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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Iraqi Political Leaders Attempt to Put Together Government; Cease-Fire in Najaf Broken; America Marks Memorial Day

Aired May 31, 2004 - 22:00 ET

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

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper in for Aaron Brown.
This weekend the country dedicated a memorial to those who fought in the Second World War. At the ceremony, World War II vets were surrounded and not just by members of the media. They were mobbed by young people who wanted to know what war was like for them.

It was different, they said. The country knew who the enemy was and where he was and, after each battle, youngsters at home could stick a pin in a map knowing the war was that much closer to being over.

That is the difference, said those who were there. What never changes, they said, is this. Young people fight. Young people die and, if there's any justice to it all, any justice at all, old remain remember.

So, war begins the whip tonight, war and the challenges of putting a war-torn country back together. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Baghdad. He starts off with a headline -- Harris.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, amid more terrorist attacks, Iraqi political leaders try to put together a new interim government. Many of them say they're getting a crash course in the high pressure world of Washington politics.

COOPER: Next to the cease-fire that was until it wasn't anymore, CNN's Guy Raz now from the Iraqi town of Kufa on the video, Guy a headline please. Guy, if you can a headline please.

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via videophone): Anderson, as word begins to spread here at this U.S. military base in Najaf that for the first time in six weeks of fighting two U.S. soldiers were killed in a fierce gun battle with insurgents a little more than 24 hours ago, a somber mood -- Anderson.

COOPER: Guy Raz, back to you shortly.

Finally to the war in Afghanistan and some of the warriors who are fighting it, CNN's Ryan Chilcote is with a guard unit far from home tonight, Ryan the headline.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, soldiers from the Oklahoma National Guard paid tribute to their fellow soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II and the Korean War. These soldiers are here in Afghanistan on their longest deployment in almost 50 years -- Anderson.

COOPER: Back with all of you shortly.

Also on the program tonight, America marks Memorial Day this year with perhaps a bit more attention to its real meaning with more soldiers lost in Iraq almost every day.

Storms blasted the middle of the country leaving people mourning their losses and planning how to rebuild and there is much rebuilding to be done.

And we'll visit with an old soldier whose memories go back a long, long way, all that to come in the hour ahead.

We begin tonight with the problems of arranging a transfer of power in Iraq. Even as insurgents are trying their hardest to blow the place up there is a clock ticking you may remember, two deadlines in fact, one for the actual handover at the end of June the other for naming an interim government.

That deadline, well it came and went today. It was punctuated by gunfire in Najaf and Kufa and a bombing in Baghdad that killed four Iraqis, injured many more and rocked a very shaky capital.

From Baghdad tonight, CNN's Harris Whitbeck.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITBECK (voice-over): The car bomb went off on a busy road normally used by coalition officials and members of the Iraqi Governing Council as they transit the Green Zone, the part of Baghdad secured for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

It was the same area where another car bomb exploded two weeks ago killing the president of the Iraqi Governing Council. U.S. military officials at the scene said the attacks will not dissuade them from meeting the June 30 deadline.

COL. MIKE MURPHY, U.S. ARMY: I don't think this is going to slow down the progress of turning over sovereignty to the Iraqi government. I think we're firmly on track to do that.

WHITBECK: Some Iraqi government council members say they feel the U.S. also won't be dissuaded in trying to influence the makeup of the new interim government.

Over the weekend and into Monday, the council met, at times with U.S. and U.N. officials, at times on its own, trying to come up with Iraq's new interim president.

MAHMOUD OTHMAN, LEADING MEMBER OF I.G.C. (through translator): The United Nations was supposed to take a strong and independent role. We have not seen this and we think the Americans are the ones that are making the decisions. WHITBECK: Many council members are said to favor Gazi Yawar (ph) a Sunni tribal leader they say has great popular support. The U.N. and U.S. are said to favor another Sunni Adnan Pachachi, former foreign minister's son, nephew and son-in-law of former prime ministers of the pre-Saddam Iraq. Council members say what looks like a deadlock could be broken if a third name emerges.

(on camera): But whoever is chosen, like the rest of the interim government, might face a lack of credibility among the Iraqi population. Many know little about the mysterious and shifting process of choosing a government and many mistrust anything that might have a U.S. stamp of approval on it.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, at least five American soldiers have died in Iraq in the last 24 hours or so. Two were killed just south of Baghdad in Kufa where insurgents loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr were supposed to lay down their weapons and get out of town.

Instead, many have stayed on flaunting their RPGs and making themselves fair game for American forces. As negotiations for a new cease-fire continue, so does the fighting.

Here is CNN's Guy Raz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAZ (voice-over): This was supposed to be day three of a truce but, as a reconnaissance patrol from Task Force 237 approached the center of town, insurgents opened fire from a cemetery near the Kufa mosque. For well over an hour, 100 U.S. troops, tanks and armored carriers fought a pitched battle with fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Mehdi militia fighters remain holed up behind this wall of the Kufa cemetery. U.S. military officials believe at least 30 suspected insurgents were killed in this fight.

Rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire from the insurgents killed two U.S. soldiers as well the first time U.S. troops have fallen in battle here in six weeks of fighting. The truce declared by Sadr's militia is viewed with considerable skepticism among U.S. forces.

PFC NOAH FREEDMAN, TASK FORCE 237: I didn't expect the other side to be respecting the cease-fire. I figured out the other side would keep firing. I mean the first day of the cease-fire we took mortar fire here at this camp.

RAZ: Military commanders have temporarily suspended offensive operations. This is regarded as a defensive engagement.

LT. COL. PAT WHITE, TASK FORCE 237: We will continue to develop a situation in Kufa to get a feel for what's going on with the Mehdi Army and, at some point, Sadr's going to have to come out and tell the world and at least Najaf, this is the situation that I'm in.

Tell my guys to disarm and he's either going to have to disown the people in Kufa and say, hey those aren't my guys over there. My guys are all over here with me. Or, he's going to have to own up to it that those are Mehdi Army that are still inside that mosque with weapons, as you saw tonight.

RAZ: Six weeks since intense fighting broke out here, hundreds of insurgents have been killed. U.S. forces are hoping the latest fighting may finally force Muqtada al-Sadr's hand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAZ: And, Anderson, those clashes a little more than 24 hours ago killed up to 45 suspected insurgents in Kufa. Now, we understand that Shiite leaders from Baghdad have arrived in Najaf to try and negotiate or renegotiate, rather, a new truce.

Now, Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Shiite cleric, is calling on U.S. forces to end patrols in Najaf and Kufa. U.S. forces say that's simply impossible. It will create a power vacuum in those towns and could potentially lead to instability -- Anderson.

COOPER: Guy Raz reporting live from Kufa.

On to Saudi Arabia where the search is on for three suspected al Qaeda terrorists and funeral arrangements are being made for 22 of their victims. Many who died were westerners there to help the Saudis run their oil business.

It has made them a target. This was the second massacre in a month but, ugly as it was, the Saudis say it might have been even worse had they not allowed three of the killers to slip away, reporting for us from Dubai CNN's Carolyn Faraj.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROLYN FARAJ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The streets of Khobar in eastern Saudi Arabia, home to a number of western companies, witnessed one of the boldest terrorist attacks in the kingdom ever.

The 25-hour hostage situation ended with 22 killed and another 25 injured, four militants going door to door in a heavily guarded oil compound cutting throats and taking what they call infidels as hostages and leaving (unintelligible) behind.

Three militants wearing explosive belts were allowed to escape after threatening to blow up 242 hostages. They changed cars several times and eluded Saudi security forces.

Saudi official say they know who the three men are and will catch them sooner or later. A fourth attacker, they say, was seriously injured and being detained. The Jerusalem squadron, which claimed to be the al Qaeda group in the Arab peninsula said the fourth attacker was "martyred during the shootout."

On Web sites linked to al Qaeda, statements vow to continue the fighting within the kingdom. Al Qaeda wants the Saudi royal family overthrown and replaced with radical Islamic law, a threat of additional attacks renewing questions about whether the Saudis will ever be able to deliver on their promise of social and political reforms.

Carolyn Faraj CNN, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: With military operations ongoing in both Iraq and Afghanistan, National Guard units are being called on more and more to fill the military's active ranks. These citizen soldiers signed up for one weekend of service, a month plus two weeks per year. Now they're finding themselves far from home in combat zones with no clear idea of when their mission might end.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote spent this Memorial Day weekend with infantrymen from the Oklahoma National Guard in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE (voice-over): The Oklahomans make their way outside the wire. Last week one Norwegian soldier was killed, another wounded when their convoy was attacked just outside this fence.

Sergeant Chris Buckley, a convenience store manager back home, is in charge. He's married and has a child. When he gets home he's getting out. He wants the American dream back.

(on camera): What are you giving up being here?

SGT. CHRIS BUCKLEY, OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD: Giving up the income, family life, the good, normal everyday American job that is nice and secure to come over here and help these people out.

CHILCOTE (voice-over): Buckley said he had no idea how much of a commitment he was making when he signed up seven years ago.

BUCKLEY: We're all glad to put our time in for our country but there's only so much some people can take and some people, hey, we've had enough. We're glad to do this mission but we're ready to go home.

CHILCOTE: Lieutenant Khalid Hussein had just graduated from law school and was looking forward to getting a job when the unit was activated. He misses his wife.

LT. KHALID HUSSEIN, OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD: I think when you send guys overseas and you don't give them a -- you don't give them a date that shows them when they're coming back, I think that hurts morale and I think it's hard on the families back at home.

CHILCOTE: Specialist Dave Eaton, a medic, was an environmental safety expert and was on his way to graduate school. He figures this deployment costs him $30,000 a year in salary. He got out of the Guard once then was called back. Now he's been in so long he thinks he'll just stay.

SPC. DAVID EATON, OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD: Now, I've over the halfway point, so -- to retirement, so I might as well go ahead and stay in.

CHILCOTE: Later at a home for Afghan orphans, another group of Oklahoma Guardsmen hand out gifts, part of the military's campaign to win hearts and minds here, soldiers clearly enjoying the children. Still most would have preferred to spend Memorial Day weekend with family.

The military has always turned to the Guard and the Reserves in difficult times. This unit spent more consecutive days in combat than any other infantry unit in Korea and did long tours in Italy, France and Germany during World War II. Most of these soldiers only hope they won't be needed here much longer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE: The soldiers say they are happy to serve their country. That is why they are in the Guard. Their only concern is that they would like a bit of predictability considering that they are citizen soldiers and that they have left jobs and families back in the states.

Now in all fairness, the soldiers from this unit do know roughly when they're going to be back in the states. That's going to be in just a few months. The military says they don't know the exact date for security reasons.

Still, the concern among Guardsmen and Guardswomen about predictability, about when they're going to be getting back once they're already deployed and when their next very important deployment might be is a real one, particularly for the Guard units in Iraq right now. Some of them have been there for more than a year.

But in all fairness, this unit, for example, the 45th Infantry Brigade from Oklahoma, they spent almost five years during World War II moving from Italy to France to Germany liberating Dachau and in the Korean War this unit, a Guard unit, spent more consecutive days in combat than any other infantry unit in the Korean War -- Anderson.

COOPER: Interesting perspective on that. Ryan Chilcote thanks very much.

For a third year running, Memorial Day comes with the country at war and for the 136th year running since the very first Memorial Day, it comes at the end of the school year or the beginning of summer and all the rest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): You can see the face of Memorial Day here and here and here, remembrance and recreation and a reminder, as always, of the new normal. In New York, Fleet Week looks different. Liberty calls still but with fewer liberties this time.

At Arlington Cemetery and cemeteries across the country it feels different, no longer a field of faded memories of long ago, fresh ones, names we know, more than 800 so far.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In places like Kabul and Kandahar and Mosul and Baghdad we have seen their decency and their brave spirit.

Sergeant Major Michael Stack, who was laid to rest at Arlington, wore the uniform for 28 years and is remembered as a soldier's soldier. The sergeant major must have been quite a guy.

When he was a young platoon sergeant, the recruits gave him a nickname, "no slack Billy Jack Stack." By all accounts he was the kind of man you want in charge of a tough situation.

And by the account of his mother, he finished his goodbyes with these words. "Mom, I'm going because I believe in what I am doing and, if I don't come back, we will meet in a better place."

COOPER: Across the Potomac for the candidate, who as a young man was the most political of ex-soldiers, it was a moment to be just a soldier again.

And not far away at the newly-opened World War II Memorial perhaps the last chance for many simply to be soldiers again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in World War II in the infantry and I survived, had children and grandchildren and I think on Memorial Day about all the wonderful young men who aren't here.

COOPER: To be soldiers again and to hope for better Memorial Days to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll get the latest on an alleged conflict between Dick Cheney's current job, vice president, and his old one CEO of Halliburton.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fights for his peace plan with some help he really doesn't want.

And we'll meet a veteran of the great war, the war we fought to end all wars almost 100 years ago.

From New York this is a Memorial Day edition of NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: After every war comes reconstruction. The Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe after World War II. In Iraq, the bulk of the work has been parceled out to a handful of large contracting companies, including Halliburton, the company Vice President Dick Cheney used to run.

Mr. Cheney denies he was involved in the decision to award the work to Halliburton but a report by "Time" magazine raises new questions about that. At the center of the report, an internal Pentagon e-mail obtained by "Time."

Joining us now is "Time's" Timothy Burger. Timothy thanks for being on the show.

TIMOTHY BURGER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.

COOPER: What does the e-mail say? Why does it matter?

BURGER: It was interesting because, as you say, the vice president and his people have denied that he had any role in determining Halliburton contracts. This e-mail is the first concrete indication from inside the government that some people thought that his office had something to do with coordinating, as the e-mail says, action on this -- this secret contract which was let just before the war to have preparation to do some reconstruction then.

COOPER: So, the e-mail is from, we don't know, because it's been blacked out?

BURGER: It's within the Pentagon. It's an Army Corps of Engineers' official sent it to another Pentagon person.

COOPER: To Feith?

BURGER: Well, Feith is mentioned in the e-mail.

COOPER: OK.

BURGER: But both the recipient and the sender are blacked out in the document. I imagine their names may come out in the ensuring days.

COOPER: And specifically what is the line that has caused the attention, I mean that got your attention?

BURGER: What they're talking about is how the next day, Feith was probably going to sign off on this contract pending White House approval and then it goes on to say which should be no problem getting White House approval because action on the contract has been coordinated with the VP's office.

And, you know, the VP's office -- the Pentagon is saying well that, if anything, was just a heads up. The words in the e-mail are very interesting and certainly...

COOPER: Interesting, I mean because what the vice president's office is basically saying is they were just given a heads up because they knew this might be controversial because of the vice president's past association with Halliburton.

BURGER: Right. That's what the Pentagon position has been so far, very generally of course.

COOPER: You say the wording is interesting, why?

BURGER: Well, because it says -- it doesn't just say we gave Cheney a heads up, you know, because he might get some bad press out of this or it might be controversial. It doesn't say that. It says action on the contract has been coordinated with the vice president's office.

Now, maybe it's in the eye of the writer of the e-mail. Maybe they went a little overboard. I guess we'll have to look into that but the fact is this person who was senior enough in the government to have a Blackberry.

As I've been saying not everyone gets a Blackberry. It was written on a Blackberry. You know this person had the perception that action was somehow coordinated with Cheney's office. Now, what exactly does that mean? Was the vice president in the loop?

COOPER: Yes, because it's one -- I mean it's one of those things that you see and depending where you stand politically you can interpret it a myriad of different ways.

BURGER: You can, although again, you know, that's a little bit more than a heads up. Maybe this, you know, it remains to be seen exactly what this person meant, what they were informed of and that sort of thing but it's definitely a very pregnant e-mail.

COOPER: The other piece of -- and is something you're going to be following up on and trying to get more information about.

BURGER: We'll clearly be -- we'll clearly be keeping an eye on this and looking into it further if we can.

COOPER: The other piece of information, which I hadn't realized, about Cheney's continued connections in some way with Halliburton. Explain how that works.

BURGER: Right. Well, when he left Halliburton to run for vice president with President Bush he left the company. He sold off a lot of stock. He assigned remaining Halliburton stock options to charity but one thing that continues to shadow him is there's litigation arising from the time he was CEO of Halliburton.

COOPER: (Unintelligible.)

BURGER: Various lawsuits. In this case, there's a lawsuit by actually the organization that I got the e-mail from that is suing them over various charges.

And what the other part of our story was is that Halliburton indemnity insurance is covering some of Cheney's legal bills and, if there's a lot more legal action that Cheney has to deal with regarding his service at Halliburton, he should be covered for that.

COOPER: Interesting. Interesting story in "Time" magazine, Timothy Burger thanks very much.

BURGER: Thank you.

COOPER: Well, a few other stories making news around the country tonight.

In much of the Midwest, Memorial Day was spent cleaning up after two days of severe weather. One hundred seventy-five tornadoes were reported. At least eight people died. Today the storm system moved east and south producing heavy rain from Louisiana to New England.

In Seattle, a smoky fire stopped a monorail as firefighters evacuated holiday passengers to another train and downed ladders from a story up in the air. At this time we have no word of injuries.

And, after 12 weeks of jury selection, the double murder trial of Scott Peterson begins tomorrow in California. Prosecutors have had more than a year to prepare their case. They plan to call hundreds of witnesses, the trial expected to last five months or longer.

And finally, Martha Stewart, "Newsweek" magazine reporting that the lifestyle guru hopes to avoid prison time or at least lessen her prison time by volunteering to help poor women start their own businesses.

Ms. Stewart was convicted in March of obstructing a government investigation into her sales of ImClone stock and faces sentencing on June 17th. This week her lawyers are expected to argue that her conviction is tainted by the false testimony of a government witness.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has a plan for peace in Gaza if he can only get his own party to approve it.

From around the world this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: In the Middle East tonight, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is facing a growing rebellion within his Likud Party, fueling the backlash, Mr. Sharon's plan for withdrawing Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

The plan was overwhelmingly rejected in a vote earlier this month causing Mr. Sharon to revise it. The new plan didn't go over well at a cabinet meeting yesterday. Today the prime minister turned to his party's lawmakers.

Here's CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From one battle to the next, Ariel Sharon's already facing defeat in the cabinet room and as he met with his Likud Party's members of parliament his prospects here are looking just as grim. ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I came here today especially to present to the faction members the new plan.

VAUSE: But the new plan is very much like the old ending with a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, 7,500 Jewish settlers evacuated, and a pullout of Israeli troops.

The rank and file party members said no to the plan in a referendum almost a month ago. Ariel Sharon and his closest deputy now acknowledge putting it up for a vote was a tactical blunder.

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI VICE PRIME MINISTER: It was a mistake but we have to correct this mistake not to change policies.

VAUSE: A mistake because now the elected members of Likud must choose between the wishes of their party or supporting their embattled prime minister whose own political survival is at stake.

OLMERT: He has put himself on the -- on the line and this is not a joke. This is a very, very serious game.

VAUSE: And in the midst of this political turmoil, the prime minister's old foe Yasser Arafat appeared on Israeli television offering his conditional support to the Gaza disengagement.

YASSER ARAFAT, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): I said it clearly before. We are ready to take over but I want to ask when they will pull out will they pull out completely?

VAUSE: Yasser Arafat is probably the one person whose backing Ariel Sharon could without.

(on camera): The disengagement plan has now gone from a matter of when to a question of if the Israeli prime minister can get the support he needs. Those close to him say he'll put it to a cabinet vote within days.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Still to come on NEWSNIGHT tonight, memories of a war long past from someone who was there in the trenches.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, there is triumph in living to be 103 years old, satisfaction as well, but something else, too. Imagine living long enough to learn over and over again that the war you fought in, the war to end wars, in fact did nothing of the kind, the bitter with the sweet.

Here is CNN's Bruce Morton. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frank Buckles is 103 now. He left his Missouri farm home when he was 16 in order to serve in World War I.

FRANK BUCKLES, WORLD WAR I VETERAN: I wanted to be part of it. To participate.

MORTON: The marines were suspicious, but the army signed him up, trained him as an ambulance driver and sent him first to Scotland. They had all been issued hatchets. The Scots stared.

BUCKLES: They'd say, oh, American Indians. See how they all have a tommy hawk. MORTON: He got to France, saw suffering.

BUCKLES: The great loss of people, both soldiers and civilians who were affected by the tragedy of the war. And they felt that this would be the last war. Every family had a loss.

MORTON: As the war ended, he was guarding German prisoners.

BUCKLES: Every evening after the day's work was done, the Germans would have a concert with--some of them were instruments that they had made themselves.

MORTON: Escorting the prisoners back to Germany, they were told don't fraternize, but they did, of course.

BUCKLES: The German people seemed to treat us nicely. Everybody remarked about that.

MORTON: Buckles had bad luck in World War II. A civilian businessman in the Philippines he was captured by the Japanese. Toward the end of the war, they thought they would be killed.

BUCKLES: What are you going to do with the prisoners? At roll call, we're going to finish them off.

MORTON: But American paratroopers rescued them in time.

BUCKLES: That's when the skies opened up and the angels dropped from the sky.

MORTON: Buckles lives quietly now in Charles Town, West Virginia. He's seen much history. What does he make of the U.S. role today?

BUCKLES: I think we make a great mistake in trying to settle the problems on our own. That bothers me. That bothers me very much.

MORTON: Frank Buckles, at 103.

Bruce Morton, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Tonight, a new generation of soldiers is walking in the footsteps of Frank Buckles, a different time, a different war. More than 800 Americans have been killed in Iraq since the war began. They were remembered this Memorial Day weekend, along with veterans of past wars.

But in California, for the past six months, their sacrifice has been marked every week on beaches. The idea, simple. Every Sunday morning, volunteers set up crosses in the sand. At the end of the day, they take them down, a reminder to all who pass by of lives lost.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN SHERRILL, VETERANS FOR PEACE: The Vets For Peace adopted this as a nationwide project. First and foremost and above all else, it is to honor and memorialize those who have given their lives in service to our country. We have a group of about a dozen or so volunteers that show up every Sunday. And it turned out to be something that is pretty much of an institution near Santa Barbara.

LANE ANDERSON, VIETNAM VETERAN: They were trained to stand in rank and file. And we want them to be -- we want the symbols of -- their symbols to be upright.

SHERRILL: We started painting all the crosses and then we started laying out the grid to get all the rows and columns straight. It is more beautiful if it is laid out very carefully and neatly and it shows the care put into creating the memorial.

Many of us don't think that these brave young men and women who have given their lives in service to our country have been adequately recognized and honored by this government. And we think it is very important that people do realize the price that we're paying for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. We want to bring all of the people and all of the perspectives together to create respectful conversation and dialogue. And from that, we'll build trust.

We don't tell people what they're supposed to think of this. It means different things to different people. And each person will react to it in his or her own way. But the purpose is to stimulate thought and to encourage conversation.

RICHARD NELSON, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I think it should be put into your heart, the fact that these men fell for us. These are all people that should be thought of constantly. These are the boys who lose their lives right now, which is to me very sad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, before we go to break, a couple of other items, starting with oil prices. They are rising again in the wake of the attack in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. Crude futures topped $40 a barrel in trading on Asian markets today, which is actually tomorrow.

Back home, markets were closed for Memorial Day. Cheaper oil was supposed to give them a boost. Now we'll see. Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll take an in-depth look at John Kerry's time in Vietnam.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: You can count on war to become part of any presidential campaign. And so it has again. Military experience has been John Kerry's calling card in this presidential race. As we saw earlier in the program, Senator Kerry visited the Vietnam War Memorial today. He answered the call to serve in 1965, with thousands of young Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know something about aircraft carriers for real.

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): John Kerry joined the Navy in 1966 right out of college. He volunteered, telling his Yale classmates at graduation, "We are all entitled to choose our own battle." In Vietnam, John Kerry would find his. He would reach Vietnam at the end of 1968, after training to command a 50-foot high- speed patrol craft known as a swift boat.

KERRY: I am running to be the 44th president of the United States and I was on the 44th boat. I think that's pretty good sign.

BROWN: In December of '68, then 25, Lieutenant Junior Grade John Kerry took charge of swift boat No. 44. His assignment, to disrupt enemy supply lines in the Mekong Delta.

KERRY: We were running up and down the rivers in the Mekong Delta doing search-and-destroy missions and ambushes, taking troops in, doing sweeps through the area. But at all times, we were moving within the rivers within the Delta and very much targets of opportunity for ambush by the Viet Cong.

BROWN: Over the next four months, Kerry would lead two different crews, a band of brothers, many who are now seen flanking him on the campaign trail.

KERRY: And I want you all to say hello to the guy who was on one of the boats with me over there, Steve Hatch.

Stand up, man. Thank you.

BROWN: And they are among his most devoted supporters.

DEL SANDUSKY, VIETNAM VETERAN: I was with John Kerry when we got all of our metals. I know what kind of warrior he is.

BROWN: Del Sandusky was the driver of Kerry's second swift boat, No. 94. The five-man crew was more battle-tested than their commander, Kerry. Still, Kerry had already earned one Purple Heart for being slightly wounded in his first combat experience. SANDUSKY: One of the things he and I agreed on was the idea in chess that offense is the best defense. If we were shot at, John immediately went to where the guns were shooting from.

MICHAEL MEDEIROS, VIETNAM VETERAN: He seemed to be able to analyze the situation and make quick decisions.

BROWN: Gunner and radio man Mike Medeiros says their noisy boat could be heard a mile away. On patrol, the crew often felt like sitting ducks.

MEDEIROS: You expected an ambush. It actually became easier when they started firing at you, because you could release that tension. And you said, OK, now we're getting fired at. Now we know what to do.

BROWN: On the 20th of February, 1969, Kerry's crew was one of six boats on a 15-mile trip to an outpost around the southern point of Vietnam, an uneventful trip until a rocket-propelled grenade struck the port side of the ship. Kerry took a shrapnel wound to the left leg and was awarded his second Purple Heart. Eight days later, the swift boat came under heavy fire after dropping off some troops. And Kerry decided in a departure from Navy policy to beach his boat and go after the main enemy sniper.

SANDUSKY: John immediately assessed it and knew that somebody has got to go get this guy, because we can't just keep shooting at him with rifles and pistols. Sooner or later, he is going to launch a B- 40 rocket at us.

MEDEIROS: We beached the boat in front of a guy with the rocket launcher. He was in one of these spider holes.

SANDUSKY: No matter what it took, John was going to get him, because if we tried to retreat or do anything else, right, this guy was going to launch a rocket at us and we would have went up like a Roman candle.

MEDEIROS: Lieutenant Kerry had jumped off the boat with an M-16 and followed the man. So I immediately grabbed -- had my M-16 in my hand. I jumped off the boat and followed him.

BROWN: The Viet Cong gunman ran around 30 yards and had set up his rocket launcher when John Kerry shot him.

KERRY: It was him or me. I wouldn't be standing here today if it had been otherwise.

BROWN: For his actions that day, Kerry was awarded a Silver Star, the Navy's third highest combat award. But there was more dangers in the waters around Vietnam.

MEDEIROS: You go up. You're a big target. They shoot at you. You go around in circles. You shoot back. And then you break contact. You never know whether or not you're accomplishing anything. BROWN: During firefights, Kerry and Sandusky, unable to hear each other, would often use hand signals. And that's what they were doing on the 13th of March, 1969, as one of four other boats in their convoy struck a mine. The battle was joined. And when Kerry directed Sandusky to make a sharp turn, a special forces soldier riding with them fell in the water.

MEDEIROS: I saw him go over the side. I yelled, man overboard. So we had a firefight going on. We had a friendly soldier in the water and we had disabled boat to take care of.

BROWN: That soldier, Jim Rassmann, was swimming as much as he could under water, trying to duck the enemy gunfire. Kerry ordered his boat to the rescue. Another mine detonated, Kerry's right arm wounded. Then his swift boat came around to find Rassmann.

SANDUSKY: John, shot and bleeding, laid down and pulled up Rassmann by his belt. Rassmann was pulling himself, but he couldn't get up over the bow of the boat because he was full of water.

BROWN: The two men did not see each other again for 35 years, reunited in Iowa.

JIM RASSMANN, VIETNAM VETERAN: He helped me over that bow and I was saved and we were able to get away.

BROWN: Having earned three Purple Hearts for his three wounds, John Kerry was eligible to leave Vietnam and he did.

Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, Aaron talks with a man who is usually seen on the radio.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right, so he's going to kill me for stealing his act and his fans may kill me for butchering it as well. But here goes nothing. Before hip-hop was hip and rappers riffed and Eminem Slim- Shadyo, a dapper chap at CBS was rhyming on the radio. His name is Osgood and, man, he's good. He's host of "Sunday Morning." He has got a memoir out these days. He says he'll do some touring. It is short and sweet and tells of life when World War II was warring.

He spoke with Aaron back last week. The conversation strayed. We forgot the book. Still, take a look. You'll enjoy it anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We were talking just before we walked in to sit down and actually do this about television and watching television and radio and could we get by without television. And, in fact, of course, people did get by without television at very important times, including you in your youth.

CHARLES OSGOOD, CBS NEWS: Absolutely. In fact, I have always said that if television was invented first, and then radio would come along and people would say, this is great. You don't have to look at it.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Do you remember listening to the great events of your youth on the radio?

OSGOOD: Absolutely.

In fact, the way you got the news during World War II was, first of all, from the newspaper. And I delivered "The Baltimore Sun" in my neighborhood. You would walk down the street with the newspapers under your arm, look at the front page, fold up the paper and then throw it on the porch. That's where I learned the importance of accuracy in journalism.

And from there, there were not newscasts throughout the day. And of course there was no television. I might have fantasized about going into television if it existed, but there was no such thing. And then that night around 7:00 or so, you would listen to people like Lowell Thomas and Gabriel Heatter and Ed Murrow. And these voices were so familiar.

And they gave you a 15-minute roundup of the -- what was happening in the war, in the Pacific theater, in the European theater, and on the home front. And that's the way you got it. So you didn't -- you didn't cover the war skirmish by skirmish. It was not every time a hand grenade was thrown was it a separate news story.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Do you think that distorts our sense of events, the -- Lord knows we participate in it -- the saturation coverage that we give virtually everything, from the really important to, frankly, the trivial?

OSGOOD: Yes. I think it is a great blessing that we have so many sources of news and there are differences between the approaches of the news that we get.

But I do think that, when it is continuous, you would think that would give you an opportunity to do more comprehensive kinds of coverage. But I think there is an obsession with reporting what just happened. And a day after it happened, then at least inside the news establishment, there is a sense of, well, that's yesterday's story. And so you got to -- you wait for the new thing.

And I think what that produces in a war situation is that whatever the most awful thing that has happened in -- within the last hour, that's what you report.

BROWN: If the "Sunday Morning" hadn't come along, would you still be working?

OSGOOD: I would still be working in radio, sure.

BROWN: Yes.

OSGOOD: Sure.

BROWN: So it wasn't necessary? You didn't feel like the need to do television?

OSGOOD: I had done quite a lot of television over the years.

BROWN: Yes.

OSGOOD: I had done reporting, end pieces usually on -- during the Cronkite years and for several years for Dan Rather as well. But I never considered myself a television guy who happened to do some radio. I was a radio guy who happened to do a television show.

BROWN: When you walk through the halls of CBS News, how do you think people see you? How do the kids there see you?

OSGOOD: I feel very blessed to be there. I think it is, you know -- I have had an opportunity to work with some of best people ever to work in this business.

BROWN: It's unbelievable the people you've worked with.

OSGOOD: Yes, absolutely.

And to know that, when you're walking down the hall that, oh, that's Eric Sevareid in here. That's Walter Cronkite.

BROWN: Do you think that our business can produce a Charlie Osgood now?

OSGOOD: Oh, I expect so, oh, and probably not, not a Charlie Osgood. Nor should it.

I think it is a little -- people sometimes have said -- I've been involved with classical music pretty much all my life. And people will say, you know, why don't they write Mozart symphonies anymore or Beethoven symphonies? Well, because when Mozart died, there weren't any more of those. And things continue to change.

There is also a great temptation when you succeed someone like Kuralt, because he had such a distinctive style, to imitate him, to try to be Charles Kuralt when you are standing in that particular spot. But I've tried to avoid that. I learned a lot from Charles about respect of the audience and all of that.

BROWN: You came to the job with a personality. What would have been I think ungodly horrible or intimidating would be to be a 26- year-old guy who really had -- or woman -- who found himself to succeed someone like Kuralt or Mr. Cronkite, for that matter. That would have been hard. But you came to the job as -- you knew who Charlie Osgood was.

OSGOOD: I think so.

BROWN: Yes.

OSGOOD: It took a few weeks to sort of shake down the willies that you get doing a new thing that you know is attracting attention. And you also have the feeling, which I have never quite shaken that -- I've been it now for 38 years -- you still sort of feel as if you're really auditioning and one of those days, they're find out about you and let you go.

BROWN: It's wonderful to see you again.

OSGOOD: It's great to see you, Aaron. Good luck to you.

BROWN: Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Now, still ahead, we'll wrap up things for tonight and take a look at tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: A look now at what's coming up tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING" from Bill Hemmer -- Bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, thank you.

Tomorrow morning on "AMERICAN MORNING," busting "The da Vinci Code." One of the most respected biblical scholars you'll find anywhere, Harold Attridge, the Yale School of Divinity. He takes on the details of this best-selling novel, explains why maybe you should not believe everything you read. His views tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. Eastern time right here on "AMERICAN MORNING." Hope to see you then -- Anderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: All right, Bill, thanks very much.

Aaron Brown will be back tomorrow night. Thanks for joining me on NEWSNIGHT. I'll see you on "360" tomorrow.

Good night.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Aired May 31, 2004 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper in for Aaron Brown.
This weekend the country dedicated a memorial to those who fought in the Second World War. At the ceremony, World War II vets were surrounded and not just by members of the media. They were mobbed by young people who wanted to know what war was like for them.

It was different, they said. The country knew who the enemy was and where he was and, after each battle, youngsters at home could stick a pin in a map knowing the war was that much closer to being over.

That is the difference, said those who were there. What never changes, they said, is this. Young people fight. Young people die and, if there's any justice to it all, any justice at all, old remain remember.

So, war begins the whip tonight, war and the challenges of putting a war-torn country back together. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Baghdad. He starts off with a headline -- Harris.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, amid more terrorist attacks, Iraqi political leaders try to put together a new interim government. Many of them say they're getting a crash course in the high pressure world of Washington politics.

COOPER: Next to the cease-fire that was until it wasn't anymore, CNN's Guy Raz now from the Iraqi town of Kufa on the video, Guy a headline please. Guy, if you can a headline please.

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via videophone): Anderson, as word begins to spread here at this U.S. military base in Najaf that for the first time in six weeks of fighting two U.S. soldiers were killed in a fierce gun battle with insurgents a little more than 24 hours ago, a somber mood -- Anderson.

COOPER: Guy Raz, back to you shortly.

Finally to the war in Afghanistan and some of the warriors who are fighting it, CNN's Ryan Chilcote is with a guard unit far from home tonight, Ryan the headline.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, soldiers from the Oklahoma National Guard paid tribute to their fellow soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II and the Korean War. These soldiers are here in Afghanistan on their longest deployment in almost 50 years -- Anderson.

COOPER: Back with all of you shortly.

Also on the program tonight, America marks Memorial Day this year with perhaps a bit more attention to its real meaning with more soldiers lost in Iraq almost every day.

Storms blasted the middle of the country leaving people mourning their losses and planning how to rebuild and there is much rebuilding to be done.

And we'll visit with an old soldier whose memories go back a long, long way, all that to come in the hour ahead.

We begin tonight with the problems of arranging a transfer of power in Iraq. Even as insurgents are trying their hardest to blow the place up there is a clock ticking you may remember, two deadlines in fact, one for the actual handover at the end of June the other for naming an interim government.

That deadline, well it came and went today. It was punctuated by gunfire in Najaf and Kufa and a bombing in Baghdad that killed four Iraqis, injured many more and rocked a very shaky capital.

From Baghdad tonight, CNN's Harris Whitbeck.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITBECK (voice-over): The car bomb went off on a busy road normally used by coalition officials and members of the Iraqi Governing Council as they transit the Green Zone, the part of Baghdad secured for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

It was the same area where another car bomb exploded two weeks ago killing the president of the Iraqi Governing Council. U.S. military officials at the scene said the attacks will not dissuade them from meeting the June 30 deadline.

COL. MIKE MURPHY, U.S. ARMY: I don't think this is going to slow down the progress of turning over sovereignty to the Iraqi government. I think we're firmly on track to do that.

WHITBECK: Some Iraqi government council members say they feel the U.S. also won't be dissuaded in trying to influence the makeup of the new interim government.

Over the weekend and into Monday, the council met, at times with U.S. and U.N. officials, at times on its own, trying to come up with Iraq's new interim president.

MAHMOUD OTHMAN, LEADING MEMBER OF I.G.C. (through translator): The United Nations was supposed to take a strong and independent role. We have not seen this and we think the Americans are the ones that are making the decisions. WHITBECK: Many council members are said to favor Gazi Yawar (ph) a Sunni tribal leader they say has great popular support. The U.N. and U.S. are said to favor another Sunni Adnan Pachachi, former foreign minister's son, nephew and son-in-law of former prime ministers of the pre-Saddam Iraq. Council members say what looks like a deadlock could be broken if a third name emerges.

(on camera): But whoever is chosen, like the rest of the interim government, might face a lack of credibility among the Iraqi population. Many know little about the mysterious and shifting process of choosing a government and many mistrust anything that might have a U.S. stamp of approval on it.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, at least five American soldiers have died in Iraq in the last 24 hours or so. Two were killed just south of Baghdad in Kufa where insurgents loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr were supposed to lay down their weapons and get out of town.

Instead, many have stayed on flaunting their RPGs and making themselves fair game for American forces. As negotiations for a new cease-fire continue, so does the fighting.

Here is CNN's Guy Raz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAZ (voice-over): This was supposed to be day three of a truce but, as a reconnaissance patrol from Task Force 237 approached the center of town, insurgents opened fire from a cemetery near the Kufa mosque. For well over an hour, 100 U.S. troops, tanks and armored carriers fought a pitched battle with fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Mehdi militia fighters remain holed up behind this wall of the Kufa cemetery. U.S. military officials believe at least 30 suspected insurgents were killed in this fight.

Rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire from the insurgents killed two U.S. soldiers as well the first time U.S. troops have fallen in battle here in six weeks of fighting. The truce declared by Sadr's militia is viewed with considerable skepticism among U.S. forces.

PFC NOAH FREEDMAN, TASK FORCE 237: I didn't expect the other side to be respecting the cease-fire. I figured out the other side would keep firing. I mean the first day of the cease-fire we took mortar fire here at this camp.

RAZ: Military commanders have temporarily suspended offensive operations. This is regarded as a defensive engagement.

LT. COL. PAT WHITE, TASK FORCE 237: We will continue to develop a situation in Kufa to get a feel for what's going on with the Mehdi Army and, at some point, Sadr's going to have to come out and tell the world and at least Najaf, this is the situation that I'm in.

Tell my guys to disarm and he's either going to have to disown the people in Kufa and say, hey those aren't my guys over there. My guys are all over here with me. Or, he's going to have to own up to it that those are Mehdi Army that are still inside that mosque with weapons, as you saw tonight.

RAZ: Six weeks since intense fighting broke out here, hundreds of insurgents have been killed. U.S. forces are hoping the latest fighting may finally force Muqtada al-Sadr's hand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAZ: And, Anderson, those clashes a little more than 24 hours ago killed up to 45 suspected insurgents in Kufa. Now, we understand that Shiite leaders from Baghdad have arrived in Najaf to try and negotiate or renegotiate, rather, a new truce.

Now, Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Shiite cleric, is calling on U.S. forces to end patrols in Najaf and Kufa. U.S. forces say that's simply impossible. It will create a power vacuum in those towns and could potentially lead to instability -- Anderson.

COOPER: Guy Raz reporting live from Kufa.

On to Saudi Arabia where the search is on for three suspected al Qaeda terrorists and funeral arrangements are being made for 22 of their victims. Many who died were westerners there to help the Saudis run their oil business.

It has made them a target. This was the second massacre in a month but, ugly as it was, the Saudis say it might have been even worse had they not allowed three of the killers to slip away, reporting for us from Dubai CNN's Carolyn Faraj.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROLYN FARAJ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The streets of Khobar in eastern Saudi Arabia, home to a number of western companies, witnessed one of the boldest terrorist attacks in the kingdom ever.

The 25-hour hostage situation ended with 22 killed and another 25 injured, four militants going door to door in a heavily guarded oil compound cutting throats and taking what they call infidels as hostages and leaving (unintelligible) behind.

Three militants wearing explosive belts were allowed to escape after threatening to blow up 242 hostages. They changed cars several times and eluded Saudi security forces.

Saudi official say they know who the three men are and will catch them sooner or later. A fourth attacker, they say, was seriously injured and being detained. The Jerusalem squadron, which claimed to be the al Qaeda group in the Arab peninsula said the fourth attacker was "martyred during the shootout."

On Web sites linked to al Qaeda, statements vow to continue the fighting within the kingdom. Al Qaeda wants the Saudi royal family overthrown and replaced with radical Islamic law, a threat of additional attacks renewing questions about whether the Saudis will ever be able to deliver on their promise of social and political reforms.

Carolyn Faraj CNN, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: With military operations ongoing in both Iraq and Afghanistan, National Guard units are being called on more and more to fill the military's active ranks. These citizen soldiers signed up for one weekend of service, a month plus two weeks per year. Now they're finding themselves far from home in combat zones with no clear idea of when their mission might end.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote spent this Memorial Day weekend with infantrymen from the Oklahoma National Guard in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE (voice-over): The Oklahomans make their way outside the wire. Last week one Norwegian soldier was killed, another wounded when their convoy was attacked just outside this fence.

Sergeant Chris Buckley, a convenience store manager back home, is in charge. He's married and has a child. When he gets home he's getting out. He wants the American dream back.

(on camera): What are you giving up being here?

SGT. CHRIS BUCKLEY, OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD: Giving up the income, family life, the good, normal everyday American job that is nice and secure to come over here and help these people out.

CHILCOTE (voice-over): Buckley said he had no idea how much of a commitment he was making when he signed up seven years ago.

BUCKLEY: We're all glad to put our time in for our country but there's only so much some people can take and some people, hey, we've had enough. We're glad to do this mission but we're ready to go home.

CHILCOTE: Lieutenant Khalid Hussein had just graduated from law school and was looking forward to getting a job when the unit was activated. He misses his wife.

LT. KHALID HUSSEIN, OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD: I think when you send guys overseas and you don't give them a -- you don't give them a date that shows them when they're coming back, I think that hurts morale and I think it's hard on the families back at home.

CHILCOTE: Specialist Dave Eaton, a medic, was an environmental safety expert and was on his way to graduate school. He figures this deployment costs him $30,000 a year in salary. He got out of the Guard once then was called back. Now he's been in so long he thinks he'll just stay.

SPC. DAVID EATON, OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD: Now, I've over the halfway point, so -- to retirement, so I might as well go ahead and stay in.

CHILCOTE: Later at a home for Afghan orphans, another group of Oklahoma Guardsmen hand out gifts, part of the military's campaign to win hearts and minds here, soldiers clearly enjoying the children. Still most would have preferred to spend Memorial Day weekend with family.

The military has always turned to the Guard and the Reserves in difficult times. This unit spent more consecutive days in combat than any other infantry unit in Korea and did long tours in Italy, France and Germany during World War II. Most of these soldiers only hope they won't be needed here much longer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE: The soldiers say they are happy to serve their country. That is why they are in the Guard. Their only concern is that they would like a bit of predictability considering that they are citizen soldiers and that they have left jobs and families back in the states.

Now in all fairness, the soldiers from this unit do know roughly when they're going to be back in the states. That's going to be in just a few months. The military says they don't know the exact date for security reasons.

Still, the concern among Guardsmen and Guardswomen about predictability, about when they're going to be getting back once they're already deployed and when their next very important deployment might be is a real one, particularly for the Guard units in Iraq right now. Some of them have been there for more than a year.

But in all fairness, this unit, for example, the 45th Infantry Brigade from Oklahoma, they spent almost five years during World War II moving from Italy to France to Germany liberating Dachau and in the Korean War this unit, a Guard unit, spent more consecutive days in combat than any other infantry unit in the Korean War -- Anderson.

COOPER: Interesting perspective on that. Ryan Chilcote thanks very much.

For a third year running, Memorial Day comes with the country at war and for the 136th year running since the very first Memorial Day, it comes at the end of the school year or the beginning of summer and all the rest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): You can see the face of Memorial Day here and here and here, remembrance and recreation and a reminder, as always, of the new normal. In New York, Fleet Week looks different. Liberty calls still but with fewer liberties this time.

At Arlington Cemetery and cemeteries across the country it feels different, no longer a field of faded memories of long ago, fresh ones, names we know, more than 800 so far.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In places like Kabul and Kandahar and Mosul and Baghdad we have seen their decency and their brave spirit.

Sergeant Major Michael Stack, who was laid to rest at Arlington, wore the uniform for 28 years and is remembered as a soldier's soldier. The sergeant major must have been quite a guy.

When he was a young platoon sergeant, the recruits gave him a nickname, "no slack Billy Jack Stack." By all accounts he was the kind of man you want in charge of a tough situation.

And by the account of his mother, he finished his goodbyes with these words. "Mom, I'm going because I believe in what I am doing and, if I don't come back, we will meet in a better place."

COOPER: Across the Potomac for the candidate, who as a young man was the most political of ex-soldiers, it was a moment to be just a soldier again.

And not far away at the newly-opened World War II Memorial perhaps the last chance for many simply to be soldiers again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in World War II in the infantry and I survived, had children and grandchildren and I think on Memorial Day about all the wonderful young men who aren't here.

COOPER: To be soldiers again and to hope for better Memorial Days to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll get the latest on an alleged conflict between Dick Cheney's current job, vice president, and his old one CEO of Halliburton.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fights for his peace plan with some help he really doesn't want.

And we'll meet a veteran of the great war, the war we fought to end all wars almost 100 years ago.

From New York this is a Memorial Day edition of NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: After every war comes reconstruction. The Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe after World War II. In Iraq, the bulk of the work has been parceled out to a handful of large contracting companies, including Halliburton, the company Vice President Dick Cheney used to run.

Mr. Cheney denies he was involved in the decision to award the work to Halliburton but a report by "Time" magazine raises new questions about that. At the center of the report, an internal Pentagon e-mail obtained by "Time."

Joining us now is "Time's" Timothy Burger. Timothy thanks for being on the show.

TIMOTHY BURGER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.

COOPER: What does the e-mail say? Why does it matter?

BURGER: It was interesting because, as you say, the vice president and his people have denied that he had any role in determining Halliburton contracts. This e-mail is the first concrete indication from inside the government that some people thought that his office had something to do with coordinating, as the e-mail says, action on this -- this secret contract which was let just before the war to have preparation to do some reconstruction then.

COOPER: So, the e-mail is from, we don't know, because it's been blacked out?

BURGER: It's within the Pentagon. It's an Army Corps of Engineers' official sent it to another Pentagon person.

COOPER: To Feith?

BURGER: Well, Feith is mentioned in the e-mail.

COOPER: OK.

BURGER: But both the recipient and the sender are blacked out in the document. I imagine their names may come out in the ensuring days.

COOPER: And specifically what is the line that has caused the attention, I mean that got your attention?

BURGER: What they're talking about is how the next day, Feith was probably going to sign off on this contract pending White House approval and then it goes on to say which should be no problem getting White House approval because action on the contract has been coordinated with the VP's office.

And, you know, the VP's office -- the Pentagon is saying well that, if anything, was just a heads up. The words in the e-mail are very interesting and certainly...

COOPER: Interesting, I mean because what the vice president's office is basically saying is they were just given a heads up because they knew this might be controversial because of the vice president's past association with Halliburton.

BURGER: Right. That's what the Pentagon position has been so far, very generally of course.

COOPER: You say the wording is interesting, why?

BURGER: Well, because it says -- it doesn't just say we gave Cheney a heads up, you know, because he might get some bad press out of this or it might be controversial. It doesn't say that. It says action on the contract has been coordinated with the vice president's office.

Now, maybe it's in the eye of the writer of the e-mail. Maybe they went a little overboard. I guess we'll have to look into that but the fact is this person who was senior enough in the government to have a Blackberry.

As I've been saying not everyone gets a Blackberry. It was written on a Blackberry. You know this person had the perception that action was somehow coordinated with Cheney's office. Now, what exactly does that mean? Was the vice president in the loop?

COOPER: Yes, because it's one -- I mean it's one of those things that you see and depending where you stand politically you can interpret it a myriad of different ways.

BURGER: You can, although again, you know, that's a little bit more than a heads up. Maybe this, you know, it remains to be seen exactly what this person meant, what they were informed of and that sort of thing but it's definitely a very pregnant e-mail.

COOPER: The other piece of -- and is something you're going to be following up on and trying to get more information about.

BURGER: We'll clearly be -- we'll clearly be keeping an eye on this and looking into it further if we can.

COOPER: The other piece of information, which I hadn't realized, about Cheney's continued connections in some way with Halliburton. Explain how that works.

BURGER: Right. Well, when he left Halliburton to run for vice president with President Bush he left the company. He sold off a lot of stock. He assigned remaining Halliburton stock options to charity but one thing that continues to shadow him is there's litigation arising from the time he was CEO of Halliburton.

COOPER: (Unintelligible.)

BURGER: Various lawsuits. In this case, there's a lawsuit by actually the organization that I got the e-mail from that is suing them over various charges.

And what the other part of our story was is that Halliburton indemnity insurance is covering some of Cheney's legal bills and, if there's a lot more legal action that Cheney has to deal with regarding his service at Halliburton, he should be covered for that.

COOPER: Interesting. Interesting story in "Time" magazine, Timothy Burger thanks very much.

BURGER: Thank you.

COOPER: Well, a few other stories making news around the country tonight.

In much of the Midwest, Memorial Day was spent cleaning up after two days of severe weather. One hundred seventy-five tornadoes were reported. At least eight people died. Today the storm system moved east and south producing heavy rain from Louisiana to New England.

In Seattle, a smoky fire stopped a monorail as firefighters evacuated holiday passengers to another train and downed ladders from a story up in the air. At this time we have no word of injuries.

And, after 12 weeks of jury selection, the double murder trial of Scott Peterson begins tomorrow in California. Prosecutors have had more than a year to prepare their case. They plan to call hundreds of witnesses, the trial expected to last five months or longer.

And finally, Martha Stewart, "Newsweek" magazine reporting that the lifestyle guru hopes to avoid prison time or at least lessen her prison time by volunteering to help poor women start their own businesses.

Ms. Stewart was convicted in March of obstructing a government investigation into her sales of ImClone stock and faces sentencing on June 17th. This week her lawyers are expected to argue that her conviction is tainted by the false testimony of a government witness.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has a plan for peace in Gaza if he can only get his own party to approve it.

From around the world this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: In the Middle East tonight, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is facing a growing rebellion within his Likud Party, fueling the backlash, Mr. Sharon's plan for withdrawing Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

The plan was overwhelmingly rejected in a vote earlier this month causing Mr. Sharon to revise it. The new plan didn't go over well at a cabinet meeting yesterday. Today the prime minister turned to his party's lawmakers.

Here's CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From one battle to the next, Ariel Sharon's already facing defeat in the cabinet room and as he met with his Likud Party's members of parliament his prospects here are looking just as grim. ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I came here today especially to present to the faction members the new plan.

VAUSE: But the new plan is very much like the old ending with a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, 7,500 Jewish settlers evacuated, and a pullout of Israeli troops.

The rank and file party members said no to the plan in a referendum almost a month ago. Ariel Sharon and his closest deputy now acknowledge putting it up for a vote was a tactical blunder.

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI VICE PRIME MINISTER: It was a mistake but we have to correct this mistake not to change policies.

VAUSE: A mistake because now the elected members of Likud must choose between the wishes of their party or supporting their embattled prime minister whose own political survival is at stake.

OLMERT: He has put himself on the -- on the line and this is not a joke. This is a very, very serious game.

VAUSE: And in the midst of this political turmoil, the prime minister's old foe Yasser Arafat appeared on Israeli television offering his conditional support to the Gaza disengagement.

YASSER ARAFAT, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): I said it clearly before. We are ready to take over but I want to ask when they will pull out will they pull out completely?

VAUSE: Yasser Arafat is probably the one person whose backing Ariel Sharon could without.

(on camera): The disengagement plan has now gone from a matter of when to a question of if the Israeli prime minister can get the support he needs. Those close to him say he'll put it to a cabinet vote within days.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Still to come on NEWSNIGHT tonight, memories of a war long past from someone who was there in the trenches.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, there is triumph in living to be 103 years old, satisfaction as well, but something else, too. Imagine living long enough to learn over and over again that the war you fought in, the war to end wars, in fact did nothing of the kind, the bitter with the sweet.

Here is CNN's Bruce Morton. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frank Buckles is 103 now. He left his Missouri farm home when he was 16 in order to serve in World War I.

FRANK BUCKLES, WORLD WAR I VETERAN: I wanted to be part of it. To participate.

MORTON: The marines were suspicious, but the army signed him up, trained him as an ambulance driver and sent him first to Scotland. They had all been issued hatchets. The Scots stared.

BUCKLES: They'd say, oh, American Indians. See how they all have a tommy hawk. MORTON: He got to France, saw suffering.

BUCKLES: The great loss of people, both soldiers and civilians who were affected by the tragedy of the war. And they felt that this would be the last war. Every family had a loss.

MORTON: As the war ended, he was guarding German prisoners.

BUCKLES: Every evening after the day's work was done, the Germans would have a concert with--some of them were instruments that they had made themselves.

MORTON: Escorting the prisoners back to Germany, they were told don't fraternize, but they did, of course.

BUCKLES: The German people seemed to treat us nicely. Everybody remarked about that.

MORTON: Buckles had bad luck in World War II. A civilian businessman in the Philippines he was captured by the Japanese. Toward the end of the war, they thought they would be killed.

BUCKLES: What are you going to do with the prisoners? At roll call, we're going to finish them off.

MORTON: But American paratroopers rescued them in time.

BUCKLES: That's when the skies opened up and the angels dropped from the sky.

MORTON: Buckles lives quietly now in Charles Town, West Virginia. He's seen much history. What does he make of the U.S. role today?

BUCKLES: I think we make a great mistake in trying to settle the problems on our own. That bothers me. That bothers me very much.

MORTON: Frank Buckles, at 103.

Bruce Morton, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Tonight, a new generation of soldiers is walking in the footsteps of Frank Buckles, a different time, a different war. More than 800 Americans have been killed in Iraq since the war began. They were remembered this Memorial Day weekend, along with veterans of past wars.

But in California, for the past six months, their sacrifice has been marked every week on beaches. The idea, simple. Every Sunday morning, volunteers set up crosses in the sand. At the end of the day, they take them down, a reminder to all who pass by of lives lost.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN SHERRILL, VETERANS FOR PEACE: The Vets For Peace adopted this as a nationwide project. First and foremost and above all else, it is to honor and memorialize those who have given their lives in service to our country. We have a group of about a dozen or so volunteers that show up every Sunday. And it turned out to be something that is pretty much of an institution near Santa Barbara.

LANE ANDERSON, VIETNAM VETERAN: They were trained to stand in rank and file. And we want them to be -- we want the symbols of -- their symbols to be upright.

SHERRILL: We started painting all the crosses and then we started laying out the grid to get all the rows and columns straight. It is more beautiful if it is laid out very carefully and neatly and it shows the care put into creating the memorial.

Many of us don't think that these brave young men and women who have given their lives in service to our country have been adequately recognized and honored by this government. And we think it is very important that people do realize the price that we're paying for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. We want to bring all of the people and all of the perspectives together to create respectful conversation and dialogue. And from that, we'll build trust.

We don't tell people what they're supposed to think of this. It means different things to different people. And each person will react to it in his or her own way. But the purpose is to stimulate thought and to encourage conversation.

RICHARD NELSON, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I think it should be put into your heart, the fact that these men fell for us. These are all people that should be thought of constantly. These are the boys who lose their lives right now, which is to me very sad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, before we go to break, a couple of other items, starting with oil prices. They are rising again in the wake of the attack in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. Crude futures topped $40 a barrel in trading on Asian markets today, which is actually tomorrow.

Back home, markets were closed for Memorial Day. Cheaper oil was supposed to give them a boost. Now we'll see. Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, we'll take an in-depth look at John Kerry's time in Vietnam.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: You can count on war to become part of any presidential campaign. And so it has again. Military experience has been John Kerry's calling card in this presidential race. As we saw earlier in the program, Senator Kerry visited the Vietnam War Memorial today. He answered the call to serve in 1965, with thousands of young Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know something about aircraft carriers for real.

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): John Kerry joined the Navy in 1966 right out of college. He volunteered, telling his Yale classmates at graduation, "We are all entitled to choose our own battle." In Vietnam, John Kerry would find his. He would reach Vietnam at the end of 1968, after training to command a 50-foot high- speed patrol craft known as a swift boat.

KERRY: I am running to be the 44th president of the United States and I was on the 44th boat. I think that's pretty good sign.

BROWN: In December of '68, then 25, Lieutenant Junior Grade John Kerry took charge of swift boat No. 44. His assignment, to disrupt enemy supply lines in the Mekong Delta.

KERRY: We were running up and down the rivers in the Mekong Delta doing search-and-destroy missions and ambushes, taking troops in, doing sweeps through the area. But at all times, we were moving within the rivers within the Delta and very much targets of opportunity for ambush by the Viet Cong.

BROWN: Over the next four months, Kerry would lead two different crews, a band of brothers, many who are now seen flanking him on the campaign trail.

KERRY: And I want you all to say hello to the guy who was on one of the boats with me over there, Steve Hatch.

Stand up, man. Thank you.

BROWN: And they are among his most devoted supporters.

DEL SANDUSKY, VIETNAM VETERAN: I was with John Kerry when we got all of our metals. I know what kind of warrior he is.

BROWN: Del Sandusky was the driver of Kerry's second swift boat, No. 94. The five-man crew was more battle-tested than their commander, Kerry. Still, Kerry had already earned one Purple Heart for being slightly wounded in his first combat experience. SANDUSKY: One of the things he and I agreed on was the idea in chess that offense is the best defense. If we were shot at, John immediately went to where the guns were shooting from.

MICHAEL MEDEIROS, VIETNAM VETERAN: He seemed to be able to analyze the situation and make quick decisions.

BROWN: Gunner and radio man Mike Medeiros says their noisy boat could be heard a mile away. On patrol, the crew often felt like sitting ducks.

MEDEIROS: You expected an ambush. It actually became easier when they started firing at you, because you could release that tension. And you said, OK, now we're getting fired at. Now we know what to do.

BROWN: On the 20th of February, 1969, Kerry's crew was one of six boats on a 15-mile trip to an outpost around the southern point of Vietnam, an uneventful trip until a rocket-propelled grenade struck the port side of the ship. Kerry took a shrapnel wound to the left leg and was awarded his second Purple Heart. Eight days later, the swift boat came under heavy fire after dropping off some troops. And Kerry decided in a departure from Navy policy to beach his boat and go after the main enemy sniper.

SANDUSKY: John immediately assessed it and knew that somebody has got to go get this guy, because we can't just keep shooting at him with rifles and pistols. Sooner or later, he is going to launch a B- 40 rocket at us.

MEDEIROS: We beached the boat in front of a guy with the rocket launcher. He was in one of these spider holes.

SANDUSKY: No matter what it took, John was going to get him, because if we tried to retreat or do anything else, right, this guy was going to launch a rocket at us and we would have went up like a Roman candle.

MEDEIROS: Lieutenant Kerry had jumped off the boat with an M-16 and followed the man. So I immediately grabbed -- had my M-16 in my hand. I jumped off the boat and followed him.

BROWN: The Viet Cong gunman ran around 30 yards and had set up his rocket launcher when John Kerry shot him.

KERRY: It was him or me. I wouldn't be standing here today if it had been otherwise.

BROWN: For his actions that day, Kerry was awarded a Silver Star, the Navy's third highest combat award. But there was more dangers in the waters around Vietnam.

MEDEIROS: You go up. You're a big target. They shoot at you. You go around in circles. You shoot back. And then you break contact. You never know whether or not you're accomplishing anything. BROWN: During firefights, Kerry and Sandusky, unable to hear each other, would often use hand signals. And that's what they were doing on the 13th of March, 1969, as one of four other boats in their convoy struck a mine. The battle was joined. And when Kerry directed Sandusky to make a sharp turn, a special forces soldier riding with them fell in the water.

MEDEIROS: I saw him go over the side. I yelled, man overboard. So we had a firefight going on. We had a friendly soldier in the water and we had disabled boat to take care of.

BROWN: That soldier, Jim Rassmann, was swimming as much as he could under water, trying to duck the enemy gunfire. Kerry ordered his boat to the rescue. Another mine detonated, Kerry's right arm wounded. Then his swift boat came around to find Rassmann.

SANDUSKY: John, shot and bleeding, laid down and pulled up Rassmann by his belt. Rassmann was pulling himself, but he couldn't get up over the bow of the boat because he was full of water.

BROWN: The two men did not see each other again for 35 years, reunited in Iowa.

JIM RASSMANN, VIETNAM VETERAN: He helped me over that bow and I was saved and we were able to get away.

BROWN: Having earned three Purple Hearts for his three wounds, John Kerry was eligible to leave Vietnam and he did.

Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, Aaron talks with a man who is usually seen on the radio.

From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right, so he's going to kill me for stealing his act and his fans may kill me for butchering it as well. But here goes nothing. Before hip-hop was hip and rappers riffed and Eminem Slim- Shadyo, a dapper chap at CBS was rhyming on the radio. His name is Osgood and, man, he's good. He's host of "Sunday Morning." He has got a memoir out these days. He says he'll do some touring. It is short and sweet and tells of life when World War II was warring.

He spoke with Aaron back last week. The conversation strayed. We forgot the book. Still, take a look. You'll enjoy it anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: We were talking just before we walked in to sit down and actually do this about television and watching television and radio and could we get by without television. And, in fact, of course, people did get by without television at very important times, including you in your youth.

CHARLES OSGOOD, CBS NEWS: Absolutely. In fact, I have always said that if television was invented first, and then radio would come along and people would say, this is great. You don't have to look at it.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWN: Do you remember listening to the great events of your youth on the radio?

OSGOOD: Absolutely.

In fact, the way you got the news during World War II was, first of all, from the newspaper. And I delivered "The Baltimore Sun" in my neighborhood. You would walk down the street with the newspapers under your arm, look at the front page, fold up the paper and then throw it on the porch. That's where I learned the importance of accuracy in journalism.

And from there, there were not newscasts throughout the day. And of course there was no television. I might have fantasized about going into television if it existed, but there was no such thing. And then that night around 7:00 or so, you would listen to people like Lowell Thomas and Gabriel Heatter and Ed Murrow. And these voices were so familiar.

And they gave you a 15-minute roundup of the -- what was happening in the war, in the Pacific theater, in the European theater, and on the home front. And that's the way you got it. So you didn't -- you didn't cover the war skirmish by skirmish. It was not every time a hand grenade was thrown was it a separate news story.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Do you think that distorts our sense of events, the -- Lord knows we participate in it -- the saturation coverage that we give virtually everything, from the really important to, frankly, the trivial?

OSGOOD: Yes. I think it is a great blessing that we have so many sources of news and there are differences between the approaches of the news that we get.

But I do think that, when it is continuous, you would think that would give you an opportunity to do more comprehensive kinds of coverage. But I think there is an obsession with reporting what just happened. And a day after it happened, then at least inside the news establishment, there is a sense of, well, that's yesterday's story. And so you got to -- you wait for the new thing.

And I think what that produces in a war situation is that whatever the most awful thing that has happened in -- within the last hour, that's what you report.

BROWN: If the "Sunday Morning" hadn't come along, would you still be working?

OSGOOD: I would still be working in radio, sure.

BROWN: Yes.

OSGOOD: Sure.

BROWN: So it wasn't necessary? You didn't feel like the need to do television?

OSGOOD: I had done quite a lot of television over the years.

BROWN: Yes.

OSGOOD: I had done reporting, end pieces usually on -- during the Cronkite years and for several years for Dan Rather as well. But I never considered myself a television guy who happened to do some radio. I was a radio guy who happened to do a television show.

BROWN: When you walk through the halls of CBS News, how do you think people see you? How do the kids there see you?

OSGOOD: I feel very blessed to be there. I think it is, you know -- I have had an opportunity to work with some of best people ever to work in this business.

BROWN: It's unbelievable the people you've worked with.

OSGOOD: Yes, absolutely.

And to know that, when you're walking down the hall that, oh, that's Eric Sevareid in here. That's Walter Cronkite.

BROWN: Do you think that our business can produce a Charlie Osgood now?

OSGOOD: Oh, I expect so, oh, and probably not, not a Charlie Osgood. Nor should it.

I think it is a little -- people sometimes have said -- I've been involved with classical music pretty much all my life. And people will say, you know, why don't they write Mozart symphonies anymore or Beethoven symphonies? Well, because when Mozart died, there weren't any more of those. And things continue to change.

There is also a great temptation when you succeed someone like Kuralt, because he had such a distinctive style, to imitate him, to try to be Charles Kuralt when you are standing in that particular spot. But I've tried to avoid that. I learned a lot from Charles about respect of the audience and all of that.

BROWN: You came to the job with a personality. What would have been I think ungodly horrible or intimidating would be to be a 26- year-old guy who really had -- or woman -- who found himself to succeed someone like Kuralt or Mr. Cronkite, for that matter. That would have been hard. But you came to the job as -- you knew who Charlie Osgood was.

OSGOOD: I think so.

BROWN: Yes.

OSGOOD: It took a few weeks to sort of shake down the willies that you get doing a new thing that you know is attracting attention. And you also have the feeling, which I have never quite shaken that -- I've been it now for 38 years -- you still sort of feel as if you're really auditioning and one of those days, they're find out about you and let you go.

BROWN: It's wonderful to see you again.

OSGOOD: It's great to see you, Aaron. Good luck to you.

BROWN: Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Now, still ahead, we'll wrap up things for tonight and take a look at tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: A look now at what's coming up tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING" from Bill Hemmer -- Bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, thank you.

Tomorrow morning on "AMERICAN MORNING," busting "The da Vinci Code." One of the most respected biblical scholars you'll find anywhere, Harold Attridge, the Yale School of Divinity. He takes on the details of this best-selling novel, explains why maybe you should not believe everything you read. His views tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. Eastern time right here on "AMERICAN MORNING." Hope to see you then -- Anderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: All right, Bill, thanks very much.

Aaron Brown will be back tomorrow night. Thanks for joining me on NEWSNIGHT. I'll see you on "360" tomorrow.

Good night.

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