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Military Investigating Several Cases of Unarmed Civilian Deaths; Living Organ Donors Help Strangers; Jersey Girl Wins National Spelling Bee

Aired June 02, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

CAROL LIN, HOST: Hello, I'm Carol Lin at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Kyra Phillips is off today.
A painful discovery. A family logs their joy and then their sadness when a deadly crash leads to mistaken identity.

And a hunt for a killer. Seven family members found dead. We're live from Indiana.

And a few bad apples. With investigations pending, military leaders explain what could make some soldiers snap.

It is the worst possible accusation against military forces at war, that uniformed troops killed unarmed civilians knowingly and on purpose. Well, today, we know of at least three such incidents under investigation by the Defense Department and the most publicized so far occurred in Haditha. That is where 24 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, were killed in November.

Now witnesses say U.S. Marines went on a rampage after a fellow Marine was killed in a roadside bombing.

In Ishaqi north of Baghdad, Iraqis officials say an American raid ended in March ended with 11 civilians dead. Now the official report and the video images there seem to contradict another one.

And then there's Hamandiya. U.S. Marines are accused of killing an unarmed man there back in April.

We can't repeat often enough that these are only accusations at this point. CNN's Kathleen Koch is following them all from the Pentagon right now.

Kathleen what is the Pentagon saying about the latest accusations?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, let's start first of all with the March incident in Ishaqi. That happened when a U.S.- led raid took on -- basically, they were looking for a terrorist, took on what they suspected was a terrorist safe house. And the U.S. Military says at that point, four people were killed, one of them an insurgent.

But the military launched an investigation after locals claimed that no it was 11 civilians who were killed. And the BBC began airing aftermath video of the incident yesterday that was provided by a Sunni political group that the network shows dead bodies with gunshot wounds.

One the top commanding generals in Iraq earlier today discussed why he thinks these incidents are happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's difficult to pin down specifically but obviously when you're in the combat theater, dealing with enemy combatants who don't abide by the law of war, who do acts of indecency, soldiers become stressed. They become fearful. It's very difficult to determine in some cases on this battlefield who is a combatant and who is a civilian.

It doesn't excuse the acts that have occurred, and we're going to look into them. But I would say stress, fear, isolation, and in some cases, they're just upset. They see their buddies getting blown up on occasion. And they -- they could snap.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is in Singapore for a defense leaders' conference, was asked about the investigations. And he said that, quote, "In conflicts things that shouldn't happen do happen." He insisted that 99.9 percent of U.S. forces in Iraq are doing the right thing -- Carol.

LIN: So, Kathleen, where does the investigation go from here?

KOCH: Well, let's talk about the other two investigations. First of all, Hamandiya. There are seven U.S. Marines right now who are in the brig at Camp Pendleton in California because of the shooting of an Iraqi man who reports say was dragged from his home, was shot and killed. And then had both a weapon and a shovel planted on him to make it appear as though he was trying to set a roadside bomb.

Sources familiar with investigation tell CNN that military prosecutors will very soon file charges against the seven Marines of murder. The defense attorney for one of the men says they will also face charges of conspiracy and kidnapping.

Now this is unrelated to the ongoing investigation into the deaths of the 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha. Now that incident took place in November. "Washington Post" is reporting today that investigators in that case are now hoping that they'll be able to exhume some of the bodies of the 24 victims. That, in an effort to gain some forensic evidence.

That could be very helpful in the investigation, in finding out exactly what happened. They want to look at things like the distance from which the shots were fired, the angle of the gun and also the caliber of the bullets used and to try to figure out who did this and just how it occurred, Carol.

LIN: Kathleen, thank you very much.

Well, as Kathleen was mentioning, Ishaqi, that incident occurred back if March, and details are only now just emerging. U.S. forces say they were tracking an al Qaeda suspect and they came under fire, and that four people were killed, including two women and a child. Well, an Iraqi police report estimates triple that number of people died and under different circumstances.

CNN's John Vause is in Baghdad with more.

John, in light of Haditha, these two other incidents, do they take on another meaning now?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, very much so, Carol. It that, in light of the Haditha incident, some old accusations now are taking on new meaning.

The incident in Ishaqi was reported back on March 15. And the contradicting accounts were actually made public at the time. But now, because of when it's happened at Haditha, it seems all of these accusations are being revisited.

Let's go over some of the details. What we know from Iraqi police from what they're being told by eyewitnesses on the scene, they accuse U.S. forces of rounding up 11 members of the one family, taking them inside the home, holding them there for about an hour and then shooting them all dead: five children, four women, and two men.

Iraqi police also claim that inside that house they found bullet casings, the type which only are used by the U.S. military.

You did mention the discrepancy with the U.S. account here. The U.S. says there could have been an al Qaeda operative or some kind of supportive operative for al Qaeda inside the home. They launched an operation. As U.S. forces moved in, there was a firefight. They called in air support. The house was hit by an air strike. It was destroyed.

At some time -- it was never made clear by the U.S. report -- but at some time during process, all of this operation, they say, those four people were killed. Three of them, they did admit at time, were in fact, civilians.

Today only thing that the U.S. military would confirm is that an investigation is now ongoing.

But the one important thing, the difference here between Ishaqi and Haditha, right now no one is giving out any alleged motive for the Ishaqi incident. No one is giving a reason why U.S. forces would have allegedly killed these 11 Iraqis -- Carol.

LIN: The implication that it would be cold-blooded murder if, in fact, that story was true.

Now in the Haditha incident with the 24 civilians killed. The Iraqi prime minister is now asking for investigative files. I mean how is this going to be resolved between the military and the prime minister?

VAUSE: Well, this is obviously an issue now for the Iraqi prime minister. He's a new government, been if power less than two weeks. Really has to flex his muscle, show the Iraqi people that he is taking charge of this situation.

He's also under a lot of pressure from the Sunni faction in his national unity government. All of these incidents, all three incidents occurred in Sunni dominated towns. And he's under a lot of pressure to prove that he's getting things done.

He's demanding that file from the U.S. investigators. The Iraqi government has also launched their own investigation.

In a broader sense, the Iraqi prime minister, Malaki, is now saying that the Iraqi civilian, the victim of violence by U.S.-led forces, on a daily basis. And he says that could play a role in any decision on how long U.S. troops will be asked to stay in this country -- Carol.

LIN: John, thank you very much. John Vause live from Baghdad.

Now in one of the incidents in Hamandiya, a handful of Marines and Navy corpsmen face possible charges, including murder for that incident back in April. CNN's Sumi Das, outside Camp Pendleton, California, with more details -- Sumi.

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Carol. Good morning to you.

Well, the incident in Hamandiya resulted in the death of one Iraqi civilian. That took place on April 26. The Marines who are involved are from the 3rd Battalion and the 5th Regiment.

Sources familiar with the investigation said that military prosecutors will likely file murder charges against the Marines who are involved. Now we are also hearing that there will be other charges in addition to the murder charges: conspiracy and kidnapping, as Kathleen Koch mentioned.

The defense attorney for one of the Marines, according to the Associated Press, says those charges may be handed to the men. Seven Marine -- the seven Marines and the one Navy corpsman today. However, our sources telling us that it's not likely to happen that soon.

Now there has been some response from Camp Pendleton, despite the fact that this investigation is not yet complete. The spokesman for Camp Pendleton has said the investigation is still ongoing and no charges have been preferred.

He's also said that several Marines have been placed in pretrial confinement. Several have been placed on pretrial base restriction.

Again, very important to point out that one Iraqi civilian died as a result of this incident in Hamandiya. It's not to be confused with the incident in Haditha -- Carol. LIN: Sumi, what is the mood like there around the base?

DAS: Well, you know, I've been talking to people here in Oceanside, California. That's the town where Camp Pendleton is. And it's really mixed. I have talked to Marines who are a little bit angered that there are such negative reports coming out about the Marines when they are, you know, doing obviously a very difficult job over there.

There are some people who say you know, this just shows what a difficult war this is. And how much the troops are facing challenges and how they, in fact, feel those troops need to come home, that they're spending too much time on the battlefield. There are too many tours of duty that are coming up for these Marines.

So there's definitely some mixed reaction here, Carol.

LIN: You bet. It is a military town. Sumi, thank you very much.

Now as Sumi was just mentioning, it is too soon to jump to any conclusions about these attacks. CNN military analyst James "Spider" Marks points out that the vast majority of U.S. troops do conduct themselves properly and that the military is aggressively investigating these allegations of misconduct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: When you hear this, you're disgusted, but you have to realize that this is aberrant behavior and the goodness in -- if there's goodness in any of this, it's that the Marines, the Navy are looking very, very deeply and very openly into these charges. This is a wide-open aperture, and they're shedding a lot of light on it, as they should.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Now the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, spoke out today. He is defending the training and conduct of U.S. forces. He says that 99.9 percent of U.S. troops conduct themselves in an exemplary manner.

Now straight ahead on LIVE FROM, organ donors. Before they go under the knife, are they put under the microscope? The survey questions about a system designed to save lives. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me straight ahead.

Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: This just this to the CNN Center. Apparently, we have a response from the president of Iran. You recall that yesterday the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council had put together a package of incentives to get Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program. Well, President Ahmadinejad responded today, saying he is going to directly reject any sort of package deal that he is being presented, saying that he insists that its Iran's right to pursue nuclear technology and that the reason of their opposition, and this is a quote, "is not their claim of concern over nuclear weapons, but Iran's access to the technology. That means opening of the way for all independent countries, especially Islamic countries, to advance technology."

So the debate goes on. We'll see where the U.N. Security Council, as well as the president of the United States, chooses to go, now that Iran has responded in this manner.

Well, we have an interesting health story for you. More than a hundred people die every week because their bodies betray them. They were waiting for a donated organ that never came. The competition is so fierce; more than 92,000 people are on the nation's transplant list.

But a growing number of Americans are responding to the need by becoming living donors. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen take a look in her special "CNN PRESENTS: BODY PARTS", and she's here with a preview.

Fascinating because we usually hear about the recipients but not the donors themselves.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Usually you hear about how the recipients do after surgery. What we look at is how the donors do.

We also just look at the plain fact that most people think that organs usually come from cadavers. What a lot of people don't know is that these days, nearly half of all organs come from people who are alive, not dead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all take a moment now to extend our hand towards our sister Kathleen.

LIN (voice-over): In the depths of winter, a woman prays. In the midst of summer, her prayers are finally answered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lord, we ask you to be with her every day of her life. But most especially this Tuesday.

LIN: Tuesday is the day Kathleen Sampson has been praying for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You might feel a warm sensation going up your arm.

LIN: After months of testing, she's giving her kidney to someone who would die without it, someone she's never met. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

KATHLEEN SAMPSON, KIDNEY DONOR: Basically, here's my kidney, do with it whatever's best. Give it to the best person. And this is just something that I want to do, and I'm hoping that it will have great results.

COHEN: She's not alone. There are 78,000 living donors and nearly 400 of them are like Kathleen...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

COHEN: ... giving to complete and total strangers.

DR. ROBERT MONTGOMERY, TRANSPLANT SURGEON: They realize that, hey, I've got two kidneys. And really my body will function perfectly well with one kidney.

COHEN: Dr. Robert Montgomery will be performing her surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

Kathleen's son, Connor, died several years ago when he was 5. Connor died at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Kathleen is now here to give life where she lost it.

Thousands of people would love to get Kathleen's kidney. Some are so desperate they beg on web sites. This huge demand has some people worried. In the rush to help those who need organs, will doctors be too quick to take them from generous people like Kathleen?

Our investigation found that surgeons have approved donors who some believe were highly questionable: children as young as 10, drug addicts, even people who were mentally ill.

ART CAPLAN, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I've seen anorexics give organ. I have seen people who are clearly depressed give organs. I've seen people come who have been accepted at programs who are morbidly obese. I've seen people come to programs who have had a long history drug and alcohol abuse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: In our special this weekend, we'll find out who gets Kathleen's kidney and how both of them fare after the surgeries.

LIN: What was your reaction when you heard that total strangers would be willing to give up one of their organs?

COHEN: I have to say that I wasn't really aware that people give organs to total strangers. We've all heard about people giving an organ to a spouse or to a child or to a sibling. But there are people like Kathleen -- there have been about 400 of them -- who just go to a hospital or go on the Internet sometimes and say, "I have a kidney I'd like to give to someone who needs it, who would like to take it."

And there's a lot of controversy. Some hospitals will not take these donors, because that it's not really clear what the motivation is. They're afraid maybe they really do want money and might hound someone later on. But some hospitals just say thanks but no thanks.

LIN: Even though it could save a life?

COHEN: Yes, but there are also all sorts of ethical issues you're getting into when you do that.

LIN: Fascinating. I know you've been working on this a long time. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

COHEN: Thanks.

LIN: Elizabeth Cohen. This weekend, "CNN PRESENTS" investigates the ethical issues and challenges surrounding living organ donors. "CNN PRESENTS: BODY PARTS", Saturday and Sunday at 8 and 11 p.m. Eastern.

Five years of trying countless hours of studying and finally it pays off for a New Jersey eighth grader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAIRE OCHSE, FRIEND OF KATHARINE CLOSE: This is so exciting. She finally did it. Oh my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: And her friends are spellbound. Stick around. We're hanging on every word.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It was a close one but in end, Close won. That would be Katharine Close from Spring Lake, New Jersey. At the end of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, she alone remained unstung and unfazed by some dizzying words to claim the crown.

The unflappable eighth grader correctly spelled a German word that refers to a parent language.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHARINE CLOSE, SPELLING BEE CHAMPION: Ursprache. U-r-s-p-r-a- c-h-e. Ursprache.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: You might say, Katharine's cronies are now consumed in a veritable fusillade of exuberance over their hamlet's distinguished denizen. In other words, her friends are totally thrilled.

David Greenbaum with our affiliate, News12 New Jersey. He spent a memorable evening in Spring Lake. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID GREENBAUM, NEWS 12 CORRESPONDENT: The hometown crowd cheers on their hometown hero, 13-year-old Kerry Close, in her fifth and final trip to the National Spelling Bee.

OCHSE: Really exciting and like, it's almost surreal kind of, because like my friend's, like, on TV. It's a little, like, out there at first.

CATHERINE SCRIBNER, FRIEND OF KATHARINE CLOSE: It's like, extraordinary. It's like we're all so proud of Kerry for being -- getting this far. Like, it's really, really great.

GREENBAUM: The words competitors face are tough, such neruse (ph) and nithrium (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... I-U-M, nithrium (ph).

SAMANTHA BAILEY, FRIEND OF KATHARINE CLOSE: I probably couldn't spell any them if I had to.

GREENBAUM: But every time Carrie comes up, her friends huddle up.

CLOSE: T-o-w-h-e-e, towhee.

AMY AGOLIATI, FRIEND OF KATHARINE CLOSE: I was nervous. It must be really scary up there.

GREENBAUM: And after round, after grueling round, for Carrie, it all came down to one word to win it all, ursprache.

CLOSE: U-r-s-p-r-a-c-h-e. Ursprache.

BAILEY: It's so exciting. I can't even say anything. I'm so excited. She like won it, finally.

OCHSE: This is so exciting. She finally did it. Oh, my God.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That is so cool to see those kids so excited.

All right, we can spell j-o-b. That's on the minds of the folks on Wall Street. Susan Lisovicz standing by there.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and this jobs report really hasn't had a big impact on trading here today, Carol.

Employers added just 75,000 new jobs last month. That's nearly 100,000 fewer than expected and the smallest gains since October when hiring practically stalled out in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Job creation numbers in March and April were also revised downward. A separate report, though, showed the unemployment rate dipped to 4.6 percent, and that's the lowest level in nearly five years.

Meanwhile, average hourly earnings, which is a key inflation gauge, rose by less than expected. This the final employment report before the next Federal Reserve meeting at the end of the month -- Carol.

LIN: Susan, so how much weight does this report carry when the Fed makes its decision on interest rates?

LISOVICZ: It's a big one, there's now question about it. The problem is Carol, we have weeks to go yet before the Fed makes that decision. We still have personal income, consumer -- wholesale prices and consumer prices, for instance, would be some other big reports before the next decision.

And when the minutes from last Fed meeting were released earlier this week, they showed that policymakers would be looking very closely at economic data between then and next meeting to make their decision.

Since the last meeting, we've seen several indications of a slowing economy, including the first drop in construction spending in 10 months and a loss of momentum in the manufacturing sector.

The jobs report will definitely factor into the decision on interest rates, but for now, it just increases the ambiguity about what happens next. If the Fed decides that inflation pressures are under control, it could mean a pause in the nearly two years' string of interest rate hikes -- Carol.

LIN: So how is the market reacting today, then?

(STOCK REPORT)

LIN: Susan, thank you.

Next on LIVE FROM, police launch a manhunt for this man you're about it see and try to unravel a mass killing in the Midwest. This story straight ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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