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Anarchists at Seas Island Gate; Last Full Day for Reagan Viewing
Aired June 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures from the nation's capital where people by the thousands are remembering Ronald Reagan. And this hour you'll hear from the people who knew him back when he was known simply as "Dutch."
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some moments of panic as the Capitol is evacuated. What led to this security situation yesterday afternoon?
PHILLIPS: Heavy fighting in Najaf, Iraq, but U.S. forces back off from the battle. We'll tell you why.
O'BRIEN: And caught on tape. A convenience store robber apparently observes his own "bring your kids to work day." Just a family man, I guess.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
O'BRIEN: In suits and in shorts, thousands continue to filter through the Capitol Rotunda this hour. It is the last full day for the public to pay respects to the late President Ronald Reagan. The viewing will go around the clock until tomorrow morning when Mr. Reagan's coffin is removed. Let's go CNN's Ed Henry who is outside the Capitol. He has been watching this remarkable outpouring of emotion -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. In addition to the public line, the thousands of people that you mentioned, there's also another line set up just for congressional staffers. That has a two-hour wait, people flooding the hallways, trying to file past the casket.
Also a steady stream of motorcades. All kinds of kind of dignitaries coming through. Just a short while ago, we had the new Iraqi president, a historic moment, Ghazi al-Yawar came through, into the Capitol. He has actually not gone past the casket yet. We're expecting maybe within about 10 minute he may come by with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He's been meeting over in Frist's office.
Also, Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice ever appointed, appointed by Reagan. She comes in. What a moment to come in and pay her respects to Mr. Reagan. She was in earlier today. Bob Dole also in earlier, the former Senate majority leader and presidential candidate. Late today we're expecting Prince Charles, also, Mikhail Gorbachev, former President Bush, so many different dignitaries coming through in addition to people from all around the country. And a very emotional moment, earlier today, showing that people from all walks of life are coming through, paying their tribute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came to pay homage to President Reagan, who was my hero, because he liberated my old country so my nephews and nieces can live in freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He changed my life. I'm an American citizen today because of Ronald Reagan and I'm a proud American.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hear people saying there's too much attention. But this was a wonderful man and he did wonderful things for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: And here's the commemorative card that everyone who files past the coffin gets a chance to see. It has the presidential seal at the top, it has Ronald Wilson Reagan, gives his birth date and the day he died. There is obviously, as you mentioned, an outpouring of support, people from all across the world coming in, Miles, it's quite a day.
O'BRIEN: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.
The official agenda for the final sessions at the G8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia, includes discussions on peacekeeping and poverty in Africa. But it's the Middle East that, as you might suspect, is grabbing the spotlight. Publicly G8 leaders are trumpeting areas of agreement. But behind the show of unity, the facade, if you will, more discord over Iraq. For the latest in all that, we got to Dana Bash who joins us now from Savannah, Georgia.
Hello, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. And before we get to the talk of the summit, I should note that President Bush and Mrs. Bush will join that list of dignitaries that Ed Henry was just talking about. As soon as they arrive back in Washington later today, they will head back to the Capitol so Mr. Bush can pay personal tribute to President Reagan. And then Mr. and Mrs. Bush will be headed to meet personally, privately with Nancy Reagan to pay a condolence call.
And of course, tomorrow morning, Mr. Bush will give his public discussion, a public eulogy, on behalf of the nation, according to the White House. Mr. Bush will not necessarily be giving some of the personal memories, and he certainly has a lot of them, knew President Reagan well, instead he will speaking as president on behalf of a grateful nation, according to White House aides.
And it's not just President Bush that will be going from Georgia up to Washington. Other world leaders who are here will be also going up for the memorial service, including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Afghanistan president, Hamid Karzai. They, among others, will also be attending.
Now as for this summit, it is in its final hours here in Georgia. And Mr. Bush at this hour is having lunch with members of the G8 and also some African leaders that they invited here. And they are talking about, among other things, the AIDS pandemic, talking about how to better coordinate accelerating finding a vaccine for HIV.
And in terms of this overall feeling of the summit, it certainly started out on a high note for the White House. It started with a new U.N. resolution on Iraq. And there was a meeting yesterday that was dripping with symbolism. Mr. Bush meeting with the Iraqi interim president. That was something that seemed to be emotional for Mr. Bush.
But in terms of meeting of the minds on the tangible things that they are going to do, like more troops on the ground, like more money for Iraq, there haven't been many announcements -- any announcements on that at all so far here. In fact, as much as President Bush, and, for example, Jacques Chirac, the French president, have been trying to make it clear they want to move past their differences on Iraq, some new differences have emerged over the last 24 hours, particularly on how to secure Iraq.
Mr. Bush floated the idea of sending NATO in or at least expand NATO's role. And just shortly thereafter, Jacques Chirac said he did not think it was a good idea, that it is not NATO's plan, it is not in their portfolio to intervene in Iraq. There was a one-on-one meeting with the two earlier today. And Mr. Bush simply said afterwards that they are going to continue to consult on the issue.
It was very clear that they had not made any kind of compromise on the issue. And this is something that the president wanted to do earlier. He wanted to perhaps get some NATO troops in there to send U.S. troops home. At this point, they're just going to try to work out a compromise before a NATO summit, an important one, at the end of the month -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash in Savannah, thanks very much. Joining us on the line right now, also in that part of the world is Gary Tuchman. We've been focusing an awful lot about the possibility of protest in and around the G8 summit. Gary Tuchman apparently is in the midst of one that is quite literally crossing some lines.
Gary, what can you tell us?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. Right now we're in the middle of a tense procession. We're surrounded by about 90 to 100 riot police and riot National Guardsmen and about 60 to 70 protesters, many of them self-described anarchists. And they say they are going to keep marching until they get to Sea Island, until they get to the top leaders of the world.
Right now, they're on St. Simons Island. We should tell you that St. Simons Island and Sea Island are the two islands off the coast from Brunswick, Georgia. Brunswick was the point they were not supposed to pass. That's on the mainland. They passed Brunswick, they crossed into the bridge. The riot police got in their way. The protesters started to push. The riot police decided to let them continue walking.
They're showing some discretion here. They have their batons, they have their gun that shoot pepper balls and that shoot tear gas. No guns have been fired yet. But there has been some pushing and shoving. One police officer fell backwards. This protest began in Brunswick, Georgia, a quiet protest, protesting the Israeli government.
Many of these same protesters were also out demonstrating yesterday, protesting environmental policies. Now there was a tense situation yesterday where they were face-to-face with riot police. It ended peacefully, but the compromise, when they let the protesters cross the street to the beginning of the bridge to St. Simons Island. But today they went to the beginning of the bridge and they just kept going.
They've now marched in the 99-degree heat six-and-a-half miles and they're two-and-a-half miles away from Sea Island. We have been told by police that they have fresh people, police officers, military officials, about two miles away from us, ready to stop the protesters from getting to Sea Island where the summit is taking place. What happens when they get there we don't know. These are some very determined anarchists who are very angry -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: And Gary, just at the end of that two-and-a-half miles as they approach the island, is there simply one bridge that would connect them onto the island and can that be secured fairly easily?
TUCHMAN: There is one small bridge that takes them from St. Simons Island to Sea Island. It can be secured very easily. But there was also a checkpoint going over the bridge to St. Simons. We thought that is where police were going to be determining whether or not they should stop the protesters. They stood in front of them. The protesters joined arms and just continued marching through. There was pushing and shoving. That's when the one police officer fell backward. He did not hurt himself. He got back up.
And they decided that discretion being the better part of valor, they would let them continue walking. They're telling them to stay on the side of the road. Every time they go into the middle of the road and block the emergency traffic, because that's the only traffic allowed here, the police officers rush them over and push them back to the side of the road. But right now, this march in the 95-degree heat continues towards the island.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Gary Tuchman. Obviously keep us posted there. We'll stay in close contact -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Iraqi police and fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al- Sadr clashed in the holy city of Najaf overnight. Suspected Mehdi militia members overran the police station in Najaf and looted cars nearby. Five people were killed, including two Iraqi police officers, and 13 people wounded. U.S. troops were not involved.
General Martin Dempsey is commander of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division in Najaf. He joins us now by videophone to talk about what happened there yesterday and why coalition troops kept their distance.
Sir, thank you for being with us. And I do want to know, why did you not assist the Iraqi police in this battle?
MAJ. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, U.S. ARMY: Well, we have an agreement with the Iraqi police on a series of echelon-ing responses, we call them quick reaction forces. And we didn't achieve the level where we believed we should be involved. And I must point out, at this point it is not certain that it was a Mehdi army activity. It was certainly a bunch of armed men, but their motivation and their direction is not yet clear to us. And so we didn't want to do anything precipitous to potentially unhinge all the progress we've made in the past week.
PHILLIPS: At, sir, what point do you decide to step in and assist the Iraqi police? Obviously, the U.S. military is much more advanced, especially right now with this point. Is it by number of deaths? Is it by number of fighters?
DEMPSEY: Well, I -- actually, I won't tell you exactly what the basis is. But it's essentially in extremis, if they get into a position where they're in danger of being overrun with a certain set of criteria. But more important, I think it's -- for us to point out we're constantly helping the Iraqi police. In fact the reason I'm down here today is to oversee the delivery of certain kinds of equipment and armament, to up-gun, up-arm and can continue the training of the Iraqi police.
And that's how this thing will end, by the way. It's when the police achieve a level of strength and proficiency that will overcome what's left of the militia. And again, we're not saying that today's activity was Mehdi militia. It just could have been simply been some tribal or some other gang kind of activity. And it's important we figure out what we're facing and what the police are facing before we act against it.
PHILLIPS: Well, I have to ask you, sir, the Najaf police chief, Sayed al-Jazairi, and of course the Iraqi police that are under the police chief, do you think they're battle-hardened? Do you think allowing them to fight their own battles without your assistance makes them realize what they're up against and brings them together as a unit and helps them to fight even better?
DEMPSEY: Absolutely. And necessarily. And in fact, I spent about two hours today with the police chief. He's got a task force commander in there that's a very savvy professional. And over time, this thing is going to get where it needs to be. And simultaneously, if the Mehdi militia goes active again outside of the immediate vicinity of the shrine, it won't last very long.
PHILLIPS: It has been a week since the truce was brokered. Still no disarmament. Why is that being tolerated?
DEMPSEY: Well, there was no disarmament clause in it in fact. There was the agreement -- the promise really that they would disband, but there was no mention of disarmament. And I think that's a practical matter.
Now I'll tell you what we've done simultaneously is we've been running a weapons rewards program. And we've accumulated several hundred RPGs, dozens of mortar tubes, all the kind of heavy weapons you would expect a militia to discard after it ceased being a militia.
So there are certainly indicators that, and what we're being told by the local populous, a return to normalcy, that this thing is headed in the right direction. But you said yourself, it's been a week.
PHILLIPS: Major General Martin Dempsey, thank you, sir, for your time. We'll stay in tune with you.
O'BRIEN: There are new developments in the Iraq prison abuse scandal to tell you about, Two U.S. defense contractors hired to help the military conduct interrogations being sued by human rights lawyers representing eight Iraqis and the estate of a ninth. They say the Titan Corporation and CACI International conspired to torture, rape, and kill Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison to help grow their businesses.
CACI calls the lawsuit irresponsible and outrageous. Titan issued a similar statement, saying its employees at the prison were merely translators and had no control over how the inmates were treated.
Now on the subject of Abu Ghraib and who is to blame, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says he wants no part in reviewing the investigation's result. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez has asked that he be recused from that role. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us now with some explanations as to why.
Hello, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles, but just before we get to Iraq we want to let everybody know that the Pentagon in the last few minutes has released word that a third Guantanamo detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has now been charged by the United States military with crimes. This is the Australian detainee, David Hicks. The charges that have now been approved against him, or filed against him, just a few moments ago, include conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder as a belligerent, and aiding the enemy.
There is an agreement that David Hick, the Australian, if convicted in a U.S. military tribunal, will not face the death penalty, but nonetheless, he now becomes the third Guantanamo Bay detainee to now be charged and going ahead to face trial in a military commissioned proceeding.
But as you say, also developments in Iraq. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the head of all U.S. forces in Iraq, has asked, indeed -- and his request is going to be granted, to be removed from any review of the investigation into the abuse of detainees there. There is, of course this investigation into questionable intelligence practices. And the people conducting that investigation want to question General Sanchez.
He is high up in the chain of command. They want to know if he knew anything about it. If there are any policies or procedures he put into place that may have led to this. This is part of the ongoing questioning of anybody and everybody in the military who may have some understanding of what went on in Iraq at Abu Ghraib Prison.
The problem of course is those investigators who are going to question General Sanchez also would be delivering their report to him when they are done. So that's a conflict of interest. General Sanchez will step aside as the person receiving that report. He will be questioned. Someone else, another general, will be put in charge of that. The Pentagon says it's all part of the effort to make sure they demonstrate it's a full, fair investigation, and that everyone all the way to the top will be questioned -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Chaotic moments at the nation's capital. What led to the evacuation and what was it like to be there? We'll go in depth just ahead.
And live pictures from Dixon, Illinois, where they're also remembering Ronald Reagan today. His childhood friends will reveal how he earned his first 10 bucks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Scrambling for safety. This is what it looked like outside the Capitol yesterday afternoon. There was some unintended drama during the public viewing for Ronald Reagan. The Capitol evacuated for a bit after police worried that a small plane might be headed toward the building. It turns out the plane was carrying the governor of Kentucky who was headed to the funeral.
That plane had equipment problems according to sources and kept air traffic controllers from being able to track it. One of the people ordered to leave the Capitol was our own Judy Woodruff. She joins us now from CNN's Washington bureau to tell us what happened.
Start with that day and how it all went down yesterday, Judy, and what you had to do and what it was like.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS": Kyra, we're all glad it was a false alarm. But it was, it was just after 4:30. I had just gone off the air with "INSIDE POLITICS" and taken a walk down the hallway of the Cannon House Office Building, which is right across the street from the Capitol. You have to remember, this was about half an hour before the government plane carrying the body of Ronald Reagan was to land at Andrews Air Force Base. So there was an air of expectant waiting.
I came down the hall and one of my colleagues came running up and said, something has happened, they want us to evacuate. And I said, what? And I went back to our position on the balcony overlooking the Capitol. And you could see people running. And I didn't want to leave, naturally, as a reporter. I wanted to stay there and learn what I could and report.
Policemen then came up -- Capitol Police approached us on the second floor of the Cannon Building and said, get out now and get running. So all of us, we left -- I left my purse, we left cameras, we left gear. Sitting there we ran down the stairs, and started running away many from the Capitol, down New Jersey Avenue.
And Kyra, what gave me a sense that this was real, at least in the first few minutes, was that the policeman who I suddenly realized was running next to me said, lady, take off your shoes and run. And I did have on heels. And I said, I'm running fine, because I do know how to run in high heels. And he said, lady, he grabbed my arm and he made me stop and he said, take off your shoes, I want you to run as fast as you can.
I took them off, he grabbed them and we ran together for another block-and-a-half. And we got about two blocks, maybe two-and-a-half blocks away from the Capitol and at that point the word started to spread that it was a false alarm, but it seemed very real.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about a time that was very real and it involved Ronald Reagan. That was back in 1981 when the scare -- you went through a real-life scare.
WOODRUFF: It was. Indeed, Kyra. In 1981, on March the 30, I'll never forget this day in my life. I was a White House correspondent for NBC News and I was assigned to the press pool with Ronald Reagan the day he went to make a speech at the Washington Hilton. He came out after the speech to the labor group.
And I was in the press pool standing on the other side of the limousine. Pop, pop, pop. We heard the sound. No one knew what it was. But then, of course, the Secret Service yelled, get down. And the car started pulling away.
Just within a minute after that, I saw my friend and then press secretary to Ronald Reagan, lying there on the ground, clearly wounded, Jim Brady. It was a day that none of us will forget. President Reagan, at first, everyone thought he was fine because there was no blood, no visible sign. But of course we now later learn that the Secret Service agent with Ronald Reagan saw a little speck of blood on his shirt, or on his coat, and diverted the car to hospital. And thank goodness they did. Or we might have lost Ronald Reagan 22 years earlier.
And by the way, Kyra, I have to tell you, I'm interviewing Jim Brady, who suffered a grievous injury that day, a head injury, and his wife Sarah Brady, today, this afternoon, on "INSIDE POLITICS."
PHILLIPS: That will be an interesting interview. Judy Woodruff, thanks so much. It's always great to reflect with you. Thank, Judy.
WOODRUFF: Thanks, Kyra.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's the tape that had us all talking today: a convenience store robbery where one of the suspects apparently brings his kids along for the heist. It's hard to get day care, folks. Details just ahead.
And later, we'll take you to the town where Ronald Reagan's roots run deep and show you how Dixon, Illinois, is honoring the man they called simply "Dutch."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN. We've been hearing from our reporter Gary Tuchman on St. Simons Island, the island bordering Sea Island, Georgia, site of that G8 summit, that a band of anarchists is marching toward the bridge which will lead them on the Sea Island. Lots of security, obviously, along the way. So far that security has not attempted to stop these protesters as they March. Gary Tuchman is in the midst of this crowd right now.
What are you seeing, what are you hearing, Gary?
TUCHMAN: Miles, police are making their last stand at the gate that they guard where the diplomats and the VIPs go to Sea Island. Right now you can hear them in the background. They're chanting, move, move. And they're holding their batons and they're pushing the protesters, most of them who say they're anarchists, back.
There are about 150 police officers and National Guardsmen, wearing helmets, holding batons, carrying rifles that shoot pepper balls and tear gas. And they are pushing the protesters back. Some have been hit with batons. No one seriously hurt yet. No one arrested yet. But this is the last stand.
They've marched for seven-and-a-half miles from Brunswick, Georgia, on the mainland, to St. Simons Island, and then to the gate at Sea Island, which is the second barrier island. When the police asked them to move back, they started shouted, we're here to have lunch with George, referring of course to the president of the United States. Police are not going to let them go. If they do try to rush the gate, I can assure you there will be big problems here. That hasn't happened yet -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: So just to clarify, Gary, you say they're sort of starting to resist. Are they at that gate yet? How far away are they?
TUCHMAN: They're right at the gate, 25 feet from the gate. But the "move" that you hear the National Guardsman and police shouting, have pushed them back to about 50 yards from the gate now. And they're just slowly taking steps forward, pushing them back, while the anarchists bang drums and shout and taunt the soldiers, the National Guard and the police officers.
O'BRIEN: All right. And as far as you know, the standing orders for these law enforcement personnel there, I assume it's very judicious use of force, because oftentimes, of course, that can often exacerbate things.
TUCHMAN: Absolutely, Miles. And judicious they have been. The fact is that the Georgia governor passed a state of emergency law that does not allow any protesters during the three-day summit to even be on St. Simons Island. When these protesters started their march, and they began as a silent protest on the other side the bridge in Brunswick, protesting the Israeli government and in support of the Palestinians, that's how it started, they were told they could not cross the bridge.
They immediately ended their peaceful protest, crossed the bridge. Police let them cross. They have now marched six-and-a-half to seven miles, in 95-degree heat. Many have dropped out along the way, couldn't take it any more. But they have continued to march until they got to this gate. And this gate is where even members of the news media can't pass. No one is allowed past this gate. And they are not going to be letting the protesters past this gate.
O'BRIEN: Now Gary, have you had a chance to talk to any of the protesters about what their strategy is? Do you suspect they will attempt to force some kind of confrontation at this gate?
TUCHMAN: Well, it's interesting, Miles. We spent a couple days with these people. We've seen most of the same protesters from each of the events over the last few days, including one yesterday in Brunswick where they also had a confrontation with fewer riot police, that ended peacefully.
Most of them did not want to go on this march. I will tell you that right now. They wanted a permit. They couldn't Brunswick and go onto the bridge on the St. Simons Island. And they were yelling at the fellow protesters who did continue over the bridge. There were about 120 in the original protest, about 50 of which are the so-called anarchists. And you know them for a couple reasons, they wear black clothes, wave black flags and say they're anarchists.
It's mostly the anarchists who don't want any more government. And I'm moving back while I'm talking to you because the police are stepping towards me right now. But they are the ones that have led this march and are saying that they're not going to stop until they get to have lunch with the president of the United States.
O'BRIEN: Gary Tuchman, keep us posted, stay in close contact. And you and the crew be safe out there as well. We're going to take a break and we'll keep you posted on that. Lots more news to tell you about after we take a brief break.
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Aired June 10, 2004 - 12:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures from the nation's capital where people by the thousands are remembering Ronald Reagan. And this hour you'll hear from the people who knew him back when he was known simply as "Dutch."
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some moments of panic as the Capitol is evacuated. What led to this security situation yesterday afternoon?
PHILLIPS: Heavy fighting in Najaf, Iraq, but U.S. forces back off from the battle. We'll tell you why.
O'BRIEN: And caught on tape. A convenience store robber apparently observes his own "bring your kids to work day." Just a family man, I guess.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
O'BRIEN: In suits and in shorts, thousands continue to filter through the Capitol Rotunda this hour. It is the last full day for the public to pay respects to the late President Ronald Reagan. The viewing will go around the clock until tomorrow morning when Mr. Reagan's coffin is removed. Let's go CNN's Ed Henry who is outside the Capitol. He has been watching this remarkable outpouring of emotion -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. In addition to the public line, the thousands of people that you mentioned, there's also another line set up just for congressional staffers. That has a two-hour wait, people flooding the hallways, trying to file past the casket.
Also a steady stream of motorcades. All kinds of kind of dignitaries coming through. Just a short while ago, we had the new Iraqi president, a historic moment, Ghazi al-Yawar came through, into the Capitol. He has actually not gone past the casket yet. We're expecting maybe within about 10 minute he may come by with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He's been meeting over in Frist's office.
Also, Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice ever appointed, appointed by Reagan. She comes in. What a moment to come in and pay her respects to Mr. Reagan. She was in earlier today. Bob Dole also in earlier, the former Senate majority leader and presidential candidate. Late today we're expecting Prince Charles, also, Mikhail Gorbachev, former President Bush, so many different dignitaries coming through in addition to people from all around the country. And a very emotional moment, earlier today, showing that people from all walks of life are coming through, paying their tribute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came to pay homage to President Reagan, who was my hero, because he liberated my old country so my nephews and nieces can live in freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He changed my life. I'm an American citizen today because of Ronald Reagan and I'm a proud American.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hear people saying there's too much attention. But this was a wonderful man and he did wonderful things for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: And here's the commemorative card that everyone who files past the coffin gets a chance to see. It has the presidential seal at the top, it has Ronald Wilson Reagan, gives his birth date and the day he died. There is obviously, as you mentioned, an outpouring of support, people from all across the world coming in, Miles, it's quite a day.
O'BRIEN: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.
The official agenda for the final sessions at the G8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia, includes discussions on peacekeeping and poverty in Africa. But it's the Middle East that, as you might suspect, is grabbing the spotlight. Publicly G8 leaders are trumpeting areas of agreement. But behind the show of unity, the facade, if you will, more discord over Iraq. For the latest in all that, we got to Dana Bash who joins us now from Savannah, Georgia.
Hello, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. And before we get to the talk of the summit, I should note that President Bush and Mrs. Bush will join that list of dignitaries that Ed Henry was just talking about. As soon as they arrive back in Washington later today, they will head back to the Capitol so Mr. Bush can pay personal tribute to President Reagan. And then Mr. and Mrs. Bush will be headed to meet personally, privately with Nancy Reagan to pay a condolence call.
And of course, tomorrow morning, Mr. Bush will give his public discussion, a public eulogy, on behalf of the nation, according to the White House. Mr. Bush will not necessarily be giving some of the personal memories, and he certainly has a lot of them, knew President Reagan well, instead he will speaking as president on behalf of a grateful nation, according to White House aides.
And it's not just President Bush that will be going from Georgia up to Washington. Other world leaders who are here will be also going up for the memorial service, including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Afghanistan president, Hamid Karzai. They, among others, will also be attending.
Now as for this summit, it is in its final hours here in Georgia. And Mr. Bush at this hour is having lunch with members of the G8 and also some African leaders that they invited here. And they are talking about, among other things, the AIDS pandemic, talking about how to better coordinate accelerating finding a vaccine for HIV.
And in terms of this overall feeling of the summit, it certainly started out on a high note for the White House. It started with a new U.N. resolution on Iraq. And there was a meeting yesterday that was dripping with symbolism. Mr. Bush meeting with the Iraqi interim president. That was something that seemed to be emotional for Mr. Bush.
But in terms of meeting of the minds on the tangible things that they are going to do, like more troops on the ground, like more money for Iraq, there haven't been many announcements -- any announcements on that at all so far here. In fact, as much as President Bush, and, for example, Jacques Chirac, the French president, have been trying to make it clear they want to move past their differences on Iraq, some new differences have emerged over the last 24 hours, particularly on how to secure Iraq.
Mr. Bush floated the idea of sending NATO in or at least expand NATO's role. And just shortly thereafter, Jacques Chirac said he did not think it was a good idea, that it is not NATO's plan, it is not in their portfolio to intervene in Iraq. There was a one-on-one meeting with the two earlier today. And Mr. Bush simply said afterwards that they are going to continue to consult on the issue.
It was very clear that they had not made any kind of compromise on the issue. And this is something that the president wanted to do earlier. He wanted to perhaps get some NATO troops in there to send U.S. troops home. At this point, they're just going to try to work out a compromise before a NATO summit, an important one, at the end of the month -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash in Savannah, thanks very much. Joining us on the line right now, also in that part of the world is Gary Tuchman. We've been focusing an awful lot about the possibility of protest in and around the G8 summit. Gary Tuchman apparently is in the midst of one that is quite literally crossing some lines.
Gary, what can you tell us?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. Right now we're in the middle of a tense procession. We're surrounded by about 90 to 100 riot police and riot National Guardsmen and about 60 to 70 protesters, many of them self-described anarchists. And they say they are going to keep marching until they get to Sea Island, until they get to the top leaders of the world.
Right now, they're on St. Simons Island. We should tell you that St. Simons Island and Sea Island are the two islands off the coast from Brunswick, Georgia. Brunswick was the point they were not supposed to pass. That's on the mainland. They passed Brunswick, they crossed into the bridge. The riot police got in their way. The protesters started to push. The riot police decided to let them continue walking.
They're showing some discretion here. They have their batons, they have their gun that shoot pepper balls and that shoot tear gas. No guns have been fired yet. But there has been some pushing and shoving. One police officer fell backwards. This protest began in Brunswick, Georgia, a quiet protest, protesting the Israeli government.
Many of these same protesters were also out demonstrating yesterday, protesting environmental policies. Now there was a tense situation yesterday where they were face-to-face with riot police. It ended peacefully, but the compromise, when they let the protesters cross the street to the beginning of the bridge to St. Simons Island. But today they went to the beginning of the bridge and they just kept going.
They've now marched in the 99-degree heat six-and-a-half miles and they're two-and-a-half miles away from Sea Island. We have been told by police that they have fresh people, police officers, military officials, about two miles away from us, ready to stop the protesters from getting to Sea Island where the summit is taking place. What happens when they get there we don't know. These are some very determined anarchists who are very angry -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: And Gary, just at the end of that two-and-a-half miles as they approach the island, is there simply one bridge that would connect them onto the island and can that be secured fairly easily?
TUCHMAN: There is one small bridge that takes them from St. Simons Island to Sea Island. It can be secured very easily. But there was also a checkpoint going over the bridge to St. Simons. We thought that is where police were going to be determining whether or not they should stop the protesters. They stood in front of them. The protesters joined arms and just continued marching through. There was pushing and shoving. That's when the one police officer fell backward. He did not hurt himself. He got back up.
And they decided that discretion being the better part of valor, they would let them continue walking. They're telling them to stay on the side of the road. Every time they go into the middle of the road and block the emergency traffic, because that's the only traffic allowed here, the police officers rush them over and push them back to the side of the road. But right now, this march in the 95-degree heat continues towards the island.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Gary Tuchman. Obviously keep us posted there. We'll stay in close contact -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Iraqi police and fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al- Sadr clashed in the holy city of Najaf overnight. Suspected Mehdi militia members overran the police station in Najaf and looted cars nearby. Five people were killed, including two Iraqi police officers, and 13 people wounded. U.S. troops were not involved.
General Martin Dempsey is commander of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division in Najaf. He joins us now by videophone to talk about what happened there yesterday and why coalition troops kept their distance.
Sir, thank you for being with us. And I do want to know, why did you not assist the Iraqi police in this battle?
MAJ. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, U.S. ARMY: Well, we have an agreement with the Iraqi police on a series of echelon-ing responses, we call them quick reaction forces. And we didn't achieve the level where we believed we should be involved. And I must point out, at this point it is not certain that it was a Mehdi army activity. It was certainly a bunch of armed men, but their motivation and their direction is not yet clear to us. And so we didn't want to do anything precipitous to potentially unhinge all the progress we've made in the past week.
PHILLIPS: At, sir, what point do you decide to step in and assist the Iraqi police? Obviously, the U.S. military is much more advanced, especially right now with this point. Is it by number of deaths? Is it by number of fighters?
DEMPSEY: Well, I -- actually, I won't tell you exactly what the basis is. But it's essentially in extremis, if they get into a position where they're in danger of being overrun with a certain set of criteria. But more important, I think it's -- for us to point out we're constantly helping the Iraqi police. In fact the reason I'm down here today is to oversee the delivery of certain kinds of equipment and armament, to up-gun, up-arm and can continue the training of the Iraqi police.
And that's how this thing will end, by the way. It's when the police achieve a level of strength and proficiency that will overcome what's left of the militia. And again, we're not saying that today's activity was Mehdi militia. It just could have been simply been some tribal or some other gang kind of activity. And it's important we figure out what we're facing and what the police are facing before we act against it.
PHILLIPS: Well, I have to ask you, sir, the Najaf police chief, Sayed al-Jazairi, and of course the Iraqi police that are under the police chief, do you think they're battle-hardened? Do you think allowing them to fight their own battles without your assistance makes them realize what they're up against and brings them together as a unit and helps them to fight even better?
DEMPSEY: Absolutely. And necessarily. And in fact, I spent about two hours today with the police chief. He's got a task force commander in there that's a very savvy professional. And over time, this thing is going to get where it needs to be. And simultaneously, if the Mehdi militia goes active again outside of the immediate vicinity of the shrine, it won't last very long.
PHILLIPS: It has been a week since the truce was brokered. Still no disarmament. Why is that being tolerated?
DEMPSEY: Well, there was no disarmament clause in it in fact. There was the agreement -- the promise really that they would disband, but there was no mention of disarmament. And I think that's a practical matter.
Now I'll tell you what we've done simultaneously is we've been running a weapons rewards program. And we've accumulated several hundred RPGs, dozens of mortar tubes, all the kind of heavy weapons you would expect a militia to discard after it ceased being a militia.
So there are certainly indicators that, and what we're being told by the local populous, a return to normalcy, that this thing is headed in the right direction. But you said yourself, it's been a week.
PHILLIPS: Major General Martin Dempsey, thank you, sir, for your time. We'll stay in tune with you.
O'BRIEN: There are new developments in the Iraq prison abuse scandal to tell you about, Two U.S. defense contractors hired to help the military conduct interrogations being sued by human rights lawyers representing eight Iraqis and the estate of a ninth. They say the Titan Corporation and CACI International conspired to torture, rape, and kill Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison to help grow their businesses.
CACI calls the lawsuit irresponsible and outrageous. Titan issued a similar statement, saying its employees at the prison were merely translators and had no control over how the inmates were treated.
Now on the subject of Abu Ghraib and who is to blame, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says he wants no part in reviewing the investigation's result. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez has asked that he be recused from that role. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us now with some explanations as to why.
Hello, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles, but just before we get to Iraq we want to let everybody know that the Pentagon in the last few minutes has released word that a third Guantanamo detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has now been charged by the United States military with crimes. This is the Australian detainee, David Hicks. The charges that have now been approved against him, or filed against him, just a few moments ago, include conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder as a belligerent, and aiding the enemy.
There is an agreement that David Hick, the Australian, if convicted in a U.S. military tribunal, will not face the death penalty, but nonetheless, he now becomes the third Guantanamo Bay detainee to now be charged and going ahead to face trial in a military commissioned proceeding.
But as you say, also developments in Iraq. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the head of all U.S. forces in Iraq, has asked, indeed -- and his request is going to be granted, to be removed from any review of the investigation into the abuse of detainees there. There is, of course this investigation into questionable intelligence practices. And the people conducting that investigation want to question General Sanchez.
He is high up in the chain of command. They want to know if he knew anything about it. If there are any policies or procedures he put into place that may have led to this. This is part of the ongoing questioning of anybody and everybody in the military who may have some understanding of what went on in Iraq at Abu Ghraib Prison.
The problem of course is those investigators who are going to question General Sanchez also would be delivering their report to him when they are done. So that's a conflict of interest. General Sanchez will step aside as the person receiving that report. He will be questioned. Someone else, another general, will be put in charge of that. The Pentagon says it's all part of the effort to make sure they demonstrate it's a full, fair investigation, and that everyone all the way to the top will be questioned -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Chaotic moments at the nation's capital. What led to the evacuation and what was it like to be there? We'll go in depth just ahead.
And live pictures from Dixon, Illinois, where they're also remembering Ronald Reagan today. His childhood friends will reveal how he earned his first 10 bucks.
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PHILLIPS: Scrambling for safety. This is what it looked like outside the Capitol yesterday afternoon. There was some unintended drama during the public viewing for Ronald Reagan. The Capitol evacuated for a bit after police worried that a small plane might be headed toward the building. It turns out the plane was carrying the governor of Kentucky who was headed to the funeral.
That plane had equipment problems according to sources and kept air traffic controllers from being able to track it. One of the people ordered to leave the Capitol was our own Judy Woodruff. She joins us now from CNN's Washington bureau to tell us what happened.
Start with that day and how it all went down yesterday, Judy, and what you had to do and what it was like.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS": Kyra, we're all glad it was a false alarm. But it was, it was just after 4:30. I had just gone off the air with "INSIDE POLITICS" and taken a walk down the hallway of the Cannon House Office Building, which is right across the street from the Capitol. You have to remember, this was about half an hour before the government plane carrying the body of Ronald Reagan was to land at Andrews Air Force Base. So there was an air of expectant waiting.
I came down the hall and one of my colleagues came running up and said, something has happened, they want us to evacuate. And I said, what? And I went back to our position on the balcony overlooking the Capitol. And you could see people running. And I didn't want to leave, naturally, as a reporter. I wanted to stay there and learn what I could and report.
Policemen then came up -- Capitol Police approached us on the second floor of the Cannon Building and said, get out now and get running. So all of us, we left -- I left my purse, we left cameras, we left gear. Sitting there we ran down the stairs, and started running away many from the Capitol, down New Jersey Avenue.
And Kyra, what gave me a sense that this was real, at least in the first few minutes, was that the policeman who I suddenly realized was running next to me said, lady, take off your shoes and run. And I did have on heels. And I said, I'm running fine, because I do know how to run in high heels. And he said, lady, he grabbed my arm and he made me stop and he said, take off your shoes, I want you to run as fast as you can.
I took them off, he grabbed them and we ran together for another block-and-a-half. And we got about two blocks, maybe two-and-a-half blocks away from the Capitol and at that point the word started to spread that it was a false alarm, but it seemed very real.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about a time that was very real and it involved Ronald Reagan. That was back in 1981 when the scare -- you went through a real-life scare.
WOODRUFF: It was. Indeed, Kyra. In 1981, on March the 30, I'll never forget this day in my life. I was a White House correspondent for NBC News and I was assigned to the press pool with Ronald Reagan the day he went to make a speech at the Washington Hilton. He came out after the speech to the labor group.
And I was in the press pool standing on the other side of the limousine. Pop, pop, pop. We heard the sound. No one knew what it was. But then, of course, the Secret Service yelled, get down. And the car started pulling away.
Just within a minute after that, I saw my friend and then press secretary to Ronald Reagan, lying there on the ground, clearly wounded, Jim Brady. It was a day that none of us will forget. President Reagan, at first, everyone thought he was fine because there was no blood, no visible sign. But of course we now later learn that the Secret Service agent with Ronald Reagan saw a little speck of blood on his shirt, or on his coat, and diverted the car to hospital. And thank goodness they did. Or we might have lost Ronald Reagan 22 years earlier.
And by the way, Kyra, I have to tell you, I'm interviewing Jim Brady, who suffered a grievous injury that day, a head injury, and his wife Sarah Brady, today, this afternoon, on "INSIDE POLITICS."
PHILLIPS: That will be an interesting interview. Judy Woodruff, thanks so much. It's always great to reflect with you. Thank, Judy.
WOODRUFF: Thanks, Kyra.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's the tape that had us all talking today: a convenience store robbery where one of the suspects apparently brings his kids along for the heist. It's hard to get day care, folks. Details just ahead.
And later, we'll take you to the town where Ronald Reagan's roots run deep and show you how Dixon, Illinois, is honoring the man they called simply "Dutch."
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O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN. We've been hearing from our reporter Gary Tuchman on St. Simons Island, the island bordering Sea Island, Georgia, site of that G8 summit, that a band of anarchists is marching toward the bridge which will lead them on the Sea Island. Lots of security, obviously, along the way. So far that security has not attempted to stop these protesters as they March. Gary Tuchman is in the midst of this crowd right now.
What are you seeing, what are you hearing, Gary?
TUCHMAN: Miles, police are making their last stand at the gate that they guard where the diplomats and the VIPs go to Sea Island. Right now you can hear them in the background. They're chanting, move, move. And they're holding their batons and they're pushing the protesters, most of them who say they're anarchists, back.
There are about 150 police officers and National Guardsmen, wearing helmets, holding batons, carrying rifles that shoot pepper balls and tear gas. And they are pushing the protesters back. Some have been hit with batons. No one seriously hurt yet. No one arrested yet. But this is the last stand.
They've marched for seven-and-a-half miles from Brunswick, Georgia, on the mainland, to St. Simons Island, and then to the gate at Sea Island, which is the second barrier island. When the police asked them to move back, they started shouted, we're here to have lunch with George, referring of course to the president of the United States. Police are not going to let them go. If they do try to rush the gate, I can assure you there will be big problems here. That hasn't happened yet -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: So just to clarify, Gary, you say they're sort of starting to resist. Are they at that gate yet? How far away are they?
TUCHMAN: They're right at the gate, 25 feet from the gate. But the "move" that you hear the National Guardsman and police shouting, have pushed them back to about 50 yards from the gate now. And they're just slowly taking steps forward, pushing them back, while the anarchists bang drums and shout and taunt the soldiers, the National Guard and the police officers.
O'BRIEN: All right. And as far as you know, the standing orders for these law enforcement personnel there, I assume it's very judicious use of force, because oftentimes, of course, that can often exacerbate things.
TUCHMAN: Absolutely, Miles. And judicious they have been. The fact is that the Georgia governor passed a state of emergency law that does not allow any protesters during the three-day summit to even be on St. Simons Island. When these protesters started their march, and they began as a silent protest on the other side the bridge in Brunswick, protesting the Israeli government and in support of the Palestinians, that's how it started, they were told they could not cross the bridge.
They immediately ended their peaceful protest, crossed the bridge. Police let them cross. They have now marched six-and-a-half to seven miles, in 95-degree heat. Many have dropped out along the way, couldn't take it any more. But they have continued to march until they got to this gate. And this gate is where even members of the news media can't pass. No one is allowed past this gate. And they are not going to be letting the protesters past this gate.
O'BRIEN: Now Gary, have you had a chance to talk to any of the protesters about what their strategy is? Do you suspect they will attempt to force some kind of confrontation at this gate?
TUCHMAN: Well, it's interesting, Miles. We spent a couple days with these people. We've seen most of the same protesters from each of the events over the last few days, including one yesterday in Brunswick where they also had a confrontation with fewer riot police, that ended peacefully.
Most of them did not want to go on this march. I will tell you that right now. They wanted a permit. They couldn't Brunswick and go onto the bridge on the St. Simons Island. And they were yelling at the fellow protesters who did continue over the bridge. There were about 120 in the original protest, about 50 of which are the so-called anarchists. And you know them for a couple reasons, they wear black clothes, wave black flags and say they're anarchists.
It's mostly the anarchists who don't want any more government. And I'm moving back while I'm talking to you because the police are stepping towards me right now. But they are the ones that have led this march and are saying that they're not going to stop until they get to have lunch with the president of the United States.
O'BRIEN: Gary Tuchman, keep us posted, stay in close contact. And you and the crew be safe out there as well. We're going to take a break and we'll keep you posted on that. Lots more news to tell you about after we take a brief break.
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