Rumsfeld Visits Iraq; Reaction to North Korea's Demand for Bilateral Talks; Abandoned Baby
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers, thanks to you very much for joining us. Unfolding this hour here on NEWS FROM CNN, a surprise visit for U.S. troops praised as liberators, not occupiers. The danger of their mission punctuated by fresh insurgent attacks. Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq. We're live on the story. Plus, the president's stand against torture. But what about something called extraordinary rendition? "New Yorker" writer Jane Mayer joins us to discuss whether American -- America abuses prisoners by proxy. And an abandoned baby and his rough ride and life so far. CNN's Susan Candiotti reports from Florida on how he's doing. First, some headlines. The playwright Arthur Miller has died. His classic "Death of a Salesman" offered an unforgiving portrait of the American dream through the shattered life of salesman Willie Lowman. Arthur Miller was 89 years old. A spokesman says he died of heart failure at his home in Connecticut. Taking charge. Mike Leavitt is now secretary of Health and Human Services. He was sworn in, in the last hour, with President Bush at his side. Leavitt takes over the largest civilian department in the government, and a budget that accounts for a nearly one out of every four federal dollars. Still recovering, still in seclusion. The faithful had been hoping to catch a glimpse of Pope John Paul II this hour during a mass marking this world day of the sick. Instead, the 84-year-old pontiff sent a message of support and asked for their prayers. Among the most popular stories this hour on cnn.com, U.S. military service members may have been imprisoned and died in Soviet- forced labor camps during the Cold War and especially during the Korean conflict. That's according to a new report just released by the Pentagon. Also popular on the Web right now, from Chicago, the story of a man who died after police there used a taser stun gun to subdue him. Details, simply go to cnn.com. Up first this hour, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld lands in Iraq on another surprise visit. The Pentagon chief toured Mosul and Baghdad to rally American troops and to prod the Iraqis to defeat the insurgents so U.S. forces can leave. Let's start our coverage in Baghdad with our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson -- Nic.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the defense secretary's visit began before dawn. When he landed, Donald Rumsfeld was led into a hall. He met with U.S. military commanders there before going to a military hospital there. He met with a sergeant, Sergeant Sean Ferguson (ph), who'd been shot in the hand only yesterday by a sniper. The defense secretary gave Sergeant Sean Ferguson a Purple Heart, the second Purple Heart this soldier has received in the last four months. Both of them awarded here in Iraq. The defense secretary went on then to meet with U.S. and Iraqi troops, commended them for providing good security to enable the elections to go ahead. After that he flew to Baghdad, met with the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi. The interim prime minister thanked Donald Rumsfeld for the effort of the U.S. troops and forces here, providing security for the elections. Perhaps it was then that Donald Rumsfeld's visit really began to get the focus that he hoped it would bring here in Iraq, focusing on the training of Iraqi forces. He went on to see some -- the special Iraqi forces getting training commando-type training, if you will, training on a gun range with automatic -- automatic weapons, handguns. He then saw them do some simulated assaults on buildings, landing by helicopter, descending down ropes, also saw them driving up in fast approach on those buildings, scaling the walls. But very much the message here intertwined with this particular visit is that U.S. forces are stepping up their training of Iraqi forces to enable the Iraqis to take over security more quickly as they're beginning to do in areas of Baghdad. Some of the very contentious areas, and in Mosul and in other cities around the country -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Nic, even as the defense secretary was visiting Iraq, more violence, including another car bombing or two. What's the latest on that front?</s>ROBERTSON: Well, both of those attacks on Shiites. A Shiite mosque attack with a car bomb in the middle of the day, right pretty much as Donald Rumsfeld was arriving in Baghdad. This car bomb went off at about 45 miles northeast of the city, 12 people killed. Four of them, we're told, were Iraqi national guardsmen who were actually providing security around the mosque when the car bomb exploded. Another 23 people injured, police say. And police also tell us about an attack on a Shia -- another attack on Shiites in Baghdad earlier in the morning. A bakery run by Shia Muslims in a Shia neighborhood, the police say insurgents attacked. They arrived in two cars, parked outside, departed their vehicles, burst into the two little bakery shops that are right next to each other, sprayed the workers with gunfire. And nine of the workers were killed. What police worry about here is that, in advance of a very unfortunate Shia Muslim festival in about nine days time, that perhaps the Sunni Muslim insurgents are really trying to foment sectarian violence. And, of course, that for the police present a very big problem because there's always a risk, therefore, of that extending into civil war. But so far, the Shia community has not retaliated to these types of attacks -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: CNN's Nic Robertson reporting for us from Baghdad. Nic, thanks very much. Moving to North Korea now and its claim to have nuclear weapons. One day later, Pyongyang is renewing past demands on Washington. Our White House correspondent John King is standing by with the latest from the White House. The reaction to North Korea's demand for bilateral talks between North Korea and the United States, John, what's the White House saying?</s>JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No. The White House says, no, it will not directly negotiate with Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program. That has been the position of the Bush White House for going on two years plus now. It of course has been the position of the North Korean government for that same period of time, that it wants those bilateral negotiations. But the Bush White House says the best way to resolve this is to do it in negotiations with all of North Korea's neighbors. So the Bush White House saying today that North Korea should come back to the six-party talks. That is, North Korea, the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia. You see pictures from these talks this last February. The talks broke off last year because North Korea walked out, wanting to wait to see what happened in the U.S. presidential election. The White House says if those talks resume there is nothing to prevent a North Korean diplomat from directly speaking to a U.S. diplomat and raising any concerns in a one-on-one conversation. But the White House says it will not have separate negotiations with North Korea. Now, if you're wondering why, the administration says the reasons are twofold. One, it says the nuclear crisis is a regional issue, not just an issue between the United States and North Korea. And so that all of those who live in the neighborhood, if you will, should be involved in the negotiations. And the White House also says that there were bilateral negotiations back in 1994 with the Clinton administration, and that North Korea quickly violated that agreement. So the White House saying it will negotiate only in that six- party context. And, Wolf, as we have discussed in recent days, the administration is hoping that with the help of China and others it can convince North Korea to come back to the table. On that note, South Korea's foreign minister is in Washington for several days of consultations, including a morning meeting here at the White House with Vice President Dick Cheney.</s>BLITZER: Why is it so important? What's the analysis that you're hearing for the North Koreans to have these separate, bilateral talks with the United States? Why is it such a big deal for them, as opposed to these so-called six-party talks?</s>KING: Well, it is tough to read the North Koreans because it is perhaps the word's most reclusive regime. But most analysts, whether they be here in the United States, or in the region, Japan, South Korea and China, believe that it is simply a prestige issue, that Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, wants to have direct negotiations with the United States to show his prestige, to show his influence, to show he is a major player in the world. And again, the White House simply says he cannot be trusted. That he proved that back by violating the 1994 agreement, and that it will only negotiate in the context of those broader six-party talks. The White House says North Korea's concerns could be addressed in those talks. But, again, the Bush White House consistently says only and only if North Korea first permanently and verifiably sets aside its nuclear weapons program.</s>BLITZER: All right. John King at the White House. Thanks, John, very much. And this programming note for our viewers. This Sunday I'll speak live with the South Korean foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, about his country's reaction to the latest news out of North Korea, what South Korea's next moves may be all about. That's this Sunday, "LATE EDITION" noon Eastern. In Florida, police say a newborn baby boy probably less than an hour old was tossed from a moving car with a plastic bag over his head. Miraculously the baby survived. Now pligs are looking for his parents. Our Susan Candiotti is covering the story. She's joining us now live from Ft. Lauderdale -- Susan.</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf. Nurses have now given him a nickname, Baby Johnny. Paramedics estimate he was barely out of the womb when a young couple tossed him out of a moving car. Amazingly, he is in good condition, with barely a scratch. He landed in the grass. This happened yesterday afternoon. A woman pulled her car over, picked up the baby, took him to a police department, and then he was airlifted to a hospital. Police say the baby's umbilical cord was still attached. When the woman found the newborn, he was wrapped in what police describe was a plastic grocery bag. Broward County sheriff says this is a tragedy, but it is tempered by the actions of an anonymous good samaritan.</s>SHERIFF KEN JENNE, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: This is more than a witness. This woman is a good samaritan. She thought actually it was a puppy when I was talking to her, and she got out of the car to retrieve the package, the puppy, and opened up the package and found the little one-hour-old boy.</s>CANDIOTTI: Of course the question is why. Why did this happen? Witnesses describe that the car was driven by a young couple, a young man driving and a young woman in the passenger seat, and that they appeared to be arguing before the baby was thrown out of the moving car. Police are not ruling out the possibility of charges. They would like to talk to the young couple, Wolf, or anyone who might know them. Back to you.</s>BLITZER: And Susan, this is especially tragic given the fact that there is a law in Florida that a mother, a young couple, if they want to within a day or two or three of giving birth, they can actually bring the baby to the police or to a hospital no questions asked. Give our viewers a little background on that, because a lot of people probably don't know that there is a statute on the books in Florida that make that -- that makes that clear.</s>CANDIOTTI: That's right. And in 45 other states, as well. This was a law passed in the year 2000 called the Safe Haven Law. Anyone has up to three days to turn in a newborn baby, no questions asked. The person would remain anonymous, and the baby would be put up for adoption. Apparently, not enough people know about that possibility. And they're trying to get the word out every time something like this happens that such a law exists. Meantime, we can tell you that the state's child welfare agency is receiving many, many phone calls already about adopting this particular baby, even talking about setting up a college fund for him -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks very much for that report. When we come back, is America outsourcing torture? There's an explosive new magazine article painting a very disturbing picture of what it says the U.S. government will do to get information from terror suspects. We'll deal with that. Also, handing over the party to Howard Dean. Is it a smart move for the Democrats? Candy Crowley standing by for some analysis. You're watching NEWS FROM CNN. And we're back in a moment.