Today's Talker: Prisoner Abuse Scandal
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Sadistic and wanton criminal abuses. A U.S. Army general testifies today on Capitol Hill in the Iraq prison abuse scandal. This is DAYBREAK for Tuesday, May 11. And good morning to you from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Carol Costello. Here are the latest headlines for you now. You've seen the pictures. Now, you can hear from the Army general who documented the abuses. He testifies before the Senate this morning. You can watch it live right here on CNN. Two Russian contractors are missing and believed kidnapped following an attack on their vehicle near Baghdad. One Russian energy contractor was killed in the attack. A company spokesman said he believes they were targeted by mistake. Several people are missing from a civilian convoy that was attacked in western Iraq. It happened today also. The 21-vehicle convoy was heading from Jordan to Baghdad. It was operated by a subsidiary of Halliburton. And smoke rising over Gaza City. You're looking at pictures just in to CNN this morning of an Israeli attack. Palestinians reported at least five people killed, 40 wounded, and Israel confirms six of its troops were killed by a roadside bomb.</s>COSTELLO: The general who wrote the scathing Pentagon report detailing Iraqi prisoner abuse appears on Capitol Hill this morning. General Antonio Taguba will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. It comes as the Pentagon considers whether to release more photos alleging prisoner abuse. In his report, Taguba cited the -- quote -- "systematic and illegal abuses of detainees." He concluded numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees. CNN, of course, will bring you live coverage of Taguba's testimony this morning. That begins at 9:30 Eastern. Brigadier General Janis Karpinski was responsible for all 12 prisons and prison camps in Iraq. As commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade, she was also responsible for the infamous Abu Ghraib facility. As a result of the abuse scandal, she has been relieved of her command and reprimanded. General Karpinski tells our Aaron Brown that some of her soldiers were just following orders.</s>BRIG. GEN. JANIS KARPINSKI, U.S. ARMY: When I looked at those pictures and continue to see those pictures, I don't think that there was anything that was improperly done, because this wasn't something that was a violation of a procedure. This was something they were instructed to do as a completely new procedure. I'm not sure that those MPs had ever been confronted with any instructions like this before.</s>COSTELLO: So, now we want to know what you think. Our e-mail question of the day: Do you think there will be a scapegoat in the prison abuse scandal? And if so, who? E-mail us your opinions: Daybreak@CNN.com. If you're wondering how this prison scandal may affect the presidential election, we've got new numbers for you this morning. Let's head live to Princeton, New Jersey, and Gallup Poll editor-in- chief Frank Newport. Frank, shall we begin with job approval ratings?</s>FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Indeed we should. I think when an incumbent president is seeking re-election, Carol, that's probably the single most important measure we can look at, and the signs are not good for George W. Bush on that measure. Gallup has been taking job approval ratings since Franklin Roosevelt. We've look at all of the incumbents who sought re- election. None of the five since Truman who have been re-elected ever had job approval ratings below 50 percent at this point in May of their election year. Bush is in that territory right now. He's down three points, job approval 46 percent, Carol. That's the lowest of the administration. And symbolically, if nothing else, for an incumbent president to have a majority disapproving of his performance, which is the case right now, is not a good sign at all in terms of re-election probabilities -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: You have more numbers, too: Was the war in Iraq worth it or not? What are the numbers showing on that question?</s>NEWPORT: Well, the same thing. And, again, this is a critical measure. If you ask me what's the one public opinion measure on the war in Iraq from the American public's perspective that I think is most important, this is it. Was it worth going to war in Iraq? We've been tracking it almost weekly recently. It's been hovering at that 50 percent level, sometimes above, sometimes slightly below. But now, we're down to only 44 percent who say it was worth it, Carol. Notice 54 percent, a majority of Americans, say it was not. In other words, at least at this point, we've got a majority of Americans saying no, they don't think the basic cost benefit of Iraq was worth it at this point. However, I should point out it's not necessarily a direct result of people blaming Rumsfeld or Bush for the prison abuse scandals. We gave them this list in the poll: Who is to blame? And we read the list of the people. Notice that it is the prisoners themselves that are the ones -- excuse me, not the prisoners -- the soldiers themselves, those closest to the action, whom Americans are most likely to blame. That's at the top -- the soldiers, the commanders and what have you. Rumsfeld and Bush are way down near the bottom of this blame list for the prisoner abuses -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Well, tell us about the economy.</s>NEWPORT: Well, the economy, according to the American public, is not all that great. Now, these data were through last week, so actually even before the Dow cratered, you know, Friday and yesterday. We had Americans telling us they're worried about the direction of the economy. That green line is the percent of Americans who are positive. And as of -- you can see here -- about May 4 down to 43 percent said the economy is getting better, 51 percent worse. So, that's another worry on Americans' plates -- the economy. Carol, sorry to be the bringer of bad news this morning, but I just have to say that Americans aren't in a very positive mood as we tapped into their temperature over the last week.</s>COSTELLO: But it's a long time until the election, Frank.</s>NEWPORT: That's true.</s>COSTELLO: Frank Newport live from Princeton, New Jersey. So, who should shoulder the blame? Next, who is responsible for the prison abuse in Iraq? A perspective from the left and from the right. We'll be right back.