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CNN Live Today

Massive Holiday Storm Snarls Holiday Travels; Pentagon Says Suicide Bomber in Mosul Caused Blast; Alleged Mom Killing-Baby Snatcher Goes to Court

Aired December 23, 2004 - 10:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We're way late. Here's Randi Kaye. Welcome to CNN, by the way, working with Daryn Kagan...
RANDI KAYE, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Thank you Bill.

HEMMER: ... at the CNN Center. Welcome to the family.

KAYE: ... and Soledad. Thank you, very much, good to be here.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And you guys have a great day, and Soledad and Andy, great holiday. I'll be with you guys tomorrow.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN-CO-ANCHOR: Thank you.

HEMMER: Thank you.

KAGAN: Yes. I got a lot of e-mail yesterday. Who's the new girl?

KAYE: And what did you say?

KAGAN: I said tune in tomorrow when we don't have as much breaking news. We'll be talking. I'll get to you, like during weather or something. We'll introduce you to the crowd out there.

But let's get started. We do have some news to cover. So let's take a look at what's happening now in the news.

KAYE: We have an update on the U.S. soldiers and civilians wounded in the Mosul explosion. Officials at Germany's Landstuhl Military Hospital say the vast majority of the 35 now being treated there are expected to recover. About half suffered critical injuries in an apparent suicide bombing inside the mess tent.

Brigadier General Carter Ham will sit down with CNN for an exclusive interview at 12:30 Eastern. That's 9:30 Pacific.

Snow from Canada to Texas is making holiday travel a mess. At least seven deaths were blamed on the weather. This is the scene around Louisville, Kentucky. To the north, some areas of southwest, Ohio could see nearly two feet of snow. We'll have live reports and updates in just a moment.

Despite the weather, some experts say this could be the busiest travel season ever. That's the forecast from officials at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Already the host traveled in the country. As well as the Triple-A Motor Club.

After a rash of complaints, the federal government has decided to tone down the more personal nature of its airport pat downs. Screeners will no longer touch between a female's breasts unless there is an irregularity such as a metal detector going off. Hundreds of women had complained that they'd been touched inappropriately.

I'm Randi Kaye sitting in for Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: Good to have you back. And glad our breaking news yesterday didn't scare you away.

KAYE: No, I am back.

KAGAN: Very good. And I'm Daryn Kagan.

Let's get started with some weather. Christmas just two days away. Holiday travelers are finding their plans snarled by winter's first major storm. Let's take a look at some of these pictures here. It is belting the nation's midsection for a second day. Some areas like southwestern Ohio could see record snowfalls, as much as 20 inches.

In fact, the headaches stretch all the way from the Canadian border to central Texas. Snow blanketing the panhandle of the Lone Star State, and even dusting the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. How about southern Indiana is reeling from the 1-2 punch of a double-whammy storm. The snow is tapering off after dumping more than a foot in some areas and closing at least one interstate.

Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras still in Evansville, Indiana.

Because I understand it's not that easy to get out of Evansville, Indiana. Jacqui, good morning.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Yes, in fact, I've tried to figure out if I'm going to make it home today or not. Believe it or not.

The snow has stopped. So that's some good news. Is that at least we're not accumulating any longer. But a couple of problems still is that the wind is blowing very strong. We're seeing wind gusts 20, even 30 miles per hour at times, and that causes visibility issues and also blowing and drifting of snow.

The other issue is that they just can't keep up with it. I-64 has now been closed from the Indiana/Illinois State line extending over to U.S. 231. So that's about a 56-mile stretch. And we're just right on I-64, where we are at this time, where intersects U.S.-41.

And behind me, take a look at all of the trucks stacked up at this time. These are truckers some of which have been stranded here for about 36 hours right now. The plows have not been through this area. You can see some guys trying to dig themselves out. And just make their way home if they can possibly do it. If they can get on 41 they can continue to go and try and maybe find an alternate route. But a state of emergency has been declared for all of Vanderburg and Gibson Counties, where we are, and many other surrounding counties. On average, we've seen maybe about 12 to 18 inches throughout the Evansville area. But you head just south across the river in Kentucky, in Henderson Kentucky, and they've had two feet of snowfall at this time.

Daryn, even just our drive up here from the airport is about nine miles in that stretch, when we drove up to the site this morning to get set up, it was a complete parking lot on U.S. 41. People just abandoned their vehicles. There were still some people in their vehicles.

And that's why 64 is shut down. The National Guard has been sent out to try and rescue people who have been stranded on 64. They've got three Humvees that out there trying to bring people in. They're hoping that it will be opening later on today.

The other issue is some of these drifts. There are some five- foot drifts out in the county areas. These not so bad, maybe one to two feet. But the bitter cold is certainly here, Daryn. Wind chills below zero all day.

KAGAN: Mm-mm-mm. All right. A lot of folks wondering what is next? Let's bring in your colleague Orelon Sidney who for some reason, you got the duty where you're warm and you stay indoors.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's because I got blown around during the hurricanes season.

KAGAN: OK. For the record, you did that.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: What can we look forward to with the Midwest?

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAYE: Turning now to Iraq and the investigation into Tuesday's bombing at the U.S. base. Military officials are looking at measures to prevent similar attacks.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon this morning.

Kathleen, what's the latest from there?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Randi, they had already taken a number of precautions there at Camp Marez. This was a base that was surrounded by blast walls, by barbed wire, because it had already been targeted numerous times before by both rockets and mortars.

But investigators say that in the mess hall, they did not find any evidence of either of those. Instead, only evidence of an improvised explosive device, as well as a torso, perhaps belonging to the bomber who simply walked right in. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH (voice-over): Not a rocket, not a mortar, but a bomb says the Pentagon was carried right into the midst of the Camp Marez mess hall Tuesday, just as soldiers were sitting down to eat.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHMN., JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We have had a suicide bomber apparently strap something to his body, apparently to him, and go into a dining hall. We know how difficult this is to prevent suicide, people bent on suicide and stopping them.

KOCH: An Iraqi militant group had claimed responsibilities, saying it was a suicide attack carried out by a single individual. The coalition says among the dead is one unidentified non-U.S. person. The Pentagon says it does not yet know whether or not that person was the bomber.

It's believed key evidence came from small circular holes found in metal kitchen equipment in the mess hall. Signs of ball bearings used as shrapnel to increase the deadliness of the bomb.

Secretary Rumsfeld, under fire recently for perceived insensitivity to troops and to their families, tried to wipe the slate clean.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I am truly saddened by the thought that anyone could have the impression that I or others here are doing anything other than working urgently to see that the lives of the fighting men and women are protected, and are cared for in every way humanly possible. And I hope and pray that every family member of those who have died so bravely knows how deeply I feel their loss.

KOCH: A multinational force spokesman says Iraqis working at U.S. bases do have to show I.D. to gain entry, but are not always bodily searched.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: Nor are they always accompanied once on U.S. military facilities. Those are the types of things that could change because of this attack. Now one thing that will not change is large numbers of soldiers gathering three times a day for meals. General Myers yesterday saying it's simply not a viable strategy to ask everybody to separate -- Randi.

KAYE: All right, Kathleen Koch for us live at the Pentagon. Thank you.

We have new details about some of the Americans more severely wounded in the Mosul attack. Thirty-five soldiers and civilians were taken to a U.S. military hospital in Germany for treatment. Nearly half are in critical condition. Most are expected to recover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COL. RHONDA CORNUM, CMDR., LANDSTUHL MILITARY HOSP.: The pattern of injuries from our standpoint, recognized that all these people have been operated on prior to their arrival, is that it was obvious that they were not wearing their battle armor. I mean people are sitting down at lunch.

So what is very different from these cases from what we've been seeing lately is normally the trunk, thorax and abdomen are quite well protected and there's a lot of extremity injuries. In this case, they were really primarily neck, chest, abdomen, and not so much extremity injuries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Some of the wounded have already been sent back to the U.S. The rest are expected to return by Monday.

KAGAN: The attack on the U.S. base brings up the question of whether the soldiers should wear flak jackets at all times. Retired Brigadier General David Grange is here to talk about that. Among other things, he's a CNN military analyst and the chief operating officer of the McCormick Tribune Foundation based in Chicago.

General, good morning.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning.

KAGAN: Pick up with that sound bite we were just listening to, talking about the nature of many of the injuries, saying that many coming to the torso and neck area, not to the extremities. Which does bring up the question of whether flak jackets would have protected more of these soldiers.

GRANGE: Well, there's no doubt that if you wore a protective vest, there would have been less torso injuries. It is uncomfortable. They're a pain to wear. I hated wearing them. In fact, in Bosnia we relaxed the procedures on base not to wear them in the mess halls. Which is a great morale boost for the troopers. Of course, it wasn't as dangerous as Iraq.

But as I look back on it, I was probably mistake. I probably should have been more harder about it, forced soldiers to wear them at all times because you never know when there's going to be an attack.

KAGAN: Well, will that be in this case, General Ham -- Brigadier General Ham who would make that decision? Or does that have to come on higher on up?

GRANGE: Well, that's a good question. There's policies on what they call Forced Protection. The protection you take, passive security to protect your people from an attack by the enemy, and I'm sure those procedures for all the military in Iraq. And then local commanders have a little flexibility on how much they can change.

And you know, as you think about it, it's probably better to be hard and unpopular in these kind of situations, than bring more comfort to soldiers in combat. Because comfort quite often doesn't keep you alive.

KAGAN: Let's talk about the procedure and how these camps are being run. I think the incident in Mosul opened up a lot of people's eyes here in the U.S. that there are a lot of locals working at these military bases. Things like food service, laundry, trash. There simply aren't enough military personnel to perform all those tasks.

GRANGE: That's exactly correct. And I remember it from Vietnam all the way through every operation I've been part of, that you do use locals to help, as well as civilian contractors. And there's a security vetting processes that are required.

It's hard to get background information on people that for 30 years have no records. I mean we have a backlog on security clearances for our military in our own country. And so you can imagine how difficult it is in a place like Iraq. But it's important.

What's probably more important is that you have security procedures in place that you don't take it for granted once somebody is vetted that you always check, and that's a long process. And that means you have people outside the gate waiting in line. As you know from previous reports, they've been targeted, as well.

KAGAN: Right. That's a problem. That's a whole separate other kind of problem.

Looking at General Ham once again, do you believe that he has the resources he needs to keep his people safe?

GRANGE: Well, one thing as I look at the situation, I know General Ham quite well. He's very competent. He cares more about troops than any commander I know. But you know, on the resources right now, if the insurgents are picking up the momentum in Mosul area, and he needs any kind of reinforcement, boy, now is the time to do it. Not wait around.

It's a big city and there's a lot of enemy movement. And they need to take the fight to the minimum and regain the initiative.

KAGAN: General Grange, thank you for your time this morning.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

KAGAN: A little bit later, we're going to hear from the commander of the U.S. base near Mosul. We're going to hear from General Carter Ham. It's a CNN exclusive, the interview coming up at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

KAYE: Stitched with love and care. Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, how the work inside this garage turned makeshift factory can help the wounded soldiers.

KAGAN: Plus, we're going to talk about footing the bill. One man picks up the tab for his entire. We'll explain that one coming up.

KAYE: But first we take you live to Kansas City, Kansas, where the woman accused of stealing a baby from a woman's womb goes to court this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and snatching her baby is back in court this hour. Lisa Montgomery faces a federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death.

CNN's Jonathan Freed is covering the case and joins us from Kansas City, Kansas.

And Jonathan, I understand that this identity hearing has just ended.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Randi. That is our understanding at this time. It was supposed to be an identity hearing. There was also a possibility that a preliminary hearing was going to be held today here on the Kansas side here in Kansas City.

And what that would have been is attached to the larger issue of transferring her from federal custody in Kansas, where Lisa Montgomery was caught, to federal custody in Missouri, where the crimes are alleged to have happened and where the U.S. attorney's office is going to be prosecuting this case.

It's not clear at this point whether there is a need for a preliminary hearing. In many cases it's waived. And on Monday, when Lisa Montgomery last appeared here in court on the Kansas side, they tried to get that identity hearing started. And it's really just a formality. It's where the court wants to determine if that the person before the court is indeed the person that is facing charges.

And Lisa Montgomery didn't allow that to go forward, because she had just been -- she had just had a public defender appointed for her. And had not had a chance to confer with her counsel.

But what investigators were expecting was that once that had happened on the last couple of days and when the court reconvened today, that what often happens is these things are waived. The identity hearing tends to be waived. Preliminary hearing gets to be waived. And we're waiting to find out if that is what happened today. And this court hearing was started at the top of the hour here and didn't last very long.

Now, once this case ultimately moves over to the Missouri side, and whether or not Lisa Montgomery volunteers to have it moved over, is really irrelevant. Because the U.S. attorney's office has mechanisms that it can use in order to force the case over to the Missouri side. So one way or the other, Randi, this case is going to end up there.

A few things have to happen. First there has to be an initial hearing before a federal judge on the Missouri side, where the charges are going to be read out in court. They want to make sure that Lisa Montgomery understands what she is being charged with. At which point, they will move ahead to -- towards the arraignment where a plea would actually be entered.

But before they even get to the arraignment, there has to be a detention hearing, Randi. And at that point they will determine whether or not she will remain in federal custody, or whether or not they might set bail.

KAYE: All right, clearly a long and complicated process. CNN's Jonathan Freed, thank you.

KAGAN: Let's look at some other "Legal Briefs" this morning. The latest round of the NBA brawl landing in federal court this hour; the NBA challenging an arbitrator's ruling to allow Indiana Pacers player Jermaine O'Neal to remain -- to return to the court. Ironically he would face the Detroit Pistons. By the way, that was the other team involved in that fight on November 19.

Also in court today, five of the six men charged in the most costly residential arson case in Maryland's history. The first detention hearing is set to get under way in about 10 minutes. The men are accused of causing $10 million in damage to an upscale neighborhood, which was under construction.

And Martha Stewart has issued her own wish list of sorts in a Christmas message from prison. The posting on her personal website calls for federal sentencing reform and asks fans to remember other inmates who don't have love or family this Christmas. She is due to be released in March.

KAYE: In Washington State the disputed governor's race appears to be switching leads. The first count in the race showed Republican Dino Rossi winning by a razor thin 261 votes. A machine recount narrowed that lead even more to a mere 42 votes.

Now a hand recount shows Democrat Christine Gregoire pulling ahead by 10 votes. That's not including more than 700 votes discovered belatedly in King County. Officials are to count those votes today. The new governor, whoever that proves to be, is to be inaugurated in less than three weeks.

KAGAN: Now, one moment when I already knew I was going to like you is because you're an animal lover.

KAYE: I sure am.

KAGAN: We do the animal thing. So we have some animal stories coming up, including cloning.

KAYE: Mm-hmm.

KAGAN: Someone cloned a sheep, mules, now they're cloning cats.

KAYE: It's interesting. KAGAN: It's an idea. It's an idea. Coming up, one woman shells out big bucks for a clone to order kitty.

KAGAN: We'll ask you later if you would do it for your dog.

KAYE: All right.

Plus, we'll tell you about a special holiday present that lit up one entire town.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Armed with needle and thread some Arizona women are aiding the war effort in Iraq, and specifically Americans wounded there. They are transforming the art of quilting into a common thread of caring.

CNN's Casey Wian explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At sunset in the desert outside Prescott, Arizona, the ladies of the Granite Oaks Quilting Club are gathering for one last meeting before Christmas.

SUSY JOHNSON, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: You sew these four together, these four together and then you sew it across the center.

WIAN: They meet in Diane Silva's garage. It used to house an R.V. Now it's filled with sewing machines, tables, fabric and conversation. It's a profusion of red, white and blue. A week earlier, the Granite Oak Quilters sent their first batch of quilts to soldiers wounded in Iraq.

BEVERLY CLAUCH, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: I just feel blessed to be able to do something for the soldiers, because they're giving of themselves to us. I've made quilts for my grandchildren and that, but it's not the same.

WIAN: Suzy Johnson brought the idea to the group in September. A club in Maryland was coordinating an effort to provide quilts for wounded servicemen and women arriving at Andrews Air Force Base. They wanted other quilters to join in.

JOHNSON: Everybody was thrilled with the idea, so...

SUE WEISSHAUPT, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: The project was easy to do because I have kids who are the age that could be in Iraq, you know. And I think about what their moms must be thinking. And I can't imagine what they're thinking, especially if they come home wounded.

WIAN: The work is detailed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three, four, five, six and a half, yes.

WIAN: And time consuming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's 16 to 20 hours in them. That's the simplest.

WIAN: But rewarding.

JOHNSON: My son was in the First Gulf War. And I would have been really thrilled if a mother had made him something if he'd have been injured.

DIANE SILVA, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: As long as there's a war there's going to be wounded servicemen. And as long as we have wounded servicemen coming home, they're going to need quilts.

WIAN: The Granite Oaks group has sent 13 quilts so far. They plan to have at least six more ready in January.

Casey Wian, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, today is one of the busiest travel days for airports across the country. So to help cut back the stress, we're going to have a few tips for you.

KAYE: And do you feel a bit violated when you walk through airport security? Coming up new rules on...

KAGAN: On what can be touched.

KAYE: Yes. That's a little violating. New rules on what can be touched and what cannot.

KAGAN: And later how to think outside the box, outside the toy box that is, if you're looking for gifts for your kids. Of course, if you're still looking at this hour, there's more problems than just that. But we'll talk about it anyway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired December 23, 2004 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We're way late. Here's Randi Kaye. Welcome to CNN, by the way, working with Daryn Kagan...
RANDI KAYE, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Thank you Bill.

HEMMER: ... at the CNN Center. Welcome to the family.

KAYE: ... and Soledad. Thank you, very much, good to be here.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And you guys have a great day, and Soledad and Andy, great holiday. I'll be with you guys tomorrow.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN-CO-ANCHOR: Thank you.

HEMMER: Thank you.

KAGAN: Yes. I got a lot of e-mail yesterday. Who's the new girl?

KAYE: And what did you say?

KAGAN: I said tune in tomorrow when we don't have as much breaking news. We'll be talking. I'll get to you, like during weather or something. We'll introduce you to the crowd out there.

But let's get started. We do have some news to cover. So let's take a look at what's happening now in the news.

KAYE: We have an update on the U.S. soldiers and civilians wounded in the Mosul explosion. Officials at Germany's Landstuhl Military Hospital say the vast majority of the 35 now being treated there are expected to recover. About half suffered critical injuries in an apparent suicide bombing inside the mess tent.

Brigadier General Carter Ham will sit down with CNN for an exclusive interview at 12:30 Eastern. That's 9:30 Pacific.

Snow from Canada to Texas is making holiday travel a mess. At least seven deaths were blamed on the weather. This is the scene around Louisville, Kentucky. To the north, some areas of southwest, Ohio could see nearly two feet of snow. We'll have live reports and updates in just a moment.

Despite the weather, some experts say this could be the busiest travel season ever. That's the forecast from officials at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Already the host traveled in the country. As well as the Triple-A Motor Club.

After a rash of complaints, the federal government has decided to tone down the more personal nature of its airport pat downs. Screeners will no longer touch between a female's breasts unless there is an irregularity such as a metal detector going off. Hundreds of women had complained that they'd been touched inappropriately.

I'm Randi Kaye sitting in for Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: Good to have you back. And glad our breaking news yesterday didn't scare you away.

KAYE: No, I am back.

KAGAN: Very good. And I'm Daryn Kagan.

Let's get started with some weather. Christmas just two days away. Holiday travelers are finding their plans snarled by winter's first major storm. Let's take a look at some of these pictures here. It is belting the nation's midsection for a second day. Some areas like southwestern Ohio could see record snowfalls, as much as 20 inches.

In fact, the headaches stretch all the way from the Canadian border to central Texas. Snow blanketing the panhandle of the Lone Star State, and even dusting the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. How about southern Indiana is reeling from the 1-2 punch of a double-whammy storm. The snow is tapering off after dumping more than a foot in some areas and closing at least one interstate.

Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras still in Evansville, Indiana.

Because I understand it's not that easy to get out of Evansville, Indiana. Jacqui, good morning.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Yes, in fact, I've tried to figure out if I'm going to make it home today or not. Believe it or not.

The snow has stopped. So that's some good news. Is that at least we're not accumulating any longer. But a couple of problems still is that the wind is blowing very strong. We're seeing wind gusts 20, even 30 miles per hour at times, and that causes visibility issues and also blowing and drifting of snow.

The other issue is that they just can't keep up with it. I-64 has now been closed from the Indiana/Illinois State line extending over to U.S. 231. So that's about a 56-mile stretch. And we're just right on I-64, where we are at this time, where intersects U.S.-41.

And behind me, take a look at all of the trucks stacked up at this time. These are truckers some of which have been stranded here for about 36 hours right now. The plows have not been through this area. You can see some guys trying to dig themselves out. And just make their way home if they can possibly do it. If they can get on 41 they can continue to go and try and maybe find an alternate route. But a state of emergency has been declared for all of Vanderburg and Gibson Counties, where we are, and many other surrounding counties. On average, we've seen maybe about 12 to 18 inches throughout the Evansville area. But you head just south across the river in Kentucky, in Henderson Kentucky, and they've had two feet of snowfall at this time.

Daryn, even just our drive up here from the airport is about nine miles in that stretch, when we drove up to the site this morning to get set up, it was a complete parking lot on U.S. 41. People just abandoned their vehicles. There were still some people in their vehicles.

And that's why 64 is shut down. The National Guard has been sent out to try and rescue people who have been stranded on 64. They've got three Humvees that out there trying to bring people in. They're hoping that it will be opening later on today.

The other issue is some of these drifts. There are some five- foot drifts out in the county areas. These not so bad, maybe one to two feet. But the bitter cold is certainly here, Daryn. Wind chills below zero all day.

KAGAN: Mm-mm-mm. All right. A lot of folks wondering what is next? Let's bring in your colleague Orelon Sidney who for some reason, you got the duty where you're warm and you stay indoors.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's because I got blown around during the hurricanes season.

KAGAN: OK. For the record, you did that.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: What can we look forward to with the Midwest?

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAYE: Turning now to Iraq and the investigation into Tuesday's bombing at the U.S. base. Military officials are looking at measures to prevent similar attacks.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon this morning.

Kathleen, what's the latest from there?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Randi, they had already taken a number of precautions there at Camp Marez. This was a base that was surrounded by blast walls, by barbed wire, because it had already been targeted numerous times before by both rockets and mortars.

But investigators say that in the mess hall, they did not find any evidence of either of those. Instead, only evidence of an improvised explosive device, as well as a torso, perhaps belonging to the bomber who simply walked right in. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH (voice-over): Not a rocket, not a mortar, but a bomb says the Pentagon was carried right into the midst of the Camp Marez mess hall Tuesday, just as soldiers were sitting down to eat.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHMN., JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We have had a suicide bomber apparently strap something to his body, apparently to him, and go into a dining hall. We know how difficult this is to prevent suicide, people bent on suicide and stopping them.

KOCH: An Iraqi militant group had claimed responsibilities, saying it was a suicide attack carried out by a single individual. The coalition says among the dead is one unidentified non-U.S. person. The Pentagon says it does not yet know whether or not that person was the bomber.

It's believed key evidence came from small circular holes found in metal kitchen equipment in the mess hall. Signs of ball bearings used as shrapnel to increase the deadliness of the bomb.

Secretary Rumsfeld, under fire recently for perceived insensitivity to troops and to their families, tried to wipe the slate clean.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I am truly saddened by the thought that anyone could have the impression that I or others here are doing anything other than working urgently to see that the lives of the fighting men and women are protected, and are cared for in every way humanly possible. And I hope and pray that every family member of those who have died so bravely knows how deeply I feel their loss.

KOCH: A multinational force spokesman says Iraqis working at U.S. bases do have to show I.D. to gain entry, but are not always bodily searched.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: Nor are they always accompanied once on U.S. military facilities. Those are the types of things that could change because of this attack. Now one thing that will not change is large numbers of soldiers gathering three times a day for meals. General Myers yesterday saying it's simply not a viable strategy to ask everybody to separate -- Randi.

KAYE: All right, Kathleen Koch for us live at the Pentagon. Thank you.

We have new details about some of the Americans more severely wounded in the Mosul attack. Thirty-five soldiers and civilians were taken to a U.S. military hospital in Germany for treatment. Nearly half are in critical condition. Most are expected to recover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COL. RHONDA CORNUM, CMDR., LANDSTUHL MILITARY HOSP.: The pattern of injuries from our standpoint, recognized that all these people have been operated on prior to their arrival, is that it was obvious that they were not wearing their battle armor. I mean people are sitting down at lunch.

So what is very different from these cases from what we've been seeing lately is normally the trunk, thorax and abdomen are quite well protected and there's a lot of extremity injuries. In this case, they were really primarily neck, chest, abdomen, and not so much extremity injuries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Some of the wounded have already been sent back to the U.S. The rest are expected to return by Monday.

KAGAN: The attack on the U.S. base brings up the question of whether the soldiers should wear flak jackets at all times. Retired Brigadier General David Grange is here to talk about that. Among other things, he's a CNN military analyst and the chief operating officer of the McCormick Tribune Foundation based in Chicago.

General, good morning.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning.

KAGAN: Pick up with that sound bite we were just listening to, talking about the nature of many of the injuries, saying that many coming to the torso and neck area, not to the extremities. Which does bring up the question of whether flak jackets would have protected more of these soldiers.

GRANGE: Well, there's no doubt that if you wore a protective vest, there would have been less torso injuries. It is uncomfortable. They're a pain to wear. I hated wearing them. In fact, in Bosnia we relaxed the procedures on base not to wear them in the mess halls. Which is a great morale boost for the troopers. Of course, it wasn't as dangerous as Iraq.

But as I look back on it, I was probably mistake. I probably should have been more harder about it, forced soldiers to wear them at all times because you never know when there's going to be an attack.

KAGAN: Well, will that be in this case, General Ham -- Brigadier General Ham who would make that decision? Or does that have to come on higher on up?

GRANGE: Well, that's a good question. There's policies on what they call Forced Protection. The protection you take, passive security to protect your people from an attack by the enemy, and I'm sure those procedures for all the military in Iraq. And then local commanders have a little flexibility on how much they can change.

And you know, as you think about it, it's probably better to be hard and unpopular in these kind of situations, than bring more comfort to soldiers in combat. Because comfort quite often doesn't keep you alive.

KAGAN: Let's talk about the procedure and how these camps are being run. I think the incident in Mosul opened up a lot of people's eyes here in the U.S. that there are a lot of locals working at these military bases. Things like food service, laundry, trash. There simply aren't enough military personnel to perform all those tasks.

GRANGE: That's exactly correct. And I remember it from Vietnam all the way through every operation I've been part of, that you do use locals to help, as well as civilian contractors. And there's a security vetting processes that are required.

It's hard to get background information on people that for 30 years have no records. I mean we have a backlog on security clearances for our military in our own country. And so you can imagine how difficult it is in a place like Iraq. But it's important.

What's probably more important is that you have security procedures in place that you don't take it for granted once somebody is vetted that you always check, and that's a long process. And that means you have people outside the gate waiting in line. As you know from previous reports, they've been targeted, as well.

KAGAN: Right. That's a problem. That's a whole separate other kind of problem.

Looking at General Ham once again, do you believe that he has the resources he needs to keep his people safe?

GRANGE: Well, one thing as I look at the situation, I know General Ham quite well. He's very competent. He cares more about troops than any commander I know. But you know, on the resources right now, if the insurgents are picking up the momentum in Mosul area, and he needs any kind of reinforcement, boy, now is the time to do it. Not wait around.

It's a big city and there's a lot of enemy movement. And they need to take the fight to the minimum and regain the initiative.

KAGAN: General Grange, thank you for your time this morning.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

KAGAN: A little bit later, we're going to hear from the commander of the U.S. base near Mosul. We're going to hear from General Carter Ham. It's a CNN exclusive, the interview coming up at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

KAYE: Stitched with love and care. Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, how the work inside this garage turned makeshift factory can help the wounded soldiers.

KAGAN: Plus, we're going to talk about footing the bill. One man picks up the tab for his entire. We'll explain that one coming up.

KAYE: But first we take you live to Kansas City, Kansas, where the woman accused of stealing a baby from a woman's womb goes to court this hour.

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KAYE: The woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and snatching her baby is back in court this hour. Lisa Montgomery faces a federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death.

CNN's Jonathan Freed is covering the case and joins us from Kansas City, Kansas.

And Jonathan, I understand that this identity hearing has just ended.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Randi. That is our understanding at this time. It was supposed to be an identity hearing. There was also a possibility that a preliminary hearing was going to be held today here on the Kansas side here in Kansas City.

And what that would have been is attached to the larger issue of transferring her from federal custody in Kansas, where Lisa Montgomery was caught, to federal custody in Missouri, where the crimes are alleged to have happened and where the U.S. attorney's office is going to be prosecuting this case.

It's not clear at this point whether there is a need for a preliminary hearing. In many cases it's waived. And on Monday, when Lisa Montgomery last appeared here in court on the Kansas side, they tried to get that identity hearing started. And it's really just a formality. It's where the court wants to determine if that the person before the court is indeed the person that is facing charges.

And Lisa Montgomery didn't allow that to go forward, because she had just been -- she had just had a public defender appointed for her. And had not had a chance to confer with her counsel.

But what investigators were expecting was that once that had happened on the last couple of days and when the court reconvened today, that what often happens is these things are waived. The identity hearing tends to be waived. Preliminary hearing gets to be waived. And we're waiting to find out if that is what happened today. And this court hearing was started at the top of the hour here and didn't last very long.

Now, once this case ultimately moves over to the Missouri side, and whether or not Lisa Montgomery volunteers to have it moved over, is really irrelevant. Because the U.S. attorney's office has mechanisms that it can use in order to force the case over to the Missouri side. So one way or the other, Randi, this case is going to end up there.

A few things have to happen. First there has to be an initial hearing before a federal judge on the Missouri side, where the charges are going to be read out in court. They want to make sure that Lisa Montgomery understands what she is being charged with. At which point, they will move ahead to -- towards the arraignment where a plea would actually be entered.

But before they even get to the arraignment, there has to be a detention hearing, Randi. And at that point they will determine whether or not she will remain in federal custody, or whether or not they might set bail.

KAYE: All right, clearly a long and complicated process. CNN's Jonathan Freed, thank you.

KAGAN: Let's look at some other "Legal Briefs" this morning. The latest round of the NBA brawl landing in federal court this hour; the NBA challenging an arbitrator's ruling to allow Indiana Pacers player Jermaine O'Neal to remain -- to return to the court. Ironically he would face the Detroit Pistons. By the way, that was the other team involved in that fight on November 19.

Also in court today, five of the six men charged in the most costly residential arson case in Maryland's history. The first detention hearing is set to get under way in about 10 minutes. The men are accused of causing $10 million in damage to an upscale neighborhood, which was under construction.

And Martha Stewart has issued her own wish list of sorts in a Christmas message from prison. The posting on her personal website calls for federal sentencing reform and asks fans to remember other inmates who don't have love or family this Christmas. She is due to be released in March.

KAYE: In Washington State the disputed governor's race appears to be switching leads. The first count in the race showed Republican Dino Rossi winning by a razor thin 261 votes. A machine recount narrowed that lead even more to a mere 42 votes.

Now a hand recount shows Democrat Christine Gregoire pulling ahead by 10 votes. That's not including more than 700 votes discovered belatedly in King County. Officials are to count those votes today. The new governor, whoever that proves to be, is to be inaugurated in less than three weeks.

KAGAN: Now, one moment when I already knew I was going to like you is because you're an animal lover.

KAYE: I sure am.

KAGAN: We do the animal thing. So we have some animal stories coming up, including cloning.

KAYE: Mm-hmm.

KAGAN: Someone cloned a sheep, mules, now they're cloning cats.

KAYE: It's interesting. KAGAN: It's an idea. It's an idea. Coming up, one woman shells out big bucks for a clone to order kitty.

KAGAN: We'll ask you later if you would do it for your dog.

KAYE: All right.

Plus, we'll tell you about a special holiday present that lit up one entire town.

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KAYE: Armed with needle and thread some Arizona women are aiding the war effort in Iraq, and specifically Americans wounded there. They are transforming the art of quilting into a common thread of caring.

CNN's Casey Wian explains.

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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At sunset in the desert outside Prescott, Arizona, the ladies of the Granite Oaks Quilting Club are gathering for one last meeting before Christmas.

SUSY JOHNSON, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: You sew these four together, these four together and then you sew it across the center.

WIAN: They meet in Diane Silva's garage. It used to house an R.V. Now it's filled with sewing machines, tables, fabric and conversation. It's a profusion of red, white and blue. A week earlier, the Granite Oak Quilters sent their first batch of quilts to soldiers wounded in Iraq.

BEVERLY CLAUCH, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: I just feel blessed to be able to do something for the soldiers, because they're giving of themselves to us. I've made quilts for my grandchildren and that, but it's not the same.

WIAN: Suzy Johnson brought the idea to the group in September. A club in Maryland was coordinating an effort to provide quilts for wounded servicemen and women arriving at Andrews Air Force Base. They wanted other quilters to join in.

JOHNSON: Everybody was thrilled with the idea, so...

SUE WEISSHAUPT, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: The project was easy to do because I have kids who are the age that could be in Iraq, you know. And I think about what their moms must be thinking. And I can't imagine what they're thinking, especially if they come home wounded.

WIAN: The work is detailed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three, four, five, six and a half, yes.

WIAN: And time consuming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's 16 to 20 hours in them. That's the simplest.

WIAN: But rewarding.

JOHNSON: My son was in the First Gulf War. And I would have been really thrilled if a mother had made him something if he'd have been injured.

DIANE SILVA, GRANITE OAKS QUILTERS: As long as there's a war there's going to be wounded servicemen. And as long as we have wounded servicemen coming home, they're going to need quilts.

WIAN: The Granite Oaks group has sent 13 quilts so far. They plan to have at least six more ready in January.

Casey Wian, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, today is one of the busiest travel days for airports across the country. So to help cut back the stress, we're going to have a few tips for you.

KAYE: And do you feel a bit violated when you walk through airport security? Coming up new rules on...

KAGAN: On what can be touched.

KAYE: Yes. That's a little violating. New rules on what can be touched and what cannot.

KAGAN: And later how to think outside the box, outside the toy box that is, if you're looking for gifts for your kids. Of course, if you're still looking at this hour, there's more problems than just that. But we'll talk about it anyway.

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