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American Morning
Some Marines Could Face Serious Charges Over Roles in Alleged Haditha Massacre; Another Earthquake Rattling Part of Indonesia Today
Aired May 30, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: She's been flown to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. She's got some serious injuries to her lower body. Shrapnel has been removed, we are told from her head. Kimberly is a veteran war correspondent who took risks, her colleagues say, to report the story. She was here in the U.S. last weekend. And on each trip, her family would plead for her to be careful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DOZIER, BROTHER OF WOUNDED JOURNALIST: It was one of those things that you think about, but hope will never come. Every time Kimberly comes, we remind her, stay out of harm's way. But we know that she won't. She'll go after the story wherever it is and whatever risks she has to expose herself to. She knew that she was taking that risk, but I so wish it hadn't happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Cameraman Paul Douglas, her soundman James Brolan, an American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter all died in that attack. Paul Douglas was 48 years old, British. He leaves behind a wife and two grown daughters and three grandchildren.
A former CBS producer describes him as an amazing human being who got out of many dangerous situations by using body language or the right words.
James Brolan was 42 years old, also British. He leaves behind a wife and two children, aged 18 and 12. They called him the best dad, and the best husband and the best mate to be within a tight spot. We're expecting a medical briefing this morning on Kimberly's condition. That's expected from Landstuhl Medical Center at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
When that happens, we're going to bring it to you live -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some Marines could face very serious charges over their roles in that alleged massacre. It happened in Haditha, Iraq last year. CNN learns that some members of Congress are being warned to expect charges of murder and of a military cover up in this incident.
CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre with a fact check.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When CNN caught up with the Third Battalion First Marine regiment in Haditha last October, the unit it was thick in the fight against insurgents, capturing weapons and uncovering roadside bombs. Just over a month later, these civilians, videotaped by an Iraqi journalism student, would die in what U.S. military investigators now strongly suspect was a rampage, by a small number of Marines who snapped after one of their own was killed by a roadside bomb.
GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: There are two ongoing investigation. One investigation has to do with what happened. The other investigation goes to, why didn't we know about it sooner than we knew about it.
MCINTYRE: At first, the U.S. military simply refused to believe villagers who accused the Marines of murdering unarmed civilians, even when presented by credible evidence assembled by "Time" magazine in February.
BOBBY GHOSH, "TIME" MAGAZINE: They were incredibly hostile. They accused us of buying into enemy propaganda, and they stuck to their original story, which was that these people were all killed by the IED.
MCINTYRE: But that story fell apart in the wake of an investigation. That sources tell CNN will likely result in charges of murder against some Marines and dereliction of duty against others.
Sources say between four and eight Marines from Kiyo (ph) company were directly involved, but some Marines from different units say they knew what happened, because they helped document the aftermath.
Lance Corporal Ryan Briones told "The Los Angeles Times" he took pictures of at least 15 bodies, and is still haunted by the memory of picking up a young girl who was shot in the head. "I held her out like this," he said, demonstrating with his arms extended, "but the head was bobbing up and down, and the insides fell on my legs."
Briones mother CNN he is now suffering from post-traumatic stress.
SUSAN BRIONES, MARINE'S MOTHER: That's what affects Ryan the most, is that he had to pick up this child's body to put her in a body bag.
MCINTYRE: A timeline put together by "Time" magazine and confirmed for CNN by Pentagon sources shows the sequence of events in Haditha on November 19th. After a roadside bomb killed 20-year-old Lance Corporal Miguel Terazes (ph) at 7:15 in the morning, the Marines immediately suspected four Iraqi teenagers in a taxi, and shot them along with the driver when the marines say they failed to lie on the ground as ordered. The hunt for bombers moved to a nearby house where seven people, including two women and one child, were killed. Then eight people, including six women, were shot next door, while a group of women in a third house were not harmed. But in a fourth house four men were killed.
(on camera): Sources tell CNN the investigation is substantially complete, and that charges including some murder charges, could be filed sometime in June. And that investigators have concluded there was a cover-up, but those sources won't say if that's limited to the handful of Marines who did the killings.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Congressman John Murtha will be Soledad's guest in less than 30 minutes from now. The former Marine and a critic of the war is pushing the Pentagon to thoroughly investigate what happened in Haditha.
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Another earthquake rattling part of Indonesia today. This one a 5.6 in magnitude, not as strong as Saturday's quake in central Java that killed more than 5,400 now. Today's quake hit less than seven hours ago. It was centered in a province of Papua. So far, no reports of damage or casualties. We're watching it.
Meanwhile, emergency aid pouring into the area, trying to recover from Saturday's quake. Indonesian officials now put the death toll, as we say, at 5,427. Thousands more injured.
CNN's Dan Rivers on the video phone from one of the hard-hit areas, Yogyakarta.
Dan, tell us, what;s the biggest problem people are contending with right now?
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the biggest problem is the shortage of medical supplies and the lack of doctors in the hospitals. They are totally overwhelmed. We're talking about 13,000 people who've been injured in this, in a city which has only got four hospitals, and each hospital is only got, you know, a few hundred beds in it. So they're totally unable to cope with the number of people that need treatment.
We've been out around the district today. You know, again we went to another village with 50 houses, 49 of those have been totally flattened. There's only one left standing. People there are camping out in the rubble. They got food. They got water, but they desperately need help with shelter, and they need help with medical supplies -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Dan, with all of those homes destroyed, all those people homeless, and couple that with all the torrential rains that have been going on, how have people been contending and just existing through all of this? We're not talking about the people injured here, just trying to get by.
RIVERS: Yes. I mean, it is just survival basically at the moment. And you know, you are always amazed when you go to places like this how resilient these people are. You know, talking to people who just buried loved ones, you know, hours before, and still have the wherewithal to salvage something from the ruins of the home, and to build a shelter, and to try to get some food and to feed their family. I mean, they've got no choice. Obviously, they've to get on with it. No one has come to the villages we've been to. They are without help at moment.
As you say, that help is beginning to arrive, though. We went to one big nerve center where lots of aid agencies were arriving with boxes of food, and water and so on. The big challenge is to get those supplies out to the people that need it -- Miles.
Dan Rivers in Yogyakarta, thank you.
We'll check on those efforts to bring in tents, and blankets and clothing to the quake victims in the next hour. We'll talk to a representative from the international medical corps, actually an organization called Mercy Corps.
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, the top Democrat in the Senate is in some hot water over some ringside seats. We'll explain.
S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the politics of commencement. Why a politicians' speech could reveal a whole lot about his or her political future.
M. O'BRIEN: Plus, you know, looks can be deceiving. Does that guy look like he's homeless? Well, you know what, he can make you license-less. We'll explain.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: More and more cities are employing eyes in the sky to help catch people who run red lights. We've all seen those little cameras at the intersections. In West Palm Beach, Florida, though, they're trying something a little more low tech.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OFC. DAVID OXLEY, WEST PALM BEACH POLICE: Whoo! Windy. About blew my hat off.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): OK. So he looks a little disheveled.
OXLEY: Aah, that's good.
CANDIOTTI: And before you get queasy, relax, the liquid in the bottle is only iced tea.
OXLEY: They look me at like, just poor person should be somewhere instead of the middle of this road here.
CANDIOTTI: Police Officer David Oxley is a traffic cop decoy, posing as a homeless man. See that light turning red? Oxley's a spotter calling out red light runners.
OXLEY: Eastbound, the Red Toyota in the center and the white utility truck.
CANDIOTTI: Waiting in the wings, a score of friendly, but no- nonsense motorcycle cops ready to pull over suspected offenders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reason you're stopped is for running that red light back there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, I thought I had it beat.
CANDIOTTI: The West Palm Beach Florida Police are using this unusual ploy, because they say it catches more drivers allegedly in the act.
OXLEY: You're a good girl. You stopped at that light. That's what I'm trying to tell everybody, stop at the light!
Busy, busy day out here today!
Blue bug southbound, Congress. It's in the inside lane.
CANDIOTTI: In just over an hour, Oxley nailed about 75 motorists, including a school bus driver.
OXLEY: It's a yellow MG with a black convertible top.
CANDIOTTI: The driver of this car takes his medicine, and so did others.
(on camera): What do you think about how they're doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fine.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Often that's followed by an explanation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you watch this intersection on a normal day, traffic is usually so poor through here, that usually you can't clear the intersection in time.
CANDIOTTI: For the record, that argument usually doesn't work in court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, often, many vehicles in the flow of traffic are also in violation, but we can only get one at a time. CANDIOTTI: Oxley's inside joke, posting the amount of a fine on a panhandling sign, $183.50.
OXLEY: Get off those phones! You're not paying attention, people.
We like to think that we're educating the people out here, and that's what our main mission is to do out here.
SGT. RICHARD OLSEN, WEST PALM BEACH POLICE: Maybe next time when those people are approaching an intersection and thinking about running a red light, maybe they'll look around real quick to see if they see a homeless person, and say, maybe it's him again.
CANDIOTTI: Or a construction worker, or even a streetwalker.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Summer driving season is here. How much higher will oil prices climb? Andy's got that, rather, as he is "Minding Your Business," just ahead.
And then later, alligator anxiety in Florida. A closer look at why gator trappers are busier than ever before. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, Congressman John Murtha will join us live. We're going to ask him about that massacre was allegedly carried out by Marines in Iraq. He says the situation has greater implications than the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal.
But first, the first stop in the campaign of 2008, mortar boards and robes, graduation speeches. You can almost hear the graduates sleeping in the audience. Anyway, we'll explain why this is important to a politician's future, if not the graduates.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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