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Radical Muslim Cleric Leads Violent Uprising in Iraq; Central Command Considers Requesting More Troops; Bush Sticks by June 30 Deadline in Iraq
Aired April 05, 2004 - 13:00 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, ANCHOR: In 85 days, Iraqis are expected to assert their independence, despite the wave of violence sweeping across their homeland.
And with the death toll mounting, the coalition is on a mission to reassert law and order.
Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf has the latest now -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that mission is taking a couple of fronts. One is the military one, of course, and it follows yesterday's events, where U.S. officials say followers of a radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, called into action by the cleric, converged on Sadr City (ph), a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad, in the biggest clashes in the capital since the end of the war.
At the end of it, eight U.S. soldiers dead, 30 wounded and a lot of Iraqi casualties.
Now, today, a political challenge. Coalition officials saying that they have an arrest warrant for the arrest of Moqtada. Now, this is the radical cleric who is now in the holy city near Najaf. He's believed to be in Hufa (ph).
Officials are saying that they have this warrant, which has been in place by the Iraqi police for some time, accusing him of the murder of another Shia cleric last year.
They are now making it public, and it clearly is a challenge to him. They're calling for him to surrender. Not a safe bet that he will, but certainly, this is a crucial point in these political and military developments -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad, thank you.
And with the sudden surge in unrest, and order from the top ranks to consider sending in more troops. Pentagon Barbara Starr, tracking this still developing story.
What do you know, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, let's put all of this into a put of perspective. What military officials say, when they look at al-Sadr's troops, his troop strength, they estimate he has about 600 so-called hard-core followers and about 2,000 to 3,000 members of his militia.
They feel that these people they could get under control, but they want to make sure because, of course, over the weekend we saw a number of violent attacks across a pretty broad swath of Iraq.
So, General John Abizaid, a very conservative, very cautious military commander, head of the U.S. Central Command, has said to his senior staff, take a look at the situation. He wants to see some options.
Should there be a requirement to send in a number of additional troops to deal with this militia? He wants to know where the troops would come from, what kind of troops, how soon they could get there.
Of course, the first option would to reposition troops already in Iraq. If that is not a practical option on the table, then he wants options for sending troops from the United States, from sending troops already overseas or possibly asking the coalition to contribute more troops.
But sources emphasize this is all a planning option, the kind of thing that Central Command would routinely do. But after seeing the violence break out over the last several days, General Abizaid said to be concerned. He wants to just make sure he's got everything prepared just in case -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon, thank you.
Well, the commander in chief has his eye firmly fixed on June 30. That's the date set for the transfer of power. President Bush insists that the U.S. will stay the course no matter how violent the opposition.
Elaine Quijano has more on what he had to say -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.
Well, President Bush reiterated that commitment to the June 30 deadline while on a trip this morning to North Carolina.
He actually visited a community college there, where he was talking about job training and the economy. But afterwards, he actually took some time to meet with the family members of one of the U.S. troops killed in Iraq.
And then he met with reporters in an impromptu meeting.
He was asked for reaction to the heightened violence in Iraq this past weekend, and the president said he believes the closer to that June 30 deadline the more the insurgents and others would challenge the U.S.'s will. But the president said he remains firm on that June 30 date.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The message to the Iraqi citizens is, they don't have to fear that America will turn and run. And that's an important message for them to hear. If they think that we're not sincere about staying the course, many people will not continue to take a risk towards -- take the risk towards freedom and democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, President Bush also saying that he believed throughout this period leading up to June 30 that there would be tests. He named Fallujah an example of that. But, again, the president sticking firm to that June 30 deadline for the transfer of authority to the Iraqi people -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, Thursday's the day we'll hear from Condoleezza Rice, Elaine?
QUIJANO: That's absolutely right, Kyra. All eyes will be on Dr. Condoleezza Rice. The president actually today commenting about that.
Initially, as you know, the White House very reluctant to have Dr. Rice testify in public before the commission. Now, though, the White House saying that they are eager, very anxious for Dr. Rice to appear in public. In fact, the president commenting today, saying he is looking forward to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I'm looking forward to the conversation. I'm looking forward to Condi testifying. And I made a decision to allow her to do so because I was assured that it would not jeopardize executive privilege.
And she'll be great. She's a very smart, capable person who knows exactly what took place and will lay out the facts. And that's what the commission's job is meant to do, and that's what the American people want to see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And, so, the Bush administration very anxious to counter some of the criticisms that have been put forth, namely those put forth by former counter terrorism chief Richard Clarke, that the Bush administration was not focused enough on fighting terrorism, on fighting al Qaeda in the days before September 11.
This will be the administration's chance to rebut those assertions -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thank you.
And Condoleezza Rice does testify before the 9/11 commission Thursday morning, as we said, publicly and under oath at 9 a.m. Eastern. You can count on CNN to bring that all to you live.
Well, rude awakenings. French police nab more than a dozen suspects in pre-dawn raids near Paris. The suspects are believed to have links to last year's suicide bombings in Casablanca.
France's interior minister says the detainees are suspected of belonging to a militant Islamic group. Spanish officials believe the group is linked to al Qaeda and may have carried out the March 11 train bombing.
That crackdown came just hour before Britain's monarch began a royal road trip to France on Eurostar. Queen Elizabeth II is on a three-day state visit to Paris. She is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the so-called Cordial Agreement between France and Britain. The accord, signed in April of 1904 ended their colonel rivalries.
Now to Spain were the hunt for the culprits behind the Madrid train bombings turned deadly this weekend. In a tense standoff with police, five terror suspects blew themselves up. Two others now in custody. The investigation is far from over, though.
Al Goodman brings us the latest from Madrid.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The manhunt continues for other suspects in the Madrid commuter train bombings.
Now, last week there were six photographs widely published of men who were wanted international arrest warrants. Authorities say three of them died in that large explosion on Saturday at this suburban Madrid apartment as police closed in.
But three others are still at large. Those are Moroccan men who are widely wanted. Authorities telling CNN that because some of the other suspects died in the suburban Madrid apartment, although authorities had thought they might already be out of Spain, which is why they issued international arrest warrants, now they think that the other three alive, who they think are still alive, could still be in Spain. That according to authorities talking to CNN.
In addition, the largest circulation newspaper, "El Pais," on Monday published the photographs of three other men who also are wanted in connection with the Madrid train bombings, according to the newspaper, citing police sources.
Overall, the nation trying to come to grips with this huge threat of Islamic terrorism against Spain. Now Spain has been accustomed, grimly, to more than 30 years of militant Basque violence.
But they never experienced anything like the Madrid train bombings last month that killed all those people, like a failed attack against the Madrid bullet train on Friday. That bomb was found and defused. And then on Saturday night this tremendous explosion in the southern working class neighborhood of Leganes, that, in addition to killing the five suspected terrorists and one police officer, basically destroyed a building. Many families are out of their homes.
All of this coming as Spain was hoping to just enjoy a simple Easter week holiday.
Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, preventing more terror attacks in this country. Four New Jersey widows say that was their mission in the aftermath of 9/11. What their mission led to, later in LIVE FROM.
And do any discount shopping recently? If you did, might want to check your credit card statement very carefully.
And check this out.
Solo act. This isn't your grandpa's one-man band. We'll give him a listen later on LIVE FROM.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Now infamous juror No. 4 from the Tyco juror in New York, Ruth Jordan, is defending her actions, even as the full fallout from the mistrial is being measured. Prosecutors want to retry Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz ASAP.
Let's go to New York for the latest from Chris Huntington -- Chris.
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I just got off the phone with one of the lead prosecutors, who assured me that there will be a retrial of Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz.
This prosecutor, as is standard in this type of situations, is saying there will be nothing of a plea bargain. He said, what do we have to offer? Even if you trim the charges down from essentially trying to steal $600 million to $50 million, he said you're still talking about potential jury -- prison terms of in excess of 25 years.
At the center of all of the controversy and, of course, at the center of what became a mistrial is juror No. 4. We can now tell you her name: Ruth Jordan. You probably heard it before, but we here at CNN were waiting until she had decided to speak to the media, which she now has done, at least in one instance.
She's a 79-year-old former schoolteacher who received a law degree in her 50s and briefly practiced estate and trust law for a couple of years.
In speaking with several jurors this morning, they made it clear that, while she was leaning towards acquittal on some charges, she was not the only holdout. There has been a lot of reporting that said it was simply 11-1, guilty versus acquittal. That's a gross over- simplification, said these jurors.
Certainly, they said, in the last time they did in essence a straw poll before the mistrial was declared, that Ruth Jordan was actually leaning towards acquittal on one of the larceny charges. And really, that's the essence of the case of the serious charges levied against Swartz and Kozlowski.
We did hear, of course, ultimately that the mistrial was declared because of outside pressure, particularly in the form of a letter. But what's interesting and what one of the jurors told us is this was not the only outside pressure of Ruth Jordan.
Here's how that other juror described the pressure that she faced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARKER BOSWORTH, TYCO JUROR: It started on, I guess, Sunday morning. Sunday morning she received a lot of phone calls. I think on the average she told me about 30 to 40 phone calls a day. And it -- you know, she just couldn't deal with the outside pressures and then she comes to the jury room and has got to deal with the pressures inside the jury room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: Now, of course, this case was all about Dennis Kozlowski, shown here, the former chief executive of Tyco, and Mark Swartz, shown there, the former chief financial officer, that they had, in essence, helped themselves to bonuses, special loans and even stock grants to the tune of some $600 million.
What several of the jurors told us, though, is that Mark Swartz, who was on the stand for some eight days, really ended up not being credible.
So much of the prosecution's case focused on how these gentlemen spent their Money. Lavish parties in Sardinia. You heard about the fabled artwork, for instance, that was in a New York City apartment that itself cost close to $20 million.
What the jurors tells us is all that all of this effort by the prosecution to try and paint these gentlemen as greedy was, in essence, sort of an irrelevant sideshow to the real facts of the case that had to do with whether or not they had the authority to take these massive bonuses and loans from Tyco.
Here's how another juror described the artwork issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM JOHNSON, TYCO JUROR: Some charges like the artwork, we said that's just a bogus charge, because he was the CEO of a major company. He was reported to be the highest paid CEO in America, and Tyco was paying for his apartment. So of course, he's supposed to have Monets and Renoirs on his walls, not, you know, the velvet poster of Elvis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: So, whether it's a Renoir or a velvet poster of Elvis, those kind of issues apparently not holding much sway with the jurors.
So Kyra, the real issue here is when we start to hear about a new trial ramping up? There's another hearing scheduled in May. We'll certainly hear some rumblings before that as to just what shape and form these new set of charges will take. It's not clear that all of the same charges will be brought again.
PHILLIPS: Chris, I thought those velvet Elvises were priceless.
HUNTINGTON: I don't think they quite stack up to a Renoir.
PHILLIPS: All right. Chris Huntington, live from New York. Thank you.
Now the Monday legal briefs.
Back at work by the Bay. Jury selection resumes in the double murder trial of Scott Peterson. That selection process has been on hold for nearly a week, due to a court holiday.
Legal wrangling in the Garden State. Jayson Williams' manslaughter trial could be derailed by some disputed evidence. The defense and the prosecution are sparring over allegations of prosecutional misconduct.
Apparently, photos and notes the prosecution had about Williams' shotgun were never revealed to the defense.
Shrouded in secrecy, a grand jury is meeting again today to hear evidence on the child molestation allegations against Michael Jackson. Jackson's lawyers want the panel to hear evidence -- want the panel to hear the evidence, rather. They say it will prove the pop star is innocent of those charges.
A small town coping with a big-time murder case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's such a sad story. It's a little difficult, you know, but that's when your faith comes in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A mother's murder trial turns into a test of faith.
And testing the airlines: which ones rank best at getting you off the ground? We'll bring that one in for a landing later on LIVE FROM. JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Josie Burke at Great American Ballpark, where nobody does opening day quite like Cincinnati. But amid all the pomp and circumstance, there are some mixed emotions. We'll have that story when LIVE FROM comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURKE: ... that has divided even players.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF BAGWELL, HOUSTON ASTROS: People have been looking for a reason to discount this era of baseball for a while and now this is a big thing like a big carrot at the end of the donkey going, "See, I told you these guys weren't that good."
RANDY WOLF, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: If you get caught this year, you're -- you're a moron. You know, basically, last year, OK, you wanted one more year where you wanted to get away with it. You're with one of that five to seven percent caught.
But this year, if you get caught, you deserve any kind of punishment you get. Because it's obvious it's going to be public this year. And you deserve any kind of scrutiny, any kind of public embarrassment.
LANCE BERKMAN, HOUSTON ASTROS: I want to get the cloud of suspicion completely eliminated from the game. And if we can do that, I'm all for it. I mean, you know, however that has to happen, whether it be testing everybody and making the test results known or, I mean, whatever they want to do. It needs to be curtailed, and that cloud of suspicion needs to be eliminated, because it's not good for the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURKE: Kyra, you alluded to the fact that the president and the vice president will be getting in on the baseball action today. Dick Cheney will be right here, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in less than an hour. It will be interesting see how close he gets to throwing a strike -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You never know, maybe he grew up playing ball. We'll see how he does.
Meanwhile, a moment of silence, I'm told, today for Marge Schott. Is that right?
BURKE: Yes, there's also going to be a video tribute. Marge Schott, of course, the long-time owner of the Cincinnati Reds and a very controversial figure who recently passed away. But they will definitely be remembering her today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Josie Burke, thank you so much.
Well, it all comes down to this. Tonight in San Antonio, U- Conn's men's team takes on Georgia Tech with the national title at stake.
And U-Conn is also in the final for the women. First time ever both teams at U-Conn took these titles on.
The Huskies held off Minnesota last night, 57-58. U-Conn has won the women's title the past two years. The opponent is Tennessee Lady Volunteers. They won their third straight close game, holding off LSU 52-50.
Now, if U-Conn wins both men's and women's titles, it will be the first time that has happened in the same year.
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Some light finally shed on the northeast power blackout last August, the worst in North America's history. A joint U.S. and Canadian task force has issued its final report. It blames inadequate tree trimming and knowledge of the power system as the causes for some of the blackouts.
The power of persuasion. Secretary of State Colin Powell is to arrive in Haiti this afternoon. He'll meet with the new prime minister, who came to power following February's ouster of Jean- Bertrand Aristide. Powell is expected to urge Haiti's new leadership to exclude criminals or human rights violators from government posts.
Mutual admiration in Moscow. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin praised the U.N., saying it's the most efficient organization at solving global problems. Annan thanked the president for his efforts to strengthen the world body.
Iraq calls for the arrest of a radical religious leader. An Iraqi judge ordered the request of Moqtada al-Sadr. He's the Shia Muslim cleric said to be behind clashes that have led to the deaths of 13 coalition troops around Baghdad since Saturday.
U.S. Marines are enforcing a curfew in Fallujah, the scene of last week's ambush of four American contractors. Further protests there are prohibited and weapons are banned.
The clashes in Fallujah, Baghdad and Najaf, have prompted a call for the deployment of more U.S. troops. CNN has now learned Central Command's General John Abizaid has asked for a plan within the next 48 hours that could send more U.S. forces to Iraq.
A refresher now on Iraq Shia and Sunni Muslims. They are the two largest sects of Islam.
Shias broke away more than a thousand years ago. Before the war Iraq was ruled by a Sunni elite. Iraq is 97 percent Muslim, 60 Shia and 37 percent Sunni.
Saddam Hussein is a Sunni Muslim, and one Iraqi Governing Council member says the growing unrest is not a problem of Shia versus Sunni. Samir Sumaida spoke earlier with Bill Hemmer on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMIR SUMAIDA, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: They are serious. We don't want to underestimate them, but let's put them in perspective.
What's happening is that the extremists on both sides, the Sunnis and the Shias are now both active in opposing the progress of Iraq towards sovereignty. This is something that we have always pointed out, and Iraq, it is not so much Shia against Sunni. This particular divide has been overplayed in the media, frankly.
The problem is between those who want progress and those who want to go back to the days of totalitarianism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Sumaida says that he sees the uprising as significant but not overwhelming, because it's being led by a relatively small group of extremists.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 5, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: In 85 days, Iraqis are expected to assert their independence, despite the wave of violence sweeping across their homeland.
And with the death toll mounting, the coalition is on a mission to reassert law and order.
Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf has the latest now -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that mission is taking a couple of fronts. One is the military one, of course, and it follows yesterday's events, where U.S. officials say followers of a radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, called into action by the cleric, converged on Sadr City (ph), a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad, in the biggest clashes in the capital since the end of the war.
At the end of it, eight U.S. soldiers dead, 30 wounded and a lot of Iraqi casualties.
Now, today, a political challenge. Coalition officials saying that they have an arrest warrant for the arrest of Moqtada. Now, this is the radical cleric who is now in the holy city near Najaf. He's believed to be in Hufa (ph).
Officials are saying that they have this warrant, which has been in place by the Iraqi police for some time, accusing him of the murder of another Shia cleric last year.
They are now making it public, and it clearly is a challenge to him. They're calling for him to surrender. Not a safe bet that he will, but certainly, this is a crucial point in these political and military developments -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad, thank you.
And with the sudden surge in unrest, and order from the top ranks to consider sending in more troops. Pentagon Barbara Starr, tracking this still developing story.
What do you know, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, let's put all of this into a put of perspective. What military officials say, when they look at al-Sadr's troops, his troop strength, they estimate he has about 600 so-called hard-core followers and about 2,000 to 3,000 members of his militia.
They feel that these people they could get under control, but they want to make sure because, of course, over the weekend we saw a number of violent attacks across a pretty broad swath of Iraq.
So, General John Abizaid, a very conservative, very cautious military commander, head of the U.S. Central Command, has said to his senior staff, take a look at the situation. He wants to see some options.
Should there be a requirement to send in a number of additional troops to deal with this militia? He wants to know where the troops would come from, what kind of troops, how soon they could get there.
Of course, the first option would to reposition troops already in Iraq. If that is not a practical option on the table, then he wants options for sending troops from the United States, from sending troops already overseas or possibly asking the coalition to contribute more troops.
But sources emphasize this is all a planning option, the kind of thing that Central Command would routinely do. But after seeing the violence break out over the last several days, General Abizaid said to be concerned. He wants to just make sure he's got everything prepared just in case -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon, thank you.
Well, the commander in chief has his eye firmly fixed on June 30. That's the date set for the transfer of power. President Bush insists that the U.S. will stay the course no matter how violent the opposition.
Elaine Quijano has more on what he had to say -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.
Well, President Bush reiterated that commitment to the June 30 deadline while on a trip this morning to North Carolina.
He actually visited a community college there, where he was talking about job training and the economy. But afterwards, he actually took some time to meet with the family members of one of the U.S. troops killed in Iraq.
And then he met with reporters in an impromptu meeting.
He was asked for reaction to the heightened violence in Iraq this past weekend, and the president said he believes the closer to that June 30 deadline the more the insurgents and others would challenge the U.S.'s will. But the president said he remains firm on that June 30 date.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The message to the Iraqi citizens is, they don't have to fear that America will turn and run. And that's an important message for them to hear. If they think that we're not sincere about staying the course, many people will not continue to take a risk towards -- take the risk towards freedom and democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, President Bush also saying that he believed throughout this period leading up to June 30 that there would be tests. He named Fallujah an example of that. But, again, the president sticking firm to that June 30 deadline for the transfer of authority to the Iraqi people -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, Thursday's the day we'll hear from Condoleezza Rice, Elaine?
QUIJANO: That's absolutely right, Kyra. All eyes will be on Dr. Condoleezza Rice. The president actually today commenting about that.
Initially, as you know, the White House very reluctant to have Dr. Rice testify in public before the commission. Now, though, the White House saying that they are eager, very anxious for Dr. Rice to appear in public. In fact, the president commenting today, saying he is looking forward to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I'm looking forward to the conversation. I'm looking forward to Condi testifying. And I made a decision to allow her to do so because I was assured that it would not jeopardize executive privilege.
And she'll be great. She's a very smart, capable person who knows exactly what took place and will lay out the facts. And that's what the commission's job is meant to do, and that's what the American people want to see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: And, so, the Bush administration very anxious to counter some of the criticisms that have been put forth, namely those put forth by former counter terrorism chief Richard Clarke, that the Bush administration was not focused enough on fighting terrorism, on fighting al Qaeda in the days before September 11.
This will be the administration's chance to rebut those assertions -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thank you.
And Condoleezza Rice does testify before the 9/11 commission Thursday morning, as we said, publicly and under oath at 9 a.m. Eastern. You can count on CNN to bring that all to you live.
Well, rude awakenings. French police nab more than a dozen suspects in pre-dawn raids near Paris. The suspects are believed to have links to last year's suicide bombings in Casablanca.
France's interior minister says the detainees are suspected of belonging to a militant Islamic group. Spanish officials believe the group is linked to al Qaeda and may have carried out the March 11 train bombing.
That crackdown came just hour before Britain's monarch began a royal road trip to France on Eurostar. Queen Elizabeth II is on a three-day state visit to Paris. She is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the so-called Cordial Agreement between France and Britain. The accord, signed in April of 1904 ended their colonel rivalries.
Now to Spain were the hunt for the culprits behind the Madrid train bombings turned deadly this weekend. In a tense standoff with police, five terror suspects blew themselves up. Two others now in custody. The investigation is far from over, though.
Al Goodman brings us the latest from Madrid.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The manhunt continues for other suspects in the Madrid commuter train bombings.
Now, last week there were six photographs widely published of men who were wanted international arrest warrants. Authorities say three of them died in that large explosion on Saturday at this suburban Madrid apartment as police closed in.
But three others are still at large. Those are Moroccan men who are widely wanted. Authorities telling CNN that because some of the other suspects died in the suburban Madrid apartment, although authorities had thought they might already be out of Spain, which is why they issued international arrest warrants, now they think that the other three alive, who they think are still alive, could still be in Spain. That according to authorities talking to CNN.
In addition, the largest circulation newspaper, "El Pais," on Monday published the photographs of three other men who also are wanted in connection with the Madrid train bombings, according to the newspaper, citing police sources.
Overall, the nation trying to come to grips with this huge threat of Islamic terrorism against Spain. Now Spain has been accustomed, grimly, to more than 30 years of militant Basque violence.
But they never experienced anything like the Madrid train bombings last month that killed all those people, like a failed attack against the Madrid bullet train on Friday. That bomb was found and defused. And then on Saturday night this tremendous explosion in the southern working class neighborhood of Leganes, that, in addition to killing the five suspected terrorists and one police officer, basically destroyed a building. Many families are out of their homes.
All of this coming as Spain was hoping to just enjoy a simple Easter week holiday.
Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, preventing more terror attacks in this country. Four New Jersey widows say that was their mission in the aftermath of 9/11. What their mission led to, later in LIVE FROM.
And do any discount shopping recently? If you did, might want to check your credit card statement very carefully.
And check this out.
Solo act. This isn't your grandpa's one-man band. We'll give him a listen later on LIVE FROM.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Now infamous juror No. 4 from the Tyco juror in New York, Ruth Jordan, is defending her actions, even as the full fallout from the mistrial is being measured. Prosecutors want to retry Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz ASAP.
Let's go to New York for the latest from Chris Huntington -- Chris.
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I just got off the phone with one of the lead prosecutors, who assured me that there will be a retrial of Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz.
This prosecutor, as is standard in this type of situations, is saying there will be nothing of a plea bargain. He said, what do we have to offer? Even if you trim the charges down from essentially trying to steal $600 million to $50 million, he said you're still talking about potential jury -- prison terms of in excess of 25 years.
At the center of all of the controversy and, of course, at the center of what became a mistrial is juror No. 4. We can now tell you her name: Ruth Jordan. You probably heard it before, but we here at CNN were waiting until she had decided to speak to the media, which she now has done, at least in one instance.
She's a 79-year-old former schoolteacher who received a law degree in her 50s and briefly practiced estate and trust law for a couple of years.
In speaking with several jurors this morning, they made it clear that, while she was leaning towards acquittal on some charges, she was not the only holdout. There has been a lot of reporting that said it was simply 11-1, guilty versus acquittal. That's a gross over- simplification, said these jurors.
Certainly, they said, in the last time they did in essence a straw poll before the mistrial was declared, that Ruth Jordan was actually leaning towards acquittal on one of the larceny charges. And really, that's the essence of the case of the serious charges levied against Swartz and Kozlowski.
We did hear, of course, ultimately that the mistrial was declared because of outside pressure, particularly in the form of a letter. But what's interesting and what one of the jurors told us is this was not the only outside pressure of Ruth Jordan.
Here's how that other juror described the pressure that she faced.
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PARKER BOSWORTH, TYCO JUROR: It started on, I guess, Sunday morning. Sunday morning she received a lot of phone calls. I think on the average she told me about 30 to 40 phone calls a day. And it -- you know, she just couldn't deal with the outside pressures and then she comes to the jury room and has got to deal with the pressures inside the jury room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: Now, of course, this case was all about Dennis Kozlowski, shown here, the former chief executive of Tyco, and Mark Swartz, shown there, the former chief financial officer, that they had, in essence, helped themselves to bonuses, special loans and even stock grants to the tune of some $600 million.
What several of the jurors told us, though, is that Mark Swartz, who was on the stand for some eight days, really ended up not being credible.
So much of the prosecution's case focused on how these gentlemen spent their Money. Lavish parties in Sardinia. You heard about the fabled artwork, for instance, that was in a New York City apartment that itself cost close to $20 million.
What the jurors tells us is all that all of this effort by the prosecution to try and paint these gentlemen as greedy was, in essence, sort of an irrelevant sideshow to the real facts of the case that had to do with whether or not they had the authority to take these massive bonuses and loans from Tyco.
Here's how another juror described the artwork issue.
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WILLIAM JOHNSON, TYCO JUROR: Some charges like the artwork, we said that's just a bogus charge, because he was the CEO of a major company. He was reported to be the highest paid CEO in America, and Tyco was paying for his apartment. So of course, he's supposed to have Monets and Renoirs on his walls, not, you know, the velvet poster of Elvis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: So, whether it's a Renoir or a velvet poster of Elvis, those kind of issues apparently not holding much sway with the jurors.
So Kyra, the real issue here is when we start to hear about a new trial ramping up? There's another hearing scheduled in May. We'll certainly hear some rumblings before that as to just what shape and form these new set of charges will take. It's not clear that all of the same charges will be brought again.
PHILLIPS: Chris, I thought those velvet Elvises were priceless.
HUNTINGTON: I don't think they quite stack up to a Renoir.
PHILLIPS: All right. Chris Huntington, live from New York. Thank you.
Now the Monday legal briefs.
Back at work by the Bay. Jury selection resumes in the double murder trial of Scott Peterson. That selection process has been on hold for nearly a week, due to a court holiday.
Legal wrangling in the Garden State. Jayson Williams' manslaughter trial could be derailed by some disputed evidence. The defense and the prosecution are sparring over allegations of prosecutional misconduct.
Apparently, photos and notes the prosecution had about Williams' shotgun were never revealed to the defense.
Shrouded in secrecy, a grand jury is meeting again today to hear evidence on the child molestation allegations against Michael Jackson. Jackson's lawyers want the panel to hear evidence -- want the panel to hear the evidence, rather. They say it will prove the pop star is innocent of those charges.
A small town coping with a big-time murder case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's such a sad story. It's a little difficult, you know, but that's when your faith comes in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A mother's murder trial turns into a test of faith.
And testing the airlines: which ones rank best at getting you off the ground? We'll bring that one in for a landing later on LIVE FROM. JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Josie Burke at Great American Ballpark, where nobody does opening day quite like Cincinnati. But amid all the pomp and circumstance, there are some mixed emotions. We'll have that story when LIVE FROM comes right back.
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BURKE: ... that has divided even players.
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JEFF BAGWELL, HOUSTON ASTROS: People have been looking for a reason to discount this era of baseball for a while and now this is a big thing like a big carrot at the end of the donkey going, "See, I told you these guys weren't that good."
RANDY WOLF, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: If you get caught this year, you're -- you're a moron. You know, basically, last year, OK, you wanted one more year where you wanted to get away with it. You're with one of that five to seven percent caught.
But this year, if you get caught, you deserve any kind of punishment you get. Because it's obvious it's going to be public this year. And you deserve any kind of scrutiny, any kind of public embarrassment.
LANCE BERKMAN, HOUSTON ASTROS: I want to get the cloud of suspicion completely eliminated from the game. And if we can do that, I'm all for it. I mean, you know, however that has to happen, whether it be testing everybody and making the test results known or, I mean, whatever they want to do. It needs to be curtailed, and that cloud of suspicion needs to be eliminated, because it's not good for the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURKE: Kyra, you alluded to the fact that the president and the vice president will be getting in on the baseball action today. Dick Cheney will be right here, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in less than an hour. It will be interesting see how close he gets to throwing a strike -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You never know, maybe he grew up playing ball. We'll see how he does.
Meanwhile, a moment of silence, I'm told, today for Marge Schott. Is that right?
BURKE: Yes, there's also going to be a video tribute. Marge Schott, of course, the long-time owner of the Cincinnati Reds and a very controversial figure who recently passed away. But they will definitely be remembering her today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Josie Burke, thank you so much.
Well, it all comes down to this. Tonight in San Antonio, U- Conn's men's team takes on Georgia Tech with the national title at stake.
And U-Conn is also in the final for the women. First time ever both teams at U-Conn took these titles on.
The Huskies held off Minnesota last night, 57-58. U-Conn has won the women's title the past two years. The opponent is Tennessee Lady Volunteers. They won their third straight close game, holding off LSU 52-50.
Now, if U-Conn wins both men's and women's titles, it will be the first time that has happened in the same year.
(STOCK REPORT)
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PHILLIPS: Some light finally shed on the northeast power blackout last August, the worst in North America's history. A joint U.S. and Canadian task force has issued its final report. It blames inadequate tree trimming and knowledge of the power system as the causes for some of the blackouts.
The power of persuasion. Secretary of State Colin Powell is to arrive in Haiti this afternoon. He'll meet with the new prime minister, who came to power following February's ouster of Jean- Bertrand Aristide. Powell is expected to urge Haiti's new leadership to exclude criminals or human rights violators from government posts.
Mutual admiration in Moscow. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin praised the U.N., saying it's the most efficient organization at solving global problems. Annan thanked the president for his efforts to strengthen the world body.
Iraq calls for the arrest of a radical religious leader. An Iraqi judge ordered the request of Moqtada al-Sadr. He's the Shia Muslim cleric said to be behind clashes that have led to the deaths of 13 coalition troops around Baghdad since Saturday.
U.S. Marines are enforcing a curfew in Fallujah, the scene of last week's ambush of four American contractors. Further protests there are prohibited and weapons are banned.
The clashes in Fallujah, Baghdad and Najaf, have prompted a call for the deployment of more U.S. troops. CNN has now learned Central Command's General John Abizaid has asked for a plan within the next 48 hours that could send more U.S. forces to Iraq.
A refresher now on Iraq Shia and Sunni Muslims. They are the two largest sects of Islam.
Shias broke away more than a thousand years ago. Before the war Iraq was ruled by a Sunni elite. Iraq is 97 percent Muslim, 60 Shia and 37 percent Sunni.
Saddam Hussein is a Sunni Muslim, and one Iraqi Governing Council member says the growing unrest is not a problem of Shia versus Sunni. Samir Sumaida spoke earlier with Bill Hemmer on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMIR SUMAIDA, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: They are serious. We don't want to underestimate them, but let's put them in perspective.
What's happening is that the extremists on both sides, the Sunnis and the Shias are now both active in opposing the progress of Iraq towards sovereignty. This is something that we have always pointed out, and Iraq, it is not so much Shia against Sunni. This particular divide has been overplayed in the media, frankly.
The problem is between those who want progress and those who want to go back to the days of totalitarianism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Sumaida says that he sees the uprising as significant but not overwhelming, because it's being led by a relatively small group of extremists.
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