continue to follow it and of course we'll follow it on CNN International.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
LEMON: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" coming up at the top of the hour.
COLLINS: Jim Clancy is joining us now to tell us a little bit more about what'll be on the program.
And boy, Jim, I imagine you'll be talking about the information that we got just a few minutes ago. When you and I talked at 10:00, we were discussing the way that Benazir Bhutto may have been killed. And now we are learning this new information apparently from the Interior Ministry saying it was really a blow to the back of the head when she hit the lever in the top of the vehicle she was riding in. JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: That's right. More evidence coming in. I'm not sure the video evidence that was presented at that press conference is really going to sell anybody. They're going to look at that. We know that Benazir Bhutto's husband has said, no, we don't want an autopsy here, so this may be argued for some time to come.
We'll be looking at that controversy, plus the violent reaction. Pakistanis venting their rage at railways, police, government buildings, what does all of this mean for the future of democracy in a crucial crossroads in South Asia.
Plus, renewed hope for three long-held hostages in Colombia. Will rebels make good on their promise of a controversial prisoner release?
Join Hala Gorani and me in just a few minutes time, "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Don, Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Wow, that's a huge story, too, Jim. All right, we'll be watching. Thanks so much, Jim Clancy.
LEMON: In the meantime, we're going to continue to follow the Bhutto assassination, and the Bhutto assassination raising concerns in the U.S. about fighting the War on Terror.
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REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Reynolds Wolf with a look at today's Cold and Flu Season Report.
And any spot on the map right here behind me that happen to see yellow or even green, hey, that's good news for you. You have no activity or just just a few cases of the cold and flu.
However, on the other side of the coin, where you see states that are shaded in purple or even blue, like Texas into Colorado, back into Arizona, even into Virginia or Massachusetts, well, you have either local activity or regional cases to report. So, you may be sniffling, sneezing and not feeling so great.
That's a look at today's Cold and Flu Season Report.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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LEMON: Want to update you now on some developing news that our Ed Henry brought us from Crawford that concerns the president and the Defense Spending Bill. It is expected that the president may veto that Defense Spending Bill that was passed by Congress earlier this month.
It's called the National Defense Act, and what the president and the White House is concerned about is that the Iraqi government officials told CNN that the provision would let victims of Saddam Hussein seek compensation for the Iraqi government.
Of course, Democratic leaders are saying the president gave no prior indication that he had any problem with the bill. The White House right now has not made a final decision on the veto.
As soon as we get more information on this, we'll bring it to you. Again, as I said, our Ed Henry is traveling with the president, he's in Crawford. We'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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COLLINS: And new information regarding Benazir Bhutto's death has been coming in to CNN by the minute here.
COLLINS: Yes.
LEMON: And we're going to continue to follow that.
COLLINS: Absolutely, I know you'll be back for NEWSROOM p.m.
In the meantime, I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great day, everybody.
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