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CNN Live Sunday

Italy Wins Soccer's World Cup; Five More American Soldiers Charged for Crimes in Iraq; Religious Profiling Taken to Deadly Extremes in Iraq

Aired July 09, 2006 - 18:29   ET

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

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, five more American soldiers stand accused in the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the members of her family. Four are charged with conspiring to commit the crimes and a fifth is charged for not reporting the alleged offenses. Former army private first class Steven Green has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Religious profiling taken to deadly extremes. Iraqi emergency police say gunmen went on a rampage in a predominantly Sunni section of western Baghdad today, killing at least 42 unarmed people. The gunmen apparently asked for I.D. cards before shooting the victims.

And Russian ministry officials say 124 people died onboard this crashed jetliner last night in Siberia. The plane was trying to land on a rain-slicked runway when it plunged into a nearby building.

Now the North Korean missile crisis. U.S. envoy Christopher Hill is in Tokyo trying to find support for sanctions against Pyongyang. Japan wants international sanctions, but North Korean neighbors China and Russia are resisting.

The 45-day so called cooling off period is over after the FBI's document raid of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson. The Democrat is the focus of a bribery probe and documents taken by the FBI from Jefferson's office remain in legal limbo, at least until a court rules whether the seizure was constitutional or not.

Walt Disney's sequel to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" strikes gold at the box office. "Dead Man's Chest" grossed $132 million doubloons this weekend . That's $17 million, better than the previous record set by "Spiderman" four years ago.

The Italian World Cup team can call themselves champions, playing France to a one all (ph) draw. Italy put their best foot forward in a penalty kick tie breaker. We're going to take you live to Rome for the big party later on.

And from the world of tennis, nowhere near the drama of today's World Cup, but king of the green Roger Federer won his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title over Rafael Nadal.

We're going to talk in a moment about horrible crimes in Iraq allegedly committed last March by a group of American soldiers. Now, as we reported, five more soldiers have been charged, six 18 all. Here is a detailed look at what the government says happened. Our reporter, CNN's Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This plain concrete house may have been the scene of a gruesome crime, a crime the U.S. government says was committed by U.S. soldiers. Almost four months later, despite the house being cleaned out, blood stains and evidence of burning can still be seen in these Associated Press pictures. The crime, the alleged rape of (INAUDIBLE), initially estimated by the U.S. military to be in her 20s, but local officials and her ID card show her birth date as August 19, 1991, making her just 14 years old at the time. She, her little sister and her parents murdered, their bodies burned in what authorities say was an attempted cover up.

We found them dead in the house, the girl's brother (INAUDIBLE) says. We also found the house blackened and smoke erupting from it. Her uncle (INAUDIBLE) says the Americans are behind this incident. People in the area saw the Americans but they are afraid. The bodies were buried quickly back in mid March, but the story of what happened here is only now being told. Following the arrest in the United States of Steven D. Green, a former Army private first class, accused by the U.S. government of being one of those responsible for the rape and killings. Five more soldiers have been charged with conspiring with Green. And now the Iraqi government is investigating, and the Iraqi prime minister expressing outrage, blaming a system in which U.S. forces in Iraq are immune to Iraqi prosecution, accountable only to the U.S. government.

NURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We believe that the immunity given to international forces is what emboldened them to commit such crimes in cold blood. This requires that such immunity should be reconsidered. We affirm that we should participate in investigating crimes committed against the Iraqi people.

DAMON: The U.S. military says it will engage with the prime minister on the issue of immunity. But with emotions already running high in Iraq, what is alleged to have happened in this house will likely make the job of U.S. troops here even more difficult. Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: What is so troubling about and so unique about these allegations is that these young soldiers are accused of premeditation. It's not that they allegedly snapped during the fog of war. And there was not just one, but five soldiers who may have conspired to kill and rape.

We've invited the lead prosecutor from one of the worst civilian massacres at the hands of U.S. forces, the My Lai massacre. Bill Eckhardt is a former Jag attorney and retired Army colonel. Nearly 400 women and children and elderly men were killed by U.S. forces in Vietnam during My Lai. Bill, this doesn't perhaps even compare on that scale. But how could something like this happen? Can you imagine the situation of a soldier sitting at a check point and conspiring to rape this girl and kill her family?

BILL ECKHARDT, FMR. ARMY JAG: Unfortunately, these incidents happen. They are just like crimes in any city. This cold-blooded rape and murder is outrageous, but it happens all over the United States. You see these every year in almost every city and it happens to have been in soldiers who wear a uniform in a combat zone and rather than bring stigmatization on the individual and their family as this surely does, it brings dishonor to the United States and to the United States military as well.

LIN: And perhaps even jeopardizing more American lives on the ground in Iraq.

ECKHARDT: It clearly does.

LIN: All right. So you have a trial process underway. Green is going to be tried in a civilian court, the others tried in a military court. How does this affect how this case is prosecuted?

ECKHARDT: I don't think it affects it very much. The move in law to allow Green to be prosecuted in a Federal court comes from 1996 in a war crimes act. Those who were guilty of crimes in My Lai, 80 percent of them were out of the military and couldn't be pursued. That's some progress. But the prosecutors talk to each other, military prosecutors, Federal prosecutors, I think they will cooperate.

LIN: And as far as the defense attorneys, it's going to be all bets off, right, I mean every man for himself.

ECKHARDT: I would assume that every person who is defending a soldier alleged to do this will do his duty, probably first to be sure the government plays by the rules, secondly, to see that whatever facts that they have to present are presented and lastly, for extenuation and mitigation.

LIN: What are the -- if you were involved in this trial, if you were the judge in this case, what are the facts of the case that you would want to see? I mean, potentially it's just the testimony of the other defendants.

ECKHARDT: Well, I think not. As I understand it, there's evidence.

LIN: Physical evidence.

ECKHARDT: Physical evidence. You have foren -- I understand forensic evidence. This is not like My Lai and other instances where evidence is so difficult to obtain. It would appear that there is physical evidence and that of course will be corroborated by two groups of witnesses, I presume, from the United States on one side and Iraqis on the other and that should allow a picture of what happened to be painted. LIN: The last time in a military court that a soldier was executed was some 50 years ago, so there is a precedent though a long time ago and ironically in that case it was because of a soldier who was convicted of raping a girl in Germany. Do you think that the death penalty could potentially apply in this case?

ECKHARDT: Certainly. The reason I think that is because of the premeditation over a period of time, in the conspiratal (ph) nature of the crime. That makes it especially horrific.

LIN: Bill Eckhardt, thank you very much for sharing your expertise. We appreciate it. A complicated case ahead indeed.

This week's increased tensions on the Korean peninsula reached far beyond global politics. They also affected thousands of families divided by political boundaries for more than a half century. CNN's Kyung Lah explains in a story that first aired on CNN's "American Morning."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Samuel Kim practices acupuncture seeing patient after patient, hoping to heal their pain, a kind of relief he can only dream about for himself.

SAMUEL KIM: Thousands and thousands of people.

LAH: In December 1950, with war raging Samuel, his brother and parents were among thousands to flee North Korea. When they crossed the bridge into South Korea, his mother realized Sam's father and brother had fallen behind.

KIM: My mom says Sam, you wait here with those stuff. I'm going to walk back. That's the la last -- that's the last.

LAH: For decades these pictures, one of his father and this other of his extended family were his only reminders of home. Samuel Kim moved to the United States in 1966 with his wife, raised children and enjoyed grand children. Then in 1992, a friend brought him this photocopy of an underground North Korea newspaper with front page pictures of a man and his wife and an older woman with an address at the bottom. They were looking for a Samuel Kim. He immediately recognized their faces and responded. Months later this letter from Pyongyang arrived.

KIM: So I knew how he still alive.

LAH: My precious brother (INAUDIBLE) wrote, I am alive. Mother died in 1976. Our father was killed just after our family was separated. The brothers have yet to meet as men. Their only communication these letters for the last 14 years. Now (INAUDIBLE) is dying from the after effects of a massive stroke.

KIM: Within a few years, one or two years, maybe there's a chance.

LAH: So you need to see him in one or two years.

KIM: That's right.

LAH (on-camera): Los Angeles is home to the highest population of Korean-Americans outside of the Korean peninsula. There are no official numbers on how many have family trapped in North Korea, but activists estimate it's anywhere from 50 to 60,000.

(voice-over): World leaders have said North Korea's missile launch this week will only further isolate the country. To some Koreans it's a development that dashes dreams of eventual north-south reunification, but to 76-year-old Samuel Kim -- have you lost hope? It's a brother lost.

KIM: I hope (INAUDIBLE)

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Larry King recently sat down for a special interview with President Bush and the first lady. Coming up, the president talks candidly about the U.S. military as well as the charges of troop misconduct in Iraq. Look at this. Forget athletic ability. The only requirement to compete here is that you have to be a redneck.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Checking out news across America. A New Mexico story here. A teen is counting his blessings today after a dramatic rescue. Yesterday he was swept away by the raging waters of a flooded gully in Albuquerque. Now emergency crews tossed him a line and pulled him to safety.

And this reminder that there's no such thing as free parking. A Golden, Colorado road reopened today. It was closed yesterday when a rock slide sent the huge boulder smashing down on an empty car. The car belonged to a rock climber. Recent rains are believed to have triggered that slide.

And a panda party for Tai Shan. It's this rambunctious toddler's first birthday and the National Zoo in Washington is having quite a celebration. The guests included the scientists, his keepers, volunteers who helped bring him into the world. The cake is made of frozen fruit juice and yams, apples and carrots. No word on whether the guests actually enjoyed the feast.

All right, check that out. Plenty of mud and hurling hub caps in central Georgia today. About 8,000 people attended the annual summer redneck games. They began in 1996 as a spoof on the Olympics but the popularity soared and some are calling the games the redneck social event of the year. All proceeds go to charity, not naming which ones, though.

And President Bush and the first lady and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez took in the great American pastime last night in Washington. Their presence didn't help the home town Nationals though who lost to the San Diego Padres.

The president and the first lady also took time out this week to sit down with CNN's Larry King for an exclusive one on one interview. The president talked about everything from North Korea to Iraq and he also reacted to allegations U.S. soldiers raped an Iraqi girl and then killed her and her family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are very serious charges and what the Iraqis must understand is that we'll deal with these in a very transparent, up front way. People will be held to account if these charges are true.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR, LARRY KING LIVE: They want to know that.

BUSH: Of course they do. Yeah, they do. And they will learn that we will be very open about how we deal with this issue. What concerns me is not only the action, and you know, if this is true, the despicable crime, if true, but what I don't want to have happen is for people to then say well, the U.S. military is full of these kind of people. That is not the case. Our military is fabulous. The men and women who wear the uniform of the United States are some of the finest people I have ever known. And they are --

KING: A little bit --

BUSH: yeah, you worry about you know, one person or a couple of people staining the image, the honorable image of the United States military. So one thing you'll hear me do is defend our troops because I believe in them. And then the other thing people will see is people will be brought to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: See Larry's entire conversation with the president and first lady. It airs tonight at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.

It's a tale of two cities soccer style. One country celebrates, while the other is in shock. Live reaction next from Rome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It wasn't a goal, but a kick that signals the ultimate victory at the World Cup finals. The heated, even vicious game ended in a 1-1 tie. Italy beat France in overtime, their fourth World Cup trophy. Now after more than four weeks of kicks, fouls and flops, the world's biggest sporting event ended this afternoon in Germany. Italy defeating France on penalty kicks to win soccer's World Cup. Joining us live or actually on telephone from Rome, CNN's Alessio Vinci. Alessio, what's the reaction there?

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I'm standing on the riverbanks in Rome. I can tell you it feels as if the entire city has come out tonight. But I can tell you that it's only here in Rome, but throughout the country, millions of Italians are celebrating this World Cup victory and primarily because it was unexpected. Italy began this tournament without really any hope to make it to the finals. (INAUDIBLE) going through a bad period here with a match fixing scandal that has involved some of Italy's best known teams. Half of the players in Germany play for those teams and most of them most likely will not play for them again next year. They will be relegated to lower divisions. Tonight there is room for celebration because of course Italy has won for the fourth time the World Cup.

This is of course a crazy night for Italians. I have seen them riding on their motorcycles, driving their cars, on open deck buses, waving flags. Most of them are without shirts. They've taken off their shirts. There is a lot of crowds here in downtown Rome and it is a scene repeated throughout the country, Carol. It is absolutely mayhem here tonight and I suspect they will be celebrating for a good 24 hours because tomorrow night, Monday night, the Italian national team will be returning here to Rome to present the World Cup to the Italian fans. At that time up to a million people are expected to welcome them here in downtown Rome Carol. It's going to be absolutely -- crazy 24 hours here.

LIN: Alessio, we're watching this video that just came into the CNN center. We're seeing smoke in the crowds, right in the middle of the crowds. Are they lighting fires?

VINCI: I can tell you that we've been driving for the last 20 minutes in the traffic with my cameraman, driving a motorcycle here. I can tell you that all kinds of -- all the driving laws have been suspended at least for the time being. There are people, it is absolutely, I mean, Italian traffic is legendary. But if you could see what is happening right now, on the riverbank it is absolutely astonishing. We've seen cars that usually can hold maybe four or five people, maybe with 10 people on top of it. It's just crazy. It is very hard to describe.

LIN: Alessio, doing a great job there. Thank you so much. Stay safe out there and thanks for bringing us all the excitement from Rome.

The World Cup is certainly a hot topic on the web. But it's just one of the stories popping up on the millions of blogs and chat rooms and message boards out there. Our Daniel Sieberg has been navigating sites and joining us for a preview of blog buzz. Daniel

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Carol. We've been surfing around to see what the blogs are buzzing about, who is talking about who, basically getting the pulse of the Internet measured in megabytes instead of beats per minute if you will. Right now we're seeing a surprising amount of chatter about some conspiracy theorists talking about the death of Enron founder Ken Lay. A lot of suspicious people out there and we'll bring you some of those comments. Also a video that you could say was cut together on the popular online video site YouTube. This one's called slice. We're going to show you some more of it a little bit later, very popular on the youtoo site. A lot of stuff out there that's being talked about and followed.

We could use your help so we'd love to hear from you. We're surfing through all these 800 bazillion sites or so on the Internet so send us an email at weekends@cnn.com with some thoughts on your desktop experience. And we'll have all of that, we'll sift through the cyber world you could say, 10:00 p.m. tonight.

LIN: Some of our viewers bring us the most interesting stuff. Can't wait to hear what you get. Thanks Daniel.

President Bush is among the many baby-boomers turning 60 this year. They are the oldest of their generation to reach the milestone. Can you believe actress Suzanne Somers is hitting the big 60? She has done a lot in her days as the ditzy -- since her days as the ditzy roommate Chrissy on "3's Company." She fought cancer and she wrote several books on cooking and weight loss and hormone replacement and she gave CNN weekend anchor Fredricka Whitfield some sage advice for those who may want to know her secret to staying young.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE SOMERS, TURNING 60: You get rid of anger and you forgive people, it's amazing the weight that lifts off your shoulders. So that's a good place to start. Think about who it is that you're holding on to old angers about and think about it. And I think when there's old angers, people forget that you have to ask yourself what part did I play in that and own up to that. If you can do that, you can start letting it go.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Relieving stress.

SOMERS: Really. Once you reach 60, you know, to hang on to old angers is a real waste of your time and energy and energy is all we've got. Energy is where it's at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Hmm. Hear the rest of Fredricka's interview with Suzanne Somers tonight at 10:00 Eastern here on CNN SUNDAY NIGHT. There is much more ahead on CNN this evening. Coming up at 7:00 Eastern, updates on the day's top stories on CNN LIVE SUNDAY. And at 8:00, "CNN Presents, Undercover in the Secret State." A Korean-American journalist goes undercover to show how brutal life is inside North Korea.

And at 9:00 Eastern, Larry King weekend, this is a really special hour because you're going to hear from President Bush and first lady Laura Bush on topics you're talking about tonight. And at 10:00 Eastern for "CNN Sunday Night," with the ageless question, is 60 the new 40? Of course I'll be back with the next hour of CNN LIVE SUNDAY after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: An Iraqi family killed and the daughter raped. Now more U.S. soldiers face charges. And engulfed in flood waters and battling for survival, we're going to tell you what happened in this New Mexico river rescue.

And tracking terror with your fingertips. Is cyberspace becoming the true front line of the war on terror?

It's Sunday, July 09 and you're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Carol Lin and these are the stories making news right now.

Five more U.S. soldiers now charged in the

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