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CNN Live Today
9/11 Commission Releases Time Line; Car Bomb Kills 35 Outside Baghdad Recruitment Office; Bush Holds Cabinet Meeting on Economy, Foreign Policy; Al Qaeda Training Videotape Released; Mental Evaluation Ordered for Suspected Bomb Plotter
Aired June 17, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11 a.m. on the East Coast, 8 a.m. for those of you on the West Coast. From CNN Center here in Atlanta, good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
Up first on CNN, investigating the September 11 attack. The final public hearing of the 9/11 commission is underway in Washington. And for the first time, the public has heard audiotapes of what happened aboard the airliners and among officials on the ground.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Controllers immediately began to move aircraft out of its path and searched from aircraft to aircraft in an effort to have another pilot contact American 11.
At 8:24 and 38 seconds, the following transmission came from American 11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be OK. We are returning to the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The controller only heard something unintelligible. He did not hear the specific words, quote "We have some planes," end quote.
The next transmission came seconds later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hearing that transmission, the controller told us he then knew it was a hijacking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 9:48, the controller observed United 93 climbing to 40,700 feet and immediately moved several aircraft out of its way. The controller continued to try to contact United 93 and asked whether the pilot could confirm that he had been hijacked. There was no response.
Then at 9:39, a fifth radio transmission came over the frequency from United 93. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the captain -- would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands. Please remain quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The controller responded, quote, "United 93 understand you have a bomb on board. Go ahead," end quote. The flight did not respond.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: For more on the important news unfolding at the commission hearings this morning, we have our Sean Callebs.
Sean, the latest testimony from General Myers -- came from General Myers. What did he have to say?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In short, he said basically we chased a lot of phantoms that day.
Basically saying that the military, indeed the United States, was totally unprepared to handle a terrorist attack like this. That the defenses in the United States had been set up to handle a traditional hijacking, one that played out over a period of time and gave authorities a certain degree of options or perhaps a holdover from the Cold War, when the major concern was, of course, an aircraft or something coming from the Soviet Union.
Basically, that the United States was simply unsuited to deal with the terrorist attacks that ended that devastating day.
KAGAN: Another thing we are able to hear this morning as we listened in, there was a staff statement they gave a time line of events as they think they were unfolded on 9/11.
Of course, we don't have time to go through the entire time line. But some of the highlights that you heard please?
CALLEBS: Well, chiefly, it was just the confusion that the FAA as well as air traffic controllers went through that day from the time the first plane that would be hijacked took off from Logan Airport until Flight 93 crashed in the field in Pennsylvania.
There was a lot of confusion. Indeed at one point, one air traffic controller was responsible for handling two of the hijacked aircraft at one time. While it was focused on Flight 11, Flight 175 was also in its area at that time and, basically, it was simply off of their screens. They couldn't focus attention on it.
And when the regional controllers tried to call the national controllers, they said, "We don't have time to deal with this right now. We're focused on a hijacking."
So there was just a lot of confusion that day.
KAGAN: Right. And of course, it's going to talk about a lot that went wrong, because so much did go wrong on 9/11. But one thing it does not question, in fact it backs up, is the heroics of the people who were on board United Airlines Flight 93, the one that ended up crashing in Pennsylvania.
CALLEBS: Exactly. And before it gets to that, it also details a sequence where President Bush phoned Vice President Dick Cheney, passing on the authority to shoot down a commercial aircraft if it appeared to be hostile, threatening the U.S. Capitol, the White House or something.
And apparently, Dick Cheney did past that on, but by that time Flight 93 had crashed.
And Daryn, quickly I want to read you the next to last paragraph in the statement early this morning. It said, "NORAD officials have maintained they would have intercepted and shot down United 93, but," the reports says, "we are not so sure. We are sure, however, the nation owes a debt to the passengers of United 93. Their actions saved the lives of countless others and may have saved either the U.S. Capitol or the White House from destruction."
KAGAN: Sean Callebs in Washington, D.C. Sean, thank you.
A deadly car bomb explosion tops our situation report from Iraq. At least 35 people were killed in the explosion outside an Army recruitment center in Baghdad. Authorities say the victims were innocent civilians.
Insurgents have intensified their attacks leading up to the June 30 transfer of power.
Iraq oil exports are at a standstill again today. Engineers are working to repair pipelines damaged in sabotage attacks. Money from oil exports is vital to the reconstruction in Iraq.
A third U.S. soldier has died from a rocket attack on a military base in Balad. One soldier was killed at the scene of yesterday's attack. The other two died at a combat support hospital. The attack brings the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war to 837.
An Iraqi official says that he believes that insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be behind today's suicide car bombing in Baghdad. Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports on the latest deadly strikes by insurgents.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Panic reins again as yet another suicide bomber strikes at the very heart of Iraqi society, its new security forces.
At 9 this morning, a white vehicle packed with artillery shells exploded outside a recruiting center for the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, according to U.S. soldiers who rushed to cordon the area off and search for secondary explosives.
They say that no Iraqi recruits inside the building were injured. LT. COL. M.F. MURRAY, U.S. ARMY: The people that were outside the gate, unfortunately, were just pedestrians, either on their way to work or possibly on their way to the park across the street. Those are where the casualties came from.
AMANPOUR: Innocent Iraqi civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence as terrorists and insurgents keep up their attacks on Iraqi people, infrastructure and government officials.
Despite the danger, Iraq's new interim prime minister visited the scene of the latest attack.
IYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: It's a cowardly attack. It's a demonstration, again, that these attacks are aimed at the stability of Iraq, as aimed at the Iraqi people.
AMANPOUR: This ahead of the handover of power to Iraq June 30. Again, Baghdad hospitals are packed with the dead and wounded. And the violence here is expected to get worse.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And from there we're going to go to the White House, President Bush holding a cabinet meeting today. And before the meeting got under way he allowed cameras into the room to shoot some videotape, answer a few questions. We are expecting to be able to show that videotape just within a few seconds.
While we wait for the tape to come in, let's go ahead and bring in our Kathleen Koch, who's at the White House today -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
The president was meeting with his cabinet this morning, talking about the economy, talking about the war on terrorism. We are expecting, again, as you said, to hear from the president in just a minute.
Apparently he did take some questions on the 9/11 commission hearings. The very gripping hearings this morning, which we were told the president himself was not able to watch. He was meeting this morning with Secretary of State Colin Powell as the hearing was under way.
Obviously, a lot of questions right now raised by the commission's finding yesterday that there was no collaborative relationship between the regime of Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. Something that the Reagan -- excuse me, Bush administration has long maintained.
Let's go to the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've just met with my cabinet, and we discussed primarily the economy. And I was pleased with the report I got.
The U.S. economy is strong and is getting stronger. And people are -- People are going back to work. There's a sense of optimism around this table. Because these people have been out in the field and talking to people, talking to small business owners and entrepreneurs.
And I'm pleased with the progress we're making. There's more to do to make sure this growth is sustained throughout the decade.
Primarily, it requires a proper understanding of the role of government to the economy. The role of government is not to try to manage the economy. The role of government is to create an environment in which the capital flows and entrepreneurs feel emboldened to take risks, and to make sure workers are trained for the jobs of the 21st Century.
I will continue to talk to the American people about our pro- growth strategy that I'm confident will work.
And the other thing we talked about was our foreign resolve to spread freedom and, therefore, peace around the world. We fully understand terrorists will try to shake our will, to try to shake our confidence, to try to get us to withdraw from commitments we have made in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. And they won't succeed.
Iraq will be free, and a free Iraq is in our nation's interest. A free Iraq will make the world more peaceful. A free Iraq will be an ally of those nations who honor human rights and human dignity and the aspirations of men and women everywhere. A free Iraq will make America more secure, and we're making progress toward that goal.
We've been there -- we've been 14 months since the fall of Baghdad. And the work has been hard and difficult, yet our military on the ground has done an excellent job of making sure the conditions are such that an Iraqi government can emerge and lead their nation to better days.
I'll be glad to answer a couple of questions. Deb, why don't you lead it off?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, why does the administration continue to insist that Saddam had a relationship with al Qaeda when even you have denied connection with Saddam and September 11, and now the September 11 commission says there was no collaborative relationship at all?
BUSH: The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda, because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.
This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al Qaeda. We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
For example, Iraqi intelligence officers met with bin Laden, the head of al Qaeda, in the Sudan. There's numerous contacts between the two.
I always said that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He was a threat because he had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. He was a threat because he was a sworn enemy to the United States of America, just like al Qaeda.
He was a threat because -- because he had terrorist connections, not only al Qaeda connections, but other connections to terrorist organizations. Abu Nadal was one.
He was a threat because he provided safe haven for a terrorist like Zarqawi, who is still killing innocent inside of Iraq.
Now, he was a threat and the world is better off, America is more secure, without Saddam Hussein in power.
Let's see. Morgan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President?
BUSH: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given your administration's assertions that it works closely with the International Red Cross, are you disappointed that Secretary Rumsfeld instructed military officials in Iraq to hold a member of Ansar al Islam without telling the Red Cross?
BUSH: The secretary and I discussed that for the first time this morning. And he's going to hold a press conference today to discuss that with you.
I'm never disappointed in my secretary of defense. He's doing a fabulous job. And America's lucky to have him in the position he's in.
But the secretary will hold a press conference today, and you might want to ask him that question at his press conference.
Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you all.
BUSH: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: President Bush answering a few questions just after his cabinet meeting at the White House today.
Among the questions about the al Qaeda -- link between al Qaeda -- a link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and 9/11, President Bush still believing that there were contacts between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, saying that not necessarily he believes they were responsible for 9/11.
But this comes on a day when the 9/11 commission releasing its report over the last couple days, saying that it believes there was no link between Saddam Hussein and what happened on September 11, 2001.
We want to move on now with our coverage of the war on terror and what appears to be new images from al Qaeda training camps. The video from al Jazeera suggests that al Qaeda may be training in the Pakistan tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
For more on what this means and more pictures, let's bring in our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson. He is in London.
Nic, hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
Well, these pictures show or appear to show at least al Qaeda operatives. And we're told by al Jazeera, at least, who received this videotape, that these people do belong to al Qaeda.
They're shown training. They're shown training with weapons. They're shown doing sort of physical exercises, pictures quite reminiscent of what we saw in the pre-September 11 al Qaeda training videos.
Also on the tape is what Al Jazeera says is a nighttime raid inside Afghanistan by this group of what are reported to be al Qaeda fighters.
What's interesting about this is that they appear, al Qaeda appears, quite prepared to and confident enough to sort of make this training tape out in the open, either on the Pakistan side of the Afghan/Pakistan border or indeed inside Afghanistan.
So it shows a level of confidence, a level of organization. And it also, perhaps, hints that post-September 11 inside Afghanistan, where the coalition had tried to deny al Qaeda exactly this opportunity, the opportunity to train and plan and prepare for attacks, it hints that perhaps in some areas this is possible al Qaeda can still train -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Well, exactly. And you're saying this looks like videotape we would see that was done before September 11. The fact that they have the confidence to do it out in the open, especially in the daylight hours, is rather chilling.
ROBERTSON: It's an indication, perhaps, if you take it in the broader context of some of the things that are happening in and around Afghanistan at the moment, that show that level of sort of planning and preparation and ability to operate.
While I was in Afghanistan recently, working with or filming the U.S. troops right down along the border area, there was a degree of frustration that they weren't able to go into Pakistan and catch the al Qaeda Taliban members that they believe were coming across the border from Pakistan, attacking them and then retreating back into Pakistan.
It shows that this region is still not fully controlled by the Pakistani authorities or the U.S. troops there on the ground.
We've seen in the last week in Afghanistan two attacks in one town in the north of Afghanistan, Konduz. Konduz is the only town outside of Kabul where NATO -- the capital of Afghanistan -- where NATO has troops.
In the next two weeks, NATO ministers are going to sit down and decide whether or not they should expand the NATO role inside Afghanistan.
It shows a degree of planning, perhaps, among the anti-coalition forces that they will target specific areas, that they know are perhaps coalition soft spots, if you will, to perhaps focus. That they can attack where NATO is operating with impunity. And that perhaps in some way should put off NATO from sending more troops to Afghanistan.
So it shows at this stage that there's a degree of very serious thinking and planning, perhaps even the timing and release of this videotape, that it was released at a time when the President Bush met with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Hidden messages in a lot of what we have seen. Nic Robertson from London, thank you for showing us those pictures and explaining them.
We are at 17 minutes past the hour. News from here in the U.S.
Accused of planning to blow up a mall in Ohio. This man has been ordered by a judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Could an insanity defense decide the case?
And in health news, liposuction may help you shed the pounds. But does it improve your health? New research on that is just ahead.
And this...
You might understand German, but researchers claim this dog does. Knows more than 200 words. We're going to talk to a researcher who says your pet may know more than you think.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Psychiatric testing has been ordered for a Somali man accused of plotting to blow up a shopping mall in Ohio. Nuradin Abdi displayed bizarre behavior at a court hearing yesterday. His lawyer says that Abdi is a broken man mentally. The government charges him with giving support to al Qaeda.
For a look at the man's situation and the possibility of an insanity defense, let's bring in former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey, who we find at his regular post in Miami.
Kendall, good morning.
KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: Psychiatric evaluation, is that just standard or is this the beginning of an insanity defense?
COFFEY: Not a surprising here, given his irregular actions in court. And you're probably right, I think this is the groundwork for some kind of insanity defense down the road.
For now, the issue is a very narrow one: is he competent to stand trial? And the standard for competency, Daryn, is so minimal. It means unless he's completely clueless, the trial is going to proceed.
But then at trial he may attempt to inject an insanity defense using psychiatric testimony and the like to try to show that he shouldn't be responsible for the allegations brought against him.
KAGAN: This is a man already being held on immigration charges. He's been in custody back since November. And authorities allege that he had -- was part of this bomb plot, which is not easy to say, bomb plot. But he's not charged with the bomb plot.
COFFEY: Not specifically. He's charged broadly with conspiracies to commit acts of terrorism and with fraudulently creating immigration documents in the process.
It's not unusual for indictments to be stated very, very broadly, but what the government has told us, through the media and otherwise, is that the core of the case is going to be a bomb plot, not a specific shopping center, but in the Columbus, Ohio area. Scary stuff when we think that the heartland of America can be exposed to potential threats from al Qaeda.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Also interesting how this is being handled legally. We're seeing or waiting for these decisions to come out of the U.S. Supreme Court on enemy combatants and what type of rights those people have.
This man, I don't think is a U.S. citizen. It's appearing, though, he's having more rights, more legal availability, than some U.S. citizens who are in custody, labeled as enemy combatants.
COFFEY: That's a great point. Because you've got Jose Padilla, who is a U.S. citizen, in a sense somewhat analogous allegations that Padilla came back to this country after being -- various conspiratorial activities overseas to inflict attacks here in this country.
Similar stuff with respect to Abdi.
One of the things the Supreme Court has got to be mindful of is, why does the government give one person all the rights of a civilian trial, lawyers, you name it, while someone else is held basically incommunicado in military detention, that someone else being a U.S. citizen?
KAGAN: And with the new day and age, the government trying to figure it out as we move forward.
Kendell Coffey, thank you.
COFFEY: Any time, Daryn.
KAGAN: Appreciate that.
Well, you probably suspected all along. You know your dog? You dog knows more than he or she is letting on. And a particular dog may have given up the secret. We're going to the researcher who says she has proof this dog understands, she says, more than 200 words.
And if you or someone you love is approaching those golden years wondering how to make the best of it all, you have questions about navigating the world being a senior? Send us those questions via e- mail: LiveToday@CNN.com. Jim Miller of "The Savvy Senior" will be along to answer those questions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK REPORT)
KAGAN: It may be the most talked about book of the summer. Former President Bill Clinton is speaking for the first time about his memoirs. We'll hear what he has to say after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired June 17, 2004 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11 a.m. on the East Coast, 8 a.m. for those of you on the West Coast. From CNN Center here in Atlanta, good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
Up first on CNN, investigating the September 11 attack. The final public hearing of the 9/11 commission is underway in Washington. And for the first time, the public has heard audiotapes of what happened aboard the airliners and among officials on the ground.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Controllers immediately began to move aircraft out of its path and searched from aircraft to aircraft in an effort to have another pilot contact American 11.
At 8:24 and 38 seconds, the following transmission came from American 11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be OK. We are returning to the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The controller only heard something unintelligible. He did not hear the specific words, quote "We have some planes," end quote.
The next transmission came seconds later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hearing that transmission, the controller told us he then knew it was a hijacking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 9:48, the controller observed United 93 climbing to 40,700 feet and immediately moved several aircraft out of its way. The controller continued to try to contact United 93 and asked whether the pilot could confirm that he had been hijacked. There was no response.
Then at 9:39, a fifth radio transmission came over the frequency from United 93. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the captain -- would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb on board and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands. Please remain quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The controller responded, quote, "United 93 understand you have a bomb on board. Go ahead," end quote. The flight did not respond.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: For more on the important news unfolding at the commission hearings this morning, we have our Sean Callebs.
Sean, the latest testimony from General Myers -- came from General Myers. What did he have to say?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In short, he said basically we chased a lot of phantoms that day.
Basically saying that the military, indeed the United States, was totally unprepared to handle a terrorist attack like this. That the defenses in the United States had been set up to handle a traditional hijacking, one that played out over a period of time and gave authorities a certain degree of options or perhaps a holdover from the Cold War, when the major concern was, of course, an aircraft or something coming from the Soviet Union.
Basically, that the United States was simply unsuited to deal with the terrorist attacks that ended that devastating day.
KAGAN: Another thing we are able to hear this morning as we listened in, there was a staff statement they gave a time line of events as they think they were unfolded on 9/11.
Of course, we don't have time to go through the entire time line. But some of the highlights that you heard please?
CALLEBS: Well, chiefly, it was just the confusion that the FAA as well as air traffic controllers went through that day from the time the first plane that would be hijacked took off from Logan Airport until Flight 93 crashed in the field in Pennsylvania.
There was a lot of confusion. Indeed at one point, one air traffic controller was responsible for handling two of the hijacked aircraft at one time. While it was focused on Flight 11, Flight 175 was also in its area at that time and, basically, it was simply off of their screens. They couldn't focus attention on it.
And when the regional controllers tried to call the national controllers, they said, "We don't have time to deal with this right now. We're focused on a hijacking."
So there was just a lot of confusion that day.
KAGAN: Right. And of course, it's going to talk about a lot that went wrong, because so much did go wrong on 9/11. But one thing it does not question, in fact it backs up, is the heroics of the people who were on board United Airlines Flight 93, the one that ended up crashing in Pennsylvania.
CALLEBS: Exactly. And before it gets to that, it also details a sequence where President Bush phoned Vice President Dick Cheney, passing on the authority to shoot down a commercial aircraft if it appeared to be hostile, threatening the U.S. Capitol, the White House or something.
And apparently, Dick Cheney did past that on, but by that time Flight 93 had crashed.
And Daryn, quickly I want to read you the next to last paragraph in the statement early this morning. It said, "NORAD officials have maintained they would have intercepted and shot down United 93, but," the reports says, "we are not so sure. We are sure, however, the nation owes a debt to the passengers of United 93. Their actions saved the lives of countless others and may have saved either the U.S. Capitol or the White House from destruction."
KAGAN: Sean Callebs in Washington, D.C. Sean, thank you.
A deadly car bomb explosion tops our situation report from Iraq. At least 35 people were killed in the explosion outside an Army recruitment center in Baghdad. Authorities say the victims were innocent civilians.
Insurgents have intensified their attacks leading up to the June 30 transfer of power.
Iraq oil exports are at a standstill again today. Engineers are working to repair pipelines damaged in sabotage attacks. Money from oil exports is vital to the reconstruction in Iraq.
A third U.S. soldier has died from a rocket attack on a military base in Balad. One soldier was killed at the scene of yesterday's attack. The other two died at a combat support hospital. The attack brings the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war to 837.
An Iraqi official says that he believes that insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be behind today's suicide car bombing in Baghdad. Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports on the latest deadly strikes by insurgents.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Panic reins again as yet another suicide bomber strikes at the very heart of Iraqi society, its new security forces.
At 9 this morning, a white vehicle packed with artillery shells exploded outside a recruiting center for the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, according to U.S. soldiers who rushed to cordon the area off and search for secondary explosives.
They say that no Iraqi recruits inside the building were injured. LT. COL. M.F. MURRAY, U.S. ARMY: The people that were outside the gate, unfortunately, were just pedestrians, either on their way to work or possibly on their way to the park across the street. Those are where the casualties came from.
AMANPOUR: Innocent Iraqi civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence as terrorists and insurgents keep up their attacks on Iraqi people, infrastructure and government officials.
Despite the danger, Iraq's new interim prime minister visited the scene of the latest attack.
IYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: It's a cowardly attack. It's a demonstration, again, that these attacks are aimed at the stability of Iraq, as aimed at the Iraqi people.
AMANPOUR: This ahead of the handover of power to Iraq June 30. Again, Baghdad hospitals are packed with the dead and wounded. And the violence here is expected to get worse.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And from there we're going to go to the White House, President Bush holding a cabinet meeting today. And before the meeting got under way he allowed cameras into the room to shoot some videotape, answer a few questions. We are expecting to be able to show that videotape just within a few seconds.
While we wait for the tape to come in, let's go ahead and bring in our Kathleen Koch, who's at the White House today -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
The president was meeting with his cabinet this morning, talking about the economy, talking about the war on terrorism. We are expecting, again, as you said, to hear from the president in just a minute.
Apparently he did take some questions on the 9/11 commission hearings. The very gripping hearings this morning, which we were told the president himself was not able to watch. He was meeting this morning with Secretary of State Colin Powell as the hearing was under way.
Obviously, a lot of questions right now raised by the commission's finding yesterday that there was no collaborative relationship between the regime of Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. Something that the Reagan -- excuse me, Bush administration has long maintained.
Let's go to the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've just met with my cabinet, and we discussed primarily the economy. And I was pleased with the report I got.
The U.S. economy is strong and is getting stronger. And people are -- People are going back to work. There's a sense of optimism around this table. Because these people have been out in the field and talking to people, talking to small business owners and entrepreneurs.
And I'm pleased with the progress we're making. There's more to do to make sure this growth is sustained throughout the decade.
Primarily, it requires a proper understanding of the role of government to the economy. The role of government is not to try to manage the economy. The role of government is to create an environment in which the capital flows and entrepreneurs feel emboldened to take risks, and to make sure workers are trained for the jobs of the 21st Century.
I will continue to talk to the American people about our pro- growth strategy that I'm confident will work.
And the other thing we talked about was our foreign resolve to spread freedom and, therefore, peace around the world. We fully understand terrorists will try to shake our will, to try to shake our confidence, to try to get us to withdraw from commitments we have made in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. And they won't succeed.
Iraq will be free, and a free Iraq is in our nation's interest. A free Iraq will make the world more peaceful. A free Iraq will be an ally of those nations who honor human rights and human dignity and the aspirations of men and women everywhere. A free Iraq will make America more secure, and we're making progress toward that goal.
We've been there -- we've been 14 months since the fall of Baghdad. And the work has been hard and difficult, yet our military on the ground has done an excellent job of making sure the conditions are such that an Iraqi government can emerge and lead their nation to better days.
I'll be glad to answer a couple of questions. Deb, why don't you lead it off?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, why does the administration continue to insist that Saddam had a relationship with al Qaeda when even you have denied connection with Saddam and September 11, and now the September 11 commission says there was no collaborative relationship at all?
BUSH: The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda, because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.
This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al Qaeda. We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
For example, Iraqi intelligence officers met with bin Laden, the head of al Qaeda, in the Sudan. There's numerous contacts between the two.
I always said that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He was a threat because he had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. He was a threat because he was a sworn enemy to the United States of America, just like al Qaeda.
He was a threat because -- because he had terrorist connections, not only al Qaeda connections, but other connections to terrorist organizations. Abu Nadal was one.
He was a threat because he provided safe haven for a terrorist like Zarqawi, who is still killing innocent inside of Iraq.
Now, he was a threat and the world is better off, America is more secure, without Saddam Hussein in power.
Let's see. Morgan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President?
BUSH: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given your administration's assertions that it works closely with the International Red Cross, are you disappointed that Secretary Rumsfeld instructed military officials in Iraq to hold a member of Ansar al Islam without telling the Red Cross?
BUSH: The secretary and I discussed that for the first time this morning. And he's going to hold a press conference today to discuss that with you.
I'm never disappointed in my secretary of defense. He's doing a fabulous job. And America's lucky to have him in the position he's in.
But the secretary will hold a press conference today, and you might want to ask him that question at his press conference.
Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you all.
BUSH: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: President Bush answering a few questions just after his cabinet meeting at the White House today.
Among the questions about the al Qaeda -- link between al Qaeda -- a link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and 9/11, President Bush still believing that there were contacts between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, saying that not necessarily he believes they were responsible for 9/11.
But this comes on a day when the 9/11 commission releasing its report over the last couple days, saying that it believes there was no link between Saddam Hussein and what happened on September 11, 2001.
We want to move on now with our coverage of the war on terror and what appears to be new images from al Qaeda training camps. The video from al Jazeera suggests that al Qaeda may be training in the Pakistan tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
For more on what this means and more pictures, let's bring in our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson. He is in London.
Nic, hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
Well, these pictures show or appear to show at least al Qaeda operatives. And we're told by al Jazeera, at least, who received this videotape, that these people do belong to al Qaeda.
They're shown training. They're shown training with weapons. They're shown doing sort of physical exercises, pictures quite reminiscent of what we saw in the pre-September 11 al Qaeda training videos.
Also on the tape is what Al Jazeera says is a nighttime raid inside Afghanistan by this group of what are reported to be al Qaeda fighters.
What's interesting about this is that they appear, al Qaeda appears, quite prepared to and confident enough to sort of make this training tape out in the open, either on the Pakistan side of the Afghan/Pakistan border or indeed inside Afghanistan.
So it shows a level of confidence, a level of organization. And it also, perhaps, hints that post-September 11 inside Afghanistan, where the coalition had tried to deny al Qaeda exactly this opportunity, the opportunity to train and plan and prepare for attacks, it hints that perhaps in some areas this is possible al Qaeda can still train -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Well, exactly. And you're saying this looks like videotape we would see that was done before September 11. The fact that they have the confidence to do it out in the open, especially in the daylight hours, is rather chilling.
ROBERTSON: It's an indication, perhaps, if you take it in the broader context of some of the things that are happening in and around Afghanistan at the moment, that show that level of sort of planning and preparation and ability to operate.
While I was in Afghanistan recently, working with or filming the U.S. troops right down along the border area, there was a degree of frustration that they weren't able to go into Pakistan and catch the al Qaeda Taliban members that they believe were coming across the border from Pakistan, attacking them and then retreating back into Pakistan.
It shows that this region is still not fully controlled by the Pakistani authorities or the U.S. troops there on the ground.
We've seen in the last week in Afghanistan two attacks in one town in the north of Afghanistan, Konduz. Konduz is the only town outside of Kabul where NATO -- the capital of Afghanistan -- where NATO has troops.
In the next two weeks, NATO ministers are going to sit down and decide whether or not they should expand the NATO role inside Afghanistan.
It shows a degree of planning, perhaps, among the anti-coalition forces that they will target specific areas, that they know are perhaps coalition soft spots, if you will, to perhaps focus. That they can attack where NATO is operating with impunity. And that perhaps in some way should put off NATO from sending more troops to Afghanistan.
So it shows at this stage that there's a degree of very serious thinking and planning, perhaps even the timing and release of this videotape, that it was released at a time when the President Bush met with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Hidden messages in a lot of what we have seen. Nic Robertson from London, thank you for showing us those pictures and explaining them.
We are at 17 minutes past the hour. News from here in the U.S.
Accused of planning to blow up a mall in Ohio. This man has been ordered by a judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Could an insanity defense decide the case?
And in health news, liposuction may help you shed the pounds. But does it improve your health? New research on that is just ahead.
And this...
You might understand German, but researchers claim this dog does. Knows more than 200 words. We're going to talk to a researcher who says your pet may know more than you think.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Psychiatric testing has been ordered for a Somali man accused of plotting to blow up a shopping mall in Ohio. Nuradin Abdi displayed bizarre behavior at a court hearing yesterday. His lawyer says that Abdi is a broken man mentally. The government charges him with giving support to al Qaeda.
For a look at the man's situation and the possibility of an insanity defense, let's bring in former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey, who we find at his regular post in Miami.
Kendall, good morning.
KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: Psychiatric evaluation, is that just standard or is this the beginning of an insanity defense?
COFFEY: Not a surprising here, given his irregular actions in court. And you're probably right, I think this is the groundwork for some kind of insanity defense down the road.
For now, the issue is a very narrow one: is he competent to stand trial? And the standard for competency, Daryn, is so minimal. It means unless he's completely clueless, the trial is going to proceed.
But then at trial he may attempt to inject an insanity defense using psychiatric testimony and the like to try to show that he shouldn't be responsible for the allegations brought against him.
KAGAN: This is a man already being held on immigration charges. He's been in custody back since November. And authorities allege that he had -- was part of this bomb plot, which is not easy to say, bomb plot. But he's not charged with the bomb plot.
COFFEY: Not specifically. He's charged broadly with conspiracies to commit acts of terrorism and with fraudulently creating immigration documents in the process.
It's not unusual for indictments to be stated very, very broadly, but what the government has told us, through the media and otherwise, is that the core of the case is going to be a bomb plot, not a specific shopping center, but in the Columbus, Ohio area. Scary stuff when we think that the heartland of America can be exposed to potential threats from al Qaeda.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Also interesting how this is being handled legally. We're seeing or waiting for these decisions to come out of the U.S. Supreme Court on enemy combatants and what type of rights those people have.
This man, I don't think is a U.S. citizen. It's appearing, though, he's having more rights, more legal availability, than some U.S. citizens who are in custody, labeled as enemy combatants.
COFFEY: That's a great point. Because you've got Jose Padilla, who is a U.S. citizen, in a sense somewhat analogous allegations that Padilla came back to this country after being -- various conspiratorial activities overseas to inflict attacks here in this country.
Similar stuff with respect to Abdi.
One of the things the Supreme Court has got to be mindful of is, why does the government give one person all the rights of a civilian trial, lawyers, you name it, while someone else is held basically incommunicado in military detention, that someone else being a U.S. citizen?
KAGAN: And with the new day and age, the government trying to figure it out as we move forward.
Kendell Coffey, thank you.
COFFEY: Any time, Daryn.
KAGAN: Appreciate that.
Well, you probably suspected all along. You know your dog? You dog knows more than he or she is letting on. And a particular dog may have given up the secret. We're going to the researcher who says she has proof this dog understands, she says, more than 200 words.
And if you or someone you love is approaching those golden years wondering how to make the best of it all, you have questions about navigating the world being a senior? Send us those questions via e- mail: LiveToday@CNN.com. Jim Miller of "The Savvy Senior" will be along to answer those questions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK REPORT)
KAGAN: It may be the most talked about book of the summer. Former President Bill Clinton is speaking for the first time about his memoirs. We'll hear what he has to say after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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