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CNN Live Today

Eyes on Iraq; Western Arizona Wildfire; Missing in Aruba; Money Wise

Aired June 24, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Black smoke is visible from the scene of an attack on U.S. Marines. A car bomb targeting a Marine convoy exploded in Falluja. At least six marines are reported killed and women may be among the dead. More from the Pentagon in just a moment.
Iranians voted today in their country's first presidential runoff since the 1979 resolution. Former President Akbar Rafsanjani is facing off against the mayor of Tehran. The mayor is supported by religious conservatives. Rafsanjani is considered a moderate conservative. Initial results are due tomorrow. Whoever wins will still rank behind the country's supreme Islamic leader.

A break this morning for firefighters outside Phoenix, Arizona. A 46,000 acre wildfire is moving away from populated areas. Officials say high winds are still a concern in the Tonto National Forest fire. No word yet on when that fire may be contain.

And good news for Texans. The San Antonio Spurs are NBA champs. The Spurs beat the Detroit Pistons 81 to 74 in game seven. This is the first third title in seven seasons. Tim Duncan was chosen as MVP of the finals. He did struggle early in the series but he came back to score 25 points last night.

And now cnn.com is offering a new way to get the headlines. Just log on to our Web site and click on watch to click the most popular stories. Everything from politics and sports to entertainment. It's free now on cnn.com.

And good morning, everyone. It is Friday morning. I'm Daryn Kagan.

We're going to begin this hour in Iraq. An issue dominating this hour at the White House and deliver to your living room in coming prime time presidential address. That's coming up next week. Our David Ensor is at the White House to tell us more about those plans.

Good morning.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, as you say, the president, the White House, has asked the networks for air time to address the nation at 8:00 on Tuesday night to talk about his strategy for winning the war. Obviously, at the White House, they've seen the polls we've all seen. The recent Gallup Poll, for example, showing that six out of 10 Americans now believe they'd like to see an announcement of when some troops, at least, could be drawn from Iraq.

So Scott McClelland, the spokesman here, saying that the president sees this as a time of testing, that it's a critical moment, that he wants to talk to the American people about his strategy for finishing up the fighting. And Dan Bartlett, the president's counselor on the air this morning, talking about how the White House wants to appeal even to those Americans who opposed the war in the first place and ask them to support the troops as they try to finish the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: We realize that people might not have supported originally President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power. But we can all agree now that the terrorists have made this a central front in the war on terror. We have to defeat them there because if we don't, we will be facing these terrorists elsewhere and potentially even here in America. And the generals on the ground recognize that. The president recognizes that. And the vice president recognize that. And that's why we're going to pursue a strategy that will make us victorious in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Moments ago here at the White House, Prime Minister Jaafari of Iraq arrived and was welcomed into the West Wing of the White House. His car is parked not far from me right now. He said in remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations last night before coming here, that it would be a mistake for the U.S. to set a timetable for troop withdrawals. And he also wants to see the U.S. stay the course.

Obviously, the president and the prime minister will be talking about Iraqi efforts to come up with a new constitution in the coming months and the effort they both want to see speeded up as much as possible, the training of Iraqi security forces so they can take over the job in Iraq.

Daryn.

KAGAN: David Ensor at the White House.

Thank you.

We have some breaking news out of the Pentagon concerning some Marines in Iraq. For that, let's go to our Jamie McIntyre with the latest.

Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, we are getting word now -- more details now on this deadly attack against U.S. Marines in Falluja last night.

A suicide bomber driving some sort of vehicle attacked a convoy of Marines and we're told as many as six marines were killed, including, "some number of women." There are some indications that this incident may have involved what's known as a lioness team. Those are female Marines, women Marines, who are used to particularly at checkpoints to check female Iraqis for, you know, weapons and that sort of thing. A special teams. And it may be that many of these victims were from that team. It may be. But we're still waiting for details. We haven't gotten any official word other than a sketchy release that was put out last night that simply noted that there was an attack and said that there were some casualties sustained.

But again, the U.S. military official confirms to CNN that as many as six Marines were killed in this attack and that some number of them are women.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Well, we'll be looking for more information on that as it does become available.

Jamie McIntyre, we'll be back to you at the Pentagon.

Thank you.

There have been concerns mounting about troop (ph) deaths in Iraq and they have reached the ears of Congress. On Thursday, lawmakers pressed those concern at hearings that were attended by the top military brass. In fact, if you were with us yesterday, you were seeing those hearings live right here on CNN. Among those testifying, General John Abizaid, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq. He said the insurgency, in fact, has not slowed down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, CMDR, U.S. CENTCOM: In terms of comparison from six months ago, in terms of foreign firefighters, I believe there are more foreign fighters coming in direct than there were six months ago. In terms of the overall strength of the insurgency, I'd say it's about the same as it was.

SEN. CARL LEVIN, (D) MICHIGAN: So you wouldn't agree with the statement that it's in its last throes?

ABIZAID: I don't know that I would make any comment about that other than to say there's a lot of work to be done against the insurgency.

LEVIN: Well the vise president has said it's in its last throes. That's the statement the vice president. It doesn't sound to me from your testimony, or any other testimony here this morning, that it is in its last throes. But . . .

ABIZAID: I'm sure you'll forgive me from criticizing the vice president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, as for the vice president, his comment about the insurgency being in its last throes came in a recent CNN interview. Dick Cheney, again, joined us yesterday to explain his comment and he spoke to our Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the months immediately ahead will be difficult months. I think there will be a lot of violence, a lot of bloodshed because I think the terrorists will do everything they can to try to disrupt that process and that flow that's well underway.

But I think it is well underway. I think it is going to be accomplished, that we will, in fact, succeed in getting a democracy established in Iraq. And I think when we do, that will be the end of the insurgency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The vice president made his analogy to World War II. Mr. Cheney said, the toughest battle in both Europe and the Pacific occurred just before the end of the war.

A reminder for you, the president and the Iraqi prime minister will meet with reporters a little over an hour from now. CNN will have live coverage.

State-by-state, acre-by-acre, the summer wildfire season has roared to life in the American west. About 20 miles northeast of Phoenix, Arizona, this fire in the Tonto National Forest has swept across some 46,000 acres. There is some encouraging news. It is moving away from populated areas. In fact, residents of one evacuated subdivision have now been allowed to return home.

There's also good news to report in Southern California where firefighters remain on the lines of the Morongo Valley blaze. That's in San Bernardino Country near Palm Springs. Crews have contained about 50 percent of the 3,000 acre fire. Full containment is expected by tonight. Six homes were lost in that blaze.

A smoky haze covers the desert around Las Vegas. At least a dozen lightning sparked fires are burning in Southern Nevada. The largest is called the Good Springs fire. It has charred about 15,000 acres and forced some evacuations.

So let's go ahead and get the latest on the Arizona fire just northwest of Phoenix. It is gaining ground but losing some of its menace as it's pushing away from the more populated areas. Our Keith Oppenheim is in the town that is known as Carefree. As in the Carefree Highway.

Good morning.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So carefree I felt comfortable putting on my fire retardant shirt for you, Daryn.

That subdivision that you were referring to is behind me in the foothills over there and that's the place that Tonto Hills Subdivision where residents who were evacuated have now been allowed to go back home. And that's a sign that the fire is moving away from where people live.

This fire is called the Cape Creek Complex Fire. And it actually began as two separate fires that joined. It's burned about 10 homes, some of them summer cabins, and it forced about 250 people to evacuate. Again, most of those folks have gone back home.

But as you'll hear now from Emily Garber of the United States Forest Service, the news is really mixed right now because while human habitat isn't threatened so much, wild habitat is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY GARBER, INTERAGENCY INCIDENT MGMT: As far as not going towards homes, it's definitely in the right direction. The fire, yesterday afternoon, was moving north, which was away from the densely populated areas. That's a real good thing. But it's also spreading. And that's not so great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: The fire actually spread in one area of the Tonto National Forest near Bartlett Lake. And actually 68 campers or so were asked to evacuate and they did. So unless the wind shifts dramatically or we get some lightning strikes, Daryn, that start some new fires, the big focus right now is going to try to preserve some of this desert. As the fire continues to move outwards, probably northward from here, that's where you'll see potentially the most damage to this very beautiful landscape.

Back to you.

KAGAN: It is pretty indeed. Keith Oppenheim in Carefree, Arizona.

Thank you.

Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, the search continues in New Jersey this morning for three missing boys. The Camden police chief is holding a news conference at this hour. We'll bring you the latest.

Plus, six months after the deadly tsunami, Southeast Asia is rebuilding. A look at the progress and how volunteers are staying the course.

And later, could this be his final stop? We'll take you live to New York as it prepares for Evangelist Billy Graham.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Keeping our eyes on a news conference taking place right now in Camden, New Jersey. They're updating us on the latest search for three boys. They went missing yesterday. Foul play has not been ruled out. Authorities can see they have virtually no clues to indicate what happened to these three boys. We are listening in and we'll bring you the latest as it become available.

Now to another missing person's case. To Aruba and the search for a missing Alabama teenager, Natalee Holloway. Her mother says yesterday's arrest of a local judge should provide the answers in finding her daughter and she hopes that her hopes are also rising with today's arrival of a search team from Texas. CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Palm Beach, Aruba, with the latest on all of that.

Hello.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

First of all, I think right now, you can just about forget about that story about Natalee Holloway getting dropped off here at the Holiday Inn. The story from the suspects now seem to be that two brothers dropped off the Dutch teenager and Natalee at a beach down the road. The Dutch teenager says he left Natalee alone on that beach. And right now they're interrogating both him and his father to try to piece it all together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE, (voice over): Paul van der Sloot rushed out of a police station after being questioned last weekend. On Thursday, he was not allowed to leave.

ANITA VAN DER SLOOT, PAUL VAN DER SLOOT'S WIFE: I think it's ridiculous.

LAWRENCE: Anita van der Sloot says her husband was calm when police took him into custody. But police haven't explained how he may be connected. The van der Sloot's son, Joran, was arrest two weeks ago. And his mother now says Joran has changed his original story, that he dropped off Natalee Holloway at her hotel on the night she disappeared.

VAN DER SLOOT: He says, mom, I dropped the girl at the beach. I walk with her. I left her because she wanted to stay there. I left and I don't know what happened.

LAWRENCE: Natalee's friends last saw her leaving this bar four weeks ago. She drove off with Joran van der Sloot and two brothers, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe. The Kalpoe's mother visited Satish in prison and says he admitted to her that he also lied.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said me and my brother gave them a lift and they came home and they don't know anything else about that. I said, Satish, mamma is trusting you guys. He said, I'm telling you, mamma, we didn't do anything.

LAWRENCE: Natalee's stepfather told us he expects answers now that both of the van der Sloot's are suspected in being involved in her disappearance. GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, NATALEE'S STEPFATHER: And how would you like to be there in prison and knowing that your father is now, you know, under arrest and saying, hey, your dad might be going to jail now because of something you may have done.

LAWRENCE: Paul van der Sloot came to Aruba 15 years ago. He's in the early stages of becoming a full judge and has already heard some cases. Now, he's a suspect in one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Now, as all that plays out in court, plenty of people are still out there searching for evidence of what happened to Natalee. We're told that the FBI has already been out with a Coast Guard this morning searching a particular bay here in Aruba. And some members of that Texas search team are here on the island already getting ready for the full team to arrive later today and begin to try to help with that search.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Chris Lawrence in Palm Beach, Aruba.

Chris, thank you.

And we're getting more information now into CNN about this car bombing that took place in an attack on U.S. Marines in Falluja, Iraq. The latest numbers we're getting, two Marines were killed, three are still missing. One sailor is also missing. And 13 additional Marines were wounded.

This was a suicide car bombing that targeted a U.S. Marine convoy. It exploded Thursday evening in Falluja, calling all of these casualties. We're working on getting our Jamie McIntyre up at the Pentagon with additional information, with the latest numbers and exactly what happened there in Falluja. We'll work on that.

Quick break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check out the stock market. Investors getting kind of bummed out by riding oil prices. Stocks are down. The Dow is down 39 points. Its been open 50 minutes. The Nasdaq also in negative territory. It is down two.

Everybody wants to know the best ways to make money and to save it. Well, "Money" magazine came up with "The 50 Smartest Things You Can Do With Your Money." And we're going to share five of them for today's "Top Five Tips." "Money" magazine Senior Writer Eleanor McGirt is in for the vacationing Gerri Willis.

Good morning.

ELLEN MCGIRT, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

KAGAN: Let's start with a special kind of account. Your 401(k). You should be putting a lot of money in there.

MCGIRT: You've got to max that out. It remains the best vehicle for long-term savings and for retirement planning. It lowers your taxable income, it gets money out of your hair so that you're not going to be spending more than you're making. And with matching, which most employers match these days, it's free money. A little goes a long way. If you just add another $83 a month let's say, in 30 years you're going to add another $153,000 to your retirement kitty. So max that out. If you sacrifice elsewhere, this is the place that should reap the benefits.

KAGAN: Sounds good.

Now your house could be working for you but you want to borrow against it for the right reasons.

MCGIRT: That's exactly right. Tap that home equity in a smart way. We like the HELC, the home equity line of credit. Sort of an extra line, like a credit card, that you can just tap into when you need it. The smart expenses are tuition for your child or yourself, small but meaningful home renovations, paying down expensive credit card debt. The little red car, the expensive vacation, the plasma TV, pay cash for those.

KAGAN: Big no, no on those.

MCGIRT: Yes.

KAGAN: The doctor. Don't necessarily pay the price they ask for.

MCGIRT: No. Everything's negotiable in these worlds. And with higher health care costs, you're going to be paying out of pocket for more and more. Surprising costs -- there's a lot of costs related with for pregnancy and fertility and physical therapy, those kinds of things. Call your insurer first. Find out what they would consider a reasonable and customary cost for this and call your doctor and say, will you match it? Our study show that 50 percent of the time you'll get a better deal.

KAGAN: Big waste of money are late fees on your bills.

MCGIRT: Oh, yes, make everything automatic. There's no reason to these days. Either call your utility companies. They often have automatic ways and they can take things out of your checking account. Online bill pay. Making your investing and savings automatic. Just get the money out of your way so you don't spend it. It takes all the stress out of managing your budget and you'll never pay a late fee again.

KAGAN: And speaking of investing, think international.

MCGIRT: Absolutely. It lowers the risk. Your diversifying your portfolio. We'd like to think 20 percent of your portfolio should be -- you should consider overseas. It's a great way to think globally and also making sure that you can lock in some higher returns when good things happen overseas.

KAGAN: All right. Ellen McGirt, "Money" magazine, thank you.

MCGIRT: Thanks for having me this week.

KAGAN: That means there's 45 more smart tips for us to go check out in the magazine.

MCGIRT: Yes.

KAGAN: Thank you. Have a great weekend.

MCGIRT: You, too.

KAGAN: Coming up on the half hour. We're going to be back with more on the Marine convoy that was attacked in Falluja, killing two, wounding 13. Stay with us as we get the latest from the Pentagon when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are coming up on the half hour. Good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's what's happening "Now in the News."

President Bush is preparing a major policy address on Iraq. He's set to deliver it on a televised prime time speech on Tuesday night. Mr. Bush is expected to outline his strategy for victory and the need to complete the mission amid waning public support for the war.

CNN is gathering details of a deadly attack on a U.S. convoy last night in the Iraqi city of Falluja. As many as six U.S. Marines were reported killed and women were among the dead. A military statement which was just released minutes ago says the explosion left two Marines dead, 13 wounded and three Marines and one sailor missing.

Prosecutors in Maryland say U.S. troops headed to Iraq and Afghanistan were targeted even before they left U.S. soil. Three men were working as baggage handlers at Baltimore-Washington International Airport are accused of stealing valuables from their luggage. Laptop computers, video games and digital cameras were among the items stolen over the past year.

Just minutes ago, authorities in Camden, New Jersey, held a news conference on three missing boys. The friends range in age from five to 11 years old. They were last seen playing in their neighborhood on Wednesday. Police reaffirm this hour that the full-scale search has turned up no signs of foul play.

And now there's a whole new way for you to get your news on the web with free video at cnn.com. Just log on to our Web site, click on "watch" and check out the most popular stories. It's free video under your command now at cnn.com.

Let's get the latest now on this breaking story out of Iraq. A Marine convoy attacked in Falluja. A number of Marines dead and wounded. Our Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon with more. Jamie.

MCINTYRE: Well, what we have confirmed, Daryn, is that the suicide attack, a vehicle borne improvised explosive device, a vehicle borne bomb essentially, exploded near a convoy in Falluja. A Marine convoy. As many as six Marines are -- have been killed. Thirteen were wounded in this deadly attack.

And that's all the Marines are saying at the moment. In fact, a Marine Corps release has essentially said that two are confirmed dead and four of the Marines are listed as what they call duty stats, whereabouts unknown. What that essentially means is they either haven't recovered their bodies or they haven't identified their bodies after this attack. There's always, of course, a slim chance that somebody is unaccounted for and will turn up OK but that doesn't appear to be the case in this case.

The other thing they're not saying, but we're getting indications of, is that some of the victims in this strike may have been from what they call a lioness team. That is a team of female Marines that are used both at checkpoints and sometimes on raids to search female Iraqi civilians, search for weapons or contraband, in order not to offend the Iraqis. And some of the women Marines are used in that role in Iraq. And we're told that some of the victims were women and some may have been from one of these lioness teams.

Daryn.

KAGAN: We'll be checking back with you for the latest on that. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.

Thank you.

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