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CNN Live Saturday
Huge Earthquake Rocks Indonesia; President Bush Imposes Moratorium on Releasing Evidence to Quell Debate
Aired May 27, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Koch at the White House. Resignations were threatened over the Capitol Hill document dispute. I'll have a live report coming up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I yelled twice. We have friendlies on top. The crew must have not heard me, because my vehicle opened fire on them. I screamed no and then yelled repeatedly several times to cease fire. No one heard me.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: New details tonight into the death of former NFL star turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman. Ahead, documents that include accusations of negligence and deceit.
And taking aim at the Taliban. Coalition forces target Afghan rebels near the Pakistan border.
Welcome to CNN Live Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and all that and more after this check of the headlines.
Digging through the rubble in Central Java. A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia today, killing more than 3,000 people. More than 2,500 others are injured. A live update in five minutes.
Commander in chief, advising the cadets. President Bush delivered the commencement speech at West Point today. He urged graduates at the U.S. military academy to spread freedom and fight terrorism.
More violence in Iraq. A U.S. Marine was killed in the restive Anbar province on Friday, two other Marines are missing in the same area today after their Cobra Helicopter crashed.
Honoring the fallen. The nation pauses to offer its respects today in memorial services across the country. Among them, a wreath laid on hallowed ground at Arlington National Cemetery.
A papal pilgrimage in Poland. Pope Benedict XVI toured the boyhood home of Pope John Paul II today. Crowds cheered when he told them he urges sainthood for his predecessor.
We will start this hour with a question -- how close was it? How close to quitting were America's top two law enforcement officials in a blazing dispute with the White House? Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is still on the job, and so is Robert Mueller, head of the FBI. But the fight over the raid in a Congressman's office is merely on hold. It is far from over. To sort through all of it, live from the White House, CNN's Kathleen Koch.
KOCH: And, Fredricka there is a lot to sort through. CNN has now confirmed through multiple sources two senior administration officials a senior Justice Department official and others that yes, indeed, a tipping point was reached this week in the -- in that document dispute over the documents that were seized from the office of a Louisiana Congressman, William Jefferson last weekend.
It apparently appeared at one point that the fbi might be told to surrender those documents and it was then that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and the FBI director himself, Robert Mueller, threatened to resign, if that happened.
The senior Justice Department official says that the men were very angry. Another senior government official says, quote, they were all ready to walk.
The two senior administration officials say that the threats were transmitted to the White House midweek, but a source familiar with the investigation -- excuse me, with the negotiations -- whom I spoke with this morning, said that the threats were never made directly to the president.
The source said that the threats came in the midst of conversations and negotiations and were usually framed more as a hypothetical. Now, what the hope here at the White House is that this 45-day cooling-off period will get both sides focused less on getting those documents and more on achieving a workable compromise. But political observers are not optimistic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN RUDIN, NPR POLITICAL EDITOR: I think the 45-day respite may calm down things a little bit, but at one point after 45 days they are going to have to make a decision, whether they acquiesced to the Dennis Hastert demands and possibly the vice presidential office demands and saying we're giving this back, or the Justice Department will do what it's supposed to do, and that is to root out corruption.
The Justice Department is going after Tom DeLay who is a Republican and they should be able to go after Bill Jefferson, a Democrat as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Attorney General Gonzales went to Capitol Hill yesterday to begin meeting with top law makers to end the stalemate. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Katheen Koch at the White House. Thank you.
Congressman Jefferson isn't alone out there. There are several other members of Congress now under investigation for alleged financial misdeeds. As for Jefferson, here's a CNN "Fact Check."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: William Jefferson's district covers much of New Orleans. Just days after Hurricane Katrina, as some of the city's residents still clung to rooftops for safety, ABC News reported that Jefferson took a ride with a National Guard contingent and spent an hour inspecting his upscale home.
Even before that, his problems were under way. The government says he was videotaped last July taking what the government alleges was a payoff of $100,000. According to a government affidavit, numbers on bills recovered later from Jefferson's freezer matched numbers on the money the FBI says he accepted from informant. Jefferson denies any wrongdoing.
Last September, Jefferson was cited by a nonpartisan watchdog as one of the most 13 corrupt members of Congress. Others on the list include the now now digraced Randy "Duke" Cunningham and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
For Jefferson things took a worse this month. On May 3rd an official of a venture called IGate Inc., pleaded guilty in federal court to giving the eight term Democratic six-figure inducements for getting help in business in Nigeria. And just last week the House Ethics Committee announced it had opened investigations into Representative Jefferson and Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio. The Capitol Hill corruption probe seems far from being over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Another major story we are following, this one overseas, more than 3,000 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java. Thousands more are hurt. Reporting from Indonesia now, CNN's Dan Rivers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amidst the dust and rubble of a shaken island, the bodies are being recovered in their thousands. This earthquake struck just before dawn when most people were asleep. Many were entombed in their beds. The corpses are being carefully freed from the debris, one by one, they are loaded on to trucks. This is a slow, traumatic process.
Distraught relatives still numb with shock. Makeshift morgues are being set up. The hospitals are already overwhelmed. There are thousands of injured. Many in a life-threatening condition. The hospital staff are struggling to cope, inundated with so many severely wounded survivors. Many are being treated where they are found. First aid administered amidst the ruins.
The earthquake measured 6.3 magnitude, not that strong compared to the near 9.3 quake that triggered the tsunami on neighbors Sumatra. But the devastation here in Java is still considerable. This woman says she was cooking in the kitchen when the earthquake struck. "The house was shaking. I fell, and some of the roof collapsed. This is the biggest earthquake that has ever happened here."
The epicenter was close to Mt. Merapi, the volcano which the Javanese consider holy. It has been threatening to explode for weeks. The volcanologists trying to assess if this quake will precipitate a full explosion.
The aid effort is being hampered by the closing of Jokjakarta's main airport, after the terminal building was damaged and cracks were discovered in the runway.
Many survivors have erected makeshift shelters amidst the devastation, facing their first night outside. Waiting for help to arrive. Struggling to comprehend what's happened.
(on camera): Indonesia is a country sadly used to natural disasters, but this earthquake, coming just a year and a after after the tsunami has taken many here by surprise and has once again left this huge nation mourning an incomprehensible loss of life. Dan Rivers, CNN, Jakarta, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Trouble now in Afghanistan. The Taliban is showing renewed vigor. Some military commanders are concerned, could Afghanistan become another Iraq? CNN's Barbara Starr reports from Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Coalition forces conducted an air strike Friday night against a suspected Taliban training camp in southern Afghanistan, quite close to the Pakistan border, according to U.S. military officials here. It is the latest operation against what some officials are saying is a regrouping of Taliban, both in eastern Afghanistan and down south.
In that strike, officials say they believe they killed a number of Taliban and destroyed a facility they also believe was responsible for making some IEDs. It is that type of threat that U.S. forces are now seeing here in Afghanistan, improvised explosive devices, suicide bomb attacks.
It's not as bad as Iraq, but military commanders say there is a great deal of concern that they have about these pockets where they believe the Taliban is operating because, they say, the new Afghan National Army, Afghan security forces, and the U.S. military has not been operating in those areas. So in these rural areas, there has been a bit of a vacuum.
Expect to see an increased number of U.S. and coalition military operations in the weeks and months ahead.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: He was killed in the line of duty two years ago, so why are there still questions about the death of former NFL player turned U.S. Ranger, Pat Tillman? We go in search for answers.
Protecting the nation's airlines. A report raises new concerns about the Transportation Security Administration.
And the nest D.C. sniper suspect claims he is being framed.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Lin. Coming up this weekend, the fountain of youth. We all want to look younger. This couple did, but their cosmetic craze put them in the hospital. Instead of smooth skin, this were on life support. We're going to tell you what went wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL NEWMAN, ACTOR: You couldn't find a good time if you had a roadmap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Paul Newman certainly knows the secret of success, and in my exclusive interview, he talks about his new high-octane project. Those stories, and plus all the stories to bring you up to date on CNN SATURDAY NIGHT, 10:00 p.m. eastern, 9:00 central.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: News across America now. A 61 year old grandmother is in jail in Colorado. Police say June Candelaro (ph) locked her 13 year old grandson in a dog kennel when she went to work. Candelaro is a detention counselor, and she is facing a number of charges including kidnapping and child abuse.
Showing support on the field, members of Duke's female lacrosse team at the NCAA semi-finals last night wore special sweat bands. Each wore the numbers of three male lacrosse players accused of raping an African American woman hired to strip at a team party.
And now this dramatic surveillance video out of Texas. It appears to be an armed robbery at a Dallas convenience store. Then the clerk realized that the gun was not real and decided to deliver a little justice of his own with this baseball bat.
The jury in the Maryland trial of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad begin deliberations on Tuesday. Muhammad is on trial for six murders in Maryland as part of the October 2002 sniper shootings. In closing arguments yesterday, prosecutors called Muhammad a coward. Muhammad contends he was framed. Darren Moore has more from Rockville.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DARREN MOORE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In his closing arguments, John Allen Muhammad told jurors, my case is based on one thing, they lied on my and my son, Lee Boyd Malvo. Calling it a one-sided case, he tried to put doubt in the minds of jurors, claiming expert testimony about the car, DNA evidence, fingerprints and ballistics was nothing more than Sesame Street science and prosecutors want you to believe I committed murder.
On redirect, Assistant State's Attorney Katherine Winfrey said, you cannot believe anything this man says. He's a master manipulator, craftsman, and killer who ducked behind a 17 year old boy. Clyde Wilson an eyewitness the Montgomery, Alabama, liquor store shooting heard the gunfire. He was in court as a witness for Muhammad. Wilson said the shooters he chased were Hispanic or Indian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy Malvo and Muhammad was not the guy we were pursuing.
MOORE: Teenaged sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said he fired the shots. Muhammad said that was a lie and his witness can prove it, but was never allowed to testify.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the Alabama case on that day, I would say they are innocent of this crime.
MOORE: Prosecutors claim Muhammad has an explanation for everything, and she's tired of hearing the same sorry story over and over again.
Muhammad ended his three and a half hours of of closing arguments, telling jurors, if you believe what prosecutors are telling you, you believe the cow jumped over the moon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: In all, ten people were killed in the 2002 sniper shooting. Muhammad has been sentenced to death in Virginia for one of those murders.
It's a holiday weekend, but it's important to remember that it's in memorial to our fallen military men and women. One of their stories remains shrouded in questions, however. Pat Tillman, the football star, turned soldier, and his friendly-fire death in Afghanistan. We've been digging for details and uncovered more about his final mission that has ever been made public. A full report, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Topping our security watch today, TSA insecurity. Texas television station WOAI reported more than 1,400 I.D. badges and uniform items had been stolen from TSA employees since 2003. New York Congressman Peter King calls the TSA's response to the theft inadequate. King chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
Yesterday's five-hour security scare on Capitol Hill was little more than construction noise. That's according to high-level law enforcement sources who believe the sounds in question came from a pneumatic hammer.
And the battle lines are drawn over the U.S./Mexico border issue and illegal immigration debate. This week a compromise is expected between wildly differing version of House and Senate bills. House Republicans say they won't accept a Senate bill that allows a path for citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Well, we'll delve into all of these issues with counterterrorism expert Jeff Beatty. Good to see you.
JEFF BEATTY, SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you again, Fredicka.
WHITFIELD: Let's talk about the Texas station about the TSA. How alarming is it to you that 1,400 I.D. badges and uniform items could be lost or stolen or missing?
BEATTY: Well, it's a cause, I think, for serious concern. We need only to look back into the 1990s when we saw al Qaeda use French airline uniforms to get in close proximity of aircraft that they then hijacked and were going to crash into the Eiffel tower.
So I think it is an indicator that management is not perhaps as tight as we would like it to be there, and while TSA is correct when they do say that these uniforms alone would not allow you to access protected space because you need an airport-type pass, let's not forget that we've had airport employees co-opted by al Qaeda in the past. We've had -- in fact, our own sky marshals who have been recently convicted of smuggling and taking money to get things past security. So what we're really concerned about is a scenario where one co-opted employee is able to take, quote, uniformed TSA people back into protected space in close proximity to our aircraft and that's a problem.
WHITFIELD: How concerned are you that this report indicates that may be widespread vulnerabilites, that it's not just an issue that what has taken place reportedly in Dallas and Houston, but much greater?
BEATTY: Yes, I agree. I agree, you're absolutely correct. And part of the problem that was also mentioned by the investigators in Texas is that they've observed TSA people going around the screening points. That's just absolutely unacceptable. You can't have people going around the screening points. You have to have everyone go through the screening point and --
WHITFIELD: You're talking about people who are not even TSA employees, you're talking about general passengers who are going around the screening points?
BEATTY: No, I'm talking about -- I'm talking about people in TSA uniform whose were videotaped by this station in Texas, going around the screening point, in other words, not going through the screening point itself. Because those people could be co-opted, they could have their family being held at gunpoint and being told you are going to carry the weapons to the other side. For their own protection and the public's protection, everybody has to go through the screening point every time.
WHITFIELD: Knowing this, does the TSA, at least in that jurisdiction, come up with new I.D. badges and new uniforms. Do they have to start from scratch, essentially?
BEATTY: I think the problem in that case, Fredricka, would be if you issued purple uniforms and purple badges to people, unless you find out how it was -- what process went wrong that made these current uniforms and badges go away, you're going to find yourselves missing 1,400 purple badges and then you're starting the process over again. So we do need an investigation. We need to fix the illness and not the symptom.
WHITFIELD: Let's talk about what happened on Capitol Hill yesterday. Does this incident in any way underscore to you that perhaps the security on Capitol Hill isn't quite what it should be compared to other federal buildings or particularly, even, say, like the White House?
BEATTY: Well, I think you're right, Fredicka. I think that one of the problems we see on Capitol Hill that made the job for the Capitol Police that much more difficult yesterday is that members of Congress somehow think that they are above the rules that they passed for the rest of to us follow.
We had an incident a month or two ago with Cynthia McKinney, a Congresswoman from Georgia who was going around a screening point, again, saying we don't need to go through the screening point or we don't need to identify, or there's a problem with the identification. So the fact that congressmen themselves, 400-some people, decide not to go through screening means you have no integrity of the perimeter.
And we've had Congressmen indicted in recent months. They have been guilty of criminal behavior. So the task for the Capitol Police is greatly made more difficult by the fact that everyone on Capitol Hill does not play the game. Everyone does not go through the security perimeter. And it would have been much simpler if the Capitol police could have said, we have confidence in our security perimeter, because we screened everybody. This was nothing to be alarmed about.
WHITFIELD: All right, counterterrorism expert and president of Total Security, Jeff Beatty, thanks so much.
And stay tuned to CNN, day and night, for the most reliable information about your security.
Arizona Cardinal, to U.S. Army Corporal. Pat Tillman left certain fame to go to war in Afghanistan. He returned wrapped in a flag. His final mission, a mystery, until now. CNN went on a search for answers. We found contradictions, pointed fingers and accusations of gross negligence. Just what happened to Pat Tillman? It's only on CNN, and it's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Now in the news, search showdown. Senior administration officials tell CNN top officials at the FBI and the Justice Department threatened to quit if forced to return documents seized in a raid on Congressman William Jefferson's Capitol Hill office. President Bush sealed the documents for 45 days.
Indonesia quake, the death toll in Indonesia keeps rising following a massive earthquake. Officials now list more than 3,000 dead and thousands more injured. The quake measured 6.3.
President Bush delivered the commencement address at West Point this morning. He told the future leaders of the U.S. Army their generation will achieve victory in the war on terror.
A spike in violence in Afghanistan and concern the Taliban is regrouping in rural areas beyond the reach of coalition forces. Iraq- like IEDs and suicide attacks are now on the rise there.
Fallen heroes, Memorial Day observances were held today at Arlington National Cemetery. Members of the Rolling Thunder veteran's group laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns.
Memorial Day, when we stop to remember the names, the faces and the ultimate sacrifice of Americans who died in defense of this country. It may seem too easy to hold up the well known story of one famous soldier. But there is a reason we're talking about Pat Tillman today. A gifted athelete who left fame and easy money to join the army and fight terrorists. Pat Tillman died violently in Afghanistan, and you may know a little of the story up to a certain point. Today, we know more. And after this report, so will you.
CNN has been investigating what happened to Tillman, and what happened when the army started investigating. The details take some time to tell, but as senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports, those details paint a chilling story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At his memorial service two years ago, Pat Tillman was remembered as an inspiration to thousands of Americans. California's first lady, Maria Shriver, was among those supporting the family, recalling how much Tillman gave up to fight for his country in Afghanistan.
MARIA SHRIVER, CALIFORNAI FIRST LADY: Pat had it all, intelligence, movie-star good looks, a loving wife, athletic prowess, fame, a lucrative and promising career. Who among us could walk away from riches and a job we love?
MCINTYRE: But Pat Tillman did just that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lateral to Pat Tillman!
MCINTYRE: The former safety for the Arizona Cardinals gave up a multi-million dollar pro football deal the day after September 11th to enlist as an elite army ranger. Tillman explained his decision in a rare interview just before he went into the army.
PAT TILLMAN, DIED IN AFGHANISTAN: My great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, and my whole family has gone and fought in wars and I haven't done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that and so I have a great deal of respect for those who have.
MCINTYRE: But his devotion to duty, honor and country, would end with his death in a desolate section in Afghanistan. It would be 26 days after the memorial service, more than a month after his death, before the army would publicly acknowledge what the rangers who were with him in combat knew almost right away. Tillman's death was from friendly fire.
He was hit in the head by three bullets fired by American soldiers, who say they mistook him for the enemy.
(on camera): Much, but not all of the story of what went wrong that April day in 2004, can be found in thousands of army documents obtained by CNN.
(voice-over): Many details from the army documents are being televised here for the first time. And while the heavily-blacked out documents provide some answers, they also raise substantial questions that three separate army investigations have failed to resolve. Tillman's platoon was on a mission in eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistan border. His platoon was trying to flush out enemy Taliban or al Qaeda fighters.
CNN took these army topographic maps of the location where Pat Tillman was killed and independently created the first detailed television animation of what happened to Tillman and the army rangers that day.
The platoon's problems began with a broken-down humvee, which had to be towed by a local truck and was slowing the platoon. The platoon was split into two groups on orders of a commander and a base far away according to army documents.
The split was ordered over the objections of the platoon leader. There was a concern back at the base that the broken humvee was causing unacceptable delays to the mission.
CNN military analyst retired Brigadier General David Grange has commanded rangers himself and also lost a soldier to friendly fire.
GEN. DAVID L. GRANGE, (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Here you had the senior guy on the ground saying, I don't want to split my force. Someone that's not there on the ground, but on a radio in a tactical operations center saying "split it," you know, do you take the word of the guy on the ground or not? You know, usually the guy on the ground knows what's going on.
MCINTYRE: Corporal Tillman was with the first group that pressed on. Moving safely through a deep canyon and arriving at a small village. The second group, with the humvee in tow, included Tillman's younger brother, Kevin, who also enlisted with Pat after September 11th. That second convoy, led by the truck towing the broken humvee, followed a different route, but found the terrain too rugged. So they backtracked and followed the first group, deep into the narrow canyon.
Though they were just a half hour back, the first group was unaware the second group was coming up behind them. In the canyon, the second group was ambushed from above by enemy fighters.
GRANGE: There was confusion in the force. People were scared. Very restricted terrain. Sun's going down. A lot of shadows. So, the light is not dark enough to use night-vision goggles, but it's in between.
MCINTYRE: To add to the confusion, in the deep canyon the two groups lost radio contact. But Pat Tillman's group heard the gunfire back in the canyon and turned back to help. Tillman, as described in his Silver Star citation, showed great courage under fire in leading a small rifle team, including an Afghan soldier, to the top of the ridge to engage the enemy. Down below, a humvee armed with a .50-caliber machine gun and four soldiers with other weapons, pulled out from behind the truck and broken humvee. As they emerged from the canyon, the soldiers in the vehicle were firing with an abandon that one army investigator would later say demonstrated gross negligence.
The soldiers would later say they thought the enemy was all around them. As they fired in all directions, they began hitting U.S. troops. Down in the village, the platoon leader was hit in the face, and another soldier, shot in the leg. From Tillman's position up on the ridge came anguished cries of alarm. First, the friendly Afghan soldier was shot and killed by the soldiers in the ranger vehicle. The soldier standing alongside Tillman described what he witnessed in a sworn statement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "A vehicle with a .50-cal rolled into our sight and started to unload on top of us. Tillman and I were yelling, stop, stop, friendlies, friendlies, ceasefire. But they couldn't hear us."
MCINTYRE: According to another sworn statement obtained by CNN, the driver of the humvee was initially confused when he saw the afghan soldier with Tillman on the ridge, then realized others in his humvee were firing on fellow rangers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE" "I yelled twice, 'We have friendlies on top," and the crew must not have heard me, because my vehicle opened fire on them. I screamed, "No" and then yelled repeatedly several times to cease fire, and no one heard me.
MCINTYRE: Tillman threw a smoke grenade to signal they were rangers and for a few moments it appeared to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "We thought the battle was over, so we were relieved, getting up and stretching out and talking with one another, when I heard some rounds coming from the vehicle. They started firing again. That's when I hit the deck and started praying."
MCINTYRE: The soldier hit the deck when the vehicle tired fired on them again, and that's when the soldier said Tillman was hit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I know this because I could hear the pain in his voice when he called out, ceasefire, I'm Pat Tillman, damn it, and he said this over and over again until he stopped."
MCINTYRE: Moments later, a sound caught the attention of the soldier next to Tillman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I heard what sounded like water pouring down. I then looked down to see a river of blood coming down from where he was. I had blood all over my shoulder from him, and when I looked at him, I saw his head was gone."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Pat Tillman's parents have more questions about what happened to their son. That's next, in the second part of Jamie McIntyre's investigation. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's been two years since former NFL football player Pat Tillman was shot to death by his fellow army rangers in Afghanistan. As we've been showing you in detail, there are many unanswered questions about precisely how that happened. Two years later there is yet another army investigation under way. CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre and CNN senior investigator producer, Scott Brownstein (ph), have combed through thousands of documents. What they found includes accusations of negligence and deceit. Here again is Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: Two years and three investigations have produced a mountain of files. But there is still a long list of unanswered questions about the death of Pat Tillman at the hands of his fellow rangers. Why were Tillman's body armor and uniform burned by his fellow soldiers after he was killed? Why did some soldiers change their testimony from investigation to investigation? And should some rangers have faced courts martial?
COL. JOSEPH G. CURTIN, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Simply put, the family is not satisfied with the information they are getting, and they've asked for more details, and simply put, we owe the family honest answers.
MCINTYRE: In part because of the family's anger and disillusionment, the Pentagon has launched a fourth investigation. A criminal probe, into whether Tillman's death was negligent homicide as well as a separate review of whether the army engaged in any intentional deception.
(on camera): It's been two years. Is there a -- is there an excuse for this taking that long?
EUGENE R. FIDELL, ATTORNEY, MILITARY LAW PROFESSOR: I can't think of one.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Eugene Fidell represents military clients in his private practice, and teaches military justice at American University in Washington. He reviewed the Tillman documents at CNN's request, examining the charge made by one investigator that stories changed after his initial probe.
(on camera): Is there anything here that could be considered a smoking gun?
FIDELL: I don't know that we have a smoking gun at this point. What we do have is an initial investigator who thought that there should be, let's say, a serious look at criminal negligence. We have people changing their stories. We have somebody given -- being given a grant of immunity.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): In the documents, the army blacked out names and other identifying information. So it's unclear exactly whose testimony changed and when.
But the initial investigation, conducted by an army captain CNN has identified as Richard Scott, contains much harsher judgments than those reached in a later probe by a one-star general. In a sworn deposition given five months after Tillman's death, Scott says ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The stories have changed. They have changed to, I think, help some individuals."
MCINTYRE: Scott states that in the retelling, some distances have grown longer. Some lighting conditions worse, and even the position of the allied Afghan soldier changed. In his deposition, Captain Scott says of one soldier in the lead vehicle that fired on Tillman ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I think he demonstrated gross negligence. He recognized the individual, the Afghan soldier, wasn't shooting in his direction. But he shot and killed him anyway."
MCINTYRE (on camera): In this stack right here that we were looking at, this is where one of the first investigators offers his opinion when he's being questioned that there might be gross negligence involved in this. How significant is that?
FIDELL: It's quite significant, because that original investigation was the one closest in time to the events in controversy, by an individual who caught witnesses, presumably when their memories were fresh and expresses the opinion that gross negligence has been committed.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Captain Scott notes the rangers in the lead vehicle firing on Tillman were not being shot at themselves at the time. And that, quote ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "There were numerous attempts to signal to that lead vehicle that the friendlies were up on that ridge line."
MCINTYRE: The documents show the numerous attempts included soldiers yelling into radios to cease fire, Tillman's smoke grenade, the driver of the vehicle yelling to cease fire, and, finally, Tillman and the soldier next to him, waving their arms frantically over their heads. But the firing continued, with no attempt to properly identify the targets. It was, in the opinion of Captain Scott, a lack of discipline that should have brought serious punishment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The other difficult thing, though was watching some of these guys getting off with, what I thought, was a lesser of a punishment than what they should have received."
GRANGE: If someone lied under oath on the investigation, to cover themselves or cover someone else, that's inexcusable.
MCINTYRE: The documents show the officer who made the original decision to split the platoon was later granted limited immunity, to change his testimony about who above him knew about his order. He would later explain that it was only a clarification of his original testimony. But both Mr. Fidell and General Grange found the grant of immunity unusual.
GRANGE: The immunity issue does raise a few red flags. Because, I mean, why, unless they had accurate statements, why would you have to give immunity to anyone?
MCINTYRE: And on the issue of Tillman's uniform, which was burned by soldiers after his death? While the army's most recent investigation concludes Tillman's uniform and body armor should have been preserved, it disputes the idea it was burned in an attempt to cover anything up. The soldiers thought they were disposing of a biohazard. The army says so far seven soldiers have received various reprimands.
CURTIN: There were three officers and four enlisted personnel, all of them were disciplined. All received administrative reprimands. One soldier was demoted and fined, and three others were dismissed from the ranger regiment itself.
MCINTYRE (on camera): While no one was found grossly negligence nor less than truthful in the follow-up investigations, more serious charges could result from the ongoing probe, which is looking at questions of criminal negligence, intent to cover up and the awarding of Tillman's Silver Star.
(voice-over): But to some legal experts, the punishments in the Tillman case, so far, seem light.
FIDELL: The punishments that have been imposed have been on relatively junior people and they've been relatively informal, non- judicial punishments, non-record punishments, things that never leave the unit, were simply firing somebody from the rangers. To a ranger, that's a big deal, but it's not like going to the disciplinary barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, for example.
MCINTYRE: And the army said it learned a lesson in the delay of notifying the Tillman family about how their son died. The army has new procedures to ensure suspected friendly fire deaths are reported right away.
CURTIN: The unit erred on the side of caution to get all the facts first to determine that, indeed, that a friendly fire event had occurred, and that shouldn't have happened. In hindsight as soon as they suspected they should have told the family about it.
MCINTYRE: The army has expressed its deepest regrets to the Tillman family and is promising the fullest accounting possible.
CURTIN: The bottom line, we will go where the truth leads us, and we will get the answers to the best of our ability.
MCINTYRE: For some of Pat Tillman's family, that promise rings hollow. After two years of frustration, they wonder if any investigation will ever uncover the truth. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: More CNN right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: More of CNN LIVE SATURDAY straight ahead with Carol Lin.
Hello?
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, and welcome back.
WHITIFIELD: Thank you.
LIN: We've got all the days' news coming up and a couple of really interesting stories, one in the next hour, having to do with the length the politicians will go the gimmicks they might try during an election year, and our Bill Schneider has come up with a few of them that we've seen in the headlines on the papers lately.
And in the next hour, at 6:00, can you imagine checking your bags at the hotel and getting your plane tickets there, you don't have to do that at the airport, and you can sail through the airport, but is that a terrorist's dream? The TSA is going running this program, a pilot program in Las Vegas and Susan Candiotti investigated. A couple of really great pieces coming up.
WHITFIELD: Look forward to all of that.
LIN: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Carol.
Well, from the pop culture world now, Michael Jackson makes his first public appearance since being acquitted on child molestation charges last summer. Jackson, accepting the Japan version of the MTV Legend award earlier today in Tokyo.
Former No Doubt singer Gwen Stephanie and her rocker husband, Gavin Rossdale are now proud parents. She gave birth to a 7 1/2 pound baby boy by C-section yesterday in Los Angeles.
And multiple reports out of Namibia speculating that actress Angelina Jolie may give birth by c-section. When? Today, the 30-year-old actress is reportedly undergoing a minor complication with her pregnancy.
"American Idol" fans, you've heard them sing, but talking, not so much. Now, here's your chance. Last night, "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks and runner up Katharine McPhee gave CNN's LARRY KING LIVE their first live prime-time interview since Wednesday's big finale, and Hicks explained his strategy on which songs he will record in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR HICKS, "AMERICAN IDOL" WINNER: You have to rely on gut and instinct and the people that you're working around. You really have to rely on your instinct and your true self and who you want to work with and what kind of artist that you want to be, and I think gut instinct really plays a key part of that, because usually your gut instinct is the right one.
KATHARINE MCPHEE, "AMERICAN IDOL" RUNNER-UP: I don't think you can ever be prepared for how grueling the schedule is going to be. And it doesn't really even get as grueling until, like, about halfway -- well, even -- even past halfway. The beginning is more just, you know, your hours are very long, but you're mostly just sitting and, you know, waiting, and it's like, you know, hurry up and wait thing that Hollywood always talks about, and it's very true. And I just, yeah, I was just exhausted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And you can hear more from Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee, including their thoughts on Simon Cowell. Tune in for a special LARRY KING LIVE on CNN Monday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
The controversial investigation into possible wrongdoing by a U.S. congressman is getting even messier. We'll explain why the political fallout had America's top law enforcement officers ready to walk.
And looking for a new home, perhaps? Why a new study shows new concerns about America's racial divide.
From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield: Carol Lin is up next with a look at your top stories.
LIN: I'm Carol Lin.
Coming up this weekend, the fountain of youth. We all want to look younger. This couple did, but their cosmetic craze put them in the hospital. Instead of smooth skin, they were on life support. We're going to tell you what went wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL NEWMAN, ACTOR: You couldn't find big time if you had a roadmap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Paul Newman certainly knows the secret of success. In my exclusive interview he talks about his new high-octane project, those stories plus bring you all the news that to catch you up, right here at CNN SATURDAY NIGHT, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 9:00 Central.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Over our dead bodies. Why did two top officials in the Bush administration threaten to walk off the job? Well, we've got the inside scoop on this political and legal tug-of-war.
Also, 3,000 dead and thousands others injured after a devastating quake in Indonesia. The very latest, straight ahead.
And we're going to take you to a remote area of the Congo, where women are routinely gang raped by men in uniform paid to protect them.
Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Carol Lin, and all that and more after this quick check of the headlines.
In Iraq, the search is on for two missing marines. Their helicopter crashed in Iraq's dangerous al Anbar province. The U.S. military says the chopper probably wasn't brought down by enemy attack.
Now, cnn.com's most popular story right now? Our own investigation into the death of
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