JIM LEHRER: President Bush issued a new warning to Democrats today over pullout deadlines in Iraq. He accused them of meddling in military policy by adding timetables to war funding bills. And he complained they've loaded the legislation with domestic spending that has nothing to do with the war.
GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: There's $3.5 million for visitors to tour the Capitol and see for themselves how Congress works.
I'm not kidding you. Here's the bottom line: The House and Senate bills have too much pork, too many conditions on our commanders, and an artificial timetable for withdrawal.
JIM LEHRER: The Senate resumed debating its bill today, including a goal of withdrawing combat troops within 12 months. The House version mandates a pullout by September of 2008.
The president insisted again today he'd veto either bill, but House Speaker Pelosi said he needs to think again.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), Speaker of the House: On this very important matter, I would extend the hand of friendship to the president just to say to him, "Calm down with the threats. There's a new Congress in town. We respect your constitutional role; we want you to respect ours."
This war must end. The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of the war. Let's see how we can work together.
JIM LEHRER: Amid the debate, U.S. commanders in Iraq said they won't know when to draw down troop levels until fall at the earliest. Major General William Caldwell said the additional forces slated for Baghdad won't be fully in place until June.
A wave of revenge killings erupted in northern Iraq today. As many as 70 Sunnis were shot, execution-style, in Tal Afar. The rampage began after truck bombings killed more than 60 Shiites yesterday.
And in Fallujah, suicide bombers blew up trucks loaded with chlorine. About 15 U.S. and Iraqi troops were wounded.
Also today, eight Iraqi soldiers were killed in a separate car bombing in Fallujah. We'll have more on the war funding debate in Washington and the violence in Iraq right after this news summary.
Iran showed video today of 15 British sailors and marines seized last Friday in the Persian Gulf. It also released an interview with the lone woman in the group and a letter she's said to have written. We have a report narrated by Katie Razzall of Independent Television News.
KATIE RAZZALL, ITV News Correspondent: The evening news bulletin on Iranian Al-Alam Television. The presenter tells her audience the British sailor, Faye Turney, has confessed to having trespassed in Iranian waters.
Whatever the Foreign Office says about where the sailors were, this news bulletin broadcasts leading seaman Turney's confession.
FAYE TURNEY, Briton Held by Iranian Forces: My name's leading seaman Faye Turney. I come from England. I was arrested on Friday, the 23rd of March. Obviously, we trespassed into their waters.
KATIE RAZZALL: There's no military reason for Faye Turney to be chosen as spokesperson. Iranian law requires all women to wear headscarves. She's shown smoking and looking tense.
FAYE TURNEY: They were very friendly, very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested.
KATIE RAZZALL: Faye Turney is shown eating with the other captured sailors -- they haven't been separated on gender lines, as is customary -- and throughout the broadcast, the presenters stress how well the British are being treated by their captors.
The report mentions that Faye Turney's letter was sent because of mediation between the Iranian foreign office and the British embassy. It ends with a smile from the woman who the Iranians have promised will be released very soon.
JIM LEHRER: The British government condemned Iran's decision to put the sailors on television. The Royal Navy also showed navigational evidence that they were, indeed, within Iraqi waters when they were seized.
Police in Zimbabwe detained the main opposition leader again today. Morgan Tsvangirai was taken into custody shortly before he was due to talk to reporters. Police said they released him a short time later.
Two weeks ago, he was arrested and severely beaten after attending a protest; 50 others were also detained. Today's incident came as African leaders held a summit to talk about Zimbabwe.
New reports today called for greater use of magnetic resonance imaging, MRIs, to detect breast cancer. That's in addition to regular mammograms. The American Cancer Society recommended MRIs for women considered at high risk of getting the disease.
And a study in the New England Journal of Medicine urged MRIs for women newly diagnosed with cancer in one breast. In some cases, the scans found possible tumors in the other breast that escaped detection in mammograms. We'll have more on this story later in the program.
UN health agencies said today men should be circumcised to reduce the odds of contracting HIV, the AIDS virus. The World Health Organization and UNAIDS said the procedure can cut the chance of infection by up to 60 percent in heterosexual men. They said it could prevent three million deaths in sub-Saharan Africa alone over the next 20 years.
The chairman of the Federal Reserve played down the possibility of recession today. Ben Bernanke told a congressional hearing, "The slumping housing market remains a threat," but he said there's no sign it's affecting the broader economy yet.
BEN BERNANKE, Federal Reserve Chairman: Our expectation is for moderate growth. I would make a point, I think, which is important, which is there seems to be a sense that expansions die of old age, that after they reach a certain point, then they naturally begin to end. I don't think the evidence really supports that.
JIM LEHRER: At the same time, Bernanke said the Fed is still focused on controlling inflation, and he cautioned against assuming that lower interest rates are in the offing.
That news helped send Wall Street down today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 97 points to close at 12,300. The Nasdaq fell 20 points to close at 2,417.
San Francisco may become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags at grocery stores unless they're biodegradable. The city supervisors voted Tuesday to eliminate bags made from petroleum products. The State Grocers Association said other kinds of plastic bags are expensive and untested, but a spokesman said there's a good chance the mayor will sign the new ban.
