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Senators' Reports Critiques Pre-War Intelligence; Marine to be Questioned Over Kidnapping; Rockets Hit Baghdad Hotel; World Court Declares West Bank Barrier Illegal; Study Finds Surge in Popularity of Violent Images on Web

Aired July 09, 2004 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: What did the U.S. know before the invasion of Iraq? The Senate Intelligence Committee's report says it was a global intelligence failure.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The findings were, indeed, blunt. A bipartisan conclusion that the U.S. went to war with Iraq on intelligence information that was flawed, unreasonable, and largely unsupported.

I'm Sean Callebs. I'll have that story, live from Washington.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The hunt for Iraq's most wanted terrorists. U.S. forces aren't alone. The latest on the search for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN (D), FRM. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Ralph Nader's candidacy is the single biggest danger to the Kerry candidacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Dean gets a chance to say it to Nader's face. The debate just moments away.

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

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.

PHILLIPS: Unreasonably and largely unsupportable. the Senate Intelligence Committee says that's the kind of intelligence that lead to the invasion of Iraq. Among the dire pre-war warnings now being called false, that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of weapons and was working to make more.

CNN's Sean Callebs joins us now live from Washington -- Sean.

CALLEBS: Kyra, exactly. Leading senators unveiling a simply scathing report in the last few hours, saying that the intelligence that led the U.S. to war against Saddam Hussein was horribly flawed.

Lawmakers saying they supported a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, believing at the time that the nation had chemical and biological weapons and that Iraq was in the process of working to complete nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV), INTELLIGENCE VICE-CHAIR: Debate on many aspects of the U.S. liberation of Iraq will likely continue for decades, but one fact is now clear.

Before the war the U.S. intelligence community told the president, as well as the Congress and the public that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and, if left unchecked, would probably have a nuclear weapon during this decade.

Well, today, we know these assessments were wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: Wrong assessments and, among the conclusions in the 500-page report, unanimously approved by senators, it goes on to say that, while highly critical of U.S. intelligence efforts, it also heaps blame on the U.N. and other nations, saying this was, quote, "a global intelligence failure" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm taking it that, along with these scathing revelations, that not everyone is happy, Sean.

CALLEBS: Well, one item that this report didn't address: an important allegation by Democrats that the Bush administration simply twisted the evidence to drum up support for the war against Iraq.

In the conclusions, the report says most of the key judgments in the intelligence community's 2002 national intelligence estimate were either overstated or were not supported by the underlying intelligence reporting.

Now when asked, point blank, if a vote was held today to invade Iraq would congressional leaders support it, the chairman of the committee, Republican Pat Roberts said, "I don't know."

Senator Rockefeller, the vice chairman, was more harsh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCKEFELLER: Leading up to September 11, our government didn't connect the dots. In Iraq, we are even more culpable, because the dots themselves never existed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: Harsh words, as well, for intelligence analysts that the committee said simply ignored, discounted conflicting information.

It says the intelligence community suffered from a collective presumption that Iraq had a active and growing weapons of mass destruction program. This, quote, "group think dynamic led the intelligence community to interpret ambiguous evidence as conclusively indicative of a weapons of mass destruction program" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, obviously this points out a lot of problems. Now, how is the U.S. going to go forward to fix it? I mean, George Tenet is already out, and this blames the CIA for so many of the problems.

CALLEBS: Exactly. Let's pick up on that.

The committee had criticism for outgoing director Tenet. It says Tenet skewed advice. He focused only on the CIA's view, discounting dissenting opinions from other intelligence agencies.

It also faulted Tenet for not personally reviewing President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, which contained that since discredited reference to Iraq allegedly trying to buy uranium for Africa.

Now, getting back to the question, how do they go forward from here? Now Roberts says the problems don't come from a broken corporate culture, or rather they do come from a broken culture, and simply throwing money at the problem isn't going to make it any better.

This is going to take something that is going to have to be deep rooted. It is going to have to be long term.

PHILLIPS: Sean Callebs, live from Washington, D.C. Thanks, Sean.

O'BRIEN: A grim milestone for troops fighting in Iraq. Today a number of those who were fighting since the war began surpassed 1,000, most of them, of course, 882, were American.

The mysterious tale of Corporal Wassef Hassoun taking another turn today, the U.S. Marine now on the ground in Germany, where he faces a lot of questions about his disappearance in Iraq last month. Was it an abduction or a desertion?

Picking the story up from the Pentagon, CNN's Barbara Starr.

Barbara, we know more yet?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes and no, Miles, because the mystery still deepens.

Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun indeed landed in Germany just a short while ago after about a four and a half or so hour flight from Beirut, Lebanon. He was picked up in Beirut this morning, leaving out of Lebanon on a military transport plane.

You see here, flown to Germany. He is going to Landstuhl Hospital, run by the U.S. Army, where he will get a medical and psychological evaluation. And then once he is cleared by that team, his interrogation, his questioning will resume full-blown. They want to find out exactly what happened to this man. Now, we have, indeed, learned some more details today, but it doesn't really clear too much up. When he disappeared from his unit in Fallujah, Iraq, on June 20, investigators pretty quickly after that, we have learned, had them come to a conclusion and the Marine Corps classified him as a deserter. Based on information they had from other people they spoke with us about the circumstances of his disappearance from the base.

So that was on or about June 20. But then about June 28, he appeared on that videotape blindfold would a sword held to his head. At that point he was reclassified as captured.

And then it was Thursday of this week when he suddenly appeared in Lebanon and called the U.S. embassy and asked to be picked up and voluntarily came back under U.S. military control.

So, a lot of questions about what happened to him and how he made his way from a war zone in Iraq to Lebanon -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Not to confuse matters further, but this gun battle that occurred near his family home in Tripoli, do we know if there is any link there?

STARR: We honestly don't. We've asked U.S. officials about it. They have certainly seen the videotape on television. They are aware of the reports. There's no indication that any U.S. embassy military or security personnel were involved in all of that.

It appears to have been a local matter amongst families where Corporal Hassoun's Lebanese family lived in Tripoli, where some distention broke out just as he, indeed, was being picked up voluntarily by U.S. embassy officials -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Barbara Starr, still a lot of questions, and I know you're working it for us. Thank you very much.

An emotional reunion in Indonesia. After two years apart, Charles Jenkins and his Japanese wife, Hitomi Soga, back together now. But the question is, for how long?

A former U.S. soldier, he's accused of defecting to North Korea nearly 40 years ago. There he met and married Soga, who had been kidnapped by the North Koreans.

Now, when she was allowed to go back to Japan in 2002, Jenkins and their two daughters stayed behind. She's now trying to persuade them to go to Japan with her, but Jenkins still fears going to Japan puts him in the crosshairs of the U.S. law.

PHILLIPS: We had told you earlier about some explosions in Baghdad. We want to go to our Baghdad bureau chief now, Jane Arraf. She's been working it to let us know what's been going on.

Jane, what did you find out?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that huge crash that we heard just a short while ago, according to Iraqi police, were three rockets that hit a small hotel about 600 feet behind us.

Now, one of those rockets landed at the hotel's back door, apparently. Three civilians were injured in this attack, according to police.

Two of the other rockets hit nearby, one of them landing in a road. Shortly after, we heard ambulances rushing to the scene and traffic stopped, and now it appears to be relatively normal again.

But a rocket attack, which may or may not have been aimed in the direction of the Green Zone. These rockets are fired from quite far away. Some of them are actually on timers and they're not aimed very well.

But this one happened to land near a small hotel that is frequented mostly by business people, a few foreigners but a small and low profile hotel -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad. Thanks.

Well, it may be largely symbolic, but the world court has declared Israel's West Bank barrier illegal. That court called on Israel to remove the structure and compensate Palestinians for damage to their property.

Israel is rejecting the ruling, while Palestinians are calling it historic.

Alessio Vinci reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The construction of the barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians goes on. In places, it is a network of fences with ditches and barbed wire, a concrete wall in others.

The army says stopping terror is behind where it is built and why.

COL. FANDI HAIMAN, ISRAELI ARMY: As you can see, only by the technical aspects, which everybody knows a little bit of tactics if we played when we were children. It is better to defend being here on the hill than being there on the valley.

VINCI: Wissam is a student at Yakouds (ph) University in East Jerusalem. He says where the wall is on Palestinian land, it is just an Israeli land grab.

WISSAM ATTWAN, UNIVERSITY STUDENT: The main point of this wall is to give the Palestinians and especially the young ones to leave from Palestine. To go to Europe, United States, Australia, Gulf countries, anywhere else, but not here.

VINCI: Israel says the barrier helps stops militants. (on camera) Israeli officials say this fence or this wall, as the Palestinians call it, can be largely credited for successfully bringing down the number of would-be suicide bombers by as much as 80 percent in the last year.

But the Palestinians are saying they're paying too high of a price for it.

(voice-over) Thousands are separated from schools and jobs, thousands of acres of Palestinian land confiscated.

Moutassam (ph), a farmer, must cross a gate in the barrier to reach his fields. He says it can take hours.

"The situation is depressing," he says. "The whole world around us is closed. It is like living in a cage."

MAJ. SHARON FEINGOLD, ISRAELI ARMY: Not all Palestinians are terrorists. Most of them aren't. And we will try to facilitate, on the one hand, the daily lives of all Palestinians.

On the other hand, we must remember the discomfort does not equal the murderous killing of Israelis.

VINCI: Israel's high court just last week ordered a small part of the route changed, saying it affected Palestinians without good reason. The government says it will obey the ruling, but Israel says the international court of justice has no jurisdiction and will ignore its ruling.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Dean versus Nader. Two political wildcards mixing it up, verbally, at least. At a debate right now, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Democrat and former candidate Howard Dean debating the issues at the National Press Club in Washington, sponsored by National Public Radio.

The topic of the debate is electoral reform, including the independent vote in the presidential races. Nader recently accused Democrats of playing dirty tricks to sabotage his campaign.

The whole thing ought to be a scream. We'll be monitoring it.

The Democratic duo in the presidential race are stumping today. Senator John Kerry and his recently tapped vice presidential pick, John Edwards, held a rally this morning in New York. They're in West Virginia this afternoon and then off to New Mexico this evening.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a family affair out there on the presidential campaign trail for the Democrats and Republicans. John Kerry and his wife, Teresa, are each other's support during campaigning. They both spoke on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Her input is important on everything. First of all, she's smart as a whip. Secondly, she's got as much common sense and as grounded as anybody that I've ever met. So, I value that input. Beyond just husband/wife, I value it.

But let me emphasize this, because people always make a big deal out of it. Neither of us want to -- not as a policy. It's not a policy adviser kind of thing. It's a partner. It's something that's a special kind of trust that exists between a husband and wife.

And she doesn't want to be a policy adviser, she wants to be my wife.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, SENATOR KERRY'S WIFE: I am always who I am, and anyone who's known me forever will tell you that. I guess it's enough of a child in me that that's important.

And also, I am, you know, the product of living in dictatorships. And someone who's lived in dictatorships and not been allowed to be themselves cherishes the ability to be yourself and to have feelings and to speak them when asked. And I am that person.

And my late husband, anyone who knew him was a very Socratic person; he loved discussion. He loved to solve problems. He loved chess. He loved bridge. He loved to always get better. And he kindly enough even introduced me to John the year before he was killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, children are also getting involved with Daddy's campaigning.

Democratic vice presidential pick John Edwards had his two little ones by his side during an event Wednesday in Pennsylvania. You remember this.

And proud Papa Bush is getting some campaign help from his daughters. Jenna Bush is making her first campaign outing with her father. The White House has always said that Jenna and her twin sister, Barbara, would campaign for their father after they graduated from college.

More politics coming your way at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on "INSIDE POLITICS" with Judy Woodruff.

O'BRIEN: All right. This comes from our "what were you thinking desk."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD RIORDAN, CALIFORNIA EDUCATION SECRETARY: It means stupid, dirty girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Yes, that's what he said. California's state education secretary speaks out of turn in front of some little ones there.

And then, a cleaning woman really cleans up. She's now a multi-, multi-millionaire, and you can bet she won't vacuum other people's carpets any more.

And the Internet is fast becoming the alternative route for some image hungry news hounds. We'll tell you why when LIVE FROM returns.

ANNOUNCER: This is LIVE FROM with Kyra Phillips and Miles O'Brien.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: News across America now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERALDINE WILLIAMS, MEGA MILLIONS WINNER: I just said, "oh, God, oh, God let it be, let it be."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Oh, my God, it was. Meet instant multi-millionaire Geraldine. You can call her Gerry Williams.

The 68-year-old grandmother stepped forward to claim the $294 million. I'll say that again. That's $294 million in Mega Millions. It is the second largest jackpot ever to go to a single person in North America.

Williams is a grandmother of eight. She was a custodian who literally scrubbed -- scrubbed floors on the side, sort of a textbook story for the lottery. She plans on doing a little bit of traveling. She deserves it.

Out of the frying pan into the fire. McDonald's has been hit with a lawsuit over the fat content of its French fries. The fast food chain pledged in September 2002 to switch to a lower fat oil by February 2003. The suit claims McDonald's has not disclosed to the public that it has not done so.

And deadlocked in the Adelphia trial. Jurors in the fraud trial say they are deadlocked over charges of Michael Rigas, the remaining defendant. Rigas' father, John, and brother Timothy already have been convicted of looting the cable company. Told you about that yesterday.

The judge has ordered the jurors to try again to come to a decision.

California's education secretary is being urged to step down after making what he calls a teasing remark to a 6-year-old girl. Richard Riordan made the comment while reading to children at a Santa Barbara library.

Riordan was asked by the girl, named Isis, if he knew what her name meant. Now, listen closely to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIORDAN: Erica?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, Isis. Did you know my name actually means an Egyptian Goddess?

RIORDAN: It means -- It means stupid dirty girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, Riordan, you may recall, was the former mayor of Los Angeles, says he has apologized to the girl.

O'BRIEN: Well, call it the new information order. More and more Americans turning to the Internet, looking for graphic images of beheadings and other atrocities. Some stumble upon the pictures unintentionally, but many people are actively seeking out the gory details.

Daniel Sieberg joins us now with more on this kind of, I guess you could say, disturbing trend.

I guess, why post it? Who posts it? What's the motivation?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, whether it's a sort of a political motivation, if somebody has a political agenda or whether it's just sort of a morbid curiosity, it definitely is a new trend.

If it's not shown on the mainstream media, then millions of people are going elsewhere. And this new study finds it's clearly a new trend among Americans who are getting graphic or violent images from the war, whether they want to or not.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice-over): You won't see the beheadings on TV. Nor will you see the most graphic images from the Abu Ghraib prison. And you won't see the most violent pictures of the American contractors killed in Fallujah on TV.

But millions of Americans are seeing it all on the Internet, whether they want to or not.

A new poll from the Pew Internet and American Life Project asked Americans about these specific images and concluded that a new pattern is emerging.

LEE RAINIE, PEW INTERNET/AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT: At the time when the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and beheading took place, we began to pick up evidence that people were using the Internet to get access to the images that were not displayed on TV or shown in newspapers.

SIEBERG: According to the study, out of 92 million Internet users nationwide, a surprising number of adults who surf the Net, about 30 million Americans, had seen the Berg, Abu Ghraib or Fallujah graphic content online.

Many were searching for these images, but more than two-thirds said they just ran across them while surfing. That's nearly 21 million Americans who happened upon the content while doing other things online.

About half were glad they saw them, while about one-third said they wished they hadn't seen the images.

RAINIE: There are people who embrace the idea that it's good to have as much information as possible, even if it's very repulsive or graphic or extreme. We also see a lot of people encounter these images online, they are very uncomfortable. In some respects that validates the decision by mainstream news organizations not to display these pictures or make them available.

SIEBERG: The bottom line is that Internet users can choose whether or not to view graphic images online. In the mainstream media, editors and producers make those decisions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Now, the study also found that women, non-Internet users and Republicans are more likely than other groups to disapprove of such images being posted on the Web.

Plus, Kyra, you know, it underscores the whole idea that anybody can publish something on the Internet, because it is so easy to do.

PHILLIPS: And extremists are taking advantage of it, too. I've got to tell you, I've had to see some of the stuff just because of the business I'm in, and it haunts me.

SIEBERG: Right. And that's what they found doing this study, is that people, even though they came across these images or these videos, they had a real sense of almost, you could call it, buyer's remorse or regret after having watched them.

Because as one analyst put it, some people feel that they are prepared for the violence or the graphic nature of them. Perhaps they've seen a violent movie or they think they can tolerate it. And then when they actually see it, they realize how unprepared for it they really were.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's not -- Not good stuff. All right, Daniel Sieberg, thank you so much.

SIEBERG: All right.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Answers only to lead to more questions. We're going to take a closer look at today's Senate Intelligence Committee report.

A mother gives back even after something so precious was taken away. You won't want to miss this story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Time to check in with Rhonda Schaffler.

Let me get this straight: you change the oil on an SUV, and then it bursts into flames. I'm not getting it.

(STOCK REPORT)

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Aired July 9, 2004 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: What did the U.S. know before the invasion of Iraq? The Senate Intelligence Committee's report says it was a global intelligence failure.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The findings were, indeed, blunt. A bipartisan conclusion that the U.S. went to war with Iraq on intelligence information that was flawed, unreasonable, and largely unsupported.

I'm Sean Callebs. I'll have that story, live from Washington.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The hunt for Iraq's most wanted terrorists. U.S. forces aren't alone. The latest on the search for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN (D), FRM. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Ralph Nader's candidacy is the single biggest danger to the Kerry candidacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Dean gets a chance to say it to Nader's face. The debate just moments away.

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

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.

PHILLIPS: Unreasonably and largely unsupportable. the Senate Intelligence Committee says that's the kind of intelligence that lead to the invasion of Iraq. Among the dire pre-war warnings now being called false, that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of weapons and was working to make more.

CNN's Sean Callebs joins us now live from Washington -- Sean.

CALLEBS: Kyra, exactly. Leading senators unveiling a simply scathing report in the last few hours, saying that the intelligence that led the U.S. to war against Saddam Hussein was horribly flawed.

Lawmakers saying they supported a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, believing at the time that the nation had chemical and biological weapons and that Iraq was in the process of working to complete nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV), INTELLIGENCE VICE-CHAIR: Debate on many aspects of the U.S. liberation of Iraq will likely continue for decades, but one fact is now clear.

Before the war the U.S. intelligence community told the president, as well as the Congress and the public that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and, if left unchecked, would probably have a nuclear weapon during this decade.

Well, today, we know these assessments were wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: Wrong assessments and, among the conclusions in the 500-page report, unanimously approved by senators, it goes on to say that, while highly critical of U.S. intelligence efforts, it also heaps blame on the U.N. and other nations, saying this was, quote, "a global intelligence failure" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm taking it that, along with these scathing revelations, that not everyone is happy, Sean.

CALLEBS: Well, one item that this report didn't address: an important allegation by Democrats that the Bush administration simply twisted the evidence to drum up support for the war against Iraq.

In the conclusions, the report says most of the key judgments in the intelligence community's 2002 national intelligence estimate were either overstated or were not supported by the underlying intelligence reporting.

Now when asked, point blank, if a vote was held today to invade Iraq would congressional leaders support it, the chairman of the committee, Republican Pat Roberts said, "I don't know."

Senator Rockefeller, the vice chairman, was more harsh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCKEFELLER: Leading up to September 11, our government didn't connect the dots. In Iraq, we are even more culpable, because the dots themselves never existed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: Harsh words, as well, for intelligence analysts that the committee said simply ignored, discounted conflicting information.

It says the intelligence community suffered from a collective presumption that Iraq had a active and growing weapons of mass destruction program. This, quote, "group think dynamic led the intelligence community to interpret ambiguous evidence as conclusively indicative of a weapons of mass destruction program" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, obviously this points out a lot of problems. Now, how is the U.S. going to go forward to fix it? I mean, George Tenet is already out, and this blames the CIA for so many of the problems.

CALLEBS: Exactly. Let's pick up on that.

The committee had criticism for outgoing director Tenet. It says Tenet skewed advice. He focused only on the CIA's view, discounting dissenting opinions from other intelligence agencies.

It also faulted Tenet for not personally reviewing President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, which contained that since discredited reference to Iraq allegedly trying to buy uranium for Africa.

Now, getting back to the question, how do they go forward from here? Now Roberts says the problems don't come from a broken corporate culture, or rather they do come from a broken culture, and simply throwing money at the problem isn't going to make it any better.

This is going to take something that is going to have to be deep rooted. It is going to have to be long term.

PHILLIPS: Sean Callebs, live from Washington, D.C. Thanks, Sean.

O'BRIEN: A grim milestone for troops fighting in Iraq. Today a number of those who were fighting since the war began surpassed 1,000, most of them, of course, 882, were American.

The mysterious tale of Corporal Wassef Hassoun taking another turn today, the U.S. Marine now on the ground in Germany, where he faces a lot of questions about his disappearance in Iraq last month. Was it an abduction or a desertion?

Picking the story up from the Pentagon, CNN's Barbara Starr.

Barbara, we know more yet?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes and no, Miles, because the mystery still deepens.

Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun indeed landed in Germany just a short while ago after about a four and a half or so hour flight from Beirut, Lebanon. He was picked up in Beirut this morning, leaving out of Lebanon on a military transport plane.

You see here, flown to Germany. He is going to Landstuhl Hospital, run by the U.S. Army, where he will get a medical and psychological evaluation. And then once he is cleared by that team, his interrogation, his questioning will resume full-blown. They want to find out exactly what happened to this man. Now, we have, indeed, learned some more details today, but it doesn't really clear too much up. When he disappeared from his unit in Fallujah, Iraq, on June 20, investigators pretty quickly after that, we have learned, had them come to a conclusion and the Marine Corps classified him as a deserter. Based on information they had from other people they spoke with us about the circumstances of his disappearance from the base.

So that was on or about June 20. But then about June 28, he appeared on that videotape blindfold would a sword held to his head. At that point he was reclassified as captured.

And then it was Thursday of this week when he suddenly appeared in Lebanon and called the U.S. embassy and asked to be picked up and voluntarily came back under U.S. military control.

So, a lot of questions about what happened to him and how he made his way from a war zone in Iraq to Lebanon -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Not to confuse matters further, but this gun battle that occurred near his family home in Tripoli, do we know if there is any link there?

STARR: We honestly don't. We've asked U.S. officials about it. They have certainly seen the videotape on television. They are aware of the reports. There's no indication that any U.S. embassy military or security personnel were involved in all of that.

It appears to have been a local matter amongst families where Corporal Hassoun's Lebanese family lived in Tripoli, where some distention broke out just as he, indeed, was being picked up voluntarily by U.S. embassy officials -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Barbara Starr, still a lot of questions, and I know you're working it for us. Thank you very much.

An emotional reunion in Indonesia. After two years apart, Charles Jenkins and his Japanese wife, Hitomi Soga, back together now. But the question is, for how long?

A former U.S. soldier, he's accused of defecting to North Korea nearly 40 years ago. There he met and married Soga, who had been kidnapped by the North Koreans.

Now, when she was allowed to go back to Japan in 2002, Jenkins and their two daughters stayed behind. She's now trying to persuade them to go to Japan with her, but Jenkins still fears going to Japan puts him in the crosshairs of the U.S. law.

PHILLIPS: We had told you earlier about some explosions in Baghdad. We want to go to our Baghdad bureau chief now, Jane Arraf. She's been working it to let us know what's been going on.

Jane, what did you find out?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that huge crash that we heard just a short while ago, according to Iraqi police, were three rockets that hit a small hotel about 600 feet behind us.

Now, one of those rockets landed at the hotel's back door, apparently. Three civilians were injured in this attack, according to police.

Two of the other rockets hit nearby, one of them landing in a road. Shortly after, we heard ambulances rushing to the scene and traffic stopped, and now it appears to be relatively normal again.

But a rocket attack, which may or may not have been aimed in the direction of the Green Zone. These rockets are fired from quite far away. Some of them are actually on timers and they're not aimed very well.

But this one happened to land near a small hotel that is frequented mostly by business people, a few foreigners but a small and low profile hotel -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad. Thanks.

Well, it may be largely symbolic, but the world court has declared Israel's West Bank barrier illegal. That court called on Israel to remove the structure and compensate Palestinians for damage to their property.

Israel is rejecting the ruling, while Palestinians are calling it historic.

Alessio Vinci reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The construction of the barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians goes on. In places, it is a network of fences with ditches and barbed wire, a concrete wall in others.

The army says stopping terror is behind where it is built and why.

COL. FANDI HAIMAN, ISRAELI ARMY: As you can see, only by the technical aspects, which everybody knows a little bit of tactics if we played when we were children. It is better to defend being here on the hill than being there on the valley.

VINCI: Wissam is a student at Yakouds (ph) University in East Jerusalem. He says where the wall is on Palestinian land, it is just an Israeli land grab.

WISSAM ATTWAN, UNIVERSITY STUDENT: The main point of this wall is to give the Palestinians and especially the young ones to leave from Palestine. To go to Europe, United States, Australia, Gulf countries, anywhere else, but not here.

VINCI: Israel says the barrier helps stops militants. (on camera) Israeli officials say this fence or this wall, as the Palestinians call it, can be largely credited for successfully bringing down the number of would-be suicide bombers by as much as 80 percent in the last year.

But the Palestinians are saying they're paying too high of a price for it.

(voice-over) Thousands are separated from schools and jobs, thousands of acres of Palestinian land confiscated.

Moutassam (ph), a farmer, must cross a gate in the barrier to reach his fields. He says it can take hours.

"The situation is depressing," he says. "The whole world around us is closed. It is like living in a cage."

MAJ. SHARON FEINGOLD, ISRAELI ARMY: Not all Palestinians are terrorists. Most of them aren't. And we will try to facilitate, on the one hand, the daily lives of all Palestinians.

On the other hand, we must remember the discomfort does not equal the murderous killing of Israelis.

VINCI: Israel's high court just last week ordered a small part of the route changed, saying it affected Palestinians without good reason. The government says it will obey the ruling, but Israel says the international court of justice has no jurisdiction and will ignore its ruling.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Dean versus Nader. Two political wildcards mixing it up, verbally, at least. At a debate right now, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Democrat and former candidate Howard Dean debating the issues at the National Press Club in Washington, sponsored by National Public Radio.

The topic of the debate is electoral reform, including the independent vote in the presidential races. Nader recently accused Democrats of playing dirty tricks to sabotage his campaign.

The whole thing ought to be a scream. We'll be monitoring it.

The Democratic duo in the presidential race are stumping today. Senator John Kerry and his recently tapped vice presidential pick, John Edwards, held a rally this morning in New York. They're in West Virginia this afternoon and then off to New Mexico this evening.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a family affair out there on the presidential campaign trail for the Democrats and Republicans. John Kerry and his wife, Teresa, are each other's support during campaigning. They both spoke on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Her input is important on everything. First of all, she's smart as a whip. Secondly, she's got as much common sense and as grounded as anybody that I've ever met. So, I value that input. Beyond just husband/wife, I value it.

But let me emphasize this, because people always make a big deal out of it. Neither of us want to -- not as a policy. It's not a policy adviser kind of thing. It's a partner. It's something that's a special kind of trust that exists between a husband and wife.

And she doesn't want to be a policy adviser, she wants to be my wife.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, SENATOR KERRY'S WIFE: I am always who I am, and anyone who's known me forever will tell you that. I guess it's enough of a child in me that that's important.

And also, I am, you know, the product of living in dictatorships. And someone who's lived in dictatorships and not been allowed to be themselves cherishes the ability to be yourself and to have feelings and to speak them when asked. And I am that person.

And my late husband, anyone who knew him was a very Socratic person; he loved discussion. He loved to solve problems. He loved chess. He loved bridge. He loved to always get better. And he kindly enough even introduced me to John the year before he was killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, children are also getting involved with Daddy's campaigning.

Democratic vice presidential pick John Edwards had his two little ones by his side during an event Wednesday in Pennsylvania. You remember this.

And proud Papa Bush is getting some campaign help from his daughters. Jenna Bush is making her first campaign outing with her father. The White House has always said that Jenna and her twin sister, Barbara, would campaign for their father after they graduated from college.

More politics coming your way at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on "INSIDE POLITICS" with Judy Woodruff.

O'BRIEN: All right. This comes from our "what were you thinking desk."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD RIORDAN, CALIFORNIA EDUCATION SECRETARY: It means stupid, dirty girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Yes, that's what he said. California's state education secretary speaks out of turn in front of some little ones there.

And then, a cleaning woman really cleans up. She's now a multi-, multi-millionaire, and you can bet she won't vacuum other people's carpets any more.

And the Internet is fast becoming the alternative route for some image hungry news hounds. We'll tell you why when LIVE FROM returns.

ANNOUNCER: This is LIVE FROM with Kyra Phillips and Miles O'Brien.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: News across America now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERALDINE WILLIAMS, MEGA MILLIONS WINNER: I just said, "oh, God, oh, God let it be, let it be."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Oh, my God, it was. Meet instant multi-millionaire Geraldine. You can call her Gerry Williams.

The 68-year-old grandmother stepped forward to claim the $294 million. I'll say that again. That's $294 million in Mega Millions. It is the second largest jackpot ever to go to a single person in North America.

Williams is a grandmother of eight. She was a custodian who literally scrubbed -- scrubbed floors on the side, sort of a textbook story for the lottery. She plans on doing a little bit of traveling. She deserves it.

Out of the frying pan into the fire. McDonald's has been hit with a lawsuit over the fat content of its French fries. The fast food chain pledged in September 2002 to switch to a lower fat oil by February 2003. The suit claims McDonald's has not disclosed to the public that it has not done so.

And deadlocked in the Adelphia trial. Jurors in the fraud trial say they are deadlocked over charges of Michael Rigas, the remaining defendant. Rigas' father, John, and brother Timothy already have been convicted of looting the cable company. Told you about that yesterday.

The judge has ordered the jurors to try again to come to a decision.

California's education secretary is being urged to step down after making what he calls a teasing remark to a 6-year-old girl. Richard Riordan made the comment while reading to children at a Santa Barbara library.

Riordan was asked by the girl, named Isis, if he knew what her name meant. Now, listen closely to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIORDAN: Erica?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, Isis. Did you know my name actually means an Egyptian Goddess?

RIORDAN: It means -- It means stupid dirty girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, Riordan, you may recall, was the former mayor of Los Angeles, says he has apologized to the girl.

O'BRIEN: Well, call it the new information order. More and more Americans turning to the Internet, looking for graphic images of beheadings and other atrocities. Some stumble upon the pictures unintentionally, but many people are actively seeking out the gory details.

Daniel Sieberg joins us now with more on this kind of, I guess you could say, disturbing trend.

I guess, why post it? Who posts it? What's the motivation?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, whether it's a sort of a political motivation, if somebody has a political agenda or whether it's just sort of a morbid curiosity, it definitely is a new trend.

If it's not shown on the mainstream media, then millions of people are going elsewhere. And this new study finds it's clearly a new trend among Americans who are getting graphic or violent images from the war, whether they want to or not.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice-over): You won't see the beheadings on TV. Nor will you see the most graphic images from the Abu Ghraib prison. And you won't see the most violent pictures of the American contractors killed in Fallujah on TV.

But millions of Americans are seeing it all on the Internet, whether they want to or not.

A new poll from the Pew Internet and American Life Project asked Americans about these specific images and concluded that a new pattern is emerging.

LEE RAINIE, PEW INTERNET/AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT: At the time when the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and beheading took place, we began to pick up evidence that people were using the Internet to get access to the images that were not displayed on TV or shown in newspapers.

SIEBERG: According to the study, out of 92 million Internet users nationwide, a surprising number of adults who surf the Net, about 30 million Americans, had seen the Berg, Abu Ghraib or Fallujah graphic content online.

Many were searching for these images, but more than two-thirds said they just ran across them while surfing. That's nearly 21 million Americans who happened upon the content while doing other things online.

About half were glad they saw them, while about one-third said they wished they hadn't seen the images.

RAINIE: There are people who embrace the idea that it's good to have as much information as possible, even if it's very repulsive or graphic or extreme. We also see a lot of people encounter these images online, they are very uncomfortable. In some respects that validates the decision by mainstream news organizations not to display these pictures or make them available.

SIEBERG: The bottom line is that Internet users can choose whether or not to view graphic images online. In the mainstream media, editors and producers make those decisions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Now, the study also found that women, non-Internet users and Republicans are more likely than other groups to disapprove of such images being posted on the Web.

Plus, Kyra, you know, it underscores the whole idea that anybody can publish something on the Internet, because it is so easy to do.

PHILLIPS: And extremists are taking advantage of it, too. I've got to tell you, I've had to see some of the stuff just because of the business I'm in, and it haunts me.

SIEBERG: Right. And that's what they found doing this study, is that people, even though they came across these images or these videos, they had a real sense of almost, you could call it, buyer's remorse or regret after having watched them.

Because as one analyst put it, some people feel that they are prepared for the violence or the graphic nature of them. Perhaps they've seen a violent movie or they think they can tolerate it. And then when they actually see it, they realize how unprepared for it they really were.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's not -- Not good stuff. All right, Daniel Sieberg, thank you so much.

SIEBERG: All right.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Answers only to lead to more questions. We're going to take a closer look at today's Senate Intelligence Committee report.

A mother gives back even after something so precious was taken away. You won't want to miss this story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Time to check in with Rhonda Schaffler.

Let me get this straight: you change the oil on an SUV, and then it bursts into flames. I'm not getting it.

(STOCK REPORT)

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