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Iran: No Deal?; Military Incidents in Iraq Justified?; New York City, Washington, D.C., Targeted for Security Budget Cuts
Aired June 02, 2006 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We're following developing news out of Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is vowing that his country will not abandon its nuclear ambitions despite pressure from the United Nations Security Council.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House with reaction as Ahmadinejad reiterates position -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the White House is making it very clear that it's in Iran's hands now whether or not it abandons its nuclear ambitions or whether or not it faces sanctions from the U.N. Security Council. Quite a bit of confidence from Bush administration officials, who feel that they have gotten assurances from Russia and China, those members who were reluctant to sanction Iran, that if Iran does not comply that they are now on board, that they will go ahead and do so.
They're also making it very clear as well that what is not negotiable here is that Iran has to suspend its activities that the United States believes is associated with developing a nuclear weapon before the U.S. is going to sit down with talks with Iran. That is something that Tony Snow, White House press secretary, emphasized. And also, he emphasized as well downplaying what we're hearing from Iranian officials, including the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, outright rejecting these conditions.
Tony Snow saying earlier today that, look, what we're going to do is give them time, basically kind of ignoring these comments, saying that they will get this deal, this package deal of carrots and sticks over the weekend. They'll be given a couple of weeks to take a look at it, and then that's when they feel they'll have serious negotiations -- Carol.
LIN: So where does the United States go from here, then, Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Well, this is certainly a waiting game at this point. And it's very interesting, because on the one hand they're saying, well, let's wait and see what Iran has to say. On the other hand, this is no surprise that the Iranians have rejected this deal.
They have always said we are not going to be meeting conditions for talks in the first place. We believe that we have a right to produce this nuclear energy. We're not going to stop that.
So it's all part of the political calculus here. A lot of administration officials believe it would never even get to that point, that they would always reject this deal. And that's why it's so important that Russia and China actually have decided to sign on to some of those sanctions, or at least definitely leaning that way -- Carol.
LIN: So is it too early to say in terms of whether the president would then go directly to Russia and China and say, is there a Plan B? Can they have two partners that Iran respects and does business with intervene and say, look, look at the deal, Iran?
MALVEAUX: Well, certainly the next step, if Iran outright rejects us, is that they would go to the U.N. Security Council and simply say, look, Russia, China, you at least agreed not to veto these sanctions. Perhaps you won't vote to endorse the sanctions, but at least you're not going to veto as a permanent member. They have that right to do so. Then as a full body we can go ahead and sanction Iran, and that's the next step they would have to take.
LIN: All right. Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House.
Thank you very much.
The Pentagon in full investigation mode, times three. Three separate military incidents in Iraq, all of them deadly and all of them involving Iraqi civilian fatalities. The question, were those killings justified?
Well, one of them is now familiar, Haditha, the alleged massacre of 24 unarmed people and an alleged cover-up. Now there's Ishaqi, a firefight that happened back in March. U.S. troops searching for militants say civilians got caught in the crossfire, but witnesses tell a very different story.
And there's a probe into what happened in Hamandiya. An Iraqi man shot and killed. Eight U.S. servicemen face possible charges in the death and reported attempt to cover it up.
CNN's Kathleen Koch joins me now from the Pentagon -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, let's first talk about the incident in March in Ishaqi. In a U.S.-led raid in a suspected terrorist hideout, the U.S. military says that four people were killed, one of them an insurgent. However, the military began an investigation when locals insisted that, no, indeed, 11 civilians were killed. The BBC began airing aftermath video yesterday that was provided by a Sunni political group that the network says shows dead bodies with gunshot wounds.
Now, as you'll recall, after the Haditha incident, troops in Iraq are now being required to take special core values training to prevent civilians from being injured. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who's traveling in Singapore, was asked today how it could be, in particular, in the Haditha incident, that U.S. Marines could have possibly harmed innocent civilians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: They're trained not to, and I don't know that they did in this instance. The investigation is under way. And I'm in the chain of command, and anything I say can conceivably be misconstrued in the press in a way that would be characterized as command influence and adversely affect the case from any direction. And I simply am not going to talk about it anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, on the Haditha investigation, a senior U.S. military official with knowledge of the investigation does say that right now they're in the middle of interviewing witnesses. The source also said that investigators are doing their best to try to persuade families to allow them to exhume some of the 24 bodies in order to gather forensic evidence, but that so far the families are refusing. And that military source also does say it will be about another six to eight weeks, Carol, before that investigation, the criminal investigation is wrapped up.
LIN: All right. Kathleen, thank you very much.
Now, investigators are also looking into what happened in Ishaqi, the city near Balad, in April. Now, there are two versions of the story there, both tragic and both describing civilian deaths. But they're so different. Both can't be true.
CNN's John Vause is in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): No one doubts that on March 15, innocent civilians died in this farmhouse in the town of Ishaqi. But there is not agreement on how they were killed or even how many were killed.
Iraqi police citing witness accounts say 11 people, all from the one family, including women and children, were shot dead. And these bullet casings, they say, could have only come from the U.S. military.
Iraqi police say they were told again by witnesses that the family was kept in one room for an hour before being shot dead by U.S. forces. A resident who did not want to be identified was interviewed on the day and made similar accusations.
"Children were stuck in the room alone surrounded," he said. "After they handcuffed them, they shot them dead. Later, they struck the house with their planes. They wanted to hide the evidence."
And from the brother of one of the victims, no doubt about who is to blame. "He and his 11 family members were shot dead by U.S. troops at 2:30 in the morning," he said. "Then the house was blown up by aircraft and artillery."
But at the time, U.S. officials gave a very different account, claiming an insurgent with suspected ties to al Qaeda was inside the house. There was a firefight. An air strike was called in, the building destroyed, and four people, three of them civilians, were killed.
On the day, this is how CNN's Arwa Damon reported the story...
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It started out as a straightforward mission to route out foreign fighters. But military success came at a terrible human price.
VAUSE: The U.S. military confirms this and other incidents involving the deaths of civilians are being investigated.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: I would have to get exact number, but I know there's about at least three or four going on at this time.
VAUSE (on camera): What may or may not have happened at Ishaqi remains unclear, but it adds to a growing perception here that civilians are increasingly targeted. And the Iraqi prime minister says that may play a role in any decision on how long U.S. forces are asked to stay.
John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: A major city and its worst mass murder in decades. Police in Indianapolis say they want this man. He is 28-year-old Desmond Turner, one of four -- up to four suspects. They say Turner had lived in the area.
There were seven victims, all shot dead, all related. All were Hispanic. Three of them children. Reports from Indianapolis suggest robbery may have been the motive.
You'll be back. That's the promise Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is making to the California National Guard troops now that he's agreed to spend them to the U.S.-Mexico border. Back when President Bush first proposed having Guard members help Border Patrol agents, Schwarzenegger was skeptical, but now he's giving his reluctant consent to the plan, but he's setting a time limit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Most importantly, regardless of whether Congress provides the 6,000 additional Border Patrol officers that the president wanted, the California National Guard will end its border mission no later than December 31 of 2008.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Well, Governor Schwarzenegger says he's going to pull the troops out even earlier if they're used in any other role other than a support role.
So how is this for reality TV? In a new plan aimed at fighting illegal immigration, Texas Governor Rick Perry wants to put surveillance cameras on private ranches along his state's border with Mexico. It wouldn't just be law enforcement officers watching. Perry says citizens could watch, too, on the Internet. Texas has the longest border with Mexico of any U.S. state, and Perry says setting up the video system will cost $5 million.
Well, since the 9/11 attacks, New York has received more homeland security money than any other city. But is it time for New Yorkers to start sharing the wealth? A look at the controversy when LIVE FROM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: New York and Washington were the primary targets of 9/11. Well, now they're being targeted for budget cuts by the Department of Homeland Security. Now, critics say that's just not right.
CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken is on the "Security Watch."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The measure of protection for a community is not driven just by whether that community's politicians control the spending of money.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The political leaders of Washington, and particularly New York, are contemplating whatever pressure they can exert to reverse 40 percent cuts in anti-terrorism funds. What's perhaps most troubling to many New Yorkers was the conclusion by Homeland Security that the city had no national monuments or icons to protect.
REP. CAROL MALONEY (D), NEW YORK: I mean, have they been to Wall Street? Have they been to the financial district? Have they been to the -- all the important museums and national icons that we have in our city.
FRANKEN: Federal funds for the two September 11th targets, New York and Washington, are being cut back this year in favor of smaller cities.
CHERTOFF: Some communities are operating from the low level of preparedness. Those deserve extra weight.
FRANKEN: Communities like Omaha, Charlotte, Louisville and Orlando, which has a few icons of its own, that complained they've been overlooked until now.
SHERIFF KEVIN BEARY, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I'm sure glad to be one of the 46 groups that got it. So, show me the money.
FRANKEN: But the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is irate. Peter King, of New York, says he'll try and make someone very sorry.
CHERTOFF: I hope that we don't confuse disappointment with grants with a desire to exact retribution. FRANKEN (on camera): Attacks can happen, says Chertoff, not just in Washington or New York. But that is where he has to worry about that retribution.
Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Now, first lady Laura Bush represents the U.S. at an international conference on AIDS. Mrs. Bush was ushered into the U.N. General Assembly, where she addressed the finale of a three-day session on AIDS. She said prevented the spread of the killer disease AIDS begins with education.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: All people need to know how AIDS is transmitted. And every country has an obligation to educate its citizens. This is why every country must also improve literacy, especially for women and girls, so that they can make wise choices that will keep them healthy and safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Mrs. Bush said the United States is filling a commitment it made for a five-year plan to combat AIDS in 120 nations around the world.
All right. Mourning a loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not something that I ever thought would happen, but it did. It did, and it's the worst thing imaginable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: The American soldier killed alongside a CBS crew in Iraq, his wife, his family remembers.
That's coming up on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Holy comic book twist! Batman is coming out -- Batwoman is coming out, way out. CNN's Jeanne Moos made the most of it for "THE SITUATION ROOM".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Why come out of the closet when you can come out of the Bat Cave? No, it is not Batman who's coming out.
(on camera): This is the new, gay Batwoman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK, heavens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New gay Bat -- that's nice. I guess they've got to have a Batwoman too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She looks hot. Good luck to her.
MOOS (voice-over): D.C. Comics is reintroducing Batwoman. She's been out of circulation since the late '70s.
DAN DIDIO, EXECUTIVE DIR., DC COMICS: This isn't about a lesbian superhero. It is about a character who is a superhero who also happens to be gay.
MOOS: The comic book world has gone multicultural, adding superheroes who are Hispanic, African-American, Asian. And now gay Batwoman is due out in July, a far cry from the Batwoman of the '50s who looked more like a Playboy bunny and carried a purse while she fought crime. It reminds us of another pocketbook-carrying character some assumed to be gay.
The old Batwoman had the hots for Batman. "If only he knew I'm Batwoman."
The new Batwoman, on the other hand, has an ex who was a female detective.
(on camera): Are we going to see any steamy Batwoman sex?
DIDIO: These are comics for all ages, and that's not really something we do.
MOOS (voice-over): Though you can expect to see Batwoman kiss another woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's a little too feminine to be gay.
MOOS (on camera): She's pretty hot, though, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not into gays, frankly, period.
MOOS: No, but I mean, just...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't care. Don't care.
MOOS (voice-over): Sock. Pow. That was blunt.
What do gay activists think?
ALAN VAN CAPELLE, EXEC. DIR., EMPIRE STATE PRIDE AGENDA: Congratulations to D.C. Comics for doing a great thing.
MOOS: D.C. Comics say they have been getting lots of emails, split 50-50, pro and con. It's the comic book culture war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't stop someone being themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I know, but see, there's a purpose for all of us...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I know...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God had a purpose.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe in Jesus Christ myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you can't go -- when you go against...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe in Jesus Christ myself.
MOOS: Some prefer their superheroes' sexuality to remain a mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, because Catwoman, you always had that hint, what's going on with her? Is she into women? Is she into boys? Does she just love herself?
MOOS: The folks at D.C. Comics -- maybe they should change it to AC/DC -- say Batwoman won't be all the way out.
DIDIO: She doesn't tell her family about her sexual orientation.
MOOS: What's wrong, Batwoman?
HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: Cat got your tongue?
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: If you've ever offered anyone a penny for their thoughts, it may soon get a lot harder to pay up on that offer.
Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange to explain.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
LIN: Coming up, we're going to take you inside a Palestinian rocket factory. Masked militants building rockets to fire at Israel. It's a story you'll only see on CNN.
Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: It happens virtually every day, even days when the Middle East seems relatively peaceful, Palestinian militants trade rocket fire with the Israeli military.
Our Ben Wedeman recently got unprecedented access to a hidden rocket factory. He saw firsthand how one Palestinian group built its crude weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a nondescript hovel somewhere in Gaza, masked men mix a witches' brew of chemicals. This is a rocket workshop, where members of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, under strict secrecy, go about their deadly business.
To get to the workshop, we changed cars three times, riding in one with the group's gunman. We were blindfolded in the last one.
The chief engineer, masked to protect his identity, goes by the name of Ahmed.
With chilling professionalism, he explains how they melt aluminum to make the rocket's components; how they mix the toxic ingredients for the propellant in this basin. "One of our guys was killed by these chemicals," he says.
The mixture is then put in plastic tubs to dry in the sun. Eventually, it becomes a fine white powder. "Abu Ahmed" declines to say what they use to make the propellant "because the enemy is always on the lookout to stop us getting the materials," he tells me.
The powder is heated and stirred over a fire until it turns into a gritty paste.
(on camera): The group says they can make as many as 50 rockets a week and ironically almost all of the raw materials they use come from Israel.
(voice-over): For extra lethal effect, they pack parcels of metal shards into the warhead. One of these rockets recently crashed into a school classroom in the Israeli town of Sderot. It would have resulted in a massacre had the students been in the room at the time.
These are crude weapons, without guidance systems, designed to inflict maximum casualties. Fired on a daily basis, they don't differentiate between soldier and civilian.
The Israeli Army says Palestinian groups have fired more than 5,000 rockets in the last six years, killing 13 civilians and two soldiers in the past two years.
In a nearby grove, the rocket unit's leader, Halled Jabadi (ph), brushed off the savagery of targeting innocent civilians. "We will rain down more rockets on the Israelis," he vows, "until they pressure their government to leave our land." The Israeli Army regularly bombards areas from where the rockets are fired, hitting northern Gaza, with more than 5,000 rounds so far this year. At least six Palestinians have been killed by the shelling, according to Palestinian medical sources.
Both sides are paying a high price for this rain of rockets.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza. (END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUMSFELD: We know that 99.9 percent of our forces conduct themselves in an exemplary manner, and we also know that in conflicts, things that shouldn't happen do happen. In this instance, there's an investigation with respect to what took place, and we'll soon know the answers. There's an investigation with respect to what took place thereafter, and we'll soon know the answers. And my impression is that the Marines Corps is handling it well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: That was Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the alleged unlawful killings in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November. Now, witnesses and survivors say 24 unarmed civilians were gunned down by rampaging marines, upset that a fellow marine had been killed in a car bombing.
Now, the official military report of that incident paints a different picture. The Pentagon promises a full public report after its investigation is complete.
Now, the Haditha incident isn't the only allegation of troop misconduct under investigation. Another occurred in Ishaqi, Iraq. Several civilians died there in a U.S. raid back in March. Iraqi police report 11. Well, the U.S. reports only four, including a suspected al Qaeda operative. Many other key details differ, as well.
And another incident happened in Hamandiya, west of Baghdad. An Iraqi man was shot dead by U.S. marines who could be charged with murder. Investigators are also checking reports that they had planted a weapon to make it seem like the man was armed.
OK, so we've heard today about three probes into alleged wartime misconduct in Iraq. Joining me from Washington now is a man who knows how the military investigates such incidents, Attorney Hardy Vieux, a former defense counsel in the Navy's JAG Corps.
Hardy, welcome.
HARDY VIEUX, FMR. U.S. NAVY JAG OFFICER: Good afternoon, Carol.
LIN: So let's begin with the broader picture. Why do you think so many incidents, three now, have suddenly cropped up?
VIEUX: Well, it seems to me like the combat stress is something that needs to be factored into -- in this situation. These men and women are under a lot of pressure, under a lot of stress. They're continually attacked by insurgents. And they just don't know who is friend or foe. So that really puts them on edge, and it really colors their perception of things.
LIN: So how does the military go in and investigate? I mean, you see, you know, crime scene investigators in the United States, and they go out, they gather physical evidence, they talk to witnesses. Can that sort of thing be done in a place like Iraq?
VIEUX: Yes, it can be done, and it is being done. In fact, the Navy has what's called the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and they also -- these are professional investigators that investigate alleged crimes in the Marine Corps and in the Navy. And there are -- these investigative professionals are stationed on bases throughout the world. So they're on -- they're there already, investigating the situations. And they would do it just like they would do any other law enforcement investigation here stateside.
LIN: But they're members of the military, right?
VIEUX: Most of these are -- no, they're civilians.
LIN: They are civilians. So when they go into, say, a place like Haditha and they're interviewing witnesses, doesn't the mere fact that they, in some form, represent the U.S. government, doesn't that hamper their investigation?
VIEUX: Well, it certainly does. I imagine that there are a lot of witnesses who would not at all feel free to speak to the NCIS. But nevertheless, that's a problem that they face all of the time, and they know how to address. They're going to have language issues to deal with. Certainly, in terms of the time that has passed, they have to contend with that as well. But they're professionals. They know how to do this. And the defense attorneys are going to get their opportunity as well to do a thorough investigation to ascertain what exactly occurred.
LIN: How do you thoroughly investigate something that happened back in November or even March?
VIEUX: Well, that's certainly going to be an issue here. I mean, I'd rather be on the defense side of this one. Because the passage of time is going to really hamper the investigative process from the prosecution's point of view. Witnesses may have forgotten things, people are reluctant to speak. Just the facts are not easily ascertainable when so many months have passed and possibly a cover-up has taken place, as well.
LIN: And you have the Iraqi prime minister speaking out, saying that he -- the government wants military files in Haditha. They want to conduct their own investigation. So how is that going to be reconciled?
VIEUX: Well, that's going to be handled at a higher up political level. There are a lot of people who are speaking on this matter: members of Congress, the president, what have you. So you have this issue of unlawful command influence. That is, are the statements made by these high-ranking superiors going to possibly influence the way a jury decides this issue? And that's something that everyone needs to...
LIN: But which jury? I mean, a military jury or an Iraqi jury? I mean, is it conceivable that a U.S. Marine could be jailed right next to Saddam Hussein? VIEUX: No. It's probably going to be a military jury. This is going to take place within the court-martial setting.
LIN: But does Iraq have the legal authority to question a U.S. marine and conduct its own criminal investigation and file charges?
VIEUX: Not that I'm aware of, not with respect to the filing charges. Oftentimes, there's a standard of forces agreement in place that allows a service member, American service member, to be not turned over to a foreign host government. But I'm not sure that there is such a SOFA, as we call it, in place here. So it would be a court- martial investigation run and managed by the United States force.
LIN: So much unknown, you know...
VIEUX: Most...
LIN: ... as this government forms.
VIEUX: Most certainly.
LIN: Hardy Vieux, thank you very much.
VIEUX: Thank you, Carol.
LIN: Coming up on LIVE FROM, a difficult past, but hopes for future. From Kenya to Houston, from birth to age four. The long journey of Daniel Wachira (ph). You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: We tell you all the time about American servicemen and women killed in the war. They become a statistic. But behind every number, a person and loved ones left behind. Today the story of one such soldier.
Here's Carol Costello.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER, HUSBAND KILLED IN IRAQ: It's not something that I ever thought would happen, but it did. It did, and it's the worst thing imaginable.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The worst thing imaginable. It's happened so many times. This time, it's the family of Army Captain James Funkhouser Jr. mourning the loss.
JAMES FUNKHOUSER SR., SON KILLED IN IRAQ: Even knowing that he died doing what he loved to do and what he wanted to do, it doesn't take away the pain.
COSTELLO: On Monday, the 35-year-old Army captain was securing a location in Baghdad just across the river from the Green Zone. With them, a CBS news crew. Then it happened. A car bomb exploded. The blast killed Funkhouser, his Iraqi interpreter and two members of the CBS news crew.
Back home in Killeen, Texas, Funkhouser's wife, Jennifer, got the news, in the kind of scene played out more than 2,000 times over the past three years.
JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: I had two army officers come to my front door, and I thought it was a Memorial Day, they were handing out pamphlets, passing out information about soldiers. I opened the door, and I took one look at the major who was there, and you could tell his eyes were red, and he was trembling. It was hard for him to even speak. And I knew -- I just said, I just talked to him yesterday.
COSTELLO: Funkhouser had been in Iraq since December. His wife and family called him Alex. He was the father of two young girls, and the couple had just celebrated their sixth anniversary.
JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: He always thought about me. He would write me all the time. This is Valentine's Day, and we just had our wedding anniversary a little over a week ago and he sent me flowers. And I haven't been able to throw them away yet. A T-shirt I was going to send to him for Father's Day. Big Texas man. Little Texas humor.
COSTELLO: Funkhouser was third generation military. His father and grandfather before him, James Sr., spent 31 years in the service.
JAMES FUNKHOUSER: When you lose a child it's always painful. And when you lose your only child, it is especially painful.
JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: I just want his name out there. You know? he was -- he was wonderful. He was a great soldier, a great guy, a great father, a great husband.
COSTELLO: But the attention given to tragedy involving the CBS news crew and her husband is somehow bittersweet, because so many others die in relative anonymity.
JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: All of these soldiers that are injured -- my husband had a lot of soldiers that were injured with him. They all have names. They all have stories. They're people. They're not just a soldier. They have a life. They have a family, a family that mourns them, a family that hurts. Everyone needs to know.
COSTELLO: Jennifer says her husband was proud of what he was doing in Iraq, and now she will carry on.
JENNIFER FUNKHOUSER: I'm a strong army wife. My husband trained me to be one. I knew that I was marrying a soldier for life and death. This is part of it.
Carl Costello, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: James Funkhouser, Jr. will be buried with military honors in San Antonio, Texas. His father says Alex didn't like tears, so they're going to celebrating his son's life with stories and songs. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Here's how life began for one Kenyan boy. Daniel Wachira was dumped in a pile of trash and attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Fast forward four years. Today, Daniel Wachira is resting in a Houston children's hospital after the first in a series of surgeries that are meant to make his face whole again.
Here's Daniel's story from Jeremy Desel of CNN affiliate KHOU.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DESEL, KHOU REPORTER (voice-over): From the right, he looks like any other 4-year-old. From the left, life's scars can't begin to describe his journey. To describe Daniel now, happy is an understatement.
(SINGING)
DESEL: The tune is familiar, the language Swahili, Daniel's second language. He knows where he is.
(on camera): Where's Houston?
DANIEL WACHIRA: Right there.
DESEL: Right here?
WACHIRA: Yes.
DESEL (voice-over): But he's not exactly sure what's going to happen. Larry Jones knows exactly.
LARRY JONES, FEED THE CHILDREN: I'm going to cut my fingernails real close tonight so that tomorrow I won't be biting them.
DESEL: In an 11-hour procedure, doctors are taking a rib from Daniel and using it to rebuild his jaw, muscle from his shoulder for a cheek, and skin from his back to cover his new face.
Daniel is used to the hospital. He nearly died hours after birth, abandoned in a Nairobi, Kenya garbage dump and attacked by wild dogs that did damage to his face and legs. He's here in the care of founders of Feed of Children, Larry and Frances Jones.
JONES: We've come to just really love this little boy, and at the same time, the procedures, even though they're going to be great, they're going to help him, I can only imagine what that little body is going to go through.
DESEL: This hospital stay will be seven to 10 days. At least three other major surgeries will happen before Daniel is an adult.
JONES: When you see the worth of one child and spend quality time with that child, something happens within the human heart, that bonding that only can take place when, as the saying goes, a little child shall lead them.
DESEL: Leading by example. Happy in the face of the biggest adversity.
JONES: Very, very nice. Hay, Daniel. Clapping for Daniel. That's good. That's good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: In our next hour, we hope to hear an update on Daniel's condition from Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. We'll bring it to you.
Now, straight ahead on LIVE FROM, a movie title right out of the tabloids. Do behind the scenes sparks translate into on screen fire? Jen and Vince's romantic adventure, ahead on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: First "The Da Vinci Code" and now this.
(SINGING)
You're listening to the Missionary Men, the Christian based, hip- hop group is a popular feature at something called the Hip Hope Mass at Trinity Episcopal in the South Bronx, the cradle of hip hop. The liturgy is based on the Book of Common Prayer, but aimed at a more youthful crowd. For example, here's the updated 23rd Psalm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REVEREND TIM HOLDER, BRONX TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH: The fact that you have me covered allows me to chill. You provide me with backdrop in front of my player-haters and I know I'm a baller and life will be phat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: I wonder if they call the late Jay-Z the Fresh Prince of Nazareth. But, check it out. The services have drawn as many as 15,000 worshipers.
Well, ever since Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie welcomed baby Shiloh into the world, the question hangs in the air, what about Jen? You tabloid readers know what I'm talking about. And a lot of you will head to the theaters this weekend to see if there's any heat between Pitt's ex, Jennifer Aniston and co-star, Vince Vaughn, in "The Breakup." Oh, the irony.
Sibila Vargas reports.
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SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taylor and Burton did it in "Cleopatra." Cruise and Kidman in "Days of Thunder" and Jolie and Pitt in "Mr. And Mrs. Smith." They fell in love. Coincidentally the latest Hollywood power pair to reportedly go from scripted romance to the real thing is Pitt's ex-wife Jennifer Aniston and her co-star Vince Vaughn.
MIKE FLEEMAN, "PEOPLE MAGAZINE": Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn clearly are very much in love. It's very much a relationship.
VARGAS: According to "People Magazine's" Mike Fleeman, the relationship was born on set.
FLEEMAN: Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston really had not met before the making of "The Breakup." And, Vince Vaughn said when he was thinking about the story, he was thinking about Jennifer Aniston, even though he didn't know her.
VINCE VAUGHN, ACTOR: It just was one of those things that luckily we had great chemistry.
VARGAS: Chemistry while filming "The Breakup," shot ironically on the heels of Anniston's very public real life breakup with Brad Pitt.
JENNIFER ANISTON, ACTRESS: It doesn't tickle, to get brought up, a breakup. I wouldn't trade any of it. I think they're all, nothing that doesn't kill you, it will always make you stronger.
VARGAS: Aniston and Vaughn have yet to confirm their romance publicly, even arriving to the premier separately.
FLEEMAN: Jennifer Aniston has tried to put the lid on the relationship, this one, and her marriage with Brad Pitt.
VARGAS: Efforts often undermined by seemingly excessive tabloid coverage.
VAUGHN: Truthfully, for me, I find it a bit ridiculous. Not that it makes me angry. I just think it's kind of silly. You know, it's almost like high school gossip.
ANISTON: That's the sad thing is that everybody is really happy and everyone's doing really well, so why they're still trying to create this soap opera-type, you know, stuff, but I guess they have to sell their magazines, you know.
VARGAS: Whether it's magazines or movie tickets being sold, soon "The Breakup" will be part of Hollywood history. Fans have to wait and see if the same fate is in store for their stars.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: More news and showbiz in the next hour of LIVE FROM. My personal interview with actor Paul Newman. So, stay tuned for that, first film in four years.
In the meantime more firefighters are being deployed to battle 1,500-acre wildfire near Seaborne, Arizona. People living in 30 homes near the blaze had to evacuate. Four buildings have been destroyed, and investigators think the fire was started accidentally by workers for a fencing company. The forest service says the company might have to pay some of the costs of battling that blaze.
So, is there any relief in site? Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf joins us with the forecast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LIN: The third hour of LIVE FROM, straight ahead.
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VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hurricane season has started and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts this year may be as active as last. You can get the details at CNN.com.
NOAA says their could be 13 to 16 named storms in the Atlantic, four to six could be major hurricanes. A major hurricane is defined as a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from 1 to 5. Our online gallery highlights the kind of damage that can be expected with different category storms.
Last year there major storms hit the U.S., and early preparation is key for your safety. These evacuation tips can help you begin your planning. Don't forget, 2005 broke the official record for most named storms in a single season.
You can check out our online special at CNN.com/hurricanes.
I'm Veronica De La Cruz for the Dot Com Desk.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: American troops in Iraq under stress, and afraid for their lives, and often watching their comrades die right in front of them. Factors a U.S. General says could trigger a rare case of misconduct on the battlefield.
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