Rioting in Kabul; Indonesia Earthquake
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Riots in the streets of Kabul this morning. All the anger aimed squarely at U.S. troops now under lockdown. Help needed for victims of a major earthquake in Indonesia. They need food and shelter and medical attention, and some of it's on the way right now.</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A not-so-happy homecoming. National Guard troops finding the hardest battle might be the one they fight at home.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We'll be talking about that war and the war of today coming up.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN weather center. It is a holiday, and there are some flashes on the weather map. Will your outdoor plans be spoiled this afternoon? A complete forecast is upcoming.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.</s>M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us on this Memorial Day. In Afghanistan, escalating violence as the U.S. tries to thwart a spring offensive by the Taliban. A U.S.-led air strike aimed at a suspected meeting of Taliban militant leaders in southern Afghanistan, upwards of 50 suspected militants are dead. That strike took place just a few hours ago. Meanwhile, in Kabul, rioting and gunfire after a U.S. convoy collided with a rush hour traffic jam. CNN's Barbara Starr is in Kabul.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Even as the U.S. troops here in Afghanistan were remembering their fallen comrades on this Memorial Day, gunfire broke out across the city following a major incident. A U.S. military convoy traveling through Kabul was involved in a significant traffic accident. Apparently at least one Afghan civilian was killed. A number of others may have been hurt. Protesters then took to the streets, throwing rocks at the U.S. military convoy. And there are unconfirmed reports that one military gunner may have fired shots into the air. Here at Camp Eggers, the camp went into immediate lockdown. Military personnel were not allowed to leave the camp. At one point they were told to get into full protective gear. Then we heard gunfire across the city. Smoke rose into the air. At this hour, the situation appears to be calm here at Camp Eggers, but the military is trying to assess exactly what has taken place here. Barbara Starr, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Iraqi police are now rushing to the scene of a car bombing. It happened just moments ago near a Baghdad mosque. The attack is one of several bombings and shootings in the capital city today. The death toll is at 37. And that number is expected to rise. One of today's attacks targeted a U.S. Humvee. It is not clear if any of the American troops on board were hurt. The attacks come as some U.S. lawmakers want to know what happened in Haditha, Iraq. A group of Marines are suspected of killing 24 Iraqis last year, apparently in retaliation for a roadside bombing. Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon for us this morning. Jamie, what's the official word from the Pentagon about Haditha?</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the official word is that the investigations are still under way. And just this morning the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Peter Pace, told CNN on AMERICAN MORNING that he believes the results of the investigations are still a couple of weeks away. He went to great lengths to point out that U.S. soldiers in the war zone are being told again that they ought to do what he says 99.9 percent of them do, which is serve with honor. And meanwhile, he says it's too soon to come to any judgment about what happened last November in Haditha.</s>GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: There are two ongoing investigations. One investigation has to do with what happened. The other investigation goes to why didn't we know about it sooner than we knew about it. To my recollection, the first we knew about it back here in D.C. was around the 10th of February, and the very next day is when the investigations began.</s>MCINTYRE: Now, sources close to the investigation have told CNN that they are wrapping up. They're in the final phase, and that so far the evidence is "very incriminating," and that criminal charges could be forthcoming, including possibly murder charges against some of the Marines. Meanwhile, that separate investigation that General Pace referred to is taking a look at who knew what happened in Haditha and how far up the chain of command there might have been some kind of cover-up -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question, Jamie. The Senate Armed Services Committee is saying that they are ready to start hearings looking into the incident. So, is the hearing an investigation, or is it sort of separate?</s>MCINTYRE: Well, John -- Senator John Warner, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has said he will hold hearings. And what that means is he wants to call up people from the Pentagon and find out -- basically get a full explanation of what happened. Very similar to what they did after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. It's not technically an investigation, although sometimes information is developed from those hearings. But he also says they will wait. His hearings will wait until the outcome of the military investigations, because he doesn't want to interfere with the military justice process. Anything they say publicly now could jeopardize the potential trials of people if there are charges forthcoming.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Jamie McIntyre for us at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks -- Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: International aid just now arriving in areas of Indonesia devastated by a major earthquake. Also coming to the aid of victims are teams of U.S. military doctors. The worst of the damage is centered in southern Java, not far from that active volcano we have been telling you about for a few weeks, Mount Merapi. CNN's Dan Rivers has more from Yogyakarta.</s>DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll in this earthquake is climbing ever higher, passing the 5,000 figure now. I've been up to the hospital, the main hospital here in Yogyakarta, and have seen some truly awful scenes. There are literally hundreds of people lining every single inch of space in the hospital. There is a makeshift ward that's been erected out in the parking lot. We were told that there are 500 people awaiting urgent operations, that there are 1,700 people there for treatment in a hospital that only has a capacity for 750 patients. They have critical shortages of basic medical supplies. They haven't got any painkillers there from what we saw. They say they haven't got enough bandages, that they haven't got any antibiotics. We spoke to one young man who had a really nasty leg fracture and he had been waiting out in the parking lot for two days to be seen by a doctor. And he still hadn't received any painkillers for the pain of his broken leg. We saw another woman having a minor operation outside. We saw people who had broken pelvises, head injuries. So a really grizzly scene up at the local hospital. And this is just one of four hospitals in Yogyakarta. All of them utterly overwhelmed as the thousands of survivors who have been injured in this earthquake flood in. Dan Rivers, CNN, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Last week Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist expressed concern over the FBI's raid on Congressman William Jefferson's Capitol Hill office, his concern, of course, over the checks and balances that exist between obviously the legislative branch and the executive branch of government. Well, today he's singing a different tune. Let's get right to CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry. Hey, Ed. Good morning.</s>ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. A sharp reversal for Senator Frist, giving the White House some political cover at a time when this strange controversy just keeps growing.</s>HENRY (voice over): Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist broke with senior House Republicans declaring the raid of Democratic Congressman William Jefferson's office was OK.</s>SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: There is no individual in the House or Senate that can be or should stand above the law. It's a matter of how the law enforcement is carried out, and I think it is appropriate as I see it today.</s>HENRY: Different from what Frist said at the beginning of the confrontation.</s>FRIST: The Constitution has a speech and debate clause in it, and the whole idea of separation of powers does need to be addressed. So I remain concerned.</s>HENRY: While the Frist camp denies it, a senior Republican strategist charged the change of heart is "... all about Bill Frist running for president," afraid of a public backlash for standing up for a congressman under a cloud. House Republicans insist they are not excusing the conduct of Congressman Jefferson, accused of keeping $90,00 in bribes in his home freezer.</s>REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R-WI), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I don't think it would be right for a House committee to issue a subpoena to the president's office and send the Capitol Police rummaging through files, taking everything, and then deciding what wasn't relevant by themselves and returning it to the president. And that's what the Capitol -- or what the FBI did in Congressman Jefferson's office two weeks ago. A separation of powers and checks and balances is very important.</s>HENRY: CNN has confirmed three top Bush officials, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, threatened to resign if the president forced them to give the documents back to Congress. The president diffused the tension somewhat by ordering a 45-day freeze on the documents while the legal issues are sorted out.</s>HENRY: Now, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel says the problem here really is not just about this one controversy. There's lot of pent-up demand and concern among Republicans on the Hill who have felt this White House has been cavalier toward Congress and they are now letting some of this out in this controversy -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you can sense it every step of the way. Ed Henry for us this morning. Ed, thanks.</s>HENRY: Thank you.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Around the country today Americans are honoring troops killed in the line of duty. In a few hours the president and Mrs. Bush will do what is customary on this day. They will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. But Americans have been paying tribute to the troops really all weekend. AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken is at a very special and somber place, a place they call "The Wall," the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Good morning, Bob.</s>FRANKEN: Good morning. And with the addition of four new names today, Miles, there will be 58,253 names on this wall, people who died in the Vietnam War between 1959 and 1975. Compare it to the war in Iraq, there have been, by the CNN account, 2,465 since this began, another 295 in Afghanistan. Worth mentioning, because there's so many comparisons that are made about the two wars. But this was a weekend to remember all of the wars in the United States, Memorial Day, and all of those who have fought and died. It includes a variety of ceremonies, including the Rolling Thunder Parade, which is the group of motorcycles, huge numbers of them from the Vietnam generation that come in to pay tribute. And of course you have the people here with their pencil and paper who are trying to etch out their memories.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got men on that wall who lost their lives for my freedom.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wall isn't just a tourist attraction. It's a memorial. It's a monument to my brothers that died and are missing in action.</s>TOM TITUS, VIETNAM VETERAN: I have 176 names on one column. And my best friend is on column there west. He died in my arms, one of the guys on my team. But right now faces (ph) the fallen down there, and my son's portrait is there. He wanted to carry on the family tradition. As he put it, or we read the last letter at this funeral, his simple statement was, "Before I could take advantage of the freedoms that have been given to me and have been fought for, I have to earn them myself."</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much for giving of your life and giving of your time so that we today can sit and stand in this amphitheater free. Free. Free. May we never forget.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably want to forget about Vietnam, and we'd like to forget about Vietnam, but it's something I'll never, ever be able to do.</s>RON SHOUSE, VIETNAM VETERAN: I come up here every -- at least once a year, sometimes more than that, just to let them know that I still know they're alive. We were doing what we thought was right. History will say we did, or history will say we didn't.</s>STEVE LENTZ, VIETNAM VETERAN: Whether the war was right or wrong is immaterial. It's not up for debate anymore. We were there. We did a job. And my brothers died. And we need to honor them.</s>FRANKEN: This began as Decoration Day shortly after the Civil War, and it became Memorial Day after so many years. It is, however, both a recognition that with war and all the controversy over whether the war is right or wrong, there is the sad story that lives are lost -- Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken at The Wall. Thank you -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a look at the forecast at 12 minutes past the hour. Chad is off today, but Rob is on at the CNN Center. How is the weather looking for folks who go to The Wall or some of the other memorials around the country today, Rob?</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Really warm, really humid down in D.C.</s>S. O'BRIEN: All right, Rob. Thanks.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Rob. Coming up on the program, we'll go live to New York City's Fleet Week celebrations. Yes, the big gun ships have steamed into New York Harbor up the Hudson River. Thousands of sailors invading Manhattan. Is it war? No, it's just kind of a party.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Also ahead this morning, look at that. It looks like a nice time in that pool. Want to make sure that you can have a fun time with your kids and save a dime, too? We'll tell you how to do it with some fun summer tips just ahead this morning. Stay with us.</s>M. O'BRIEN: And Shiloh, when I was young, I used to call you Brangelina. Yes, that's the baby. That's the latest from the Namibian maternity ward. We'll keep you updated and give you the latest scoop on the new bambino. Stay with us.