[Betty Nguyen, Cnn Anchor:] "I heard his last breath as he was dying on me," that from a freed Italian journalist as she tells the world about her escape from Iraq and about the man who died protecting her. From the CNN Center here in Atlanta this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is March 6th. Good morning everyone, I'm Betty Nguyen.
[Tony Harris, Cnn Anchor:] And I'm Tony Harris, 9:00 a.m. here in the East, 3:00 p.m. in Rome. Thank you for being with us. Let's get started with the morning's headlines.
[Nguyen:] Much more to come this hour on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. They've lost a limb but they haven't lost heart, some war-scarred veterans are getting back in the race. Also, they were average citizens with average jobs but now they are taking on the biggest military mission of their lives. We'll take you to Iraq to meet them. And if you think hitting that delete key will erase your computer files, well you better think again. We'll introduce you to a cyber detective.
[Harris:] We lead our coverage this morning with new developments out of the Mid East. The leaders of Syria and Lebanon will hold a key meeting tomorrow, the topic a pullback of Syrian troops stationed in Lebanon. Let's go straight to Beirut and CNN's Senior International Correspondent Brent Sadler Brent, good morning.
[Brent Sadler, Cnn Sr. International Correspondent:] Good morning, Tony. This is going to be an absolutely crucial meeting between the leaders of the Syrian country next door to Lebanon, Bashar al-Assad and Emile Lahoud, the Lebanese president. Why are they meeting? Well to push forward the announcement that was made some 24 hours ago by the Syrian president that there would be a two-stage withdrawal, redeployment of Syrian troops first to two places in Lebanon, first the Bekaa Valley, closer to Syria, and then across the border itself but no time table was set for that pullout from Lebanon itself, raising some concerns in the White House. Now when these two leaders get together with military chiefs they may well be able to announce a clearer picture of the mechanics and a possible time table of a pullout as demanded by the international community and many Arab leaders but by no means at this stage is that a done deal. Now, in another development here in the past hour or so, the head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah has said that on Tuesday there will be a call for a massive demonstration of so-called patriotic forces. These are groups, political parties supportive of Syria, this a separate agenda emerging aside from the Syrian troop withdrawal issue of Hezbollah's resistance position, as it calls itself, within Lebanon towards U.N. Security Council resolution 1559 that effectively calls for the disarmament, the disbanding of Hezbollah. So, this whole crisis here now not only political on the Lebanese page but getting into the business of Middle East peace as a whole Tony.
[Harris:] Brent Sadler in Beirut for us this morning, Brent we appreciate it thank you.
[Nguyen:] And the situation there relates to our e-mail question this morning. As the U.S. pushes Syria to pull troops out of Lebanon what do you think? How should the U.S. deal with Syria? That's our question. E-mail us at wam@cnn.com. We are reading your replies all morning long.
[Harris:] Turning now to a blaring newspaper headline in Italian, "La mia verita." In English it simply means my truth. That's how Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena titles the story of her kidnapping and rescue in Iraq, a nightmare that should have ended when she became freed but it did not. She writes about it in her newspaper "Il Manifesto" today. CNN's Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci joins us with more good morning, Alessio.
[Alessio Vinci, Cnn Rome Bureau Chief:] Good morning to you Tony and good Italian indeed. Let me show you that front page of "Il Manifesto" which is the Communist newspaper for which Giuliana Sgrena has filed dozens of articles from Baghdad, all of them very critical of the U.S. military operation over there, "La mia verita" as you said, "my truth." In this article, Giuliana Sgrena basically is disputing the account that the United States military has given about how the accident has happened and, in particular, she is saying that the car was not driving fast and that the U.S. military did not call for the car to stop. She also writes in this article that the shooting was "unjustified" and she says also she says as the car approached those military the only thing she can remember was a hail of bullets. She also gives a pretty wrenching account of the final moments of the Italian intelligence officer, who only moments earlier had negotiated her release. His name is Nicola Calipari. And she writes, "The driver started yelling that we were Italians. We are Italians. We are Italians," she writes. "Nicola Calipari threw himself on me to protect me and immediately" she writes "I repeat, immediately, I heard his last breath as he was dying on me," very strong words here recounting the last few moments of Nicola Calipari in that car. Nicola Calipari, his body arrived last night at the airport in Ciampino, was welcomed by the highest authorities in this country, the president, the Italian prime minister. Today the body is lying in state at the Tomb of the unknown soldier in downtown Rome. Thousands of people offering their last respects to a man everybody here today calls a hero. And tomorrow indeed there will be a state funeral. The autopsy shows that Nicola Calipari was hit by a single bullet to his head Tony.
[Harris:] Alessio, I have to ask you in the lead to you just a moment ago I used the word rescue but was this, in fact, a rescue or was it a negotiated release?
[Vinci:] It was a negotiated release, Tony. Nicola Calipari was an experienced negotiator who had worked through several hostage crises involving Italian citizens in Baghdad and, in fact, a leading Italian newspaper this morning
[Harris:] OK, Alessio Vinci in Rome for us this morning, Alessio thank you.
[Nguyen:] Meanwhile in Iraq, a possible plot against Turkish truck drivers. Four of them have been killed in the last three days. All the killings happened near Mosul, the latest incident just this morning. One of the Turkish drivers was killed yesterday and his truck was so badly burned that it took firefighters hours just to put it out. "Across America" this morning, Navy and marine experts are checking to see if a submarine sonar is what causes dozens of dolphins to beach themselves. About 70 dolphins stranded themselves in the Florida Keys. More than 20 have already died. The Navy won't say if sonar was used during a sub's training exercise in the area. Some scientists though say loud bursts of sonar may disorient or even scare marine mammals. Well, a toddler survived after a train slammed into the car he was riding in. That crash killed his mother, baby sister and a family friend. The sheriff's office says the train began signaling about a quarter mile down the track. Then the driver accelerated over the tracks and was hit broadside.
[Harris:] Reggie Jackson is out of the hospital after an accident in Tampa, Florida. The baseball Hall of Famer was rear-ended at a red light and both vehicles flipped. The other driver is in critical condition. It is a first for slugger Sammy Sosa. He got himself bounced, tossed out of a spring training game. Sosa got into it with the second base umpire, an exchange of words and then the old heave-ho. Sammy Sosa to the showers.
[Nguyen:] At spring training
[Harris:] See you, wouldn't want to be you.
[Nguyen:] Oh, tempers flaring early on in the season all right.
[Harris:] That's old school isn't it, see you, wouldn't want to be you, that's old.
[Nguyen:] Yes, that's way back, Tony. All right, just ahead this Sunday morning, he thought he was going to be a weekend warrior but got much more than he bargained for. Our "Soldier Story" this week focuses on National Guard troops now on full time war duty.
[Harris:] And later, we'll get a rare look inside the life of the man police say is the BTK killer. Good morning, Jacqui.
[Jacqui Jeras, Cnn Meteorologist:] Hey, good morning Tony and Betty. You guys mentioned spring training. Well you're going to need the umbrella today for all the Cactus league games. We'll let you know when it's going to dry up in the southwest coming up with today's weather report.