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Fierce Fighting in Iraq; Power of Forgiveness

Aired April 07, 2004 - 15:00   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: Welcome back to LIVE FROM.
In the headlines this hour, making their point at the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers scheduled to update us shortly on what's happening in Iraq where coalition forces are again fighting for control. We'll take you to the Pentagon when they begin speaking.

Former Tyco juror Ruth Jordan telling it like she sees it. In a joint interview with "The New York Times" and "60 Minutes II," Jordan says she never flashed an OK sign at the defense and she says she would probably have voted to acquit the two Tyco defendants if the judges had not declared a mistrial.

Back to square one. Lea Fastow, wife of Enron's former finance chief, is preparing for trial instead of prison. The plea deal she thought she had reached with a five-month prison term was rejected by the judge today. She was an assistant treasurer at Enron.

Rush Limbaugh's medical records the focus of a Florida appeals court hearing. Florida prosecutors accuse Limbaugh of doctor shopping to obtain prescription painkillers. They want to unseal the records they seized last November. Limbaugh's attorney argues that would violate his privacy rights.

Our top story takes us to Iraq. Much of the country has exploded into violence as U.S. troops face increasing resistance from Iraq's Sunni and Shiite factions.

Jim Clancy reports that the fight for Iraq on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abrams tanks led the way as U.S. Marines drove into Fallujah despite heavy fire from insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. Marines reported steady progress.

MAJ. JOSEPH CLEARFIELD, U.S. MARINES: This is a matter of time. I think that we'll continue to move systematically, and that eventually, the Fallujans are going to realize that we're the strongest force in the city.

CLANCY: Civilian casualties were said to be heavy overnight after a missile strike that reportedly killed as many as 25 women and children. The urban combat with heavy weaponry poses increased risks. But U.S. Marines said they were taking as many precautions as possible.

In Ramadi, also west of Baghdad in the so-called Sunni Triangle, Marines repulsed a frontal assault on their forces, taking heavy casualties. There were heavy casualties among insurgents as well. By day's end, the Marines remained in control. Across Southern Iraq, it was a battle for control of police stations and government offices.

In Kut, Ukrainian forces withdrew after engaging the private militia of the young Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, a collection of thousands of armed supporters from Baghdad and southern Iraq, has tried to take control of other cities as well. U.S. General Mark Kimmitt said al-Sadr and his militia would be dealt with head on.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: We will attack to destroy the Mahdi Army. Those offensive operations will be deliberate, they will be precise, and they will be powerful, and they will succeed.

CLANCY: Polish forces in Karbala also came under attack from Muqtada's forces, but remained in control of that city. In Nasiriyah, Italian troops also under pressure but holding.

(on camera): Many Iraqis say they are tired of the fighting and less certain of their future. Muqtada al-Sadr does not have broad and deep support across Iraq, but the question is whether he or someone like him could tap that impatience and uncertainty to mount a broader challenge to the coalition's authority in Iraq.

Jim Clancy reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Remind you, at 3:30 Eastern time, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, also Richard Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff, will address reporters about what's taking place in Iraq. We'll take that live 3:30 Eastern.

Now, a little while ago, I spoke with Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt and coalition spokesman Dan Senor in Baghdad about what's being called Operation Vigilant Resolve.

General Kimmitt began by explaining circumstances surrounding a battle near a mosque in Fallujah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: My understanding is that we went after one set of insurgents that were hiding behind the outer wall of the mosque, not the actual mosque itself. I have some photos. I've seen the photos.

It would appear that the insurgents were fighting from behind the walls of the mosque. And recognizing that there was no other alternative, and that -- when you start using a religious location for military purposes, it loses its protected status. The Marines called in additional support, dropped two 500-pound J -- precision-guided bombs. And took out the outer wall of the mosque, without seeming to harm -- from the photos that I've seen -- the actual mosque structure itself.

PHILLIPS: OK.

KIMMITT: I understand there was a large casualty toll taken by the enemy, who were abusing that mosque and everything it stood for in the process.

PHILLIPS: General, as we're looking at pictures just in right now, this is when the -- or when the bombs were dropped.

Lieutenant James Vanzant from a U.S. pool at a forward base there in Fallujah is reporting that Marines did move in with ground assets, destroying the mosque. Referring to claims that 40 people were killed inside and that also a second mosque also being destroyed, that insurgents were hiding out in there.

So these are the reports we are getting. Will you confirm that for us?

KIMMITT: Well, I certainly can't confirm the second mosque attack, nor can I confirm that the first mosque was destroyed.

But what is important to recognize is that, again, it is a holy place. There's no doubt about it. It has a special status under the Geneva Convention, that it can't be attacked.

However, it can't -- it can be attacked when there is a military necessity brought on by the fact that the enemy is storing weapons, using weapons, inciting violence, executing violence from its ground.

So if the Marines did that, I suspect they did it fully understanding their responsibilities and fully understanding the rules of engagement under which they're operating under.

PHILLIPS: Dan Senor, two battles that you are fighting right now. First, the one on the ground with the insurgents. Also, this perception by the public that things are not going well. Can you tell us how you are tackling both?

DAN SENOR, SENIOR COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY ADVISER: Well, actually, the battle we are fighting in Fallujah and the battle we are fighting with Muqtada al-Sadr in many respects have a number of things in common.

Both elements basically have a different vision for the future of Iraq from the one that we have, which is a democratic Iraq at peace with itself, at peace with the world, at peace with the United States.

In their own way, whether they're mutilating the bodies of Americans or using mob violence in the south like Muqtada al-Sadr is, they're both attempting to hijack a process that is on course, hand over sovereignty June 30, give Iraqi people democracy, continuing the economic growth that is continuing. Unemployment is about a third of what it was here.

And life is improving for Iraqi. Things are getting better for them. They're increasingly taking up security positions. Some 200,000 Iraqis in security positions. The general trend is positive.

And as we get closer and closer to June 30, as we hand over sovereignty here, there are going to be these bumps in the road where mobs of -- violent mobs and two-bit thugs are going to try and throw this -- this process off course.

They want to turn the country into some version of what it was some version of Saddam Hussein's regime, those are the folks we're encountering in Fallujah.

They want to turn back to an era of mass graves and torture chambers and rape rooms and chemical attacks, and all the ugly elements of yesteryear this country.

Or in the south, the few groups in the south that are trying to impose their will, trying to achieve through a barrel of a gun what they know they will never be able to achieve at the ballot box.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about those ugly elements. General, I want to ask you this question.

I don't think anyone will ever forget the video that we saw, the pictures that we saw of these civilians, their dead bodies dragged through the streets. It was horrific.

So let's talk about -- when we see pictures like this, there are critics that say the insurgents are winning this war and this shouldn't be happening.

What can you tell me on behalf of Special Operations, Special Forces, special warfare -- I know that you can operation with tactics that are just as lethal, just as what lethal as what these insurgents are doing, but you can do it legally. What are you doing to win this fight?

KIMMITT: Well, I think, in the case of Fallujah, we're winning this fight by the use of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Iraqi security forces.

They have been conducting Operation Vigilant Resolve now for about three days. They started off with a cordon of the city. They now have got brave Marines and Iraqi civil defense corps soldiers inside the city. And they're just taking out the enemy, one by one, and all the enemies of the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And, as we've been reporting, 12 Marines were killed yesterday in the Iraq town of Ramadi. Such news is hard to take for families at Camp Pendleton in California, home to thousands of Marines now serving in Iraq.

Our Thelma Gutierrez is there. Thelma, what's the word?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it has been a very difficult day for many families here in the Camp Pendleton area. Most of the 25,000 Marines who are now in Iraq are based here.

And base officials at this point have not released any new information regarding any of yesterday's casualties. And one wife told me that in many ways, no news is good news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): On this night, in this military housing complex in the hills of San Diego, one wife nervously watches her door for the visit every military family dreads.

FRAN MARTINEZ, MILITARY WIFE: Yes, you tend to look at the door, like, hoping that nobody's going to ring that doorbell, just hoping.

GUTIERREZ: It is a difficult time for Fran Martinez. Her husband, Naval Corpsman Mark Martinez, is on the ground in Iraq with part of the Marine force that covered heavy casualties in Tuesday's combat.

F. MARTINEZ: When they say there's been casualties, that makes me sick to my stomach, because that could be Mark. And I feel guilty even thinking that, because it's somebody else's husband; it's somebody else's son.

MARK MARTINEZ, U.S. NAVAL CORPSMAN: I miss you a lot, you know? You're my true love.

GUTIERREZ: All of this is hard on Zachary.

(on camera) Do you miss your daddy? Yes?

(voice-over) He hasn't seen his father since February. Until he returns home, this videotape is all Zachary has.

F. MARTINEZ: That's daddy. Give daddy a kiss.

He knows where daddy is. He knows when I watch the news, I point to it and I say, There's daddy. He's over there in Iraq.

GUTIERREZ: It is the second time Martinez has been deployed to Iraq, leaving Fran to tend to Zachary and 18-month-old Jocelyn (ph) all by herself.

The new wave of violence in Iraq is especially unnerving.

F. MARTINEZ: I thought it was going to be easier, because I thought there was going to be less danger. But now that everything is going down, it's like -- it's the same thing, all over again.

M. MARTINEZ: I'll be home about 5: 30, I think.

GUTIERREZ: Fran saves every message her husband leaves her. She last heard from him on Monday, before the bloody battle.

F. MARTINEZ: I freak out when the phone rings, because I always think it's him. Yes, it's -- especially now, it would be very great to get a phone call.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Now, we talked with Fran a short time ago, and she told us that still, no word from her husband. So it has been a difficult day.

We also mentioned that base officials have not released any information about yesterday's casualties, but the Defense Department did release the name of one of four Marines killed in combat on Monday in Iraq. And he's 21-year-old Lance Corporal Matthew Serio from North Providence, Rhode Island. He was based here at Camp Pendleton -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's got to be nerve-racking for family members and loved ones, Thelma. How does the process of notification go down?

GUTIERREZ: Well, you know, as I had mentioned in the story, Fran Martinez said she was actually watching the door. She wanted to make sure that she was not going to get a visit from a base official. Those officials, the people who would actually come and make that notification, would be a casualty grief counselor, also a cleric.

And they would show up -- a chaplain -- they would show up. They would inform the family. And according to the new policy that the military has, they don't make those names public at least for 24 hours after the family is first notified to give them time to grieve. But that's the way it works and that is exactly why Fran Martinez says she was watching that door, hoping that she wouldn't see a chaplain and a grief counselor come to her door.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Thelma Gutierrez, live from Camp Pendleton, thank you.

Well, the healing power of forgiveness. We should all forgive a little more, shouldn't we? Dr. Gupta's got the scoop on that coming up. And this is the last time we'll call these gals the Olsen twins. We promise, or at least until they think twice and change their minds. We'll tell you about it in entertainment headlines.

And in reality show headlines, which would-be "Apprentice" is hooked up with a gig at KFC? We'll fry it up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, you know the saying forgiveness helps heal the soul. Now a new study finds the ability to forgive can help you physically as well.

Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over the past 15 years, it was the little things, like playing a quiet game with her family, that were almost impossible for Linda Marra. Her life, and subsequently, her health, shattered when her father was murdered. The nightmares were etched into her brain for years.

LINDA MARRA, FATHER MURDERED: My father lived through this homicide one time, and I lived through it 1,000 times.

GUPTA: The assailant was put in jail. But for Linda, that punishment didn't seem enough for her to forgive. And an unforgiving heart took a toll. The first sign are her hair turned gray at age 29.

MARRA: I have low platelets. There were weight gain, insomnia, fatigue.

GUPTA: A teacher and mother of two, Linda realized her refusal to forgive could eventually kill her.

MARRA: It eats you alive from the inside out.

GUPTA: Unforgiveness causes stress that not only permeate the mind, but the body as well, and that stress causes microscopic tears in artery walls are which over time can cause a heart attack. It also causes spikes in the stress hormone cortisol, which can hurt your immune system. And we're not just talking about stress stemming from horrific crimes, but the build-up from a day, an argument, getting cut off in traffic. There is unforgiveness all around us.

EVERETT WORTHINGTON, PSYCHOLOGIST: If a person who is chronically unforgiving tries to make a change and begins to try to forgive more, they can affect their health in a more positive way.

GUPTA: A University of Michigan study supports that. Men who are good at defusing their anger had half as many strokes as angrier men. For Linda, forgiving her father's killer meant erasing her health problem. She says it was like being released from prison.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Moving on to entertainment headline this April 7, taking a page from Prince's how-to manual on fame, the twins formerly known as the Olsens have let it be known they want the media to henceforth refer to them as Mary-Kate and Ashley, not the Olsen twins.

He's already given love a bad name. I should try to sing that a little better. Now Jon Bon Jovi -- you know the song -- will do the same for lawyers in the upcoming film "National Lampoon's Trouble With Frank." He'll play a former attorney turned scam artist. You can fill in your own punchline.

And from boot licking to finger-licking good. The Kentucky Fried Chicken folks say, if you can stand Trump's heat, you may be ready for their kitchen, or actually its boardroom. They'll hire the runner-up on "The Apprentice" for a week-long gig helping launch a new KFC product. The short-term job would pay $25,000, plus a bunch of buckets worth a year's free supply of KFC products.

Fierce fighting in Iraq, Marines in the thick of battle. In moments, we expect a live briefing from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. We'll take you to the Pentagon straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The public 9/11 hearing testimony of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice begins tomorrow morning at 9:00 Eastern. CNN has got live coverage and analysis, reaction, and fallout all day long.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Well, that wraps up LIVE FROM. We're just minutes away from the Pentagon briefing.

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 7, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to LIVE FROM.
In the headlines this hour, making their point at the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers scheduled to update us shortly on what's happening in Iraq where coalition forces are again fighting for control. We'll take you to the Pentagon when they begin speaking.

Former Tyco juror Ruth Jordan telling it like she sees it. In a joint interview with "The New York Times" and "60 Minutes II," Jordan says she never flashed an OK sign at the defense and she says she would probably have voted to acquit the two Tyco defendants if the judges had not declared a mistrial.

Back to square one. Lea Fastow, wife of Enron's former finance chief, is preparing for trial instead of prison. The plea deal she thought she had reached with a five-month prison term was rejected by the judge today. She was an assistant treasurer at Enron.

Rush Limbaugh's medical records the focus of a Florida appeals court hearing. Florida prosecutors accuse Limbaugh of doctor shopping to obtain prescription painkillers. They want to unseal the records they seized last November. Limbaugh's attorney argues that would violate his privacy rights.

Our top story takes us to Iraq. Much of the country has exploded into violence as U.S. troops face increasing resistance from Iraq's Sunni and Shiite factions.

Jim Clancy reports that the fight for Iraq on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abrams tanks led the way as U.S. Marines drove into Fallujah despite heavy fire from insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. Marines reported steady progress.

MAJ. JOSEPH CLEARFIELD, U.S. MARINES: This is a matter of time. I think that we'll continue to move systematically, and that eventually, the Fallujans are going to realize that we're the strongest force in the city.

CLANCY: Civilian casualties were said to be heavy overnight after a missile strike that reportedly killed as many as 25 women and children. The urban combat with heavy weaponry poses increased risks. But U.S. Marines said they were taking as many precautions as possible.

In Ramadi, also west of Baghdad in the so-called Sunni Triangle, Marines repulsed a frontal assault on their forces, taking heavy casualties. There were heavy casualties among insurgents as well. By day's end, the Marines remained in control. Across Southern Iraq, it was a battle for control of police stations and government offices.

In Kut, Ukrainian forces withdrew after engaging the private militia of the young Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, a collection of thousands of armed supporters from Baghdad and southern Iraq, has tried to take control of other cities as well. U.S. General Mark Kimmitt said al-Sadr and his militia would be dealt with head on.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: We will attack to destroy the Mahdi Army. Those offensive operations will be deliberate, they will be precise, and they will be powerful, and they will succeed.

CLANCY: Polish forces in Karbala also came under attack from Muqtada's forces, but remained in control of that city. In Nasiriyah, Italian troops also under pressure but holding.

(on camera): Many Iraqis say they are tired of the fighting and less certain of their future. Muqtada al-Sadr does not have broad and deep support across Iraq, but the question is whether he or someone like him could tap that impatience and uncertainty to mount a broader challenge to the coalition's authority in Iraq.

Jim Clancy reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Remind you, at 3:30 Eastern time, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, also Richard Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff, will address reporters about what's taking place in Iraq. We'll take that live 3:30 Eastern.

Now, a little while ago, I spoke with Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt and coalition spokesman Dan Senor in Baghdad about what's being called Operation Vigilant Resolve.

General Kimmitt began by explaining circumstances surrounding a battle near a mosque in Fallujah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: My understanding is that we went after one set of insurgents that were hiding behind the outer wall of the mosque, not the actual mosque itself. I have some photos. I've seen the photos.

It would appear that the insurgents were fighting from behind the walls of the mosque. And recognizing that there was no other alternative, and that -- when you start using a religious location for military purposes, it loses its protected status. The Marines called in additional support, dropped two 500-pound J -- precision-guided bombs. And took out the outer wall of the mosque, without seeming to harm -- from the photos that I've seen -- the actual mosque structure itself.

PHILLIPS: OK.

KIMMITT: I understand there was a large casualty toll taken by the enemy, who were abusing that mosque and everything it stood for in the process.

PHILLIPS: General, as we're looking at pictures just in right now, this is when the -- or when the bombs were dropped.

Lieutenant James Vanzant from a U.S. pool at a forward base there in Fallujah is reporting that Marines did move in with ground assets, destroying the mosque. Referring to claims that 40 people were killed inside and that also a second mosque also being destroyed, that insurgents were hiding out in there.

So these are the reports we are getting. Will you confirm that for us?

KIMMITT: Well, I certainly can't confirm the second mosque attack, nor can I confirm that the first mosque was destroyed.

But what is important to recognize is that, again, it is a holy place. There's no doubt about it. It has a special status under the Geneva Convention, that it can't be attacked.

However, it can't -- it can be attacked when there is a military necessity brought on by the fact that the enemy is storing weapons, using weapons, inciting violence, executing violence from its ground.

So if the Marines did that, I suspect they did it fully understanding their responsibilities and fully understanding the rules of engagement under which they're operating under.

PHILLIPS: Dan Senor, two battles that you are fighting right now. First, the one on the ground with the insurgents. Also, this perception by the public that things are not going well. Can you tell us how you are tackling both?

DAN SENOR, SENIOR COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY ADVISER: Well, actually, the battle we are fighting in Fallujah and the battle we are fighting with Muqtada al-Sadr in many respects have a number of things in common.

Both elements basically have a different vision for the future of Iraq from the one that we have, which is a democratic Iraq at peace with itself, at peace with the world, at peace with the United States.

In their own way, whether they're mutilating the bodies of Americans or using mob violence in the south like Muqtada al-Sadr is, they're both attempting to hijack a process that is on course, hand over sovereignty June 30, give Iraqi people democracy, continuing the economic growth that is continuing. Unemployment is about a third of what it was here.

And life is improving for Iraqi. Things are getting better for them. They're increasingly taking up security positions. Some 200,000 Iraqis in security positions. The general trend is positive.

And as we get closer and closer to June 30, as we hand over sovereignty here, there are going to be these bumps in the road where mobs of -- violent mobs and two-bit thugs are going to try and throw this -- this process off course.

They want to turn the country into some version of what it was some version of Saddam Hussein's regime, those are the folks we're encountering in Fallujah.

They want to turn back to an era of mass graves and torture chambers and rape rooms and chemical attacks, and all the ugly elements of yesteryear this country.

Or in the south, the few groups in the south that are trying to impose their will, trying to achieve through a barrel of a gun what they know they will never be able to achieve at the ballot box.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about those ugly elements. General, I want to ask you this question.

I don't think anyone will ever forget the video that we saw, the pictures that we saw of these civilians, their dead bodies dragged through the streets. It was horrific.

So let's talk about -- when we see pictures like this, there are critics that say the insurgents are winning this war and this shouldn't be happening.

What can you tell me on behalf of Special Operations, Special Forces, special warfare -- I know that you can operation with tactics that are just as lethal, just as what lethal as what these insurgents are doing, but you can do it legally. What are you doing to win this fight?

KIMMITT: Well, I think, in the case of Fallujah, we're winning this fight by the use of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Iraqi security forces.

They have been conducting Operation Vigilant Resolve now for about three days. They started off with a cordon of the city. They now have got brave Marines and Iraqi civil defense corps soldiers inside the city. And they're just taking out the enemy, one by one, and all the enemies of the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And, as we've been reporting, 12 Marines were killed yesterday in the Iraq town of Ramadi. Such news is hard to take for families at Camp Pendleton in California, home to thousands of Marines now serving in Iraq.

Our Thelma Gutierrez is there. Thelma, what's the word?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it has been a very difficult day for many families here in the Camp Pendleton area. Most of the 25,000 Marines who are now in Iraq are based here.

And base officials at this point have not released any new information regarding any of yesterday's casualties. And one wife told me that in many ways, no news is good news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): On this night, in this military housing complex in the hills of San Diego, one wife nervously watches her door for the visit every military family dreads.

FRAN MARTINEZ, MILITARY WIFE: Yes, you tend to look at the door, like, hoping that nobody's going to ring that doorbell, just hoping.

GUTIERREZ: It is a difficult time for Fran Martinez. Her husband, Naval Corpsman Mark Martinez, is on the ground in Iraq with part of the Marine force that covered heavy casualties in Tuesday's combat.

F. MARTINEZ: When they say there's been casualties, that makes me sick to my stomach, because that could be Mark. And I feel guilty even thinking that, because it's somebody else's husband; it's somebody else's son.

MARK MARTINEZ, U.S. NAVAL CORPSMAN: I miss you a lot, you know? You're my true love.

GUTIERREZ: All of this is hard on Zachary.

(on camera) Do you miss your daddy? Yes?

(voice-over) He hasn't seen his father since February. Until he returns home, this videotape is all Zachary has.

F. MARTINEZ: That's daddy. Give daddy a kiss.

He knows where daddy is. He knows when I watch the news, I point to it and I say, There's daddy. He's over there in Iraq.

GUTIERREZ: It is the second time Martinez has been deployed to Iraq, leaving Fran to tend to Zachary and 18-month-old Jocelyn (ph) all by herself.

The new wave of violence in Iraq is especially unnerving.

F. MARTINEZ: I thought it was going to be easier, because I thought there was going to be less danger. But now that everything is going down, it's like -- it's the same thing, all over again.

M. MARTINEZ: I'll be home about 5: 30, I think.

GUTIERREZ: Fran saves every message her husband leaves her. She last heard from him on Monday, before the bloody battle.

F. MARTINEZ: I freak out when the phone rings, because I always think it's him. Yes, it's -- especially now, it would be very great to get a phone call.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Now, we talked with Fran a short time ago, and she told us that still, no word from her husband. So it has been a difficult day.

We also mentioned that base officials have not released any information about yesterday's casualties, but the Defense Department did release the name of one of four Marines killed in combat on Monday in Iraq. And he's 21-year-old Lance Corporal Matthew Serio from North Providence, Rhode Island. He was based here at Camp Pendleton -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's got to be nerve-racking for family members and loved ones, Thelma. How does the process of notification go down?

GUTIERREZ: Well, you know, as I had mentioned in the story, Fran Martinez said she was actually watching the door. She wanted to make sure that she was not going to get a visit from a base official. Those officials, the people who would actually come and make that notification, would be a casualty grief counselor, also a cleric.

And they would show up -- a chaplain -- they would show up. They would inform the family. And according to the new policy that the military has, they don't make those names public at least for 24 hours after the family is first notified to give them time to grieve. But that's the way it works and that is exactly why Fran Martinez says she was watching that door, hoping that she wouldn't see a chaplain and a grief counselor come to her door.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Thelma Gutierrez, live from Camp Pendleton, thank you.

Well, the healing power of forgiveness. We should all forgive a little more, shouldn't we? Dr. Gupta's got the scoop on that coming up. And this is the last time we'll call these gals the Olsen twins. We promise, or at least until they think twice and change their minds. We'll tell you about it in entertainment headlines.

And in reality show headlines, which would-be "Apprentice" is hooked up with a gig at KFC? We'll fry it up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, you know the saying forgiveness helps heal the soul. Now a new study finds the ability to forgive can help you physically as well.

Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over the past 15 years, it was the little things, like playing a quiet game with her family, that were almost impossible for Linda Marra. Her life, and subsequently, her health, shattered when her father was murdered. The nightmares were etched into her brain for years.

LINDA MARRA, FATHER MURDERED: My father lived through this homicide one time, and I lived through it 1,000 times.

GUPTA: The assailant was put in jail. But for Linda, that punishment didn't seem enough for her to forgive. And an unforgiving heart took a toll. The first sign are her hair turned gray at age 29.

MARRA: I have low platelets. There were weight gain, insomnia, fatigue.

GUPTA: A teacher and mother of two, Linda realized her refusal to forgive could eventually kill her.

MARRA: It eats you alive from the inside out.

GUPTA: Unforgiveness causes stress that not only permeate the mind, but the body as well, and that stress causes microscopic tears in artery walls are which over time can cause a heart attack. It also causes spikes in the stress hormone cortisol, which can hurt your immune system. And we're not just talking about stress stemming from horrific crimes, but the build-up from a day, an argument, getting cut off in traffic. There is unforgiveness all around us.

EVERETT WORTHINGTON, PSYCHOLOGIST: If a person who is chronically unforgiving tries to make a change and begins to try to forgive more, they can affect their health in a more positive way.

GUPTA: A University of Michigan study supports that. Men who are good at defusing their anger had half as many strokes as angrier men. For Linda, forgiving her father's killer meant erasing her health problem. She says it was like being released from prison.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Moving on to entertainment headline this April 7, taking a page from Prince's how-to manual on fame, the twins formerly known as the Olsens have let it be known they want the media to henceforth refer to them as Mary-Kate and Ashley, not the Olsen twins.

He's already given love a bad name. I should try to sing that a little better. Now Jon Bon Jovi -- you know the song -- will do the same for lawyers in the upcoming film "National Lampoon's Trouble With Frank." He'll play a former attorney turned scam artist. You can fill in your own punchline.

And from boot licking to finger-licking good. The Kentucky Fried Chicken folks say, if you can stand Trump's heat, you may be ready for their kitchen, or actually its boardroom. They'll hire the runner-up on "The Apprentice" for a week-long gig helping launch a new KFC product. The short-term job would pay $25,000, plus a bunch of buckets worth a year's free supply of KFC products.

Fierce fighting in Iraq, Marines in the thick of battle. In moments, we expect a live briefing from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. We'll take you to the Pentagon straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The public 9/11 hearing testimony of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice begins tomorrow morning at 9:00 Eastern. CNN has got live coverage and analysis, reaction, and fallout all day long.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Well, that wraps up LIVE FROM. We're just minutes away from the Pentagon briefing.

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