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American Morning
Court-Martial of Specialist Jeremy Sivits; Recapping Yesterday's 9/11 Commission Hearings in New York, Previewing Today's Session
Aired May 19, 2004 - 08:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody.
We start this eight o'clock hour East Coast time with some breaking news coming to us from the Middle East. Several Palestinians killed today after Israeli forces fired on a large crowd that was demonstrating against Israeli action in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Matthew Chance joins us by video phone from Gaza City this morning -- Matthew, good morning.
We're looking at these pretty shocking pictures.
What exactly happened?
(AUDIO GAP)
O'BRIEN: We obviously are having some satellite difficulties with Matthew Chance, who's going to join us in just a moment.
We've been reporting all morning, though, about the renewed violence in Rafah, that Palestinian refugee camp that's about 50 miles outside of Gaza City. Reports say that an Israeli helicopter fired flares and then fired a missile at a crowd that was marching toward the Tel Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, killing seven people, wounding 40, is the reports that we are getting at this hour.
We're going to follow this story. Obviously, these latest pictures into CNN at this hour are pretty shocking.
We're going to bring Matthew back to bring us a full report on this just ahead -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, in the meantime, though, other top stories this morning that we're watching.
More clashes reported between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Battles have been ongoing in the town of Karbala. The U.S. military accusing the militiamen there of firing on armed forces from a Muslim holy shrine.
Also, concern this morning about a possible new terror attack here in the U.S., one using chemical or biological weapons. Yesterday, a homeland security official announced he's very worried about al Qaeda attacking the U.S. in the coming months. This after papers on the deadly poison ricin were found in the southern Philippines and turned over then to the CIA.
Senate Democrats and President Bush agree on a deal to appoint 25 federal judges. After working behind closed doors for weeks, the White House and Senate Democrats agreed to a move that guarantees dozens of Republican judicial nominees a seat on the federal courts. The Senate immediately confirmed one of the nominees, Marsha Cook, to be a federal trial judge. She's in Florida, Florida Governor Jeb Bush's former chief inspector general.
It's said to be the first stem cell bank and it's opening today in the U.K. Among the first deposits in the bank are stem cells derived from spare embryos donated by women who have had in vitro fertilization. Stem cells offer hope of new ways to repair disease and damaged body tissue. The research is aimed at cures for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients.
In a makeshift courtroom in Baghdad, the highly anticipated legal proceedings stemming from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal have moved rapidly forward today. Specialist Jeremy Sivits has been found guilty at his court-martial and hearings for three other soldiers have already taken place.
To the Baghdad Convention Center and Harris Whitbeck, following that for us -- Harris, hello.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
The judge in the court-martial of Jeremy Sivits has just declared a recess. He has heard all the testimony that he needs in order to hand down a sentence. As you said, Jeremy Sivits was declared guilty on all three counts that he was facing, counts, charges of conspiracy to maltreat subordinates, dereliction of duty for willfully failing to protect detainees from abuse and maltreatment of detainees.
In this latest phase in this special court-martial here in Baghdad, the accused, Jeremy Sivits, gave some emotional testimony. This was testimony in terms of his character that the judge would be used for sentencing.
He described himself as a family man, as a man who was active in the community, as a good husband. He broke down several times as he described the conditions in Abu Ghraib Prison as "hell." He said it was overcrowded, constantly dark and constantly attacked.
He says that he has learned huge lessons from his mistake. His mistake being participating in the abuse of prisoners there. And he said that now he realizes he should have stood up for what is right, and that's a quote.
Again, as he broke down, he apologized to the Iraqi people, to the detainees, to the court and to the Army, the unit and his family. He says that he would like to stay in the Army. That, of course, is now up to the judge in this court-martial, who is considering whether to give him the maximum sentence, which would be up to one year in prison, and a discharge from the Army for bad conduct -- Bill.
HEMMER: Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad, thanks.
What's next now in the legal procedure?
Here to talk about it, Attorney Tim Susanin, who spent four years as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Navy, also representing military personnel in criminal charges before military trial courts.
Good morning to you.
Nice to have you here.
TIM SUSANIN, FORMER MILITARY ATTORNEY: Hi, Bill.
Thanks for having me.
HEMMER: What's next for Sivits? He waits for the sentencing?
SUSANIN: That's right. As we've just heard, there's a recess in this morning's procedure and the judge will come back and will hand down a sentence in this case. We've heard Sivits stand up and make a plea on his behalf. Obviously, the judge is going to sentence him to somewhere between zero and 12 months. And then from there we'll proceed with these other three cases we've been hearing about this morning.
HEMMER: Help me under -- he still has a military career possibility, right?
SUSANIN: I don't think so. Part of the sentencing procedure in the military, Bill, which has some components like the system we know on the civilian side -- it includes jail time, obviously -- but in the military system, they can drum you out of the service with what's called a punitive discharge. And in this case, Sivits is facing potentially what's called a bad conduct discharge, which I'm pretty confident the judge will award him.
HEMMER: Then the other three do not enter pleas today. Apparently they want to collect more evidence. They want to interview a number of witnesses.
What do they do at this point?
SUSANIN: Right. This is pretty interesting because I think what we're seeing here with these three is, you know, the opening salvo of their strategy, which is delay, delay and embarrass. There's no reason they couldn't have entered a not guilty plea. In the cases you cover all the time, you see somebody get arrested and go right in and offer a not guilty plea because they want to keep that option open. Of course, they can come back later and change that to a guilty plea if they work out a deal with the government.
These folks are saying gee, we don't even have enough time to investigate the case enough to know what our plea is. There are still two detainees we need to talk to. And to me that signals they're just not going to do anything until they've played it out to the eleventh hour and hope in the meantime this scandal foments, maybe some helpful higher-ups are targeted in the investigation and they can embarrass the military and keep them on the defensive.
HEMMER: That's the second time you used the word embarrass.
Why do you suggest that?
SUSANIN: Well, they're hoping that the investigation goes up the chain of command, both the command over there within the prison, the commanders there, the mid-level officers, the senior officers. And what would be the greatest windfall for these three is if the investigation goes across the sea to the Pentagon and there are higher-ups in the Department of Defense that are implicated.
They have got a tough road to hoe, Bill, because what they have to do to get their defense across on a micro level is to say this was a -- I was ordered to do this and I reasonably believed this was a lawful order.
Well, looking at those pictures that we've all seen, that's a pretty tough sell. They need a lot of scandal and big political whirlwinds surrounding this to shift the dynamic of the case.
HEMMER: Thanks, Tim.
Tim Susanin here in New York.
SUSANIN: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Nice to see you.
Another reminder for you, the bottom of the hour, live coverage here on CNN. Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal hearings continue. The Senate Armed Services Committee lines up three generals -- Abizaid, Miller and Sanchez. 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, about 22 minutes from now -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In our last hour here on AMERICAN MORNING, two residents of Jeremy Sivits's hometown told me they still stand behind Sivits no matter what he has pled guilty to.
National correspondent Susan Candiotti has the story this morning from Hyndman, Pennsylvania.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As tears flowed, Jeremy Sivits's mother, flanked by his young wife and his father, were embraced by friends and neighbors at a prayer vigil.
DANIEL SIVITS, FATHER: I want to make this explicitly clear, that Jeremy, no matter what, is still my son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we love him.
SIVITS: We love him. And I'm a veteran of the Vietnam War and I want to say one thing, Jeremy is always a veteran in my heart and in my mind, and that him and I will walk proudly from here on in. CANDIOTTI: Jamey Ringler was Sivits's high school baseball coach and his best man.
JAMEY RINGLER, FRIEND: He's very worried, confused, scared, but wants to do what's right. That's just the way Jeremy is.
CANDIOTTI: Sivits was soccer captain, a .300 hitter, on the student council.
RINGLER: He loved to be liked and he tried to like everyone.
CANDIOTTI: Here in Hyndman, Pennsylvania, yellow ribbons hang almost everywhere. One neighbor calls Sivits "a hero."
Sivits has told investigators he was a witness, not the participant, when fellow guards at the Abu Ghraib Prison took this picture of naked Iraqi detainees. MAYOR DELMAR BILLER, HYNDMAN, PENNSYLVANIA: The Jeremy Sivits that I knew absolutely would not have done what they are saying that he has done in Iraq.
CANDIOTTI: The mayor is ready to welcome him home.
BILLER: I would say there'll be a parade, yes. I really do.
CANDIOTTI: At the end of the vigil, Sivits's parents and much of this small town lit candles to await his return, however long it may be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Sivits is expected to testify against other guards. His guilty plea, the first in the scandal, indicates his role is the least serious. He told investigators one of the other guards told him to keep his mouth shut. In Sivits's words, "You did not see squat."
And, Soledad, he didn't use the word "squat."
O'BRIEN: I can imagine.
All right, Susan Candiotti for us this morning.
Susan, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, breaking news from the Middle East. Several Palestinians are dead after Israeli forces firing on a large crowd there. We'll get you there live in a moment. Matthew Chance is standing by.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, should the White House tap into the strategic oil reserve to ease gas prices? We're going to hear from a leading senator, whose state has the highest prices in the nation.
HEMMER: Also, despite the record pain at the pump, could a record travel season be ahead? It's Memorial weekend next weekend. We'll find out in a moment when we continue after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Breaking news from the Middle East. These are the latest pictures out of Gaza. Palestinians say a number of people are dead, perhaps six, maybe seven; perhaps that number goes higher. We're also reporting at least 40 wounded. Palestinians say Israel fired a missile and perhaps several flares into a crowd that was demonstrating there in Gaza earlier today.
Matthew Chance is working that story on the scene, still trying to get more information on this. Clearly, the videotape, in many cases, is very graphic. Some of this coming to us raw out of the Middle East at this point. As soon as we get contact with Matthew, we'll get his report to you and try and figure out what's happening there.
Again, these Palestinians saying at this point at least six are dead; perhaps that number goes higher. And at least 40 wounded after an Israeli missile strike there on a large crowd demonstrating just a short time ago.
More in a moment -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, well, let's turn and talk about what's happening here in this country. The record high price of gas has touched off a political debate about the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Reserve is made up of four deep caverns along the Texas- Louisiana Gulf Coast. And together, they can hold 700 million barrels of crude oil, which is about what the U.S. uses in just over a month. It was created after the 1973 OPEC oil embargo that started a national energy crisis.
It's now over 90 percent full and current White House policy is to fill the Reserve to capacity, which would take nearly another year. Oil can be released, though, by presidential order.
And Senate Democrats are calling for the White House, in fact, to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease prices for consumers. But the Bush administration says the oil reserve should be used only in an AMERICAN MORNING.
Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California joins us this morning from Washington to talk a little bit about the frustration over fuel costs.
Nice to see you, Senator.
Thanks for being with us.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-CF), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Nice to see you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
Let's get right to this chart of the average price, in California is $2.31, and that's the highest average overall. But when you see, actually, some of the other numbers, Santa Barbara, $3.11 a gallon. What is your plan to get gas prices under control, not only in your state, but across the nation?
BOXER: I've been on this for quite a while and I think the first thing you have to do is go back to what President Bush said before he was president to then President Clinton, when gas prices were skyrocketing. He said you've got to jump on OPEC. You've got to tell them to open up the spigots.
So we want to see presidential leadership here and forceful presidential leadership.
Then we want to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As you pointed out, Soledad, that also was done by President Clinton when the home heating oil prices went through the roof. And it worked. This makes a lot of sense. As a matter of fact, to keep on filling the SPRO at this time with taxpayer money, when gas prices is so high, is really irresponsible. It's kid of a giveaway to the oil companies.
O'BRIEN: But let's...
BOXER: And the last...
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. I don't want to...
BOXER: Yes, I was going to say one...
O'BRIEN: Go ahead.
BOXER: No, I was going to say just one last point. The Federal Trade Commission, it's its responsibility to guard against this kind of manipulation of prices. And the chairman is looking into it and so far, Timothy Muras has told me he can't explain why California and Nevada's prices are so high. And unfortunately he's leaving and we've got a new head of the FTC.
There's a lot of chaos in the administration right now on this and no plan, no plan to do anything.
O'BRIEN: You've signed a Senate resolution that would call on the administration to release a million barrels of oil for 30 days.
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: So I guess a million per day for 30 days.
If you did the math -- I mean give me your math on that. That -- if, before you -- if Americans overall are using 20 million gallons every single day, how much does that, every single day over 30 days, actually drop the prices?
BOXER: Well, in a market like this, the market responds very quickly to changes in supply. If you take that SPRO out of the Reserve and you stop filling it, you're going to see a good amount of supply on the market. We use, actually, about 18 million barrels a day. So this is going to have some momentum toward lower prices. And the fact is there's 700 million gallons of SPRO -- gallons of gas in SPRO. So this is insignificant. It doesn't put us at risk at all.
So the answer to your question is we think any increase in the supply like this will have a salutatory impact. It has had it before. This isn't something that's never been done. President Clinton did it and it worked. And we're calling on President Bush to do it, as well.
O'BRIEN: And there's been lots of finger pointing on this issue. We'll see what happens at the end of the day.
Senator Barbara Boxer...
BOXER: I just want something done so that -- I'm not finger pointing. I just think we need to get something done.
O'BRIEN: Senator Barbara Boxer joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, Senator.
BOXER: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Thanks.
BOXER: It's nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: To the breaking news in Gaza.
Matthew Chance standing by live -- Matthew, what happened today?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, quite dramatic and bloody developments in the Rafah Refugee Camp. We have some quite dramatic images that came to us within the course of the last hour.
It seems that hundreds of protesters were marching towards the Rafah Refugee Camp in the south of the Gaza Strip, where for the past two days there has been a very large Israeli military operation under way there to crack down on what they call the infrastructure of terrorism in the Gaza Strip.
As those protesters were marching towards the area where the operation is taking place, it seems that an Israeli helicopter gunship in the skies over Rafah opened fire in an area along where that -- those demonstrations were passing by.
We don't know the reason for that at this stage. The Israeli Defense Forces, the Israeli military have yet to comment on it. But we can see from these images very clearly the aftermath, the injured being taken away from the scene. We understand from the latest casualty figures that we have that at least 10 people have been confirmed as dead by the hospital sources that we've spoken to in Rafah, although that figure may climb over the coming minutes and hours as we get more details.
Another 30 or so people, more than 30, have been injured, according to those hospital figures. So a very serious incident, indeed, which brings to 34 the number of Palestinians who have been killed in the past two days in that area during what is one of the biggest Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip for years -- Bill.
HEMMER: Has there been -- I know you're in Gaza, Matthew. Has there been an Israeli response yet on this?
CHANCE: We've been in touch with the Israeli Defense Forces, the Israeli military. They say they're looking into this incident. They will give us a response over the coming hours and we'll bring that to you as soon as we can. But at the moment, there hasn't been one. They say they're still looking into that incident.
Generally, though, there have been calls from, over the past few days, the Palestinian Authority officials here for the international community to build more pressure on Israel to get it to stop its operation in Rafah, which the officials here, the United Nations here says is having a disproportionate humanitarian effect on the local people here. Many hundreds, many thousands of people, even, have been made homeless as a result of this Israeli incursion in the Rafah Refugee Camp. Dozens of houses have been demolished in what Israel says are its -- what, for Israel says, are security reasons.
It says it's in Gaza in order to track down wanted militants and also to destroy tunnels which are used by those militant groups to dig into Egypt, which is just across the border, and smuggle weapons into there. The humanitarian effect, though, very severe, indeed, Bill.
HEMMER: Matthew Chance, thanks, live in Gaza for that.
As Matthew reports now, Palestinians saying at least 10 dead. That number could go higher. At least 30 wounded. Other wire reports say up to 50 have been wounded thus far. And, again, we caution you at this point, these numbers are very flexible. Oftentimes they increase as the story grows older.
Matthew Chance live in Gaza.
Back to him in a moment when we get more from there -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, one soldier pleads guilty in the prisoner abuse scandal. Will he provide the evidence that convicts the others?
And Rudy Giuliani led New York City through the dark days after 9/11. He is telling his story to investigators this morning. We've got live updates beginning in just a few minutes. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Last hour we showed you this videotape and told you the story about the British prime minister, Tony Blair. Watch the object being thrown behind him earlier today. We're now learning that this powder, described as a purple powder -- you can see it again in slow motion. It missed the British prime minister and struck a chancellor behind him. Apparently a father's rights group has claimed responsibility for interrupting that question and answer session in the House of parliament.
Incidentally, a few weeks ago they installed higher plastic walls around the area where the gallery comes in, where the public comes to view the House of Parliament. Nonetheless, the British prime minister was missed. The chancellor behind him is OK, but it did cause quite a few heads to turn earlier today in London.
O'BRIEN: Do they know what was in the powder?
HEMMER: They describe it as a purple powder and that's about it.
O'BRIEN: Hmmm. Interesting. I guess we'll get more information on that, too.
The second day of the 9/11 Commission hearings now under way in New York City.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is about to testify before that panel.
CNN's Deb Feyerick live in lower Manhattan for us with the very latest -- good morning to you, Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Soledad.
Well, the 9/11 Commission is looking at the 100 minutes from the time the towers were hit to the time they actually fell. The command bunker that had been built for such a crisis was directly in the danger zone. It would later collapse. And that meant that the city's top leaders were on the move, looking for some place to handle this crisis.
Today, some of those leaders will testify.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They held each other and wiped away tears. Families watching as those they loved died all over again.
KRISTIN BREITWEISER, WIFE OF 9/11 VICTIM: My husband is never coming home. I'm well aware of that. I'm also well aware of the fact 19 hijackers killed him. But more lives could have been saved.
FEYERICK: City officials who led the rescue effort that day say firefighters and police were as prepared as they could have been in the face of such an unforeseeable tragedy.
BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: The character, professionalism and bravery of New York's finest was never more evident. As debris showered down to the ground, as fellow human beings jumped to their death, from 100 stories above, there was no retreat and no hesitation. FEYERICK: The most dramatic moment during the hearings, 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman criticized the fire and police departments, accusing them of poor communication with no one person calling all the shots.
JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: I think that the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal. It is not worthy of the Boy Scouts, let alone this great city.
FEYERICK: The fire commissioner, who lost 343 firefighters on 9/11 struck back. Tom Von Essen saying rescue efforts were handled by some of the most seasoned chiefs of the nation.
THOMAS VON ESSEN, FORMER FDNY COMMISSIONER: You make it seem like everything is wrong about September 11 and the way we functioned. I think it is outrageous you make a statement like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: The secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, will also be here. The points he will likely make is that the resources were in place. The problem, in his opinion, is that there was no centralized effort to protect the nation before 9/11, that it took that tragedy to uncover the flaws -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Deborah Feyerick for us this morning.
Deborah, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Getting word from Baghdad there is a sentence that has just been handed down for Specialist Jeremy Sivits, pleading guilty earlier today in a military trial that did not last a bit more than an hour.
We'll get you back there live to Baghdad and let you know what we're finding out about that case.
Meanwhile, in lower Manhattan, senators hastily getting together. Check that. This is Washington, D.C. Senators getting together for a hearing this morning. It begins in about three minutes. Today's hearing will get under way with three generals testifying about the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
In addition to that, in lower Manhattan, the 9/11 Commission convenes, also in about three minutes. We'll get you there live, as well.
A break here.
Back in a moment on a busy AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 19, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody.
We start this eight o'clock hour East Coast time with some breaking news coming to us from the Middle East. Several Palestinians killed today after Israeli forces fired on a large crowd that was demonstrating against Israeli action in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Matthew Chance joins us by video phone from Gaza City this morning -- Matthew, good morning.
We're looking at these pretty shocking pictures.
What exactly happened?
(AUDIO GAP)
O'BRIEN: We obviously are having some satellite difficulties with Matthew Chance, who's going to join us in just a moment.
We've been reporting all morning, though, about the renewed violence in Rafah, that Palestinian refugee camp that's about 50 miles outside of Gaza City. Reports say that an Israeli helicopter fired flares and then fired a missile at a crowd that was marching toward the Tel Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, killing seven people, wounding 40, is the reports that we are getting at this hour.
We're going to follow this story. Obviously, these latest pictures into CNN at this hour are pretty shocking.
We're going to bring Matthew back to bring us a full report on this just ahead -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, in the meantime, though, other top stories this morning that we're watching.
More clashes reported between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Battles have been ongoing in the town of Karbala. The U.S. military accusing the militiamen there of firing on armed forces from a Muslim holy shrine.
Also, concern this morning about a possible new terror attack here in the U.S., one using chemical or biological weapons. Yesterday, a homeland security official announced he's very worried about al Qaeda attacking the U.S. in the coming months. This after papers on the deadly poison ricin were found in the southern Philippines and turned over then to the CIA.
Senate Democrats and President Bush agree on a deal to appoint 25 federal judges. After working behind closed doors for weeks, the White House and Senate Democrats agreed to a move that guarantees dozens of Republican judicial nominees a seat on the federal courts. The Senate immediately confirmed one of the nominees, Marsha Cook, to be a federal trial judge. She's in Florida, Florida Governor Jeb Bush's former chief inspector general.
It's said to be the first stem cell bank and it's opening today in the U.K. Among the first deposits in the bank are stem cells derived from spare embryos donated by women who have had in vitro fertilization. Stem cells offer hope of new ways to repair disease and damaged body tissue. The research is aimed at cures for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients.
In a makeshift courtroom in Baghdad, the highly anticipated legal proceedings stemming from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal have moved rapidly forward today. Specialist Jeremy Sivits has been found guilty at his court-martial and hearings for three other soldiers have already taken place.
To the Baghdad Convention Center and Harris Whitbeck, following that for us -- Harris, hello.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
The judge in the court-martial of Jeremy Sivits has just declared a recess. He has heard all the testimony that he needs in order to hand down a sentence. As you said, Jeremy Sivits was declared guilty on all three counts that he was facing, counts, charges of conspiracy to maltreat subordinates, dereliction of duty for willfully failing to protect detainees from abuse and maltreatment of detainees.
In this latest phase in this special court-martial here in Baghdad, the accused, Jeremy Sivits, gave some emotional testimony. This was testimony in terms of his character that the judge would be used for sentencing.
He described himself as a family man, as a man who was active in the community, as a good husband. He broke down several times as he described the conditions in Abu Ghraib Prison as "hell." He said it was overcrowded, constantly dark and constantly attacked.
He says that he has learned huge lessons from his mistake. His mistake being participating in the abuse of prisoners there. And he said that now he realizes he should have stood up for what is right, and that's a quote.
Again, as he broke down, he apologized to the Iraqi people, to the detainees, to the court and to the Army, the unit and his family. He says that he would like to stay in the Army. That, of course, is now up to the judge in this court-martial, who is considering whether to give him the maximum sentence, which would be up to one year in prison, and a discharge from the Army for bad conduct -- Bill.
HEMMER: Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad, thanks.
What's next now in the legal procedure?
Here to talk about it, Attorney Tim Susanin, who spent four years as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Navy, also representing military personnel in criminal charges before military trial courts.
Good morning to you.
Nice to have you here.
TIM SUSANIN, FORMER MILITARY ATTORNEY: Hi, Bill.
Thanks for having me.
HEMMER: What's next for Sivits? He waits for the sentencing?
SUSANIN: That's right. As we've just heard, there's a recess in this morning's procedure and the judge will come back and will hand down a sentence in this case. We've heard Sivits stand up and make a plea on his behalf. Obviously, the judge is going to sentence him to somewhere between zero and 12 months. And then from there we'll proceed with these other three cases we've been hearing about this morning.
HEMMER: Help me under -- he still has a military career possibility, right?
SUSANIN: I don't think so. Part of the sentencing procedure in the military, Bill, which has some components like the system we know on the civilian side -- it includes jail time, obviously -- but in the military system, they can drum you out of the service with what's called a punitive discharge. And in this case, Sivits is facing potentially what's called a bad conduct discharge, which I'm pretty confident the judge will award him.
HEMMER: Then the other three do not enter pleas today. Apparently they want to collect more evidence. They want to interview a number of witnesses.
What do they do at this point?
SUSANIN: Right. This is pretty interesting because I think what we're seeing here with these three is, you know, the opening salvo of their strategy, which is delay, delay and embarrass. There's no reason they couldn't have entered a not guilty plea. In the cases you cover all the time, you see somebody get arrested and go right in and offer a not guilty plea because they want to keep that option open. Of course, they can come back later and change that to a guilty plea if they work out a deal with the government.
These folks are saying gee, we don't even have enough time to investigate the case enough to know what our plea is. There are still two detainees we need to talk to. And to me that signals they're just not going to do anything until they've played it out to the eleventh hour and hope in the meantime this scandal foments, maybe some helpful higher-ups are targeted in the investigation and they can embarrass the military and keep them on the defensive.
HEMMER: That's the second time you used the word embarrass.
Why do you suggest that?
SUSANIN: Well, they're hoping that the investigation goes up the chain of command, both the command over there within the prison, the commanders there, the mid-level officers, the senior officers. And what would be the greatest windfall for these three is if the investigation goes across the sea to the Pentagon and there are higher-ups in the Department of Defense that are implicated.
They have got a tough road to hoe, Bill, because what they have to do to get their defense across on a micro level is to say this was a -- I was ordered to do this and I reasonably believed this was a lawful order.
Well, looking at those pictures that we've all seen, that's a pretty tough sell. They need a lot of scandal and big political whirlwinds surrounding this to shift the dynamic of the case.
HEMMER: Thanks, Tim.
Tim Susanin here in New York.
SUSANIN: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Nice to see you.
Another reminder for you, the bottom of the hour, live coverage here on CNN. Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal hearings continue. The Senate Armed Services Committee lines up three generals -- Abizaid, Miller and Sanchez. 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, about 22 minutes from now -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In our last hour here on AMERICAN MORNING, two residents of Jeremy Sivits's hometown told me they still stand behind Sivits no matter what he has pled guilty to.
National correspondent Susan Candiotti has the story this morning from Hyndman, Pennsylvania.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As tears flowed, Jeremy Sivits's mother, flanked by his young wife and his father, were embraced by friends and neighbors at a prayer vigil.
DANIEL SIVITS, FATHER: I want to make this explicitly clear, that Jeremy, no matter what, is still my son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we love him.
SIVITS: We love him. And I'm a veteran of the Vietnam War and I want to say one thing, Jeremy is always a veteran in my heart and in my mind, and that him and I will walk proudly from here on in. CANDIOTTI: Jamey Ringler was Sivits's high school baseball coach and his best man.
JAMEY RINGLER, FRIEND: He's very worried, confused, scared, but wants to do what's right. That's just the way Jeremy is.
CANDIOTTI: Sivits was soccer captain, a .300 hitter, on the student council.
RINGLER: He loved to be liked and he tried to like everyone.
CANDIOTTI: Here in Hyndman, Pennsylvania, yellow ribbons hang almost everywhere. One neighbor calls Sivits "a hero."
Sivits has told investigators he was a witness, not the participant, when fellow guards at the Abu Ghraib Prison took this picture of naked Iraqi detainees. MAYOR DELMAR BILLER, HYNDMAN, PENNSYLVANIA: The Jeremy Sivits that I knew absolutely would not have done what they are saying that he has done in Iraq.
CANDIOTTI: The mayor is ready to welcome him home.
BILLER: I would say there'll be a parade, yes. I really do.
CANDIOTTI: At the end of the vigil, Sivits's parents and much of this small town lit candles to await his return, however long it may be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Sivits is expected to testify against other guards. His guilty plea, the first in the scandal, indicates his role is the least serious. He told investigators one of the other guards told him to keep his mouth shut. In Sivits's words, "You did not see squat."
And, Soledad, he didn't use the word "squat."
O'BRIEN: I can imagine.
All right, Susan Candiotti for us this morning.
Susan, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, breaking news from the Middle East. Several Palestinians are dead after Israeli forces firing on a large crowd there. We'll get you there live in a moment. Matthew Chance is standing by.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, should the White House tap into the strategic oil reserve to ease gas prices? We're going to hear from a leading senator, whose state has the highest prices in the nation.
HEMMER: Also, despite the record pain at the pump, could a record travel season be ahead? It's Memorial weekend next weekend. We'll find out in a moment when we continue after this.
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HEMMER: Breaking news from the Middle East. These are the latest pictures out of Gaza. Palestinians say a number of people are dead, perhaps six, maybe seven; perhaps that number goes higher. We're also reporting at least 40 wounded. Palestinians say Israel fired a missile and perhaps several flares into a crowd that was demonstrating there in Gaza earlier today.
Matthew Chance is working that story on the scene, still trying to get more information on this. Clearly, the videotape, in many cases, is very graphic. Some of this coming to us raw out of the Middle East at this point. As soon as we get contact with Matthew, we'll get his report to you and try and figure out what's happening there.
Again, these Palestinians saying at this point at least six are dead; perhaps that number goes higher. And at least 40 wounded after an Israeli missile strike there on a large crowd demonstrating just a short time ago.
More in a moment -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, well, let's turn and talk about what's happening here in this country. The record high price of gas has touched off a political debate about the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Reserve is made up of four deep caverns along the Texas- Louisiana Gulf Coast. And together, they can hold 700 million barrels of crude oil, which is about what the U.S. uses in just over a month. It was created after the 1973 OPEC oil embargo that started a national energy crisis.
It's now over 90 percent full and current White House policy is to fill the Reserve to capacity, which would take nearly another year. Oil can be released, though, by presidential order.
And Senate Democrats are calling for the White House, in fact, to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease prices for consumers. But the Bush administration says the oil reserve should be used only in an AMERICAN MORNING.
Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California joins us this morning from Washington to talk a little bit about the frustration over fuel costs.
Nice to see you, Senator.
Thanks for being with us.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-CF), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Nice to see you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
Let's get right to this chart of the average price, in California is $2.31, and that's the highest average overall. But when you see, actually, some of the other numbers, Santa Barbara, $3.11 a gallon. What is your plan to get gas prices under control, not only in your state, but across the nation?
BOXER: I've been on this for quite a while and I think the first thing you have to do is go back to what President Bush said before he was president to then President Clinton, when gas prices were skyrocketing. He said you've got to jump on OPEC. You've got to tell them to open up the spigots.
So we want to see presidential leadership here and forceful presidential leadership.
Then we want to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As you pointed out, Soledad, that also was done by President Clinton when the home heating oil prices went through the roof. And it worked. This makes a lot of sense. As a matter of fact, to keep on filling the SPRO at this time with taxpayer money, when gas prices is so high, is really irresponsible. It's kid of a giveaway to the oil companies.
O'BRIEN: But let's...
BOXER: And the last...
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. I don't want to...
BOXER: Yes, I was going to say one...
O'BRIEN: Go ahead.
BOXER: No, I was going to say just one last point. The Federal Trade Commission, it's its responsibility to guard against this kind of manipulation of prices. And the chairman is looking into it and so far, Timothy Muras has told me he can't explain why California and Nevada's prices are so high. And unfortunately he's leaving and we've got a new head of the FTC.
There's a lot of chaos in the administration right now on this and no plan, no plan to do anything.
O'BRIEN: You've signed a Senate resolution that would call on the administration to release a million barrels of oil for 30 days.
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: So I guess a million per day for 30 days.
If you did the math -- I mean give me your math on that. That -- if, before you -- if Americans overall are using 20 million gallons every single day, how much does that, every single day over 30 days, actually drop the prices?
BOXER: Well, in a market like this, the market responds very quickly to changes in supply. If you take that SPRO out of the Reserve and you stop filling it, you're going to see a good amount of supply on the market. We use, actually, about 18 million barrels a day. So this is going to have some momentum toward lower prices. And the fact is there's 700 million gallons of SPRO -- gallons of gas in SPRO. So this is insignificant. It doesn't put us at risk at all.
So the answer to your question is we think any increase in the supply like this will have a salutatory impact. It has had it before. This isn't something that's never been done. President Clinton did it and it worked. And we're calling on President Bush to do it, as well.
O'BRIEN: And there's been lots of finger pointing on this issue. We'll see what happens at the end of the day.
Senator Barbara Boxer...
BOXER: I just want something done so that -- I'm not finger pointing. I just think we need to get something done.
O'BRIEN: Senator Barbara Boxer joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, Senator.
BOXER: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Thanks.
BOXER: It's nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: To the breaking news in Gaza.
Matthew Chance standing by live -- Matthew, what happened today?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, quite dramatic and bloody developments in the Rafah Refugee Camp. We have some quite dramatic images that came to us within the course of the last hour.
It seems that hundreds of protesters were marching towards the Rafah Refugee Camp in the south of the Gaza Strip, where for the past two days there has been a very large Israeli military operation under way there to crack down on what they call the infrastructure of terrorism in the Gaza Strip.
As those protesters were marching towards the area where the operation is taking place, it seems that an Israeli helicopter gunship in the skies over Rafah opened fire in an area along where that -- those demonstrations were passing by.
We don't know the reason for that at this stage. The Israeli Defense Forces, the Israeli military have yet to comment on it. But we can see from these images very clearly the aftermath, the injured being taken away from the scene. We understand from the latest casualty figures that we have that at least 10 people have been confirmed as dead by the hospital sources that we've spoken to in Rafah, although that figure may climb over the coming minutes and hours as we get more details.
Another 30 or so people, more than 30, have been injured, according to those hospital figures. So a very serious incident, indeed, which brings to 34 the number of Palestinians who have been killed in the past two days in that area during what is one of the biggest Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip for years -- Bill.
HEMMER: Has there been -- I know you're in Gaza, Matthew. Has there been an Israeli response yet on this?
CHANCE: We've been in touch with the Israeli Defense Forces, the Israeli military. They say they're looking into this incident. They will give us a response over the coming hours and we'll bring that to you as soon as we can. But at the moment, there hasn't been one. They say they're still looking into that incident.
Generally, though, there have been calls from, over the past few days, the Palestinian Authority officials here for the international community to build more pressure on Israel to get it to stop its operation in Rafah, which the officials here, the United Nations here says is having a disproportionate humanitarian effect on the local people here. Many hundreds, many thousands of people, even, have been made homeless as a result of this Israeli incursion in the Rafah Refugee Camp. Dozens of houses have been demolished in what Israel says are its -- what, for Israel says, are security reasons.
It says it's in Gaza in order to track down wanted militants and also to destroy tunnels which are used by those militant groups to dig into Egypt, which is just across the border, and smuggle weapons into there. The humanitarian effect, though, very severe, indeed, Bill.
HEMMER: Matthew Chance, thanks, live in Gaza for that.
As Matthew reports now, Palestinians saying at least 10 dead. That number could go higher. At least 30 wounded. Other wire reports say up to 50 have been wounded thus far. And, again, we caution you at this point, these numbers are very flexible. Oftentimes they increase as the story grows older.
Matthew Chance live in Gaza.
Back to him in a moment when we get more from there -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, one soldier pleads guilty in the prisoner abuse scandal. Will he provide the evidence that convicts the others?
And Rudy Giuliani led New York City through the dark days after 9/11. He is telling his story to investigators this morning. We've got live updates beginning in just a few minutes. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
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HEMMER: Last hour we showed you this videotape and told you the story about the British prime minister, Tony Blair. Watch the object being thrown behind him earlier today. We're now learning that this powder, described as a purple powder -- you can see it again in slow motion. It missed the British prime minister and struck a chancellor behind him. Apparently a father's rights group has claimed responsibility for interrupting that question and answer session in the House of parliament.
Incidentally, a few weeks ago they installed higher plastic walls around the area where the gallery comes in, where the public comes to view the House of Parliament. Nonetheless, the British prime minister was missed. The chancellor behind him is OK, but it did cause quite a few heads to turn earlier today in London.
O'BRIEN: Do they know what was in the powder?
HEMMER: They describe it as a purple powder and that's about it.
O'BRIEN: Hmmm. Interesting. I guess we'll get more information on that, too.
The second day of the 9/11 Commission hearings now under way in New York City.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is about to testify before that panel.
CNN's Deb Feyerick live in lower Manhattan for us with the very latest -- good morning to you, Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Soledad.
Well, the 9/11 Commission is looking at the 100 minutes from the time the towers were hit to the time they actually fell. The command bunker that had been built for such a crisis was directly in the danger zone. It would later collapse. And that meant that the city's top leaders were on the move, looking for some place to handle this crisis.
Today, some of those leaders will testify.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They held each other and wiped away tears. Families watching as those they loved died all over again.
KRISTIN BREITWEISER, WIFE OF 9/11 VICTIM: My husband is never coming home. I'm well aware of that. I'm also well aware of the fact 19 hijackers killed him. But more lives could have been saved.
FEYERICK: City officials who led the rescue effort that day say firefighters and police were as prepared as they could have been in the face of such an unforeseeable tragedy.
BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: The character, professionalism and bravery of New York's finest was never more evident. As debris showered down to the ground, as fellow human beings jumped to their death, from 100 stories above, there was no retreat and no hesitation. FEYERICK: The most dramatic moment during the hearings, 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman criticized the fire and police departments, accusing them of poor communication with no one person calling all the shots.
JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: I think that the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal. It is not worthy of the Boy Scouts, let alone this great city.
FEYERICK: The fire commissioner, who lost 343 firefighters on 9/11 struck back. Tom Von Essen saying rescue efforts were handled by some of the most seasoned chiefs of the nation.
THOMAS VON ESSEN, FORMER FDNY COMMISSIONER: You make it seem like everything is wrong about September 11 and the way we functioned. I think it is outrageous you make a statement like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: The secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, will also be here. The points he will likely make is that the resources were in place. The problem, in his opinion, is that there was no centralized effort to protect the nation before 9/11, that it took that tragedy to uncover the flaws -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Deborah Feyerick for us this morning.
Deborah, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Getting word from Baghdad there is a sentence that has just been handed down for Specialist Jeremy Sivits, pleading guilty earlier today in a military trial that did not last a bit more than an hour.
We'll get you back there live to Baghdad and let you know what we're finding out about that case.
Meanwhile, in lower Manhattan, senators hastily getting together. Check that. This is Washington, D.C. Senators getting together for a hearing this morning. It begins in about three minutes. Today's hearing will get under way with three generals testifying about the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
In addition to that, in lower Manhattan, the 9/11 Commission convenes, also in about three minutes. We'll get you there live, as well.
A break here.
Back in a moment on a busy AMERICAN MORNING.
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