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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Fourteen Marines from Cleveland Unit Killed; Iraqis Institute Stricter Screening for Police; Shuttle Repair Successful; Plane Crash Survivors Share Stories; DNA Evidence Frees Wrongly Convicted Man after 19 Years; Miracle Baby Delivered

Aired August 03, 2005 - 17:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, a Cleveland suburb shaken. Word that 14 United States Marines killed today in Iraq were from the same Ohio-based battalion that lost six Marines two days earlier.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Terrible toll. U.S. Marines suffer heavy losses at the hands of insurgents.

BRIGADIER GENERAL CARTER HAM, U.S. ARMY: This is a very lethal and unfortunately adaptive enemy that we are faced with inside Iraq.

BLITZER: Is that enemy also inside the Iraqi police?

Crash landing.

EDDIE HO, PASSENGER ON FLIGHT 358: We saw smoke coming from behind us. And the flames started coming from behind us, and it was just, you know, get out of the plane as fast as possible.

BLITZER: Passengers say it's a miracle they all got out alive.

Repair job. Astronauts perform emergency surgery on their space shuttle.

STEVE ROBINSON, ASTRONAUT: OK. Lifting out very easily. Probably even less force. It looks like this big patient is cured.

BLITZER: Their lives may depend on it.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Wednesday, August 3, 2005.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much for joining us.

Insurgents and jihadists have found a home in Iraq's sprawling Anbar province and have turned it into a hotbed of violence. This week, they've dealt devastating blows there, killing a total of 21 United States Marines. Twenty of those Marines died in two very bloody incidents in one very dangerous town, and they were from a battalion based outside Cleveland, Ohio.

Let's go straight to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. She's standing by with details -- Barbara

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, in the last 10 days, 43 U.S. troops killed across Iraq. In the latest attacks, several Marines from the same reserve unit in Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): As U.S. troops moved through the town of Haditha in western Iraq, a crater marks where a roadside bomb killed 14 Marines on Wednesday.

It was the latest of two deadly attacks in far western Iraq where U.S. and Iraqi forces have been moving throughout this Euphrates River area, conducting simultaneous raids to isolate insurgents still controlling much of this Sunni stronghold. U.S. commanders believe the insurgents are now stepping up their response. The roadside bomb attack was one of the most lethal in months.

HAM: We are seeing larger amounts of explosives. We are seeing different techniques that are being used in an effort to counter the efforts of coalition and Iraqi security forces to protect folks while they are moving, different types of penetrators, different techniques of triggering the events.

STARR: On Monday, six Marines on a sniper patrol were killed by small arms fire. Five killed in the initial attack. The sixth was found dead three miles away.

Jim Boskovitch believes it was his son, Corporal Jeffrey Boskovitch, the Marines found.

JIM BOSKOVITCH, FATHER OF MARINE: I would suspect that knowing my son that he was probably shot several times and given up for dead, and probably tried to head back in the direction in the river back to his base.

STARR: The violence that killed Jeffrey Boskovitch and 20 other Marines comes as Iraqi and U.S. officials are meeting to discuss where the country is secure enough for Iraqi forces to take charge and let U.S. troops come home. The U.S. ambassador subtly warning he is now worried about civil war.

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: One of the biggest challenges facing Iraqis is overcoming the loss of trust among the communities. This underlies current political and sectarian tensions. In part, it also underlies the insurgency.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Wolf, the insurgent group Ansar al-Sunna has now posted a video on its Web site it claims shows a dead American. The Marines say they are looking at that video, trying to determine if it was a United States Marine killed by the insurgents -- Wolf. BLITZER: We're not going to show that picture on CNN because it's so gruesome, is that right, Barbara?

STARR: That is correct, Wolf. The video is terribly disturbing. The Marines have expressed their condolences to the family of whoever this dead person is. It is simply not suitable for broadcasting, Wolf.

BLITZER: How extraordinary, Barbara, is the fact that these Marines were all based at this reserve unit in one small community outside of Cleveland, Ohio?

STARR: Wolf, it is -- it is very difficult business. This is a Marine Corps reserve unit, as you say, outside of Cleveland. They are on deployment to this particular area of western Iraq which has seen so much violence. It is not the first time they have suffered losses in this Marine Corps reserve unit.

Now, the people who are part of the unit are from all over the country, although the unit itself is head quartered outside of Cleveland. There is mourning going on in so many families across the country tonight. It is not the first time they have suffered losses. This is all part of the insurgent stronghold in western Iraq where there appears to be unending violence -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr reporting for us. What a horrible, horrible day it has been. Thank you very much, Barbara, for that report.

In Texas today, President Bush called the latest violence in Iraq a grim reminder that terrorists and insurgents are trying to shake the will of the United States and force an American retreat. He said they will fail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and in this war on terror have died in a noble cause, and a selfless cause. Their families can know that American citizens pray for them. And the families can know that we will honor their loved one's sacrifice by completing the mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: An American freelance journalist was shot dead today in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Steven Vincent's body was found shortly after he and his interpreter were abducted. A Western official says Vincent was shot multiple times. His interpreter was wounded.

Reporters Without Borders, a watchdog group, says Vincent is the fourteenth foreign journalist killed in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003. According to that group, a total of 64 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq during that same time period. Steven Vincent's most recent article was an op-ed column he wrote in the "New York Times" about a week or so ago about the growing role of Islam -- Islamic militants in Basra and their influence within the police force.

Our deepest condolences to him, his family and to all those Marines and their families, as well.

Insurgents have made Iraqi police the target of relentless attacks. But are they now working to try to cripple the police force from within?

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraq's interior ministry now confirming recent suggestions that insurgents have infiltrated the country's police force. It comes from an interview with CNN with the deputy minister. He says that cases like that had appeared but now policies are in place to mitigate against future possibilities.

A recent joint report by the U.S. State and Defense Department says that the Iraqi police force had in its ranks men who were illiterate, men with criminal backgrounds, even insurgents.

Now, this issue raises a number of key questions. First, can any of the new policies and more strenuous background checks, more extensive testing of new recruits, can any of that isolate the problem?

Second, how will this affect the need of U.S. troops on the ground to rely on Iraqi security forces and Iraqi police for any troop reductions to take place in the coming year?

And finally and perhaps more importantly, what does this mean for Iraqi civilians? If they can't turn to their own police, where can they?

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Sighs of relief all around at NASA after an unprecedented space walk to fix a potentially serious problem with the Space Shuttle Discovery.

CNN's John Zarrella is joining us now live from the Johnson Space Center near Houston. He has details -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, no question a big sense of relief here at the Johnson Space Center. And for our viewers, this is a piece of gap filler. It looks a little bit like sandpaper, thick sandpaper. But it is very, very smooth. And it's all -- it's all Steve Robinson was going after today in what was both a historic space walk and one that he made look easy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBINSON: OK. ZARRELLA (voice-over): In the end, the space walk was a cakewalk.

ROBINSON: And I'm pulling. It's coming out very easily. Beautiful. Very nice. OK. I'll back away.

ZARRELLA: Astronaut Steve Robinson was prepared to move two pieces of gap filler from the shuttle's belly with forceps and even an improvised hacksaw if necessary. Turns out he was able to do it by hand.

ROBINSON: OK. That came out very easily. Probably even less force. It looks like this big patient is cured.

ZARRELLA: It's the first time NASA has tried to repair the exterior of a shuttle in flight, the need for that capability gravely learned from the Columbia disaster.

The fear was that the exposed filler would create dangerous hot spots as Discovery reentered Earth's atmosphere.

With his helmet-mounted camera beaming images never seen before, Robinson, perched on the space station's robotic arm, was maneuvered gingerly along the orbiter's fragile belly. NASA had allowed seven hours for the operation, but removing the filler went much quicker than expected, and the entire space walk lasted six hours. NASA officials were more than pleased.

PAUL HILL, NASA FLIGHT DIRECTOR: I was absolutely relieved, and I think you could probably hear the sigh of relief throughout the building over there. And when he pulled the second one out, it was a huge relief and it definitely felt like the rest is downhill from here.

ZARRELLA: Now attention turns to another potential problem: a damaged thermal blanket under one of the cockpit windows. There's concern it could tear away and strike the ship on reentry. Is it worth another space walk to fix? That's the next big decision NASA is facing.

HILL: If we decide to do something like that, we could make a bad situation worse. So we have to think real hard about sending somebody out there and taking that risk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: It was both good news and bad news that the gap filler came out so easily. For the mission team and for Steve Robinson, that made his job the cakewalk. But now engineers have to go back and figure out why that bonding material didn't hold -- not even a little bit -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. John Zarrella with the latest from there. Thanks very much, John, for that.

Now the latest on a story we bought you live as it was breaking yesterday at this time, the crash landing of Air France Flight 358 in Toronto. The investigation now underway is being overshadowed by amazement that all 309 people on board that jumbo jet survived.

CNN's Mary Snow is joining us now live from Toronto with the latest -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the search for answers is moving forward. Investigators say they've retrieved the black boxes. They're hoping that they'll provide clues as to what caused yesterday's fiery crash.

Meantime, passengers say today they're just lucky to be alive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): Within seconds, a moment of relief turned into panic. Passengers applauded what they thought was a successful landing in stormy weather. Seconds later, they found themselves running for their lives as Air France Flight 358 skidded off the runway and caught fire.

JOHN ABEDRABBO, PASSENGER: The landing seemed to be perfect. We just landed normally. It wasn't a crash landing. There was no problem with it. People started clapping a little bit later. And a couple of seconds after that, just all hell broke loose.

SNOW: Now investigators are piecing together the final moments to find out what went wrong. While they are looking at all factors, they suggest weather is high on the list.

The Airbus A340 landed in a thunderstorm at Pearson International. There was a lightning alert in force at the time and takeoffs had been suspended. Investigators are also talking to passengers and crew. Some have spoken of panic as passengers rushed to escape the plane.

Air France confirms that not all the escape chutes deployed properly. Some passengers say they jumped.

HO: When I got pushed out by the people behind me, I remember falling on top of two or three people.

SNOW: The fire department says its first unit reached the scene within 52 seconds and that all the passengers were out within 90.

CHIEF MIKE FIGLIOLA, GREATER TORONTO AIRPORTS AUTHORITY: Initially on our arrival, he was the last one. He done a quick walk through the plane from the front to back, to see that everybody was off. He came off and told our guys that at this point there was nobody left.

SNOW: Once out, passengers feared explosions and ran to Canada's busiest highway just a few hundred yards away. Some were picked up by cars and buses. Within minutes, the plane was engulfed in flames. That there were no fatalities and only 43 people with minor injuries is amazing.

Passengers like 19-year-old Alix Willemez will never forget how lucky they were.

ALIX WILLEMEZ, PASSENGER: I feel glad. I'm safe and that's most important. And I lost everything, but that doesn't matter. I'm in Canada and that's great.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Many people expressing their gratitude today. We could be getting an update soon on some more answers. Transportation officials are holding a briefing at 5:30 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Mary Snow reporting for us. Thanks, Mary, very much.

We'll continue our coverage of the crash of Air France Flight 358 with the former FAA chief of staff. He's standing by. He'll join us next.

Also ahead, DNA justice. Hear from the man who spent almost 20 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.

Plus, a bittersweet ending in the saga of a brain dead woman and her unborn child. Our Brian Todd has the latest on this story.

And later, affairs of the heart. Is it still cheating, even if there's no sex? We'll talk about that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on the crash of Air France Flight 358 in Toronto. For that, we're joined by Michael Goldfarb. He's the former chief of staff for the Federal Aviation Administration here in Washington.

Michael, thanks very much for joining us.

Let's talk, first of all, about the crash. What does it look like to you? Because the speculation is there was horrible weather and there's a widespread assumption that it must have been some sort of weather-related crash.

MICHAEL GOLDFARB, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, FAA: Well, obviously, the early speculation, as you know, turns out not to be the full picture. But let's look for a moment.

We had two very experienced captains, 25,000 hours between them. We have an Airbus 340, no accident prior to this, coming across the Atlantic with weather, in the cockpit, advanced weather radar. So they knew what was happening even more so than on the ground at the airport. And yet, the decision to land was made.

And the investigators -- it is early -- are going to have to look at many things other than just the weather to see if there's a contributing factor here.

BLITZER: What if the plane had been struck by lightning? Because some of the passengers thought it felt like they had been struck by lightning. But what if it had?

GOLDFARB: The power plants on the plane and the electrical systems are designed to withstand lightning strikes. Lightning could be a distraction for the crew. A gust of wind could have been a distraction at that part of the runway for the crew. So all those things need to be examined.

The plane had gone through a maintenance check at Charles De Gaulle Airport on July 5. A weather and mechanical thing going on there. Was there a tendency of a pressure to land? Did they feel like let's get this plane down, the weather's very bad? And we've had other accidents...

BLITZER: It's always an inconvenience to go land in nearby...

GOLDFARB: No one wants to go to an alternate airport and go another hour even though they had the fuel for that.

But the good news on the accident, besides the fact that everybody got out, the black boxes will probably be recovered. They have the air traffic control tapes. They have all the eyewitnesses, passengers and crew. They'll put that together almost as a mosaic, a composite and they'll figure out very rapidly what caused this accident.

BLITZER: Canadian authorities and French authorities I assume will do this. Will American authorities be involved?

GOLDFARB: Possibly. There's a joint agreement between European and American authorities on many aspects on the building, whether it be Airbus or Boeing. So it will probably be a joint effort. It's very important to come away with lessons learned.

But can we talk about the good news?

BLITZER: The evacuation.

GOLDFARB: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Let's talk about that, because so many people have suggested, so many of the passengers, it was a miracle that all of them, all 309 people on that plane survived, given the pictures, the explosions, the fireball, the smoke that we saw.

Some of my e-mail or some of my viewers e-mailed, saying it was not a miracle. This was the result of an extensive safety program that has been built up over these many years.

GOLDFARB: Indeed. In fact, the National Transportation Safety Board did a 17-year study of 568 accidents, and they found over 95 percent of the passengers, occupants got out of the aircraft. That runs counter to the popular notion. You get on an aircraft and they say your seatback could be used as a flotation device and everybody kind of rolls their eyes and says, oh please. If a plane's going down, we don't stand much of a chance. It's the number one safety education lesson the traveling public needs to know, which is that accidents are survivable in 95 percent of the cases. This was an example yesterday of a dramatic view of that.

BLITZER: Getting all 309 people out within 90 seconds.

GOLDFARB: Within 90 seconds, or in the case maybe a little bit more than 90 seconds, was truly the remarkable good news part of this.

BLITZER: So was this luck? Was this skill? Was this a combination of all of the above?

GOLDFARB: Well, I think it might have been a combination of all of the above. When people say where should one sit in an aircraft, there's no safer place to be. How the plane broke up upon hitting the runway, the fact that it was a shallow, down the runway kind of impact, might have contributed.

But all that's speculation. Every accident has a unique signature. And this one will, too. And they will put it together and figure out was it weather, was it crew error, or was there something else entirely combining to make this plane overshoot the runway?

BLITZER: We'll watch the investigation with you. Thanks very much, Michael Goldfarb for joining us.

He spent two decades in prison until a DNA test proved his innocence. Coming up, he'll tell us about his nightmare.

Also ahead, he's held day-to-day control for years, but now he's the king. What lies ahead for Saudi Arabia's new monarch?

And hope springs from tragedy. A brain dead mother gives birth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A 46-year-old man was released from a Pennsylvania prison this week after serving 19 years for a crime he didn't commit. Witnesses said Thomas Doswell, who was accused and sentenced for rape, raping a 48-year-old woman, was delighted. You can see the pictures now of him walking out. New DNA evidence proved him to be innocent. Today he's a free man and, thankfully, he's joining us now live from Pittsburgh.

Mr. Doswell, congratulations to you. We're thrilled that you have been released from prison after nearly 20 years for a crime you did not commit. How do you feel?

THOMAS DOSWELL, RELEASED FROM PRISON BY DNA EVIDENCE: I'm thankful, Mr. Wolf Blitzer, to have an opportunity to be reiterated back into society and with my family.

BLITZER: What was it like serving 19 years in prison? Did you ever give up hope?

DOSWELL: No, I had been taught early, faith values by my mom and I had to hold on to those, and that's what brought me through.

BLITZER: Because there were times, you were up for parole, I believe, four times. If you would have confessed to this crime and begged for forgiveness, perhaps you would have been released earlier, but you held firm and insisted you didn't commit this crime.

DOSWELL: Yes. They had told me several times that if I would admit to it, I could go home earlier because of good conduct. And I just held fast and firm to my convictions that I was innocent.

BLITZER: Were people advising you to just go ahead and admit it, even though you didn't do it, in order to get out of prison?

DOSWELL: Yes, sir.

BLITZER: Your lawyers especially?

DOSWELL: No. These were just basically prison officials and parole board members.

BLITZER: And you held firm and said, I never did this.

Why were you convicted of this crime, for our viewers who aren't familiar with the evidence that was submitted against you? Why did they convict you?

DOSWELL: They convicted me because the DNA was not available in Pennsylvania at the time of this crime.

BLITZER: Nineteen years ago there was no such thing as DNA evidence.

DOSWELL: Yes, sir. And she had a rare type of blood that masked, that it covered over anyone who the perpetrator who had done this. And they couldn't tell whether I had done it or if I didn't do it. And they just went on her testimony that I did do it.

BLITZER: The victim in this case did testify that you were the assailant?

DOSWELL: Yes, sir.

BLITZER: Even though you didn't match the identity, the characteristics and that description that originally had been provided?

DOSWELL: Correct.

BLITZER: Why didn't -- didn't she and others say, well, maybe we do have the wrong guy? Why did they pick you?

DOSWELL: We believe, it's our belief there's a detective by the name of Herman Wolf. He's on the rape squad here in Pennsylvania. And he had taken a photo array of seven -- eight pictures over to a hospital here in Pennsylvania, Shady Side Hospital. And one of the pictures were myself and it had an "R" on it. And neither of the other seven pictures had the "R" on it. And we believe that it was tainted ID.

BLITZER: Because the "R" supposedly was for "Rape."

DOSWELL: Yes, sir.

BLITZER: Or "Rapist."

DOSWELL: Yes, sir.

BLITZER: And that sort of caused you to lose so much of your life, 19 years in prison for this crime you clearly did not commit.

How much anger do you have right now for the victim in this particular case, the woman who was raped, the police detectives, the prosecutors, including especially those prosecutors who refused to allow for so long any DNA evidence to even be provided?

DOSWELL: Well, I have empathy and sympathy for this woman, because I have women in my family and who have always been there, strongly supporting myself as they are today.

And as far as the prosecutors and the judge and the jury, they have a job to do. And I believe that they believed that they were doing the right thing at the time. I'm thankful that DNA showed that they weren't.

And couldn't walk around that long with anger and frustration just bottled up inside me. It would have destroyed me. And I knew this and I was just thankful to have had counsel for my mom and my family earlier on that they needed to be forgiven so that I can move on with it and carry on with my life while I was in, believing that one day, as it has happened, that I would be released.

BLITZER: Well, you're a remarkable man, Thomas Doswell. No bitterness.

DOSWELL: Thank you.

BLITZER: I know a lot of people under your circumstances, 19 years in prison, losing so much of your life for a crime you clearly did not commit, would have every right to be very bitter. But we're thrilled that you're out of prison. Good luck with the rest of your life. We hope it's a long and productive one.

DOSWELL: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: Thomas Doswell, a good story, a happy ending.

DNA evidence has been used to reverse convictions since the late 1980s. It was first used in a sexual assault case, but as time went by it was used in murder cases, as well. And within a few years, it was being used to reverse the death penalty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIRK BLOODSWORTH, FREED BY DNA EVIDENCE: Bad time. BLITZER (voice-over): Kirk Bloodsworth was the first American Death Row inmate to be exonerated by DNA evidence in 1993. He's been convicted of the rape and murder of a Maryland girl and had served nine years in prison when the then-new science of DNA testing established his innocence.

BLOODSWORTH: As you can see I'm just a blubbering mess. I'm so happy.

BLITZER: Kirk Bloodsworth was just the beginning. The Innocence Project, affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law in New York, says at least 161 convictions have been overturned as a result of DNA evidence. They included people like Michael Green, a Cleveland hospital worker who was convicted of raping a woman being treated for liver cancer.

The victim had testified against Green and he served 13 years in prison until a DNA test was conducted on a washcloth the rapist had used after the attack. Green, it turns out, was not the rapist.

In Illinois, DNA evidence figured in a long series of overturned convictions, shaking faith in the criminal justice system itself. In January, 2000, then-Governor George Ryan announced a moratorium on the death penalty. And eventually he commuted the sentences of everyone on death row.

GOV. GEORGE RYAN, ILLINOIS: Imagine spending one day on death row accused of killing your parents when you knew you were innocent, for a crime you didn't commit?

BLITZER: The most recent instance of a conviction being overturned by DNA evidence occurred just hours ago. A Florida man, 67- year-old Luis Diaz was convicted in 1980 of committing five rapes. He was freed today after DNA tests exonerated him in two of the attacks and cast doubt on his convictions in the other three attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That means your cases are dismissed, sir, and you are free to go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Innocence Project at Cardoza Law School in New York City, doing incredible work with this DNA evidence.

When we come back, you can call this one all tied up. A big deal in the world of sporting goods. Details coming up.

Plus, accusations over alleged interrogation tactics in Iraq. Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, standing by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: These dramatic pictures just coming into CNN. Right now, firefighters in Jersey City, New Jersey, are fighting what's being described as a five-alarm fire. Officials say four multi-story buildings are involved and at least one of them has suffered severe damage. These are live pictures you're seeing from Jersey City. No reports, so far, of any injuries or that anyone is trapped. We're watching this story. We'll get more information for you as it becomes available.

Other news we're following: Something big is afoot in the athletic shoe industry. Germany's Adidas is taking over Massachusetts- based Reebok. The deal, valued at $3.8 billion, is expected to be completed next year. Company officials promise that despite the merger, the two brands will retain their distinct identities.

Iran says it's pushing back by one week plans to reopen its uranium conversion plant. In an apparent attempt to reduce controversy over Iran's plants, Iranian state media report Iran wants to remain within the framework of Iran's negotiations with the European Union.

And a solemn ceremony in Saudi Arabia marked the beginning of the reign of King Abdullah. Abdullah, who's been the country's de facto ruler for the past decade, became king following the death of his half-brother, the late King Fahd.

Military trials are under way in Colorado for several U.S. soldiers accused of causing the death of an Iraqi general during what, by all accounts, was a brutal interrogation. Now there's new information being released. Let's go live to our senior pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie?.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is a story of a 56- year-old Iraqi general who turned himself in and ended up dying in U.S. custody; raising questions about exactly how the U.S. was getting intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): When the sons of Iraqi Major General Avid Hamid Mowhousk told the story of their father's death to CNN last year, they claimed he'd been tortured to death by U.S. soldiers.

HUSAM ABID HAMAD MOWHOUSK, SON OF IRAQI GENERAL (translator): After five months of arrest, we were released from Umm Qasr detention center. We found out that our father was killed during interrogation. We have witnesses. Prisoners that were in prison with him know the names of the Americans that tortured him.

MCINTYRE: Now, four soldiers face charges in connection with the November, 2003, death, listed on the official death certificate as - quote -- "caused by asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression" and ruled a "homicide."

Testimony in the pre-trial hearings has established that General Mowhousk, a feared commander under Saddam Hussein, had been stuffed in a sleeping bag and sat on until he suffocated.

But according to the "Washington Post," classified court documents also suggest Mowhousk may have been "severely beaten during previous interrogations by a shadowy CIA unit working with secret Iraqi squads." The newspaper says, "interrogators would deliver the detainees to a small team of CIA-sponsored Iraqi paramilitary squads, code-named Scorpions." And quoted one soldier as saying "detainees knew that if they went to those people, bad things would happen." The Pentagon insists it knows nothing about that.

LARRY DIRITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: No investigations that I'm aware of have concluded that, for the purposes of obtaining interrogations that we were unable or unwilling to use certain techniques, we'd turn them over to the Iraqis so they could use different techniques.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: But the Pentagon admits despite a dozen separate investigations into prisoner abuse, it still has no clear idea of exactly what the CIA might have been doing outside the military chain of command.

Contacted by CNN, the CIA said this afternoon, it has no comment on any aspect of the story and the CIA inspector general has yet to make his findings public -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie, very much.

Is the need for information in the high-stakes war on terrorism driving American troops to commit abuses? Joining us now, our world affairs analyst, former Defense Secretary William Cohen. He's the chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group here in Washington.

What do you make of this story? It's very disturbing.

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is disturbing and I think it's going to lend a lot of fuel to a movement on Capitol Hill. Right now, Senator Warner, Senator John McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham have introduced legislation to try and set some standards for interrogation techniques conducted by the United States military.

I think it's going to have some pretty far-reaching implications. And I think this case -- I don't want to make any pre-judgment about it, but this case and the allegations contained in it, I think it will lend a lot of weight to the congressional movement.

BLITZER: Are there different rules for military personnel versus civilian personnel -- civilians, whether from the CIA or civilians from other branches of the U.S. government or contractors, for that matter?

COHEN: If -- as far as I understand it, if people are being interrogated under the aegis or under the umbrella, so to speak, of the United States military, they should be held to the very same standards that the military is held to. That, of course, raises another issue -- what are the standards for the military? And now you're talking about, is it acceptable to put people in stress positions, to have dogs attacking or threatening to attack their genital areas and all of the other types of abuses that have been laid out in some detail? The need for Congress to become involved, I think, is quite clear -- that we need to have standards. We need to have accountability on the part of officials -- military, nonmilitary. You're in a war zone. You should be under the same standard for all concerned.

And so I think that a hearing on this issue is going to be very important.

BLITZER: Let's talk about a man you have met on several occasions, the new king of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah. You worked with him when he was Crown Prince, when you were Defense secretary and earlier. What do you make of this change in the Saudi kingdom?

COHEN: Well, a change of job description, perhaps, or title, but not actual role for him. He has been acting as the monarch in charge, so to speak, since 1995. He is seen as somewhat of a, quote, "reformer" but I put quotes around reformer, because reform coming to the Saudi kingdom is rather quite gradual.

But there were some movements earlier this year. They had municipal elections, male only, but nonetheless elections at the municipal level. I believe he also removed the training of girls from religious schools as such, and put that under the Ministry of Education. Beyond that, I'm not sure how much reform has taken place.

But nonetheless, it's going to present a challenge in the future. He, by whatever accounts in his early 80s. And there's some dispute in terms of the time factor here. But nonetheless, he's in his early 80s as is his half brother, the secretary -- the minister of defense who holds under that portfolio, as well.

BLITZER: He's now the crown prince.

COHEN: He's now the crown prince, but still the minister of defense.

BLITZER: The real battle, though, is going to come when the next generation is ready.

COHEN: The next generation, the question will become much more contentious in terms of who is going to take over.

So, a lot to be determined. Here you have the country that really does represent being the voice and the leader of Islam, having to deal with Islamic extremism in their own country now, because the ruling family is also under attack from al Qaeda and bin Laden and others.

BLITZER: William Cohen, as usual, thanks very much for that. Appreciate it.

One family, two emotional milestones: We'll update you on a heartbreaking story. Plus, affairs of the mind: They're more common than you think. Is it really cheating, though? We'll ask the experts. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Coming up at the top of the hour, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT. Kitty Pilgrim, filling in once again for Lou. She is standing by live in New York with a preview -- Kitty.

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Wolf.

At 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 14 U.S. Marines are killed in Iraq. And that's after six Marines were killed in the same town two days ago. I'll be talking with one of the country's leading experts on fighting insurgents.

Plus, targeting radical Islamist terrorists. My guest says it would be politically correct suicide to stop the police from targeting their searches of young Muslim suspects.

Also, a risky space walk, a critical repair mission, NASA declares it a success. Former astronaut and space walker Catherine Sullivan is our guest.

All that and more at the top of the hour. Now back to you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Kitty. We'll be watching.

The joy of birth and the grief of death for one Virginia family. It's been a wrenching story. We've been following it for several months now.

CNN's Brian Todd is joining us live from Arlington, Virginia, with an update -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this story has taken some incredible turns over those past few months. And what doctors characterize as a race between a tumor and a child still inside her mother's womb came to a conclusion over the past four hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): For a young family, the end of a heartbreaking wait, the beginning of a long struggle.

JUSTIN TORRES, FAMILY MEMBER: Early this morning after a brief good-bye with her parents, husband and other family members, Susan Michele Roland Torres passed away after the machines which sustained her life were turned off at my brother's request.

TODD: Twenty-six-year-old Susan Torres had been brain dead for nearly three months. She'd suffered a stroke on May 7, after an aggressive melanoma moved into her brain. At the time, Torres was nearly four months pregnant with her second child. That baby, Susan Ann Catherine Torres, kept alive inside her mother's womb for those three long months, was delivered by cesarean section on Tuesday. Her vital statistics? One pound, three ounces, 13-and-a-half inches long, nearly three months early.

DR. DONNA TILDEN-ARCHER, NEONATOLOGIST: At this current time, she's breathing on her own. She's just receiving some supplemental oxygen and some supplemental pressure that helps to keep the tiny air spaces open.

TODD: The baby is described in vigorous condition. But this delivery comes a few weeks earlier than doctors at Virginia Hospital Center had hoped.

DR. RODNEY MCLAREN, MEDICAL DIRECTOR: The cancer was spreading very rapidly. We were having more difficulty maintaining her vital organs on artificial support.

TODD: Doctors also say the mother's blood pressure had dropped. And there were signs of possible infection. They say there are no signs of cancer in the placenta, but the child could still be at risk.

DR. CHRISTOPHER MCMANUS, MOTHER'S ATTENDING PHYSICIAN: And it's unfortunate, but that she may show up with melanoma later. The only test is going to be time, I think.

TODD: Susan Torres' husband Jason let his brother speak for him at this news conference. But earlier, he had spoken to CNN about the family's trauma.

JASON TORRES, SUSAN TORRES' HUSBAND: If you have a chance to save your child's life, you're going to do it. And I know for a fact that Susan would do whatever she needed to do just to give her child a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: The child now has that chance, but has to remain in the hospital for about three more months. And a prominent neonatologist tells us the baby may have to be monitored for up to two years for possible signs of melanoma -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Let's wish her the best. Thanks very much, Brian Todd, for that story.

Let's take a quick look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A 23-year-old London resident has become the first suspect to be charged in connection with the July 21 terror bombing attempts. He's accused of withholding information that could have helped police with the investigation.

Meanwhile, Zambia says it will deport an alleged terrorist to Britain. Haroun Rashid Aswat, a British citizen, is said to have once been a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Some reports have tied him to the bombers who carried out the July 7 transit attacks in London.

Passport bust. A British citizen of Algerian descent has been arrested in Thailand. Police say he had more than 450 fake passports from several European countries and was on his way to Scotland.

Dog double. Scientists in South Korea have announced the world's first dog cloning. The dog's name is SNUPY, which stands for Seoul National University Puppy. He's 14-weeks-old. And scientists say he's a completely normal Afghan Hound puppy: frisky, healthy and rambunctious.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It was a high-profile Hollywood divorce, but apparently a very common problem that drove Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt to split. Aniston is breaking her silence in the new issue in "Vanity Fair," in which she accuses her ex of emotional cheating.

CNN's Mary Snow explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SHOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were Hollywood's it-couple with star power, money and not to mention, good looks. Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's split seemed to strike a chord with many.

M. GARY NEUMAN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Whenever difficulty happens and you know, couples break apart, everybody always wonders, my gosh. If they have it all and they can't make it work, it doesn't say a lot for the average person in the street.

SNOW: To hear therapists tell it, the average person on the street may have a lot more in common with the Hollywood couple than they think -- emotional cheating.

In an interview with "Vanity Fair," Jennifer Aniston suggests her husband had an emotional, not sexual, bond with actress Angelina Jolie. Gary Neuman, who wrote the book, "Emotional Infidelity," says emotional connections outside the marriage are increasingly common and can be more damaging to a marriage than a sexual affair.

NEUMAN: Emotional cheating is when you take in the bulk and the majority of your emotional self and you've placed it outside of your mate. It's a very simple equation. We only have so much emotional energy in life.

SNOW: Newman says married couples spend an average of four minutes a day talking and in many cases, when spouses stray, columnist Hara Marano hears about it. She's a columnist for "Psychology Today."

HARA ESTROFF MARANO, "PSCHOLOGY TODAY": Affairs of the heart or affairs of the mind are very common. I get letters in all the time from men, from women.

SNOW: Some say the workforce is one reason for the increase. Another, more people are on-line.

MARANO: And all you have to do is walk into another room, go on the computer and find hoards of other people who want to talk to strangers.

SNOW: Psychologists say it's normal to be attracted to other people, but to save your marriage, it's important to know where to draw a line.

NEUMAN: If you are someone who has been attracted to someone else and even began toward the path of emotional infidelity, but reeled yourself back -- started back to your spouse and put the new energy into your spouse, then it really becomes less of a need to tell your spouse or admit to anything, because you haven't done anything wrong.

SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: As part of CNN's 25th series "Then and Now," Alessio Vinci looks back at the career of Giorgio Armani and where he is today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is known as the king of Italian fashion. Giorgio Armani became a household name in the 1980s when Richard Gere, in "American Gigolo," famously showed off his collection of shirts, jackets and ties.

In 1982, he was the first fashion designer to appear on the cover of "Time" magazine since Christian Dior in the 1950s.

Armani revolutionized the wardrobes of men and women alike, introducing a style of relaxed elegance and pale colors.

In the 1990s, he became the designer of choice for Hollywood stars and was among the first to approach celebrities to wear his creations.

GIORGIO ARMANI, DESIGNER (via translator): I'm perceived as one who makes only serious clothes for the working woman, the woman who has no strange ideas. But in fact, I'd like to think I have a clientele who's a little crazy.

VINCI: Armani expanded quickly, licensing eyewear, cosmetics and a fragrance, turning his business into a multi-billion dollar fashion powerhouse.

In 1998, he opened his first store in China and last year, he inaugurated his winter collection in Shanghai. Fashion, he says, has no boundaries. At 70, Armani is celebrating 30 years running his own fashion line.

ARMANI (via translator): It seems like yesterday. In fact, it's been 30 years of commitment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Remember, you ccan atch us tomorrow 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Don't forget our new show THE SITUATION ROOM, starting Monday, August 8. It airs from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT starts right now. I have Kitty Pilgrim standing by -- Kitty?

END

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