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Bush Picks John Bolton to be U.N. Ambassador; Conflicting Reports on Death of Italian Agent

Aired March 07, 2005 - 14:30   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: Stories "Now in the News."
University of Colorado president Elizabeth Hoffman is stepping down amid controversy. She says it's for the good of the school. That follows an uproar over a professor who compared 9/11 victims to the Nazis and a football recruiting scandal.

A standing ovation for Martha Stewart from hundreds of her employees at her offices in Manhattan. She's back on the job after five months in prison. Stewart is allowed to work up to 48 hours a week but must wear an electronic ankle bracelet that tracks her movements. She doesn't have it yet, but we're on the ankle bracelet watch.

Nicola Calipari is being remembered as a hero today. 20,000 mourners packed downtown Rome for Calipari's state funeral. Calipari is the Italian intelligence officer killed by U.S. fire while escorting an ex-hostage to freedom in Iraq. The U.S. says the shooting was accidental and promised to investigate it.

Former "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon is in the hospital after falling at home. McMahon's spokeswoman says he got a mild concussion and a cut on his forehead. She says that McMahon, who's 82, is doing well and should be home in just a few days.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush wants a tough-talking diplomat as America's new voice at the United Nations. Joining us now from the White House with word on John Bolton, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. Quite a message in that appointment, isn't it, Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly is, Miles. Really quite a surprising announcement and somewhat of a controversial pick. Undersecretary of state John Bolton, also, of course, the top official for arms control. Now, this is a man who's been a leading proponent of getting tough on Iraq, North Korea and Iran, but also getting tough on the United Nations, very critical of that international body. He has argued before that it has failed to enforce its own resolutions.

Some say he's even made disparaging remarks about the United Nations in his days of academia. Now he is known for being blunt, some say rather prickly. North Korea refused to negotiate with him in the six-party talks to abandon the nuclear weapons program. But Secretary of State Rice today and other officials talked about his distinguished record at the State Department and also tried to frame his style as one that would be perfectly suited to the job, emphasizing his passion for reforming the international body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: John Bolton is personally committed to the future success of the United Nations, and he will be a strong voice for reform at a time when the United Nations has begun to reform itself, to help meet the challenging agenda before the international community. John will also help to build a broader base of support here in the United Nations for the U.N. -- in the United States, for the U.N. and its mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And White House officials say that Bolton was selected because he is very much in step with the president's thinking. And it's very interesting here because on the one hand, you have this emphasis, renewed emphasis, on diplomacy in other countries. At the same time, they believe tat Bolton really is going to hold those nuclear threat countries as well as the United Nations to account -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's shift gears here, Suzanne. Giuliana Sgrena, who is the journalist who was injured in that attack on the airport road in Baghdad. The secret service agent with her, protecting her, died, of course. But she makes a very volatile accusation. And she is known as a left-wing journalist. But the accusation is this, that she and the secret service agent for Italy were targeted by American troops because it is apparent she was released as a result of the paying of many millions of dollars in ransom. The White House responding to that?

MALVEAUX: Well, Miles, that has really caused quite a stir here in Washington. The White House very strongly responded to that earlier this morning. White House spokesman Scott McClellan saying it was absolutely absurd, this notion that men and women in uniform from the U.S. military would target a civilian, and he went on to try to explain some of the circumstances they believe that led to that shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And we need to learn the facts of the investigation. I think that's important. But in terms of this area, this road that we're talking about, this road, it is one of the most dangerous roads in Iraq. It is the road that leads to the Baghdad airport. It is a road where suicide bombers have carried out attacks. It is a road where regime elements have fired on coalition forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Miles, though, of course, the White House says it will continue to work with Italian officials when it comes to the investigation to find out exactly what happened here. But as you know, Miles, this is really a critical ally for the Bush administration, one of the few countries that stood by the United States initially in the war on terror as well as the Iraq war. They certainly don't want to lose it -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Other news around the world now. In Damascus, the first stage of Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon comes a step closer. The presidents of both countries announced today the pullback of forces into the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian/Lebanese border before March 30th. The countries give themselves a month after that to set a date for pulling the troops completely out of Lebanon. The White House is still demanding immediate withdrawal.

Pope John Paul II hopes to be back in the Vatican for Holy Week, now 13 days away. The pontiff is in a Rome hospital, recovering from his tracheotomy.

Police in Oslo, Norway, say they've recovered three pictures by Edvard Munch stolen from a hotel on Sunday. Two other valuable works, "The Scream" and "Madonna" vanished from the museum in August.

O'BRIEN: Well, more trouble for those dolphins stranded off the Florida Keys. Conservationists are asking for more volunteers to come help.

PHILLIPS: Two's company, 40 is a crowd, but they're surfing their way into the record books.

O'BRIEN: And big problems for some small cars in the latest crash tests. We've got the results.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Being seen as fat or over the hill: two of the biggest taboos in Hollywood. But Kirstie Alley is making them work for her in her new series "Fat Actress." The show seeks to refute the notion that thin is the only in. Sibila Vargas says the comedy is shaping up to be a huge hit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kirstie Alley is back in a big way.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Kirstie, it's Sam. How's your diet going?

KIRSTIE ALLEY, ACTOR: Really well.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well, that's good news because I have an offer for you.

VARGAS: An offer is just what Alley's character is looking for in Showtime's new series "Fat Actress."

ALLEY: A job offer? UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's from Jenny Craig.

VARGAS: So how much of the show is based on her life?

ALLEY: Most of it's fiction, you know, most of it's bull (expletive deleted) you know.

VARGAS: But the job offer for Jenny Craig is the real deal. Alley is their new spokesperson.

ALLEY: Jenny Craig, please. This is Kirstie Alley. It's in regards to me being fat.

VARGAS: Fat is generally a four-letter word in Hollywood. Being too fat or too thin can make you tabloid fodder.

ALLEY: For 20 years of my career, I've been on the cover of the tabloids for being fat. If I weighed 140 I was on the cover of the tabloids being fat; 150 I was on the cover. It sells a lot of magazines, for them.

VARGAS: With this new show, Alley's character highlights the double standards that actresses face in Hollywood.

ALLEY: I mean, look, John Goodman's got his own show. Jason Alexander looks like a frickin' bowling ball. How about James Gandolfini? He's like the size of a whale. He's way, way, way fatter than I am.

Networks are ruthless with girls' weight. If you are a man in Hollywood and you want your own sitcom, you've got to be really frickin' fat. It's, like, written.

VARGAS: From her days on "Cheers" to "Veronica's Closet," it's been a while since Alley's last hit. But she hopes that being a big star grappling with weighty issues will lead to another success.

ALLEY: Choose me! Choose me!

VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That's pretty funny.

O'BRIEN: That looks funny. It looks very funny.

PHILLIPS: All right. Shopping for a new car? That might not be as funny.

O'BRIEN: Well, results on small car crash tests are just out. And the news is not good for many of the cars. If you don't stay tuned, you're a dummy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, your small car may be easy on gas, but how safe is it? New crash tests gave poor grades to a majority of small cars. CNN's Julie Vallese has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In tests designed to simulate a side-impact crash between a car and an SUV, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashed 16 small cars.

Only two were rated acceptable, the Chevy Cobalt and the Toyota Corolla.

ADRIAN LUND, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: The test results for the Cobalt and for the Corolla when it was equipped with side-impact airbags showed that even small cars can be made to protect their occupants.

VALLESE: Without side-impact airbags, the two vehicles received a poor rating in this simulation that both manufacturers and the institute characterized as severe.

LUND: I think that this test is a message to manufacturers. They're selling a lot of small cars to people out there, and those people aren't adequately protected in the kinds of impacts that are increasingly frequent.

VALLESE (on camera): In small cars, side-impact airbags are not enough, says the institute. Some of the cars rated poor had them.

(voice over): The structural integrity, the actual design of the cars, says the institute, must be improved.

Manufacturers say safety is their top priority and that they're working to make improvements wherever possible, something the institute is happy to hear.

LUND: We are hopeful that the new designs that are coming out later this year that weren't included in this test group will do better.

VALLESE: But no one knows for sure until those new cars go up against the SUV simulator at 31 miles per hour.

In Washington, I'm Julie Vallese.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The Ford Focus was removed from a list of best cars because of poor results in those side-impact crash tests.

PHILLIPS: But Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for a look at the cars that did make the list -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra and Miles. We're going back to the Pacific Rim. Before we were talking about Sony, the electronics and entertainment company. Now we're talking about Japanese cars which are, again, the kings of the road. Ford had been the only U.S. automaker with the model on Consumer Reports' list of the best cars this year. But the magazine says those considering the Focus might now want to look at the Toyota Corolla instead. Other best picks include the Honda Accord for best family sedan, the Honda Odyssey for best minivan, and Subaru Forester for best small SUV.

But there is some good news for Detriot, a Consumer Reports survey shows the average domestic car is more reliable than its European counterpart. The Japanese and Korean automakers, once again, producing the most trouble-free models. Kyra and Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Well, as we mentioned, you may want a small car when you hear how much gas prices are going up. That's coming up in our next hour.

PHILLIPS: Also, the inspiring story of a Vietnamese immigrant who opened his own restaurant. Now he's opening his heart to American troops. We'll tell you about him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: So what went wrong on Baghdad's airport road Friday night, leaving Italian agent Nicola Calipari dead and journalist Giuliana Sgrena wounded?

"Los Angeles Times" reporter Alissa Rubin has traveled on that hellish highway many times. As a matter of fact, she was there that particular night. She's on the phone from Baghdad -- or that particular day. Alissa, you write about that road, that particular road and the dangers of that road. You don't travel it lightly, do you?

ALISSA RUBIN, "L.A. TIMES" STAFF WRITER: No, you never travel it lightly. There's -- there are way too many armed people on the road, near the road, shooting from a few hundred yards off the road. It's a very dangerous place.

O'BRIEN: A combination of danger posed by insurgents and, in this case, the U.S. checkpoints, which offer their own kind of danger because of misunderstandings. Explain the drill on these checkpoints. How do they work typically? How do they work the hours before this incident when you were there?

RUBIN: Well, you have to understand, I was going in the opposite direction. So in a sense, I was in a much safer position. Leaving the airport, you are going away from the U.S. soldiers and the base. And so there's much less suspicion. Although there are many, many convoys of U.S. military going back and forth on the road carrying supplies and doing patrols and everything else. So if they see a car that they think is suspicious, it doesn't matter which direction you're going. You might find yourself, certainly, the signal to stop and possibly, depending on the circumstances, being shot at. As I said, it would depend a lot on the circumstances.

But as you approach the checkpoint -- and I should say that the checkpoint is constantly being -- or not constantly, but has many times been moved further and further outward so that you encounter it sooner. And if you don't know that, you might not know where to expect to run into your first traunche (ph) of soldiers. Now, during the day, which is when I usually travel it, they are -- Iraqi soldiers and I think there's some private security at the first -- sort of the first ring. And then as you go further in, eventually you do reach American military.

But it seems that wherever this happened -- and I'm still unclear on whether Giuliana Sgrena was actually shot -- was actually shot by a patrol that was passing or doing surveillance along the road and checking for suspicious activity or by stationary soldiers at the checkpoint. I think that's one of the things we don't -- or I at least am not sure of.

O'BRIEN: Based on what you know about these checkpoints, Ms. Sgrena is making the very volatile accusation that she was singled out, targeted by U.S. troops, because she had been released apparently by the paying of a significant sum of ransom. What are your thoughts on that?

RUBIN: Well, I guess I think it's unlikely for the following reason. But I understand why anyone who is shot would feel targeted, whether or not they were and particularly given all the attendant circumstances. But it seems like it would be difficult for the soldiers at -- were presumably, fairly low level at that checkpoint to necessarily know who was coming along in a car at that hour.

You know, one never wants to rule anything out, but it seems, actually, that the more frightening possibility is that it was, to some extent, random. In other words, it could have happened to anyone. It could be anyone. The more difficult thing is how do you create a system where soldiers can know when it's a friendly vehicle, one that's not going to attack them?

O'BRIEN: You write with great detail today in the latimes.com site. I invite our viewers to check it out about this. And there's a passage here that struck me. "Many people who travel this road on a regular basis have a personal horror story, a moment when they thought this might be it. Everyone else has a friend who has had one." I presume you have had those moments and this road, in particular, is a dangerous place. And it is not inconceivable that in the fog of war, these accidents can happen.

RUBIN: That is my sense of it. I think that -- and to me, that is what is most frightening because there's no way any of us can avoid that, if we're traveling that road to come to Baghdad to work here to do what we think is important. So that, to me, seems the more worrisome thing. I mean, I have not been shot at myself on that road.

But certainly I know people who have, you know, seen humvees blow up, you know, in front of them and bombs go off and, you know, had their trunks or their -- the hood of their car suddenly spring up from the impact of a bomb, you know, totally making it impossible for them to see in front of them and having to come to a stop, not knowing if you were about to run into another car. I mean, there's a whole variety of very upsetting things that happen. But I think there's an awful lot that is somewhat random, and I wouldn't -- I would think that's the more likely scenario.

O'BRIEN: Alissa Rubin is a staff writer for the "Los Angeles Times." She is out with a piece today, headline "Traveling on a Highway of Dread." Thanks for joining us from Baghdad.

RUBIN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Now in the news, Iraqi police and security forces in the line of fire again. Some of the worst bloodshed was in Baquba about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. 11 people were killed there in separate attacks, including a car bombing that targeted an Iraqi police convoy.

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Aired March 7, 2005 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Stories "Now in the News."
University of Colorado president Elizabeth Hoffman is stepping down amid controversy. She says it's for the good of the school. That follows an uproar over a professor who compared 9/11 victims to the Nazis and a football recruiting scandal.

A standing ovation for Martha Stewart from hundreds of her employees at her offices in Manhattan. She's back on the job after five months in prison. Stewart is allowed to work up to 48 hours a week but must wear an electronic ankle bracelet that tracks her movements. She doesn't have it yet, but we're on the ankle bracelet watch.

Nicola Calipari is being remembered as a hero today. 20,000 mourners packed downtown Rome for Calipari's state funeral. Calipari is the Italian intelligence officer killed by U.S. fire while escorting an ex-hostage to freedom in Iraq. The U.S. says the shooting was accidental and promised to investigate it.

Former "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon is in the hospital after falling at home. McMahon's spokeswoman says he got a mild concussion and a cut on his forehead. She says that McMahon, who's 82, is doing well and should be home in just a few days.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush wants a tough-talking diplomat as America's new voice at the United Nations. Joining us now from the White House with word on John Bolton, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. Quite a message in that appointment, isn't it, Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly is, Miles. Really quite a surprising announcement and somewhat of a controversial pick. Undersecretary of state John Bolton, also, of course, the top official for arms control. Now, this is a man who's been a leading proponent of getting tough on Iraq, North Korea and Iran, but also getting tough on the United Nations, very critical of that international body. He has argued before that it has failed to enforce its own resolutions.

Some say he's even made disparaging remarks about the United Nations in his days of academia. Now he is known for being blunt, some say rather prickly. North Korea refused to negotiate with him in the six-party talks to abandon the nuclear weapons program. But Secretary of State Rice today and other officials talked about his distinguished record at the State Department and also tried to frame his style as one that would be perfectly suited to the job, emphasizing his passion for reforming the international body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: John Bolton is personally committed to the future success of the United Nations, and he will be a strong voice for reform at a time when the United Nations has begun to reform itself, to help meet the challenging agenda before the international community. John will also help to build a broader base of support here in the United Nations for the U.N. -- in the United States, for the U.N. and its mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And White House officials say that Bolton was selected because he is very much in step with the president's thinking. And it's very interesting here because on the one hand, you have this emphasis, renewed emphasis, on diplomacy in other countries. At the same time, they believe tat Bolton really is going to hold those nuclear threat countries as well as the United Nations to account -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's shift gears here, Suzanne. Giuliana Sgrena, who is the journalist who was injured in that attack on the airport road in Baghdad. The secret service agent with her, protecting her, died, of course. But she makes a very volatile accusation. And she is known as a left-wing journalist. But the accusation is this, that she and the secret service agent for Italy were targeted by American troops because it is apparent she was released as a result of the paying of many millions of dollars in ransom. The White House responding to that?

MALVEAUX: Well, Miles, that has really caused quite a stir here in Washington. The White House very strongly responded to that earlier this morning. White House spokesman Scott McClellan saying it was absolutely absurd, this notion that men and women in uniform from the U.S. military would target a civilian, and he went on to try to explain some of the circumstances they believe that led to that shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And we need to learn the facts of the investigation. I think that's important. But in terms of this area, this road that we're talking about, this road, it is one of the most dangerous roads in Iraq. It is the road that leads to the Baghdad airport. It is a road where suicide bombers have carried out attacks. It is a road where regime elements have fired on coalition forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Miles, though, of course, the White House says it will continue to work with Italian officials when it comes to the investigation to find out exactly what happened here. But as you know, Miles, this is really a critical ally for the Bush administration, one of the few countries that stood by the United States initially in the war on terror as well as the Iraq war. They certainly don't want to lose it -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Other news around the world now. In Damascus, the first stage of Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon comes a step closer. The presidents of both countries announced today the pullback of forces into the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian/Lebanese border before March 30th. The countries give themselves a month after that to set a date for pulling the troops completely out of Lebanon. The White House is still demanding immediate withdrawal.

Pope John Paul II hopes to be back in the Vatican for Holy Week, now 13 days away. The pontiff is in a Rome hospital, recovering from his tracheotomy.

Police in Oslo, Norway, say they've recovered three pictures by Edvard Munch stolen from a hotel on Sunday. Two other valuable works, "The Scream" and "Madonna" vanished from the museum in August.

O'BRIEN: Well, more trouble for those dolphins stranded off the Florida Keys. Conservationists are asking for more volunteers to come help.

PHILLIPS: Two's company, 40 is a crowd, but they're surfing their way into the record books.

O'BRIEN: And big problems for some small cars in the latest crash tests. We've got the results.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Being seen as fat or over the hill: two of the biggest taboos in Hollywood. But Kirstie Alley is making them work for her in her new series "Fat Actress." The show seeks to refute the notion that thin is the only in. Sibila Vargas says the comedy is shaping up to be a huge hit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kirstie Alley is back in a big way.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Kirstie, it's Sam. How's your diet going?

KIRSTIE ALLEY, ACTOR: Really well.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well, that's good news because I have an offer for you.

VARGAS: An offer is just what Alley's character is looking for in Showtime's new series "Fat Actress."

ALLEY: A job offer? UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's from Jenny Craig.

VARGAS: So how much of the show is based on her life?

ALLEY: Most of it's fiction, you know, most of it's bull (expletive deleted) you know.

VARGAS: But the job offer for Jenny Craig is the real deal. Alley is their new spokesperson.

ALLEY: Jenny Craig, please. This is Kirstie Alley. It's in regards to me being fat.

VARGAS: Fat is generally a four-letter word in Hollywood. Being too fat or too thin can make you tabloid fodder.

ALLEY: For 20 years of my career, I've been on the cover of the tabloids for being fat. If I weighed 140 I was on the cover of the tabloids being fat; 150 I was on the cover. It sells a lot of magazines, for them.

VARGAS: With this new show, Alley's character highlights the double standards that actresses face in Hollywood.

ALLEY: I mean, look, John Goodman's got his own show. Jason Alexander looks like a frickin' bowling ball. How about James Gandolfini? He's like the size of a whale. He's way, way, way fatter than I am.

Networks are ruthless with girls' weight. If you are a man in Hollywood and you want your own sitcom, you've got to be really frickin' fat. It's, like, written.

VARGAS: From her days on "Cheers" to "Veronica's Closet," it's been a while since Alley's last hit. But she hopes that being a big star grappling with weighty issues will lead to another success.

ALLEY: Choose me! Choose me!

VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That's pretty funny.

O'BRIEN: That looks funny. It looks very funny.

PHILLIPS: All right. Shopping for a new car? That might not be as funny.

O'BRIEN: Well, results on small car crash tests are just out. And the news is not good for many of the cars. If you don't stay tuned, you're a dummy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, your small car may be easy on gas, but how safe is it? New crash tests gave poor grades to a majority of small cars. CNN's Julie Vallese has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In tests designed to simulate a side-impact crash between a car and an SUV, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashed 16 small cars.

Only two were rated acceptable, the Chevy Cobalt and the Toyota Corolla.

ADRIAN LUND, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: The test results for the Cobalt and for the Corolla when it was equipped with side-impact airbags showed that even small cars can be made to protect their occupants.

VALLESE: Without side-impact airbags, the two vehicles received a poor rating in this simulation that both manufacturers and the institute characterized as severe.

LUND: I think that this test is a message to manufacturers. They're selling a lot of small cars to people out there, and those people aren't adequately protected in the kinds of impacts that are increasingly frequent.

VALLESE (on camera): In small cars, side-impact airbags are not enough, says the institute. Some of the cars rated poor had them.

(voice over): The structural integrity, the actual design of the cars, says the institute, must be improved.

Manufacturers say safety is their top priority and that they're working to make improvements wherever possible, something the institute is happy to hear.

LUND: We are hopeful that the new designs that are coming out later this year that weren't included in this test group will do better.

VALLESE: But no one knows for sure until those new cars go up against the SUV simulator at 31 miles per hour.

In Washington, I'm Julie Vallese.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The Ford Focus was removed from a list of best cars because of poor results in those side-impact crash tests.

PHILLIPS: But Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for a look at the cars that did make the list -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra and Miles. We're going back to the Pacific Rim. Before we were talking about Sony, the electronics and entertainment company. Now we're talking about Japanese cars which are, again, the kings of the road. Ford had been the only U.S. automaker with the model on Consumer Reports' list of the best cars this year. But the magazine says those considering the Focus might now want to look at the Toyota Corolla instead. Other best picks include the Honda Accord for best family sedan, the Honda Odyssey for best minivan, and Subaru Forester for best small SUV.

But there is some good news for Detriot, a Consumer Reports survey shows the average domestic car is more reliable than its European counterpart. The Japanese and Korean automakers, once again, producing the most trouble-free models. Kyra and Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Well, as we mentioned, you may want a small car when you hear how much gas prices are going up. That's coming up in our next hour.

PHILLIPS: Also, the inspiring story of a Vietnamese immigrant who opened his own restaurant. Now he's opening his heart to American troops. We'll tell you about him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: So what went wrong on Baghdad's airport road Friday night, leaving Italian agent Nicola Calipari dead and journalist Giuliana Sgrena wounded?

"Los Angeles Times" reporter Alissa Rubin has traveled on that hellish highway many times. As a matter of fact, she was there that particular night. She's on the phone from Baghdad -- or that particular day. Alissa, you write about that road, that particular road and the dangers of that road. You don't travel it lightly, do you?

ALISSA RUBIN, "L.A. TIMES" STAFF WRITER: No, you never travel it lightly. There's -- there are way too many armed people on the road, near the road, shooting from a few hundred yards off the road. It's a very dangerous place.

O'BRIEN: A combination of danger posed by insurgents and, in this case, the U.S. checkpoints, which offer their own kind of danger because of misunderstandings. Explain the drill on these checkpoints. How do they work typically? How do they work the hours before this incident when you were there?

RUBIN: Well, you have to understand, I was going in the opposite direction. So in a sense, I was in a much safer position. Leaving the airport, you are going away from the U.S. soldiers and the base. And so there's much less suspicion. Although there are many, many convoys of U.S. military going back and forth on the road carrying supplies and doing patrols and everything else. So if they see a car that they think is suspicious, it doesn't matter which direction you're going. You might find yourself, certainly, the signal to stop and possibly, depending on the circumstances, being shot at. As I said, it would depend a lot on the circumstances.

But as you approach the checkpoint -- and I should say that the checkpoint is constantly being -- or not constantly, but has many times been moved further and further outward so that you encounter it sooner. And if you don't know that, you might not know where to expect to run into your first traunche (ph) of soldiers. Now, during the day, which is when I usually travel it, they are -- Iraqi soldiers and I think there's some private security at the first -- sort of the first ring. And then as you go further in, eventually you do reach American military.

But it seems that wherever this happened -- and I'm still unclear on whether Giuliana Sgrena was actually shot -- was actually shot by a patrol that was passing or doing surveillance along the road and checking for suspicious activity or by stationary soldiers at the checkpoint. I think that's one of the things we don't -- or I at least am not sure of.

O'BRIEN: Based on what you know about these checkpoints, Ms. Sgrena is making the very volatile accusation that she was singled out, targeted by U.S. troops, because she had been released apparently by the paying of a significant sum of ransom. What are your thoughts on that?

RUBIN: Well, I guess I think it's unlikely for the following reason. But I understand why anyone who is shot would feel targeted, whether or not they were and particularly given all the attendant circumstances. But it seems like it would be difficult for the soldiers at -- were presumably, fairly low level at that checkpoint to necessarily know who was coming along in a car at that hour.

You know, one never wants to rule anything out, but it seems, actually, that the more frightening possibility is that it was, to some extent, random. In other words, it could have happened to anyone. It could be anyone. The more difficult thing is how do you create a system where soldiers can know when it's a friendly vehicle, one that's not going to attack them?

O'BRIEN: You write with great detail today in the latimes.com site. I invite our viewers to check it out about this. And there's a passage here that struck me. "Many people who travel this road on a regular basis have a personal horror story, a moment when they thought this might be it. Everyone else has a friend who has had one." I presume you have had those moments and this road, in particular, is a dangerous place. And it is not inconceivable that in the fog of war, these accidents can happen.

RUBIN: That is my sense of it. I think that -- and to me, that is what is most frightening because there's no way any of us can avoid that, if we're traveling that road to come to Baghdad to work here to do what we think is important. So that, to me, seems the more worrisome thing. I mean, I have not been shot at myself on that road.

But certainly I know people who have, you know, seen humvees blow up, you know, in front of them and bombs go off and, you know, had their trunks or their -- the hood of their car suddenly spring up from the impact of a bomb, you know, totally making it impossible for them to see in front of them and having to come to a stop, not knowing if you were about to run into another car. I mean, there's a whole variety of very upsetting things that happen. But I think there's an awful lot that is somewhat random, and I wouldn't -- I would think that's the more likely scenario.

O'BRIEN: Alissa Rubin is a staff writer for the "Los Angeles Times." She is out with a piece today, headline "Traveling on a Highway of Dread." Thanks for joining us from Baghdad.

RUBIN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Now in the news, Iraqi police and security forces in the line of fire again. Some of the worst bloodshed was in Baquba about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. 11 people were killed there in separate attacks, including a car bombing that targeted an Iraqi police convoy.

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