[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] It is 11 a.m. at Ground Zero in New York City, 7 p.m. in Baghdad. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Ahead this hour, a 20-ton symbol of freedom. What laying the cornerstone means to the rebuilding efforts at the World Trade Center site. Also, celebrating America's birthday amid tight security at the National Mall in Washington. And later...
[Unidentified Man:] I just told him to hold tight, you know. We were going to get him out of there. Just hang in there.
[Whitfield:] Meeting a hero from the war in Iraq who risked his life in the middle of a fierce firefight to rescue wounded soldiers. But first, a look at the top stories. 20,000 U.S. troops had even more reason to celebrate the Fourth of July. Members of the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Armored Calvary regiment are leaving Iraq three months after their tours were extended. In a moment Jane Arraf has more on their departure. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could face more legal wrangling. Iran now says it will submit an indictment to the Iraqi court trying the former dictator. Iraq's neighbor wants Saddam tried for the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. Iraq's new interim government will offer amnesty to some low- level insurgents. A spokesman for the prime minister says the announcement will be made tomorrow. He said the amnesty would be for people who were misled by leaders of the insurgency. An Islamic militant group says it did not kill a missing U.S. Marine and claims reports that he was beheaded are incorrect. Three Islamic Web sites posted claims yesterday that Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun had been killed. The message was attributed to the leader of the militant group Ansar Al-Sunna. That group put out a statement today calling yesterday's claims baseless. Hassoun was last seen on July 19th. Now back to our top story. Thousands of American troops on their way out of Iraq this morning. The 1st Armored Division has been in Iraq for 15 months, longer than any other unit. They're marking their departure and the Fourth of July with a celebration, and that's where we find our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf. Jane?
[Jane Arraf, Cnn Baghdad Bureau Chief:] Fredricka, Sunday morning, and the 1st Armored Division going back to Germany, and the 2nd Armored Calvary regiment heading back to Louisiana, had a ceremony that indicates that, in fact, they are going home. They put away their flags in preparation for that trip. Now, there was a little bit of a feeling of a not going to believe it until it happens, because this is the second time. They were supposed to go home three months ago. They were on the way to Kuwait, on the way out of the country and turned back. Now, what's happening here behind us, here at Camp Victory, this is the 1st Calvary Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, which arrived about five months ago. It's been in charge of Baghdad for about three months. And here we're seeing awards being given for a variety of things, all the way from marathon runs to basketball, to, a little later, something far more serious. Four awards of bronze stars for valor to four members of the 1st Calvary Division. All in all here, a Fourth of July trying to create some semblance of home, a barbecue, a band later on. But we are here in Baghdad, in very intense heat. Fredricka.
[Whitfield:] Jane, once the ceremony has completed, about what time are they actually going to pull out of there?
[Arraf:] Well, the 1st Armored Division has been heading back in stages. They're the biggest division in military history and they've been going out through Kuwait from the south and through Baghdad. Some of them are still here, several thousand are still in the country, and will be going out over the next week. This group of soldiers we're with, the 1st Calvary Division, essentially replaced them in Baghdad. And they are here to stay. They can't really look forward to going home any time soon. They've been here five months. They are expected to be here at least a year in total. But we spoke earlier to the commanding general who says he believes things are genuinely getting better in Baghdad, that they are cracking down on the violence. And this morale here among these soldiers seems pretty high.
[Whitfield:] What have some of these soldiers expressed about being excited about finally getting to go home?
[Arraf:] Sorry, Fredricka, there's sort of a lot of merriment here; as you can see a lot of these cavalry members are in ceremonial dress, the Stetsons. Can you repeat that question?
[Whitfield:] I get a sense from the roar there that many people are very excited about going home. What have some of the soldiers said to you individually that you had a chance to talk about their excitement about being able to go home?
[Arraf:] The soldiers who have just got here, and we have to remember it's been really quite a dramatic transformation and really quite a wild ride over the past 15 months. Talking about soldiers now going home, over the past 15 months, they have seen almost everything happen. They came here when Iraq was still under Saddam Hussein. They helped topple Saddam. They came to Baghdad after the looting when there was chaos; they helped stabilize it. And they saw a lot of changes. And men at the end of their tour, they were sent to fight in the intense combat that's been seen since the war. It's obviously an experience that is will not be replicated in these peoples' lives. One of them said to me, that after more than a year here, Iraq is almost a home to him. Now, that doesn't mean that everyone has fond memories of Iraq. Certainly, a lot of the soldiers have been through a lot of pain. There have been soldiers lost. They have seen people killed. They have seen people wounded. But for the ones here we're with now, five months into it, they're certainly facing a much different Iraq than soldiers they're replacing. Fredricka?
[Whitfield:] Jane Arraf in Baghdad. A lot of mixed emotions out there. Well, a new symbol of American independence here at home in New York City this morning. They've laid the cornerstone of the world's tallest building on the site where the World Trade Center once stood. The new structure is being called "Freedom Tower," and CNN's Alina Cho is there. Alina?
[Alina Cho, Cnn Correspondent:] Fredricka, there is so much symbolism here today. It is, of course, July 4th, Independence Day. And New York's Governor George Pataki was among those who said that today's ceremony was about steadfastly declaring our steadfast allegiance to freedom. Later on, in this ceremony, then the three the two governors, New York's and New Jersey's, along with New York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, unveiled the corner stone, revealing the inscription, which we should mention remained a secret until today. The cornerstone is New York granite, the bedrock of the state, flecked with garnet, the state's gemstone. On it, the words "To honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001, and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom." We should mention that "enduring spirit of freedom," those words were twice as big as the others. This will become the first piece of the "Freedom Tower," as you mentioned, which will become the tallest building at Ground Zero and in the world.
[Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City:] We are reaffirming life at Ground Zero. For the tenth time in history, the world's tallest building will rise in lower Manhattan. It will be called the "Freedom Tower." Not simply because it stands one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six feet high. It's because the freedom tower's soaring and striking design and reaffirmation of enterprise and creativity on land that has known so much sorrow will send a message from this spot to people around the world. The cause of liberty can never be defeated.
[Cho:] About 500 invited guests were here at the ceremony today. That includes about 100 911 family members. One of the highlights of the ceremony we should mention was the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the 13-year-old son of a Port Authority police officer who died on September 11th. It was the only reading that got a standing ovation today. The "Freedom Tower," we should mention, will be 70 floors high, 1,776 feet high, the tallest in the world. Symbolic for the year that America gained its independence. It will include 60 floors of office space, including a roof top restaurant and an observation deck. It is slated, as I mentioned to open in 2008. Governor George Pataki, New York's governor, is slated to be the first tenant. Fredricka?
[Whitfield:] And Alina, you mentioned the elected officials, the dignitaries who have been present for the ceremony. Who are among the others who have been there?
[Cho:] Well, as I mentioned, several family members, Fredricka. I talked to one woman, in fact, a moment ago who said that she worked on the 87th floor of the north tower, she is originally from Haiti, and said that she came back just for this ceremony today. You really could feel the sense of importance here and the sense of history here at this ceremony. There was almost a collective holding of breath when the cornerstone was raised by the crane here and so, very emotional time for these families, certainly for the dignitaries. Of course, an important day, we should mention, for Larry Silverstein, who is developing this site. As I mentioned, the "Freedom Tower" will be completed sometime in 2008.
[Whitfield:] Alina Cho at Ground Zero, thanks very much, for the laying of the cornerstone of the new "Freedom Tower" to be erected. Our Fourth of July coverage continues with the story of what it takes to put on those fireworks extravaganzas. And later, some fireworks of another kind as a New York Mafia don gets his day in court.