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CNN Live Today

Atrocity In Iraq?; Collision In North Carolina; Iran Talks; Fighting Back; 2006 Hurricane Forecast; Avoid Underinsurance Tips

Aired May 31, 2006 - 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: A new hurricane season is just hours away. But even more immediate, a revised forecast issued at any moment.
And it was five against one. But the one was an ex-Marine and he was lethal. Details on a deadly street fight coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY.

But first, there is new insight into a troubling incident, the killings of two dozen Iraqi civilians. A CNN reporter was with U.S. Marines in the city of Haditha just a month before the alleged massacre. She's going to join me in just a minute. It all started with the death of a Marine in a roadside bombing in Haditha, a city of 90,000, northwest of Baghdad. It ended in horror. Twenty-four Iraqi civilians killed in a bloody rampage allegedly by Marines. Among the dead, women and children. Was it a rampage fueled by rage? An unprovoked massacre? Investigations are ongoing. The White House promises to release the results.

One of our own CNN reporters, as I was saying, spent time with the Marines who are now caught up in the investigation. Correspondent Arwa Damon was with the troops in Haditha just a month before the killings and she joins me now from Beirut with an inside tape.

Arwa, first, if you could talk to us, please, about what the conditions were like in Haditha when were you embedded with the Marines?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, at that point in time that we were there, it was a month before this alleged incident that is currently under investigation took place. And at that time, there had were a series of operations up and down the Euphrates River Valley to include an operation into Haditha.

Now there had been numerous operations into the city in the past. This time the difference was that the U.S. Marines and the Iraqi security forces were going to set up fixed bases. And what they found when they went into the city was that a lot of the insurgents themselves appear to have disappeared. There was not a lot of face- to-face combat.

But what they did find was that the city was literally a graveyard or a mine field, rather, of IEDs, improvised explosive devices, roadside bombs that were everywhere. Up and down the main roads. Daisy chained one to another. Sometimes 18, 20 in a row. And in some ways fighting these IEDs, these roadside bombs, is very frustrating and challenges for the U.S. Marines because as they have said to us so many time, it's not an enemy that they can actually come up cross face-to-face. And walking through an area like Haditha, knowing that it has been so in lane with roadside bombs that are so deadly, no one really know when you're going through exactly if you put your foot in a certain spot or not, is that going to be in the wrong spot.

Daryn.

KAGAN: So basically it's like going through a giant booby trap? And I know you and our crew had your own firsthand account of what that was like?

DAMON: Yes, Daryn, that's right. In fact, there were a number of instances. When we were actually driving to this operation, the Humvee that I was in was hit by an IED and it was pure luck. Another two inches and all of us inside the Humvee would probably have been dead.

And there was also a number of times when we were in Haditha itself that we'd be standing on a street corner conducting an interview or just chatting, taking a break, only to have a Marine run up to us, 10, 15 minutes later and say oh, guys, by the way, we just found an IED down the road exactly where you were standing. And it did become something of a black humor kind of joke between us.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Nothing very funny about what these Marines face now. And you write a fascinating piece that our viewers can look at on cnn.com where you talk about the moment when you're finding out about this current investigation and you have this recollection, you think, I know some of these Marines.

DAMON: That's right, Daryn. I was scrolling through the footage, essentially looking for b-roll (ph) of Haditha when, and I'm not really quite sure, I didn't realize this before, but I realized that I was there. I was there a month before this incident took place.

And now we were not embedded with Kilo Company, that is the company that is implicated in this incident. But we were essentially with that battalion, with other companies that were there going with them. And you get a feel for, you know, what the Marines are like, what the unit is like. And, you know, scrolling through that footage and realizing that, you know, we had been there, that we knew these guys or that we knew some of the Marines to a certain degree, or at least knew what the battalion itself was like, it did come as something of a surprise.

And I then ended up talking to my other fellow CNN team member and we were on the phone. We were kind of saying to each other, can you believe it? You know, can you believe these allegations that are taking place? And I think it was, to a certain degree, something of a surprise for all of us.

Daryn.

KAGAN: And in trying to explain the allegations, if they prove out to be true, there are some suggesting that if this happened the way some are suggesting, that these Marines must have just snapped. That the tension, that the events would have just gotten to them. What do you make of that defense?

DAMON: Well, Daryn, it's really hard to speculate on that without knowing what the end result of the investigation is going to be. But the fact that a unit of Marine could have snapped. And if we just try to put ourselves in to their place, though we can't really ever fully do that, they're going through these cities and towns and areas never knowing at what point they put their foot down if that is going to detonate. Driving their Humvees where in a fraction of a second what looks like a peaceful area can all of a sudden turn into what they call a kill zone. It's really very draining and stressful to go through that day in and day out. And I guess at some point perhaps people do snap.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Arwa Damon. We have tracked you down in Beirut, Lebanon. Thanks for taking time. And, once again, if viewers and readers want to see more of what you have to say, just go to cnn.com and check out Arwa Damon's behind-the-scenes notebook.

Arwa, thank you.

Now we have breaking news here in the U.S. out of North Carolina. Carol Lin has those details for us.

Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, talking about a really terrible wreck on Interstate 40, just north of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It's in an area called Hillsborough. Some 15 different collisions over a stretch of five miles in a really short period of time. The first of the accidents occurred around 7:30 this morning during the rush hour. And you're seeing some of the new video that just came into the CNN Center.

A bus was also involved in this big traffic pileup that's now being blame on the weather and just the fact that there are so many -- there's the bus. There's so many cars on the road. One of the passengers on that bus has been transported to a local hospital. So far we don't know of any other more serious injury. But, obviously, not the commute you'd want to have there in North Carolina.

KAGAN: All right. Well, I'll leave to you watch that. Carol, thank you. Carol Lin.

Now to a developing story out of the White House. One that could involve Iran. Our Ed Henry is at the White House with some new details. Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

That's right, CNN has confirmed here with senior officials that the United States is now ready to join multilateral talks with Iran about its nuclear ambitions. That official announcement is going to be made 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. And we've actually just obtained, our State Department producer Elise Labott, has obtained an excerpt from this speech Secretary Rice will deliver. And it says, "as soon as Iran fully and verifiably suspends its enrichment and reprocessing activities, the United States will come to the table with our EU-3 colleagues." That's a reference to the European Union three -- France, Germany and Britain.

There is another important condition here that we're hearing from other officials, which is that the U.S. will only do this with Russia and China pledging that they will press sanctions against Iran if Iran does not follow through with its end of the bargain. That's critical because Russia and China have been against those sanctions. We're told without getting into -- and confirming any of the details of this plan, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow did say that the president here at the White House yesterday made a round of phone calls to the heads of Russia, France and Germany. And in the words of Tony Snow, got them to "sign off on this plan from the United States."

Obviously a long way to go down the diplomatic road, but now the U.S. saying it will get down and sit down with Iran through multilateral, not direct talks, but multilateral talks through the European Union three.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, and let's talk about those layers. What are -- besides the big three, do they expect anybody else to be at that table?

HENRY: Well, right after this speech, Secretary Rice, we've now also confirmed, is going to heading to Vienna. That's where the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council is meeting. And we're told that the U.N. five, plus Germany, could at some point be involved in some talks. And the thinking would be that the European Union three, in particular, could potentially break off and deal directly with the Iran issue. And so Secretary Rice heading to Vienna.

Again, we don't know how quickly all of this will come together. She's just making this speech at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. But significant, of course, that Secretary Rice will be going herself directly to Vienna. That's an add to her schedule to try to really get this process going.

Daryn.

KAGAN: By the way, Ed, we will be carry Secretary of State Rice's speech live at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. But let me ask you this, how do you deliver a message like that to a country that the U.S. doesn't talk to?

HENRY: Well, that's, obviously, a difficulty. That's why we -- you know, that's why I think you're going to try to see the United States government finally sitting down at a table. It's been since 1979 that diplomatic relations have been broken off between the U.S. and Iran, dating back to the hostage crisis, of course. The U.S. embassy there in Tehran taken over by radicals.

I think there's, obviously, been a resolve where the president here at the White House has been repeatedly saying that he wants to solve this nuclear crisis with Iran through diplomatic means. Part of that, of course, is that the president has faced such heavy criticism that he did not give every diplomatic opportunity a chance before going to war with Iraq. Perhaps learning a lesson from there. He and British Prime Minister Tony Blair trying now to go through every diplomatic channel in trying to head off a nuclear crisis

Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed Henry at the White House, as the story develops. Thank you.

And once again, we will carry Condoleezza Rice's speech live in about 50 minutes. Live right here on CNN.

The U.S. military is joining the battle to help earthquake survivors in Indonesia. Officials now say the death toll is more than 5,800. Thousands more are injured and hundreds of thousands are homeless. Today, U.S. Marines are setting up a medical unit in a soccer stadium. It's an area hit hardest by Saturday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Java Island. Disaster relief is also pouring in from more than a dozen other countries.

A bloody scene in Iraq. A heart-wrenching account from somebody who was there. The mother of one U.S. Marine says no one should witness the images that now haunt her son. That is ahead on LIVE TODAY.

And an ex-Marine in the fight of his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You hear some people calling you a hero?

THOMAS AUTRY, ATTACK SURVIVOR: Yes.

DORNIN: But that young girl died?

AUTRY: No way, shape or form am I a hero. In no way, shape or form am I a hero. At the most, I'm just a victim of circumstance.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAGAN: It was five on one. That didn't stop that former Marine. His story when LIVE TODAY continues. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And we continue to follow the story with the U.S. saying it is willing to join multilateral talks with Iran on its nuclear ambitions. We're getting worried because we asked the question, how would they get that word to Iran since this is a country the United States has not spoken with since 1979. Our Elise Labott at the United Nations reporting that the U.S. giving this information to Switzerland which will forward it on to Iran.

Meanwhile, we expect in about 45 minutes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be giving a speech on this topic. And you will see that speech live here on CNN.

Before we get to that, though, he is trained to fight and kill and that is exact what this former Marine did to save his own life. The battlefield was a street here in Atlanta. After it was over, one teenage attacker was dead, another injured. Police say the ex-Marine will not face charges. CNN's Rusty Dornin has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): 6'6" and former Marine, not many people mess with Thomas Autry. Soft spoken but street wise, Autry was walking home from work late Monday night in the street lined Atlanta neighborhood. He heard a car rev its engine. He figured it was the cops coming to tell him, a black man, to get out of the neighborhood.

You hear this car. Something's not right.

THOMAS AUTRY, ATTACK SURVIVOR: Something's not right. I'm turning around to see if it's a police officer.

DORNIN: Right. How far away are they from you at this point?

AUTRY: They're about -- the back door is right here.

DORNIN: And they jump out?

AUTRY: They jump out and one of them had a weapon of some sort. I don't know what it was. But at the time, I seen them running toward me. And I was in a spot like this, because I don't never walk on the sidewalk because it's too blind. Because there's a dark spot.

DORNIN: Right. You start running, though?

AUTRY: I start running. And the only reason why I was running was to get to a spot that's well lit.

DORNIN: Pursued by four or five would be robbers, he aimed for a house like this, one where there was plenty of light, all the while screaming fire. Then he turned and made his stand just like the Marines taught him.

AUTRY: I'm just trying to assess if I got to run again or just fire. Because I'm still yelling fire while this is all going on.

DORNIN: Right.

AUTRY: And this young lady comes out and starts throwing punches at me.

DORNIN: That lady was 17-year-old Amy Martin (ph). Autry says one of the gang pulled a gun but it seemed to jam.

AUTRY: And he was gesturing like it is a gun. And he raised it up toward me. And they both split out of the way. So when he was trying to raise it up, I kicked the gun. The only thing I can think of is he's trying to kill me with this gun. So, I brought out my -- brought out the blade of a knife.

DORNIN: A knife he pulled out of his backpack. Autry claims the young woman kept hitting him.

AUTRY: I remember hitting her and that was -- it was more of a punch because at this time I'm trying to get everybody off of me.

DORNIN: Autry stabbed the young woman and killed her. Nineteen- year-old Christopher Daniel (ph) also received stab wounds.

You hear some people call you a hero?

AUTRY: Yes.

DORNIN: But that little girl died.

AUTRY: No way, shape, or form am I a hero. In no way, shape or form am I a hero. At the most, I'm just a victim of circumstance.

DORNIN: Autry's only injuries, a cut hand from the blade of his own knife. Police say Daniel and three juveniles allegedly involved in the attack have been charged with robbery and aggravated assault. As for Autry, you have not been charged with anything?

AUTRY: I have been charged with something. I've been charged for the rest of my life with this. Whether I'm charged for murder or internally know that another human being has left this earth because of me, that hurts.

I love you (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you, too.

DORNIN: Autry and his girlfriend, Suzett (ph), are planning to marry. He's a man planning to get on with his life. But one who says his heart will always be heavy for the life he took to save his own.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And Rusty's report first aired on AMERICAN MORNING. Start your day off right with Soledad and Miles at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

Let's go ahead and check in on weather. Swirling on the horizon and racing closer, the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins tomorrow. Just minutes ago, one well-known forecaster issued his predictions and the news is not reassuring for folks along the coast. Let's get the latest from CNN Severe Weather Expert Chad Myers.

Chad, your season is about to begin.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I have one more vacation next week. It's kind of a working vacation and then I'm on for six months.

KAGAN: He laughs nervously.

MYERS: You say, how come you take all your vacations in three months of early summer and spring?

KAGAN: And now we know.

MYERS: But I don't have any other choice.

KAGAN: Because you'd have to cancel them anyway.

MYERS: Exactly. And I have in the past.

The only thing I have to tell you, Daryn, is that it's not going to be, at least the new forecast, not going to be as bad as last year, but certainly way above normal. We'll get to it.

Here's the warm water of the Atlantic and the Caribbean and, obviously, the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing going on here right now. You would actually see some type of spin going on. Some type of disturbance already occurring here if we were going to get a storm for tomorrow.

Now tomorrow's not a switch. It's kind of funny because it's like, June 1st, oh it's hurricane season. It's like, no, it's just when the water is averaged to be warm enough to make a storm.

Here's the forecast just issued a few minutes ago from Dr. Grey in Colorado. Seventeen, nine and five. Seventeen named storms, nine hurricane, five major hurricanes. The average is 9.6 or 10. About six hurricanes and two to two and a half major hurricanes. So this is above normal compared to where we should be.

But that is still below the last two seasons. You've got to go all the way back to 2002 to get a number or numbers that are lower than this. The official NOAA forecast for named storms, 13 to 16 hurricane, eight to 10. So you see he's right in the middle there. And also right in the middle of the major hurricane, NOAA saying four to six. To the names. We start out with Alberto. We go to Beryl. Then we go to Chris and Debby and Ernesto. I know all the Tony's of the world may want one, but here in the weather office we don't want to go that far, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie and so on.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Well, whether you live in hurricane country or not, you want to make sure you have the right kind of insurance on your home. Gerri Willis is here with her "Top Five Tips" on that.

Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Daryn, good to see you.

As we've been saying, hurricane season kicks off this week. Do you know what your home insurance policy covers? I'll have more on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's check out the latest numbers on Wall Street. The markets have been open getting close to an hour. You can see the Dow is up 33 points. The Nasdaq up just a little bit. It is up by three points.

Well, as we've been saying, hurricane season starts tomorrow. Are you ready? And more important, are you insured? Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joins us with her "Top Five Tips" on protecting your property.

Good morning, Gerri.

WILLIS: Hey, Daryn, good to see you.

Tip number one today, I just want to tell people, get the camera out right now. Take pictures of the different rooms in your house and note all the furnishings and possessions you have. Why? Well, this could speed up the claims process. You'll be able to substantiate your losses if push comes to shove. And a great idea is to download some software to help you out with this list. Go to knowyourstuff.org because it's easy to forget stuff that you have in your house.

KAGAN: You really need to understand all the lingo?

WILLIS: That's right. You may have less insurance coverage than you think for the contents of your home. Understanding insurance speak is really difficult. And under a standard homeowner's policy, you'll have a cash value policy. And that means, of course, any settlement will be depreciated for wear and tear. You're much better off with replacement cost coverage. Of course it cost more, about 10 percent more. But at the end of the day, you'll have so much better coverage if the worst happens.

KAGAN: How does inflation play into it, Gerri? WILLIS: Well, this is an interesting thing. You know we've seen home prices go through the roof and a lot of people wonder, wow, am I really covered. And it's a great question. Look, it's estimated that 59 percent of American homes are undervalued by insurance companies. You want all your improvements to be covered by insurance. And it's your responsibility to make sure the company knows about the projects you've made of any improvements to your house.

You'll also want to find out if your insurance company includes the cost of inflation in your policy. You can ask that it does. It all costs more, but at the end of the day, it's definitely worth it.

KAGAN: What if you have some -- if you're lucky and have nice some extras?

WILLIS: Well, yes, if you're lucky and you have the baseball card collection. I don't know what you have at your house, Daryn, but . . .

KAGAN: No baseball cards.

WILLIS: The fur, the artwork, the jewelry.

KAGAN: No furs. No, no.

WILLIS: Well, you may not need this kind of policy.

KAGAN: OK.

WILLIS: But some people do. And, you know, regular homeowners' policies aren't really going to cover it. So you've got to get these valuables appraised and look into what's called a separate floater policy. Now generally floater premiums will be a percentage of the value of the items. But, let me tell you, it will be worth it if you find yourself having to dig out from a flood, from hurricane damage.

KAGAN: Well, funny that you mention flood. Not funny, ha, ha, but that happens to be our next tip. We've done entire segments on flood insurance, but it's a good reminder.

WILLIS: You know, what people don't understand is that private insurers don't cover flood. It's only underwritten by -- flood insurance is only underwritten by the federal government. And remember that 70 percent of Americans live on the coast and may be vulnerable to flooding.

Now, homeowners are 26 time morse likely to be affected by a flood than a fire. And if you want to know more, you think you might need some coverage, go to the National Flood Insurance program's web site at floodsmart.gov. Or you can just pick up the phone, 888-379- 9531.

Now keep in mind, you can only get up to $250,000 coverage for your home. That may be enough. It may not be. But here's what you need to know today, at the start of the hurricane season. If you don't remember anything else from this segment, there is 30-day waiting period for insurance protection. So even if you buy it today, you've got to wait a month. So get on it, if you need it. You've got to get started now.

And, Daryn, I just want to tell people, this weekend on "Open House" we're going to have a really special show about repairing and protecting yourself this hurricane season. We're going to Miami. We're going to be live with you tomorrow. But Saturday morning join us on CNN, 9:30 a.m. Eastern for "Open House."

KAGAN: Miami.

WILLIS: Miami.

KAGAN: You're going to Miami. OK. Well, you travel safely.

WILLIS: We'll be talking to you.

KAGAN: OK, looking forward to that. Thank you, Gerri.

WILLIS: See you soon.

KAGAN: As we've been saying, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice getting ready to talk about a very important topic -- U.S. relations with Iran. They could be changing. A new offer could be on the table from the United States. You'll see that speech live in about a half hour right here on CNN.

Also ahead, a friendship forged in tragedy and a reunion that goes the extra mile. The story of Barbaro and the man who reined in the disaster. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Also, saving lives on the front line. An exclusive look behind the scenes of Baghdad's green zone E.R. That's still ahead here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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