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Iraq Insurgents Strike Again; New Searches in Aruba; PBS Funded

Aired June 24, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Developing stories that we're following for you right now. A suicide bombing in Fallujah, U.S. military among the dead, some of them women. We're live from the Pentagon and Iraq.
Also, the Natalee Holloway investigation, an Aruban judge facing more questioning today. We're live on that story.

And the question of the hour for parents and police in New Jersey: Just where are these three boys, missing since Wednesday?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

They are among some of the most dangerous roads in the world. And U.S. troops know moving around in Iraq requires endless amounts of planning, armor, and security. Sometimes that's still not enough protection from insurgents. And today, the U.S. military confirms insurgents have struck again with deadly consequences.

Our Jane Arraf has the inside perspective from Iraq. But first, we want to go to CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre with details on this incident.

How did it happen, Jamie?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, once again, suicide bombings and car bombings are the two preferred method of attack by insurgents in Iraq. This was a suicide car bomb against a U.S. military convoy in Fallujah last night. It was a U.S. Marine convoy.

And Marines confirm that six U.S. military personnel are feared dead, five marines and one Navy corpsman also in this convoy. Thirteen Marines wounded in this attack. And we are told that there are some women who are among the casualties. But at this point, we have not been given any numbers of how many women are among the dead.

There are some indications that those women might have been part of what's called a Lioness Team, which is a team of -- a unit of women who are used to help search Iraqi civilian women, both at checkpoints and sometimes going along on raids. But again, this attack by a suicide car bomber apparently occurred as a convoy was traveling in Fallujah with deadly consequences -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Jamie, I'm reading some information on that. And it says three Marines, one sailor listed as "whereabouts unknown." Exactly what does that mean?

MCINTYRE: Well, that means, essentially, that the bodies have either not been recovered or not been identified. This apparently was a pretty horrific attack, and it resulted in a vehicle burning afterwards. And they may simply be having trouble identifying those bodies and making sure that they go through the normal notification process.

There's always, in this kind of case, when there's a lot of confusion, there's always a possibility that somebody got separated or wasn't actually in the convoy that they thought was in the convoy. So they're trying to be very careful. If they haven't confirmed a death, then they don't list it as a death.

NGUYEN: Well, my question was, does that also leave the door open for maybe, if one of these persons was, perhaps, kidnapped? Could that be the case, too?

MCINTYRE: Well, it's possible. That would be a very -- I mean, very unlikely event. What would be more likely if somebody was listed, for instance, as a list of passengers in the convoy, somebody at the last minute didn't get on the convoy. They would be thought to be there, but usually they can check that out pretty quick. What appears to be the case here is that they're being very careful with the identification of the bodies and they just haven't completed that.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Jamie McIntyre, thank you for that.

Our senior Baghdad correspondent is all too familiar with Iraq's dangerous roads. She's traveled many of them while embedded with U.S. troops. CNN's Jane Arraf joins us now live via videophone from Qaim.

And Jane, tell us a little bit about the situation in Fallujah right now. What were they facing?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, what they're facing is a city that, as you recall, had been heavily destroyed during that very fierce battle last November, some of the fiercest fighting that the Marines have seen since Vietnam, in face.

When we went back there subsequently, it was a city that they had just begun to start to reconstruct. People were about to come back. And the Marines, in fact, had said it was the safest city in the country. That was largely because they strictly controlled access there.

This has been one of the worst attacks there in some time. And, obviously, a very powerful suicide car bomb to have caused those casualties. Fallujah is a source of concern because it's in the Sunni heartland, and it's a city that, if Fallujah falls, there are other cities that could fall, as well. But clearly, this worst attack in many, many weeks, if not months, is very worrying for the coalition -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Jane, you have been embedded with the Marines. In fact, you were embedded with them last year in November and December in Fallujah. Give us a sense of exactly what the role is for female marines on the ground there in Fallujah?

ARRAF: There aren't a whole lot of female marines, although there are some, and even more so than with the Army, I've found. There's a reluctance to put them on the front lines.

The problem is that the front lines are everywhere, as we've seen. Any highway in Iraq is a front line, any air space is a front line, where females are just as easily hurt or killed as their male counterparts are. Now, the reason that they're using women and the reason that they probably find it hard to get away without women is that there are a substantial number of women here, obviously, in this country who could become or are a part of the insurgency.

In one case, we're told by Marines in this area, they've had a marine that has been killed by a woman who was hiding a gun. She was killed in return, after she opened fire. But when we've gone on raids with the military, I can't recall a single time in hundreds of houses that we've been in on raids on where they've had a woman along to search the other women. It's something they're trying to change, in acknowledgement that the tactics of the insurgents are changing, as well -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Giving us an inside look at the situation on the ground, Jane Arraf in Qaim, Iraq. Thank you for that, Jane.

Well, news of this latest attack comes as President Bush prepares to address the nation about Iraq and as he hosts Iraq's prime minister at the White House. That's where we find CNN's David Ensor with the latest on that -- David?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN AMERICA BUREAU CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the president made clear to us today that he realizes that the polls show American public support for the war in Iraq is slipping. And, of course, the White House today asked the networks for air time next Tuesday for the president to talk to the public about the Iraq war.

It has been a bloody couple of months. We've now lost more than 1,700 American troops in Iraq. And if the president, however, is worried about it, he certainly didn't show it in the meeting with reporters that he and Prime Minister Jaafari had just a short while ago.

He was asked about a timetable for the withdrawal of forces from Iraq. This was his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There're not going to be any timetables. I mean, I've told this to prime minister. We are there to complete a mission, and it's an important mission.

A democratic Iraq is in the interests of the United States of America, and it's in the interest of laying the foundation for peace. And if that's the mission, then why would you say to the enemy, you know, "Here's a timetable, just go ahead and wait us out"? It doesn't make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you're conceding too much to the enemy. This is an enemy that will be defeated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Mr. Bush was asked at one point about the slump in his approval polls and his troubles getting domestic policy traction on Capitol Hill. "Quagmire?" he jokingly retorted, saying that he fully understands why some in Congress don't want to take votes on controversial issues, because they believe they'll be reelected more easily if they do not.

As for Prime Minister Jaafari, he thanked the United States for its help. And at one point he said, "You have given us much more than money. You've given us the lives of some of your sons and daughters" -- Betty?

NGUYEN: David, when the president plans to speak to the country next Tuesday, do we know how specific he's going to be? Because we just heard in that sound bite that he's not going to put forth a timetable. Are we going to hear an exit strategy? Specifically, what do you think we're going to hear?

ENSOR: Well, the White House officials are talking about him getting quite specific in that speech. It could be that he will lay out something of the road ahead with some specificity.

But clearly, you heard the president. There's not going to be a timetable, a timetable for the withdrawal of forces. So I think an exit strategy, we probably aren't going to really get that.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's David Ensor at the White House. Thank you, David.

Now to Aruba, where a father and son are at the center of a growing mystery. Where is Natalee Holloway? That is the question.

The island's police commissioner says Paul Van Der Sloot is facing more questioning today, a day after his arrest. Van Der Sloot's son was last seen leaving a nightclub with Natalee Holloway on May 30th. There has been no sign of the Alabama teen since then. And she was in Aruba with about 100 classmates to celebrate her high school graduation.

Now, there have been countless searches for the 18-year-old. And now a volunteer rescue group from Texas is getting ready to join that effort. CNN's Chris Lawrence is following those developments from Palm Beach, Aruba, and joins us now with latest on that -- Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Betty, the search team, some of them are already on the ground and working. Meantime, Judge Paul Van Der Sloot will remain in jail at least until tomorrow afternoon, when prosecutors will have to prove why they should be able to keep him longer.

Now, Van Der Sloot was questioned twice last weekend, but only as a witness. Now he's under suspicion of having something to do with Natalee Holloway's disappearance, but police and prosecutors won't say exactly how.

Now, Natalee's friends last saw her leaving a bar four weeks ago. She drove off with Van Der Sloot's son, Joran, and two brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe. They all told police that they dropped her off back at the Holiday Inn, but that story is now completely falling apart.

Anita Van Der Sloot says that her son, Joran, now tells her that he initially lied when he said that, but that he did not hurt Natalee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA VAN DER SLOOT, MOTHER OF JORAN VAN DER SLOOT: Says, "Mom, I drop the girl at the beach. I walk with her. I left her, because she wanted to stay there. I left, and I don't know what happened."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Now, we also spoke with the mother of the two Kalpoe brothers. And she tells us that her son told her he also lied, but only to protect his friend, Joran, and says the brothers dropped off Joran and Natalee at a beach down the street.

So to kind of piece this all together, if we take the mothers at their word, the two brothers picked up Joran and Natalee, drove them around for a while, then dropped them off at a nearby beach. Joran spent some time with Natalee on that beach, and then left her there alone -- Betty?

NGUYEN: All right, Chris, so if that's the case, it still leaves the question, where is Natalee? We know this Texas search team is there. What are the efforts like right now for them? What are they doing?

LAWRENCE: Well, right now, we know that this morning the FBI was out with the Dutch Coast Guard. They were searching a particular bay here on the island. And some members of that search team have already arrived here on the island and are already working.

We saw them out this morning already searching certain areas on the island. The entire team will be here by tonight, with search dogs, sonar equipment, looking for any evidence at all that may have been missed.

NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Chris Lawrence. Thank you for that update from Aruba.

Former FBI lead investigator Dave Clark (ph) will join us live to talk about this case. That's coming up just a little bit later this hour. So you definitely want to stay tuned for that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, confessed serial bomber Eric Rudolph revealing details about how he eluded a massive manhunt and survived in the North Carolina mountains for five years.

Later on LIVE FROM, nabbing underage drinkers, spotting drunken drivers. A unique program where average citizens, not the cops, are the ones on patrol.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was drinking out of a beer can and just threw it in the garage.

NGUYEN: Inside Operation Extra Eyes.

Also ahead, pastor to presidents, as Reverend Billy Graham gets set for what's likely to be his final crusade, we look at his close ties to the White House and the time they came back to haunt him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, it looks like Big Bird has a new boss. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting got two bits of big news this week. A new president, with whom not everyone is happy, and that it may dodge the bullet for that budget axe after all.

CNN's resident Oscar the Grouch and his better half, Ken and Daria Dolan -- of course that's who we're talking about -- join us now for what that means for PBS and the political fight for the public airwaves.

Hi there, guys.

KEN DOLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Betty. How are you?

DARIA DOLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You got it wrong. This is Cookie Monster.

K. DOLAN: Cookies!

NGUYEN: Cookie Monster, I've heard about you, Ken. Well, let me start with you. Why do you think that this budget should be saved? Why should public broadcasting get American dollars?

K. DOLAN: We're talking $100 million bucks.

D. DOLAN: Well, no, that was the amount that the funding was going to be cut. It's more than $100 million.

K. DOLAN: Do you agree or disagree?

D. DOLAN: Well, she asked you first.

K. DOLAN: You know, Betty, here's my tape on CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Everybody's going to hate me. Get ready for the hate mail. That's daria.dolan@turner -- anyway.

Here's my take. I believe that public broadcasting should be supported by the viewers. If the viewers like it -- and by the way, there's some great stuff on PBS. There's Bert and Ernie, two of my favorite people. Look like some friends I have right here at CNN.

But here's the deal: I think, if the viewers will support it, that's great. And if you think Corporation for Public Broadcasting is simply a baby-sitter with the kids' programs, and it keeps the kids just busy and out of your hair, then it should be pay-per-view. I say viewer-supported, not government-supported.

NGUYEN: But Daria...

K. DOLAN: That's my opinion. And there's some good stuff on there.

NGUYEN: There is some good stuff. And I have to ask you, Daria, though, we're talking about public funding here. Can corporate America sustain PBS?

D. DOLAN: No. Well, maybe they could, if the programming was a little bit different. I think sometimes it's a little too erudite for the average advertiser, which is what corporate America is. But I think a combination of the same type of situation that broadcast TV has and cable television in this day and age.

When PBS first came about, we really needed some quality alternative. But now, with the satellite universe, and the digital universe, there are a bazillion choices anyway.

NGUYEN: True. And...

D. DOLAN: So why do we need to pay for it?

NGUYEN: Well, I think you bring up a good point.

And I'm going to direct this at Ken. Your wife is very smart, because she said, with the kind of programming that PBS has, some of corporate America may not want to fund that. Is that inherently the problem here? If corporate America funds it, it's going to dictate what is on it?

K. DOLAN: Well, you know, Betty, that's a great point. And I'm not sure there's anything conclusive other than money talks. Because if I'm a corporate sponsor, and I have a million dollars or a zillion dollars to advertise, seems to me, it makes good business sense to me, and it is responsible to my shareholders to use my, our, my corporate advertising money or marketing money on the kinds of programs that make sense to my company.

D. DOLAN: Yes, but, gentlemen and lady -- gentleman and lady...

K. DOLAN: Thank you. Thank you, Daria.

D. DOLAN: Isn't that what broadcasting cable TV is all about, corporate sponsorship?

NGUYEN: There is corporate sponsorship...

(CROSSTALK) D. DOLAN: We cut to breaks. And there are ads running from corporate America. So it's no different than what currently exists in the real world.

The big bottom line to me...

K. DOLAN: Betty uses money.

D. DOLAN: ... and I think the most important point is, in a day when we have budget deficits further than the eye can see, if we don't start making the serious cuts in something that is an entertainment and a luxury, not a necessity, we're never going to get rid of the budget shortfall.

K. DOLAN: Betty Nguyen, listen to me. If we have got food lines in America, and 44 to 47 million people uninsured, and kids going into emergency rooms because there's no other coverage in their family, I don't think Clifford the Big Red Dog is as important as he used to be, period.

NGUYEN: So are you siding with Daria there?

K. DOLAN: Sorry, Clifford, I was just kidding, Clifford. There he is right there.

NGUYEN: All right. Well, let's move on to the slanting of the programming, if that's going to be the case, because, yesterday, the board of directors voted to hire Patricia Harrison as the new president and CEO. Now, as you recall, she is the former co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

K. DOLAN: RNC.

NGUYEN: That being the case, are we going to see a political slant to PBS programming?

K. DOLAN: Well, that's what some people are fearing.

D. DOLAN: Well, but the fact of the matter is, the other side, the side that Ms. Harrison is on, has always feared that it's slanted the other way in the first place.

You know, personally, it's supported with donations. Now, the taxpayer dollars aside, I don't care if they're soliciting money from you and me, if they do productions with a socialist bent, if people are willing to support it, this is America. We all have free speech. To make it a punching bag for, "Is it conservative? Is it liberal?"

K. DOLAN: I'm tired of hearing that.

D. DOLAN: That's taking the whole political discussion and just elevated it to sewer level.

K. DOLAN: Betty, I'm so tired of hearing about slants. Not you. Are you, the viewer, are you such a knucklehead, such an empty head, such a no-nothing boob that you can't tell news that's slanted or not? Here are the facts. Maybe they slant it one way or the other, so what? So what? Come to your own conclusions. Stop being (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fed opinion, worrying about where the opinion is coming from. Make up your own mind, America!

NGUYEN: Oh, just when you're getting heated up, we are running out of time. So with that, I have to ask you, you guys have a great show coming up this weekend. Give us a little glimpse of what's in store.

K. DOLAN: I don't know.

D. DOLAN: Oh, Ken, we loved you. We're going to take a look six months later at the tsunami donations and the charities that went to fund the tsunami victims.

K. DOLAN: Eminent domain.

D. DOLAN: How that's doing. The Supreme Court on eminent domain. And nuclear reactors, do we really need more in this country, and should we have them?

K. DOLAN: Busy Saturday, Betty.

NGUYEN: It is. I will see you tomorrow morning bright and early.

K. DOLAN: Thanks, Betty.

NGUYEN: Thank you.

K. DOLAN: See you.

NGUYEN: Volunteers from Texas, they arrive in Aruba to help search for Natalee Holloway. How will they be able to help? We'll talk with the former FBI agent who knows the searchers. That's just ahead on LIVE FROM.

And the search is on in Camden, New Jersey, for three boys who disappeared while playing. We're live on that story.

Plus, watching the wildfires. Firefighters appear to be winning part of the battle in California and Arizona. We've got those details coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Hays at the New York Stock Exchange where stocks are extending yesterday's slide, which was trigged by a sharp spike in oil prices. Right now, crude oil is slightly higher at around $59.59 a barrel.

That's hurting stocks. The Dow Industrials are sliding about 59 points. The NASDAQ is shedding half a percent.

Dow component Alcoa is losing more than 2 percent. The aluminum maker says it plans to cut 6,500 jobs, or 5 percent of its global workforce. That's on top of 1,800 job cuts made earlier this year. The cuts will mostly be in the company's automotive business where Alcoa have lost orders as U.S. carmakers scale back production and amid slumping sales.

IBM is reportedly planning to hire more than 14,000 new workers in India this year. That as the company eliminates up to 13,000 jobs in the United States and Europe. In an interview with the "New York Times," a company executive said the moves are not entirely about cost-cutting, but also about taking advantage of the skilled workers in India.

IBM says it's hiring people around the world, including many in the United States, in new businesses that are expected to grow quickly, as it trims costs elsewhere. But its critics don't agree. They accuse big companies like IBM of shopping the globe for the cheapest labor to maximize profits.

That's the latest from Wall Street. Coming up, a second safety warning in a week from a major medical device-maker. I'll tell you what they're telling doctors not to use, later on LIVE FROM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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