Soldier Charged With Killing Superiors; Operation Spear Launched in Iraq
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For the fourth time this week, a major quake hits the Golden State. California has not seen this many earthquakes in so short a time for nearly 20 years. Murder in the military -- claims that a National Guardsman killed two of his superior officers in Iraq. We've got the latest on that. And what would cause a parked car that's turned off to suddenly catch fire? An investigation into the safety of millions of U.S. cars and trucks on this</s>AMERICAN MORNING. ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.</s>BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Friday, June 17. And good morning to you. Shaping up to be a very busy for one us here.</s>O'BRIEN: Yes, it sure is. Well, we're going to start in Iraq this morning. That is where Operation Spear is now underway. U.S. forces right now in a major battle against insurgents near the Syrian border. Senior Baghdad correspondent Jane Arraf is there. She joins us by phone this morning -- Jane, good morning. All right, obviously, as we mentioned, Jane Arraf in the middle of a battle. We'll try to update you on the situation there in just a moment and we'll try to reestablish that connection with Jane in just a few moments -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: O'BRIEN: About 8:00 now, as we mentioned a short time ago. Moving on to another story now, for the first time in the war in Iraq an American soldier is charged with murdering two of his commanding officers. from the Pentagon now, here's Kathleen Koch there this morning. What do we know about this sergeant and the charges against him -- Kathleen.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the man charged right now is Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez. He's 37 years old and he's from Troy, New York. And he's a supply specialist. He was based in Tikrit with the 42nd Infantry Division. And what Baghdad military officials tell CNN is that he has, yes, been charged with killing not only his commanding officer, but also the operations officer last week at their base there in northern Iraq. Those killed were Captain Philip Esposito and First Lieutenant Louis Allen. They were initially believed to have been killed in a mortar attack. But the Army launched a criminal investigation after determining that the explosion instead came from within the base. Now, Army officials would not say what weapon was used to kill the two officers, nor would they discuss any possible motive. Martinez's neighbors in New York were stunned to learn of the charges.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't seem to me like the type of person that could kill anybody.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very quiet, came and went. He was always back in his garage working or doing something. And, I don't know, he just looked like a shady character.</s>KOCH: Now, Martinez joined the New York National Guard back in December of 1990 and was deployed then to Iraq in May of 2004. Now, as Bill, as you stated, this is the first time during the war. But there was one time just as the war was starting that another soldier was charged with killing his commanding officers and that was Hasan Akbar in March of 2003. He threw grenades into three of his battalion's tents just as they were getting ready to cross into Iraq from Kuwait. Two officers were killed, 14 soldiers injured. And Akbar was convicted, found guilty and sentenced to death.</s>HEMMER: Kathleen Koch, thanks, live from the Pentagon. We want to get back to Jane Arraf now near the Syrian border, as Operation Spear continues there. We tried the connection a short time ago. Let's try it again now -- Jane, can you hear me? And if you can, what's the latest? Jane Arraf, Bill Hemmer, CNN, New York. We're going to try one more time here. Operation Spear underway -- Jane, can you hear me?</s>JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can, Bill. We're actually inside, just on the edge of that operation, and it's been a very intense battle that's been unfolding over the past few hours, Bill. We're here in the city of Karabala, a city of 60,000 close to the Syrian border, where 1,000 Marines and other troops have moved in. As they moved in, Bill, they started taking fire from rocket propelled grenades, mortars, rockets, small arms fire. They have responded by leveling buildings with J-DAMs, by engaging in gun fights. So far, they say they believe they've killed 30 insurgents. Three civilians have been wounded in this and other civilians continue to flee the city. No serious American casualties, according to officials here, who say this is a stronghold of foreign fighters -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Jane, is this U.S. Marines, U.S. soldiers or a combination of both? And, also, on the Iraqi side, what type of forces are fighting on behalf of the Iraqis?</s>ARRAF: It's almost all U.S. Marines, along with supporting forces. There are some Iraqi troops. They're a significant part of this because they provide essential cultural aspects, where they can go in and identify people from various countries. They've also been going into a mosque where they had to enter after they took fire from around the mosque. But the majority of this is Marine efforts. This is a lawless area of the country, Bill. It takes up one third of the country, Al Anbar Province. There are virtually no functioning police forces. There's very few Iraqi soldiers. The only law and order here is provided, in this part of the country, near the Syrian border, by the Marines. And they say this city has essentially been taken over by foreign fighters and insurgents. This is the place where -- you can probably hear that gunfire in the background -- here last week, the Marines launched air strikes, where they say they killed at least 40 insurgents, Bill. This has been a serious problem for them and for the surrounding areas. They believe that foreign fighters are coming through Syria, taking refuge here in the city and going on to other parts of the country -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Jane, you described the town Karabala as 60,000 residents. How far are you from the Syrian border? And is this considered a major transit route or a major town between Iraq and Syria?</s>ARRAF: It's only about five miles from the border. As you can hear, it's a relatively small city. And we've been up on a rooftop with the battle raging around us. Most of the civilians have either -- are either tightly shut inside their houses or they've tried to flee. Marines report that on one side of the city, they're seeing cars leaving the city waving white flags. And they're letting them go. Their fight obviously is not with the civilians, it is with the insurgents and the foreign fighters they say have taken refuge in this city -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Jane Arraf, be safe out there. As Jane describes, the battle is raging around her. She is near that Syrian border in the town of Karabala. And clearly that fighting continues. We'll be in touch with Jane throughout the morning here -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Back here in the U.S., another earthquake off the coast of California overnight. It is the fourth one since Sunday. The 6.6 quake was centered about 300 miles northwest of San Francisco, about 125 miles west of Eureka. Ted Rowlands now. He's at the Cal Tech seismology lab in Pasadena -- Ted, good morning. Give us an update on that quake. Injuries or any damage reported?</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, no damage, no significant damage. The quake, however, could be felt as far south as the San Francisco Bay area. Many people felt it there, some 300 miles south, especially when you consider that it was over 100 miles in -- west into the ocean. It was a fairly significant quake at 6.6. Seismologists here at Cal Tech have been very busy, obviously, over the past week. They say that the 6.6 was an aftershock of the 7.2, which registered off the coast on Tuesday. We have also had two significant quakes down here, in southern California, one in the -- near the city of Anza on Sunday, a 5.6; and then a 4.9 yesterday. And the 4.9 could really be felt across the entire city of Los Angeles. Seismologists acknowledge that it is a bit odd to have four significant events in less than a week's time. But at this point, they just don't know what to make of it.</s>KATE HUTTON, SEISMOLOGIST: I don't know that we know what to make of quakes popping off in different locations, except that we have seen this happen in the past and it didn't lead up to any extremely large earthquakes.</s>ROWLANDS: They haven't seen it within the past 20 years, however. It has been a while since this amount of significant quakes have taken place in the state. It's safe to say everybody is waiting to see if this is a precursor of something larger or if this is it and things will quiet down. We will have to wait and see -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: And lots of rattled nerves, obviously, on the West Coast. Ted Rowlands for us this morning. Ted, thanks -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: A judge in Aruba may rule today on motions filed by the suspects held in that case of Natalee Holloway. Karl Penhaul live again in Palm Beach, Aruba -- Karl, good morning there. What are we learning about the three men held in this case as the days go by there?</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, these three young suspects are good friends. They share a fascination of the Internet. And at least one of them is from a well respected and influential family here on Aruba.</s>ANITA VAN DER SLOOT, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: He said, "Mom, don't be upset, because everything will be fine. I know I'm innocent. I didn't do anything," you know, in a very, almost naive way. He was very open with us, told us everything, what happened.</s>PENHAUL: Van der Sloot's mother, Anita, talked to CNN just after her son, the oldest of three children, was arrested in connection with Natalee's disappearance.</s>VAN DER SLOOT: I'm praying. I'm praying. I'm thinking about her, about her family. We're all thinking about her. And I don't know what to do more right now.</s>PENHAUL: Her husband, Paul, a judge and former prosecution service official in Aruba, declined to speak to CNN. Days after Natalee's disappearance and just before his arrest, van der Sloot graduated from Aruba's prestigious $12,000-a-year International School. The school Web site described him as an honor student who had been accepted at a number of colleges in Florida.</s>VAN DER SLOOT: His favorite subject is physical education, sports. And he's an athlete as well as in tennis as in soccer. And he enjoys being active. And he's just a very spontaneous, open, 17- year-old teenager.</s>PENHAUL: He's Internet savvy and visited his friend and suspect, Deepak Kalpoe, at a cyber zone cafe where Deepak worked.</s>ANGELINA REPPAS, CYBER ZONE CAFE BOSS: He's a good friend of Deepak's. He comes on the Internet after school sometimes.</s>PENHAUL: In fact, van der Sloot had his own Web site, where he posted photos with family, friends, girls and parties. Hours after his arrest, the Web site was taken down. Schoolmate Leonardo Rivera says he had been a good friend of van der Sloot's until they had a falling out. Before the disagreement, they used to hang out at the beach and in bars. (on camera): What would you all be drinking?</s>LEONARDO RIVERA, SCHOOLMATE: The</s>PENHAUL (voice-over): That's a mixture of vodka and fruit punch. (on camera): What kind of buzz did he used to get when he was a little bit drunk?</s>RIVERA: Normal.</s>PENHAUL: Was he an angry drunk?</s>RIVERA: No.</s>PENHAUL: was he a happy drunk? Was he kind of...</s>RIVERA: No, funny, funny. A funny guy, yes.</s>PENHAUL: Did he used to smoke a little something or...</s>RIVERA: No. No, he didn't do drugs.</s>PENHAUL: Smart and athletic, Rivera says van der Sloot also fancied himself as a ladies man.</s>RIVERA: He used to have a girlfriend, girlfriends. Yes. He liked to play around.</s>PENHAUL: His mother insists he's innocent, but says she's confounded by her son's arrest.</s>VAN DER SLOOT: We are parents that know our kids. We've try to educate them well. We've tried to care for them, warn them. And it's devastating that these things happen.</s>PENHAUL: Van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers are under investigation still and under interrogation by police and investigators. And what a law enforcement source close to the investigation tells us is that these three friends continue to point the finger at each other -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Karl Penhaul, Palm Beach in Aruba. Thanks -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, more on a story we first reported on Thursday. New York's Shinnecock tribe fighting for a pricey piece of the Hamptons. But is the record setting land claim just leverage for another big demand?</s>HEMMER: Also ahead, a CNN investigation. Cars and trucks going up in flames hours after being parked. Why is it happening and could it happen to your car? Back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.