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American Morning

Revenge Killings in Iraq?; Rumsfeld in Afghanistan; New York Building Collapse

Aired July 11, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A brutal string of attacks in Iraq this morning, including one on a funeral procession.
A new Internet video from some insurgents in Iraq. They say they killed two U.S. soldiers in revenge.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld makes an unannounced stop in Afghanistan just as coalition forces stage a major (AUDIO GAP) on Taliban fighters.

O'BRIEN: A building blown apart in New York City. Could this be the bitter result of a messy divorce?

KEILAR: And a tragic detour in Boston. Massive ceiling tiles in a tunnel fall, crushing a car, killing the passenger.

More on that ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, taking over for Soledad so she can give her voice a little bit of a rest.

O'BRIEN: Well, thanks for dropping by. Appreciate it.

KEILAR: Of course.

O'BRIEN: Soledad appreciates that. She's getting her rest. Hope she feels better.

In Iraq, a series of violent acts today. Some of it the result of sectarian violence, the others the result of an insurgency which remains strong. Both frustrating the effort to get that country under control and ultimately bring U.S. troops home.

In Baghdad today, gunmen attacked a bus driving through a Sunni neighborhood. The passengers, Shiites on their way to a funeral. Ten killed there.

Just outside the Green Zone, a suicide bomber blew up his car near a restaurant popular with Iraqi police. Five died there. An Iraqi diplomat was kidnapped today driving near his home in Baghdad, as well.

Insurgents are saying two American soldiers were killed for revenge. That claim comes in a gruesome new video on the Internet. Insurgents say the alleged rape and murder of an Iraqi girl led to the killings of the privates, Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker.

CNN won't show the video out of respect for the families.

CNN's Nic Robertson in Baghdad with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The insurgent video begins with a statement claiming that it is from the Mujahedin Al Shura, the Council of Mujahedin associated with al Qaeda claiming that this is a videotape of the two kidnapped Americans, the two American soldiers kidnapped after a shootout about just over three weeks ago in the Mahmoudiya area, Yusufiyah area, south of Baghdad.

That video then continues with a message from Osama bin Laden. It has been extracted from his most recent message. And it says what makes Muslims happy is to see Americans attacked, and that's when the very graphic and bloody pictures of what appeared to be two Americans soldiers begins. The video lasts about five minutes.

A small box appears on the screen. It has a picture of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former al Qaeda leader in Iraq who was killed in the beginning of June. The message from him, that you have to continue to attack American soldiers.

But along the bottom of this, the banner gives away perhaps the most important information. It is essentially says that the killing and abduction of these two soldiers is in retaliation for the alleged rape of a young Iraqi woman, Abir al-Junabi, in March in the town of Mahmoudiya. It says, "This is revenge for the dishonor of our sister by soldiers of the same brigade..." -- the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment attached to the 101st Airborne.

The videotape very, very graphic, very, very bloody. It's not possible to know at this stage whether or not it was really al Qaeda that shot the video. The video is very shaky, but it is claimed by al Qaeda. It is claimed to be revenge for the alleged rape of Abir al- Junabi (ph) back in March in Mahmoudiya.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: In Afghanistan, meanwhile, the violence continues as U.S.-led forces take aim on Taliban strongholds in the south. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld vowing the Taliban will be defeated. This is in the midst of an unannounced visit to that country.

CNN's Barbara Starr live now from the Pentagon with more.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

Secretary Rumsfeld, on one of his many fairly routine at this point unannounced visits to Afghanistan, meeting with the Afghan government, meeting with military leaders to talk about the security situation there. Of course, NATO in the process of taking over from the United States as the lead military element. But all of this coming as attacks are on the rise.

A deadly toxic mix in Afghanistan: Taliban, al Qaeda, drug lords and criminals. But the secretary said in a press conference he was very confident that NATO could take over, that the security would improve in Afghanistan. Many military commanders, Miles, say, however, that it will be economic progress that will win the day in Afghanistan -- in Afghanistan, getting that economy away from the drug trade.

And make no mistake, attacks are on the rise, especially in the south. Thirty suspected extremists killed in raids today, 40 yesterday. Taliban definitely still a threat -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: It's a difficult thing to stop. There was some talk early on that they were able to nip that poppy trade in the bud, to use, you know, quite literally and figuratively, but it has flourished once again. Why?

STARR: Well, because simply there is no other means of earning money for so many people in Afghanistan. Also, it's very tied to some of the tribes there and the tribal culture there.

It is a sign that some tribal leaders use to be able to grow poppies, to trade in poppies, to earn money. It provides basically food and substance for so many of the people in the very hard-hit rural areas, places where the Afghan government really has very little influence, where it is still the tribal culture of Afghanistan that is so strong. And there are also signs, Miles, that the Taliban, which once, of course, refuted the drug business very strongly, is also now embracing it as a means of gaining tribal loyalties and as a means of earning money itself to carry out its attacks.

O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning.

Thank you -- Brianna.

KEILAR: The White House is using what its spokesman calls preemptive diplomatic action with North Korea in its controversial missile testing program. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill has been meeting with Chinese diplomats while the U.N. Security Council holds off on a resolution critical of North Korea. The administration is hoping Beijing can convince Pyongyang to quit test- firing missiles.

We go live to CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, yes, the White House is also optimistic that China might be able to help persuade North Korea to return to those international disarmament talks. And that's part of the reason why Japan has held off on pushing for that United Nations Security Council resolution that would have required sanctions against North Korea for those missile tests one week ago. China has condemned that resolution, saying that it was an overreaction, that it would increase tensions in the region and split the Security Council. Both Russia and South Korea oppose sanctions, while the United States, Great Britain and France, along with Japan, support them.

Now, as you mentioned, though, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill has returned to Beijing, China, where he is waiting to get a briefing on the ongoing efforts of two very high-level Chinese diplomatic delegations in North Korea right now.

White House spokesman Tony Snow insists that the U.S. is aggressively pursuing a solution to this standoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Preemption is not merely a military doctrine. It's also a diplomatic doctrine. And in this case, we are engaging in preemption at the diplomatic level by working as aggressively and assertively as we can with our allies to get the government of Pyongyang simply to abide by its past promises.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now, as to the sanctions resolution that Japan was pushing in the United Nations, the United States would eventually like to see a vote on that. Now, Japan is saying that it would like to see a vote happen before the G8 summit begins Saturday in Russia.

Back to you.

KEILAR: Kathleen Koch live at the White House.

Kathleen, thank you for that report.

KOCH: You bet.

KEILAR: And President Bush also has the economy on his mind. He talks about that, plus some new national deficit numbers later this morning. His remarks at 9:40 a.m. Eastern. And CNN will bring them to you live.

O'BRIEN: CNN "Security Watch" now.

More details on that alleged plot to blow up New York City tunnels. Investigators say this man you're about to see, Assem Hammoud, is the mastermind. A picture you're about to see taken the day after -- there he is -- after he was arrested by police in Beirut, Lebanon.

We're learning that Hammoud's plans may also have included backpack bombs in the New York City subway system, and even setting wildfires in California. Last week we told you about Hammoud's alleged plot to blow up tunnels linking New York and New Jersey.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

A bitter divorce may be behind that natural gas explosion that leveled a four-story building in New York about this time yesterday. Look at the scene in Manhattan's East Side this morning. Investigators are believing the owner was trying to destroy the building and then take his own life to punish his estranged wife.

CNN's Allan Chernoff with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Firefighters found Dr. Nicholas Bartha in the basement rubble of his multimillion- dollar home.

RICHARD SCHMIDT, N.Y. FIREFIGHTER: I could hear him saying, "Could you help me? Could you help me?"

CHERNOFF: Dr. Bartha's former divorce attorney, Ira Garr, told CNN his client had been despondent about his divorce and the battle with his wife over their Manhattan townhouse.

Live on CNN, New York's fire commissioner raised the possibility Bartha was trying to kill himself.

NICHOLAS SCOPPETTA, N.Y. FIRE COMMISSIONER: There was a communication from inside the building to someone outside the building, some number of blocks away, that leads us to believe there is a potential to conclude. Now...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What sort of communication? What sort of communication?

SCOPPETTA: An e-mail to someone nearby.

CHERNOFF: Dr. Bartha had sent a rambling e-mail to his wife and others at 6:30 in the morning, about two hours before the blast. Garr, who received the letter, told CNN, Bartha wrote to his wife, "You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger. You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead." The e-mail concluded, "My further staying alive does not make any sense."

A New York appellate court last year had determined Cordula Bartha was entitled to a share of the townhouse, valued at more than $5 million.

While there is evidence pointing to Dr. Bartha's intent to kill himself, fire officials have yet to find proof that Dr. Bartha actually blew up the home.

Indeed, the Con Edison utility meter reader on the block told CNN, complaints about a gas leak last month led the utility to turn off the building's gas for repairs. And again last week there had been complaints about another gas leak. Cordula Bartha's attorneys released a statement saying she was shocked. "Ms. Bartha and her family are deeply saddened and terribly upset by today's occurrence. Ms. Bartha and her family wish the best to Dr. Bartha in his recovery."

(on camera): Dr. Bartha is at New York Presbyterian Hospital suffering from second and third-degree burns. Four pedestrians also were injured walking in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Federal investigators are on their way to Boston this morning after a woman was killed by a falling ceiling panel in an interstate tunnel. That tunnel is part of Boston's multibillion- dollar big dig project. The turnpike tunnel is shut down right now for safety inspections, and that's causing major traffic problems to and from Logan Airport. It could be several days before it reopens.

O'BRIEN: We have reports of a bombing in India. And I don't have much details on it, quite frankly, right now. As soon as we get some more we'll bring it to you.

Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: All right. A few more details for you on what I just told you about before we went to the break.

CNN-IBN reporting -- that's our Indian affiliate -- reporting a series of blasts on a commuter train at a station in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. It's in a western suburb there.

Once again, at least two blasts, one on a train, perhaps one at the station. And these are in commuter trains. And we are trying to get further details for you. But at this point details are very sketchy.

As soon as we get more we'll bring it to you.

Revenge killings and sectarian violence in Iraq getting worse. More than 150 people have been killed since Friday. Is the country descending into an all-out civil war? And amid all of this we hear of this gruesome videotape where insurgents claim they killed two U.S. privates in retaliation for allegations of rape and the killing of a family in Mahmoudiya.

Joining us now from Chicago is CNN military analyst retired Army Brigadier General David Grange.

General Grange, always a pleasure to have you with us.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this videotape, first of all. And we're not showing it out of respect to the families of these privates who were killed. It really kind of highlights and underscores the problems of what you would call asymmetric warfare, big power with tremendous capability up against essentially terrorists with the ability to use propaganda in the media.

How do you stem that? How do you respond to that?

GRANGE: Very tough. And they're experts at it. They're experts at propaganda, disinformation, and, of course, they don't have a lot of the laws that they have to abide by like the coalition forces, as an example, must or the Iraqi government. But you have to do some type of counter-programming, preferably in a proactive manner up front before this thing comes out.

Now, it hasn't -- it didn't come out for -- for weeks. Why was other counter-programming not done up front? It must be to counter to this, because perception management is key in this business, and they have the upper hand on it right now.

O'BRIEN: Why do they have the upper hand? Is this because of all the string of allegations of atrocities? Does that put the U.S. in a difficult way in the propaganda war?

GRANGE: Well, actually, it's a small amount of atrocities compared to all the goodwill and effort that's being done by American forces, coalition and, actually, the Iraqi army. The problem is those are exploited, and those are exploited because, like you said just a minute ago, it counters the prowess of a military might like the United States of America.

Information operations is extremely powerful, very influential, very provocative. And if you don't put the resources into your own information operations campaign, you will lose. You will lose the war. So I think it's under-resourced and much more effort has to be put into this to win.

O'BRIEN: Well, give -- all right, you're in charge now. What would you do then? How much -- what -- what kind of forces or money or effort would you put into this to try to fight propaganda with propaganda, so to speak?

GRANGE: Well, first of all, the United States of America, just look at Hollywood, look at our market economy for selling goods across the United States. I mean, the amount of money that's put into that, put the Department of Defense money into Hollywood, into marketing for corporations in the war in Iraq to get really professionals in there with quite a robust capability.

The amount of money spent on information operations is minute compared to the amount of money, let's say, put into munitions. But what wins in these types of wars, like insurgencies, is soft skills, SOFT, soft skills and how to win the hearts and minds. We just don't have the effort into there. I would contract that out immediately. O'BRIEN: It's interesting. You mention Hollywood. This is -- this is the nation that has Madison Avenue on one coast and Hollywood on the other coast.

Why is there a disconnect between the capability and that marketing muscle, so to speak, and the military might?

GRANGE: Well, there's some in the military that believe in this extensively, and many papers have been written a lot of effort with the very small amount of psychological warfare warriors and civil affairs troops. We have a shortage of those capabilities in our military, and it's not just in the military. It's also in the Department of State, it's in USAID.

All the different agencies of the government ought to have a robust information warfare, or if you want to soften it down, information operations capability in these type of conflicts, because you cannot win the way the enemy uses it to their advantage unless you can outdo them in it, unless you can be more provocative in influencing the people.

O'BRIEN: Is it possible, though, that at this stage of the game it is too late to change perceptions in any meaningful way?

GRANGE: I don't think it's too late at all. The big issue, of course, in Iraq is security, whether it be security because of insurgents, militia, influences from Iran, whatever, criminal groups, whatever the case may be. Without security there's no normalcy of life. There's no quality of life for the people to strive for.

That's what the people want. So you have to influence the people, whether it be through the trust in the government, showing things that the government are doing that are very favorable, put good leaders on television, exploit that, the goodwill that's happening over there. But when you let the media be totally controlled -- not totally, that's not fair -- but, to the most extent, by the insurgents, by al Qaeda, you'll never win. And so this is a void that we have that must be fixed immediately.

O'BRIEN: Interesting thoughts. General David Grange, CNN military analyst.

Thanks for your time.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

O'BRIEN: Brianna.

KEILAR: Coming up, new hope for people with HIV looking to make their treatment a little easier. We'll tell you why they may soon be able to say good-bye to the daily cocktail of pills.

And in about 20 minutes, we're expecting to hear from President Bush. He'll offer up a report card for the U.S. economy, and we'll have it live for you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: In this morning's "House Call," a break through treatment for people living with AIDS: one pill once a day to keep the disease at bay.

Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us live now from the CNN Center in Atlanta with details.

Good morning, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna.

Brianna, AIDS patients not too long ago would be taking 20 to 30 pills a day to fight their disease. Now these pills were a miracle. They were saving their life. But it was very hard to stick to the regiment that doctors gave them.

Sometimes you took some pills with food, not with food, at different times. It was tough to stick to it.

Well, now drug companies have figured out a way to get at least many of these pills into one pill. This will revolutionize the way many AIDS patients are treated today.

The first drug is Sustiva. That will be in the pill. The second one that will be in the pill is one that's called Viread. And you can see in parenthesis the folks who make these drugs. And then the third pill is called -- sorry -- Emtriva.

And so those three taken together in one pill once a day, which is also a huge difference, all three of those pills taken together once a day is a big step forward. About 60 percent of AIDS patients who take drug combinations take that specific drug combination. So it will be very helpful for them.

It will cost about $1,100 a month. For many lucky and fortunate people, insurance will pay for that. But that won't be true for everyone -- Brianna.

KEILAR: So, give us a sense, Elizabeth. What is the life expectancy now of a patient who's living with HIV or AIDS?

COHEN: Well, it used to be back in the old days that patients, when they were -- from the time of infection to death was often just a few years, maybe they would have 10 years to live. But now doctors say that if patients stick to their drug regimens, which will be easier with this combination, that they can actually live a normal life and that they will die of something else, not of AIDS.

KEILAR: And anyone who has taken medication, Elizabeth, can kind of relate to how easy it is to maybe miss a pill or something, to sort of just forget to take it. And I imagine taking so many pills, this cocktail of pills, that's maybe something that came up.

Why is it such a huge deal now that it's just one pill instead of a whole bunch of pills?

COHEN: Right, because it's not just an inconvenience to have to take 20 to 30 pills a day. If you don't do it right, that can actually make your treatment possibility suffer. You may not do as well. So, if you can get that number down from 20 to 30 to far fewer than that, your chances of successfully fighting AIDS are much greater.

KEILAR: And we look at what a huge problem obviously AIDS and HIV is in Africa and other developing nations. Is there any way that maybe this could help treating patients there?

COHEN: Yes, certainly the hope is that this would help treating patients there. Of course, you have to deal with a lot of the financial issues of who can afford it and where. And one of the big issues in Africa has been, when people are illiterate, when they can't read, reading the directions for when to take each of these 20 to 30 pills is very difficult.

It's tough when you can read. You can imagine how tough it is when you can't read. So they're hoping -- doctors are hoping that this will be a big help, one pill, once a day.

KEILAR: And so is this it? You just take this one pill? I mean, what -- what else goes along with it? Or is that all that this is?

COHEN: Probably for many patients this won't be the only thing that they take. For example, what this pill does is it actually -- it attacks the virus itself. And there are other pills that AIDS patients will take for symptom relief, for example, just to feel better. And those people would still take those.

But if you're taking those three pills, the ones that are in that combination, well now you wouldn't take those three as different times during the day. You would take one pill once a day.

KEILAR: All right. Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Thank you so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

KEILAR: Miles.

O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, a judge rules an embattled congressman not above the law. So where does William Jefferson's case go from here? We'll go live to Washington and check in on that.

And in about 15 minutes or so, the president set to offer up a report card on the U.S. economy. We'll have that for you as soon as it happens.

Stay with us.

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