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Rice Defends Refusal to Testify Publicly Before Commission Investigating September 11 Attacks

Aired March 29, 2004 - 14:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice continues to hang tough, defending her refusal to testify publicly before the commission investigating the September 11 attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Nothing would be better from my point of view than to be able to testify. I would really like to do that.

But there is an important principle involved here. It is a long- standing principle that sitting national security advisers do not testify before the Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rice also denies claims by former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke that President Bush tried to dominate him into finding a link between the attacks and Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: The president asked a perfectly logical question. We've just been hit and hit hard. Did Iraq have anything to do with this? Were they complicit in it? This was a country with which we've been to war with a couple of times, it was firing at our airplanes into the in the no-fly zone. It made perfectly good sense to ask about Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rice says she would agree to meet with the 9/11 Panel for a second time in private.

Meanwhile, Richard Clarke says he's all for declassifying his own previous testimony as well as a strategy paper that he sent to Rice in 2001. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says testimony Clarke gave before a congressional panel in July 2002 directly contradicts what he told the 9/11 Commission last week. Senators from both sides of the aisle say they'd like to see that testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: I don't recall any smoking gun that he brought about before. I believe that if he had, we would have put it in the report itself. I went back yesterday and looked at the report. I have not reviewed all the classified documents, but they ought to be declassified to set the record straight.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: I think all of what Mr. Clarke said should be classified. What this administration has had a tendency to do is to cherry-pick a long statement and we lease those things that make their case and submerge other statements which run in the opposite direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Clarke denies any political motivation in his attacks on the administration. He says he voted for Al Gore in 2000 but won't be endorsing John Kerry.

Other news "Across America" now. In Boston, round three in the legislative debate over gay marriage. Plenty of chanting outside as the constitutional convention reconvenes. Earlier this month, lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a constitutional ban an same- sex marriage while legalizing civil unions. Final decision could come this week.

The price of public safety. "The Columbus Dispatch" reports it cost Ohio taxpayers $3 million-plus to investigate the highway shootings that terrorized drivers along Interstate 270. Charles McCoy Jr. is under arrest. He has yet to be indicted in any of those 24 shootings. One person died in the attacks.

The dramatic tale of a little girl found six years after she was allegedly kidnapped from her crib has been sold. The parents of Delimar Vera will receive an undisclosed but hefty sum to the rights of their life stories. The buyer plans a TV movie and a book.

Fuming at the pump? It's not the gasoline but the price. Steadily rising in the past few weeks, they've hit an all-time high. Will it be a rocky road for driver's wallets? Our Sean Callebs is in Washington with the detail on the sticker shock -- Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, if it seems like you're paying more than ever at the pump right now, you know what? You're right.

The latest gage of gasoline prices by the Lundberg Survey shows that the average price for a gallon of gas is $1.77. Now that is a new national record high. This spike came somewhat quickly. The same study shows we're paying an average 29 cents a gallon more now than in late December.

Here's how the numbers are shaking out. For the past couple of weeks from March 12 until now, the average price for a gallon of self- serve gasoline has jumped 3.5 cents. It is now as I mentioned $1.77.

Let's look at how certain cities are being hit. Atlanta, average of $1.62 a gallon. Philadelphia, $1.75. Denver, just about the nationwide average paying $1.78. In Seattle, $1.81. In Los Angeles, a whopping $2.10 a gallon.

Incidentally, if you'd like to find the highest price for gas, look no further than San Diego, $2.12 a gallon. The cheapest, Tulsa, Oklahoma, $1.60 a gallon.

Despite the hike, the Lundberg Study says it isn't keeping U.S. motorists from enjoying their love affair with their cars. And don't look for prices to drop any time soon for a number of reasons.

One, federal regulations that began in January increased production costs. U.S. refineries also shut down this time of year to prepare for the hectic summer months. Kyra, these shutdowns shrink supplies and drive the cost up.

PHILLIPS: All right, Sean. Totally different subject. What can you tell us about this protest at Karl Rove's house last night?

CALLEBS: It was quite an eventful day for Mr. Rove. He lives in the Palisades area of Washington, D.C. I hope we have some pictures of this. You have to see what happened. There we go.

A number of people supporting an immigration member simply showing up at his doorstep chanting, waving posters. They're demonstrating on behalf of a bill that would allow high school graduates to legalize their immigration status and qualify for college tuition.

Doubt they made any friends here with this effort. The gentlemen heading up the demonstrators said Rove did agree to meet with them in his garage. And when that happened, he said Rove chastised the group for protesting in front of his house and scaring his kids.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Sean, thank you.

The din of the political season has a new voice chiming in this week. A liberal radio network called "Air America." While it may be music to the ears of those on the left, it faces a bottom line concerned more with profits than politics. CNN's Adora Udoji tunes in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL FRANKEN, COMEDIAN: If I was friends with Ken Edelman, I'm sure he's a nice Jewish boy.

ADORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Comedian Al Franken just couldn't resist, even the name of his upcoming radio show sounds like a punch line. It's called "The O'Franken Factor," a clear swipe at the conservative Bill O'Reilly show, "The O'Reilly Factor." The creators of Air America, the country's first self-proclaimed, liberal radio network are betting that humor will pull in listeners.

EVAN COHEN, CHAIRMAN, AIR AMERICA: And you take somebody as talented as Al Franken, who is working as hard as he is, who is as committed as he is to being successful and providing, you know, great radio to talk about things that he believes are not in the American dialogue right now.

UDOJI: Indeed, the airwaves are dominated by conservatives with Rush Limbaugh leading the pack.

LIMBAUGH: Increasingly popular Rush Limbaugh program.

UDOJI: He pulls in nearly 15 million listeners a week. Right behind him, Sean Hannity at 12 million. But analysts say there's plenty of room.

COHEN: Being conservative or liberal are not the main elements in the recipe for success. You have to be talented and have some special, charismatic magic about you to attract the radio audience.

UDOJI: Air America is promising provocative programs led by Franken, actress-comedienne Jeanne Garofalo and hip hop godfather, Chuck D of the group Public Enemy. Some argue that it might even help that Democrats are not in the White House, especially in a big presidential election year.

COHEN: Talk radio works best when it takes on power. When it flies in the face of authority. When it takes the outsider role and is the critical position.

UDOJI: But it's a tough business. They don't expect to turn a profit for three years, even if people do tune in.

(on camera): The task for Air America begins this week when the show starts broadcasting out of this building on Park Avenue, to radio stations here in new York city in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Adora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A lawyer who's defended death camp Nazis jumps to Saddam Hussein's defense. Find out why he says you shouldn't rush to judgment.

And a warning for Americans after a series of terror bombings blamed on Islamic extremists.

And later on LIVE FROM... -- hey, honey! Yeah I'm talking to you. Why honey may hold some sweet health benefits -- just for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News around the world begins on a sad note in Geneva. Eighty-two-year-old Peter Ustinov has died of heart failure. The two- time Oscar winning actor is probably best known for playing Agatha Christie's detective. A real renaissance man, he also wrote plays, novels and devoted more than 30 years to helping children as an ambassador for UNICEF.

Stabilization attacks in Uzbekistan. At least 19 people killed in a series of explosions in Tashkent. U.S. citizens in the country are warned to be on high alert. In the latest attack a suicide bomber detonated herself in a crowded market. The attacks are linked to Islamic militants.

Notorious defender. French Lawyer Jacques Verges is criticizing President Bush for saying Saddam Hussein is guilty of war crimes. The lawyer tells CNN he signed on to represent the former dictator and he says the world should wait until trial before passing judgment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUES VERGES, ATTORNEY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there are people who does not deserve to be defended. But in a Democratic country, everybody has a right to be defended, and every lawyer has a duty to defend people accused.

So my problem is very simple from the point of view for my professional morale. A man is accused, he is not condemned now. There is no proof. Is he only accused. And my office is to defend him, to discuss the accusations point by point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: In Iraq with a blast near Fallujah kills an American soldier. U.S. troops were wounded in Iraq when they were treated by military doctors. When Iraqis are hurt, their fate more uncertain. They often head to Iraq's decrepit hospitals where the word health care can be an oxymoron. But as our Jim Clancy explains, that's changing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another casualty. An accident victim comes in to Baghdad's al Noor hospital. Dr. Awadah Abbas (ph) is having a busy day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The casualties, we are full. Believe me. From 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 in the evening. More than 50, 50 cases has come to this emergency.

CLANCY: Overburdened, outdated, ill-equipped. All apply to Iraq's health care system today, a system doctors diagnose as chronically ill. But is it better than it was a year ago?

DR. SAFAA M. AL-HUSSEINY, CHIEF OF RESIDENTS: So to say the truth, yes. But I think you will never accept this hospital in the USA. Never.

CLANCY: But it is the Health Ministry that became the first to be handed back to Iraqi control in a weekend ceremony, congratulations muted by legalities.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: This health care system was run down over a period of 30 to 35 years, like most of Iraq's infrastructure. It will not be fixed overnight.

CLANCY: In some ways, Iraq's health care system is a little like this newborn baby. It may be in an incubator that's 20 years old and barely functioning. But inside, there is the hope of a whole new life.

Meet one of the proud parents.

JIM HAVERMAN, ADVISER TO MIN. OF HEALTH: We're at a crucial time. It's an exciting time because we are undoing the old system which gave you the criticism that you have received and rightly so, and we're entering this new era.

CLANCY: The U.S. plans to spend more than $1.5 billion this year to create that new era. It may be hard to convince the Iraqis help is on the way. An old man forlornly asks for heart medication for his wife that's simply isn't available.

Doctors first complaint is they're getting second-rate drugs from third world countries that are ineffective. "Frankly, we thought the Americans would bring us medicines, but they didn't," says Newldah (ph) Hospital pharmacist. Adding, "We're using the medicines that remained in the warehouses from the Saddam period."

U.S. officials agree, but say the Oil for Food medical shipments that were riddled with poor quality and tainted by kickbacks are being replaced with quality drugs in sufficient supply.

Still, the corruption rampant during Saddam Hussein's regime is hard to erase. CNN has learned and the health minister confirms that hundreds of millions of dinars in staff salaries at a hospital were stolen earlier this month.

DR. H.K. ABBAS, IRAQI HEALTH MINISTER: Then one of the members decided to take the money home in order to bring it the following day. And then the following day he disappeared. He didn't go.

CLANCY (on camera): Do you know where he went?

ABBAS: We don't know.

CLANCY: About $160,000 were lost. There are other cases, but U.S. officials think Dr. Abbas is creating a new infrastructure in Iraqi health care that will better safeguard its assets.

(on camera): Those assets will be considerable. The U.S. plans to build more than 200 new primary care centers around the country, a new $50 million children's hospital in Basra, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on new equipment, drugs and salaries. It's ambitious, expensive, and it may be just what the doctor ordered.

Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Next, it's BYOE. Bring Your Own Experiments to the International Space Station. That and $20 million will get you a board.

Say you can't find Mr. Right online? Try a cyber makeover. Tips for bringing out your strong points. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A $20 million vacation to space? It's worth the price for Gregory Olsen. He's preparing to become the world's third space tourist. He spoke to CNN's Soledad O'Brien on "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG OLSEN, PRIVATE SPACE EXPLORER: I thought a long time about that. And I came to the conclusion that the value of this mission, which is scientific in nature, is not just an eight-day joy ride, but it's what happens afterwards, both for myself and the ability to be able to share this with a lot of people. We're going to publish the results in scientific journals.

And what I really want to do is the educational part, where I share this with young people, especially in areas like Trenton, New Jersey, where we're going to focus on kids. I come from a modest background. I was born in Brooklyn, raised in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, and found science and engineering to be the quick way up for me. So I hope to share this experience with others and help motivate them.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So you'll do the science part of it, but also, you really want to come back and start saying to folks, regular guy who went up in space. Are you nervous at all?

OLSEN: Not at all. I'm really looking forward to it and, you know, I don't feel it's a risk at all any more than I do about crossing the street on Fifth Avenue.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's a little dangerous sometimes to cross the street at Fifth Avenue, depending on the time of day.

Tell me a little bit about the training. You're going to start training this week. What's the process exactly?

OLSEN: Yes. Well, it starts off with the theoretical part. I'll be reviewing my graduate physics days, where we'll study orbital mechanics, you know, just how the satellite stays up and all the physics involved, and there's a physical part. Obviously, you have to be in reasonably good shape to do it. And all of the procedures that are necessary to go up, both on the Soyuz vehicle, and on the International Space Station and then the deorbiting part, coming down. So there's a lot of training of procedures of what to do.

O'BRIEN: You look like you're in good shape? Are you in...

OLSEN: Thank you. Yes, I work out. I have a great trainer, Ruben Ortiz, back in Princeton, New Jersey.

O'BRIEN: Suddenly, you're like, Ruben, guess what, we have a new goal we're working forward for.

OLSEN: Yes, you bet, every day we work out. And my company, Sensors Unlimited, in Princeton, has been very supportive. I'm going to take our infrared camera up there and take a look at the Earth and the astronomy.

O'BRIEN: Who is paying the bill?

OLSEN: Mostly me. But for the camera, obviously, Sensors Unlimited developed that, with a lot of help from organizations like NASA. We've had research support to do that. So this is almost a payback mission.

O'BRIEN: Is your family supportive, or are they saying you're just crazy?

OLSEN: No, my two daughters, Christa and Kimberly, when I told them, they were excited and said, that's great, dad, we always liked that about you, that you go for it.

O'BRIEN: You talked to Dennis Tito, who was the first private citizen to go up on a spacecraft. Did he give you any advice?

OLSEN: Yes. He said just put your head down and do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Olsen's trip is scheduled for next year, although there is a chance he could go this October.

(MARKET UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired March 29, 2004 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice continues to hang tough, defending her refusal to testify publicly before the commission investigating the September 11 attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Nothing would be better from my point of view than to be able to testify. I would really like to do that.

But there is an important principle involved here. It is a long- standing principle that sitting national security advisers do not testify before the Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rice also denies claims by former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke that President Bush tried to dominate him into finding a link between the attacks and Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: The president asked a perfectly logical question. We've just been hit and hit hard. Did Iraq have anything to do with this? Were they complicit in it? This was a country with which we've been to war with a couple of times, it was firing at our airplanes into the in the no-fly zone. It made perfectly good sense to ask about Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rice says she would agree to meet with the 9/11 Panel for a second time in private.

Meanwhile, Richard Clarke says he's all for declassifying his own previous testimony as well as a strategy paper that he sent to Rice in 2001. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says testimony Clarke gave before a congressional panel in July 2002 directly contradicts what he told the 9/11 Commission last week. Senators from both sides of the aisle say they'd like to see that testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: I don't recall any smoking gun that he brought about before. I believe that if he had, we would have put it in the report itself. I went back yesterday and looked at the report. I have not reviewed all the classified documents, but they ought to be declassified to set the record straight.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: I think all of what Mr. Clarke said should be classified. What this administration has had a tendency to do is to cherry-pick a long statement and we lease those things that make their case and submerge other statements which run in the opposite direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Clarke denies any political motivation in his attacks on the administration. He says he voted for Al Gore in 2000 but won't be endorsing John Kerry.

Other news "Across America" now. In Boston, round three in the legislative debate over gay marriage. Plenty of chanting outside as the constitutional convention reconvenes. Earlier this month, lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a constitutional ban an same- sex marriage while legalizing civil unions. Final decision could come this week.

The price of public safety. "The Columbus Dispatch" reports it cost Ohio taxpayers $3 million-plus to investigate the highway shootings that terrorized drivers along Interstate 270. Charles McCoy Jr. is under arrest. He has yet to be indicted in any of those 24 shootings. One person died in the attacks.

The dramatic tale of a little girl found six years after she was allegedly kidnapped from her crib has been sold. The parents of Delimar Vera will receive an undisclosed but hefty sum to the rights of their life stories. The buyer plans a TV movie and a book.

Fuming at the pump? It's not the gasoline but the price. Steadily rising in the past few weeks, they've hit an all-time high. Will it be a rocky road for driver's wallets? Our Sean Callebs is in Washington with the detail on the sticker shock -- Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, if it seems like you're paying more than ever at the pump right now, you know what? You're right.

The latest gage of gasoline prices by the Lundberg Survey shows that the average price for a gallon of gas is $1.77. Now that is a new national record high. This spike came somewhat quickly. The same study shows we're paying an average 29 cents a gallon more now than in late December.

Here's how the numbers are shaking out. For the past couple of weeks from March 12 until now, the average price for a gallon of self- serve gasoline has jumped 3.5 cents. It is now as I mentioned $1.77.

Let's look at how certain cities are being hit. Atlanta, average of $1.62 a gallon. Philadelphia, $1.75. Denver, just about the nationwide average paying $1.78. In Seattle, $1.81. In Los Angeles, a whopping $2.10 a gallon.

Incidentally, if you'd like to find the highest price for gas, look no further than San Diego, $2.12 a gallon. The cheapest, Tulsa, Oklahoma, $1.60 a gallon.

Despite the hike, the Lundberg Study says it isn't keeping U.S. motorists from enjoying their love affair with their cars. And don't look for prices to drop any time soon for a number of reasons.

One, federal regulations that began in January increased production costs. U.S. refineries also shut down this time of year to prepare for the hectic summer months. Kyra, these shutdowns shrink supplies and drive the cost up.

PHILLIPS: All right, Sean. Totally different subject. What can you tell us about this protest at Karl Rove's house last night?

CALLEBS: It was quite an eventful day for Mr. Rove. He lives in the Palisades area of Washington, D.C. I hope we have some pictures of this. You have to see what happened. There we go.

A number of people supporting an immigration member simply showing up at his doorstep chanting, waving posters. They're demonstrating on behalf of a bill that would allow high school graduates to legalize their immigration status and qualify for college tuition.

Doubt they made any friends here with this effort. The gentlemen heading up the demonstrators said Rove did agree to meet with them in his garage. And when that happened, he said Rove chastised the group for protesting in front of his house and scaring his kids.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Sean, thank you.

The din of the political season has a new voice chiming in this week. A liberal radio network called "Air America." While it may be music to the ears of those on the left, it faces a bottom line concerned more with profits than politics. CNN's Adora Udoji tunes in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL FRANKEN, COMEDIAN: If I was friends with Ken Edelman, I'm sure he's a nice Jewish boy.

ADORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Comedian Al Franken just couldn't resist, even the name of his upcoming radio show sounds like a punch line. It's called "The O'Franken Factor," a clear swipe at the conservative Bill O'Reilly show, "The O'Reilly Factor." The creators of Air America, the country's first self-proclaimed, liberal radio network are betting that humor will pull in listeners.

EVAN COHEN, CHAIRMAN, AIR AMERICA: And you take somebody as talented as Al Franken, who is working as hard as he is, who is as committed as he is to being successful and providing, you know, great radio to talk about things that he believes are not in the American dialogue right now.

UDOJI: Indeed, the airwaves are dominated by conservatives with Rush Limbaugh leading the pack.

LIMBAUGH: Increasingly popular Rush Limbaugh program.

UDOJI: He pulls in nearly 15 million listeners a week. Right behind him, Sean Hannity at 12 million. But analysts say there's plenty of room.

COHEN: Being conservative or liberal are not the main elements in the recipe for success. You have to be talented and have some special, charismatic magic about you to attract the radio audience.

UDOJI: Air America is promising provocative programs led by Franken, actress-comedienne Jeanne Garofalo and hip hop godfather, Chuck D of the group Public Enemy. Some argue that it might even help that Democrats are not in the White House, especially in a big presidential election year.

COHEN: Talk radio works best when it takes on power. When it flies in the face of authority. When it takes the outsider role and is the critical position.

UDOJI: But it's a tough business. They don't expect to turn a profit for three years, even if people do tune in.

(on camera): The task for Air America begins this week when the show starts broadcasting out of this building on Park Avenue, to radio stations here in new York city in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Adora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A lawyer who's defended death camp Nazis jumps to Saddam Hussein's defense. Find out why he says you shouldn't rush to judgment.

And a warning for Americans after a series of terror bombings blamed on Islamic extremists.

And later on LIVE FROM... -- hey, honey! Yeah I'm talking to you. Why honey may hold some sweet health benefits -- just for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News around the world begins on a sad note in Geneva. Eighty-two-year-old Peter Ustinov has died of heart failure. The two- time Oscar winning actor is probably best known for playing Agatha Christie's detective. A real renaissance man, he also wrote plays, novels and devoted more than 30 years to helping children as an ambassador for UNICEF.

Stabilization attacks in Uzbekistan. At least 19 people killed in a series of explosions in Tashkent. U.S. citizens in the country are warned to be on high alert. In the latest attack a suicide bomber detonated herself in a crowded market. The attacks are linked to Islamic militants.

Notorious defender. French Lawyer Jacques Verges is criticizing President Bush for saying Saddam Hussein is guilty of war crimes. The lawyer tells CNN he signed on to represent the former dictator and he says the world should wait until trial before passing judgment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUES VERGES, ATTORNEY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there are people who does not deserve to be defended. But in a Democratic country, everybody has a right to be defended, and every lawyer has a duty to defend people accused.

So my problem is very simple from the point of view for my professional morale. A man is accused, he is not condemned now. There is no proof. Is he only accused. And my office is to defend him, to discuss the accusations point by point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: In Iraq with a blast near Fallujah kills an American soldier. U.S. troops were wounded in Iraq when they were treated by military doctors. When Iraqis are hurt, their fate more uncertain. They often head to Iraq's decrepit hospitals where the word health care can be an oxymoron. But as our Jim Clancy explains, that's changing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another casualty. An accident victim comes in to Baghdad's al Noor hospital. Dr. Awadah Abbas (ph) is having a busy day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The casualties, we are full. Believe me. From 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 in the evening. More than 50, 50 cases has come to this emergency.

CLANCY: Overburdened, outdated, ill-equipped. All apply to Iraq's health care system today, a system doctors diagnose as chronically ill. But is it better than it was a year ago?

DR. SAFAA M. AL-HUSSEINY, CHIEF OF RESIDENTS: So to say the truth, yes. But I think you will never accept this hospital in the USA. Never.

CLANCY: But it is the Health Ministry that became the first to be handed back to Iraqi control in a weekend ceremony, congratulations muted by legalities.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: This health care system was run down over a period of 30 to 35 years, like most of Iraq's infrastructure. It will not be fixed overnight.

CLANCY: In some ways, Iraq's health care system is a little like this newborn baby. It may be in an incubator that's 20 years old and barely functioning. But inside, there is the hope of a whole new life.

Meet one of the proud parents.

JIM HAVERMAN, ADVISER TO MIN. OF HEALTH: We're at a crucial time. It's an exciting time because we are undoing the old system which gave you the criticism that you have received and rightly so, and we're entering this new era.

CLANCY: The U.S. plans to spend more than $1.5 billion this year to create that new era. It may be hard to convince the Iraqis help is on the way. An old man forlornly asks for heart medication for his wife that's simply isn't available.

Doctors first complaint is they're getting second-rate drugs from third world countries that are ineffective. "Frankly, we thought the Americans would bring us medicines, but they didn't," says Newldah (ph) Hospital pharmacist. Adding, "We're using the medicines that remained in the warehouses from the Saddam period."

U.S. officials agree, but say the Oil for Food medical shipments that were riddled with poor quality and tainted by kickbacks are being replaced with quality drugs in sufficient supply.

Still, the corruption rampant during Saddam Hussein's regime is hard to erase. CNN has learned and the health minister confirms that hundreds of millions of dinars in staff salaries at a hospital were stolen earlier this month.

DR. H.K. ABBAS, IRAQI HEALTH MINISTER: Then one of the members decided to take the money home in order to bring it the following day. And then the following day he disappeared. He didn't go.

CLANCY (on camera): Do you know where he went?

ABBAS: We don't know.

CLANCY: About $160,000 were lost. There are other cases, but U.S. officials think Dr. Abbas is creating a new infrastructure in Iraqi health care that will better safeguard its assets.

(on camera): Those assets will be considerable. The U.S. plans to build more than 200 new primary care centers around the country, a new $50 million children's hospital in Basra, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on new equipment, drugs and salaries. It's ambitious, expensive, and it may be just what the doctor ordered.

Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Next, it's BYOE. Bring Your Own Experiments to the International Space Station. That and $20 million will get you a board.

Say you can't find Mr. Right online? Try a cyber makeover. Tips for bringing out your strong points. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A $20 million vacation to space? It's worth the price for Gregory Olsen. He's preparing to become the world's third space tourist. He spoke to CNN's Soledad O'Brien on "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG OLSEN, PRIVATE SPACE EXPLORER: I thought a long time about that. And I came to the conclusion that the value of this mission, which is scientific in nature, is not just an eight-day joy ride, but it's what happens afterwards, both for myself and the ability to be able to share this with a lot of people. We're going to publish the results in scientific journals.

And what I really want to do is the educational part, where I share this with young people, especially in areas like Trenton, New Jersey, where we're going to focus on kids. I come from a modest background. I was born in Brooklyn, raised in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, and found science and engineering to be the quick way up for me. So I hope to share this experience with others and help motivate them.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So you'll do the science part of it, but also, you really want to come back and start saying to folks, regular guy who went up in space. Are you nervous at all?

OLSEN: Not at all. I'm really looking forward to it and, you know, I don't feel it's a risk at all any more than I do about crossing the street on Fifth Avenue.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's a little dangerous sometimes to cross the street at Fifth Avenue, depending on the time of day.

Tell me a little bit about the training. You're going to start training this week. What's the process exactly?

OLSEN: Yes. Well, it starts off with the theoretical part. I'll be reviewing my graduate physics days, where we'll study orbital mechanics, you know, just how the satellite stays up and all the physics involved, and there's a physical part. Obviously, you have to be in reasonably good shape to do it. And all of the procedures that are necessary to go up, both on the Soyuz vehicle, and on the International Space Station and then the deorbiting part, coming down. So there's a lot of training of procedures of what to do.

O'BRIEN: You look like you're in good shape? Are you in...

OLSEN: Thank you. Yes, I work out. I have a great trainer, Ruben Ortiz, back in Princeton, New Jersey.

O'BRIEN: Suddenly, you're like, Ruben, guess what, we have a new goal we're working forward for.

OLSEN: Yes, you bet, every day we work out. And my company, Sensors Unlimited, in Princeton, has been very supportive. I'm going to take our infrared camera up there and take a look at the Earth and the astronomy.

O'BRIEN: Who is paying the bill?

OLSEN: Mostly me. But for the camera, obviously, Sensors Unlimited developed that, with a lot of help from organizations like NASA. We've had research support to do that. So this is almost a payback mission.

O'BRIEN: Is your family supportive, or are they saying you're just crazy?

OLSEN: No, my two daughters, Christa and Kimberly, when I told them, they were excited and said, that's great, dad, we always liked that about you, that you go for it.

O'BRIEN: You talked to Dennis Tito, who was the first private citizen to go up on a spacecraft. Did he give you any advice?

OLSEN: Yes. He said just put your head down and do it.

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PHILLIPS: Olsen's trip is scheduled for next year, although there is a chance he could go this October.

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