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Crimes of War?; College Students Selling Eggs For Profit; Wave of Knife Violence Shocks Britain
Aired June 02, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
Well, the Pentagon is dealing with at least three possible cases today. The most publicized occurred in Haditha. That's where 24 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, were killed in November. Now, witnesses say U.S. Marines rampaged after a fellow Marine was killed in a roadside bombing.
Now, in Hamandiyah, U.S. Marines are accused of killing an unarmed man and planting a weapon on him.
Another violent and tragic event, this one in March, also resulted in the deaths of Iraqi civilians. Again, there is a dispute over what happened.
CNN's John Vause is in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraqi police tell CNN that U.S. soldiers shot and killed five children, four women and two men in the village of Abu Seffa (ph) in the town of Ishaqi on March 15.
According to Iraqi police, witnesses told them that 11 members of this family were kept in a room inside their home for about an hour, before being shot and killed. After the shooting, Iraqi police say they found bullet casings, the kind only used by U.S. soldiers on Iraq.
At the time of this incident, back on March 15, U.S. authorities gave a very different account. They claim an al Qaeda operative may have been inside the home. When U.S. forces arrived, a firefight broke out. Four people were killed, including a number of civilians.
Today, the U.S. military would only say an investigation is ongoing. Meantime, the Iraqi prime minister has accused coalition forces, including U.S. forces, of daily violence against Iraqi civilians. He said -- quote -- "They crush them with their vehicles and they kill them just on suspicion," and added, "this is completely unacceptable."
He also said violence against Iraqi civilians may play a role in determining how long U.S. forces are asked to stay in Iraq. The Iraqi government has launched its own investigation into the alleged massacre at Haditha. The Iraqi prime minister is now asking U.S. authorities to hand over the investigation file into the alleged massacre at Haditha.
Also today, "The Washington Post" reporting a number of bodies of those killed at Haditha may be exhumed to recover forensic evidence, the type of bullets that were used, the angle of the shots, and at what range they were fired.
John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Core values training for troops, a fallout from Haditha, well, it sounds like a good idea, but there are concerns about how effective it can be.
CNN's Brian Todd investigated for "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): As they try to piece together what happened at Haditha, U.S. military officials say they're determined not to let it happen again, announcing a new program, what they call core warrior values training.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTINATIONAL FORCES-IRAQ SPOKESMAN: A legal, moral and ethical standards that every military member should be adhering to on the battlefield.
TODD: But from Iraq to Vietnam, combat veterans we spoke to say Marines and soldiers have already gotten training in ethics and morality on the battlefield, and they have strong opinions on how this new program might work in situations like Haditha.
GARETT REPPENHAGEN, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: This ethical training that they're talking about right now is a temporary Band-Aid.
TODD: Garett Reppenhagen was an Army sniper in Iraq. In battle zones like Baquba, he says, his unit was ambushed several times. He says he killed civilians he thought were targeting his unit, but turned out to be unarmed. And he says moral and ethical training often breaks down in battle.
REPPENHAGEN: You're dealing with guerrilla warfare in a heavily urbanized environment, where the combatants and the non-combatants are dressed the same way. You're being attacked by weapons with no distinguishable enemy.
TODD: In Vietnam, Rick Weidman served as an Army medic in the same division as Lieutenant William Calley, who was convicted of murder in the My Lai massacre. Soldiers, frustrated by the loss of five of their own, entered the village of My Lai and killed hundreds of civilians.
Weidman was not at My Lai, but his unit was booby trapped and ambushed repeatedly, with civilians often in the mix. Mention battlefield ethics to him, he recalls the time he worked on a Vietnamese girl of about 12, wounded by American troops. The girl, he says, had no nose left. He was furious with his unit.
RICK WEIDMAN, VIETNAM VETERAN: Until I found out that they had pulled her out from -- that she had opened up on our troops and killed four guys and wounded three others. So, who's the enemy?
TODD (on camera): But Weidman, Reppenhagen and other veterans we spoke to were quick to say none of that stress excuses the alleged conduct of the Marines at Haditha. They say, morality training can work, but only if it works hand in hand with the leadership of officers or combat team leaders in the field, who can pull their troops back from those situations.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Brian Todd is part of the team, the best team, covering the world for "THE SITUATION ROOM." Join Wolf Blitzer at 4:00 Eastern and again in prime time at 7:00 Eastern.
Well, hospital workers say CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier is off a respirator and breathing on her own and talking today. Dozier was seriously injured in a bomb blast in Iraq Monday. And doctors weren't sure she was going to make it. Now, Dozier's condition is still listed as critical, but stable, at the Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany. So, she is expected to return to the U.S. this weekend for more medical treatment.
Well, Dozier has been visiting with family and friends. And her mom talked about what it was like to see her daughter so critically injured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOROTHY DOZIER, MOTHER OF KIMBERLY DOZIER: I have had all kinds of rumors, watched the news that first day. But when I walked into the room and saw her, it really impacted what -- what that was all about and how closely we came to maybe losing her. I didn't at that point, until I actually saw her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: The injured CBS reporter now has a Purple Heart at her bedside. The network says it came from an American soldier who met Dozier in Iraq two years ago. He gave it to her brother to pass on.
And according to CBS, the soldier didn't want to be identified. He says Dozier has suffered as much as any soldier.
Well, a military jury handed down a sentence today for a dog handler involved in the prison abuse case in Iraq. Army Sergeant Santos Cardona will serve 90 days of hard labor for his mistreatment of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison. He's the 11th soldier convicted of crimes stemming from the scandal.
Iran will not be deprived -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is defiantly vowing that his country will not bow to Western pressure to give up its nuclear programs. Ahmadinejad did not directly mention the package of incentives agreed to on Thursday by members of the U.N. Security Council.
Now, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was at that meeting in Vienna. Now, the agreement urged Iran to suspend enriching uranium and return to the negotiating table on the issue of nuclear technology. Today, Ahmadinejad said, the reason of their opposition 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 the advanced technology.
Well, it looks like high-stakes nuclear chess with Iran, then. The U.S. and five other world powers hammered out the deal.
Our senior national correspondent, John Roberts, examines the Bush team strategy that put the burden on Iran. His report is from "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iran's rejection of the White House offer was not just expected; it was part of the plan. According to administration officials, the entire goal of this new overture was meant to heighten awareness of the world to Iran's intransigence.
KEN POLLACK, DIRECTOR, SABAN CENTER: In the eyes of Europe, China, Russia, and in many other countries, it is going to look like Iran is the problem, like Iran is the country that doesn't want to see a peaceful resolution of this process.
ROBERTS: What looks on the surface like a softening of the U.S. position, the offer of face-to-face talks, is actually just another play in the president's game of diplomat hardball, to force Iran to give up its nuclear program.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they choose not to suspend and verify, if they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world, we really don't care what your opinion is, then, the world is going to act in concert.
ROBERTS: The tricky part for the White House has been coming up with a set of punitive measures Russia and China could agree to. An oil export ban would have been the harshest, perhaps most effective, penalty. But sanctions expert Gary Hufbauer says, because of its effect on the global economy, that's off the table.
GARY HUFBAUER, INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: If you put sanctions on oil exports, I think the global pain is too great, given that we're already a little over $70 a barrel and people are already screaming at the pump. ROBERTS: Public agreement on punitive measures doesn't ensure they will actually pass the U.N. Security Council. And there's this question: Would anything short of sanctions against the oil industry have the teeth to bring Iran to the table?
Iraq endured 11 years of crushing sanctions over weapons it didn't even have. For Iran, nuclear muscle is a matter of national pride, their seal of status and power in the region, and one they'll not easily part with.
HUFBAUER: I'm sorry to say, but that's extremely popular throughout Iran, and even amongst Iranians that I have met in this country who do not like the regime, but they like the idea of a grander Iran.
ROBERTS (on camera): With his hands full in Iraq, President Bush is anxious to avoid military action against Iran. He is also just as concerned about what Israel might do. So, these next few weeks will be critical in determining whether this showdown continues along a peaceful track or escalates.
John Roberts, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: John Roberts is part of the team covering the world for "THE SITUATION ROOM." So, you can join Wolf at 4:00 Eastern and again in prime time, at 7:00.
Two families, two daughters, one surprise heartache and one shocking reason to celebrate -- now we learn more from a blog tracking this mistaken identity case -- more LIVE FROM next.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: An update now on the Indianapolis slayings -- as we have reported, seven family members gunned down in their home.
Standing by live with the latest, CNN's Jonathan Freed -- Jonathan.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Carol. That's right.
That's seven family members of one extended family. We're talking about four adults and three children. And just listen to the ages of the children. We are talking about a 5-year-old, an 11-year- old. And the other child is either 8 or 9 years old. Police could not confirm that for us yet.
Now, the children were all found in one bed. And police aren't saying anything beyond that, as to why they might have been in the bed. But that's where all three kids were discovered. The adults, though, were found scattered throughout the home. All of this happened last night at around 10:15 p.m. here at Indianapolis. Police were called here because there were reports of shots being fired inside the house.
They are looking for suspects right now, Carol. And they have named one of them. And we have a photo of him. His name is Desmond Turner. He is 28 years old. Police say that he is known to them, has a history of arrests. And they describe him as dangerous. And they are saying that their presumption is that he is most likely armed.
They say that he's about 5'9'' tall, weighs 150 pounds, has a mustache and a beard. Police are telling us that an assault rifle was the weapon that was used in the killings here. And they say that at least some of this, Carol, involved a robbery -- Carol.
LIN: Any idea, Jonathan, whether this was racially motivated?
FREED: We don't know that yet. These are all the questions that people are asking. And police -- you get the sense from them that, is often the case in a story like this, that they know a little more than they are letting on at s point, in particular because they are trying to deal with at least two people who are at large.
One witness who was here last night and provided police with the name of Desmond Turner said that there could be as many as three other people that they thought were with them. Police say that, at this point, they are only looking for two people. They are still trying to prove out the rest of that.
LIN: And what are the neighbors telling you?
FREED: Well, neighbors here, of course, are -- are shocked by what has happened here. They say that the -- the family, the older couple that owns the home -- and they have been here for quite a while. They are very well-liked. Just lovely people is how they have been described.
Police say that there has never been any trouble at this house before, that the only other time that they were called here, Carol, was to respond to a burglar alarm that once went off. But there is some sense from people that we have spoken to -- and, of course, you never know. When you talk to different people who live on a street, neighbors being neighbors, two people could witness the same thing and come away with markedly different interpretations or opinions of what it was that they saw.
People are describing a degree of hostility that might have existed on the street between the grown children of the couple that own the house and some other people on the street.
But, beyond that, though, people are saying, no, nice quiet family, and police say never had to come here before -- Carol.
LIN: Jonathan, thank you very much.
(CROSSTALK) LIN: Well, help wanted, part-time work, $20,000. Men, need not apply. This college grad has answered the call twice. She many other women are donating their eggs for a fee. It's a godsend to couples trying desperately to conceive. And business is booming.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick explains, in a story from "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Jamie Coahran, beautiful, bright, a varsity athlete. She just graduated from the University of Colorado. She believes in ghosts and wishes on stars. It says so right in her profile.
(on camera): They ask you very detailed questions...
JAMIE COAHRAN, EGG DONOR: Yes.
FEYERICK: ... things that you wouldn't necessarily expect. So, for example, food, your answer?
COAHRAN: My answer is crab.
(LAUGHTER)
FEYERICK: Color.
COAHRAN: Red.
FEYERICK: Season.
COAHRAN: Fall or winter.
FEYERICK: Holiday.
COAHRAN: Christmas.
FEYERICK (voice-over): These aren't questions for some dating Web site. It's an egg donation site for couples trying to have a baby, searching for the perfect donor. The details are in the DNA, and getting the right DNA doesn't come cheap.
Ten thousand dollars, that's the price a couple agreed to pay for Jamie's next egg donation, twice what she was paid when she first donated last year -- the demand, even greater now.
Anywhere you find college kids, you're likely to find ads in student papers promising great money, too good to pass up, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 for first-time donors.
Andrew Vorzimer is president of Egg Donation Inc., one of 250 such privately owned agencies across the United States. There's no set price for egg donations. Vorzimer, who doesn't work with anyone under the age of 21, says dangling high figures can be dangerously tempting. ANDREW VORZIMER, PRESIDENT, EGG DONATION INC.: When you target 19-, 20-year-old college ladies who are facing $50,000, $60,000, $100,000 in tuition bills, they see these advertisements in their school paper, and they jump at it, without considering the risks, without thinking through the ramifications of going forward.
FEYERICK: The risks in very rare cases include infertility. The ramifications include donor babies who may one day try to find their genetic mother. Yet, the money can't be ignored.
(on camera): Why did they say, we picked you?
FEYERICK (voice-over): And women at Ivy League universities and top-tier colleges can command even higher prices.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The scariest thing for most donors that go through IVF...
FEYERICK (voice-over): Egg donation requires a month-long commitment, twice daily hormone shots to stimulate the ovaries, and surgery under general anesthesia to remove the eggs. They are then fertilized. And the resulting embryos are implanted in the birth mother's womb.
COAHRAN: You got your appointments and everything. So, I mean, it's almost kind of like a job. It's like, why would you expect somebody to come and work for you and to do all these things for you and to be punctual, and not expect any type of compensation?
FEYERICK: Twenty-five thousand dollars is far above the $6,000 agencies say they pay for first-time donors. Yet, it shows how far some couples will go to get the right kind of genes to conceive their ideal child.
Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Infertility Center at Cornell Weill Medical Center, pioneered egg donation, and he disagrees.
DR. ZEV ROSENWAKS, WEILL MEDICAL COLLEGE: I always worry about a fee being coercive. I want that patient who goes through egg donation to do it for the right reason.
FEYERICK (on camera): Do you ever think about the possibility that a child with half your genetic makeup will be out there somewhere?
COAHRAN: I mean, I think it's always in the back of your head for any egg donor or sperm donor or anybody, for that matter. I just think it's a piece of them now. I don't really consider like, oh, that's that's half of me.
FEYERICK (voice-over): And right now, she doesn't think her feelings about that will change. She may even consider donating again, after she has her own kids.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: You can see more of Deborah Feyerick's reports on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." That's weeknights at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
Well, more than a century after Jack the Ripper, a new wave of knife violence has shocked Britain. What is behind it? And what is being done to stop it? We will have the story, as LIVE FROM continues right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Americans are familiar with periodic efforts to get guns off the street, such as buy-back programs. But, in Britain, they are trying to get knives off the streets.
Here's CNN's Mallika Kapur.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): May 11: police constable Nisha Patel-Nasri stabbed to death, police say, with her own kitchen knife.
May 18: promising footballer Kiyan Prince killed outside his school.
May 28: Ian Montgomery knifed outside a bar, is battling for his life.
MARIAN MONTGOMERY, MOTHER OF STABBING VICTIM: He's trying to do his best to help this poor young girl, and some coward has come and knifed him for it, and knifed him in the back.
KAPUR: Montgomery's stabbing is just one in a recent series of deadly knife attacks that have grabbed headlines in Britain. Over this past long weekend, police recorded at least 50 stabbings across the country.
And authorities scanning crowds at a North London carnival say they seized 90 knives and weapons, shocking statistics, but authorities point out, only 6 percent of all violent crime in Britain is knife-related, a figure they say has been stable for years. Police say what has changed is the number of young people carrying knives.
CHIEF IAN JOHNSTON, BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE: Youngsters need to realize that carrying a knife around, just on its own as an offensive weapon, could end you up in jail for four years. And worse still, there's lots of evidence that youngsters who carry knives for their own protection or even as a fashion accessory have had the weapon turned upon them in a fight.
KAPUR: Police have launched a five-week knife amnesty, asking people to turn over the knives at local police stations.
PHIL PYATT, YOUTH PROJECTS COORDINATOR, CRIMESTOPPERS: My experience of talking to young people... KAPUR: Phil Pyatt of Crimestoppers says it's a step in the right direction, but it isn't enough.
PYATT: I think the community needs to get together. They need to take a stand against this. And I think it's a whole lot of people working together, the police, the teachers, the youth workers, and, obviously, charities like ourselves.
KAPUR: Crimestoppers is doing its bit to get knives off the streets. A game on its Web sites encourages players to drop off knives in boxes, a virtual scene that is playing out in real life.
(on camera): Throughout Britain, people can drop knives off at amnesty boxes outside police stations, no questions asked. Police officials are the first to admit there's much more to be done. But they say that every knife that goes into one of these means there's one less on the streets.
Mallika Kapur, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Seventy-year-old Barbara Waskover no longer runs a direct mass-mailing company. Instead, she takes her energy and she puts it into doing one-armed push-ups. It's a good thing, because she's a model, and she needs a good figure.
CNN's Jennifer Westhoven has her story in our series "Life After Work."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's getting too low. Good. Right down at her. Oh, that's nice.
JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barbara Waskover may be turning 73, but she just landed her dream job, modeling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's darling. That's darling. Hang on.
BARBARA WASKOVER, MODEL: I had raised children, worked in a business that was basically for my husband and myself. It wasn't really 100 percent what I wanted. And I thought, well, now is the time for me to do what I wanted to do.
WESTHOVEN: She was discovered after appearing in a news segment on baby boomers. Suddenly, agents were knocking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was perfect.
WESTHOVEN: This shoot is for Getty Images. It wants stock photos of people posing as grandmothers and granddaughters. When not modeling, Barbara lifts more weights than women half her age.
WASKOVER: Well, I used to lift one hundred and -- 130, but I have cut back.
WESTHOVEN: This grandmother is also a grand master of the one- armed pushup.
WASKOVER: I just love life. The best thing about modeling is the fun of it all and the people that I meet. And, truthfully, when you have been a mother, and you have focused on everybody else, the mere fact that everybody focuses on you, hey, that's really got to be the greatest thing. I have never had this. So, I never really thought it could be this much fun.
WESTHOVEN: Jennifer Westhoven, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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