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Ahmed Chalabi's Baghdad Compound Raided; U.N. Condemns Israeli Gaza Incursion
Aired May 20, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let my people go. Let my people be free. We are grateful to President Bush for liberating Iraq, but it is time for the Iraqi people to run their affairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Anger in Baghdad after a raid on the compound of the Iraqi man once considered America's good friend.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush behind closed doors with Republican lawmakers and warning things in Iraq will probably get worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It probably will happen some time in the next 10 to 20 years. It may have already begun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Running on empty? Dire predictions about the worldwide supply of oil.
And steroid scandal. An American track athlete admits guilt. Will she implicate other Olympic hopefuls?
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Miles O'Brien and Kyra Phillips are off today.
GRIFFIN: And I'm Drew Griffin. It is Thursday, May 20, and CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
WHITFIELD: We begin this hour with Ahmed Chalabi's fall from grace. The Iraqi Governing Council member who says he's America's best friend in Iraq, and who has long been treated that way by the Pentagon, is livid today over the raiding of his home and offices. Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers knocked down doors, held occupants at gunpoint and took away files and computers. And the formerly exiled opposition leader turned government official thinks he knows why.
We get dramatic details now from CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. soldiers and Iraqi national police raided the home of Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, and longtime U.S. ally. Chalabi claimed in a press conference after the raid that he was targeted for making calls for greater Iraqi independence from the United States, as preparations are under way for the handover of political power to the Iraqis on June 30.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED CHALABI, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: My relationship with the CPA now is non-existent and my relationship with the Governing Council is -- my colleagues are great patriots. I have worked with them for many decades to fight Saddam. We won. We are in Baghdad and we hope to lead Iraq into a sovereign, independent government, and with complete control over its armed forces and finances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: But an Iraqi official who spoke at coalition headquarters said the warrant for the raid had been issued because the police were looking for people involved in government fraud and kidnapping. Coalition spokesman Dan Senor said Chalabi and his organization, the Iraqi National Congress, were not the targets during today's raid.
Meanwhile, more reactions to the Wednesday morning attack on a group of Iraqis near the border between Iraq and Syria. While Iraqis say American forces attack a wedding party, the U.S. military says it was attacking a safe horse in a corridor used by foreign fighters to enter Iraq and smuggle weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: This is one of those routes that we have watched for a long period of time as a place where foreign fighters and smugglers come into this country. We have consistently talked inside this forum about the foreign fighter flow. This was clearly in our -- the intelligence that we had suggested that this was a foreign fighter rat line, as we call them, and one of the way stations.
We conducted military operations down there last night. The ground force that swept through the objective found a significant amount of material and intelligence which validated that attack and we are satisfy at this point that the intelligence that led us there was validated by what we found on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: But at least one member of Iraq's Governing Council said he did not find the American story convincing. He says he believes they made a mistake.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And what Chalabi calls the penultimate act of the failure of the CPA in Iraq is the latest twist in a long and winding career in politics, business and diplomacy. Altogether, it has been a source of fascination for Jim Walsh, global affairs scholar at Harvard University and guest this morning with CNN's Daryn Kagan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Talk about sour, boy, the gloves are off on this one. Both Chalabi's press conference and the spokesperson who appeared with you earlier today, they are going after the U.S. big time.
And as to why, I think it's probably a variety of factors. One is because of the new U.N. plan that will transfer power not to the Iraqi Governing Council, of which Chalabi is a member, but rather to another group, probably Chalabi is feeling a little left out in the cold and is trying to come up with a new strategy for getting back on the map, maybe trying to take power at some point later.
But there is also an issue here of whether there is any wrongdoing involved. Obviously he is a controversial fact figure with a bit of a checkered past. He was convicted of embezzling because of a bank failure in Jordan in the 1980s. So there may be a little bit of several different factors happening all at the same time.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. This is a person, Chalabi, who has brought questions along with him all along the way, even though he was a favorite of the Pentagon leading up to the war. A lot of people wondered how did this person gain so much credibility when there was so many allegations of fraud and other questions around him.
WALSH: Well, Daryn, he had some pretty powerful supporters in the vice president's office, on Capitol Hill, among certain member of the Senate and, as you say, among the civilian leadership in the Pentagon.
On the other side of the aisle, however, in the intelligence community, in the CIA in particular, as well as in the State Department there were real doubts about Chalabi, the person, and about the information he was feeding us.
And of course we have found out since the end of the Gulf -- or the Iraq war that a lot of that information coming through the Iraqi National Congress, particularly about weapons of mass destruction, was wrong or misleading at best.
KAGAN: And this is a man who at one point many people believed would be the next leader of Iraq.
WALSH: I think he was one of those who thought he was going to be the next leader of Iraq. And that is probably no small part of the political dynamic here. Probably his high water mark was soon aft the fall of Saddam, him going into Baghdad with what he called his free Iraqi fighters. And I think he thought that he was on the short road to being president of Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: That was taped earlier. Meanwhile, the oil-for-food issue is bubbling today at U.N. headquarters as well. CNN's Richard Roth is there -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Ahmed Chalabi figures into this. He says that some of the papers taken from his home, offices, dealt with this oil-for-food controversial program, Iraq and the United Nations, billion-dollar program.
Chalabi was one of the main figures driving for an investigation. He claimed, and an Iraqi newspaper claimed, that U.N. officials, former diplomats, journalists were on a list that Saddam Hussein paid oil vouchers, hundreds of thousands of dollars of money and bribes and kickbacks and part of the oil-for-food deal.
It's turning into a scandal, accord to some. But there's an investigation now under way. Either way, Paul Volcker, the lead investigator for the United Nations investigation, said he wasn't aware if there are any papers there, but he is very cognizant, he says, that there's a big battle for control of information on oil-for- food.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL VOLCKER, HEAD OF U.N. OIL-FOR-FOOD PROBE: I am aware there has been a bit of a tug-of-war in Baghdad about these records. They are of interest to a lot of people. And I can understand that. And they are of interest to us. And our concern is that we have access to them in a way that is unfiltered and unbiased. And that is, as you can imagine, quite a challenge under the circumstances that exist in Baghdad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Along with Volcker's probe, the Supreme Audit Board of Iraq is conducting an investigation. But Chalabi is upset that an earlier investigation that his Governing Council Finance Committee came up with, has in effect been sidetracked. And Chalabi's adviser in London, a businessman, is saying there's a cover-up by the Coalition Provisional Authority, led by Paul Bremer and the United Nations.
Volcker saying it's sort of already a three-ring circus, he doesn't want to make this an eight-ring circus. He's hoping that everyone will cooperate. His team that went to Baghdad last says he got promises of cooperation, but he says that still has to be fulfilled. He says he's got a skeleton staff right now. First priority, to investigate allegations of corruption by U.N. staff members, especially the former director of the program, Benon Sevan, who denies any financial misconduct. We may have information on that in our first report from Volcker in three months. Back to you.
GRIFFIN: Richard, Chalabi is not very well loved by many in the U.N. I'm wondering what the reaction to this raid on his home as he looks to now play less of a role in Iraq.
ROTH: Well, the Security Council has been busy with humanitarian crises. But there aren't many diplomats here who will profess love and admiration for Ahmed Chalabi. The failure of the U.S. find weapons of mass destruction, as alleged by Chalabi and his supporters for years, has severely damaged his credibility.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. envoy, is seeking to put together a consensus of people who can be accepted by a wide swath of Iraqi population. Chalabi does not fall into that category at this moment. Chalabi himself has strongly criticized Brahimi. Some feel he's working for his own political motivations to stay in some form of power after a transfer of limited sovereignty June 30.
GRIFFIN: Richard Roth, at the U.N., thank you.
Meanwhile, more grisly photos from Abu Ghraib. Unlike the ones we've seen before, two that came to light yesterday showing a dead Iraqi, reportedly a man who died in U.S. custody at the infamous prison just west of Baghdad. The smiling MPs in the photos are already facing courts martial. That is Specialist Sabrina Harman. We also see here Charles Graner, singled out by a former comrade as one who reveled in violence and abuse. Pentagon investigators have turned up yet another computer disc of Abu Ghraib pictures, but it isn't clear whether these photos are among them.
GRIFFIN: Colin Powell counting the days to the transfer of power to Iraq. He is not alone. Today, for instance, the secretary of state was surrounded by diplomats of coalition countries, all of whom are mapping out some sort of relations with unnamed Iraqis due to wield an unknown amount of authority in Iraq.
One thing is clear, Powell says, the ongoing need for troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're absolutely confident that this new sovereign entity, the Iraqi interim government, in the discharge of their sovereignty will ask and expect the U.S. forces and coalition forces to remain in the country to provide the security that this caretaker government is going to need in the months ahead as it prepares the nation for the elections at the end of the year and the beginning of next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: There are just 42 days left in which to choose an interim government and Powell hopes to get it ratified by the U.N. -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Condemning this week's raids and attacks by Israeli troops in Gaza, activities even the White House suggests don't serve the purposes of peace. Palestinians count at least 40 people killed, more than 100 wounded, since Tuesday, and some of those are children. We get the latest now from CNN's Matthew Chance --Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Fredricka. Despite that international condemnation, the censure by the U.N. Security Council, Israel appears to be, if anything, stepping up its operation in the south of the Gaza Strip. Israeli military officials saying they've deployed more than 1000 Israeli troops in and around the area of the Rafah refugee camp where this operation has been focused.
There are backed by tanks and helicopter gunships. And there have been quite serious clashes on the streets of that refugee camp, according to the latest figures that we have from hospital officials in Rafah. At least eight Palestinians killed, more Palestinians killed, bringing to about 40 the number of Palestinians who have been killed in the course of this very intensive operation over the course of the last three days.
There have been big humanitarian concerns that are still being expressed. Dozens of Palestinian homes have been destroyed as part of this ongoing military operation, hundreds of Palestinians being killed. But despite the criticism all over from the region, from the international community, even from the United States, Israel says it's determined to press ahead with the military objectives of this operation in Gaza.
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance, thanks very much.
A court in Tel Aviv has convicted Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti of killing five people in three separate attacks. Barghouti is a popular figure in the Fatah movement of Yasser Arafat, whom Israelis claim secretly orchestrates many crimes. Barghouti was tried on 37 counts but only found guilty on four. He faces the possibility of several life terms when he is sentenced on June 6.
GRIFFIN: A big mystery about a very little girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn't know her last name. She doesn't know her address. She doesn't a parent's first name and last name. She doesn't know her phone number.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Investigators asking for your help now to find out who she is.
Friends, foes, and finding common ground. A tight race for the White House forcing a meeting of political minds.
And surf's up for high school athletes. One state plans to make varsity surfing an official sport. We're hanging 10 ahead on LIVE FROM...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: She's 3 years old, comes from Brooklyn, and desperately wants her mommy. That's about all we know about her. The Department of Social Services in Maryland has issued a national appeal now to find the family of this abandoned little girl named Courtney. She was found May 5 after a man claiming to be her father left her with a stranger in Baltimore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER MCCABE, SECY. MARYLAND DEPT. OF HUMAN RESOURCES: Yesterday, I can tell you that we did receive a phone call from a shelter in New York City where someone recognized or believed they recognized Courtney from the pictures on TV. And we received contact from that shelter. They believe that they recognize her and perhaps the father that was also with her. And so we are tracking down that lead as we speak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: If you have more information that might help find Courtney's family, you are urged to call Baltimore's Department of Social Services. The number is 410-361-2235.
WHITFIELD: What a cute little girl.
Well, topping our look at news across America now, a boy in Florida is recovering from a wrestling match with a powerful opponent, a huge alligator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALCOM LOCKE, SURVIVED ALLIGATOR ATTACK: This alligator came up, opened his mouth and bit me. He bit me on the head and took a chunk out of my ear. And I punched him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: 12-year-old Malcolm Locke was taking a dip in this lake, southwest of Daytona Beach, when a gator tried to turn him into a snack. And as you heard it, Malcolm struggled, he punched it and then he managed to break free. But he suffered minor cuts from the bite on his head.
Federal investigators are in Gunter, Texas, sifting through the wreckage of two trains that collided head on. Right now, it's unclear what caused last evening's fiery crash. It killed one of the train's crew members and injured four others.
The surf is expected to be up at high schools across Hawaii. Members of the State Board of Education are expected to approve surfing as a school sport. Previously, the board sank the idea because of concerns over safety and cost.
GRIFFIN: In medical news, expectant mothers now have a quicker test to determine if their unborn babies have Down syndrome. A hospital in Philadelphia, the first in the nation giving the tests which offers results within one hour. It can be given to women as early as 10 weeks into their pregnancy. But a Down syndrome advocacy group warns women undergoing the test could still get false results.
And new guidelines for children and high blood pressure. Federal researchers urging doctors to routinely check kids as young as 3 years old for hypertension and to check for possible heart and blood vessel damage in children who have high blood pressure. Researchers estimate 16 percent of U.S. kids are overweight, putting them at risk for hypertension.
WHITFIELD: Will an athlete steroid scandal keep more big names out of the summer games? An attorney for a track star who has admitted to guilt speaks out later this hour.
And unlocking the secrets of the brain. Exploring the connection between creativity and insanity, later on LIVE FROM...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKET REPORT)
WHITFIELD: A look at the top stories now. Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi is blasting the U.S.-led coalition in the wake of a raid on his Baghdad compound. Chalabi, who was once a close adviser to the Pentagon, says the raid was engineered by Baathist- controlled Iraqi police protected by the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Two men have been charged in connection with yesterday's powder- throwing incident in Britain's House of Commons. The men, who say they're part of a group called Fathers for Justice, are scheduled to appear in court next Wednesday. The purple powder, later identified as harmless cornflower, was lobbed at Prime Minister Tony Blair during Parliament question time.
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 May 20, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let my people go. Let my people be free. We are grateful to President Bush for liberating Iraq, but it is time for the Iraqi people to run their affairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Anger in Baghdad after a raid on the compound of the Iraqi man once considered America's good friend.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush behind closed doors with Republican lawmakers and warning things in Iraq will probably get worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It probably will happen some time in the next 10 to 20 years. It may have already begun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Running on empty? Dire predictions about the worldwide supply of oil.
And steroid scandal. An American track athlete admits guilt. Will she implicate other Olympic hopefuls?
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Miles O'Brien and Kyra Phillips are off today.
GRIFFIN: And I'm Drew Griffin. It is Thursday, May 20, and CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
WHITFIELD: We begin this hour with Ahmed Chalabi's fall from grace. The Iraqi Governing Council member who says he's America's best friend in Iraq, and who has long been treated that way by the Pentagon, is livid today over the raiding of his home and offices. Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers knocked down doors, held occupants at gunpoint and took away files and computers. And the formerly exiled opposition leader turned government official thinks he knows why.
We get dramatic details now from CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. soldiers and Iraqi national police raided the home of Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, and longtime U.S. ally. Chalabi claimed in a press conference after the raid that he was targeted for making calls for greater Iraqi independence from the United States, as preparations are under way for the handover of political power to the Iraqis on June 30.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED CHALABI, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER: My relationship with the CPA now is non-existent and my relationship with the Governing Council is -- my colleagues are great patriots. I have worked with them for many decades to fight Saddam. We won. We are in Baghdad and we hope to lead Iraq into a sovereign, independent government, and with complete control over its armed forces and finances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: But an Iraqi official who spoke at coalition headquarters said the warrant for the raid had been issued because the police were looking for people involved in government fraud and kidnapping. Coalition spokesman Dan Senor said Chalabi and his organization, the Iraqi National Congress, were not the targets during today's raid.
Meanwhile, more reactions to the Wednesday morning attack on a group of Iraqis near the border between Iraq and Syria. While Iraqis say American forces attack a wedding party, the U.S. military says it was attacking a safe horse in a corridor used by foreign fighters to enter Iraq and smuggle weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: This is one of those routes that we have watched for a long period of time as a place where foreign fighters and smugglers come into this country. We have consistently talked inside this forum about the foreign fighter flow. This was clearly in our -- the intelligence that we had suggested that this was a foreign fighter rat line, as we call them, and one of the way stations.
We conducted military operations down there last night. The ground force that swept through the objective found a significant amount of material and intelligence which validated that attack and we are satisfy at this point that the intelligence that led us there was validated by what we found on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: But at least one member of Iraq's Governing Council said he did not find the American story convincing. He says he believes they made a mistake.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And what Chalabi calls the penultimate act of the failure of the CPA in Iraq is the latest twist in a long and winding career in politics, business and diplomacy. Altogether, it has been a source of fascination for Jim Walsh, global affairs scholar at Harvard University and guest this morning with CNN's Daryn Kagan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM WALSH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Talk about sour, boy, the gloves are off on this one. Both Chalabi's press conference and the spokesperson who appeared with you earlier today, they are going after the U.S. big time.
And as to why, I think it's probably a variety of factors. One is because of the new U.N. plan that will transfer power not to the Iraqi Governing Council, of which Chalabi is a member, but rather to another group, probably Chalabi is feeling a little left out in the cold and is trying to come up with a new strategy for getting back on the map, maybe trying to take power at some point later.
But there is also an issue here of whether there is any wrongdoing involved. Obviously he is a controversial fact figure with a bit of a checkered past. He was convicted of embezzling because of a bank failure in Jordan in the 1980s. So there may be a little bit of several different factors happening all at the same time.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. This is a person, Chalabi, who has brought questions along with him all along the way, even though he was a favorite of the Pentagon leading up to the war. A lot of people wondered how did this person gain so much credibility when there was so many allegations of fraud and other questions around him.
WALSH: Well, Daryn, he had some pretty powerful supporters in the vice president's office, on Capitol Hill, among certain member of the Senate and, as you say, among the civilian leadership in the Pentagon.
On the other side of the aisle, however, in the intelligence community, in the CIA in particular, as well as in the State Department there were real doubts about Chalabi, the person, and about the information he was feeding us.
And of course we have found out since the end of the Gulf -- or the Iraq war that a lot of that information coming through the Iraqi National Congress, particularly about weapons of mass destruction, was wrong or misleading at best.
KAGAN: And this is a man who at one point many people believed would be the next leader of Iraq.
WALSH: I think he was one of those who thought he was going to be the next leader of Iraq. And that is probably no small part of the political dynamic here. Probably his high water mark was soon aft the fall of Saddam, him going into Baghdad with what he called his free Iraqi fighters. And I think he thought that he was on the short road to being president of Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: That was taped earlier. Meanwhile, the oil-for-food issue is bubbling today at U.N. headquarters as well. CNN's Richard Roth is there -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Ahmed Chalabi figures into this. He says that some of the papers taken from his home, offices, dealt with this oil-for-food controversial program, Iraq and the United Nations, billion-dollar program.
Chalabi was one of the main figures driving for an investigation. He claimed, and an Iraqi newspaper claimed, that U.N. officials, former diplomats, journalists were on a list that Saddam Hussein paid oil vouchers, hundreds of thousands of dollars of money and bribes and kickbacks and part of the oil-for-food deal.
It's turning into a scandal, accord to some. But there's an investigation now under way. Either way, Paul Volcker, the lead investigator for the United Nations investigation, said he wasn't aware if there are any papers there, but he is very cognizant, he says, that there's a big battle for control of information on oil-for- food.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL VOLCKER, HEAD OF U.N. OIL-FOR-FOOD PROBE: I am aware there has been a bit of a tug-of-war in Baghdad about these records. They are of interest to a lot of people. And I can understand that. And they are of interest to us. And our concern is that we have access to them in a way that is unfiltered and unbiased. And that is, as you can imagine, quite a challenge under the circumstances that exist in Baghdad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Along with Volcker's probe, the Supreme Audit Board of Iraq is conducting an investigation. But Chalabi is upset that an earlier investigation that his Governing Council Finance Committee came up with, has in effect been sidetracked. And Chalabi's adviser in London, a businessman, is saying there's a cover-up by the Coalition Provisional Authority, led by Paul Bremer and the United Nations.
Volcker saying it's sort of already a three-ring circus, he doesn't want to make this an eight-ring circus. He's hoping that everyone will cooperate. His team that went to Baghdad last says he got promises of cooperation, but he says that still has to be fulfilled. He says he's got a skeleton staff right now. First priority, to investigate allegations of corruption by U.N. staff members, especially the former director of the program, Benon Sevan, who denies any financial misconduct. We may have information on that in our first report from Volcker in three months. Back to you.
GRIFFIN: Richard, Chalabi is not very well loved by many in the U.N. I'm wondering what the reaction to this raid on his home as he looks to now play less of a role in Iraq.
ROTH: Well, the Security Council has been busy with humanitarian crises. But there aren't many diplomats here who will profess love and admiration for Ahmed Chalabi. The failure of the U.S. find weapons of mass destruction, as alleged by Chalabi and his supporters for years, has severely damaged his credibility.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. envoy, is seeking to put together a consensus of people who can be accepted by a wide swath of Iraqi population. Chalabi does not fall into that category at this moment. Chalabi himself has strongly criticized Brahimi. Some feel he's working for his own political motivations to stay in some form of power after a transfer of limited sovereignty June 30.
GRIFFIN: Richard Roth, at the U.N., thank you.
Meanwhile, more grisly photos from Abu Ghraib. Unlike the ones we've seen before, two that came to light yesterday showing a dead Iraqi, reportedly a man who died in U.S. custody at the infamous prison just west of Baghdad. The smiling MPs in the photos are already facing courts martial. That is Specialist Sabrina Harman. We also see here Charles Graner, singled out by a former comrade as one who reveled in violence and abuse. Pentagon investigators have turned up yet another computer disc of Abu Ghraib pictures, but it isn't clear whether these photos are among them.
GRIFFIN: Colin Powell counting the days to the transfer of power to Iraq. He is not alone. Today, for instance, the secretary of state was surrounded by diplomats of coalition countries, all of whom are mapping out some sort of relations with unnamed Iraqis due to wield an unknown amount of authority in Iraq.
One thing is clear, Powell says, the ongoing need for troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're absolutely confident that this new sovereign entity, the Iraqi interim government, in the discharge of their sovereignty will ask and expect the U.S. forces and coalition forces to remain in the country to provide the security that this caretaker government is going to need in the months ahead as it prepares the nation for the elections at the end of the year and the beginning of next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: There are just 42 days left in which to choose an interim government and Powell hopes to get it ratified by the U.N. -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Condemning this week's raids and attacks by Israeli troops in Gaza, activities even the White House suggests don't serve the purposes of peace. Palestinians count at least 40 people killed, more than 100 wounded, since Tuesday, and some of those are children. We get the latest now from CNN's Matthew Chance --Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Fredricka. Despite that international condemnation, the censure by the U.N. Security Council, Israel appears to be, if anything, stepping up its operation in the south of the Gaza Strip. Israeli military officials saying they've deployed more than 1000 Israeli troops in and around the area of the Rafah refugee camp where this operation has been focused.
There are backed by tanks and helicopter gunships. And there have been quite serious clashes on the streets of that refugee camp, according to the latest figures that we have from hospital officials in Rafah. At least eight Palestinians killed, more Palestinians killed, bringing to about 40 the number of Palestinians who have been killed in the course of this very intensive operation over the course of the last three days.
There have been big humanitarian concerns that are still being expressed. Dozens of Palestinian homes have been destroyed as part of this ongoing military operation, hundreds of Palestinians being killed. But despite the criticism all over from the region, from the international community, even from the United States, Israel says it's determined to press ahead with the military objectives of this operation in Gaza.
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance, thanks very much.
A court in Tel Aviv has convicted Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti of killing five people in three separate attacks. Barghouti is a popular figure in the Fatah movement of Yasser Arafat, whom Israelis claim secretly orchestrates many crimes. Barghouti was tried on 37 counts but only found guilty on four. He faces the possibility of several life terms when he is sentenced on June 6.
GRIFFIN: A big mystery about a very little girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn't know her last name. She doesn't know her address. She doesn't a parent's first name and last name. She doesn't know her phone number.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Investigators asking for your help now to find out who she is.
Friends, foes, and finding common ground. A tight race for the White House forcing a meeting of political minds.
And surf's up for high school athletes. One state plans to make varsity surfing an official sport. We're hanging 10 ahead on LIVE FROM...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: She's 3 years old, comes from Brooklyn, and desperately wants her mommy. That's about all we know about her. The Department of Social Services in Maryland has issued a national appeal now to find the family of this abandoned little girl named Courtney. She was found May 5 after a man claiming to be her father left her with a stranger in Baltimore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER MCCABE, SECY. MARYLAND DEPT. OF HUMAN RESOURCES: Yesterday, I can tell you that we did receive a phone call from a shelter in New York City where someone recognized or believed they recognized Courtney from the pictures on TV. And we received contact from that shelter. They believe that they recognize her and perhaps the father that was also with her. And so we are tracking down that lead as we speak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: If you have more information that might help find Courtney's family, you are urged to call Baltimore's Department of Social Services. The number is 410-361-2235.
WHITFIELD: What a cute little girl.
Well, topping our look at news across America now, a boy in Florida is recovering from a wrestling match with a powerful opponent, a huge alligator.
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MALCOM LOCKE, SURVIVED ALLIGATOR ATTACK: This alligator came up, opened his mouth and bit me. He bit me on the head and took a chunk out of my ear. And I punched him.
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WHITFIELD: 12-year-old Malcolm Locke was taking a dip in this lake, southwest of Daytona Beach, when a gator tried to turn him into a snack. And as you heard it, Malcolm struggled, he punched it and then he managed to break free. But he suffered minor cuts from the bite on his head.
Federal investigators are in Gunter, Texas, sifting through the wreckage of two trains that collided head on. Right now, it's unclear what caused last evening's fiery crash. It killed one of the train's crew members and injured four others.
The surf is expected to be up at high schools across Hawaii. Members of the State Board of Education are expected to approve surfing as a school sport. Previously, the board sank the idea because of concerns over safety and cost.
GRIFFIN: In medical news, expectant mothers now have a quicker test to determine if their unborn babies have Down syndrome. A hospital in Philadelphia, the first in the nation giving the tests which offers results within one hour. It can be given to women as early as 10 weeks into their pregnancy. But a Down syndrome advocacy group warns women undergoing the test could still get false results.
And new guidelines for children and high blood pressure. Federal researchers urging doctors to routinely check kids as young as 3 years old for hypertension and to check for possible heart and blood vessel damage in children who have high blood pressure. Researchers estimate 16 percent of U.S. kids are overweight, putting them at risk for hypertension.
WHITFIELD: Will an athlete steroid scandal keep more big names out of the summer games? An attorney for a track star who has admitted to guilt speaks out later this hour.
And unlocking the secrets of the brain. Exploring the connection between creativity and insanity, later on LIVE FROM...
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WHITFIELD: A look at the top stories now. Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi is blasting the U.S.-led coalition in the wake of a raid on his Baghdad compound. Chalabi, who was once a close adviser to the Pentagon, says the raid was engineered by Baathist- controlled Iraqi police protected by the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Two men have been charged in connection with yesterday's powder- throwing incident in Britain's House of Commons. The men, who say they're part of a group called Fathers for Justice, are scheduled to appear in court next Wednesday. The purple powder, later identified as harmless cornflower, was lobbed at Prime Minister Tony Blair during Parliament question time.
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