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Fourth Day of Search for 3 Missing U.S. Soldiers; Search for Missing British Girl; GOP Standout Wanted

Aired May 15, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

Watch events come in to the NEWSROOM live on Tuesday, May 15th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Fort Drum, New York: CNN learns the base is home to three soldiers missing in Iraq. We will take you live to Fort Drum this hour and talk with a former hostage.

HOLMES: Also, fire crews in Florida calling today critical in their long fight. Flames jumping a fire line, forcing more people to leave their homes.

COLLINS: And today is the day. The Internet-fueled gas out -- will you boycott record prices, and will it matter?

Passing up the pump, in the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: New developments on those American troops missing in Iraq. Here's what we know right now.

We have learned just a short while ago that the three soldiers are from Fort Drum in New York. Their families here at home of course anxiously waiting for some word. Some of them speaking out as well. Also, on the ground in Iraq, the search intensifies today.

We want to go to CNN's Hugh Riminton, who is live in Baghdad with the update for us.

Hello, Hugh.

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, T.J.

Well, seven families now hearing the worst possible news, confirmation that their loved ones were in the two vehicles that were ambushed now four days ago. There is still some confusion, though, about precisely the status of the soldiers. And the reason for that is this: When they first got into the scene, they found five bodies at the scene. Three were missing of the eight. Now, one of the five was an Iraqi army soldier. They have positively identified three of the U.S. soldiers, but the fourth U.S. soldier at the scene they have still not been able to positively identify.

That means they don't know for certain of the three that have gone missing, which are those names. What we do know is that some of the families now are being told by the Pentagon that their loved ones have been positively identified, as those who were killed at the scene.

Here's how one mother tells us how she heard that news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said Daniel's dead. And I -- I just started screaming, begging her to tell me it was a joke, just some stupid sick Mother's Day prank. And it wasn't.

I'm more proud of Daniel now than I was the day I signed the papers and watched him take his oath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIMINTON: Terribly moving there, the mother having to account for the time she heard the news of the death of her son, Daniel W. Courneya. Nineteen years old was all he was, from Wentworthville in Michigan. He was a private first class.

The other confirmed death is coming not from the Pentagon, but families confirming it. Sergeant First Class James D. Connell, Jr., he was 40 years old, of Lake City, Tennessee.

So, you can see the situation at the moment. There is one body that they have they have not identified. Three who are missing. They cannot say for certain who those three are until they can positively identify that last body that was found in the Humvee -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Our Hugh Riminton for us in Baghdad.

Hugh, again, thank you so much.

And again, to recap for you there, four Fort Drum soldiers were killed in that ambush on Saturday, as we just heard there from Hugh Riminton. We do know the names of at least two of them.

Here their pictures are again. One 19-year-old, Private First Class Daniel Courneya of Vermontville, Michigan. The other, Sergeant First Class James Connell of Lake City, Tennessee. He was 40 years old.

Their families have been notified.

Also ahead here, we're going to hear from someone who knows what it's like in captivity in Iraq. Former POW Ron Young (ph) joins us here in the NEWSROOM. COLLINS: And now to this story in Portugal. Missing in Portugal, and now word of a suspect in the search for 4-year-old Madeleine McCann.

Let's go straight to CNN's Phil Black. He is live in Madeleine's hometown in England.

Phil, what's the very latest now in the search?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, there's a significant breakthrough in the story today. Portuguese police have charged -- sorry, they have not charged -- they have -- they have questioned and now officially consider one man a suspect.

He is believed to be British citizen Robert Murat (ph). He was questioned last night at his home, his mother's home, where he has been staying, has been searched. That home is very close to the resort where Madeleine's family was staying and the room she's believed to have been taken from.

Now, Robert Murat (ph) is believed to have become very well known to journalists in Portugal over the days since Madeleine's disappearance. He's been telling them that he's assisting police as a translator.

Now, one British paper journalist said she grew suspicious, said he became -- he seemed to be far too close to that investigation, and as a result reported him to authorities. He now has official status as a suspect, but the clarity, it must be pointed out, that he has not been arrested and he has left police suspect -- police custody. That status, though, as a suspect, means that he is now entitled to the right of silence and also legal representation -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Phil, any idea how exactly -- it sounds like it was through the suspicions of this journalist, came to start questioning the suspicious of Robert Murat (ph). What are police saying about him now?

BLACK: Well, police are not saying very much. They will not even confirm that this is -- that the man they have questioned, Robert Murat (ph), is, in fact, the suspect they have announced they have. It comes from sources that we know this.

But, the journalist who made the initial complaint, she says she first pointed him out to police a few days ago. And she's a little surprised that only now have they acted, only now has he been spoken to -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. Very interesting. All right.

Phil Black following the story for us from England this morning.

Phil, will check back should any other developments come in. Thank you.

HOLMES: Chased by flames. More Florida residents fleeing their homes as a huge wildfire jumps a fire line. On the front lines, firefighters are making some progress, but the battle is a long way from over.

CNN's Rob Marciano with us now live from Lake City.

Good morning to you, Rob.

It doesn't appear that Rob is with us. I do not have Rob? Well, no rob.

All right. We'll try to get an update from Rob a little later on the conditions there. Of course, we've been watching those for the past several days to see what's going on out there. They've just had a mess. Fires all over the place, really, shut down some highways and some interstates because of visibility issues.

So we hope to get back to him here in just a little bit.

Meanwhile, 10 Republicans who want to be president invited to sound off in South Carolina tonight. The big question: Can one emerge as a standout?

CNN Chief National Correspondent John King is in Columbia, South Carolina, with what we can expect from this debate this evening. Good morning to you, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J.

That's certainly the goal, to try to break out from the pack. As you noted, 10 Republican candidates in the field right now. There is some talk we could get one or two more in the weeks or months ahead. But 10 candidates will share the stage here in Columbia tonight. Twelve days ago they shared a stage in California.

All of the campaigns after that have been saying, with so many candidates, such limited time, 90 minutes for tonight's debate, it is very hard to break out of the pack. But one thing all of the campaigns also concede is, you can make mistakes. You can hurt yourself much more easier than you can help yourself in such a setting.

Many thought the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, hurt himself in the last debate by giving a conflicting answer or somewhat confusing answers on the abortion issue. So there will be pressure on Mayor Giuliani tonight, especially here in South Carolina.

They view the primary here as the gateway to the South. Christian conservatives, social conservatives are very important to the Republican electorate at this state. So watch Mayor Giuliani tonight on the social issues.

Another man though under pressure here, even though it is so early in the campaign is Senator John McCain of Arizona. His campaign back in 2000 was derailed here in South Carolina. He lost the state to George W. Bush by just 67,000 votes. This time he has locked up much of the Republican establishment in South Carolina. Not all of it, but quite a bit of it. And he's hoping that translates into support at the grassroots.

But we interviewed Governor Mark Sanford, a Republican, yesterday, and he said Senator McCain has not been able to do that, turn his establishment excitement into grassroots support. One of Senator McCain's challenges in the debate tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MARK SANFORD (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: A number of the people in the current organization are Bush folks of the last go-round. I mean, the very folks that worked to defeat him in the last election cycle. And so he's won certainly that level of support. And the question I think in this race will be whether or not that extends down to the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Eight months still until anybody votes for a presidential nominee. But South Carolina has proven decisive in competitive Republican nominating battles dating back to Ronald Reagan's campaign in 1980.

So, T.J., not only will South Carolina Republicans be watching tonight, the state chairman of all 50 Republican parties are actually meeting here in Columbia tomorrow. So a national television audience, as well as a national political audience, if you will, for the 10 Republican hopefuls here tonight.

HOLMES: John, of course you talked about Giuliani. That last debate, of course that's what a lot of people were talking about, his stance, his answer, his performance on the issue of abortion at that debate.

Now, does he need to make sure he's got his answer in order, or is going to hurt him in a state like South Carolina?

KING: There is absolutely no doubt that abortion will be an issue confronting Mayor Giuliani tonight. I talked to one of the longs shots in the field, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, last night, and he said he wants to sharpen the differences with Mayor Giuliani on abortion and other social issues.

What struck many people as quite honest, when the mayor was asked -- he supports abortion rights. We all know that. He has supported abortion rights for some time. But he was asked, would it be a good day or a bad day in the United States if Roe vs. Wade were overturned. And he said, well, it would be OK if it were overturned, but it would be OK if it was upheld by a court.

Many found that an unacceptable answer for someone whose campaign is based on leadership, that he should have a decisive answer on such an issue. So, there is no question Mayor Giuliani will be confronted with those questions tonight. His campaign has spent the last 10 days or so trying to come up with a consistent answer on that, saying he personally does not like abortion, but he support as woman's right to choose. No doubt about it, Christian conservatives are very important in this state. It will be a subject line tonight -- T.J.

HOLMES: Trying to come up with an answer.

All right. John King for us in Columbia, South Carolina.

Thank you so much, sir.

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and take a moment to check the situation with the weather right now. In case you are not aware, several fires burning in southeast Georgia and also Florida.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and get a closer look now of Florida and the situation there. Chased by flames, more Florida residents are fleeing their homes as a huge wildfire jumps a fire line. And on the front lines, firefighters are making a little bit of progress with the battle. As you just heard, it's far from over.

CNN's Rob Marciano with us now live from Lake City.

Rob, give us the latest information on the fires and what you're seeing around you.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they made some progress yesterday, Heidi. Right now we're standing on 441, which north of I- 10 is closed, everything but emergency traffic.

This is the staging area, a similar scene to what you saw yesterday, where fire departments really from all over the state are lining up to go attack this fire. Really to protect the homes of people that have been evacuated, some 500 or so evacuees from this fire. Fire

departments from all over the state have joined here to try to protect the property of the folks here. but as you mentioned, the fire did jump the line yesterday. But there was some progress made.

We talked to a Florida forestry official yesterday, and this is what he had to say late yesterday afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SONNY GREEN, FLORIDA DIVISION OF FORESTRY: The fire is still very active. We have learned that we do have a jump in the Fairview area. That would be this area right here.

We've got our helicopters working that jump right now. As soon as the smoke clears we'll try to get in some air tankers into the area. All of our equipment is staged there. And we'll do everything we can to catch it. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: The key is there that air tankers were finally able to attack this fire from above yesterday afternoon. Skies are clear. They will do it again today. Five P2 and P3 tankers, plus heavy helicopters have been brought in to help the firefighters on the ground.

Fifty percent containment, Heidi. That sounds like a lot, but the western flank of this fire of which we're part of, at least the southern part of, is vulnerable. East winds will be strong today, red flag warnings are posted, as Jacqui Jeras has mentioned.

So, once again, Mother Nature will be their fiercest competitor as they battle this blaze.

Back to you.

COLLINS: Yes. It seems like that's always the case in these situations.

Rob Marciano also with us all morning long from Lake City, Florida.

Rob, thank you. We'll check in a little bit later on.

Meanwhile, record setting gas prices. Boy, that's the truth, isn't it? Now the Internet fuels a gas boycott. Stay tuned for the gas out in the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Also, out at the Justice Department. Who is leaving now and why? That's ahead.

COLLINS: Living healthy and saving lives. We get views from the first lady and rock royalty. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta with exclusive interviews in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Women's health and saving lives in Africa. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, doing two exclusive interviews.

Look at this. Two big newsmakers -- First lady Laura Bush and Bono. We're going to see him in a minute.

Sanjay is joining us now to give us sort of the breakdown, if you will, right here in the NEWSROOM.

So, this was a very interesting interview, I imagine.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It was. You know, she's made this one of her biggest initiatives as first lady, this whole idea that a lot of people, including doctors, don't know that heart disease the biggest killer of women.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: People think it's breast cancer. Heart disease actually kills almost 10 times as many people as breast cancer does -- women specifically. And it also kills more women than it kills men. And this is something she talks about a lot, and it's called the Red Dress Campaign, and she really seems very focused on this.

She talked about a lot of different things, including her exercise habits, the president's. She admitted that she was a former smoker. She said she's quit now. It wasn't easy. The president was as well.

She also talked about an issue that has been pretty controversial lately. It has to do with the HPV vaccine which prevents cervical cancer. I asked her about it. This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: There's nothing new about requiring a vaccine that will protect the health of people in our country. And I think it's important for young women to have this -- or girls, actually -- to go ahead and have this vaccine.

It will protect them from cervical cancer later in their lives. And it's just like getting a flu shot. I mean, you get those vaccines so you won't have a problem later in your life with disease. And in this case it's cervical cancer.

GUPTA: If someone doesn't want one should they be mandated to get it?

BUSH: Well, I mean, I think that's up to the states to figure out how to -- how to do that, but we certainly mandate vaccines. I mean, we do in the United States. And because of that, we don't have many of the diseases that still are prevalent in other parts of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: She came down pretty strongly on that.

What's interesting, though, when you talk about vaccines, Heidi, is it's for contagious diseases.

COLLINS: Right.

GUPTA: If you don't get it, you're affecting me.

COLLINS: Exactly.

GUPTA: With the HPV vaccine, it's a sexually transmitted disease, so not necessarily. It's not contagious the same way. So it brings in a different set of issues, certainly, but she came down pretty strongly on it.

COLLINS: Yes. It seems like it's not as much of an issue for public health. I'm sure there will be more discussion about that.

GUPTA: Yes. Twenty states are talking about it right now.

COLLINS: Twenty now? Is that the update? Wow.

GUPTA: Yes, exactly.

COLLINS: I know you also had an interview with quite a celebrity. This morning, in fact.

GUPTA: Yes.

COLLINS: Bono. Love him.

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, everyone knows him obviously as a front man to U2, which he does a great job. But he's also the front man to an organization called DATA, which I know you've heard about. It stands for Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa. I forgot there for a second.

We're only a few weeks away from the next G8 summit. Now, he -- this organization is sort of a watchdog organization in some ways for the G8 leaders. What are they doing for Africa? is Bono's question often. And as he tells people, as he told me this morning, it is a case of good news and bad news.

Here's what he said specifically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONO, U2: Well, there's good news and bad news, Sanjay. The good news is aid is really working on the ground. There's huge breakthroughs being made fighting the AIDS emergency and malaria, breakthroughs led by the United States, I might add. But the bad news is, is as a general compact with the poorest of the poor, the G8 is way off.

And this is very upsetting, because it's one thing to make a promise to people like me or DATA, or your own citizenry. It's really -- there's something extraordinarily bad about breaking a promise with the poorest, most vulnerable people on earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: You know, he's very passionate about this, Heidi.

A couple points he made to me is that there is a different between charity and justice. He said a lot of people may open up their pocketbooks, but in order to actually do justice to this, you've got to believe it in your heart. And I think that's what he is so good at doing, because he is so passionate about it.

I also asked him, interestingly, Heidi, is there Bono fatigue? Because he's everywhere. This guy is everywhere.

And he gave a sort of funny response. He said -- he goes, "I'm Bono, and I'm sick of Bono." But the truth is that a lot of people aren't, and they really do listen to him. And we're going to put the interview, by the way, on cnn.com/health, and also on a podcast on iTunes as well.

COLLINS: Absolutely. And I think there are probably a lot of people who will never be sick of Bono.

GUPTA: I think so.

COLLINS: Not that I'm one of them.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: And as Sanjay said, you can see more of his interview with Bono, first lady Laura Bush, as well as former president Bill Clinton. It's a special edition of "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- and don't forget about cnn.com, as you said -- this Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:30 Eastern.

HOLMES: Well, out of bounds, off campus. College students take a Cinco de Mayo theme party too far. Outrage follows in the NEWSROOM.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: I'm Allan Chernoff in Teaneck, New Jersey. Did you know today is Boycott Gasoline Day? Apparently a lot of people are not aware.

We'll have details about this coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Powerless at the pump. Motorists angry over record prices eager to send a message now. And so now we enter today's gas boycott.

Did you know about it? It was fueled online by e-mail.

CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff live for us now. He is in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Hello, sir. Did people get the message? I see somebody fueling up behind you.

CHERNOFF: What do you think, T.J.? Come on. Give me a break.

This place has been busy all morning long. Boycott gasoline? Forget about it.

As you know, if somebody boycotts today, then they'll buy tomorrow. It's not going to make a difference. You really want to hit the gas companies, hit the oil companies, trade your car for a bicycle. That's really what will make the big difference, even though prices have been jumping.

Let's go over and talk to the station owner here. He's Jim Donovan. And Jim, how's your business doing today?

JIM DONOVAN, STATION OWNER: Business is doing great.

CHERNOFF: Are you worried at all about this boycott?

DONOVAN: Not at all. We haven't seen any slowdown in our volume.

CHERNOFF: You heard about it?

DONOVAN: We hard about it, sure. But we don't see any evidence of it.

CHERNOFF: And this has been going on for a few years, this so- called boycott.

DONOVAN: Every year it goes on and we don't see any change in our sales.

CHERNOFF: No impact at all?

DONOVAN: None.

CHERNOFF: There you go, T.J. Bottom line is, people need to pump up. If their gas tank is on empty, they're going to come on over here and fill it up, even though the prices have been soaring.

Right here in New Jersey the price is $2.89.9. Now, that's pretty cheap, because here in New Jersey gasoline taxes are relatively low. But as you know, around the country, well above three bucks.

In fact, this morning, according to AAA, the average price of gasoline is $3.09 a gallon. That's way up from just one month ago, when it was $2.85. So, the price of gas keeps on soaring, and guess what? People keep on buying -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes. I don't think anybody is about to take your advice, even though it's good advice. Trade the car in and get a bicycle.

I don't think they're going to do it just yet, Allan.

We appreciate it.

Allan Chernoff for us in New Jersey.

We'll see you again.

Meanwhile, Congress also keeping an eye on those gas prices. In the next hour, the Energy Department briefs lawmakers on the summer outlook for oil and gas supplies.

Prices normally soar during the summer driving period. And the Energy Department says they have already jumped almost $1 since January. Analysts blame reduced refinery operations and lower inventories.

Well, hello again, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And good morning to you, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Among our top stories this hour, late word coming into the NEWSROOM about three U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq. They are based at Fort Drum in New York.

CNN's Jim Acosta is there.

Jim, tell us what you're finding out this morning.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, so far we don't know the names of those three missing soldiers. The only names we do have so far are from two family members of two of the missing -- or excuse me, two of those soldiers that were killed in this ambush that happened over the weekend.

This will be a difficult day for the military community here in Fort Drum. The seven soldiers that were killed or went missing or possibly kidnapped, it has been confirmed they are from the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division.

So far, family members have identified two of the killed soldiers. They are Private First Class Daniel Courneya, a 19-year-old from Michigan, and Sergeant First Class James Connell, Jr., a 40-year- old from Lake City, Tennessee.

Connell's family says that he has been in the Army for 17 years, and was home, if you can believe it, just two weeks ago, before this attack occurred. And this was his third time in Iraq.

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