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John Murtha: Military Readiness Low; U.S. Stretched Thin in Iraq; Bank Robbers Hold Hostages in Illinois; NASA Astronauts Fumble Tools on Spacewalk
Aired September 13, 2006 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, HOST: Hello, I'm Carol Lin at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Kyra Phillips has the day off.
On patrol and under fire. U.S. soldiers fighting in Taliban territory. We're going to take you to the front lines in the war in Afghanistan.
And also, wildfires raging. Firefighters struggle to contain a huge blaze north of L.A. Intense flames, heavy smoke, threatening one of California's busiest freeways.
And all women, all talk. Social activist Gloria Steinem and actress Jane Fonda launch a new network. They're going to join me in the CNN NEWSROOM to talk about it.
And the news is already happening right now. You're looking at Democratic Congressman John Murtha, who's going to be releasing details on a report indicating how ready U.S. forces are to go to war. Also, he's expected to call once again for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to step down. So let's listen in.
REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: ... nondeployed combat brigades in the United States managed by the Army's forces command, the vast majority of them are rated the lowest readiness ratings. The ratings are caused by severe equipment shortages.
The situation facing the Army Guard and Reserve is comparatively worse. Of all the Guard units not currently mobilized, about four- fifths received the lowest readiness rating. Four-fifths.
The same is true for the Army Reserve. Personnel shortages are the major reason behind the decline in Guard and Reserve readiness shortages created, for the most part, by mobilization having lapped or personnel having been pulled from units to augment others. So they're not going as a unit, in many cases.
As a matter of fact, the adjunct general in Pennsylvania says we can't send units any longer because of the constriction on the National Guard in Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania is probably the most deployed National Guard in the country. We have to send individual to field units.
As we've come to expect, the U.S. Army is imbued with whatever it takes, spirit of commitment and hard work. It's been given a mission and will complete that mission, try to complete that mission. Yet, it's becoming increasingly apparent the level of commitment has not been met by the secretary of defense and the other civilian officials charged with overseeing and assuring the well-being of our military.
The mere fact that roughly one-half of the entire U.S. Army is the lowest level of military readiness speaks volumes in this regard. Perhaps most troubling to many Army's senior uniformed leaders is the lack of national attention to the Army's plight.
To emphatically state that the global war on terror will last for years, yet fail to even acknowledge, let alone take steps to address the Army's readiness, equipment, and personnel shortfalls, is short- sighted at best. At worse, it's unconscionable, because the future security of the United States is dangerously at risk.
Let me tell you, it's completely insensitive for the secretary of defense to talk to the people that he represents, the young troops who are out in a field day after day in 120 degrees, carrying 70 pounds on their back, and tell them, we don't have a crystal ball. They want answers. They want to know. And of course, the reason is we don't have enough troops so they have to be deployed over and over.
And to say that because they're volunteers shows a complete insensitivity to the situation that these families go through. And I go to the hospitals all the time.
And the thing that I worried about the most is the fact that the troops not only are in missions they don't understand in many cases but also the future of the military.
And I'm introducing a resolution today asking for a resignation of Secretary Don Rumsfeld, not only for his past mistakes -- he said, "There were weapons of mass destruction; we know where there are." He said, "This war won't last six weeks, maybe six months." He said it would cost $50 billion.
We sent troops into battle without the appropriate armored vests. I was the one that found the armored vests shortages when I went to Iraq.
So not only for his past mistakes, but for the future of the military. And that's the thing that I worried about the most since I've spoken out, is the readiness. We can talk about Iran and Iraq. We can talk about North Korea. But if you don't have a strategic reserve, which we don't have now, and those troops -- when they're being trained, they don't have the equipment to train on so they shift equipment all over the place.
And then they go into the field to get the equipment, but they aren't trained on the exact equipment they used.
Going back to General Schumacher's comments, one of the problems we had in that operation was that those helicopters they flew, the pilots were not familiar with them...
LIN: All right, you're listening to Congressman John Murtha, Democrat from Pennsylvania, talking about a recent report that came out on troop readiness to go into battle, saying that units can't even deploy altogether out in the battlefield because there is such a shortage of troops and a lack of training.
Also, once again, calling for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. Something that actually failed a vote of no confidence, failed last week in the house. We're going to be live at the Pentagon. Also live in Baghdad to check things on the ground there.
But in the meantime, we've got some breaking news to talk about. Fredricka Whitfield standing by at the breaking news desk.
Fred, what's going on?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Carol, we are trying to monitor an attempted bank robbery which has now turned out to be a hostage situation south of Chicago. Unknown number of hostages have been taken at a bank in what's called Dolton Village -- Dolton Village, rather. Many people taken hostage.
Investigators are apparently in communication with a number of the hostages. It's not clear how many, of course, are in there or exactly what the circumstances were that built up to this point.
This is taking place at Sibley Boulevard and Chicago Road in Dolton Village, just south of Chicago. We'll continue to monitor it. And when we get any more information about how this all is playing out there, we'll be able to bring that to you.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Fred.
In the meantime, let's do some fact-checking on the ground in Iraq. Two separate bombings and a mortar attack in Baghdad today. All targeted Iraqi police officers. And a grisly discovery spotlights the ongoing religious violence that threatens the country's future. So let's get an update from CNN's Cal Perry in Baghdad.
Cal, I'll ask you to react to some of the comments that Congressman Murtha just made from Capitol Hill. But first, give us the situation on the ground.
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, today was a very violent day, Carol. And as you said, the target today of insurgents, Iraqi security forces, specifically, police officers.
Two major attacks. The first one at 8:30 this morning, a roadside bomb killing at least 14 people, wounding 87 others. And while the target was police officers, as is often the case here in Iraq, civilians bearing the brunt of that attack. They comprised the majority of the killed and the wounded.
A second attack just hours after the first one, a car bomb this time. At least eight people dead in that attack, 17 others wounded.
And as you mentioned, two mortars landed at the al Munthana (ph) air base. Interestingly enough, this air base was attacked just two days previously. It houses an Army recruitment center. Today, four people wounded. But last Monday, a suicide bomber killed 13 Iraqi Army troops.
So as Operation Together Forward continues, as the prime minister continues to put tens of thousands of security forces on the streets, they continue to bear the brunt of attacks here in the capital -- Carol.
LIN: Cal, so it sounds like the situation on the ground supports Congressman John Murtha's argument that troops are understaffed and they're under trained. I mean, he's saying that entire units can't even deploy because there aren't enough members. People are spread so thin. Is that what you're seeing?
PERRY: Well, this has been a huge topic of conversation, especially in recent days. Our own Michael Ware was embedded in Ramadi. And he reported that in Ramadi there is a section near to Ramadi, in the Al Anbar province. This section of the province is called the Jazeera section. It's about the size of New Hampshire.
What he found out there is that less than 300 U.S. Marines are in charge of patrolling that area. Again, an area the size of New Hampshire being patrolled by 300 U.S. Marines. It's very, very difficult for them to hold that section of the country. And this is a section of the country, we should remember, that is really an al Qaeda stronghold.
So certainly there are, seem to be, gaps appearing in the U.S. military structure here on the ground -- Carol.
LIN: All right, Cal Perry live in Baghdad.
Let's go over to the Pentagon. They're keeping an eye on the military readiness report and criticism of Secretary Rumsfeld. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joins me now.
Barbara, the Congressman is still talking about this readiness report and this resolution to call for Donald Rumsfeld's resolution. What is your take on what he is saying?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, Congressman Murtha of course, has been a long time critic of the war in Iraq and the Bush administration, as well as Secretary Rumsfeld. His calling for Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation is not really a surprise, and it's extremely unlikely that's going to happen.
But of course, one of the things that Congressman Murtha is focusing on is the readiness of U.S. forces and just how stretched thin they might be. That is something that is resonating right now with the U.S. Army leadership, which wants to see more money, a substantial amount of more money, devoted to refurbishing that equipment and helping the troops out.
Congressman Murtha making a couple points here, saying that many units, he says, deploying in 2007, simply will not have spent that full year back at home before they return to Iraq.
Now, you might sort of interpret all of this to mean it's strictly the Democrats that are raising these concerns about Iraq, but earlier today, on Capitol Hill, on the House side, a former administration official, very involved in the Iraq situation, a former deputy to the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, had some pretty significant remarks to make. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID SATTERFIELD, FORMER DEPUTY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: The Iraqi people, as well as Iraqi and coalition forces have suffered through a violent summer. While the insurgency and al Qaeda terror remain major challenges -- lethal challenges -- sustained sectarian violence is perhaps the greatest threat today to a stable, unified, prosperous Iraq.
If sectarian violence cannot be demonstrably, tangibly reduced and sustained, that reduction, over the next several months, an Iraqi government that represents all of its people, is a partner against terror and is at peace, both at home and with its neighbors, will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Carol, just how bad is the sectarian violence? Well, according to the Iraqi health ministry, for the last several months, more than 1,000 civilians in Baghdad are being killed each month -- Carol.
LIN: Barbara Starr, thank you very much. We're going to have much more on this story coming up in this afternoon NEWSROOM.
Also in Iraq, complaints about the presiding judge today at the trial of Saddam Hussein. The chief prosecutor accused the judge of allowing Hussein and his co-defendants to turn the trial into a political podium. Well, the judge listened to the prosecutor's complaints and then ordered the trial to resume.
Now, coming up, he thought he had seen it all in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even before I came here, I was like, "Thank God I'm going to Afghanistan. It's going to be safer than Iraq." And now that I've gotten here, I can say for sure it is exactly the opposite of what I thought.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: What a surprise, danger on Taliban turf. Our Anderson cooper rides with the soldiers on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan. They're on patrol and increasingly under fire.
Also ahead, space station installation. Shuttle astronauts venture out for their second spacewalk, and for the second time something is lost in space. We're going to show you, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: All right, we've got a bank situation going on in Dolton, Illinois. Fredricka working that story.
WHITFIELD: Well, Carol, we continue to work sources there in the Chicago area, this taking place just south of Chicago in Dolton Village, where we understand there was an attempted bank robbery at the Heritage Bank at the corner of East Sibley Boulevard and Chicago Road, and somehow it has turned into an alleged hostage situation.
Police there say they are actually in contact with some of the people, some of these presumed hostages, inside this Heritage Bank. But officials are not clear about how many people they believe to be inside that bank.
Our affiliates continue to work the story there and try to figure out exactly what's happening. Apparently, the weather is very bad there, and that's why we're unable to bring you any kind of live picture via satellite or via microwave truck through the help of our affiliates there. But as soon as things clear up or we're able to get something live out of there, we'll be able to bring that to you.
But again, it's an alleged attempted bank robbery which turned into, now, an apparent hostage situation there at the Heritage Bank in Dolton Village, just south of Chicago, Carol.
LIN: Fred, any word on how many bank robbers there may be?
WHITFIELD: I don't know that either. Police are being very tight-lipped about any information about how many bank robbers in this attempted bank robbery or how many hostages. And they're even being tight-lipped about exactly who they're in contact with, just that there are some people inside the bank that police continue to have dialogue with. Of course, as we get any more clarity on any of that stuff, we'll be able to bring that to you, Carol.
LIN: You've got it. A sensitive situation. Fred, thank you.
Broken tools, missing bolts. Shuttle astronauts are finding out firsthand that construction work can be frustrating. Well, two of them actually ventured out today for the second spacewalk of the mission.
CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg here with more details. I mean, we can joke about the bolts, but it actually can be a dangerous situation there.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It can be. It can be. You know, we're talking about two rookie spacewalkers, Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean. They have been up to space before, but they have not ventured out on an EVA, or extra vehicular activity.
We can show you some pictures of what they did earlier today. You can see them out there on the -- this large truss that we're talking about, this 17 1/2 ton truss that's part of the payload that's going up there. It's eventually going to unfurl these massive solar arrays. Carol mentioned a rather tough day at the office for both of them. It's a very complex choreography that goes on during a spacewalk. And at one point earlier today, we did see when Steve MacLean, the Canadian astronaut, was up there. He was actually trying to get -- and this is a picture of one of the bolts that got away.
But this is what we're seeing here now. This is a pistol grip tool. And at one point, Steve MacLean lost a bit of his pistol grip tool. It kind of broke off. You mentioned the broken tools.
Also, he was working on one of the parts where they take the launch restraints off, basically keeping this SARJ, the solar alpha rotary joint. This is going to provide the swivel for panels. And you can see the highlighted circle, that's just a little piece of debris. And NASA at one point calling it some little black bits that got away from him as he was putting these launch restraints into what they call his trash bag.
Steve MacLean also had another "whoops, where did it go?" moment. Listen now, as he remarked on that with mission control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE MACLEAN, NASA ASTRONAUT: A bolt is missing. Bolt 1-alpha. I did not see it go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, Steve, I copy that. Bolt 1-alpha is missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEBERG: So you know, you can imagine that doing your next home improvement project, Carol, you have to wear a parka, some ski gloves and do it under water. It's a bit tricky.
LIN: Yes.
SIEBERG: And so you can forgive these guys.
There was a little bit of humor in mission control, though, where one of the astronauts said, "Now at least we know how many astronauts it takes to loosen a bolt. That would be two outside and one inside." So they can see some of the humor in this.
LIN: All right. So you know the old cartoons where, you know, the character rebuilds the engine and there are a couple of parts still missing?
SIEBERG: Right, yes.
LIN: Is this a dangerous situation?
SIEBERG: Well, it can be. In this case, they're basically ruling out that there was any sort of danger posed to either them in the spacesuits. Because it's not traveling fast. It's sort of floating around. They're both going at the same speed. We're talking about the bolt.
This happened yesterday with spacewalker Joe Tanner, as well. So no danger in terms of it piercing something.
However, there's always the possibility it gets caught up in the machinery. You know, if you're, say, fixing your dishwasher and you drop a screw back into where the motor was, you think, "Oh, gosh, is that going to be a problem or not?" In this case they're thinking that it didn't get into anything. So they're sort of ruling it out as a safety concern.
LIN: Keep your fingers crossed.
SIEBERG: Yes.
LIN: What's next on the mission agenda?
SIEBERG: Well, tomorrow is going to be sort of a visual day. No spacewalk tomorrow. But they will be unfurling these massive solar arrays. They're going to be providing about a quarter of the power to the International Space Station. About 240 feet in length, roughly just shy of a football field when they're fully unfurled.
That will be happening tomorrow. They will not have to go outside the space station to do that. But these are a key part of what they've been bringing up to the International Space Station. They need them up there to provide power, obviously. It's going to double what they've already got up there and so a key component to what they've been doing. It will be quite an impressive sight. It will take a few hours to do it, though.
LIN: It's just beautiful, spectacular, the work that they're doing up there.
SIEBERG: Yes.
LIN: So you know, with all these complications is there going to be an issue for them to be cleared to land?
SIEBERG: At this point, no. NASA has given the official go for return, next week at this point. It would be Wednesday. You know, they, of course, have to be concerned with any sort of foam or debris impacting the orbiter after Columbia during the launch.
You're seeing there the flip, the sort of belly-up maneuver that they perform to inspect the heat shield on the shuttle. And they basically determined that it's very clean, that it's OK. And actually this is fairly early on in the mission for them to clear it to land next week. But at this point they're saying it looks good.
So, you know, other than a really -- sort of a tough day at the office for a couple of these spacewalkers. Everything's going according to plan.
LIN: OK.
SIEBERG: So third spacewalk on Friday. And tomorrow will be these solar arrays.
LIN: And the picture that the audience isn't seeing on your telestrator is a guy with a happy face on the back of his shirt for some reason, but -- so maybe that bodes well for the mission.
SIEBERG: Right.
LIN: Thanks, Daniel.
SIEBERG: You bet.
LIN: Well, first a demotion, and now the final indignity. Pluto is no more. The celestial body that was for decades classified as the ninth planet of Earth's solar system is now just a number. In fact, specifically, 1343-40.
Now you can blame or credit the International Astronomical Union, which voted to redefine Pluto -- excuse me, 1343-40, as a dwarf planet.
Well, just say the words "minimum wage" and you can get -- there's the guy with the happy face, maybe not so happy these days. You can get a debate going. Now is there a win for workers? Susan Lisovicz has the story next. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
But first, since we're talking about space, check out our resident space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, trying his hand at the required uniform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): If the suit fits, I might as well wear it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gary is going to help in the feet, and I'm going to make sure you don't slide this way as he pushes up against you.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Uh-huh, OK. OK, up to my hip?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're going to feel some metal rings there at the ankles that you need to get past and then stick your toes out, wiggle your toes up in there.
O'BRIEN: This is not made for Earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
O'BRIEN: I can say that right now. Not even close.
(voice-over) And now the hard part, squeezing into the hard top.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to kind of go under here. And then like you're diving into a swimming pool. Make sure you stick your arms straight up. We'll hold the arms up for you. Wriggle yourself in. And of course, if you run into any difficulty, just let us know.
O'BRIEN (on camera): All right. I will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we'll stop the process and back you out of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on, Phil. There you go.
O'BRIEN: Hang on one sec. It kind of hurts. And I can't really get across this -- there's no way to cheat the arm width, right? I guess I'll never be an astronaut now.
(voice-over) Or maybe not. Who needs that fancy underwear?
Hey this fits! Hey, this fits! OK, OK. Wow, wow. I wonder, I wonder. I wonder. I'm finally here in space, floating. Wow, what a view. Gosh, it's amazing what you can see up here. The pyramids, the Great Wall of China, Donald trump's hair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miles this is Houston, be advised, you forgot your helmet, over.
O'BRIEN: Funny in space, no one hears you scream.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: All right. Straight to the newsroom now. Fredricka Whitfield has something on a school shooting, Fred?
WHITFIELD: Yes, this time in Canada, at Montreal's Dawson College, which is a small college, which actually is taking place in one building, a singular building in downtown Montreal.
Our affiliate, TVA, which is the French Canadian television station, is reporting that students eyewitnessed a shooting taking place inside the school. Reportedly, a man has barricaded himself inside the building. Two shots were fired. Or rather, two were hit by those shots fired. One reportedly is in critical condition.
You're looking at the web site of Dawson College. It prides itself as being a multiethnic school and having many languages spoken and many different subject matters, up to 50 subject matters taught with 10,000 there in that school.
And as I mentioned, Dawson College operating in one historic building, which is right in downtown Montreal, which sits on about 12 -- 12 acres of green space.
But the bottom line, investigators are looking into the shooting taking place at that college. Two reportedly have been hit, one critically. This, according to the Canadian television station TVA. When we get more information on the circumstances of this shooting and exactly how many people are allegedly being victimized by this, we'll be able to bring that to you, Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Fred.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
LIN: In the meantime, we're working two developing stories at the breaking news newsdesk. Fredricka Whitfield has more on the bank robbery and hostage situation in Dolton, Illinois.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, in Dolton Village, Illinois, which is just south of Chicago. We've got some live pictures right now, thanks to our affiliate, which really shows the exterior of the Heritage Community Bank, where this alleged attempted robbery took place and then somehow it has snowballed into a hostage situation. Officials will only say that they are having dialogue with people inside the bank.
We don't know if that is the alleged bank robber, alleged bank robbers, or the hostages, but just that police do say they are talking to people inside the bank. This took place a bit earlier this morning. And we're just now able to get these pictures because, as you can see, it's rather foggy there. The weather has been pretty rough, and so that's impeded our abilities to be able to get any kind of microwave or a satellite shot.
But of course when we get any more information on the progress of these negotiations or the dialogue taking place with those inside, we'll be able to bring them to you, Carol. Meantime, the other story we're following for you out of Montreal, Canada, right downtown, Dawson College, were students say a series of shots were fired. And now you're looking at live pictures there, which look like a few folks. We don't know if those are passersby or -- and now a grander view of this 12-acre spot where the college is located. You're seeing the officers there making their way to the perimeter of that college campus. It's a historic downtown building, where this college of about 10,000 takes place on that 12-acre green space. Students reportedly have said that they heard the shots being fired and according to our affiliate TVA there in Montreal, it is reporting that two people were struck by the gunfire, one critically. We don't know anything more about those two alleged victims, nor do we know anything more about how and why this shooting took place in the first place.
But again, live pictures right now, out of downtown Montreal Canada, where you see a number of police vehicles, as well as other possible passersby, crouching down below the parked vehicles, trying to keep themselves safe there.
LIN: All right, thanks very much, Fred. As we're looking at tape from CTV in Montreal, a hostage situation there on that campus.
Fred, let us now when you have some more.
WHITFIELD: Will do. LIN: Appreciate it.
Busy day at the CNN NEWSROOM. Also, we are overseas.
ANDERSON COOPER, our very own Anderson Cooper who was embedded with U.S. forces on the hunt for Osama bin Laden is going to be reporting from the Afghan/Pakistan border with the very latest on that search.
CNN NEWSROOM will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: All right, before we get any more of the other developments, we've got two developing stories right now.
Fredricka Whitfield with the very latest on a hostage situation inside a bank -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: In Dolton, Illinois, just south of Chicago, and we've got some of the latest pictures for you now of the Heritage Community Bank, where this apparently unfolded a bit earlier this morning, an attempted bank robbery, which somehow snowballed into a hostage situation. We don't know how many people are involved here, just that police say they are having dialogue with persons inside. We don't know if it's with those who are being held hostage, or with those who have carried out this attempted robbery. The Heritage Community Bank is a small bank which is located on East Sibley Boulevard and Chicago Road, and investigators are asking people to stay clear from that area as they try to bring about a peaceful resolution to this situation.
Meantime, much further north, in Montreal, Canada, another situation taking place there. We've got some of latest video of what now police are trying to get to the bottom of a shooting that is taking place at that school, small college, right in downtown Montreal, where students reportedly heard gunshots fired. Some students are reporting they heard about 20 gunshots fired and have witnessed two injured people being taken via ambulance to nearby hospitals. We understand reportedly from our affiliate there in Montreal that one person may be critically injured.
And now the investigators are saying it is possible that there may be more than one shooter involved. And that videotape is showing the officers there trying to secure the perimeter of this 12-acre site where this historic building houses this Dawson College there in Downtown, Montreal. We're staying on top of both these stories, Carol, to try to get the latest information.
WHITFIELD: You bet. Fresh video coming in by the moment. Thanks very much, Fred.
LIN: Meantime, want to take people overseas with our Anderson Cooper. We're talking about terrorist attacks and deadly battles and a resurgent enemy. Is Afghanistan turning into another Iraq?
Well, our Anderson Cooper went on patrol with the U.S. troops open the front lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Captain Jason Dye has served in Iraq, but says his mission in Afghanistan is far more dangerous.
CAPTAIN JASON DYE: Even before I came here, I was like, thank God I'm going to Afghanistan, it's going to be safer than Iraq. And now that I've gotten here, I can say for sure, it is exactly the opposite of what I thought. It is dangerous here. There's a lot of stuff going on.
COOPER: Dye commands Bravo Company, 3rd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. His base is dangerously close to the Pakistan border.
DYE: This is one of the main infiltration routes for the enemy. They've begun to do a lot more rocket attacks. We used to get a rocket attack maybe once a week. Now it's every other day, every couple of days, every day. And they've resorted to that and IEDs and mines.
COOPER: Captain Dye doesn't know for sure, but he believes Taliban militants are learning how to make IEDs from foreign fighters trained in Iraq.
DYE: There's a trainer coming out here telling them how to do stuff. That's what my intelligence tells me.
COOPER: To stop jihadists and the Taliban from crossing into Afghanistan, Captain Dye and his men routinely patrol the rugged mountains along the border.
(On camera): The problem for the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division who patrol this area is that this border is really a border in name only. It's incredibly porous. People can move back and forth.
Intelligence sources we've talked to are concerned that now that the Pakistan government has signed a cease-fire deal with Taliban militants that those cross border incursions are only going to increase.
(Voice-over): The soldiers fire mortars to clear areas they've been attacked from in the past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before they maybe had 30 guys in this whole area. Now I'm estimating they probably got about 250.
COOPER: The terrain is extremely difficult. The slopes, steep; the environment, treacherous.
(On camera): What's so strange when you're on patrol is even if the soldiers don't make contact with the enemy, even if you don't see enemy fighters, you know that they were here. On a lot of the trees you find these, these cross marks or horizontal slashes. They're reference points, helping enemy fighters figure out where to fire rockets that will hit the forward operating base.
(Voice-over): The markings are everywhere. Further up the mountain, the unit checks out a destroyed bunker position.
(On camera): About two weeks ago U.S. helicopters passing over this mountain noticed this bunker. There were fighters inside. They fired rockets, later called in an air strike. It's been destroyed now. But what remains, you can see is well built. These large stones were used to create like a supporting wall. Over here there's some heavy timbers which were probably used to build the roof of the bunker.
Soldiers say as many as 10 or 15 fighters could have used this bunker at any one time.
(Voice-over): From the bunkers' firing position, there is a direct line of sight to Captain Dye's base, but there's no sign enemy fighters have been here recently.
On the way back down, however, the soldiers get some troubling news.
(On camera): The unit has just received some intelligence. And we can't tell you how they received it, but it indicates that there may be fighters in this area. Could mean an ambush, could be just talk, it could be nothing at all. It just means that the soldiers have to be extra vigilant as they head back down the mountain.
(Voice-over): What do you look for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Movement, personnel. Anybody gathering in a spot that looks odd. People trying to hide in the tree line, that sort of thing. Spotters. Usually the locals don't go up into these hills. If you see someone sitting on them, that's a spotter.
COOPER: On this patrol, however, there are no spotters, no ambush after all. Captain Dye and his men head safely back to base. One mission down, countless more to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I have a family. All of these guys have families. We're out here fighting so that we don't have to do this at home, so that our families can stay safe and that makes you feel good. It makes you feel like you're doing something.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And to the front lines in Montreal. Fredricka Whitfield has fresh video, dramatic video, of this hostage situation on a Montreal campus.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, remarkable video. Let's show you right now -- we told you that students have reported hearing about 20 shots fired inside this downtown college of Montreal's Dawson College. And now you're looking at a number of students who were able to get out of there. Obviously, you know, their route being commandeered by the police forces that are on the ground. Because earlier we weren't seeing any kind of campus activity of anyone leaving the building up until just moments ago.
We saw this stream of students with their bags and backpacks running from that building, which is a really significantly big building that covers almost all of the 12 acre green space that Montreal's Dawson College operates. And then we saw these pictures being fed into us just previously, one of possibly the two people we were told earlier who had been shot. We don't know anything about the shooting victims.
But reportedly from our affiliate TVA in Canada, it has been reporting that two people were shot, one critically. And possibly this shot you're seeing of someone on a stretcher being carried out by the officials there, might be one of those two people. Also, something we've learned within the past 30 minutes, officials are now saying they believe possibly there may be more than one shooter that they're dealing with there at Dawson College.
But still, it is an area that's being secured. They've not gotten to the bottom of why this shooting took place or who might be involved, just that the video that we've been able to see of the students who have been able to leave the college campus. We don't know how many more are in there, because this is a college that apparently instructs about 10,000 people, anywhere from their morning day and nighttime classes. So we don't know how many people really are affected by this today, as this investigation of this shooting unfolds -- Carol.
LIN: Right. All right. Fred, and just as you were giving us this report, we've learned from the Associated Press, reporting that police say -- and their wording is the suspect or the person who opened fire has shot himself. So there was a person on a stretcher. We saw it worked like a woman, a female student, in a red t-shirt. But that's what they're reporting right now. This is an ongoing situation. As you say, they haven't exactly said how many people they think -- how many suspects may be involved in this. But at least one person, they believe, who actually opened fire has shot him or herself.
WHITFIELD: Well, well, we will certainly try to flush out some of those details and find out a little more detail based on that A.P. report coming out thus far.
LIN: All right, just watching those live pictures along with you. Such a dramatic situation unfolding right now in Montreal on that campus. Fred, thank you so much.
We are working several stories from the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay right there. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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LIN: All right, straight to the NEWSROOM now. Fredricka Whitfield working a hostage situation at a bank -- Fred. WHITFIELD: That's right, out of Dolton Village, Illinois. We've had some pictures that have been streaming in recently,just showing the exterior of the Heritage Community Bank. We understand that police have been talking to people inside the bank. These live pictures right now showing a number of people on that corner.
OK, these pictures actually are of Montreal, Canada, Carol. We're not going to go to that Dolton, Illinois story. Instead, Dawson College there in Montreal. We've seen some of the recent tape of a number of students who were running out of the building. Now it appears, at this corner here, that there are number of people, and some with backpacks and bags, presumably students, but they're not running. So we don't know if this is an indication that this has come to an end.
The Associated Press has been reporting that the shooter shot himself. Those are the words from the Associated Press. We don't know anything more about whether that shooter -- who shot himself -- is one of the two reportedly who have been injured from this the shooting as a whole.
But just to take you back a little bit earlier, students had reported that they heard 20 shots fired and that two people had been hit, one critically. And people were -- those two people were transported to hospitals. The videotape that we got earlier did show that one person injured on a stretcher was being transported. But we're really not sure -- it's not clear right now whether that was the shooter who shot himself or one of the two earlier reported who had been shot from this, this small college.
I say small because it is one huge building encompassed in a 12- acre space right downtown in Montreal, but it is -- has a student body of about 10,000 people. It's unclear how many people were inside at the time of these shootings, though -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thanks very much, Fred.
Two big, developing stories today, right here from the CNN NEWSROOM. And also we're going to have a fascinating report on geniuses. What does it take? Sanjay Gupta, coming up. Be right back.
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LIN: All right, we've got a hostage situation going on, unfolding, on a college campus in Montreal, the Dawson College campus. Associated Press reporting that police are now saying on the scene that the shooter has shot himself. At least four people wounded in this, and it is a developing situation that we are covering. We'll give you the whole story in six minutes at the top of the hour.
Right now, we've got a fascinating report on geniuses. You know, Thomas Edison said it is "one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration," but the real source of genius is little more elusive than that. Now, on Sunday night, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has an hour-long special on genius. Today, more about a long-term experiment that tried to figure out where intelligence comes from, whether you can actually mix it in a test tube and come out with a genius.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Nature versus nurture. We asked this same question about lots of different areas, and it's no different with intelligence as well. There was a remarkable experiment actually done about 20 years ago, trying to figure out if you could create geniuses.
They actually created a sperm bank, collecting the sperm of some of the smartest people in the nation. The idea, could you create a generation of geniuses? They had the best DNA. But the question was, would it make a difference?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): What if there was a formula for breeding genius? Entrepreneur Dr. Robert Graham believed there was.
DR. ROBERT GRAHAM, STARTED "NOBEL PRIZE" SPERM BANK: Special academic distinction.
GUPTA: In 1980, Graham opened The Repository for Germinal Choice. It's a sperm bank for the highest achievers. He collected vials of sperm from five Nobel laureates and dozens of other scientists, many with genius IQs.
The project, which shut down in 1999, had its share of criticism and mockery, even a skit on "Saturday Night Live."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What donor would you recommend?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Consider a Nobel Prize winner, for example. We have got some Linus Pauling in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. Maybe, maybe, yes.
GUPTA: In its 19 years of operation, some 215 children were born. Among them, Jesse Gronwall. Today he's confident, gregarious, and thinks he stands out from the crowd.
JESSE GRONWALL: I know that I'm smart and I know that I think about things that other people don't.
GUPTA: At 14, Jesse learned his biological father was not his father Tom but actually donor yellow, from The Repository for Germinal Choice. Jesse's parents say their son was always bright, mastering computers by age five and memorizing just about every national anthem by the time he was seven.
TOM GRONWALL, JESSE'S FATHER: I don't think he talked sooner than most kids, but once he got going, boy, it was like he picked it all up. GUPTA: All Jesse knows of his genetic father is what was written on the sheet: IQ 145, successful international financial consultant; reading, mountain climbing, music.
"Slate" magazine's Deputy Editor David Plotz spent the last few years tracking down children and donors from the repository, and wrote a book called "The Genius Factory."
He says that one thing the kids have in common is strong mothers.
DAVID PLOTZ, AUTHOR, "THE GENIUS FACTORY": And these kind of mothers, I think, are the kind of women who would have raised excellent and achieving children had they gone to the Nobel Prize sperm bank or had they gone to David's discount sperm warehouse.
GUPTA: Genius or not, Jesse Gronwall and his parents say they'll always be grateful for Graham's experiment.
J. GRONWALL: I know that it's not all genes. That's definitely not the case, because much of what I am relates to my parents and the way they brought me up. But at the same time, I can't entirely write off genes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY: It's a fascinating experiment. There's no question. And repositories much like the one you just heard about, Dr. Graham's, still exist today. They're similar and they're continuing to recruit high achievers.
But we're told by the nation's largest sperm bank that today it's really more about the donor's physical aesthetic. Would-be parents are interested more in donors who might be able to help them give birth to a beautiful child as opposed to a highly intelligent one, which I found sort of fascinating.
LIN: Yes, it's something you can't really control, right? It really is -- that is in your genes. But does that say that people just don't buy into this notion that if they get the sperm from a Nobel Prize winner that their son or daughter might be one too?
GUPTA: I think that's exactly it, Carol. I think two things here. One is I think it's a little bit of a statement about our society in terms of what we value, aesthetics sometimes over intelligence.
But also I think it speaks volumes about the experiment. Did it really work? Were they able to create geniuses? You met Jesse Gronwall, obviously a smart guy. But I don't think the experiment worked quite the way that Graham sort of envisioned.
LIN: How do these kids -- how do they feel about themselves? Do they have sort of a strange wonderment of where they came from, and how do they view the father who raised them?
GUPTA: Well, it's interesting, and I think -- you know, we asked Jesse about this very issue. And one of the things he said was it's probably no different than any child who doesn't really know their biological parent or parents.
In his case, it's a little bit different because he has this sort of description. Donor yellow, that's how he knows his father. It has some very specific descriptions, IQ this, height this, worked as an international businessman. And that's all he really knows.
LIN: He doesn't care to find the donor?
GUPTA: Well, it's a difficult thing and they have tried to keep some of these things confidential, and we get a lot more into that as well in the special, you know, which is Sunday night at 10:00 p.m.
LIN: OK.
GUPTA: "GENIUS: QUEST FOR EXTREME BRAIN POWER" -- lot of fun.
LIN: Well, if I could only tease it one more time, in case you missed it. You can catching Sunday's special, "GENIUS: QUEST FOR EXTREME BRAIN POWER" on Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. A fascinating story. Appreciate it, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
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