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Bush Gives Strong Support to Rumsfeld; U.S. Troops Attempting to Win Over Afghans

Aired May 10, 2004 - 12:59   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.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A show of support at the Pentagon, despite a widening prisoner abuse scandal and some calls for Rumsfeld's resignation.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Going where no Marines have gone before. We'll take you to the other front lines on the war in terror in Afghanistan.

O'BRIEN: Fifty years after a 14-year-old boy's body was found at the bottom of a river, a murder case that energized the civil rights movement is reopened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Glad because we just have our own and sad because it has to be this way. It can't be just one together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: One high school, three proms. Why kids are segregating their dances.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. It is Monday May 10, from CNN's Center, it is LIVE FROM... and it starts right now.

O'BRIEN: Up first this hour, hail from the chief. As you know if you've been watching CNN, President Bush today with, behind and up for his embattled secretary of defense, on Donald Rumsfeld's home turf yet, the president called him "courageous," "superb" and "strong." And CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, as always, is there.

Barbara, the latest.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Miles, well, that was the photo opportunity that the Pentagon and the White House wanted to see. But the fall-out continues. We have now learned that Major General Antonio Taguba, the Army officer who wrote the initial critical report about the Army's running of prisons in Iraq will appear tomorrow before the Senate Armed Services Committee. That will be a very public airing of General Taguba's findings for the first time here in Washington.

But, indeed, the president leaving the Pentagon just a little while ago to return to the White House, making a very public show of support for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Here is a bit of what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Thank you for your leadership. You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You are doing a superb job, you are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: But, as we say, Miles, the fall-out continues across Washington. A very unusual development today, there is a newspaper called "The Army Times." It is a privately-owned, independent newspaper but circulates very widely here in the Pentagon and with troops overseas. Today, they are running an editorial that is very critical, not only of Secretary Rumsfeld, but also of General Richard Myers, the chairman of the joint chief of staffs.

Here's what they say: "Myers, Rumsfeld and their staffs failed to recognize the impact the scandal would have not only in the United States, but around the world. If their staffs failed to alert Myers and Rumsfeld, shame on them. But shame, too, on the chairman and the secretary who failed to inform even President Bush. He was left to learn of the explosive scandal from media reports instead of from his own military leaders."

That editorial is not just another newspaper editorial, that is now being read by the troops overseas -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, as we have been reporting, there are more pictures and even videos which haven't seen the light of day yet. The Pentagon is not releasing them, or at least has not indicated it would release them. Is there some thinking inside the corridors there that it might be good just to dump everything at once rather than go through this death of a thousand cuts?

STARR: This is the challenge at the moment, indeed. As you say, it is known there are videos. There are hundreds of additional pictures that have been seen by top officials and they don't know how many more pictures may be out there. They are working with Congress right now to try to find a way to at least show those pictures to Congress, but there is no agreement yet about a public release of this large amount of photography.

The reason we're told is they're trying to preserve a potential criminal case against additional people and, of course, all of this is evidence against the people who are already facing charges. So you have two contradictory things going on at the moment, trying to preserve criminal evidence for a military prosecution, but also acknowledging that the world wants to see these pictures and that more damage may be done, as you say, by the drip, drip, every day, perhaps best just to put them all out there. No resolution to that contradiction just yet -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: In February, while the Pentagon's investigation was still under way, the Red Cross handed in a blistering indictment. Much has already turned up in the media, much to the group's dismay, and more coming out all the time. The Red Cross says in certain cases, physical and psychological coercion were not aberrations but standing (sic)operating procedure.

What's worse is that military intelligence officers are quoted as saying, between 70 percent and 90 percent of the detainees didn't even belong there. They had been arrested by mistake and often roughed up in the process. The Red Cross says that it's unhappy the findings have been so publicized since confidentiality "is vital to obtaining access to prisoners worldwide."

O'BRIEN: As you've heard, the Senate Armed Services Committee reconvenes tomorrow for a private look at photos they haven't yet been leaked or released. The panel's chairman, John Warner of Virginia, says the Pentagon is cooperating with his attempt to follow the facts wherever they go. Warner adds it might be tricky to find, screen and confirm a new defense secretary in wartime, in an election year should Rumsfeld quit or be fired. But one senior Democrat says that and Rumsfeld himself are beside the point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS CMTE.: I don't care if Rumsfeld goes or stays. I think he's irrelevant, quite frankly. He's been wrong so many times, as the vice president has been. Secretary of state (sic) Rumsfeld, the uniform military -- I mean, excuse me, Secretary of State Powell and uniform military, they have been right, right from the beginning. Every general that has been right, they've gotten rid of, starting with Shinseki, who said we need over 200,000 troops. Their policy is not very sound and they seem unwilling to alter any aspect of their policy. The policy is the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, for one, says it's vital to get all the abuse photos out in the open as soon as possible.

PHILLIPS: A new photo appearing in this week's edition of "The New Yorker" shows a naked prisoner threatened with attack dogs. The image is accompanied by an article by investigative writer Seymour Hersh who says military police in Iraq were deliberately made subordinate to military interrogators. He also cites the emergence of a potent new weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEYMOUR HERSH, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE NEW YORKER": The evidence suggests that cameras and the use of cameras was part of the interrogation process. And I'll tell you what somebody has told me, which is that one of the ways you could possibly get more leverage on a potential witness or somebody you want to interrogate, is to threaten, shame -- we talked about humiliation, shame, is to threaten a prisoner with taking these photographs and showing them to neighbors or showing them the others. It would be a greater source of humiliation if others actually see the problems he had in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And you can hear more of Hersh's account on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," that's at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific right here on CNN.

O'BRIEN: The first of what may be several courts martial arising from the prison abuse debacle starts May 19, a week from Wednesday. On trial will be Army Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits, 24 years old, from southwest Pennsylvania, the town of Hyndman (ph). CNN's Alina Cho reports not only is Sivits innocent until proven guilty, in Hyndman, he's a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Sleegle says he stands behind Specialist Jeremy Sivits 100 percent.

MIKE SLEEGLE, FRIEND OF SIVITS: Bring him home. Let's pin a medal on him and have a parade. They drug our kids through the streets, behind jeeps. They burn them, they hung them from a bridge and why are we held to higher standards than they are? We're at war.

CHO: Daughter Heather went to the prom with him. She says Sivits was so proud of being a soldier, he wore his uniform to the dance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told me ahead of time that he was going to wear his uniform.

CHO (on camera): You said?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said that was fine with me.

CHO: Because?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because all guys look good in uniforms.

CHO (voice-over): This small Pennsylvania town openly shows its support for the troops with most of the support these days going to Jeremy Sivits. Sivits will stand trial in Baghdad on May 19, a world away.

SLEEGLE: The boy is a good boy. CHO (on camera): Both Sivits' mother and father told CNN commenting on the case right now would only hurt their son. The community says it could do without all of this attention, and says the prison scandal in Iraq is hitting a bit too close to home.

Alina Cho, CNN, southwestern Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Meanwhile, in Iraq, power issues, at last report an electrical plant near Baghdad Airport was burning, reasons unknown so far. Police report casualties, but they don't yet know how many. Insurgents are blamed for a fire that sharply compromised the primary series of oil pipelines in the southern half of the country. The lines were attacked early yesterday, and though the flames are still not extinguished, they are considered under control. The coalition says about a million barrels a day can still be moved down from 1.6 million before what you see here.

U.S. troops moved back into Fallujah today, this time alongside the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. Joint convoy rolled unopposed into the city center more than a week after Marines who had kept Fallujah under siege redeployed. The goal remains persuading rather than forcing Sunni insurgents to disarm and stand down.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, alleged terror plot foiled. Police say they found a hotbed of hatred in a city more famous for wine and artwork than terrorism.

Will the rightful owner of $213 million please come forward. Somebody has hit the jackpot, but they may not know it yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was in the box (ph) a resting pet (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two days he was in the box. It was a big box, though.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Feline sent FedEx. One cat's amazing accidental adventure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: With all the talk about Iraq, we should not forget U.S. forces are also at war in Afghanistan still. Two-and-a-half years after the U.S. invasion and the Taliban's ouster, sizeable chunks of that country are still, or are once again Taliban territory. And one of those is now being contested by U.S. Marines.

CNN's Nic Robertson is traveling with them and he filed this remarkable report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tossed fields pink with opium-producing poppies across dusty deserts and through ambush-prone mountain passes, U.S. Marines pushed deeper into Afghanistan's interior than they ever have been before to set up base where Taliban have been murdering government officials. This day, though, the biggest battle, vehicle failure due to the tough terrain. At journey's end, a curious reception, no coalition force this size has been here chasing the Taliban before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've come up here to extend the security and stability in the area and push further north into traditional strongholds and force them to think twice about trying to interfere with the Afghan way of life.

ROBERTSON: Flown in to aid the Marines, soldiers of the Afghan National Army. Their presence, critical to help legitimize the Afghan government. Provincial Governor John Muhammad (ph), a battle-scarred former Mujahedeen commander, also brought in to underline Afghan government control and marginalize the Taliban.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we came, we found they had burnt a school here last night. This is Taliban policy. They don't want children to go to school.

ROBERTSON: The first steps, small, low-key patrols getting to know the town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have got rice and potatoes.

ROBERTSON: And bargaining in the bazaar for supplies, all designed to show they're here to stay and help. Within hours, Afghan flags, not visible when the Marines arrived, flying over the town.

(on camera): Marine commanders describe this town as being a high-threat, high-risk environment. The real risk they say, however, is that if they don't come here, they won't be able to convince Afghans they're serious about providing security.

(voice-over): At their new base, moving in has an urgency with known Taliban strongholds not far away, the next few days will be the most vulnerable for these Marines.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kasorusghan (ph), Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A Vietnam veteran who was held prisoner for more than seven years joins thousands of his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington. Captain Edward Brudno's (ph) name is one of 10 that are being inscribed on the wall this week. But he didn't just come without controversy, Brudno committed suicide months after returning from Vietnam. Some people don't think he deserves the honor. Brudno's names is being added at the request of his brother who argued his death was directly related to his capture.

O'BRIEN: News from around the world now. A funeral is held for the assassinated president of Chechnya. Akhmad Kadyrov was killed, along with six other people in a bomb blast yesterday at the Chechen capital of Grozny. Today hundreds of mourners flocked to the burial site in his hometown.

German investigators say the Sasser worm suspect released a new version of the malicious program just before his arrest last week. The 18-year-old suspect being held in northern Germany, police say they found the source code for the worm on his computer.

And a seven -year-old Australian boy being praised as a hero who saved his father's life, they were both hurt seriously when their all- terrain vehicle flipped over. The boy walked more than a mile for help while suffering broken ribs and collapsing lungs. The boy and his father are recovering in separate hospitals in Sydney.

PHILLIPS: Tourists in Italy would rarely put Tuscany and terrorism in the same sentence, yet that's what local police have done, rounding up suspected terrorists in Florence.

CNN's Alessio Vinci reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Investigators say the five suspects' intention to carry suicide attacks against coalition forces in Iraq. They say the break in the year-long investigation came with telephone wiretaps in which one of the suspect is quoted as saying, "within a month I will finally be a martyr."

Among those arrested is an Algerian cleric, the imam of a Florence mosque believed to be the central figure of a terrorist cell based in Tuscany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): This cell had the task of raising money and the task of recruiting people for terrorist activities in Iraq.

VINCI: The other four suspects are all Algerian nationals, legal residents in Italy, but according to investigators, ready to leave the country to carry out attacks in Iraq.

These four were ready to leave, said the police chief, who began the investigation over a year ago; adding, we can say that we have surely prevented these elements from leaving soon for Iraq.

But investigators say the suspects were not preparing to strike targets inside Italy. Investigators believe the alleged terrorists belong to Ansar al-Islam, an organization based in northern Iraq, which U.S. officials say has ties with al Qaeda.

Boxes of documents were also seized during the predawn raids, which were carried out in three different cities. Italy has long been considered by anti-terrorism investigators a key logistical base for Islamic terrorists. These officials say the documents seized would lead to more arrests.

CNN, Alessio Vinci, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Other news across America to tell you about. The entertainment world is remembering a king of comedy, comedian Alan King died yesterday of lung cancer. He was 76. King is best remembered for his wise cracks about suburbia and marriage. Off stage he produced and appeared in dozens of films.

Still no word on the lucky winner of the $213 million Powerball jackpot. The ticket was bought in Pennsylvania before Saturday's drawing. That's the way you've got to do it, you've got to do it before the drawing. It's the biggest jackpot ever in the state.

It's not the millions, but it's more than a fourth grader expected to find in the restroom. A boy in Michigan found a $100 bill folded and tucked inside a roll of toilet paper at his school. If no one claims the money, he says he might give it to mom. He hasn't been able to flush out the owner -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: NBA star Kobe Bryant in court today, expected to enter a plea to rape charges this week. We'll take you live to the Colorado courthouse.

And segregated proms, tradition or racism? Kids at one high school talk about why they're having three separate dances.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Kobe Bryant scored 22 points for the Lakers in their playoff victory yesterday and today he's in court trying to score legal points with a judge who will preside over his rape trial. Adrian Baschuk is at the courthouse in Eagle, Colorado -- Adrian.

ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, good afternoon. Some new and prior undisclosed information to tell you about today. Sources familiar with the proceedings tell CNN that lawyers involved in the case and the judge have agreed on a time period to begin the trial. Earlier it was thought and pondered about whether or not the trial would start in late August, possibly early September. We now know that a trial date will be set and is expected to start in early August.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK (voice-over): Kobe Bryant returns to Eagle after the Lakers big playoff win Sunday. His arraignment will come at the end of an expected three-day hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge must set a trial within six months of the arraignment, but that isn't in stone.

BASCHUK: Variables persist. Will the Judge Terry Ruckriegle rule in favor of the defense's motion challenging Colorado's rape shield law? The defense wants part of the accuser's sexual past submitted as trial evidence. Also will the judge rule statements Kobe Bryant made to police be sealed and never heard by a jury.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's what we can say, anything the defense wins is weakening the prosecution case.

BASCHUK: The prosecution's case could be harmed if the judge allows the defense to admit evidence alleging Bryant's accuser of attempted suicide twice and has a history of drug abuse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a lot of witnesses that the defense has lined up through a solid investigation who will testify about alleged drug and alcohol problems. Is that relevant or is it just character assassination?

BASCHUK: The judge will address another tough question, whether or not the accuser can continue to be referred to as a "victim" in open court proceedings by the prosecution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK: Now today's hearings continue behind closed doors. A court representative has just told me that the defense -- that hearings on the defense's motion to suppress statements that Kobe Bryant made to police, statements that police secretly recorded, those have wrapped up for the day and they are now on to the rape shield hearings. However, we know that the rape shield hearings will not end during these three days of pretrial motion hearings, they will continue into June -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Adrian Baschuk, live from Eagle, Colorado, thank you.

Straight ahead, the lynching of Emmett Till, now, more than 50 years later, that case will be reopened. That horrific death of a Chicago teen helped spark the civil rights movement. We're going to talk about it and how the case has been reopened. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired May 10, 2004 - 12:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A show of support at the Pentagon, despite a widening prisoner abuse scandal and some calls for Rumsfeld's resignation.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Going where no Marines have gone before. We'll take you to the other front lines on the war in terror in Afghanistan.

O'BRIEN: Fifty years after a 14-year-old boy's body was found at the bottom of a river, a murder case that energized the civil rights movement is reopened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Glad because we just have our own and sad because it has to be this way. It can't be just one together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: One high school, three proms. Why kids are segregating their dances.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. It is Monday May 10, from CNN's Center, it is LIVE FROM... and it starts right now.

O'BRIEN: Up first this hour, hail from the chief. As you know if you've been watching CNN, President Bush today with, behind and up for his embattled secretary of defense, on Donald Rumsfeld's home turf yet, the president called him "courageous," "superb" and "strong." And CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, as always, is there.

Barbara, the latest.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Miles, well, that was the photo opportunity that the Pentagon and the White House wanted to see. But the fall-out continues. We have now learned that Major General Antonio Taguba, the Army officer who wrote the initial critical report about the Army's running of prisons in Iraq will appear tomorrow before the Senate Armed Services Committee. That will be a very public airing of General Taguba's findings for the first time here in Washington.

But, indeed, the president leaving the Pentagon just a little while ago to return to the White House, making a very public show of support for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Here is a bit of what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Thank you for your leadership. You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You are doing a superb job, you are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: But, as we say, Miles, the fall-out continues across Washington. A very unusual development today, there is a newspaper called "The Army Times." It is a privately-owned, independent newspaper but circulates very widely here in the Pentagon and with troops overseas. Today, they are running an editorial that is very critical, not only of Secretary Rumsfeld, but also of General Richard Myers, the chairman of the joint chief of staffs.

Here's what they say: "Myers, Rumsfeld and their staffs failed to recognize the impact the scandal would have not only in the United States, but around the world. If their staffs failed to alert Myers and Rumsfeld, shame on them. But shame, too, on the chairman and the secretary who failed to inform even President Bush. He was left to learn of the explosive scandal from media reports instead of from his own military leaders."

That editorial is not just another newspaper editorial, that is now being read by the troops overseas -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, as we have been reporting, there are more pictures and even videos which haven't seen the light of day yet. The Pentagon is not releasing them, or at least has not indicated it would release them. Is there some thinking inside the corridors there that it might be good just to dump everything at once rather than go through this death of a thousand cuts?

STARR: This is the challenge at the moment, indeed. As you say, it is known there are videos. There are hundreds of additional pictures that have been seen by top officials and they don't know how many more pictures may be out there. They are working with Congress right now to try to find a way to at least show those pictures to Congress, but there is no agreement yet about a public release of this large amount of photography.

The reason we're told is they're trying to preserve a potential criminal case against additional people and, of course, all of this is evidence against the people who are already facing charges. So you have two contradictory things going on at the moment, trying to preserve criminal evidence for a military prosecution, but also acknowledging that the world wants to see these pictures and that more damage may be done, as you say, by the drip, drip, every day, perhaps best just to put them all out there. No resolution to that contradiction just yet -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: In February, while the Pentagon's investigation was still under way, the Red Cross handed in a blistering indictment. Much has already turned up in the media, much to the group's dismay, and more coming out all the time. The Red Cross says in certain cases, physical and psychological coercion were not aberrations but standing (sic)operating procedure.

What's worse is that military intelligence officers are quoted as saying, between 70 percent and 90 percent of the detainees didn't even belong there. They had been arrested by mistake and often roughed up in the process. The Red Cross says that it's unhappy the findings have been so publicized since confidentiality "is vital to obtaining access to prisoners worldwide."

O'BRIEN: As you've heard, the Senate Armed Services Committee reconvenes tomorrow for a private look at photos they haven't yet been leaked or released. The panel's chairman, John Warner of Virginia, says the Pentagon is cooperating with his attempt to follow the facts wherever they go. Warner adds it might be tricky to find, screen and confirm a new defense secretary in wartime, in an election year should Rumsfeld quit or be fired. But one senior Democrat says that and Rumsfeld himself are beside the point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS CMTE.: I don't care if Rumsfeld goes or stays. I think he's irrelevant, quite frankly. He's been wrong so many times, as the vice president has been. Secretary of state (sic) Rumsfeld, the uniform military -- I mean, excuse me, Secretary of State Powell and uniform military, they have been right, right from the beginning. Every general that has been right, they've gotten rid of, starting with Shinseki, who said we need over 200,000 troops. Their policy is not very sound and they seem unwilling to alter any aspect of their policy. The policy is the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, for one, says it's vital to get all the abuse photos out in the open as soon as possible.

PHILLIPS: A new photo appearing in this week's edition of "The New Yorker" shows a naked prisoner threatened with attack dogs. The image is accompanied by an article by investigative writer Seymour Hersh who says military police in Iraq were deliberately made subordinate to military interrogators. He also cites the emergence of a potent new weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEYMOUR HERSH, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE NEW YORKER": The evidence suggests that cameras and the use of cameras was part of the interrogation process. And I'll tell you what somebody has told me, which is that one of the ways you could possibly get more leverage on a potential witness or somebody you want to interrogate, is to threaten, shame -- we talked about humiliation, shame, is to threaten a prisoner with taking these photographs and showing them to neighbors or showing them the others. It would be a greater source of humiliation if others actually see the problems he had in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And you can hear more of Hersh's account on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," that's at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific right here on CNN.

O'BRIEN: The first of what may be several courts martial arising from the prison abuse debacle starts May 19, a week from Wednesday. On trial will be Army Specialist Jeremy C. Sivits, 24 years old, from southwest Pennsylvania, the town of Hyndman (ph). CNN's Alina Cho reports not only is Sivits innocent until proven guilty, in Hyndman, he's a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Sleegle says he stands behind Specialist Jeremy Sivits 100 percent.

MIKE SLEEGLE, FRIEND OF SIVITS: Bring him home. Let's pin a medal on him and have a parade. They drug our kids through the streets, behind jeeps. They burn them, they hung them from a bridge and why are we held to higher standards than they are? We're at war.

CHO: Daughter Heather went to the prom with him. She says Sivits was so proud of being a soldier, he wore his uniform to the dance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told me ahead of time that he was going to wear his uniform.

CHO (on camera): You said?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said that was fine with me.

CHO: Because?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because all guys look good in uniforms.

CHO (voice-over): This small Pennsylvania town openly shows its support for the troops with most of the support these days going to Jeremy Sivits. Sivits will stand trial in Baghdad on May 19, a world away.

SLEEGLE: The boy is a good boy. CHO (on camera): Both Sivits' mother and father told CNN commenting on the case right now would only hurt their son. The community says it could do without all of this attention, and says the prison scandal in Iraq is hitting a bit too close to home.

Alina Cho, CNN, southwestern Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Meanwhile, in Iraq, power issues, at last report an electrical plant near Baghdad Airport was burning, reasons unknown so far. Police report casualties, but they don't yet know how many. Insurgents are blamed for a fire that sharply compromised the primary series of oil pipelines in the southern half of the country. The lines were attacked early yesterday, and though the flames are still not extinguished, they are considered under control. The coalition says about a million barrels a day can still be moved down from 1.6 million before what you see here.

U.S. troops moved back into Fallujah today, this time alongside the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. Joint convoy rolled unopposed into the city center more than a week after Marines who had kept Fallujah under siege redeployed. The goal remains persuading rather than forcing Sunni insurgents to disarm and stand down.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, alleged terror plot foiled. Police say they found a hotbed of hatred in a city more famous for wine and artwork than terrorism.

Will the rightful owner of $213 million please come forward. Somebody has hit the jackpot, but they may not know it yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was in the box (ph) a resting pet (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two days he was in the box. It was a big box, though.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Feline sent FedEx. One cat's amazing accidental adventure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: With all the talk about Iraq, we should not forget U.S. forces are also at war in Afghanistan still. Two-and-a-half years after the U.S. invasion and the Taliban's ouster, sizeable chunks of that country are still, or are once again Taliban territory. And one of those is now being contested by U.S. Marines.

CNN's Nic Robertson is traveling with them and he filed this remarkable report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tossed fields pink with opium-producing poppies across dusty deserts and through ambush-prone mountain passes, U.S. Marines pushed deeper into Afghanistan's interior than they ever have been before to set up base where Taliban have been murdering government officials. This day, though, the biggest battle, vehicle failure due to the tough terrain. At journey's end, a curious reception, no coalition force this size has been here chasing the Taliban before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've come up here to extend the security and stability in the area and push further north into traditional strongholds and force them to think twice about trying to interfere with the Afghan way of life.

ROBERTSON: Flown in to aid the Marines, soldiers of the Afghan National Army. Their presence, critical to help legitimize the Afghan government. Provincial Governor John Muhammad (ph), a battle-scarred former Mujahedeen commander, also brought in to underline Afghan government control and marginalize the Taliban.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we came, we found they had burnt a school here last night. This is Taliban policy. They don't want children to go to school.

ROBERTSON: The first steps, small, low-key patrols getting to know the town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have got rice and potatoes.

ROBERTSON: And bargaining in the bazaar for supplies, all designed to show they're here to stay and help. Within hours, Afghan flags, not visible when the Marines arrived, flying over the town.

(on camera): Marine commanders describe this town as being a high-threat, high-risk environment. The real risk they say, however, is that if they don't come here, they won't be able to convince Afghans they're serious about providing security.

(voice-over): At their new base, moving in has an urgency with known Taliban strongholds not far away, the next few days will be the most vulnerable for these Marines.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kasorusghan (ph), Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A Vietnam veteran who was held prisoner for more than seven years joins thousands of his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington. Captain Edward Brudno's (ph) name is one of 10 that are being inscribed on the wall this week. But he didn't just come without controversy, Brudno committed suicide months after returning from Vietnam. Some people don't think he deserves the honor. Brudno's names is being added at the request of his brother who argued his death was directly related to his capture.

O'BRIEN: News from around the world now. A funeral is held for the assassinated president of Chechnya. Akhmad Kadyrov was killed, along with six other people in a bomb blast yesterday at the Chechen capital of Grozny. Today hundreds of mourners flocked to the burial site in his hometown.

German investigators say the Sasser worm suspect released a new version of the malicious program just before his arrest last week. The 18-year-old suspect being held in northern Germany, police say they found the source code for the worm on his computer.

And a seven -year-old Australian boy being praised as a hero who saved his father's life, they were both hurt seriously when their all- terrain vehicle flipped over. The boy walked more than a mile for help while suffering broken ribs and collapsing lungs. The boy and his father are recovering in separate hospitals in Sydney.

PHILLIPS: Tourists in Italy would rarely put Tuscany and terrorism in the same sentence, yet that's what local police have done, rounding up suspected terrorists in Florence.

CNN's Alessio Vinci reports.

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ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Investigators say the five suspects' intention to carry suicide attacks against coalition forces in Iraq. They say the break in the year-long investigation came with telephone wiretaps in which one of the suspect is quoted as saying, "within a month I will finally be a martyr."

Among those arrested is an Algerian cleric, the imam of a Florence mosque believed to be the central figure of a terrorist cell based in Tuscany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): This cell had the task of raising money and the task of recruiting people for terrorist activities in Iraq.

VINCI: The other four suspects are all Algerian nationals, legal residents in Italy, but according to investigators, ready to leave the country to carry out attacks in Iraq.

These four were ready to leave, said the police chief, who began the investigation over a year ago; adding, we can say that we have surely prevented these elements from leaving soon for Iraq.

But investigators say the suspects were not preparing to strike targets inside Italy. Investigators believe the alleged terrorists belong to Ansar al-Islam, an organization based in northern Iraq, which U.S. officials say has ties with al Qaeda.

Boxes of documents were also seized during the predawn raids, which were carried out in three different cities. Italy has long been considered by anti-terrorism investigators a key logistical base for Islamic terrorists. These officials say the documents seized would lead to more arrests.

CNN, Alessio Vinci, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Other news across America to tell you about. The entertainment world is remembering a king of comedy, comedian Alan King died yesterday of lung cancer. He was 76. King is best remembered for his wise cracks about suburbia and marriage. Off stage he produced and appeared in dozens of films.

Still no word on the lucky winner of the $213 million Powerball jackpot. The ticket was bought in Pennsylvania before Saturday's drawing. That's the way you've got to do it, you've got to do it before the drawing. It's the biggest jackpot ever in the state.

It's not the millions, but it's more than a fourth grader expected to find in the restroom. A boy in Michigan found a $100 bill folded and tucked inside a roll of toilet paper at his school. If no one claims the money, he says he might give it to mom. He hasn't been able to flush out the owner -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: NBA star Kobe Bryant in court today, expected to enter a plea to rape charges this week. We'll take you live to the Colorado courthouse.

And segregated proms, tradition or racism? Kids at one high school talk about why they're having three separate dances.

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PHILLIPS: Kobe Bryant scored 22 points for the Lakers in their playoff victory yesterday and today he's in court trying to score legal points with a judge who will preside over his rape trial. Adrian Baschuk is at the courthouse in Eagle, Colorado -- Adrian.

ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, good afternoon. Some new and prior undisclosed information to tell you about today. Sources familiar with the proceedings tell CNN that lawyers involved in the case and the judge have agreed on a time period to begin the trial. Earlier it was thought and pondered about whether or not the trial would start in late August, possibly early September. We now know that a trial date will be set and is expected to start in early August.

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BASCHUK (voice-over): Kobe Bryant returns to Eagle after the Lakers big playoff win Sunday. His arraignment will come at the end of an expected three-day hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge must set a trial within six months of the arraignment, but that isn't in stone.

BASCHUK: Variables persist. Will the Judge Terry Ruckriegle rule in favor of the defense's motion challenging Colorado's rape shield law? The defense wants part of the accuser's sexual past submitted as trial evidence. Also will the judge rule statements Kobe Bryant made to police be sealed and never heard by a jury.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's what we can say, anything the defense wins is weakening the prosecution case.

BASCHUK: The prosecution's case could be harmed if the judge allows the defense to admit evidence alleging Bryant's accuser of attempted suicide twice and has a history of drug abuse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a lot of witnesses that the defense has lined up through a solid investigation who will testify about alleged drug and alcohol problems. Is that relevant or is it just character assassination?

BASCHUK: The judge will address another tough question, whether or not the accuser can continue to be referred to as a "victim" in open court proceedings by the prosecution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASCHUK: Now today's hearings continue behind closed doors. A court representative has just told me that the defense -- that hearings on the defense's motion to suppress statements that Kobe Bryant made to police, statements that police secretly recorded, those have wrapped up for the day and they are now on to the rape shield hearings. However, we know that the rape shield hearings will not end during these three days of pretrial motion hearings, they will continue into June -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Adrian Baschuk, live from Eagle, Colorado, thank you.

Straight ahead, the lynching of Emmett Till, now, more than 50 years later, that case will be reopened. That horrific death of a Chicago teen helped spark the civil rights movement. We're going to talk about it and how the case has been reopened. Don't go away.

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