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Search Continues for Three Missing U.S. Soldiers; Immigration Reform Bill

Aired May 18, 2007 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: He is 23-year-old Sergeant Anthony Schober. His identification clears up any confusion over the names of the three missing soldiers. Coalition forces are now in their seventh day of searching for them. CNN's Hugh Riminton has been following the efforts. He joins us now from our Baghdad bureau. Hugh, any clues, any signs, any developments?
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well the search obviously still going on as intense as it has been over this last week. But nothing new to report on that. The name now coming out of Sergeant Anthony Schober of Reno, Nevada. His family says he was on his fourth tour of Iraq. His luck plainly running out. Now that does mean that we can identify by sheer process of elimination the three men that they are now looking for and they are Specialist Alex Jimenez, 25 years old of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Private Joseph Anzack, 20 years old of Torrance, California, and 19-year-old Private Byron Fouty of Waterford, Michigan. They are the three that they are looking for. It's worth bearing in mind that these are just the latest to be added to a list of more than 20 Americans who are still officially listed as missing in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON (voice-over): When news broke of the three U.S. soldiers seized Saturday south of Baghdad, it stabbed at the hearts of Entifadh Qanbar.

ENTIFADH QANBAR, UNCLE OF MISSING U.S. SOLDIER: I sat down for an hour alone memorizing like a flashback of what happened to us.

RIMINTON: Entifadh's nephew was the last U.S. soldier kidnapped in Iraq. Sergeant (INAUDIBLE) al Tai was seized last October. There has been just one ten-second glimpse of him since on an insurgent Web site. For the family of Scott Spiker, there has been even less. The longest standing American on the missing list in Iraq, he was a navy pilot shot down in the '91 gulf war. Clues and rumors kept hope alive. When Saddam Hussein was toppled, CNN found MSS, Spiker's initials, carved into the wall of a prison where other inmates spoke of an American captive. But there the trail ran out. Sergeant Matt Maupin was seized by insurgents early in this war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have never given up hope that Matt's alive and that they will find him. And we keep pushing issues that they're not going to leave him in Iraq like they did those guys in Vietnam.

RIMINTON (on camera): Not just soldiers, but journalists, aide workers, contractors, even a tourist, have been taken hostage in Iraq. Iraqis have been kidnapped themselves in their thousands, usually for quick ransom.

(voice-over): But Americans are the highest prize. According to the man who set up the U.S. embassy's hostage working group.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The danger level for Americans without question is the highest.

RIMINTON: Dan O'Shea has worked on hundreds of cases in Iraq, the toughest are always with al Qaeda or its associates.

DAN O'SHEA, FMR. U.S. HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: I mean these people, they don't negotiate. That's what we have to understand. I mean, the option for these soldiers is what, you know, is the option generally for Americans that we're going to rescue.

RIMINTON: Entifadh Qanbar still believes his nephew's American uniform is his strongest asset.

QANBAR: In a strange way, maybe it was positive because he became valuable and becoming valuable you keep your life. But you never know.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

RIMINTON: Now with so many insurgent groups active with so many motivations and memberships across Iraq, the key question perhaps for survival is who exactly is it that's holding you. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And so what is the feeling on whether those missing men would still be alive?

RIMINTON: Well, as Dan O'Shea there said, the worst possible option is to be taken by al Qaeda and it is al Qaeda or an affiliated group that they do believe have taken these three men. In the course of gathering intelligence however, the information has come in from different sources. One, according to General Lynch covering this area, that all are dead, but from other sources, that all are still alive. He says he is optimistic they are still alive and they will be found alive. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right Hugh Riminton, thanks so much. Everyone wants to hope for the best from Baghdad. Tony?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Grief and uncertainty for the families of the ambushed soldiers, the three missing soldiers are still listed as duty status whereabouts unknown. They are Specialist Alex R. Jimenez, 25 years old from Lawrence, Massachusetts. Private First Class Joseph J. Anzack, Jr., 20-years-old from Torrance, California. And Private Byron W. Fouty, 19 years old from Waterford, Michigan. The four soldiers killed in the ambush have been identified. They are Private First Class Daniel W. Courneya, he was 19 years old from Vermontville, Michigan. Sergeant First Class James D. Connell, Jr., he was 40 from Lake City, Tennessee. 21-year-old Private First Class Christopher E. Murphy, was from Gladys, Virginia and Sergeant Anthony J. Schober, he was 23 years old from Reno, Nevada.

WHITFIELD: Three hundred eighty pages of legislation hammered out by Senate and White House negotiators, crafting the immigration reform bill certainly wasn't easy. Passing it may be even tougher. CNN's Anderson Cooper reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans demanded action and today they got it.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: The agreement we just reached is the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders, bring millions of people out of the shadow and into the sunshine of America.

COOPER: A bipartisan group of senators struck a landmark deal that could pave the way to citizenship for every undocumented man, woman and child in this country. Here's how the plan would work. After meeting certain criteria, millions of illegal immigrants would receive temporary visas called "Z-visas" before applying for permanent legal status. They also would have to pay a $5,000 fine. Every head of the household would have to return to his or her country of origin within eight years. They are guaranteed to be let back in. And green cards would be issued based on a point system that would favor education over family ties. Senator Lindsey Graham says this bill will deliver justice.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: From the Ph.D. to the landscaper, there's a chance for you to participate in the American dream on our terms, a way that will make this country better.

COOPER: The other key points of the proposal include a guest worker program for hundreds of thousands to work in the U.S. for two years at a time. At the borders, patrols double. A new security perimeter created and the border fence expanded. In the workplace new enforcement procedures and strict penalties to employers who hire illegal aliens. So far President Bush likes what he sees.

BUSH: This is a bill where people who live here in our country will be treated without amnesty, but without animosity.

COOPER: But to critics it's amnesty, shouts of the word were heard at the capital today.

REP. BRIAN BILBRAY, (R) CALIFORNIA: If you think we're going to control illegal immigration by telling the world we're going to reward it, you can't build a fence tall enough to stop illegal immigration.

COOPER: Still the president says he's anxious to sign legislation as quickly as possible. He calls it a first step. The question is, is it the right one. Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And fears this morning that a huge wildfire along the Georgia-Florida line could spread. Brisk winds and rising temperatures are in the forecast. Not a good thing. The National Weather Service issued a dense smoke advisory in the northeastern part of Florida, a fire near Lake City covers more than 120 thousand acres and is 65 percent contained north of interstate 10. More than 700 homes have been evacuated. The fire which started in southeast Georgia near Waycross has burned more than 500 square miles, several aircraft have been dropping water and retardant on the flames.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, divvying up Iraq's oil money. One of the benchmarks Washington is watching. A top Iraqi diplomat joins us for a progress report. That is coming up in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And it's a gritty reality show. Hometown Baghdad now playing on an Internet site near you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you just hear for yourself.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This is serious business. It is life under the gun and that is straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Dozens of deputies descend on a crime scene but too late to save their comrades. Killed in the line of duty, that's coming up in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And U.S. citizens stopped at the border again and again and again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 17 straight times. I mean if I was a threat, why do they keep releasing me?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And he was detained without cause or was he a security threat? That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back, you're in the NEWSROOM, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Preyed on during prayer, a woman is attacked in church. The man gets away but he is caught on tape, that's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The presidency of the United States it would make for quite a pay cut for many of those seeking the office. Here is a quick look at the financial disclosure statements required by the Federal Election Commission. Several candidates have been granted extensions but among the Republicans who did file, Rudi Giuliani leads the pack. His assets anywhere between 18 and $70 million. A lot of room there. He is followed by Sam Brownback, Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter, rounding out the list Tom Tancredo and Mike Huckabee. John Edwards is tops among the Democrats with assets totaling more than $29 million. He is followed by Bill Richardson and Christopher Dodd, at the bottom of the list, Barack Obama and Joseph Biden.

WHITFIELD: Stopped at the border, a U.S. citizen finds you can't go home again without being detained. CNN's Jeanne Meserve reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even though he became a U.S. citizen just last year, Abe Dabdoub says he's as American as the next guy. But this manager at a manufacturing plant who lives and works in Ohio has to try to prove it over and over and over again, whenever he comes back home.

IBRAHIM "ABE" DABDOUB, OHIO RESIDENT: I don't know why anyone would consider me dangerous or, you know, wanting to do harm to this country.

MESERVE: Dabdoub is Palestinian. Born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Canada with relatives there he visit as couple of times a month.

DABDOUB: I put some detail here, if I was handcuffed, searched, fingerprinted, detained in the back room.

MESERVE: Since last August, he and his wife separately or together have returned from Canada 17 times and he says that each of those 17 times they have been detained.

DABDOUB: I would be ok if just to make everyone feel at ease who I am and the way I look, I was questioned, you know, an extra few minutes or detained once just to make sure that I was not going to do any harm to the country. But, it's 17 straight times. I mean, if I was a threat, why do they keep releasing me?

MESERVE: Why stop him again and again? Dabdoub has asked but has gotten no answers. It's become so predictable that he sometimes calls ahead to let border officials know he's coming. They know him well enough that they even gave his two children Easter baskets. A nice gesture, Dabdoub says, though the kids are Muslim. We followed Abe Dabdoub across the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor, Ontario to Detroit where all the stops have happened. At the U.S. checkpoint, sure enough, he is taken out of his car for questioning. We meet up him after his release.

DABDOUB: Par for the course.

MESERVE: How long?

DABDOUB: About 45 minutes. MESERVE: A second time I go with him. He's detained again. This time for about 50 minutes. Dabdoub insists that he is not a terrorist. But in your family have any ties that might raise alarm bells?

DABDOUB: No.

MESERVE: Any of your acquaintances have ties that might raise alarm bells?

DABDOUB: None.

MESERVE: Do you go to places that you think might raise alarm bells?

DABDOUB: Well if you mean going to the Toledo mud hands with my kids, maybe that's an issue, I don't know.

MESERVE: The Department of Homeland security will not talk about Abe Dabdoub but one official says it is not a coincidence if someone is stopped every time he enters the country. And a spokesman for the department says, quote, "The reality is that we live in a time when there are terrorists who want to come into our country and kill us." The department will not tell Dabdoub or us if he is perceived as a threat. But if he is and that explains his repeated detentions, just look at what happens when he and I cross the border at the Detroit Windsor tunnel. Less than five miles from the Ambassador Bridge where he gets stopped each and every time.

DABDOUB: I don't think this is going to be 45 minutes. I'm expecting two to four hours.

MESERVE: But, no, this time he sails through immigration in less than a minute.

DABDOUB: I got through. I have no idea why. And don't they have the same system that they're looking at? So am I on some sort of watch list and I'm a threat on one border but at another border entry point I'm not a threat?

MESERVE: Homeland Security refuses to comment on the inconsistency and the questions it raises about why one man is stopped and why he isn't. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, on the U.S.-Canadian border.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: A message here, Youtube to the Pentagon, lighten up. Let the troops log on, come on. Challenging the brass right here in the NEWSROOM.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: I'm Gerri Willis, cutting your costs for college debt and credit cards. It's coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Man, the big board, New York Stock Exchange, Fred look at this. Big bounce back from yesterday.

WHITFIELD: Hopping.

HARRIS: 13,500 -- oh, we're up over that marker. That will make Heidi Collins very happy, wherever she is on assignment today. The Dow up 70 points, the NASDAQ up seven. We are following all of the business headlines this morning with Susan Lisovicz right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: All right.

It's Friday, so it must mean a little chatting and e-mailing with our Gerri Willis. Credit cards, student loans and college savings, just some of the topics from viewers in today's e-mails. Hopefully you are ready to answer these questions. Good to see you, Gerri.

WILLIS: Good to see you Fred, happy Friday.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Always love those Fridays, launch into the weekend. All right, let's begin with the first e-mail. This one coming from Tracey who is asking about her $23,000 in student loans. My husband is already consolidated when the rates were high. We were at an 8.5 percent interest rate. Is there nothing else we can do to make the interest better? Help her out.

WILLIS: Well, Tracey, there's little if anything you can do. If you have at least one loan and it's not been consolidated, you can use that loan to consolidate everything, switch to a different lender, take advantage of some discounts. But, in all likelihood you may only save a quarter of a percentage point since the interest rate is calculated, it's very complicated, using a weighted average. That would be just a savings of $400 over the life of the loan. However, if every one of the loans are consolidated you can't really relock a lower rate. But all is not lost. Take advantage of student loan interest rate tax deductions that will make a difference. Or if you want to investigate taking out a home equity line of credit that has a lower interest rate you can do that and then use that money to pay off the loans.

WHITFIELD: You always get a break on your taxes when you do that with the equity line of credit.

WILLIS: That's right.

WHITFIELD: So how about this from Solange? I will always love that name. I owe close to $10,000 on my credit cards. I heard that applying for a balance transfer is a preferred method. So is it true?

WILLIS: Great idea. But you have to be careful. Devil's in the details. Look, fees on balance transfers have gone up and they can really be pretty steep. Most fees are 3 percent and caps at $75. But a lot of issuers are eliminating those caps, meaning there's no limit on the fees you can pay. But we did some homework for you. Here are three cards that have little or no balance transfer fees and low introductory rates. Ok, you're looking at them, AT&T universal platinum, blue cash from American Express, Discover Motiva Card. And you can check out more low introductory rate cards at cardratings.com.

WHITFIELD: All right. And this from Fred. I love that name, too. All right. And it's a he. He says, I have a 7-year-old son and we have about $5,000 that we're saving for his education. Someone told me that having the money in his name is not a good idea. I'm not sure what to do with it.

WILLIS: Well, that's -- Fred's right. Putting the money in the child's name could hurt your son's chances of getting financial aid when he's getting ready to apply for college. That's because colleges will see that money as available for college. So the better investment is to open up a 529 college savings plan. As we recently reported, fees are going down. Competition is heating up. To check out what's available in your state, great Web site, savingforcollege.com. The other alternative is to put money in a Coverdell Education Savings account. You can only put in $2,000 a year but the money can be used for grammar and high school expenses. Fred, of course if you have questions, if everybody out there has questions, send it to us at toptips@cnn.com. Whether it's college or credit cards, whatever you have. Load us up. We love hearing from the viewers and we love answering the questions right here.

WHITFIELD: And we love hearing your answers. Gerri Willis.

WILLIS: Lots of love. Good to see you Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, have a good weekend.

HARRIS: Divvying up Iraq's oil money. One of the benchmarks Washington is watching. A top Iraqi diplomat joins us for a progress report. Can't wait. That's coming up in minutes in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: All right. And rescuers try plan A today it's on to plan B. Wrong way whales in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Twenty-eight minutes after the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. Good morning, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Good morning, Tony.

HARRIS: Good to see you. I'm Tony Harris.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. New details are coming in from the site of a deadly ambush in Iraq almost a week ago. The U.S. Army now says Sergeant Anthony J. Schober is the fourth American killed in the insurgent attack. The formal identification takes away any doubt now about the names of three other soldiers who vanished from the site. A massive search for them was launched within hours of the ambush. An insurgent group has said that it took the men hostage.

HARRIS: We are following the deaths of two journalists in Iraq. They were Iraqi employees of ABC News, a photographer and his colleague, a sound man. The network says gunmen ambushed the men as they returned home from ABC's Baghdad bureau. More than 100 journalists are reported to have been killed in Iraq since the war began.

WHITFIELD: A high stakes money meeting on the Iraq war. It's going on right now on Capitol Hill. Among the key players, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton. Democrats want the war spending bill to include benchmarks and consequences if the Iraqis don't show progress. President Bush wants a bill with no strings attached. But he says he is open to some benchmarks. He hasn't detailed consequences if Iraq doesn't meet them. The president already vetoed one bill that included a timetable for withdrawal.

HARRIS: Progress report on Iraq. Washington is watching for action on three key benchmarks, sharing oil revenue, allowing former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to take up public positions, and constitutional reform.

Ambassador Hamid Al-Bayati is Iraq's permanent representative to the United Nations and he joins us from the U.N.

Mr. Ambassador, thank you for your time.

AMB. HAMID AL-BAYATI, PERMANENT REP. OF IRAQ TO U.N.: Thank you.

HARRIS: We've been looking forward to this conversation.

Let's start with, let's see, oil revenue, completion of an oil law. Will parliament enact such a law in days, weeks, months, when?

AL-BAYATI: Well, the fact that the economy comment and the cabinet approve the draft for the oil law means that there is some kind of consensus among different political groups. One of them is a member of (INAUDIBLE), who is the planning minister. He was in New York, and he told me that they had discussions and they managed to approve the law according to consensus among different political parties. So I think it will take weeks to approve this law by the parliament.

HARRIS: What has been the holdup?

AL-BAYATI: The point is that some regional government want the revenue to go to the regional government rather than to the central government, and some other factions refuse that. Now the consensus is that the oil revenues should go to the central government and then distributed to the provinces according to their population. So each single Iraqi will have his share or her share of the oil revenues.

HARRIS: You know, there is real concern that the legislation actually gives control of all oil production, particularly with the new Iraqi fields, to Big Oil.

AL-BAYATI: That's right. Now the consensus is that the regional government could give an initial contract subject to approval by a central comment that was set out, which is the High Commission for Oil and Gas in the country, and that commission will approve any contract given by the regional government. But the oil revenue will go to the central government, which is the important issue. HARRIS: Will Sunnis get a piece of the revenues?

AL-BAYATI: They will have their share according to their population because, as I mentioned, the money will be distributed to all the provinces according to their population.

HARRIS: And you expect this to be passed in weeks?

AL-BAYATI: I believe it will be passed in weeks.

HARRIS: And this is before the parliament leaves for summer vacation?

AL-BAYATI: The summer vacation now is some kind of effort to convince the parliament to take a short summer vacation rather than a two-month one.

HARRIS: And where do we stand on that? Are we talking about a shorter -- is there a consensus that a shorter, as opposed to a two- month vacation, is the better course of action here?

AL-BAYATI: Of course. We believe that the parliament needs to take action on certain issues like the ones you mentioned in your report, the oil law and debaathification, the constitution review. And I believe the parliament is doing well. It's proven we have now the record in the last six months that things we pass with all difficulties, with explosion took place in the parliament.

HARRIS: All right. Mr. Ambassador, you're a Shiite, but let me ask you on the question of provincial elections. Do you believe that the delay in holding these provincial elections have shut Sunnis out of political life and increased sectarian violence in Iraq?

AL-BAYATI: On the contrary. First of all, I represent all Iraq populations, Sunni, Shiite, Kurds, Syrians, all the population. Now I think, on the contrary, really, in the last six months we saw a record militias were crackdown. The sectarian violence is decreased. So there's a better situation now than six months ago, a year ago, and I think provincial elections coming soon, we need a law, and the parliament should pass that, because right now we don't have elected law for provincial elections.

HARRIS: So an agreement on provincial elections, days, weeks, before the summer vacation?

AL-BAYATI: Days would be really difficult. You know the situation in Iraq with, you know, this is democracy, when you have democracy, you have different point view. The parliament is consist from different groups and parties. I think ideally weeks, or even months, the provincial election could be held until months. There is no harm in that. There are more urgent issues, such as the debaathification, review of the constitution and the oil law.

HARRIS: Let's talk about debaathification. Was debaathification a mistake? AL-BAYATI: I think that we talked about Saddamism without Saddam. This is (INAUDIBLE) in his article in "Washington Post" on Sunday, when he called me saying, we need -- we were afraid that America would keep Saddamism without Saddam. And we have to distinguish between Saddamism and Baathism, and really it concern me that Ambassador Bremer doesn't distinguish between Saddamism and Baathism. The Baath Party, we have negotiation with. They can have public posts, but Saddamism, those who are loyal to Saddam, who are fighting, who are killing Iraqis, there's no way for them to have public posts.

HARRIS: How do you go about the process of figuring out whether an individual person is a Saddamist or a Baathist, who should be allowed back into a government position?

AL-BAYATI: It should be a judicial process rather than political one, and this is a mistake. Debaathificaton be a judicial one, and the judge or the court should look into criminals and non-criminals, rather than Baathist and non-Baathist.

HARRIS: So a deal on allowing former Baath Party members to hold jobs in the government, is it days, weeks or months away?

AL-BAYATI: Well, again, it is so difficult to predict and to speculate. So I think, again, weeks, probably months, but definitely the debaathification is an urgent issue, and right now the leadership, the presidential committee, the two deputies running for the Islamic Party and one from SCIRI, who are Shiite and Sunnis, in addition to the president who is a Kurd. They are working together for a draft to sort out the problematic issues in the constitution.

HARRIS: So you really can't answer that question? You just don't know at this point how long it will take to reach an agreement?

AL-BAYATI: I think months will be the answer.

HARRIS: OK. And one last question. What hopes do you have for the upcoming talks at the ministerial level between the U.S. ambassador and Iran's ambassador, foreign minister?

AL-BAYATI: Well, the Iraqi government view, as well as Baker- Hamilton Commission, was that Iran should be engaged. And I met Baker in New York, who told me that there is no harm in engaging neighboring countries. So we think that really this negotiation could help to improve the security situation in Iraq.

HARRIS: Mr. Ambassador, thanks for your time this morning.

AL-BAYATI: Thank you.

HARRIS: OK, we appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: He says he's the best in the business. And soon his work will be seen worldwide. Kabul kite maker in the movies, in the NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: It's a whale of a problem, two, actually. Scientists are trying to lure two injured humpback whales back into the Pacific Ocean, using underwater recordings of humpback whale groans and chirps. The mother and calf are stranded 90 miles up the Sacramento River. They apparently took a wrong turn during their migration north.

HARRIS: Another day, another record and another report showing that soaring gas prices are forcing consumers to cut back on other purchases. Makes sense.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details. Susan, good morning.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: Man, this story, attacked in a sacred place. Look at the video here. This is from a Middletown, New York church.

WHITFIELD: This is outrageous.

HARRIS: A man approaches a woman in a pew, reaches into her shirt and grabs her chest, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Please, people.

HARRIS: She does a great job, she fights back.

WHITFIELD: He's a heathen.

HARRIS: Yes, she fights back, she -- she grabs a pen and she just starts stabbing at the guy.

WHITFIELD: You go, girl.

HARRIS: The woman runs to an alarm. The man runs for the door. He is captured on another surveillance video camera as he gets away, but perhaps not for long. A local media report, police have a person in custody and we'll talk about it in a news conference perhaps next hour.

WHITFIELD: Yes, some will recognize this man.

HARRIS: Yes, exactly.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, maybe you recognize this story. Kabul, it's a long way from Hollywood, but one man is able to make the journey on a kite.

CNN's Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kite flying is not just a calm afternoon passion here, but a centuries' old competitive sport, a passion.

The Taliban repressed it, now it's beginning to flourish anew. A best-selling American book, "The Kite Runner," and a Hollywood movie based on it and coming out soon is showing how central it is to life here, its ferocity, mirroring Afghanistan's harsh ways.

Working in his mud-built house in Kabul, Muhammad is a fourth- generation kite maker and competitor, perhaps Kabul's most famous. Last year, he won a national award for kite making but says he's even better at kite fighting. His children are learning, too. The family is well-known here.

Now, a measure of fame is headed its way. Mohammed has been asked to train actors with a big budget Paramount Pictures movie.

MOHAMMED ESSAM, KITE MAKER (through translator): We came here. They ask and they found out that I'm the best in this kite flying market. And therefore, they send us two boys to be trained by me.

ROBERTSON: Easy, for this 50-year-old father of 12 has been teaching his children for decades. The key to the sport is not just to fly the kite but use the glass covered string to cut the threads of an opponent's. When he can, he likes to work outside. He lives in the graveyard, he says, because it's close to his market, the old traditional part of town. As he whittles, his kites rise and tumble from neighboring roofs. His boast is the best in the business, almost cost him his role in helping the moviemakers.

ESSAM (through translator): Shopkeepers do not want me to be more famous. And they do not show or give my address to them. Therefore, they say -- they send them to someone else. But, finally, people can find me.

ROBERTSON: He learned from his father, who learned from his, who learned from his, more than 100 years of wisdom, outlasting invading armies and kings. Six-year-old Sabra (ph) and five-year-old Sabur (ph), instinctively know their part in this ancient craft. Sabra (ph) sells her own kites for a couple of cents. Thirteen-year-old Hassan (ph) works alone. He owns $20 a kite. He's the only one who's been told the secret to the family's success.

(on camera): The secret, what -- what's inside? What's the secret?

(voice-over): His answer, simple, he's not telling. If he did, he says, I'd steal his business. He gets $200 for the best kites. That's a lot of money here, three times the average monthly government salary. So competitive is the market, he marks his kites with a scorpion to prevent imitations and brags he gets orders of 500 kites at a time.

(on camera): And this is where people come to do battle with their kites on a hill overlooking Kabul. And there's plenty of evidence of those battles. String litters the ground everywhere.

(voice-over): On the war-scarred hillside, the pages of kite runner are played out. Young boys chase the losers' fallen kites and keep them as trophies. But for Mohammed, there is always one nagging worry.

ESSAM (through translator): Sometimes I ask my mother that -- am I famous or not? My dad was famous. But my mom answers, that, no, you're one step ahead of your father.

ROBERTSON: If the movie is half as popular as the book, he can stop worrying about who's the best, until his children grow up.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Like an MTV reality show, inside a war zone, "Hometown Baghdad" shows life as more than bombs. You'll see for yourself in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: Iraq reality, young people sending a message: their lives are about more than war.

CNN's Mary Snow reports.

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MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Saif (ph), he's 24, graduated from dental school and alone in Baghdad. His bride-to- be, family and friends, have left.

SAIF (ph): This is my traditional uniform. I wear this 24-7.

SNOW: Saif is one of three characters in "Hometown Baghdad."

SAIF (ph): Why don't you just hear for yourself.

SNOW: A new show on the Internet described as part MTV, part documentary. Adel (ph) is a student, and rock 'n roller.

ADEL (ph): Welcome to Baghdad.

SNOW: In this episode, Adel talks to his young brother and cousin, who witnessed a murder on their way home from school, and then go on to play.

ADEL (ph): They play those kinds of games all day long.

SNOW: Last names are not used for security reasons. Osama (ph) is a medical student.

OSAMA (ph): I remember that me and my friends used to hang out until 1:00 a.m., and those places now are destroyed. SNOW: From dating to going to school to playing music, they roll cameras on their everyday lives, then send the footage to producers and editors in New York. Here, it's being compiled into a series.

KATE HILLIS, EXEC. PROD., "HOMETOWN BAGHDAD": We're trying to not be political. We're trying to just show what life is like in Baghdad. When you're -- you know, in your early 20s, I don't think that -- that you see that much.

SNOW: The team in New York works with their Iraqi producer Fady, who spoke to us by Webcam in his home in Baghdad. He says he wants the world to see that Iraqis are not just insurgents or terrorists.

FADY, PRODUCER, "HOMETOWN BAGHDAD": I believe in the work that I am doing, and I believe in the message that we are trying to send here. So, I think it's worth it to put ourselves in danger to make it, to finish this project.

SNOW: Three times a week, the episodes air on the Web. Producers originally wanted to get it on television, but were turned down.

LAURIE MEADOFF, EXEC. PROD., "HOMETOWN BAGHDAD": If they would say, it's really too scary or one person even said, you know, that's over.

SAIF (ph): I got this -- this gun ...

SNOW: Executive producer Laurie Meadoff says more than two million people have watched the episodes so far on the Web. She says TV producers are now calling her.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

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WHITFIELD: Millions eyeball YouTube every day. Active duty troops overseas, no longer YouTube viewers. The Web site's founders, coming to the troops' defense now. They're disputing the Pentagon's decision to block YouTube on defense department computers. The Pentagon says troops are sapping too much bandwidth watching and uploading videos. YouTube's founders say that can't be the case. They contend the military's huge computer network has plenty of capacity.

HARRIS: Watching the wind and feeling the heat. Firefighters in Georgia and Florida prepare for a busy day. The story ahead in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And grim news out of Iraq. One family's worst fears confirmed now. The hopes of three other families now depend on this search. We'll explain, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: And good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN, you're informed. I'm Tony Harris.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Heidi Collins is on assignment.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM this Friday, May 18th. Here's what's on the rundown. Sergeant Anthony Schober, identified now as the fourth soldier killed in that Iraq ambush. The search for three soldiers he fought alongside still going on now.

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