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CNN Live Saturday

Canadian Police Foil Terror Plot, Arrest 17 People; The Hunt is on for Suspect in Indianapolis Murder of Seven Family Members; President Bush is Pushing Constitutional Amendment to Ban Same Sex Marriage; Risk of Adjustable Rate and Interest Only Mortgages

Aired June 03, 2006 - 18:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: More questions about the alleged massacre in Haditha, Iraq last November. Survivors say 24 unarmed civilians were gunned down by marines. There are two investigations, one on the killings and the other on a possible U.S. military cover up.
It's no secret, President Bush wants a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage. Well the senate votes on the amendment Monday. Mr. Bush used his weekly radio address to urge lawmakers to pass it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In our free society, people have the right to choose how they live their lives and in a free society decisions about such a fundamental social institution as marriage should be made by the people, not by the courts.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Opponents of the proposed amendment marched in protest today. Demonstrators who support same sex marriage marched across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Another group marched in protest over the Brooklyn Bridge across the country.

Inspired by Al Qaeda and trying to get three tons of ammonium nitrate, calling them a real and serious threat, Canadian police arrest 17 people. They're accused of planning a series of terrorist attacks. CNN's Kyung Lah has more details from Washington. Kyung?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Canadian officials say what is so alarming is not just the type but the amount of explosives they believe this group planned on using.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: The Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, 168 dead killed by one ton of ammonium nitrate. Canadian police say a terror cell snagged in Toronto tried to get three times that amount.

MIKE MCDONELL, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, RCMP: Three tons of ammonium nitrate was ordered by these individuals and delivered to them. It was their intent to use it for a terrorist attack. LAH: Under heavy guard, Canadian authorities took 17 suspects into custody, 12 men, 5 minors. Their goal, according to Canadian police, detonate targets in Canada. Authorities say they also found a cell phone wired to what appears to be an explosives' detonator. The suspects are all Canadian citizens or residents from various backgrounds.

LUC PORTELANCE, ASSISTANT DRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, CSIS: For various reasons, they appear to have become adherence of a violent ideology inspired by Al Qaeda.

STEPHEN HARPER, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Their target, their alleged target was Canada. Canadian institutions, the Canadian economy, the Canadian people.

LAH: Is there a U.S. connection? Canadian officials tell CNN there's no indication the suspects planned to hit the U.S. But the FBI says some of the Canadian suspects may have had limited contact with two American citizens from Georgia arrested this spring. According to a federal affidavit the men met with three Islamic extremists in Canada and discussed striking oil refineries and military bases in the U.S. It's unclear if they were from the same group now rounded up. The Americans' defense attorneys could not be reached by CNN. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King says the Canadian arrests are a wake-up call to Americans.

REP. PETER KING, (R) CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: It's a very close border. And we have to be very concerned about Al Qaeda coming across into New York, coming into Michigan.

LAH: CNN National Security Analyst John McLaughlin says international law enforcement faces a growing challenge of home-grown terror cells.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It's typical of what we're seeing now in the new phase of international terrorist movements where the action is carried out by home-grown groups who get their inspiration through the internet in many cases, in Jihadist chat rooms. A lot of this is traceable back to Bin Laden.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: A Department of Homeland Security spokesman says the U.S. does have a strong posture at the Canadian border and will continue to do so, adding that no additional security measures are being taken in the wake of what's happened in Canada. Carol?

LIN: Kyung thank you so much. CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security, so stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.

And now another developing story, this one in Indianapolis. Police there are on the hunt for this man you're about to see, the prime suspect in one of the worst mass murders the city has ever seen. Joining us live from Indianapolis with the latest on the search is CNN's Keith Oppenheim. Keith, there are people behind you right now. Who are they?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a very somber scene here. You have friends, neighbors who are coming by in front of the house, Carol, and they are leaving items at a makeshift memorial in front of the house where the seven family members were murdered on Thursday night. And as you indicated, the search for the suspect is intense at the same time.

Indianapolis police are searching throughout the east side of the city for Desmond Turner. He is the key suspect in this case. They have conducted seven raids in the past day, but so far they haven't found him and have not been able to make an arrest. Neighbors here by the house have just been appalled by these murders and are trying to make sense of this crime and what it means in terms of their own lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM LEE, NEIGHBOR OF VICTIMS: It's sad. It's terrifying. And it makes you get the chills because I just look at it, if it was my family and me, what would -- where would I be?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Just about a half hour ago, Carol, you saw here on live television that family was gathering in front of the house. They were hugging and crying, remembering the victims, Alberto Covarrubias, his wife Emma, their four children and one grandson all murdered here on Thursday night. They say they're going to have a funeral for six of the seven victims on Wednesday and on Sunday night they're going to have an additional memorial service right here in front of the house. Carol.

LIN: So, Keith, do they think that their prime suspect is still in the area?

OPPENHEIM: Very much so. Police say that there is a possibility that he could have fled, but they think that they are putting enough pressure on enough people that he knows and places that he might go that it's very unlikely that he's left. And certainly they hope that he's nearby because they hope perhaps within hours, maybe the next day, that they'll get him.

LIN: Thanks, Keith, for staying on this story. Appreciate it.

Now to Iraq, where a car bomb has claimed more Iraqi lives. It exploded in a crowded market in the southern city of Basra. Here's CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The blast happened in a busy marketplace on a Saturday afternoon, killing dozens and wounding many others. Iraqi police say it was a powerful explosion, leaving behind widespread damage, pools of blood and set cars on fire. It comes just three days after the Iraqi prime minister declared a state of emergency in Iraq's second largest city, saying he would use an iron fist to stop the growing unrest, caused by criminal gangs and Shiite factions vying for power.

The attack was carried out despite increased security. Extra police are on the streets manning roadblocks and conducting I.D. checks. Basra has seen increased violence during the past month, with the death of more than 140 Iraqi civilians and nine British servicemen. The bomb blast is one of the most deadly in Basra, since the fall of Saddam Hussein and could well present a challenge to the new Iraqi prime minister and his national unity government. John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: No wrongdoing by U.S. troops. That is the conclusion of a probe into an incident that occurred in March in the Iraqi town of Ishaqi. The pentagon says as many as 12 civilians may have been killed after U.S. troops returned fire near a suspected terrorist safe house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. ARMY: Investigation revealed the ground force commander while capturing and killing terrorists at that location operated in accordance with the rules of engagement governing our combat forces in Iraq.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Now the military's biggest concern is the alleged massacre in Haditha. Survivors say rampaging marines slaughtered 24 unarmed civilians back in November. There's one investigation into the killings and another into a possible cover-up.

A dozen U.S. marines are under investigation in another probe. It's examining the shooting death of an Iraqi man in Hamandiya back in April. Another incident being looked into as well, reports that U.S. soldiers shot and killed two women in Samarra. One was pregnant. The women's vehicle apparently sped through a checkpoint while taking the pregnant woman to the hospital to give birth.

It is a crime scene months old and its alleged victims are already buried. So how is the military going to be investigating these civilian deaths in Haditha? I'm going to speak with a former J.A.G. prosecutor.

And a healthy woman volunteers to donate one of her kidneys to someone she doesn't even know. And there are so many just like her. We're going to tell you the motivation behind this amazing gift of life.

And the political motivation behind the new push for an anti-gay marriage amendment. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: News across America now. Overnight, storms flooded streets and downed trees in parts of the northeast. A man in Pennsylvania was struck and killed by lightning Friday afternoon.

And in Sedona, Arizona, the problem is, well, 200 evacuees returning home after given the green light says firefighters control the flames that were headed towards their subdivision. The blaze has burned more than 830 acres and destroyed five buildings but it's now half contained.

And police search a home in Nashville and uncover pipe bombs and a baby food jar filled with deadly poison, ricin. The owner of the house is not suspected of having ties to terrorism. The suspect was jailed last week for violating a protective order taken out by his wife.

President Bush used his weekly radio address to urge the senate to pass a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. The senate debates the controversial proposal next week. CNN's Dana Bash has more in the story you first saw in the CNN "SITUATION ROOM."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Republican gay rights activists are going door to door on Capitol Hill.

I'm asking Senator Specter to oppose the marriage amendment.

BASH: Urging senators to vote against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

PATRICK GUERRIERO, LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS: Good republicans don't believe you should get distracted from cutting taxes and controlling federal spending and winning the war on terrorism by embracing these kind of socially extremist views.

BASH: But to social conservatives prohibiting same sex marriage is a top priority. These ads are targeting senators in more than a dozen states.

(COMMERCIAL): Homosexual activists don't care if children are deprived of a mom or dad. Only a constitutional amendment can protect marriage from attack.

BASH: The senate vote is expected to fall far short of the two- thirds majority needed to amend the constitution.

Family research council.

BASH: But to conservative groups like the Family Research Council, that's beside the point. They say GOP leaders must debate issues like a gay marriage ban if they want disillusioned conservatives to vote in November.

PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: We don't have an interest in reelecting a republican congress if they're not willing to fight for pro family issues.

BASH: Social conservatives are frustrated with republicans in Washington and this issue is exhibit "a."

BUSH: The union of a man and woman deserves an honored place in our society.

BASH: In 2004, President Bush and republican congressional leaders talked up a federal ban on gay marriage to galvanize social conservatives in key swing states. Since then, the president has been virtually silent, and the rank and file feel abandoned.

RICHARD VIGURIE, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: I do. I think it's too little too late.

BASH: Veteran activist Richard Vigurie says voting on same sex marriage now looks insincere.

VIGURIE: They will try to mollify the conservatives, placate them at the margins, at the edges. They'll try to throw a little bone here, a little bone there. But I just don't see that they really do understand that we are dead serious, that we have been betrayed.

BASH: But even for conservatives this is not a clear-cut issue. Some like Senator John McCain and even Congressman Tom DeLay do not support a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. They insist the true republican position is to let the states decide. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Join Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" weekdays at 4:00 p.m. eastern and the live primetime edition at 7:00.

The rising cost of housing in America. Coming up at 6:50 eastern we're going to focus on renters. It is so bad that some around Los Angeles say that they are being forced into homeless shelters.

And in less than three minutes, so many Americans are hungry to own a home. But are they biting off more than they can chew? Why so many face now the threat of foreclosure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Adjustable rate mortgages. For many recent home buyers, they seem like such a good idea at the time. But now interest rates are rising and many are struggling to make the payments. Some are even losing their homes. Here is CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Rosemarie Knick recently bought this New Jersey townhouse as an investment, to finance the $360,000 purchase she took out an adjustable rate mortgage. ROSEMARIE KNICK, HOMEOWNER: I'm betting that the interest rates are going to remain at a reasonable rate and that my adjustable rate mortgage isn't going to be affected.

CHERNOFF: Rosemarie is gambling especially now that interest rates are rising. Home buyers who finance their purchases with traditional fixed-rate mortgages have nothing to worry about. They'll make the same monthly payment for the life of their loan, often a 30- year period. Its home buyers who borrowed with adjustable rate mortgages who are now facing the possibility of higher monthly payments. And there are millions of them.

Even as home prices soared in the past few years, many Americans still wanted to buy as much house as possible. Big, beautiful homes just like this. Adjustable rate mortgages made it affordable by minimizing monthly payments. Exactly three years ago, the national average for a mortgage that would adjust every year was only 3.8 percent, far below the cost of borrowing at a fixed rate. That meant a $200,000 mortgage required a monthly payment of $934, but only for the first 12 months of the loan.

JENNIFER PLINIO, WEICHERT FINANCIAL SERVICES: After the initial period is over, the interest rate will adjust each year.

CHERNOFF: And it has adjusted upward. Today that same loan carries a rate of 7.25 percent, which translates into a monthly payment of $1337. That's about $200 higher than the monthly payment on a $200,000 fixed-rate mortgage that could have been locked in three years ago.

KEITH GUMBINGER, MORTGAGE ANALYST: Monthly payments have gone up several hundred dollars per month for some borrowers. That might be enough to put them in a bit of budgetary stress.

CHERNOFF: Blame the Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank. When the fed raises the rate at which banks borrow, mortgage lenders in turn raise adjustable rates, though they typically limit the change to 2 percent a year. If the fed continues pushing rates higher, Rosemarie Knick and many other homeowners will find mortgage payments taking a bigger bite out of their pocketbooks. Allan Chernoff, CNN, Hampton Plains, New Jersey.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Now there's another type of loan with its own set of potential problems. It's called an interest-only loan and here's how it works. At first you pay only the interest on your loan. You don't repay any of the principal, which is the amount you borrowed. But after a certain period of time, the loan becomes fully amortized. That means you start paying back both the principal and interest. That's when your payments go up, sometimes way up. So what can a homeowner do if payments get out of control?

Well joining me right now is mortgage broker John Lowry. John good to have you. A lot of nervous people out there as they get that monthly coupon in the mail. Interest only loans. Why would people sign up for something where you don't build any equity? You're just paying interest.

JOHN LOWRY, MORTGAGE BROKER: The traditional thinking on that was that at the beginning houses were going up in value so quickly that it didn't really matter and people would say well on a 30 year loan you don't build a lot of equity in the first few years anyway, so go ahead and take that money, invest it somewhere else, get a lower payment, enjoy it now, you'll make your money from the appreciation of the property. That's why they got into it.

LIN: And some people get a conventional loan and then use an interest only as a second if they want to do a minimum down payment so they can avoid mortgage insurance.

LOWRY: Correct. And that's not a bad strategy. You can do it that way, and you can do fixed rate on the second or interest only on the second. The tricky part is that most of the interest only seconds are adjustable rate mortgages as well so there's a double whammy in that.

LIN: See I'm in that boat. So I've got a conventional mortgage payment, and then I've got an interest only payment that went from $250 when I first started, which didn't seem like a lot at the time, now I just got a coupon for more than $600.

LOWRY: That's right. When the fed started raising up the interest rates and they've raised it 16 times in a row, we've gone from a discount rate of one up to five. Well any time you get a 4 percent increase, that's going to affect your loan and mortgages are big amounts of money. Even the second mortgages are thousands and thousands of dollars. So it's going to have a big impact on the cash flow.

LIN: So should people who have interest only loans realize they're getting bitten right now because they haven't paid down any of the principal at all, should they refinance in this high interest rate environment?

LOWRY: Well the problem is they've kind of missed the boat. They can do that and you can still probably, depending on what your situation is, you can refinance. But then you're faced with all those closing costs again. So you have got to just analyze it. And then the other thing is a lot of people took these loans out in anticipation of not keeping that property very long. So you've got to look at how long you're going to keep the property.

LIN: How long do you think is reasonable for an interest only loan? Three years?

LOWRY: To keep it?

LIN: Yeah, to keep it.

LOWRY: Yeah, it depends on if you're going to be there a long time. If you're not planning on paying it off at any time soon, you may want to look at fixing it. Usually the -- if you buy it and think I'm going to be out in a few years then you just have to ride it out because you won't get your money back on the closing costs.

LIN: You know who's using interest only loans a lot, real estate speculators, people who use interest only loans, easy qualify, low payments to flip a property. Now people are starting to get burned because some housing markets are slowing down. Is there a bubble out there with these interest only loans where you're going to see many of them in default?

LOWRY: We are going to see a lot more of them in default because a lot of people are buying those houses because it's the only way they can qualify. And so if you're buying it and you're using interest only as a vehicle because that's the only way you can get into the loan, we recommend you think twice. If you're doing it as a matter of choice where you could go either way and you could comfortably afford either payment, then it's not a problem. But a lot of people, especially in a down labor market, are thinking, well, I'll go to this seminar and I'll go get rich quick, then I'll buy these investment properties.

LIN: Because they're only looking at that initial monthly payment.

LOWRY: That's right.

LIN: Somebody once told me that interest only loans are good for people who are expecting bonuses, maybe inheritances because it's a low payment initially, you get that bonus, you pay it down.

LOWRY: You can and if you have the self discipline to do that, then you're in good shape.

LIN: I bet a lot of your clients don't.

LOWRY: That's the problem. People don't really follow through on that.

LIN: Yeah, they just see the big dream house. Alright thanks very much John, appreciate it.

Well renters are also feeling the pinch of rising housing costs. Their story is 25 minutes away.

But up next, investigating allegations of abuse in Iraq. I'm going to speak with a former J.A.G. prosecutor about what it's like to launch criminal probes in a war zone.

And giving a voice to one family's loss on the front lines. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Now in the news, Canadian police arrest 17 people accused of planning terrorist attacks. Police say they were trying to get the same material used in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MCDONELL, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, RCMP: Three tons of ammonium nitrate was ordered by these individuals and delivered to them. It was their intent to use it for a terrorist attack.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: And we have a report that a bomb went off in a market in Basra, killing 33 people and wounding 55 others.

And near the Russian embassy in Baghdad, two carloads of gunmen attack a car carrying Russian diplomats. One was killed and the other four were taken hostage.

Also, a report of a jail break in the nation's capital. Two inmates broke out of the heavily guarded D.C. jail this morning. At least one of the escapees is a murder suspect.

The main suspect in the seven killings in Indianapolis is still at large. Police think Desmond Turner was involved in the deaths of four adults and three children, all members of the same family.

And President Bush says marriage needs protection from activist courts. A constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage comes up in the senate Monday. Mr. Bush used his weekly radio address to call on lawmakers to pass the amendment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: A constitutional amendment is the most democratic solution to this issue, because it must be approved by two-thirds of the House and Senate, and then ratified by three fourths of the 50 state legislatures.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: But you are looking at the people who support gay marriage. Groups marched across the Golden Gate Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge as well. Organizers say they want to bridge the gap to marriage equality in the U.S.

By now, you may have heard that the Army has cleared U.S. troops of wrongdoing in the deaths of 11 Iraqi civilians. That was in the town of Ishaqi. But other investigations are continuing right now. For example, a dozen Americans are under investigation in the shooting death of an Iraqi man in Hamandiya back in April. A source says that murder charges are likely against several troops. And the military says it's still trying to determine what happened in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha.

U.S. Marines are accused in the Haditha incident. Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre says the investigation is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAIME MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pentagon sources familiar with the investigation say the criminal probe into whether a small number of Marines killed two dozen civilians in Haditha last November may take another six to eight weeks. One official tells CNN, investigators are still interviewing witnesses and are trying to get the families of the victims to allow them to exhume the bodies of some victims to collect more forensic evidence.

Meanwhile, legal sources tell CNN that a number of the members of Kilo Company, the Marine unit believed to have carried out the killings, are in the process of retaining attorneys, including the staff sergeant who was the most senior member of the squad.

CNN has now talked to the Marine officer who paid $38,000 in compensation to families of 15 victims. And while he wouldn't discuss the payments or the alleged massacre, he does say, when he worked with that same unit, their work was first rate.

MAJOR DANA HYATT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: They were good guys. I mean, they -- they did a great job. They -- like I said, I mean, you got these young kids, 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids, doing things that kids back here that same age would -- would never even dream of doing.

MCINTYRE: Commanders across Iraq are underscoring that the stress of battle does not excuse murder.

BRIGADIER GENERAL DONALD CAMPBELL, MULTINATIONAL CORPS-IRAQ: While we understand the stresses and pressures inherent in combat operations, we cannot and will not accept behavior that is legally, morally or ethically questionable.

MCINTYRE: Three Marine officers were relieved of command, but one tells CNN he's being unfairly tarred by the Haditha scandal. Captain James Kimber says his firing in April was over a dispute with his superiors about media interviews given by his troops that had nothing to do with the Haditha incident.

CAPT. JAMES KIMBER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I'm here to clear my name and let everybody know that I didn't have anything to do with Haditha, wasn't anywhere near it. My Marines were nowhere near it. That's the bottom line.

MINTYRE (on camera): Kimber's attorney says his client is a war hero who is simply a victim of circumstance and that his ten-year Marine career is being sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: What kind of legal ramifications will we see if Marines are facing charges in the Haditha incident? Well, New York defense attorney Christopher Padurano was a prosecutor for the Army's Judge Advocate General. He joins us now. Good to have you.

What is your reaction to have troops being cleared in the Ishaqi incident, the allegation that a family was rounded up in this town and held kidnapped and then was murdered?

CHRISTOPHER PADURANO, FMR ARMY JAG PROSECUTOR: Well, I think that these issues were thoroughly investigated and that if these marines were actually cleared of any sort of criminal misconduct, then that is fine.

LIN: So you're confident of it, because the Iraqi government believes that or says they believe that report was rushed.

PADUARANO: Again, from my experience as a military prosecutor, I found that the military investigators were extremely -- extremely thorough. They would not rush their job. And they investigated any allegations of misconduct to the best of their ability.

LIN: Now, that incident went back to March. How difficult is it, with the passage of time, to actually collect reliable eyewitness testimony and physical evidence?

PADUARANO: To be honest, it's a little difficult. But these investigators are very well trained, and they are generally good at what they do. They're going to examine the evidence.

They're going to interview witnesses. They're going to take witness statements, if possible. They're going to interview the soldiers alleged -- the Marines alleged to commit --

LIN: Are they good at detecting liars?

PADUARANO: Again, it's difficult. They are not -- they don't have an in-bred polygraph examination, these investigators. But they're going to look at body language. They're going to look at how -- if these soldiers or Marines are evasive in their answers. You know, they are generally going to be -- I'd imagine with an investigation of this magnitude, they are going to be some of the more experienced investigators around.

LIN: Iraq has a government now, elected a parliament and is now being pretty bold faced about asking for physical evidence. The Iraqi government is asking for files in the Haditha investigation. Iraq is now saying it's going to conduct its only investigation into the Ishaqi incidents. What legal authority does the Iraqi government have here? Or do you think it's just saber rattling?

PADUARANO: It could be a little bit of both, to be honest. My understanding is we don't have -- the United States does not have any sort of a status of forces agreement with the government of Iraq at the moment. This sort of agreement would generally delineate the rights and responsibilities of service members on a foreign nation's soil.

I find Iraq, the government of Iraq investigating these soldiers as problematic. If I were a defense attorney to one of these Marines, say, for example, in Haditha, I would be very leery of allowing my client to be interviewed by some sort of Iraqi official or an Iraqi interrogator. LIN: To be sure. You know, a difficult situation for the U.S. government, too, as it tries to bolster a judicial system in Iraq and now finding Marines caught in the middle. Christopher Padurano, thank you very much.

PADUARANO: Thank you.

LIN: Every week, we like to bring you the more personal stories from the front lines. And tonight we're going to be talking about the story of a car bomb injuring a CBS reporter this week and killing her crew. An Iraqi interpreter as well. And an American soldier also died in that attack. The army has released the soldier's name, Captain James Funkhouser. CNN's Carol Costello talked with his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER, HUSBAND KILLED IN IRAQ: It's not something that I ever thought would happen, but it did. It did. And it's the worst thing imaginable.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The worst thing imaginable. It's happened so many times. This time, it's the family of Army Captain James Funkhouser Jr. mourning a loss.

JAMES FUNKHOUSER SR., SON KILLED IN IRAQ: Even knowing that he died doing what he loved to do, what he wanted to do, it doesn't take away the pain.

COSTELLO: On Monday, the 35 year old Army captain was securing a location in Baghdad just across the river from the Green Zone. With them, a CBS news crew. Then it happened. A car bomb exploded. The blast killed Funkhouser, his Iraqi interpreter and two members of the CBS news crew.

Back home in Kilene (ph), Texas, Funkhouser's wife, Jennifer, got the news, in the kind of scene played out more than 2,000 times over the past three years.

JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: I had two Army officers come to my front door, and I thought it was a Memorial Day. They were handing out pamphlets, passing out information about soldiers. I opened the door, and I took one look at the major who was there, and you could tell his eyes were red, and he was trembling. It was hard for him to even speak. I knew -- I just said, I just talked to him yesterday.

COSTELLO: Funkhouser had been in Iraq since December. His wife and family called him Alex. He was the father of two young girls, and the couple had just celebrated their sixth anniversary.

JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: He always thought about me. He would write me all the time. This is Valentine's Day. And we just had our wedding anniversary a little over a week ago and he sent me flowers. And I haven't been able to throw them away yet. A T-shirt I was going to send to him for Father's Day. Big Texas man. Little Texas humor.

COSTELLO: Funkhouser was third generation military. His father and grandfather before him, James Sr., spent 31 years in the service.

JAMES FUNKHOUSER: When you lose a child it's always painful. And when you lose your only child, it is especially painful.

JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: I just want his name out there. You know? he was -- he was wonderful. He was a great soldier, a great guy, a great father, a great husband.

COSTELLO: But the attention given to tragedy involving the CBS news crew and her husband is somehow bittersweet because so many others die in relative anonymity.

JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: All of these soldier that are injured, my husband had a lot of soldiers that were injured with him. They all have names. They all have stories. They're people. They're not just a soldier. They have a life. They have a family, a family that mourns them, a family that hurts. Everyone needs to know.

COSTELLO: Jennifer says her husband was proud of what he was doing in Iraq, and now she will carry on.

JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: I'm a strong Army wife. My husband trained me to be one. I knew that I was marrying a soldier for life. And death. This is part of it.

COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: James Funkhouser Sr. says his son didn't like tears. So they'll celebrate his life with stories and songs. Look for more of Carol Costello's reports weekdays of "AMERICAN MORNING."

Offering your kidney to someone you don't even know. Up next, a donor explains her motivation for giving the gift of life.

Still to come, the last resort for some renters priced out of a home. Why Los Angeles area homeless shelters are a little more crowded these days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Would you go into surgery if you didn't have to? Well, thousands of people do to keep other people alive. It's the give and take of organ donations. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen gives you an inside look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... where we all take a moment now to extend our hand towards our sister Kathleen.

ELIZBETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the depths of winter, a woman prays. In the midst of summer, her prayers are finally answered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lord, we ask you to be with her every day of her life, but most especially this Tuesday.

COHEN: Tuesday is the day Kathleen Sampson (ph) has been praying for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You might feel a warm sensation going up your arm.

COHEN: After months of testing she's giving her kidney to someone who would die without it, someone she's never met.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Basically, here's my kidney, do what -- whatever's best. Give it to the best person. And this is just something that I want to do, and I'm hoping that it will have great results.

COHEN: She's not alone. There are 78,000 living donors, and nearly 400 of them are like Kathleen, giving to complete and total strangers.

DR. ROBERT MONTGOMERY, JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL: They realize that, hey, I've got two kidneys and really my body will function perfectly well with one kidney.

COHEN: Dr. Robert Montgomery will be performing her surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Kathleen's son Conner (ph) died several years ago when he was five. Conner died at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Kathleen is now here to give life where she'd lost it.

Thousands of people would love to get Kathleen's kidney. Some are so desperate they beg on Web sites. This huge demand has some people worried. In the rush to help those who need organs, will doctors be too quick to take them from generous people like Kathleen?

Our investigation found that surgeons have approved donors who some believe are highly questionable, children as young as ten, drug addicts, even people who were mentally ill.

ART CAPLAN, CTR. FOR BIOETHICS, U. OF PENN: I've seen anorexics give organs. I've seen people who are clearly depressed give organs. I've seen people come who have been accepted at programs who are morbidly obese. I've seen people come to programs who have had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: It is just remarkable. Elizabeth Cohen is joining us now to talk about her terrific hour that she has coming up on "CNN PRESENTS." That total strangers would do this for someone, what did you make of that?

COHEN: Right. We all knew when we started this project that people would give an organ to a spouse or give a kidney or part of a liver to their child but we weren't really familiar with these people who give organs to complete strangers, who just show up at a hospital and say, take my kidney, give it to whoever needs it most.

You met one of them who we followed in our documentary, Kathleen. There's another one. His name is Barry. He belongs to a religious organization, a very small one based out of Australia. And you see him here. He proselytizes around the world, a group called The Jesus Christians.

Most members of this group have given a kidney. The leader of the group has given a kidney. They say there's no coercion, they do it all of their own free will but they believe that's what the gospel preaches.

You see him here in Baltimore preaching the gospel with his Jesus Christian comic books, one of his colleagues playing the guitar. They feel like this is a religious conviction they have to give a kidney. He said, I have two, I'd like to give one.

LIN: But that is -- his group is banned in some places, is that right?

COHEN: Yes, there are some places in Australia that won't take them. They say this is a little strange, we think it's a little weird that your giving kidneys to people who you don't know and they worry about the coercion. So they won't allow it. In the United States, the surgeons at Johns Hopkins knew he was a member of the Jesus Christians. For example at the Mayo Clinic they knew he was a member of the religious group and they take them anyhow.

LIN: A whole take on this story that I never thought about. A full hour on this. Elizabeth, looking forward to it. If you want to find out more about the darker side of organ transplant, watch "CNN PRESENTS: Body Parts" in its entirety tomorrow as well as tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, and then again at 11:00.

Priced out of a home. Why it's getting harder to keep a roof over your head in Southern California. That's next.

At the top of the hour --

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi and we're "ON THE STORY." Jamie McIntyre on the story of the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha and whether U.S. Marines are to blame. Arwa Damon talks about working alongside those Marines and the dangers they face. All coming up "ON THE STORY."

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LIN: Everyone knows that real estate in Los Angeles is pricey. But it's skyrocketing rental rates in California that's created a new problem. Families priced out of a place to stay are winding up on the streets. Our Kareen Wynter reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This struggling single mother of four we'll call Mary.

MARY, HOMELESS MOTHER: This is where the incoming families come in.

WYNTER: Looks out of her room with a view.

MARY: How am I going to get out of here?

WYNTER: Still baffled at how she got here. Downtown Los Angeles's skid row. A far cry from the Long Beach, California, apartment she was forced to move from because of an unexpected rent increase, from $900 to $1200 a month.

MARY: I'll stand up against the window and watch the kids sleep. Wondering are they comfortable.

WYNTER: Comfortable in the cramped bedroom on the third floor of this emergency shelter they share with several families.

MARY: I just really can't believe of all the prosperous and successful things we have in California, how can we have a population that's more homeless than anything else?

WYNTER (on camera): Mary says she was literally priced out of her own community. She shopped around for other places to live but says the rent was high everywhere.

(voice-over): Ruth Schwartz heads a nonprofit organization for the homeless. Schwartz says their recent study found more than 8,000 families in the greater Los Angeles area on the streets each night without shelter, many of them pushed out of the housing market because of rising rent.

RUTH SCHWARTZ, SHELTER PARTNERSHIP: People are really in dire straits right now. That's why we're seeing more people, more families ending up without any home to call their own.

WYNTER: Schwartz says the housing market has always been high, but now more apartments are being converted into condos. She adds, state and federal funding haven't kept pace with the housing spike.

JACK KYSER, ECONOMIST: You've seen increases running at five to six percent all across the Southern California area. And in some areas you are seeing some new construction, but this is higher end apartments.

WYNTER: She doesn't have much. Still, Mary says she's fortunate to be in a shelter that provides all the resources to help families bounce back from hardship into homes they left behind.

MARY: It's a good thing, especially when there's no other options for a lot of people. To know at least I can eat and sleep, especially with our babies.

WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Hurricane season is officially under way. Up next, "ON THE STORY" takes a look at what you can expect this year.

Then at 8:00 eastern, "CNN PRESENTS: Body Parts" an in depth look at the unregulated world of transplant surgery. Then at 9:00 it's "LARRY KING LIVE." Tonight The Dixie Chicks talk about why they're once again taking on President Bush.

A check of the hour's headlines next, and then "ON THE STORY."

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