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CNN SUNDAY MORNING

Soldiers in Iraq Celebrate 4th of July; Reconstruction Work on WTC Project Gets Under Way

Aired July 4, 2004 - 07:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, Independence Day.
And good morning to you. I'm Drew Griffin. Betty is off today. We wish you a happy holiday.

Here's a look at what's ahead this hour. Hitting the road in Iraq to mark an all American holiday. Soldiers far from home celebrate the 4th of July. We head live to Baghdad. That's coming up.

This May looked just an ordinary walk, but it's really a competition. These folks are ready to get in shape. They hope to prove it by walking to the moon and back.

And taking the plunge for pool safety. Even babies can learn to float and stay afloat and save their own lives. We're going to show you that how is done.

But first, after serving 15 months in Iraq, some 20,000 U.S. soldiers are finally coming home. The troops celebrated the end of their tour of duty in a ceremony this morning at Baghdad Airport. They are members of the 1st Armored Division based in Germany and the second armored cavalry regiment based in Louisiana.

In the West Bank, Israeli sources say Palestinian militants fired on a car traveling near a northern Jewish settlement, killing one Israeli man. Israeli media reports a group linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement is claiming responsibility.

In another incident, Israeli officials say troops shot and killed a Palestinian gunman, who was trying to make his way into a Jewish settlement near Nablus.

It will be the tallest building in the world and a symbol of renewal. Reconstruction at the World Trade Center site gets underway today. The cornerstone of the new skyscraper is set in place.

When completed, Freedom Tower will be 1776 feet high, the height meant to mark the year of America's independence.

Our top story this hour, the new Iraqi government expected to announce a partial amnesty to low level Iraqi insurgents tomorrow. But in an ABC TV interview, Iraq's prime minister says Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr could also receive amnesty if he follows through on a pledge of disbanding his army.

Iyad Allawi says, "He (meaning al-Sadr) is looking for an amnesty. He is looking to be part of the political process. He is willing, as he put it, through the delegation I just met half an hour ago to dismantle the Mahdi army or the militias rather that he has formed."

The U.S. military says it can't confirm whether militants have killed a missing U.S. Marine. A militant group says it did behead Corporal Wassaf Hassoun. In a statement posted yesterday on Islamic Web sites, the militants said a videotape would be released soon, supporting that claim.

Hassoun, who was born in Lebanon, has been missing for two weeks. His family is in seclusion in West Jordan, Utah, awaiting word on his fate.

With the transfer of power in Iraq a week ago, insurgent attacks and recent kidnappings, we haven't heard much lately about efforts to rebuild that country. But a new U.S. government report shows how it's going and whether it's improving the lives of Iraqis.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve has the report card.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Electricity, critical to rebuilding Iraq's economy, improving the quality of daily life, and winning the population's support. But according to a new report from the General Accounting Office, 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces have fewer hours of electrical service now than when Saddam Hussein was in power.

DAVID WALKER, GAO COMPTROLLER GENERAL: We're rebuilding infrastructure that has been -- deteriorated over a number of years and has been a casualty of war, of looting, and of the insurgency.

MESERVE: The GAO says inadequate security is undercutting efforts to rebuild infrastructure, but that Iraq's security forces are poorly trained and equipped, understaffed, and unready to fight.

One analyst blames what she calls the incompetent bureaucracy of the coalition provisional authority, but also says the Iraqi people had unrealistic expectations.

DANIELLE PLETKA, AMER. ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: I understand why they're there. If you live for 30 years under a horrible dictator, when he's gone, you expect everything to come up roses. And in many ways, we advertise that things would come up roses.

MESERVE: But new numbers from the White House show that of the $18.4 billion appropriated by Congress last fall to rebuild Iraq, only $366 million or about 2 percent have been spent.

The Office of Management and Budget argues that more than half the money is now in the pipeline. And the administration points to progress. 2500 schools rehabilitated, 85 percent of children immunized, 50 percent more telephone users than before the war, and no Saddam Hussein.

J. ADAM ERLI, STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESMAN: I find it difficult to argue persuasively that an Iraq, free of Saddam Hussein, is worse off than an Iraq than an Iraq with Saddam Hussein.

MESERVE: Though anger and frustration with the slow pace of rebuilding has been evident on the streets of Iraq, there appears to be hope that the new Iraqi government can do better.

FEISAL ISTRABADI, ADVISER TO THE IRAQ GOVERNING COUNCIL: Hopefully, the new government will be able to fulfill the major aims and hopes of the people of Iraq, and not disappoint them.

MESERVE (on camera): But it remains to be seen, of course, if the new Iraqi government can do a better job meeting those hopes than the U.S. and its allies.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: And in Iraq today, the longest serving military unit there, they're heading home finally. On this 4th of July, it seems fitting that members of the 1st Armored Division are celebrating the end of their tour of duty. Soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division replacing them.

Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf is Camp Victory in Baghdad for positive news today, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drew, some very happy soldiers obviously. 16,000 roughly soldiers of the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Armored Cavalry regiment going home to Germany and Louisiana, after a very intense 15 months here.

Now in speaking to these soldiers, in the time they've been here and now, they seem actually quite positive about what's gone on here and the future of Iraq, a view shared by their commanding general, Major General Martin Dempsey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CMDR. 1st ARMORED DIVISION: I would describe the entire year, not just Baghdad probably as, you know, we've taken two steps forward and then a half a step back. And three steps forward, and one step back. And I think that's probably the way this will all go for the immediate future.

I mean, you've heard me say this before, but freedom and democracy are kind of a messy form of government, you know. And so, I think that it'll take them a while to get their feet under them, and their legs under them to figure out what to do with it.

But what an opportunity. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ARRAF: And nearby at Camp Victory, it is a very hot 4th of July. We're hear in a square, where people are doing a bit of shopping, having lunch. Earlier this morning before the sun became so unbearably hot, there was a 10 kilometer run, an Iraqi version of the Peachtree Road Run, a traditional road race in Atlanta.

Later, there will be no fireworks here, but there will be music and traditional 4th of July barbecue -- Drew?

GRIFFIN: Jane, we're going to have more on that Peachtree race later, when the real one starts, but that was something to see, all those soldiers being allowed to run in the race that they would have been able to run in, had they been sent back home a lot earlier.

Jane Arraf in Baghdad. Thank you for that report.

News across America now. In Kansas, flags, and flowers, prayers and praise. Family members of those killed at a meat packing plant in Kansas City on Friday, asking people to pray for the victims there. Six people died in the attack. Police say they don't yet have a clear motive for those killings.

Senator Max Baucus of Montana recovering in Helena after his motorcycle crashed yesterday. The five term Democrat was hospitalized for minor injuries after he lost control of his Harley Davidson, smashing into a guardrail in that state. Baucus was on the way to a family picnic. Doctors say the helmet and leather jacket that he was wearing helped minimize his injuries.

In southeastern Arizona, a wildfire sparked by lightning is threatening an observatory that's home to some of the world's most powerful telescopes. The blaze close to the Mount Gramm International Observatory 110 miles east of Tucson. Most of the area has been evacuated, but a few observatory employees are staying behind, in case they need to activate an internal sprinkler.

Well, here's what we know for sure. One Megamillions ticket sold in Massachusetts wine store is worth $290 million. We also know that that man, the store's owner, took home $50,000 for selling the ticket. What we don't know is who's getting the big prize. No one has come forward yet to claim that mega prize.

We're going to get to the bottom of a long running debate. What is best for the barbecue? Charcoal or gas? Send us your pick and reasons to wam@cnn.com. Not sure if that's what John Adams had in mind for this day, but that is the question we are asking all of America. Charcoal or gas on the barbee?

Coming up, battleground states. The Bush and Kerry campaigns hit the road for votes in our political update. But first, pounding the pavement for fitness. Two cities taking the pledge to walk to the moon and back. Who's about to splash down? CNN SUNDAY MORNING will be back in just 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: As Ralph Kramden said, "To the moon, Alice." That's what the folks in Peoria and Rockford, Illinois are likely saying. The two cities are racing to see which can be the first to walk the distance between the Earth and moon and back again. There are almost 500,000 miles to cover. So far, Rockford residents have walked 130,000 miles, while Peoria's people have walked over 400,000 miles. In fact, Peoria has just got about 68,000 miles to go, I guess.

The anything you can do I can better challenge has got virtually everyone walking around these towns. Joining us on the phone are the mayors, David Ramsburg of Peoria, Doug Scott of Rockford.

And let's begin with Rockford, because you guys have not been walking quite as far as Peoria. What's going on there, mayor?

DOUG SCOTT, MAYOR, ROCKFORD: Well, good morning, Drew. Well, we -- you know, Peoria got a start on this last year. They got pretty well organized and started doing this last year. And we don't have our June figures in yet. So we expect to be -- that we're already well over 200,000.

But we got to hand it to Peoria. They've done really well this year.

GRIFFIN: Doug, before we get down to Peoria, what's the idea of all of this? How did this begin?

SCOTT: Well, it's -- Peoria actually had done it last year. They had started off on the moonwalk. And then this year, they called up and challenged us to do it. And we thought it was fun. Obviously to have some competition between Peoria, but it's obviously more than that because you can highlight all the good things that can come from exercise and from walking and start focusing on some of the preventable diseases that come from obesity and being overweight and things like diabetes.

So there's a great health angle to it. But you know, aside from that, it's just fun to have the competition.

GRIFFIN: David Ramsburg of Peoria, has this changed your city?

DAVID RAMSBURG, MAYOR, PEORIA: Well, I think so. I think it's certainly increased the level of awareness, how important preventative health activities are. And so, the idea of exercising all right in something as simple as just walking, you know, parking your car a little farther away from your place of work and walking, walking up the stairs, that sort of thing.

I think it's increased the level of awareness. And there's -- Mayor Scott said we have -- because we did it last year, we had a bunch of higher level of participation perhaps than they had. And maybe we'll do it again next year.

The -- we have almost 3,000 people involved in doing it. GRIFFIN: Three thousand people. And how did they organize it? Did they walk together? You have to record it on your own? How does this work?

RAMSBURG: Well, people carry a pedometer.

GRIFFIN: There it is.

RAMSBURG: Major different ways, but I think most people wear a pedometer. I'm wearing one. And it's really under the sponsorship of various organizations.

We have 69 different groups. You know, companies or hospitals or like the city of Peoria. And they just enlisted their employees. And they have a coordinator. And each week, people turn in their miles to that coordinator and they report them and total them up. So...

GRIFFIN: And Mayor Ramsburg, your town is about to make the goal of the moon and back. Where do you go next?

RAMSBURG: We're about two weeks away, we think. Last year, we got stranded in space. We're short, didn't make it back. But this year, I think the plans are once we make it back, which we will in a couple of weeks, what we want to do is then start round-trip walks to various cities around the world from A to Z.

So we'll go from Athens, Greece, which is about 11,000 miles to Zagreb, Croatia, which is 8000 miles. So if we do that one, it'll be another 332,000 miles.

GRIFFIN: Very good. And Doug?

SCOTT: Yes.

GRIFFIN: How's your team doing? Has the pulse of the city changed with the people walking?

SCOTT: Yes, I think it's great. We've got over 2300 people that are taking part in it. And they're doing just as Dave said, they record their miles and turn them in every month. And then we record them. And well over 50 teams, the city has a team as well. And we're all doing ours.

And you know, I mean, there's the internal challenge, too. I mean, the coordinator for us, if you turn in -- you know, you have a bad month and you don't turn in enough miles, you're liable to get an e-mail back that just says wimp or something like that. So we're challenging each other as well, to try to come up with more miles.

But it's great for the city, too. It gets all the organizations working on something together, too.

GRIFFIN: Now you guys, in terms of miles, aren't terribly far from each other. You ever plan to walk to each other and meet in the middle? SCOTT: I think that'd be a great idea. You know, we're similar in a lot of ways. And we've got fairly similar histories, too. And there was a great rivalry between the two cities, you know, historically. And that subsided a little bit.

Maybe we can kindle that up and we'll -- where would that be, Dave? We meet somewhere around -- I don't know, Mendota or somewhere, huh?

RAMSBURG: Whatever.

GRIFFIN: All right, guys, David Ramsburg, the mayor of Peoria, Doug Scott, mayor of Rockford, all walking to the moon and back for health. We thank you for joining us on this 4th of July.

Well, he risked his life to save fellow soldiers. And we're going to introduce you to this week's American hero. That's when CNN SUNDAY MORNING returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin. In the mood for a movie this holiday weekend? Well, here's a glimpse of what's new in theaters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SPIDER-MAN 2")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is she?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, she'll be just fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Crackerjack entertainment from start to finish. Wayne Hays has lived the American dream until his life comes to a shattering halt after being kidnapped and held for ransom in remote forest by a disgruntled employee. Can "The Clearing's" terrifying ordeal bring renewed love between Wayne and his wife Eileen? "USA Today" says Robert Redford's performance as Wayne Hays once again reminds us why audiences have liked him for 40 years.

Kevin Kline plays American composer Cole Porter. Looking back on his life, as if it were one great musical number filled with Porter's music, the film also looks at the complicated relationship Porter had with his wife and muse Linda Lee. "Entertainment Weekly" hails the film as something dishy and rare, a biography about a happy and even enchanted man.

Well, here's a look at some of the morning's top stories. Less than a week after taking power, Iraq's prime minister Iyad Allawi is expected to extend and amnesty offer to low level insurgents. Details of the deal are expected to be announced on Monday.

Also in Iraq, soldiers from the 21st Armored Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment furled their flags. 20,000 U.S. soldiers heading out after serving 15 months in Iraq. And here's a look at the annual July 4th Peachtree Road Race here in Atlanta. Most of the wheelchair racers have already passed the finish line. The men's winner, Saul Mendoza in a time of 18 minutes, 40 seconds. His next race will be at the Olympics. The runners take off in about seven minutes. This is the 35th annual race. 55,000 competitors. That is the largest 10-K in the nation.

(WEATHER REPORT)

GRIFFIN: Honoring our fighting men and women this 4th of July, a North Dakota National Guardsman called a soldier's soldier. First Sergeant Kevin Remington has been awarded the silver star for bravery for actions in Iraq.

Casey Wian has his story on this holiday morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kevin Remington's been in the military for more than 20 years. Last July, his training was put to the test in Iraq. Delivering supplies to a river patrol, Remington's convoy was bombed. The blast severely injured two soldiers, trapping them in their truck. After that, a full-scale fire firefight erupted.

1ST SGT. KEVIN REMINGTON, NORTH DAKOTA NATIONAL GUARD: You have a window of opportunity where you either do something or you do nothing or you get paralyzed by the thought process.

WIAN: Rather than leave the area, Remington made a tough call, ordering his machine gunners to keep up the fight so he could rescue the soldiers who'd been hit.

REMINGTON: I just told them to hold tight, you know, that we were going to get them out of there. Just hang in there.

WIAN: With bullets flying, Remington got the severely injured soldiers out of the vehicle and out of the so-called kill zone. Although he put the lives of other soldiers at risk, Remington says he has no regrets.

REMINGTON: If soldiers don't have the confidence that they're going to be -- somebody's going to come back for them, they may not fight as hard.

WIAN: The driver of the vehicle died of his injuries, but the actions of Remington and fellow soldiers saved the life of Specialist Brandon Erickson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He cares about his troops just amazingly. He's just -- he's the epitome of an NCO. He's a great guy. I was -- I was so glad he was over there with us.

WIAN: The military has honored Remington with a Silver Star for gallantry. But he is humble. REMINGTON: When I look at what happened that day, I look at it this way. Over the years, the United States military has put a lot of time and a lot of money into Kevin Remington, and my hope is that day maybe I gave a little bit of that back.

WIAN: Remington will stay in the National Guard for three more years.

Casey Wian, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: We bring you hero's stories every week on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Next week, we'll introduce you to Specialist Brandon Erickson, the soldier who owes his life to First Sergeant Remington.

Still ahead on this 4th of July, playing the veepstakes, where John Kerry is on picking that running mate. Plus, saving your child's life may be as simple as teaching them how to stay afloat. You are watching CNN's SUNDAY MORNING.

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