More U.S. Troops Headed to Iraq; President Bush Seeking Support on Plans for Iran
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New details are emerging about the deaths of two American soldiers in Iraq. We'll check-in with family members and learn more about the lives of those two young soldiers.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: More U.S. troops are headed to Iraq -- 21,000 given the order to get ready for their deployment.</s>S. O'BRIEN: And Iraq is on the president's agenda, as well, at today's summit in Vienna, Austria. President Bush also seeking support on plans for Iran.</s>ROBERTS: Dry conditions leading to more wildfires out West. Firefighters in several states still a long way from getting those spreading wildfires under control.</s>S. O'BRIEN: And why Namibia to give birth to baby Shiloh? Angelina Jolie tells Anderson Cooper. We're going to have more of his xii just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.</s>ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts in this week for Miles. Happy Wednesday morning to you.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Two more American families -- military families -- now know the personal sacrifice of war and the painful loss it can bring home. The families of Thomas Tucker and Kristian Manchaca, first reported missing, now confirmed dead. CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins us from Brownsville, Texas. That's where Kristian Manchaca grew up -- hey, Keith, good morning.</s>KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad. And this is the home of Private Kristian Manchaca's mother, Maria. And relatives here have been telling us about the painful wait for details as to what happened to the young soldier they loved so much.</s>OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Kristian Manchaca became a man in the Army. But in the eyes of his family, he will still be remembered as the boy who grew up in Houston and Brownsville.</s>JUAN VASQUEZ, KRISTIAN MANCHACA'S COUSIN: I think I was the male role model for him, you know?</s>OPPENHEIM (on camera): He looked up to you?</s>VASQUEZ: Right.</s>OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Juan Vasquez is Kris's big cousin. He told me when Kris was sent to Iraq last year, the family was supportive, but worried. And their concern grew when Kris came home for a visit about a month ago. (on camera): Did he seem kind of in tough shape from the experience he had had so far?</s>VASQUEZ: Well, according to my aunt and uncle, he was having trouble sleeping most of the time. Yes.</s>OPPENHEIM: You think he was nervous?</s>VASQUEZ: He was very nervous.</s>OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Vasquez says his cousin told him he had several close calls in Iraq, escaping a roadside bombing without injury and surviving an insurgent ambush during the first few months of his tour of duty. Then, last week, Manchaca was reported missing after insurgents attacked a checkpoint he was patrolling south of Baghdad. Now the family is waiting for the results from DNA testing that could verify Kris Manchaca's body has been found.</s>VASQUEZ: I think deep down inside I know it's him and he is -- he is dead.</s>OPPENHEIM (on camera): But you want to hold onto some hope?</s>VASQUEZ: Right.</s>OPPENHEIM (voice-over): It is hard to hold onto hope when the family hears regular news reports Kristian Manchaca may have been tortured. But just what happened is hard to think about, much less discuss. Juan Vasquez fights back tears as relatives gather at the home of Kris's mother and wait for confirmation that the body of a fallen soldier is coming home.</s>OPPENHEIM: The U.S. military is telling the family that the body believed to be that of Private Manchaca will be sent to Dover, Delaware for DNA testing on Thursday. And the family is hoping the remains will come here, to Brownsville, by this weekend so they can start planning a funeral as soon as possible -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Oh, such sad, sad news for that family. Thanks very much, Keith. Later this morning, we're going to be talking with Kristian Manchaca's uncle, Mario Vasquez -- John.</s>ROBERTS: Happening overnight in Iraq, one of Saddam Hussein's attorneys is found shot to death in Baghdad. A fellow lawyer says Khamees al-Ubaidi was abducted by insurgents who were dressed as Iraqi police. This is the third person on Hussein's defense team to be killed. Also this morning, a car bomb attack outside a Sadr City restaurant. Baghdad police say at least two people were killed in that incident. An important debate on Iraq is scheduled in the Senate today. Democrats are introducing two resolutions that call for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq beginning by year's end. Republicans are deeply critical of both plans. Senator John Kerry wants all the troops home by July of 2007, as does measure's co-sponsor, Russ Feingold. Senator Carl Levin's proposal calls for an open-ended redeployment out of Iraq. Here's what he told me earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.</s>SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: There's a significant agreement, a consensus among Democrats, that we have too much of an open-ended commitment and that we've got to have a phased redeployment begin by the end of the year. That is no way it is cut and run. You'll hear that all day long. But there's no way that can fairly be characterized as cut and run.</s>ROBERTS: The Pentagon is telling 21,000 new troops to get ready to go to Iraq. Beginning in August, combat soldiers and Marines from Texas, Alaska and Colorado will replace troops who are coming home. There are about 127,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq. Iraq just one of the items on the president's agenda in Vienna, Austria today. President Bush meeting with European Union leaders there. Also on tap, the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions. CNN's Elaine Quijano is live in Vienna -- good morning, Elaine.</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. And for President Bush, this summit is a chance to demonstrate that the United States and the European community are on the same page when it comes to Iran's nuclear ambitions. President Bush's decision last month to allow the United States to join in direct talks with Iran, along with international partners, was welcomed in European capitals. President Bush, though, is continuing to make clear that the U.S. will only return to the table if Iran suspends its uranium enrichment activities in a way that can be verified. So Iran certainly big on the agenda. Also up for decision, global trade, energy and funding for Iraq's reconstruction efforts. But behind closed doors, European officials are expected to press President Bush about what to do about the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. European leaders have said that they want Guantanamo shut down because, they have argued, that to hold detainees without charges runs counter to American ideals. For his part in recent weeks, President Bush has signaled that he wants Guantanamo closed eventually. And, John, one thing U.S. officials here are telling us is that we can expect a summit declaration out of these meetings today saying, in essence, referring to human rights and a respect for human rights when it comes to fighting the war on terror -- John.</s>ROBERTS: As we have seen time and time again, where the president goes, the protests follow. The protests there in Vienna, are they any more, any less vocal than what we've seen in other cities around the world?</s>QUIJANO: Well, certainly relatively quiet compared to other places that we have seen President Bush travel. There was, this morning, a small protest, about 300 people or so, who gathered at a train station here in Vienna, demonstrating during President Bush's visit. We should tell you that this evening we are expecting a much larger demonstration, several thousand people expected there, as well as anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan. She is expected to be there tonight. And she was actually spotted at that demonstration earlier today -- John.</s>ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano in Vienna, Austria. Thanks very much. President Bush is scheduled to make remarks in Vienna at the bottom of the hour. We'll bring you live coverage of that, as soon as it happens.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Several Western states are battling wildfires this morning. We're watching dozens of fires in New Mexico, in Colorado and in California. The largest is in Arizona, where an 1,800 acre wildfire is getting closer to homes near Sedona. People have been evacuated. More than 450 firefighters are on the ground. They're installing sprinklers and clearing brush. The fire there is only about 5 percent contained. time for a check of the forecast at seven minutes past the hour. Chad's got that -- hey, Chad, good morning.</s>CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, a controversy over two soldiers killed in Iraq. This time we're talking about two young men who were killed back in 2004. Were they murdered by the Iraqi troops they were training? That's ahead. Stay with us.