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U.S. Enters Into Sixth Year of Iraq War; Has U.S. Economy Hit Bottom?; Severe Weather Hits the South
Aired March 19, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Five years -- and more than $400 billion -- after the U.S. invaded Iraq, the world takes note of the cost, the casualties and the cause President Bush is still defending.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Opponents of the war are fighting for their cause today. And one who isn't running for president endorses another who is.
KEILAR: Is the U.S. economy a casualty of war in Iraq? Most Americans think all Americans are paying a price for the war few Americans support.
Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar at CNN Center in Atlanta. Kyra Phillips is in assignment in Baghdad.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Our big story today in the CNN NEWSROOM, of course, is the weather and all the flooding happening in the Midwest.
Our Fredricka Whitfield following it for us from the breaking news desk -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, well, we're talking about at least six inches of rain in just the past 24 hours in the southwestern portion of Indiana. And, so, that means neighboring states are getting hit hard too.
Take a look at these images that we're now starting to see, this coming out of Orange County, Indiana, just northwest of Louisville, Kentucky. Just look at all that standing water. Well, you see the boat there. And it seems like, all right, this looks normal. Boat, water, fine.
Well, apparently this kind of flooding is causing a lot of problems in the area. In some cases, this is the only way you can actually get around to carry on with the sandbag placements and to get to people, et cetera. There's a wider view of what we're talking about. So, now the water does not look so appropriate, right?
Well, this is the kind of flooding that they are experiencing there. It's a real headache, a real nuisance. But, as of yet, we're not hearing anything about any injuries or any dramatic rescues taking place. But we did want to bring you at least these pictures as we're getting them in. And, of course, when we get more information about the severity of what the folks there right on the Indiana-Kentucky are dealing with, we will have that for you -- Don.
LEMON: All right, Fredricka Whitfield on top of the weather story for us.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
KEILAR: On the CNN political ticker, the first lady years of Hillary Clinton. Under pressure from political opponents, Clinton today released thousands of documents spelling out her daily schedules from 1993 to 2001. They cover almost 2,900 days. Schedules that are covering -- that cover 27 additional days are due to be released shortly.
LEMON: On the Iraq -- on the war in Iraq's fifth anniversary, Clinton picked up the endorsement of a prominent Iraq war opponent. Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania says Clinton is best qualified to lead the nation on Iraq and bring credibility back to the White House.
KEILAR: Republican presidential candidate John McCain is in Jerusalem, where today he met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
McCain says he's also spoken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and believes Abbas wants to resume the peace process. McCain is a strong supporter of Israel. He was cheered and applauded when he placed a prayer note in a crack in Jerusalem's Western Wall.
LEMON: Well, there's a reason the president isn't called the economist in chief. Even if he or she were an economist by training, the vast U.S. economy does not operate by degree. Still, presidents play a role and come January will have a new one.
CNN's Brian Todd looks at the prospects.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mortgage meltdown, a credit crisis, oil skyrockets, the stock market slides. And among America's top three choices for president, not one who's run a business or balanced a state budget.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: They basically draw down their capital from their life experiences up to the point of going into the White House. You know, so it is a concern. At the same time, I think it's also true that no one can really run a $14 trillion economy who hasn't been there and tried it.
TODD: John McCain does have two decades on the Senate Commerce Committee dealing with a broad range of issues, but one economist says for McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, voting on an economic stimulus package may not be the best preparation for what's ahead.
LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, AUTHOR, "BEATING THE BUSINESS CYCLE": As lawmakers, you know, there is the sense that you can take a decision, maybe even vote it into law, and then your job is done. And that's not how the economy works.
TODD: When the next president takes office in January, the U.S. may still be facing some tough economic problems. McCain wants to eliminate some taxes, reduce others and cut government spending. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama want to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while cutting them for low and middle income taxpayers and they want to bail out struggling homeowners.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, a moratorium on home foreclosures for 90 days.
TODD: But most economists would tell you the president doesn't sit there and pull levers running the economy. So what should we expect of the next president with more market-busting news looming on the horizon?
SABATO: Not specific expertise in the economy as much as the good sense to surround himself or herself with real experts, people who understand the economic cycle.
TODD: Larry Sabato says that means people who understand what government can do to help the economy and what it can't.
(on-camera): One analyst told us that, in addition to having good economic advisers, a president who can act quickly, but not rashly, and project an air of decisiveness and confidence can do more than you would imagine to at least start to revive the economy.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: We used to call it the Green Zone. Then it was the International Zone. But either way, it's a chunk of -- a prime chunk of territory in Baghdad. And that is where we find Kyra Phillips.
Hi, Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Brianna.
All day, we have been live right here in the International Zone. So, for the first time, I am going to be able to give you a little inside look at what's behind me. This is Saddam's crossed swords. Back in the '80s during the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein claimed victory in that war. Iran also claimed victory. Other critics said it was just a stalemate.
Well, he built this monument to recognize that war and his victory. And here we are five years into this war still talking about Iran, the threat of Iran. Here's an inside look at more to what this monument is all about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, this is the infamous crossed swords. Saddam Hussein had this built after the Iran-Iraq War. He wanted something to memorialize the war, what he said was a victory.
However, Iran said it won the war. Other critics have said the war just was a stalemate. After Operation Iraqi Freedom and the air campaign and troops came into this area, you can see how this monument has been destroyed. And through the years, there have been a number of generals who have wanted to actually take this entire crossed sword monument down.
As a matter of fact, Norman Schwarzkopf, you will remember, in the first Gulf War, he wanted to take it out, but there was a lot of controversy whether that should happen or not. The decision was made, just leave it alone. It will create too much of a rift if indeed it comes down.
Now, the controversy is it doesn't want to be torn down -- or at least the government doesn't want it to be torn down or U.S. troops, because they think it will create more of a rift between Sunni and Shia. So, right now, this is just an old memorial. People come. They pick up these old Iranian soldier helmets. They climb up here to the top of what used to be Saddam's fist.
He actually had the artist create this as his own hand holding one oft swords. And back in his day, his military would come back and forth through these crossed swords and the ones on the other end. And he would stand at his observation post, fire off his rifle, and the military would salute Saddam Hussein. Now it's just a monument and a remembrance of the old Saddam Hussein regime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now, Brianna, here we are live in the International Zone right under the crossed swords.
This used to be a target for the military. It has withstood a number of wars now, back to the Iran-Iraq War, when it was built. Got through first Gulf War and now Operation Iraqi Freedom. So, basically, it's a place now where troops, civilians come. They climb up it.
A lot of people want to take a piece of it. That's been another issue, just the looting surrounding this monument. But, to this point, it still stands.
Now, coming up at the half-hour, I'm going to talk to you a little bit more about an interview with General David Petraeus that we were able to do today on the anniversary, also our interview with the Iraqi foreign minister, and a big issue here in Iraq, and that is oil revenue. Where is all that money going, $5 billion a month?
Why do we look around and see such poor conditions here in Iraq when so much money comes in through oil? Well, smuggling and corruption is a huge issue, and we are going to talk about that, five years into this war in Iraq.
KEILAR: Yes, that was a great one-on-one interview that you did do with General Petraeus, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq. And we will look for that at the half-hour, Kyra. Thanks.
LEMON: Five years of war in Iraq, five years of separated, worried families. The war looks very different through their family eyes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It's 3:13 here in the East, three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, President Bush urges Americans to be patient. He says withdrawing too many troops too soon would jeopardize what he describes as hard-fought gains of the past year.
Thousands of pages of old schedules from Hillary Clinton's years as first lady have been released. Political opponents had been clamoring for them.
And a Michigan prosecutor promises an announcement next week on whether she will file perjury charges against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The Detroit City Council passed a resolution yesterday asking the mayor to resign, but Kilpatrick says he will not go.
LEMON: As we have been reporting all day here in the CNN NEWSROOM, today marks five years of war in Iraq, five years of repeat deployments, military casualties and public support that ebbs and flows. Through it all, we have asked military families to share their pictures and their feelings. And they have done just that.
CNN's Abbi Tatton is in Washington with that for us -- Abbi.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Hi there, Don.
Yes, they have been using I-Report in the last 24 hours or so, but also over the last couple of years, to share their stories of what it's like to be a part of a military family now five years into this. And we're sharing some of those stories with you today.
I just spoke to Amy Lex (ph). She's in Fort Hood, Texas. She sends this picture here of her husband. Chief Warrant Officer Tony Lex (ph) in is the Army there. And he's about to leave this summer for his second tour, something Amy said she feels horrible about. She and their daughter of 16 months will see him only once during that 15- month tour. She says that's the longest they will have ever been apart in the 10 years together.
And she tells me this is her thought on the five-year anniversary of this war. She says that she feels it shouldn't have lasted this long, but she says our troops are out there and we should support them and America should support them.
Samantha Schroeder is in Maryland. She sends this picture of herself and her son, a 19-year-old Marine, Lance Corporal John Joseph Cohey (ph). She says that he enlisted when he was 17 years old. You can hear her thoughts about this that she recorded and put them on to CNN.com, listen to what she felt when her 17-year-old son enlisted.
She says she wants to share this with us today, that her son doesn't care if you do or don't understand his choice. He's not concerned with political views, religion or race. His greatest concern is doing the job he's asked to do with skill and pride, protecting those abroad and at home.
And one final one here. You can see many more of these at ireport.com. But this is from Sierra Derrick Waymart, Pennsylvania. She says that her husband, Chris (ph), is just about to go out next month for his second tour. She says second time around it only gets harder. But she says she's so proud of him and the support that "we get as a military family is phenomenal."
Take a look online at all these slide shows that we have put, many, many more of these stories. We have also recorded these people's thoughts, the stories from the military families today that they want to share with people. And you can submit more at ireport.com -- Don.
LEMON: Oh, Abbi, and looking at those pictures, it just breaks your heart to see the families having to go back, the dads or moms have to go back and say goodbye to their children, at least for a while.
Thank you very much for that. We appreciate that, Abbi.
The war in Iraq, five years later. We have got a special "A.C. 360." That's coming up tomorrow night. You don't want to miss it. "Shock and Awe" begins at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, and it's something you will see only here on CNN.
KEILAR: Recession one day, depression the next? Some believe the U.S. economy hasn't hit bottom yet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, we continue our coverage on issue number one, the economy. We can debate whether the economic downturn is now a recession, but one thing is clear. The next step down from recession is depression. And nobody is saying we're anywhere near that. But some experts, well, they certainly fear it.
CNN's Mary Snow takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Federal Reserve has stepped in again to help boost the economy by slashing interest rates. The president is working to calm nerves.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the long run, Americans ought to have confidence in our economy.
SNOW: But that confidence was shaken when the Federal Reserve had to bail out investment bank Bear Stearns in the first move of its kind since the Great Depression. Nobody is predicting a repeat of history, but one economist won't completely rule it out, either.
PETER MORICI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: There is a possibility we could have a depression. We could be looking at 1929. I am not forecasting that and I don't want to be represented as such. But the dangers are real and apparent.
SNOW: Many economists predict those dangers will be contained, saying the Federal Reserve has learned from mistakes of the past, even highlighted in a recent study on its Web site. Its chairman, Ben Bernanke, is considered an expert in the era of the Great Depression.
ALAN BLINDER, ECONOMIST, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: We're not on the precipice of the Great Depression. But we're facing similar problems, certainly problems in the financial system we haven't seen in the post-World War II era.
SNOW: Former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Alan Blinder says there's one slice of the economy where the word depression is justified -- the housing sector.
BLINDER: If you look just inside the small sector of the economy -- it's about four percent that is housing -- building houses. They're back in the Great Depression.
SNOW: Some are calling on the federal government to bring back measures that could stem foreclosures.
LYLE GRAMLEY, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR: I don't think any of us have any cookie cutter solutions to the problem. But we need to begin thinking outside the box, because what we're experiencing now in financial markets is unlike anything I have seen in more than 50 years of looking at the economy.
SNOW (on-camera): Economists say a number of measures being considered right now could help stem foreclosures. And that includes a call by some lawmakers to have the government step in, in a plan that would ultimately make mortgages more affordable. But economists say the key is to take action quickly.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
LEMON: This man is Iraqi, and he is a thief, smuggling Iraq's most valuable treasure, black gold. He will show us how he does it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Three thirty on the nose here in the East.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar in for Kyra Phillips. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE FAIR, I-REPORTER: This is Lake Taneycomo here in Branson, Missouri. And the lake has spilled its banks. It is flooding a campground and a boat launch. As you can see --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: These images were caught on tape by I-Reporter George Fair. Now, as the waters kept rising in Branson, Missouri, the southern part of that state receiving nearly a foot of rain in just over a day.
And you, too, can send us your pictures or video. Just go to I- Report.com. Of course, we have reporters in different places, but we don't have them in all places. And that's where you, the viewer, come in. So go ahead and send us your I-Reports.
LEMON: Absolutely.
And Chad Myers is standing by -- Chad, there's going to be lots of opportunities today for I-Reports, especially from the Eastern part of the country.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right, because now we have our first tornado watch of the day. We haven't been talking about severe weather, so to speak. I mean, flooding is severe enough, but I'm talking about an existing storm making damage.
And now we actually have that. A tornado watch until 9:00 time here for Canon and Bedford and DeKalb counties. But now this is just east of Nashville, between Nashville and Knoxville. This line literally just popped up in the past, well, I think, 15 minutes or so. We've started to see some rotation with it. And now as these cells, they kind of charge off to the east, they are going to be rotating one after another after another.
There's the tornado warning right now for -- for, really, for Canon and Warren Counties in there Central and East Central Tennessee. But there's more than one storm spinning -- one, two, three little guys here. They all have a little bit of a tail. All that tail that's kind of that spin is where the tornado could fall out.
Now, just because a storm spins doesn't mean that it's actually going to put a tornado down. But if a storm spins and the radar sees it, then the guys at the Weather Service -- and girls at the Weather Service -- they will put out a warning because that spin is the potential to put a tornado down, so they don't want you out there. They want to have you taking cover before anyone actually sees it.
In the past, before we had really great Doppler radars and all these big whiz bang things, you'd have to wait for someone to see the tornado before a warning would be put out. Well, now that's not the case. Now we're a little bit farther advanced than that. I want to show you the storm totals, though, from yesterday. Twelve -- 24 hours worth of data right here. And everywhere that you see red, that's six inches of rain or more. We have flooding from Ohio to Texas. And we have flood warnings in even more counties than I can count -- over a couple hundred counties with something out of its banks -- some streams, some creeks, whatever.
So all this is going on today. The weather is moving to the east, where it rained so hard yesterday. The rain is ending, but now that rain is moving to the east, affecting just different people here.
There you see Louisville seeing a little bit of light rain ending and then more rain coming in. There's rain -- there's flooding all along these areas across the Ohio River Valley, north and south of the river. Back to you guys.
LEMON: Hey, Chad, stick with me, because I want you to talk about these live pictures we're going to see now.
MYERS: OK.
LEMON: This is right down --
MYERS: Oh, yes.
LEMON: You know this building, right?
You were outside a little bit just before, what, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, just before the CNN NEWSROOM in the afternoon. And you witnessed some stuff going on. Obviously, this is our building and we were damaged from the tornado on Friday and this is what's happening now because of the rain.
MYERS: Yes, well, there's a hole in the roof and so it's getting all the way down there to the atrium. That's the solid tile floor. There should be tables and chairs, there should be people eating and having a good time down there.
But you see the men are working, pushing this water to a sump pump. And the sump pump is taking it to one of the bathrooms there in the atrium and pumping it into the sink there.
So they're working to keep but they're all getting wet down there. We really like the work they're doing, but it's raining on top of our heads, too, and dripping through the building, not just down there at the atrium level (INAUDIBLE).
LEMON: Hey, Chad, I wanted to talk to you about the wind and stuff, because there was some concern downtown. Obviously, you know there are some street closures and all of that, all of this repercussions from the tornado.
MYERS: Well, you know, we -- I'm sure you've seen the pictures. I hope you've seen the pictures of the windows missing in downtown Atlanta. Well, not every piece -- not every shard of glass has come out of that weather -- come out of those windows. LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: So, as the wind was blowing -- and we were seeing wind gusts 23, 24 miles per hour -- that kind of loose, broken glass hanging on by one piece of caulk was falling down today.
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: So a lot of downtown streets around the buildings that were shedding more glass were closed in downtown Atlanta.
LEMON: Yes. And the reason we're showing you those pictures is business -- not just because of us -- hey, look what's happening to use.
MYERS: Of course.
LEMON: Thousands of people come into this building every day to go on tours and to handle business.
MYERS: Yes.
LEMON: And it's not just CNN in the building. And so there's a hotel here, as well. So people are wondering what's going on. We're showing you. We're dealing with weather here, as well.
MYERS: But, you know what, Don? Here's the deal. And we've talked about how bad it is and then I know visitors are afraid to come maybe now. Of the tens of thousands of hotel rooms in Atlanta, from Buckhead through midtown through downtown, only 600 are closed because of damage -- because of windows broken.
So, you know -- and they're going to get these things fixed. You know, don't be afraid to come to downtown Atlanta if you have something going on. Don't miss an event because, you know, you think Atlanta is destroyed.
LEMON: All right, Chad Myers. Thank you, sir.
MYERS: You bet.
KEILAR: Five years of war in Iraq. Among its many unintended consequences, it's spawned a dangerous industry of desperate crime.
CNN's Kyra Phillips is in Baghdad with this story.
Hi, Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Brianna.
And if you talk to Iraqi leaders or Iraqi civilians, you talk to U.S. troops, everybody within this country will say one of the biggest problems other than terrorism is the corruption -- in particular, the corruption, when it comes to oil revenue. Five billion dollars a month -- that's how much oil revenue comes into this country. And you look at the conditions and you wonder where is all that going? Well, here's one smuggler's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM (voice-over): Basam Ali (ph) has been a smuggler all his life. We're protecting his true identity for his safety. And he has it down to a science. He's showing where he hides oil and fuel and how he siphons it out to buyers. It's all stolen from Iraq's pipelines.
"I have 12 people to feed in my family and I can make up to $300 a day. I work from 4:00 a.m. to midnight. It's worth every bit of money."
It's quite an orchestrated operation. And Basam says his most lucrative client is Iran.
"The Iranian Coast Guard intercepts us. We pay them $100 to $200 and they let us go. Our boss calls the buyer -- usually UAE and Iranian barge owners -- then we let them know that we're one kilometer away. We call the captain of the ship, pull over by him and unload the products."
Iraqi police are trying to take down these smugglers but as you can see, it's hard to keep up with them.
What looks like homes on the outside are really warehouses to store barrels of smuggled oil, gasoline and other oil products. And underneath the barrels -- buried tanks of petroleum products deep underground.
And Iraqi Coast Guard commanders say they just don't have the means to fight them.
"The smugglers are just more powerful. They have heavier fire power and their ships are incredibly armored -- 30 millimeters thick. We shoot at them, but can't catch them."
I sat down with Iraq's minister of oil.
(on-camera): So you know there's a problem, that the Iraqi Coast Guard needs help --
HUSSEIN AL-SHAHRISTANI, IRAQI OIL MINISTER: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: They need weapons.
AL-SHAHRISTANI: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: They need manpower.
AL-SHAHRISTANI: No, we know that, because our pipelines get attacked all the time.
PHILLIPS: What are you doing to support the Iraqi Coast Guard now? AL-SHAHRISTANI: There is still work that has to be done, particularly with aerial surveillance and with aerial equipment not only to detect, but to be able to attack and stop the smugglers. I have always been telling the minister of defense minister (INAUDIBLE), if you can sink a couple of those boats, this will be the best message to the smugglers that they cannot do it anymore.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): But these smugglers have a message, too -- show me the money.
(on-camera): He said look, we're poor. I need this money. I make runs from 4:00 a.m. to midnight. I make hundreds of dollars a day. This is all I know. This is how I'm going to make money.
AL-SHAHRISTANI: This is the argument that an opium grower will also put, because he is a poor farmer and he needs to money. I do understand that. As a matter of fact, as minister of oil, we have tried to recruit the young men into our oil protection force and instead of attacking the pipeline, come and defend the pipeline and we'll pay you.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): An incentive smugglers like Basam Ali say is still just not enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And, Brianna, that's just one of the challenges with regard to corruption, talking about the oil industry and oil revenues and protecting those oil pipelines. The other big problem is the corruption within the Iraqi police. I had a chance to talk with the Iraqi foreign minister today and he had no problem admitting it was an issue and they're trying everything they can to deal with it.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: It's not just the terrorism, it's the corruption.
HOSHYAR ZEBARI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: We can't seem to fight the corruption.
ZEBARI: Yes, indeed. I think this is something not unique to Iraq. But we have to stop this number of anti-corruption bodies -- the public integrity, the supreme audit and also the inspector general and all the ministries and so on.
There is a high level of corruption. We will admit that. But the government is committed, in fact, to rectify the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. I apologize. That was the wrong sound bite. Actually, the Iraqi foreign minister talked specifically about the corruption within the police department. And what's happening is they're going through this enrollment process and they're trying to get in legitimate men that want to take part in this police department. But they're having a problem with various militias infiltrating that system and it's hard to figure out who is legitimate and who is not. It's one of the biggest challenges right now here in Iraq for the minister of interior, who oversees the Iraqi police.
So just one more thing that the U.S. and Iraqis have to deal with, Brianna. Five years into this war, it's definitely not been an easy fight.
KEILAR: That's a fascinating inside look there at the world of oil smuggling.
Kyra Phillips for us in Baghdad. Thanks.
LEMON: All right, if you're in your office or at home, if you have a chance, pause for a minute, because we want to honor some of the fallen heroes on this fifth anniversary of this Iraq War.
Well, today at Fort Eustis in Virginia, soldiers are gathering to remember serviceman killed last week in Iraq. Specialist Tenzin L. Samten was killed in Tallil when his vehicle came under fire. The 33- year-old from Arizona leaves behind a wife and two children.
Staff Sergeant Juantrea Bradley was also killed in that attack. He had a wife and he had four children. He was from Greenville, North Carolina. And in that same deadly attack last Wednesday, 21-year-old Private Dustin C. Jackson of Arlington, Texas lost his life.
These are just three of the men and women who have given their lives in Iraq. So far, 3,990 American troops have died in the war.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: You may recall a terrible story we've been telling you about recently. A Georgia man -- a Columbus, Georgia man who had abducted his three children and had threatened to kill them -- well, we have some very sad news to report. We're hearing now from the FBI that all four -- these three children and their father, Eddie Harrington -- have been found dead.
Let's listen to some more information from the FBI.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALD GREEN, FBI: It is my sad duty to report that the deceased bodies of these children and Eddie Harrington were located this afternoon in a wooded area off of Chesworth Road here in Columbus.
Also located was a missing 2008 Chevrolet Impala. A citizen who was walking in the area found the bodies and the vehicle and immediately called the Columbus Police Department.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: The FBI saying there that a person just walking by in the Columbus, Georgia area found the body of Eddie Harrington, a 28- year-old man and the father of three children, that the bodies of those three children were also found. Now Harrington abducted his children on March 5 -- twin 23-month old girls -- you see them there, Agena and Aliyah, as well as his three-year-old son, Cedric.
He had threatened in a letter that he sent to his father to kill his children. And, tragically, it appears that he did follow through on that threat. We will bring you any more information as it becomes available on this terribly tragic story.
But meanwhile, for the best crime coverage that is on the Web, you can check it out at CNN.com/crime. This is a new effort from our friends at truTV and CNN.com. You can go behind the police tape and you can go into the courtroom at CNN.com/crime.
LEMON: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will get a message on his fate. Well, that will happen next week. A prosecutor investigating perjury allegations says she'll announce then whether any charges will be brought. Kilpatrick is suspected of lying under oath when he denied an affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty.
Now, Beatty resigned last month after the "Detroit Free Press" printed some damaging text messages she and Kilpatrick apparently exchanged. Yesterday the Detroit City Council approved a resolution asking the mayor to step down. He repeatedly refused.
KEILAR: Fleets of paper airplanes landing at the home of a little boy battling cancer. His "Guinness Book" quest, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We told you about anti-war protests in Washington and also one in San Francisco earlier in the newscast. Our Dan Simon is in the middle of one right now and he joins us to tell us what's going on.
Dan, what's happening?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Don.
We've been covering this story all day long with the protesters in downtown San Francisco. Now we find ourselves being a part of this story. We were interviewing some of the protesters who were lying down in the middle of Market Street in downtown San Francisco.
This is a major street. They've been blocking traffic. We were here to simply get some video of these protesters and talk to some of them as they blocked the street. All of a sudden, police encircled this group. We kind of got caught in this Web, if you will. And now they're not letting us leave.
I'm here with my photographer and producer and about a half a dozen other local journalists and they are threatening to arrest us. We're just basically waiting to see what happens. And this is really an odd situation. We were simply here trying to cover this story and now we're being threatened by police.
LEMON: Hey, Dan, we hear all the people behind you.
This has not -- has this become violent in any way?
SIMON: This really hasn't become violent. The protesters are being fairly peaceful -- again, just lying down in the middle of the street blocking access. This is a major street down here so it's understandable why police want this group to disperse.
And, again, we were just here trying to cover the activities, everything they've been doing today. In some situations, it has gotten a little out of control. They've thrown, you know, like water balloons that contain fake blood at buildings.
So you can understand why police are would make some arrests, especially if they're blocking entrance to some of the buildings or handcuffing themselves, in some cases, to some of the poles in front of the building. But this is the situation. Again, we were just trying to get some video and we got caught in this Web.
LEMON: Hey, Dan, real quickly, because we're coming up on the top of the hour. We have to go to "THE SIT ROOM". But I want to know -- it's interesting -- always interesting to find out who's in these crowds. Is it college students? Is it veterans? Who is it?
SIMON: It's really people of all ages. We saw Code Pink out here, a very liberal anti-war group -- really, people from, I would say, from about 20 to people who are in their 60s or 70s. So it's really just a mixture, Don.
LEMON: OK.
Dan Simon reporting from a war protest in San Francisco. Dan, thank you.
KEILAR: Fleets of paper airplanes landing at the home of a little boy battling cancer -- his "Guinness Book" quest. That's coming up.
LEMON: All the action on Wall Street straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time to see what's checking -- time to check in to see what's happening with Wolf Blitzer.
KEILAR: Yes, he's standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, guys.
The pressure right now on Hillary Clinton. Today, she's challenging Barack Obama to another primary in Michigan. That story plus the latest move by Florida to make the votes in that state count. There's drama unfolding right now. The president addressing the nation on this the anniversary -- the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. Coming up, what it's really like on the ground from one of our correspondents embedded with the U.S. troops -- that would be Michael Ware. And why the U.S. military is paying insurgents cash to keep the peace.
Plus, one-on-one with Barack Obama -- our own Anderson Cooper traveling with the presidential candidate out on the campaign trail today, part of that exclusive CNN interview. That's coming up. All that, guys, and a lot more, right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
LEMON: We look forward to that. Thanks, Wolf.
KEILAR: A New York boy's quest for a world record. It has been a huge distraction from his cancer battle.
Five-year-old Hunter Winship's family was inundated with paper planes -- more than a million, they think -- after they put out a call to the community and beyond. Hunter was diagnosed with an aggressive type of lymphoma in January and his mom thought the planes would be some fun therapy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER WINSHIP, ON QUEST FOR WORLD RECORD: This one needs an airplane. It's a helicopter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn't quite understand yet, you know, whereabouts these airplanes are coming from. He's going to really, really have some stories to tell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now the "Guinness Book" people haven't done their official tally yet, but Hunter is still a sure thing since there actually is not even a record for collecting paper planes. It doesn't even exist.
LEMON: He's a total cutie. Let's see.
KEILAR: Yes. We have a --
LEMON: We'll try to give him --
KEILAR: We have a tribute for Hunter.
LEMON: Let's see, Steph Elam.
KEILAR: Mine was way better, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know.
LEMON: Steph, how's yours? I used to do this all the time in grade school but I can't do it now.
ELAM: I have three older brothers and they're -- whoo, hey. OK, sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
ELAM: Almost took my producer out.
LEMON: OK.
ELAM: You didn't see that, but it came very close to his head.
KEILAR: Nice trajectory. Very good.
LEMON: What's happening on Wall Street? The closing bell coming up in, what, about a minute?
ELAM: Yes. And I'm going to stick to my day job here.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
KEILAR: Let's go to "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Wolf Blitzer.
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