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Bush to Hold News Conference Tomorrow; 13 Hostages Still Held by Iraqi Insurgents

Aired April 12, 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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As the United States, burying the lead there, indicating there will be a formal news conference in the East Room of the White House tomorrow in prime-time. We don't know the time yet, but we presume we'll see you here, whenever time that is, for live coverage of the president's news conference.
The president along with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, in addition to announcing that news conference, talking much about Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, saying it is a positive development but not to be uncoupled from the so-called road map for peace. And we will leave it at that for now. And we'll press on.

Yellow ribbons and heavy hearts. Uncertainty surrounds the fate of numerous civilian hostages in Iraq, one of whom left his home in Mississippi, we're told, in search of a decent paycheck when his dairy farm failed. We believe at least 13 people are still being held by Iraqi insurgents though a member of the Governing Council says Muslim clerics have ordered the practice be stopped.

Hostages and apparent hostages have come and gone over the past few days, some with TV cameras rolling. There is also word of two American soldiers unaccounted for since Friday. Central Command says it still wants to capture or kill the renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, although al-Sadr apparently agreed today to pull his militia out of police stations in holy city of Najaf.

In Fallujah, a city long synonymous with anti-coalition bloodshed, U.S. forces are using the words "stable" and "under control." Marines are abiding by a cease-fire in hopes Iraqi officials can talk the situation down from the boiling point.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a good bet President Bush will face questions on all of that when he steps into the East Room of the White House tomorrow evening. Mr. Bush announced his own prime-time news conference in an early afternoon give and take with reporters on his Texas ranch.

At the Pentagon, meantime, watching events on Iraq and beyond, CNN's Barbara Starr -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, General John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, finished a press conference a couple of hours ago, briefing Pentagon reporters on the situation. And he made a fair amount of news. General Abizaid for the first time publicly offering a very troubling assessment of the status of Iraqi security forces during the recent uptick in violence.

Some of those Iraqi security forces fought, some did not. General Abizaid calling some of it a "great disappointment." He confirmed that a battalion of the new Iraqi army failed to go to Fallujah to fight with the Marines, and in the south some police units, some Iraqi police units apparently defecting from their posts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CMDR., U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Clearly we know that some of the police did not stay with their post and that in some cases, because we've seen films of policemen with Sadr's militia in particular, that there were some defections. I think that these numbers are not large, but they are troubling to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: General Abizaid, Kyra, making it very clear the coalition will step back, take another look at the Iraqi security forces and see what they can do to improve the situation, the training and the leadership.

General Abizaid also said that he has now made a request to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for two combat brigades of power to be in Iraq to deal with the current violence and the current situation.

Now, that's the equivalent of about 10,000 troops. At the moment, every indication that requirement for 10,000 troops will be met by keeping some troops in place that otherwise would have come home right around now. It is likely to start off with being troops from the 1st Armored Division, but this week already the Joint Chiefs of Staff are meeting to see what other troops they can tap into, send over some fresh troops and let those units come home -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon, thanks -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Two women from the Wisconsin National Guard are back today from Iraq to bury their sister who died in an ambush in Baghdad. Michelle Witmer was killed Friday while serving in an MP unit with her sister Rachel. The third Witmer sister, Charity, is serving in Iraq as a medic. Having lost one child, the parents of the two surviving sisters are asking that neither be returned to the hostilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAN ART, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: For the sake of our family, we have appealed to the Army National Guard to grant whatever exceptions necessary to make sure Rachel and Charity are not returned to Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: An Army spokesman says if a soldier dies in a hostile area, other family members are exempt from serving in a hostile situation upon request. That request must come from the soldiers themselves.

As the casualties mount, a lot of people are asking whether the Pentagon needs to send reinforcements. In our next segment we'll put that question to CNN military analyst General Don Shepperd.

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now, a judge considers dismissing manslaughter charges against former NBA star Jayson Williams. A hearing was held today to determine if the prosecution deliberately withheld notes and photographs of the shotgun Williams was holding when it went off. That blast killed a chauffeur.

Edgy dieters take note, the herbal stimulant Ephedra goes off the shelves today. A nationwide sales ban is in effect. A federal judge refused to grant a temporary restraining order sought by two manufacturers. The ruling does not include prescription or over-the- counter cold remedies.

A new airline rule could save your life. The FAA now requires every big jet to have a defibrillator on board along with more advanced medical kits. According to "USA Today," American Airlines has used them since 1996, saving the lives of 47 passengers.

The key Presidential Daily Briefing in the 9/11 probe is declassified. Now the president is giving his take on the controversial document. The White House declassified the PDB over weekend. That document, from August 6, 2001, says the FBI was investigating al Qaeda cells in the U.S. But the president says there was no specific indication of a terror threat to Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked for the Central Intelligence Agency to give me an update on any terrorist threats. And the PDB was no indication of a terrorist threat. There was not a time and place of an attack. And it was -- it said Osama bin Laden had designs on America. Well, I knew that. What I wanted to know was, is there anything specifically going to take place in America that we needed to react to?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The 9/11 Commission looks into the failures of U.S. intelligence agencies this week. The heads of the FBI, CIA, and Justice Department are expected to testify tomorrow.

CNN's Bob Franken has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The matters addressed in this next set of hearings are among the most fundamental for this commission. How did the law enforcement and intelligence agencies, there to protect the United States, fail to protect the United States on September 11?

TIM ROEMER (D), 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: There will be some new revelations. There will be some new twists and turns.

FRANKEN: The testimony will come from those at the heart of the war on terrorism: attorneys general present and prior, FBI directors current and past, and the CIA director, the same one for this administration and the previous one.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: If anything might have helped stop 9/11, it would have been better information about threats inside the United States, something made very difficult by structural and legal impediments that prevented the collection and sharing of information by our law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

FRANKEN: Translation: The agencies were too tangled in bureaucracy and regulation to share information, essential information such as a memo from an FBI agent in Arizona warning of a possibility of a large group of Osama bin Laden followers taking flight lessons in the United States, it was sent two months before the attacks, and ignored; and information about people suspected of being terrorists evading detection in the U.S.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), FMR. INTELLIGENCE CHMN.: All of those organizations, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, have a share of the responsibility and at one point or the other in this process could have interdicted the plot.

FRANKEN (on camera): That is still being debated. But the leaders of those agencies will be given the chance to explain. There will be tough questions with no easy answers.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: A radical Shiite appears to be backing off in Iraq. Will that lead to an end of the violence we've been seeing? We'll talk about it with retired Major General Don Shepperd just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: This was known as a calm town, pro-coalition even, but now three months before the U.S. is due to hand back power to the Iraqis, American tanks have moved in again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jane Arraf reporting on what went wrong inside one of the rebellious Iraqi cities.

And later on LIVE FROM..., why Victoria is keeping this lingerie show a secret. We're on that story. And we'll give you full details in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Focusing again on Iraq. Here to talk about the wave of violence and kidnappings threatening the country's stability, CNN military analyst retired Major General Done Shepperd.

Good to see you, General. We want to make sure we have your audio OK there. Say hello again there, General.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, USAF (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: A pleasure, Kyra, how are you?

PHILLIPS: Oh, it is still pretty low. So we'll continue to work on that. Let me throw out my question. We'll see where we go from here unless I get another word. Talking specifically about the kidnapping tactics -- OK, I think we've got the audio going now. We talked about, well, at least from the standpoint of negotiation, that you must negotiate with these terrorists. I asked you about that specifically because I was reading articles talking about negotiating with these terrorists could lead to a "moral hazard." But from a military perspective, you have got to exhaust that end, correct?

SHEPPERD: Yes, you do, Kyra. Kidnapping is nothing new. It's gone on for a long time, it goes on daily. It's a cottage industry in Mexico and also in South America, particularly in the drug war. It goes on all of the time. You cannot give in to hostage takers, you can't give in to their demands, but you must negotiate with them. Negotiating buys time, allows you to gather intelligence and also maybe able to find out what the people really want as opposed to what they demand on there first thing. So negotiating and talking to them and buying time is a way to do it. And very often we're successful in freeing the hostages, Kyra. Hopefully we will be this time.

PHILLIPS: I think everybody is hoping that. Let's talk about General Abizaid coming forward, talking about the two brigades of combat forces. Now you've been strongly opposed to more forces, additional men and women overseas. What do you think of what he's laying out about this two-brigade system?

SHEPPERD: Yes. I've been opposed to just sending forces over there until the commander asked for them. General Abizaid is the one guy that knows how many people he needs to support the missions he has been given. When I was there in September, repeatedly asked, do you or do you not have enough troops? Tell us offline.

We were told we do for the missions we have now, but if the mission expands to preventing a civil war or in this case perhaps more combat operations like Fallujah or guarding the borders with Syria or Iran, they will need more forces. And it sounds like General Abizaid is asking for two combat brigades.

There's all sorts of ways to get them, slowing down the rotation out, getting more. So the numbers right now are about 132,000 in country. They could go up by 10,000 or 15,000 at least temporarily and then go back down to the 105,000 to 110,000 that we were talking about before, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about what we are not seeing and how that can be more important than what we are seeing when we see a lot of the devastating images coming from Iraq back here to the United States. SHEPPERD: Yes, all of us look to make sense out of what we're seeing. And we see an attack or we see a spike in attacks like we did this past couple of weeks and we want to use the words "chaos" or "spinning out of control." I don't think that that's what's happening.

What you're really watching for is a general uprising of the population against the United States and coalition forces. That is not being seen. What you see in the Sunni Triangle is understandable. What's going on there, still former regime loyalists reacting. And then you have the situation of the two vehicles ambushed and the burning of the bodies in the streets, the Marines reacting to that and predictably the people in Fallujah reacting to the Marines. That's understandable.

Also Muqtada al-Sadr in the southern part of Iraq, with the Shia, the Shia factions going on. All of those are understandable and separate. You are not seeing a general uprising of the population or the Shia combining with both the Sistani supporters and the al-Sadr supporters against the coalition. So it is important to understand what's not going on as well as the high indications of spikes in attacks that you see, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, we know the way those Special Forces -- special operations and special warfare, how they all operate. Retired Major General Don Shepperd, thanks for your time today.

SHEPPERD: A pleasure.

O'BRIEN: A hard sell for a soft drink, or is it just a cola or political statement for Muslims against the West? The answer is yes. We'll pour that one up for you just ahead.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz in New York. It is tax time and individual filers take note, audits are on the rise. Details when LIVE FROM... returns after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: News around the world now. The probe into the March 11 attack in Madrid nets three more suspects. Spanish authorities say three Moroccans arrested in recent days. One suspect had been detained two previous times, formally charged today in the deadly train bombings.

And in Russia, the search for survivors in a fatal mine blast now a recovery effort. Rescuers say they don't expect to find any more survivors. Three miners are still missing. A methane explosion killed 40 in western Siberia on Saturday.

PHILLIPS: Capitalism meets the Koran in Islamabad, Pakistan. Religious fervor and anti-American sentiment are a mind (ph) to bubble (ph) sales of a newcomer to the cola wars.

CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi reports on the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED HAIDER, CEO QIBLA COLA: The money will be reinvested back to Pakistan. It will not go to Europe or the USA.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): On first glance, Mohammed Haider sounds like a politician.

HAIDER: We will provide a real choice.

QURAISHI: But he's not. He's the CEO of Qibla Cola.

HAIDER: We have a product that is based on ethical and fair trade principles. Where did these principles come from? We found these principles from Islam.

QURAISHI: Literally translated from Arabic, Qibla means "direction." More specifically it refers to the direction of prayer for Muslims, Mecca. But Haider insists his fizzy drink is not just another cola trying to cash in on anti-American sentiment in a post- 9/11 global market.

HAIDER: I don't believe any short-term issues such as anti- Americanism or anti-Europeanism or anti-corporatism is going to have a long-term impact on our strategies.

QURAISHI: Marketed as the ethical alternative to American soft drink giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Qibla Cola donates 10 percent of its profits to charity.

(on camera): Still there's little doubt that part of the marketing strategy is its appeal to those Muslim consumers who don't want to buy American.

(voice-over): It is a strategy that has worked in its maiden market, the U.K., where Qibla Cola sold upwards of 12 million bottles last year. And now the company is hoping to take a gulp out of the Asian markets.

HAIDER: In Pakistan we believe that the market will be penetrated very, very rapidly given the taste -- I don't think if you've tasted Qibla, but I think you'll agree the taste is quite exceptional.

QURAISHI: It better be. The first bottling run at Qibla's new Islamabad plant is 2 million liters. Advertising is aimed at what marketers call the conscientious consumer. While it may take time to work out the kinks, Haider says he's confident Qibla Cola will command a hefty share of Pakistan's soft drink market, turning a profit for the company while giving a little bit back.

Ash-Har Quraishi, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. That deadline to file taxes is coming up quite quickly. O'BRIEN: Have you done them?

PHILLIPS: Yes, I'm extended, baby.

O'BRIEN: Oh yes, Mr. Extension here. Susan Lisovicz is live from the New York Stock Exchange.

(MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 12, 2004 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As the United States, burying the lead there, indicating there will be a formal news conference in the East Room of the White House tomorrow in prime-time. We don't know the time yet, but we presume we'll see you here, whenever time that is, for live coverage of the president's news conference.
The president along with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, in addition to announcing that news conference, talking much about Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, saying it is a positive development but not to be uncoupled from the so-called road map for peace. And we will leave it at that for now. And we'll press on.

Yellow ribbons and heavy hearts. Uncertainty surrounds the fate of numerous civilian hostages in Iraq, one of whom left his home in Mississippi, we're told, in search of a decent paycheck when his dairy farm failed. We believe at least 13 people are still being held by Iraqi insurgents though a member of the Governing Council says Muslim clerics have ordered the practice be stopped.

Hostages and apparent hostages have come and gone over the past few days, some with TV cameras rolling. There is also word of two American soldiers unaccounted for since Friday. Central Command says it still wants to capture or kill the renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, although al-Sadr apparently agreed today to pull his militia out of police stations in holy city of Najaf.

In Fallujah, a city long synonymous with anti-coalition bloodshed, U.S. forces are using the words "stable" and "under control." Marines are abiding by a cease-fire in hopes Iraqi officials can talk the situation down from the boiling point.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a good bet President Bush will face questions on all of that when he steps into the East Room of the White House tomorrow evening. Mr. Bush announced his own prime-time news conference in an early afternoon give and take with reporters on his Texas ranch.

At the Pentagon, meantime, watching events on Iraq and beyond, CNN's Barbara Starr -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, General John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, finished a press conference a couple of hours ago, briefing Pentagon reporters on the situation. And he made a fair amount of news. General Abizaid for the first time publicly offering a very troubling assessment of the status of Iraqi security forces during the recent uptick in violence.

Some of those Iraqi security forces fought, some did not. General Abizaid calling some of it a "great disappointment." He confirmed that a battalion of the new Iraqi army failed to go to Fallujah to fight with the Marines, and in the south some police units, some Iraqi police units apparently defecting from their posts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CMDR., U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Clearly we know that some of the police did not stay with their post and that in some cases, because we've seen films of policemen with Sadr's militia in particular, that there were some defections. I think that these numbers are not large, but they are troubling to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: General Abizaid, Kyra, making it very clear the coalition will step back, take another look at the Iraqi security forces and see what they can do to improve the situation, the training and the leadership.

General Abizaid also said that he has now made a request to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for two combat brigades of power to be in Iraq to deal with the current violence and the current situation.

Now, that's the equivalent of about 10,000 troops. At the moment, every indication that requirement for 10,000 troops will be met by keeping some troops in place that otherwise would have come home right around now. It is likely to start off with being troops from the 1st Armored Division, but this week already the Joint Chiefs of Staff are meeting to see what other troops they can tap into, send over some fresh troops and let those units come home -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon, thanks -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Two women from the Wisconsin National Guard are back today from Iraq to bury their sister who died in an ambush in Baghdad. Michelle Witmer was killed Friday while serving in an MP unit with her sister Rachel. The third Witmer sister, Charity, is serving in Iraq as a medic. Having lost one child, the parents of the two surviving sisters are asking that neither be returned to the hostilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAN ART, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: For the sake of our family, we have appealed to the Army National Guard to grant whatever exceptions necessary to make sure Rachel and Charity are not returned to Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: An Army spokesman says if a soldier dies in a hostile area, other family members are exempt from serving in a hostile situation upon request. That request must come from the soldiers themselves.

As the casualties mount, a lot of people are asking whether the Pentagon needs to send reinforcements. In our next segment we'll put that question to CNN military analyst General Don Shepperd.

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now, a judge considers dismissing manslaughter charges against former NBA star Jayson Williams. A hearing was held today to determine if the prosecution deliberately withheld notes and photographs of the shotgun Williams was holding when it went off. That blast killed a chauffeur.

Edgy dieters take note, the herbal stimulant Ephedra goes off the shelves today. A nationwide sales ban is in effect. A federal judge refused to grant a temporary restraining order sought by two manufacturers. The ruling does not include prescription or over-the- counter cold remedies.

A new airline rule could save your life. The FAA now requires every big jet to have a defibrillator on board along with more advanced medical kits. According to "USA Today," American Airlines has used them since 1996, saving the lives of 47 passengers.

The key Presidential Daily Briefing in the 9/11 probe is declassified. Now the president is giving his take on the controversial document. The White House declassified the PDB over weekend. That document, from August 6, 2001, says the FBI was investigating al Qaeda cells in the U.S. But the president says there was no specific indication of a terror threat to Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked for the Central Intelligence Agency to give me an update on any terrorist threats. And the PDB was no indication of a terrorist threat. There was not a time and place of an attack. And it was -- it said Osama bin Laden had designs on America. Well, I knew that. What I wanted to know was, is there anything specifically going to take place in America that we needed to react to?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The 9/11 Commission looks into the failures of U.S. intelligence agencies this week. The heads of the FBI, CIA, and Justice Department are expected to testify tomorrow.

CNN's Bob Franken has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The matters addressed in this next set of hearings are among the most fundamental for this commission. How did the law enforcement and intelligence agencies, there to protect the United States, fail to protect the United States on September 11?

TIM ROEMER (D), 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: There will be some new revelations. There will be some new twists and turns.

FRANKEN: The testimony will come from those at the heart of the war on terrorism: attorneys general present and prior, FBI directors current and past, and the CIA director, the same one for this administration and the previous one.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: If anything might have helped stop 9/11, it would have been better information about threats inside the United States, something made very difficult by structural and legal impediments that prevented the collection and sharing of information by our law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

FRANKEN: Translation: The agencies were too tangled in bureaucracy and regulation to share information, essential information such as a memo from an FBI agent in Arizona warning of a possibility of a large group of Osama bin Laden followers taking flight lessons in the United States, it was sent two months before the attacks, and ignored; and information about people suspected of being terrorists evading detection in the U.S.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), FMR. INTELLIGENCE CHMN.: All of those organizations, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, have a share of the responsibility and at one point or the other in this process could have interdicted the plot.

FRANKEN (on camera): That is still being debated. But the leaders of those agencies will be given the chance to explain. There will be tough questions with no easy answers.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: A radical Shiite appears to be backing off in Iraq. Will that lead to an end of the violence we've been seeing? We'll talk about it with retired Major General Don Shepperd just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: This was known as a calm town, pro-coalition even, but now three months before the U.S. is due to hand back power to the Iraqis, American tanks have moved in again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jane Arraf reporting on what went wrong inside one of the rebellious Iraqi cities.

And later on LIVE FROM..., why Victoria is keeping this lingerie show a secret. We're on that story. And we'll give you full details in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Focusing again on Iraq. Here to talk about the wave of violence and kidnappings threatening the country's stability, CNN military analyst retired Major General Done Shepperd.

Good to see you, General. We want to make sure we have your audio OK there. Say hello again there, General.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, USAF (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: A pleasure, Kyra, how are you?

PHILLIPS: Oh, it is still pretty low. So we'll continue to work on that. Let me throw out my question. We'll see where we go from here unless I get another word. Talking specifically about the kidnapping tactics -- OK, I think we've got the audio going now. We talked about, well, at least from the standpoint of negotiation, that you must negotiate with these terrorists. I asked you about that specifically because I was reading articles talking about negotiating with these terrorists could lead to a "moral hazard." But from a military perspective, you have got to exhaust that end, correct?

SHEPPERD: Yes, you do, Kyra. Kidnapping is nothing new. It's gone on for a long time, it goes on daily. It's a cottage industry in Mexico and also in South America, particularly in the drug war. It goes on all of the time. You cannot give in to hostage takers, you can't give in to their demands, but you must negotiate with them. Negotiating buys time, allows you to gather intelligence and also maybe able to find out what the people really want as opposed to what they demand on there first thing. So negotiating and talking to them and buying time is a way to do it. And very often we're successful in freeing the hostages, Kyra. Hopefully we will be this time.

PHILLIPS: I think everybody is hoping that. Let's talk about General Abizaid coming forward, talking about the two brigades of combat forces. Now you've been strongly opposed to more forces, additional men and women overseas. What do you think of what he's laying out about this two-brigade system?

SHEPPERD: Yes. I've been opposed to just sending forces over there until the commander asked for them. General Abizaid is the one guy that knows how many people he needs to support the missions he has been given. When I was there in September, repeatedly asked, do you or do you not have enough troops? Tell us offline.

We were told we do for the missions we have now, but if the mission expands to preventing a civil war or in this case perhaps more combat operations like Fallujah or guarding the borders with Syria or Iran, they will need more forces. And it sounds like General Abizaid is asking for two combat brigades.

There's all sorts of ways to get them, slowing down the rotation out, getting more. So the numbers right now are about 132,000 in country. They could go up by 10,000 or 15,000 at least temporarily and then go back down to the 105,000 to 110,000 that we were talking about before, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about what we are not seeing and how that can be more important than what we are seeing when we see a lot of the devastating images coming from Iraq back here to the United States. SHEPPERD: Yes, all of us look to make sense out of what we're seeing. And we see an attack or we see a spike in attacks like we did this past couple of weeks and we want to use the words "chaos" or "spinning out of control." I don't think that that's what's happening.

What you're really watching for is a general uprising of the population against the United States and coalition forces. That is not being seen. What you see in the Sunni Triangle is understandable. What's going on there, still former regime loyalists reacting. And then you have the situation of the two vehicles ambushed and the burning of the bodies in the streets, the Marines reacting to that and predictably the people in Fallujah reacting to the Marines. That's understandable.

Also Muqtada al-Sadr in the southern part of Iraq, with the Shia, the Shia factions going on. All of those are understandable and separate. You are not seeing a general uprising of the population or the Shia combining with both the Sistani supporters and the al-Sadr supporters against the coalition. So it is important to understand what's not going on as well as the high indications of spikes in attacks that you see, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, we know the way those Special Forces -- special operations and special warfare, how they all operate. Retired Major General Don Shepperd, thanks for your time today.

SHEPPERD: A pleasure.

O'BRIEN: A hard sell for a soft drink, or is it just a cola or political statement for Muslims against the West? The answer is yes. We'll pour that one up for you just ahead.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz in New York. It is tax time and individual filers take note, audits are on the rise. Details when LIVE FROM... returns after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: News around the world now. The probe into the March 11 attack in Madrid nets three more suspects. Spanish authorities say three Moroccans arrested in recent days. One suspect had been detained two previous times, formally charged today in the deadly train bombings.

And in Russia, the search for survivors in a fatal mine blast now a recovery effort. Rescuers say they don't expect to find any more survivors. Three miners are still missing. A methane explosion killed 40 in western Siberia on Saturday.

PHILLIPS: Capitalism meets the Koran in Islamabad, Pakistan. Religious fervor and anti-American sentiment are a mind (ph) to bubble (ph) sales of a newcomer to the cola wars.

CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi reports on the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED HAIDER, CEO QIBLA COLA: The money will be reinvested back to Pakistan. It will not go to Europe or the USA.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): On first glance, Mohammed Haider sounds like a politician.

HAIDER: We will provide a real choice.

QURAISHI: But he's not. He's the CEO of Qibla Cola.

HAIDER: We have a product that is based on ethical and fair trade principles. Where did these principles come from? We found these principles from Islam.

QURAISHI: Literally translated from Arabic, Qibla means "direction." More specifically it refers to the direction of prayer for Muslims, Mecca. But Haider insists his fizzy drink is not just another cola trying to cash in on anti-American sentiment in a post- 9/11 global market.

HAIDER: I don't believe any short-term issues such as anti- Americanism or anti-Europeanism or anti-corporatism is going to have a long-term impact on our strategies.

QURAISHI: Marketed as the ethical alternative to American soft drink giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Qibla Cola donates 10 percent of its profits to charity.

(on camera): Still there's little doubt that part of the marketing strategy is its appeal to those Muslim consumers who don't want to buy American.

(voice-over): It is a strategy that has worked in its maiden market, the U.K., where Qibla Cola sold upwards of 12 million bottles last year. And now the company is hoping to take a gulp out of the Asian markets.

HAIDER: In Pakistan we believe that the market will be penetrated very, very rapidly given the taste -- I don't think if you've tasted Qibla, but I think you'll agree the taste is quite exceptional.

QURAISHI: It better be. The first bottling run at Qibla's new Islamabad plant is 2 million liters. Advertising is aimed at what marketers call the conscientious consumer. While it may take time to work out the kinks, Haider says he's confident Qibla Cola will command a hefty share of Pakistan's soft drink market, turning a profit for the company while giving a little bit back.

Ash-Har Quraishi, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. That deadline to file taxes is coming up quite quickly. O'BRIEN: Have you done them?

PHILLIPS: Yes, I'm extended, baby.

O'BRIEN: Oh yes, Mr. Extension here. Susan Lisovicz is live from the New York Stock Exchange.

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