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President Bush lays Traditional Wreath at Tomb of the Unknowns; Veteran's Day Ceremonies; Specialist Will Mock; USS Intrepid to be Towed; Fort Benning Current Operations and Designing the Future U.S. Forces
Aired November 11, 2006 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Now in the news, President Bush paying tribute to America's veterans. Just a short time ago, Mr. Bush laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery this Veteran's Day.
America's veterans also honored an remembered today in other parts of the country from big cities to small towns, including this one at Fort Benning, Georgia, just a short time ago.
In Iraq, more bloodshed, two bombs exploded at an outdoor market in central Baghdad this morning, killing at least six people. Dozens were wound. The bombs exploded five minutes apart. Deadly attacks also reported in other parts of the country.
The search is still underway for an American soldier kidnapped in Iraq and now a reward. The U.S. military is offering up to $50,000 for information leading to the recovering of Ahmed Altaie. The Army Reserve specialist kidnapped last month in Baghdad when he was visiting his Iraqi wife and family.
A second tour of duty in Iraq could be in the works for some National Guard's troops. The "Associated Press" says the Pentagon is now considering a plan to send entire combat brigades that have already served in Iraq back to the front lines. Right now, Pentagon policy limits Guard troops to 24 months of deployment. The change would likely break that policy.
We update the topers to every 15 minutes on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Here in the newsroom, your next update is coming up at 12:15 Eastern.
On this Veterans Day, a 22-year-old soldier shares his hope, his heartaches, his dreams with us and what he doesn't tell his mother. His story coming up.
And to escape the horrors of Iraq, here's a new Ramadi rap. It's a song, and meet the two sergeant from the same hometown tapping into their creative side.
Other news unfolding live this Saturday, the 11th day of November. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, you are in the Newsroom.
Honoring the nation's veterans, we begin this hour at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. President Bush laid the traditional wreath at Tomb of the Unknowns a short time ago. Our Kathleen Koch joins us live from the White House -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. And that's a decades old presidential tradition, the marble tomb holding the remains of Army soldiers from World War I, World War II, from the Korean conflict and Vietnam War. And so the president, there, just about an hour ago, participating in that very solemn ceremony and then making remarks honoring the nation's veterans. He thanked them for their service and their sacrifice.
The president talked about what he called a new generation of veterans, the roughly 1.4 million now serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces. The president called them, "Our nation's finest citizens."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They confront grave danger to defend the safety of the American people. They brought down tyrants, they've liberated two nations. They have helped bring freedom to more than 50 million people. Through their sacrifice, they are making this nation safer and more secure and they are earning the proud title of veteran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now President Bush encouraged U.S. veterans, those no longer in the armed services to go ahead, wear their medals today, even on their civilian clothing and he asked U.S. citizens to not only thank any veterans that they saw today but to go a step further, to volunteer in nursing homes, in veterans hospitals, and to do what they can to support those currently serving in the armed forces and their families back at home -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right Kathleen, at the White House, thank you so much.
KOCH: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Well, coming up an hour from now, Veteran's Day ceremonies will begin at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Of course, CNN will take you there live beginning at 1:00 Eastern, but events are already underway in other parts of the country. Here's our Gary Nuremberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NUREMBURG, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This memorial to those died in Vietnam is treated with an almost shrine-like reverence by the men and women, but the families of those who fought in a war that bitterly divided the country. A generation later, the wall has become a place of healing. And early this morning, people began lining up to pay tribute.
(voice-over): Shortly after 7:00 this morning, members of the Muslim American Veteran's Association gathered here to remember the service of fallen colleagues. Moments earlier, Dale Meacham visited the wall like he does every Veteran's Day, early, when it's peaceful. He wants his brother's name, David Meacham, on that wall.
(on camera): And it's clear you still miss him very much.
DALE MEACHAM, MEMBER MUSLIM AMERICAN VETERAN'S ASSO: Every day. Every day, every day of my life. I mean this was my best friend, my hero, my idol. That's with I went into the Navy Second Airborne. That's why I jumped out of planes and did what I did because of this man right here, he lied about his age to get in the service. He went in a year before he was even allowed to go in. I think his name should be on the wall because he gave his life, the Agent Orange killed him, and he gave his life for his country.
NUREMBURG: As a brother, this is important to you.
MEACHAM: Very, very, very important.
NUREMBURG (on camera): David died ten years ago of cancer and Dale is convinced it is because of his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Dale promises to continue his fight until David's name is on this wall, too.
Gary Nuremberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The horrors of the war, those who've seen combat will tell you words can never capture the flashes of hopelessness, the bottomless of grief, the moments of sheer terror. One U.S. soldier in Iraq shared his thoughts with CNN's Arwa Damon in Baghdad. She joins us now live from Baghdad -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Fredericka, hello, there are so many stories of fallen soldiers that happen here. We had the privilege to be able to bring you one story on this day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SPECIALIST WILL MOCK, 2-2 INFANTRY U.S. ARMY: I'm Specialist Will Mock from Harper, Kansas with 2-2 Infantry, here in Fallujah -- mission accomplished.
DAMON (voice-over): it was during the fight for Fallujah in December of 2004 when we really got to know the soldier everyone simply called "Mock."
WILMOCK: Just like every other man, distressed, a little scared. But you know, this is what we do and I thought about telling my family about it, but no way. I don't want them to worry.
How would I describe Fallujah to someone else that had never been there? First, I'd say you might want to rethink about going. And say make your peace with god because you might not come back. It's a living hell. It was a living hell. Some moments lasted a lifetime.
DAMON: No pretenses with Mock, not about the mission, not about his love for being a soldier, despite all the emotional turmoil of his experiences.
WILMOCK: I think not only me who's changed. I think everybody that was there, enemy, friendly, everybody walked away changed. And the ways that we changed, we have a different outlook on life. Don't take nearly as much for granted. And when you tell your girlfriend or your mother, your father, "Hey, I love you, you really mean it."
This right here is my family.
DAMON: He was afraid then of going back home to Kansas, worried he had changed too much. His motto, tattooed on both arms, "Strength and Honor."
A tough soldier, apologizing to us for being rough around the edges. He wasn't. In many ways, still the gentleman his family brought him up to be.
WILMOCK: There's no reason for me saying, "Hey, ma, you know, I got shot at a lot today" or "Hey, ma, we had to fight the enemy, you know, some people didn't make it out, friendly and foe." It's just something better left untalked about.
DAMON: His first one year tour of duty finally ended in February 2005.
WILMOCK: Big relief. Overwhelming joy. We got a deep feeling of our part is completed here. Nobody wants to die out here. Even though the soldiers would for our country, any of them would, that's not a question. I heard my grandfather once say is somebody's got to do it. I guess I'm that somebody.
Every time we lose soldiers, we have our ceremonies here for the fallen comrades. And they play the "Taps" for those men, that's probably the moments that will stay in my mind more than ever. From now until the day that I die every Memorial Day and Veteran's Day when I go to the local cemetery in Hartford, Kansas, and they play the "Taps" I'm sure I'll -- it'll hit me pretty hard then.
DAMON: This Veteran's Day, they will be playing "Taps" for him. Mock redeployed in August 2006. The last time we saw him was on a rooftop in Eastern Baghdad, 20 days later on October 22, Mock was killed by a roadside bomb, one of 11 killed in Iraq that weekend.
At his memorial, his commanders and his men echoed his motto, "Strength and Honor, Sergeant Mock."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Mock's story and sacrifice is just one of the over 2,000 U.S. servicemen that have been killed in Iraq since this war began -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Arwa, Will Mock, in that piece talked about as a group how they honor fallen comrades. But you've gotten to know an awful lot of these soldiers there, how do they deal with the loss on an individual basis?
DAMON: Well, Fredericka, this is where the mind of a soldier is really very interesting. While they're still here in Iraq for the most part, they don't have the luxury of dealing with it and some of the troops that you see here have seen horrific sights. They have seen the soldier, the Marine standing right next to them die, but they still have to go out the next day and complete the mission. And what you see is that many of them end up having to compartmentalize their sorrow and their grief and bring it out at a point in time when they can relax, usually when they get back home.
WHITFIELD: So they can stay focused while on the job.
Arwa Damon, thanks so much for that moving report from Baghdad.
And you'll want to tune in again to the CNN Newsroom tonight at 10:00 Eastern for more on the life and courage of fallen American hero, Will Mock. We'll hear from his family members, tonight.
And straight ahead, the war in Iraq is deadly serious for the soldiers serving there. You saw that. But there is some time to find some respite or maybe even humor? We find that out through these two soldiers who are making rhymes about it. And as we pay tribute to service men and women this Veteran's Day, the military also honors its own. We'll go live to Fort Benning to show you how.
And there's no more of a contentious issue, the Supreme Court takes up abortion. We'll talk about that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: You're looking at live pictures, right now, of the memorial of Iwo Jima there in Arlington, Virginia. Many people coming out to pay homage to the service men and women, particularly those who fought in this battle of Iwo Jima, between the U.S. and Japan back in 1945. This image made famous by the U.S. Marines planting the U.S. Flag atop Mount Surabachi, there on the island of Iwo Jima.
And it is Veteran's Day across America, a time to honor those who have served in the U.S. military. One of the largest gatherings is at New York's annual parade. Right now, some 23,000 participants are winding through the streets of midtown Manhattan.
And another parade, this hour, in Biloxi, Mississippi, one of the star, Warrior One, it carried our news crews through the Iraq war and now it has a new mission, it is being completely refurbished by the crew of the TLC program Overhauling and it will be auctioned off as a benefit for the Fisher House, which builds comfort homes for friends and families of wounded soldiers. And perhaps it's hard to see in that image, but it's a hummer which helped take our news crews the battlegrounds of Iraq, way in the far distance, there, of that live picture.
Veteran's Days observances are also taking place today at military bases around the country. One such ceremony, at Fort Benning, in Georgia, the base serves as the flagship for the U.S. Army's Infantry. Fort Benning has one foot in current operations including the war on terror and one foot in designing the future of U.S. forces.
Joining us now from Fort Benning is the keynote speaker of today's ceremonies, Colonel Michael Linnington, he is also the post deputy commander.
Good to see you.
COL. MICHAEL S. LINNINGTON, U.S. ARMY: Good morning, Fredericka, how are you?
WHITFIELD: I'm doing good. So, before I ask you about the ceremonies taking place today and how America pays homage to the service men and women, give me an idea of how it is that Fort Benning is helping to design the future, if you will, as I said in our lead- in, for the U.S. forces
LINNINGTON: Well, Fredericka, Fort Benning's got a very important mission because we really are a traing base for the United States Army, especially the Infantry as we bring new recruits in, train them how to be Infantry men, and send them back out the units that are fighting the ongoing war on terrorism. And we take that mission very seriously and morale is high, it's a very busy place, as you might imagine, we have units deploying, units deployed, and units coming back from deployment. So, it's great to be at Fort Benning and it's great to be an Infantryman.
WHITFIELD: Any you mentioned morale is high despite the fact that Fort Benning has cover suffered, at least, the casualties of at beast 25 soldiers who have died in the war in Iraq. You continue to deploy many soldiers from that base. Moral is high, even despite or perhaps in concert with the resignation with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the appointment of Bob Gates?
LINNINGTON: Well, Fredericka, we don't get involved in all that. We -- soldiers understand the mission, they willingly join the Army today knowing we're a nation at war. They draw inspiration from veterans of past wars. Our veteran's organizations, here at Fort Benning, are fantastic and they really play a big part of our development of soldiers and mentoring them into becoming the soldiers our forces need when they go out and join them in the field. So, morale is high and I really think it'll continue to be high.
WHITFIELD: So talk to me about today and how today offers, perhaps, some healing for many of those military families who are still dealing with the loss of their loved ones or perhaps how this helps many of your soldiers who are looking at perhaps another deployment or maybe even their first deployment to either Afghanistan, Iraq, or other places.
LINNINGTON: Yeah, Fredericka, that's a great point. And today we honor veteran's and had many veterans at our ceremony at Fort Benning, we also a lot of family members here today, as well. Family members from soldiers that are deployed and families and soldiers that are preparing to go in the coming months. They understand how important this mission is and they understand the importance of veterans and why we honor them today. I mean they are our national treasury. They built this nation into what it is today and without them, we wouldn't be the capable fighting force we are.
WHITFIELD: Is there anything that perhaps has changed over the past three years in terms of how you help the soldiers or even their families' deal with the anxieties that have certainly ballooned, particularly over the past three years, with the Iraq war?
LINNINGTON: We have a tremendous support organization, here at Fort Benning, for all of the family members of the deployed soldiers. And I really think our Army has done a great job in doing that in all of our installations. I was deployed...
WHITFIELD: Have you had to change anything the way you're dealing with them, the way you're helping them deal with the uncertainties that have come with this war or just deployment in general?
LINNINGTON: I think we continue to do what we've been doing over the past four years, that's really just wrap our arms around the families when soldiers are deployed and then making sure their needs are cared for in the absence of their loved ones. Obviously, we take casualties throughout the Army, we've taken them here at Fort Benning, and when those wounded soldiers come back, we, you know, we wrap our arms around them and their families, and for most part they want to continue to serve and serve very wonderfully in our ranks even after redeployment.
WHITFIELD: And Colonel Michael Linnington, we are happy and are thankful for their service as well as of yours. We appreciate your time at Fort Benning, Georgia.
LINNINGTON: Thanks, Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: Coming up in the Newsroom, some news from the USS Intrepid. Remember that? Stuck in the mud, right there in New York City? What's it taking to get the USS Intrepid moving along? We'll take you there live, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tired of flight delays, lost luggage? Imagine this, the flexibility to go where you want, when you want, all with the comforts of home. An R.V., or recreational vehicle, just may be the answer. And these days, they come in all sizes, shapes and styles. In fact, some people make it a lifestyle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the past two year we've been in 35 states, four Canadian provinces, and it's a great way of life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love the freedom. You can pick up and go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The R.V. trend is on the rise. Nearly eight million U.S. households own at least one R.V. according to the newest study by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center, that's 50 percent higher than four years ago. If gas price are a concern, here's one way to look at it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have to pay the hotels room and everything, you got your own place, tent sites are beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And good news for some R.V. owner, the interest on a loan may be tax deductible as a second home. So, just who's buying into the rv trend the most? According to the University of Michigan study, the baby boomer generation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the nicest thing that if you don't like the neighbors, you pick and move.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: You're looking at live pictures right now of the USS Intrepid. What is that all about? Well, it looks like the USS Intrepid just might be getting some help because it's been stuck in the mud there, on the banks of the Hudson River, since Monday. And you can see the aircraft carrier in this live picture in the middle of your screen right there. CNN's Heidi Collins is in New York.
And Heidi, what is the news about the USS Intrepid?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I believe Fred, that the USS Intrepid folks are probably looking at this as a big Veteran's Day, excuse me, present. What is happening is this -- they are announcing a new plan today, in conjunction with the U.S. Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers. What's going to happen is under a permit that was issued by the U Army Corps of Engineers, it's very, very specific, they will help to free the USS Intrepid through some massive dredging. Again, there are very specific laws on how this can take place, environmental concerns that will be tightly adhered to.
The will -- the Navy will provide the salvage support then. This will take several weeks to dredge all of that mud, it's thick mud. If you remember, Fred, this vessel has been sitting in the same spot for 24 years in 17 feet of mud. It was always a massive undertaking, so then the towing will take place, we don't have a date on that yet, but the good news here, and this is the gift on Veteran's Day, the original towing company who tried to do that on Monday will do it again for free. That schedule for towing is going to be actually set by the Navy and its contractors...
WHITFIELD: What's interesting about that then, Heidi, let me just ask you this because earlier in the week when they discovered they weren't able to get this Intrepid moving, according to the original plan, they did set a tentative date for about a month from now waiting for high tide again. So, they're scrapping that completely because they think the dredging will still be the best route in its attempt to tow thereafter?
COLLINS: Yeah, my understanding is this, Fred, they were hoping for that high tide because, you know, any sort of help that they could get to move this, again, massive vessel, was going to be a good thing. However, December 6, I think, I believe was the date that that tide was supposed to be high again. They certainly do believe that by dredging all of the mud that is underneath there, the best that they can make free and clear -- there are four propellers on the bottom they need to free up, they will be able to do it with their original tug plan and get it on out of there. It's just five miles they're going to Bayonne, New Jersey.
WHITFIELD: Right. And the idea was to move it, to refurbish it, right now, it's a big museum, tourist attraction, so we're going to continue to watch the developments over the next couple of weeks to see if this dredging plan has merit and will work.
Heidi Collins thanks so much for joining us from New York.
Coming up in the Newsroom :
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Ramadi the sun and the heat.
Crazy Ramadi.
Bombs under the street.
I hate Ramadi.
But there's not need to moan...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: They're not the best rappers around. We'll talk to these two soldiers who are responsible for this now-internet sensation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SPECIALIST LEV CHANDLER (PH); U.S. ARMY: I am Specialist Lev Chandler (ph) with Bravo Company 2135 out of Rochester, Minnesota. Stationed here at Camp Attarack (ph). I want to say thanks to all my families and friends back at Rochester, thanks for all the support and say "Hi" to my little nephew, Anthony, I love you, and miss you, I can't wait to come home.
LIEUTENANT CARL RICHARDS, U.S. ARMY: Hi, this is Lieutenant Colonel Rich Adams (ph) from the 407th Civil Engineering Squadron here at Ali Air Base in Iraq, standing at the 9/11 memorial. I would like to give a shoutout to all the veterans back home and all our fellow New Yorkers for all your support. Thanks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome home. No, not here, back there. These stacks of shipping containers near the Port of Los Angeles may soon be used to build your next house.
PETER DEMARIA, ARCHITECT: This custom home is just over 3,000 square feet.
WIAN: Architect Peter DeMaria is designing homes out of shipping containers. They're pre-insulated and already have hardwood floors. They're strong; resistant to mold, termites and fire; and above all, they're plentiful.
DEMARIA: The cost of steel and the cost of concrete has gone through the roof recently. That forced us to explore some alternative materials.
WIAN: Custom home construction in Southern California can easily cost $250 a square foot. This house is being built for about half that.
DEMARIA: Looks like I've got a slab floor here.
WIAN: Architect DeMaria says recycling the containers for home construction will help improve the environment. He's also working with the City of Los Angeles to use shipping containers in low-income housing.
I'm Casey Wian, and that's this week's "Modern Living."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Half past the hour, here's what's happening right now in the news. A full slate of ceremonies replaying speeches and events honoring America's veterans today. Stay with CNN for live coverage all day as we pay tribute to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The U.S. military will pay up to $50,000 for information leading to the return of a U.S. army translator. The soldier was kidnapped in October while visiting his wife in Baghdad.
A wreath-laying in Ramallah West Bank today. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas marking the death of former president and PLO chairman Yassir Arafat. Arafat died on this date in 2004.
And this from the Associated Press: the United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that sought to condemn the recent Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and demand Israeli troops to pull out of the territory. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton says the Arab-backed draft resolution was biased against Israel and politically motivated.
And Jack Palance, better known to young movie fans as Curly in the "City Slickers" movies, has died. The grizzled actor had a career that spanned six decades, but Palance is notably remembered for a series of one armed push-ups he did after accepting an Oscar -- his first oscar -- in 1992. Palance was 87 years old.
Ramadi, Iraq, an insurgent hotbed and a killing field since the start of the war. In June, the Pentagon called Ramadi, quote, "the most contentious city in Iraq." Now it's part of the focus of "My War Diary," a new reality show on the Military Channel. It's Iraq unfiltered, as seen through the eyes and video cameras of American troops, everything about the war from combat to comaraderie, not to mention rap.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the capital of the Anbar Province, which is near the heart of the Sunni Triangle. It's -- yes, it's a pretty dangerous place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regularly bombarded with incoming rockets and mortars, that type of of thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can go a few days without having anything happen to anyone on the base, and then all of a sudden, boom, there would be maybe five guys that would get killed, you know, in one blast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ramadi, the sun and the heat. Crazy Ramadi, bums under the street. I hate Ramadi, but there's no need to moan because the U.S. Army won't let me go home
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matt was home on leave and so he saw the "Saturday Night Live" clip on "Lazy Sunday."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just so well done and it was so smart. I thought it would be, you know, really funny if we didi one from Ramadi and sent it back to our friends and family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Life in Ramadi, wake up to thunderous boom. Call up Dobbs just to see how he's doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What up, Dobbs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo Mattie, what's cracking?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You thinking what I'm thinking? Insurgency, man, it's happening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But first my hunger pains got me feeling quite mellow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's bounce to the chow hall and get you some Jell-O.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the lyrics, we tried to pick things that people who had been to Ramadi would recognize.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dobbs like Jell-O like Johnny loves June, but I keep on telling him to use a spoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And also, things people from Muncie would recognize.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Muncie, Indiana and there's just one thing, a royal feast pizza from Pizza King.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that when we sent it back to our friend and family, they would go, OK, yes, Pizza King.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The convoy at six as I stifle a yawn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ain't got time for that, better get your gear on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because out in the city, IBAs are required.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We check out our soldiers before we leave the wire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, we just took some very common beats in the background from other songs and we just did some lyrics -- I cringe to say -- in rap format because we aren't rappers, but it was funny to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, stop at the PX even with the high price.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got the backpack going to back it up nice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The charge at the PX can be vicious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But do a beef jerky equals crazy delicious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I reach in my pocket to grab some dough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it comes out with pulse (ph), we don't use cash no more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We posted it in the evening in Iraq which is the morning here in the U.S. We went to bed, got up the next day and it had been viewed I think like, 15,000 times and it just kept growing and growing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate ramadi, but there's no need to moan because the U.S. Army won't let me go home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: But actually they are home now. Staff Sergeants Matt Wright and Josh Dobbs are the stars of "Lazy Ramadi." They join us from Indianapolis. Good to see you guys.
STAFF SGT. MATT WRIGHT, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Hi, good to be here.
STAFF SGT. JOSH DOBBS, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Good to be here, thanks.
WHITFIELD: OK, humorous, yes, lighthearted, absolutely. But I have to wonder how this might have been embraced by the military initially.
WRIGHT: Well, our commander was very supportive. He knew that we were kind of working on this video. We had talked to him about it a little bit, but had no idea it would become as popular as it did. And -- but overall the response was pretty good.
WHITFIELD: So Sergeant Dobbs, did you have any reservation about this? I mean, I don't want to be a downer but, you know, it is a serious topic and Ramadi being one of the more dangerous places in Iraq, and you guys managed to find some humor just perhaps to get you through it?
DOBBS: I had absolutely no reservations about being involved with it. Yes, there are terrible things that happen in the world but maintaining your sense of humor and a sense of self was very important to us and so I had no reservations.
WHITFIELD: So at what point did this come about that you guys said, you know what? Here we are, both deployed over here, we go way back, we know each other well, you know what? Let's try and make a little fun here. Let's get our video camera in action and find the creative side in us.
Sergeant Dobbs, where did this come about? How did you do this?
DOBBS: Well, Sergeant Wright had brought a video camera with him to document pretty much everything that we did throughout the deployment, and this was pretty much towards the end. And a number of videos had already been made about us building up our site and our day to day activities. And it was a product of Sergeant Wright seeing the "Lazy Sunday" and "Lazy Muncie" videos, and it was a response to both of those.
WHITFIELD: So, Sergeant Wright, how much was this really for you all, kind of a cathartic thing for you all to do, or how much of it was to kind of rest the folks at home at ease that yes, you're in a dangerous place, but look we're still here and we're having a good time in a strange kind of way?
WRIGHT: Yes, exactly. Yes, we did it for fun just to goof around, but really it was for our family -- you know, our friends and family. So yes, I mean that was the main focus. We had no idea that it would become so popular.
WHITFIELD: So how is Pizza King doing out of all of this? You guys really, you know, plugged the favorite pizza from Pizza King at your hometown in Muncie.
DOBBS: They've been pretty good to us. We had some last night actually.
WRIGHT: And watched the premier of "My War Diary" on the Military Channel and we had some friends over and had some Pizza King pizza.
WHITFIELD: So here it is on the Military Channel, and you also have your own Web site and, of course, you have been able to maximize the YouTube as well. So folks can really catch this in a lot of different ways.
WRIGHT: Right, right, we created just a generic little Web site so people could go and they could find links to some of the news stories, come of the interviews, but also to kind of redirect some of the focus to some charities that we think are pretty good, Disabled American Veterans and U.S. Wounded Soldiers. And if you do go LazyRamadi.com there are links to both of those sites. So if people wanted to go and donate and help out, that would be great.
WHITFIELD: So you've explained how the brass kind of embraced this or maybe they were a little, you know, not so at ease initially. Now what about your comrades? What did they think about this, and, you know, do they find it to be funny or does it kind of put them at ease, especially those who are still abroad?
DOBBS: I think everybody thought it was funny within our small unit, our company-sized unit, but even to this day, I still randomly get e-mails through the Army network that people have just seen it at different locations around the world and are still enjoying it to this day.
WHITFIELD: All right, so it's called "Lazy Ramadi." Folks can catch that at LazyRamadi.com and, of course, on the Military Channel as well.
Sargeants Matt Wright and Josh Dobbs, thanks so much for for your time, and glad you all are back home and enjoying being with friends and family. And thank you for your service on this Veterans Day.
DOBBS: Thank you.
WRIGHT: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. A hotly-contested issue at all times: abortion. And it is an issue that deeply divides Americans. Now it's back before the nation's highest court. We'll have the latest on that story and we'll find out what our legal experts have to say about it straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In our "Legal Brief" this hour, the heated issue of abortion returns to the U.S. Supreme Court. This week, the justices took up the Abortion Act of 2003. The law bans certain late term abortions, called partial birth abortions by opponents.
Six lower courts have already ruled the act unconstitutional. Abortion rights advocates say the law is aimed at chipping away abortion rights as defined by Roe v. Wade. Abortion opponents say the law outlaws what they call a form of infanticide.
It's an emotional topic, but also a legal issue. So let's see what our experts say about the legal aspects of the case. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor.
Good to see you, Avery.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi.
WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney.
Good to see you as well.
I feel like it's been so long, you guys.
FRIEDMAN: It has been a couple of weeks.
WHITFIELD: OK, well, we're going to focus on this one topic.
FRIEDMAN: Right.
So, Avery, what is at issue? It seems like the partial birth abortion comes up from time to time. Wasn't it settled a couple of years ago?
FRIEDMAN: It was never settled. The president signed a law, Fredricka, in 2003, and literally within days after the enactement a federal courts have shut it down as unconstitutional. And the issue is complicated, but let me see if I can make it as simple as possible.
When you pass a law regulating abortion, you must deal with the health of the woman. This law does not. Is it relying on a Congressional subcommittee, a political decision involving medical testimony.
And on the other side is the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who say you need a law to protect the health of the woman. So the battle right now is does the Supreme Court defer to Congress or does it defer to science, to the doctors?
WHITFIELD: So, Richard, what's interesting here now is you've got two new justices since the last movement on this in 2003. How is that going to make a difference?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Fred, you know, it's going to come down to Justice Kennedy. That's where this case is going to boil down to...
WHITFIELD: He's the swing.
HERMAN: ... which way is he going to go. Alito and Roberts are probably going to go the conservative route on this, and Justice Kennedy, who was the dissenter in the Nebraska case in 2000, which was a very similar statute where the ban was broken, he said it should not have been, and whether he upholds that now, that is going to be the issue.
But there's 1.25 million abortions performed each year in the United States. They're usually performed within the first 12 weeks of conception and here, we're talking about abortions performed in the trimester which about 2,000 per year take place, so that's what we're talking about. That's what they're focusing on.
FRIEDMAN: Well, let me pick up on what...
WHITFIELD: Yes, go ahead.
FRIEDMAN: ... Justice Kennedy -- why he's so important here. I absolutely agree with that. In 2000, Justice Kennedy dissented, saying that he was against the process, but he also said in a case involving the Oregon abortion law, is that these are decisions to be left to local decision making.
And so his battle over federalism, does Congress superceed local decision making, that's going to make a decision. That will determine where Justice Kennedy goes. It's going to be 5-4 one way or the other, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So at the heart of the matter as well is we're talking about whether this is state statute or federal statute?
FRIEDMAN: Well, again, Justice Kennedy said decisions concerning these sort of issues should be local decisions. So will he go along with Congress passing a law or will he stick to his guns like he said in the Oregon case and say it's a local issue, the law is unconstitutional? We don't know.
WHITFIELD: All right, Avery and Richard, thank you so much. Good toe you this weekend.
FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you again.
HERMAN: Nice to see you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right.
HERMAN: Take care.
WHITFIELD: And an early case of winter. Could it be? That's what parts of the U.S. are coping with on this Veterans Day weekend. We'll check in with Bonnie Schneider to find out what's happening with the weather across the country straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: On this Veterans Holiday weekend, in some places it feels like spring, but look at the calendar. It is certainly approaching winter in a lot of other places. Bonnie Schneider is in the Weather Center where it's wintry white in some places, in fact, already.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: All right, Thanks so much, Bonnie
Straight ahead, we are honoring the voice of Americans serving far away from home. Their messages to family and friends straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It is Veterans Day in America, time to salute the nation's veterans and for those military men and women in Iraq, a chance to send their well wishes back home, thanks to these taped messages from the U.S. Defense Department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is senior Airman Ashely Swadley (ph).
SR. AIRMAN CHRISTA DEMONTAY, U.S. AIR FORCE: And Senior Airman Christa Demontay.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the 407th Expeditionary Communications Squadron here at Ali Air Base. We're from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and we'd like to give a shoutout to all the veterans and members of the VFW today and we also give a shoutout to all of our friends and family back home.
2ND LT. STEPHEN HODGSON, U.S. AIR FORCE: Hi, everybody. How are you doing? This is Second Lieutenant Stephen Hodgson from Ali Air Base in Iraq, Alisay Adr (ph). I want to say hello to everybody in Dover, New Hampshire. Hi, mom. Hi, dad. How is everybody doing? I just want to thank all the veterans on Veterans Day. I really appreciate everything you've done for us and thank you for everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And thanks to you as well.
A look at the top stories in a moment. "IN THE MONEY" is next, and here's a preview.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks.
Coming up on "IN THE MONEY," right of left. We'll look at whether the Democrats are the new fiscal conservatives in Washington.
And the old ball and chain. Find out if America would be more productive if our insurance wasn't tied to our jobs.
Plus, hell on a budget. See if military spending is going to change now that Rumsfeld is out of here.
All that and more right after a quick check of the headlines.
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