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Search for Missing Soldiers; Assault in Karbala; Search For Missing U.S. Soldiers in Iraq Continues; Why Are Gas Prices Rising?

Aired May 21, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: To call Andrew Kinard a hero and an inspiration doesn't really do him justice. Despite being badly wounded in Iraq, near death, in fact, the Marine has recovered his health and his sense of humor.
Here's CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six months ago, Lieutenant Andrew Kinard stepped on an IED in Iraq. Bleeding, in shock, and with massive abdominal injuries, he still was all Marine, giving orders to establish a security perimeter.

LT. ANDREW KINARD, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I was told that I was saying it so much that my Marines just said: "Sir, be quiet. We have got it. Just do something else," you know? So, then I started telling jokes.

STARR: Few can imagine the physical and emotional pain this 24- year-old now endures.

KINARD: My left leg was taken all the way off, you know, completely. And my right leg, I still have a small little portion remaining above the knee, so that, hopefully, one day, I will be able to walk on prosthetics, and, you know, hopefully, be able to stand as tall as I used to be.

STARR: He talks with remarkable candor.

(on camera): Do have you any different feeling about Iraq now, having come back, than you did before you went?

KINARD: I don't think so. I had the same feeling before -- you know, maybe -- maybe, sometimes, bitter thoughts about it. You know, that's when I'm just feeling down.

STARR (voice-over): This extraordinary young man is blunt about what he says the years ahead will bring him.

KINARD: A decision to wake up every morning and -- and make a choice, you know: Hey, I'm going to get up today, and I'm going to improve myself, and get better, and continue to push. You know, so, I'm going to have to make that decision for the rest of my life.

STARR: But, as he copes with so much, still, plenty of Andrew's humor shines through.

KINARD: This is a -- this is a neat T-shirt that I just got. You know, on the front, it says "Marine for Sale," and in the back, it says ...

STARR (on camera): Can I -- can I pull it down?

KINARD: Yes, absolutely.

You know, I think it's like, what, 25 to 50 percent off, "Some Assembly Required." I thought it was a funny shirt. So, I'm wearing it.

STARR (voice-over): But always a Marine. He's already figured out how to come to attention.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, we saw Lieutenant Kinard -- Kinard wheeling around in Barbara's piece. Well, he's now begun practicing walking on short prostheses known as stubbies. As his balance gets better, well, he will use taller ones to get around.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

It offered refuge, if not much else, to generations of Palestinians in Lebanon.

PHILLIPS: Today, a refugee village near Tripoli is the most dangerous place in a dangerous country.

And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Lebanon shaken by the worst internal fighting in years, and it's unfolding before our very eyes, explosions, smoke, automatic gunfire turning a Palestinian refugee camp into a battleground near the northern city of Tripoli.

Lebanese troops are taking on Islamic militants suspected of ties to al Qaeda. Dozens of people are dead, and toll is sure to rise. The center of the fighting is the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. It opened to displaced Palestinians back in 1950.

More than 31,000 are registered there today. The camp, basically a small city, has just one health center. It handles almost 500 patients a day.

LEMON: Straight to the NEWSROOM now, T.J. Holmes working details on a developing story -- T.J. T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

This story is one we watched over the weekend out of Moscow, Idaho, where a man went apparently on a bit of a shooting spree, ended up four people dead in this thing. Another two were injured.

But what happened -- and we're looking at some video here -- was that a gentleman who has now been identified as Jason Hamilton, 36- year-old from Moscow, Idaho, apparently just started opening fire on the courthouse there in Moscow, Idaho, ended up taking up a position at a church across the street from that courthouse, where there was a standoff with police into the early morning hours on Sunday.

Police finally went into that church and did find him and another person dead. And, again, they say Jason Hamilton is the shooter -- no motive here, but, also, a police officer was killed in this thing, also, the church caretaker and another two civilians injured as well.

We just heard a short time ago from the assistant police chief in Moscow, Idaho, talking about someone else who was found dead, actually, the wife of Jason Hamilton, who was also found dead.

Let's take a listen to what the police, assistant police chief, had to say just a moment ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DUKE, MOSCOW, IDAHO, ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF: After Hamilton was identified, members of the Idaho State Police went to his last known address at 1020 Julian Way (ph) to conduct a welfare check on Hamilton's wife.

Entering into the residence at 10:20 a.m., they located Crystal Anne (ph) Hamilton, 30 years of age, in a bedroom, deceased with a gunshot to the head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, Crystal Hamilton, the wife of the shooter, that police say is the shooter, Jason Hamilton, 30 years old, found dead as well -- in addition to Jason Hamilton, also, the caretaker of the church where Jason Hamilton was holed up found dead, and also a police officer, the first to respond to the scene, after that shooting was reported late Saturday night, early Sunday morning, also dead.

That officer, by the way, is officer Lee Newbill, who, just to give you an idea of this town, he is the first Moscow, Idaho, officer to ever be killed in the line of duty -- so, a sad story there.

This is where the University of Idaho is located. But, just to give you an idea there, this is not a violent town, not something you would ever expect in a town like this. And, again, their first officer ever killed in the line of duty was involved in this -- so -- so, just some details of -- of a story, a breaking story, we were following all weekend here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, T.J., appreciate it.

U.S. troops in Iraq still trying to honor their pledge to leave no comrade behind. The G.I.s are searching for three fellow soldiers as if they're still alive, more than a week after attackers kidnapped them and killed four other U.S. soldiers.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been talking to the commander leading the search. She joins us now -- Barbara.

STARR: Well, Kyra, we spoke earlier today to Colonel Mike Kershaw. He is the commander 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, the unit the men are part of and the unit that it continues to search for their comrades who are missing.

Colonel Kershaw had some things to say about what they now believe may have happened to the missing soldiers just moments after that attack last weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLONEL MIKE KERSHAW, COMMANDER, 2ND BRIGADE, 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION: The soldiers, we believe, were drug from the attack area, transloaded and moved from the immediate incident site.

We are searching, you know, areas both close in and far out along what we believe -- or what we would call routes of egress, trails, roads, cross-river, places we believe soldiers could have been moved who an enemy wanted to egress from the target area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Kyra, what's going on, really, is they have now expanded the search to about a 200-square-mile area. Today, they moved across to the other side of the Euphrates River, looking for them on that side as well, due to some tips.

What they have been trying to do is calculate how far perhaps the attackers could have gotten down a road or through fields to take these soldiers once they grabbed them after the attack, how far they could have gotten before the U.S. military could put up the roadblocks and shut that area down in the opening minutes after the attack.

So, they are working off those presumptions. They have found a number of items. They have tested DNA on them, military items. But, so far, they haven't really found anything that they are firmly convinced belonged to any of the three soldiers. Ten days into this, Kyra, the search goes on.

Colonel Kershaw and his men say they will keep at it until they find their comrades -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara, thanks.

And, coming up in 30 minutes, we are going to hear from Major General Rick Lynch, as the search continues for those three missing soldiers. LEMON: Reforming immigration, the very idea has sparked huge demonstrations across the U.S. Today, it's fuelling a formal debate on the Senate floor.

At issue is a fragile bipartisan compromise forged last week, a sweeping measure already under siege from bipartisan critics. Supporters say the bill offers a fair, but tough path toward legal status for millions. Opponents call it amnesty.

Here's how the bill breaks down. It offers temporary legal status to most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. by allowing them to seek a so-called Z visa. Now, the bill also provides an eventual path toward permanent residency, a process that could take years and involve thousands of dollars in fines and fees.

Before starting that path, heads of legal immigrant households would have to go back to their home countries. They are guaranteed a return to the U.S. The bill also toughens border security and cracks down on employers who continue to hire illegal immigrants.

And, tonight, a special "LARRY KING LIVE" -- Larry travels to the U.S.-Mexican border for a special report on immigration. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Well, they may be taking a rest. That's what a government expert says about two wayward whales who were swimming back toward the Pacific Ocean this morning, then stopped.

A Coast Guard official says the mother and calf have moved 15 miles down the Sacramento River, leaving 45 mile to the Golden Gate Bridge. Almost two dozen boats are keeping tabs on the whales and trying to keep them on course, but ever so gently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE EDINGER, CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME DEPARTMENT: As far as our underwater operations, we are monitoring the whales' movement. We are encouraging, but we are not prodding, the whales along.

We are enforcing a 500-yard restricted area for private craft, keeping private craft away from the whales. And we're also working to make observations to keep any aircraft away from the area. We do have a temporary flight restriction of 1,000 feet and one mile away from this operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The coast Guard says it's prepared to bang pipes in the water to encourage the whales downstream. Also, the mother whale will be tagged to help officials keep track of her.

LEMON: More than 100 years of British naval history up in flames, but don't give up the ship yet -- just yet. There's still some good news about the Cutty Sark -- straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Going hog wild. Or is it wild hog? Boars roam a city park. And you don't want to meet one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he was to bite you, if he didn't break the bone, too, he would at least pull all the meat off the bone, and you would have -- if he got you by the hand, you would have bones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The new city slickers -- straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is 12 past the hour. Here are three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Breaking news out of northern Lebanon: Fresh fighting breaks out between Lebanese troops and Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp. It's the worst internal fighting Lebanon has seen in years.

The worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history revisited -- a special panel investigating the Virginia Tech massacre tours the buildings where 32 people were killed and the gunman committed suicide. The panel is looking into the chain of events and the police response to that.

And, in California, two humpback whales seem to be treading water. Coast Guard boats are trying to steer the calf and her mother that took a wrong turn up the Sacramento River back to the open ocean. Now, they have made some progress, but now the whales are apparently swimming back and forth under the bridge.

We have some developing news happening. We want to get you to the NEWSROOM.

T.J., what are you working on for us?

HOLMES: We're going to take you to Caracas, Venezuela, here, Don. And we saw some protests over the weekend, on Saturday, actually, pretty massive, tens of thousands protesting that a television station there is going to be shut down, is going to get off the air, because of President Hugo Chavez not a big fan of it.

These are protests we're looking at today, not as massive as the ones we saw over the weekend, where tens of thousands were protesting. But, certainly, certainly, hundreds and maybe even thousands -- and this one that we're seeing today, this video coming to us from Global Television.

But what's happened here is, it's called Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV. This is a network that, has, in fact, been critical of the Hugo Chavez government. Well, Hugo Chavez, in a move that's angered a lot of free-speech groups, is refusing now to renew the license of this television station that has been critical of his government. That license is set to expire on the 27th of this month, so, in about a week. So, at midnight on May 27, they will no longer have a license and will be off the air.

Hugo Chavez contends that the only way that license will be renewed is if Hugo Chavez is no longer president of Venezuela. This is the old -- the oldest private network there in town, does a -- does a lot of news, talk shows, soap operas, even a little "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" version, but -- but has long been, I guess, a voice of free speech, a lot of people would say, and also a voice that's been critical of the Chavez government.

And now this voice is about to be taken away. Yet to be seen if this is going to be worked out, a lot of negotiations going on, and a lot of pleas being made by the folks there at RCTV to stay on the air, reaching out to other governments, reaching out to other people.

But, right now, Hugo Chavez has taken this line that he's not going to allow this -- this TV station to stay on the air, going to be replaced by a public service station, according to the Chavez government, but, still this voice of opposition being taken away, it appears, in about a week -- just keeping you updated on something we have been keeping an eye on over the weekend, and still continues today -- Don.

LEMON: T.J., thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, last link to Britain's maritime past, the Cutty Sark survived for many beatings Mother Nature gave it. But an expensive makeover, of all things, almost sank the London landmark.

CNN's Phil Black reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The old girl never had a chance. She had survived decades of some of the world's most treacherous seas, set speed records across the globe, and, then, in mere minutes, was gone in the murky light of a London dawn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a big bang. We went outside, and it was just on -- on fire, flames going about 20 -- 20 feet in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The whole ship was just ablaze. It was uncontrollable. Fire brigade were there by the time we got there, but their sort of engines kept turning up. It was quite slow to get the hoses going. Then, eventually, we saw them get going. They kicked us all back to this point here, about 100 feet away. And, from there, you know, they just said (INAUDIBLE) hotel around the corner.

BLACK: The historic clipper had been on display here for half-a- century, one of the world's best loved tourist attractions, closed for a $50 million restoration project.

As luck would have it, many of the ship's original fixtures had been removed and were out of harm's way when the flames took hold.

CHRIS LIVETT, CUTTY SARK ENTERPRISES: There's over 50 -- 50 to 60 percent of the ship away. The masts, for example, the deck housing, the wheel, the figureheads, the coach housing, the rigging has all been put away into storage. And that is safe. That is secure.

BLACK: But whether the ship can be saved depends on its iron frame. If that wasn't damaged by the intense heat, the Cutty Sark can be rebuilt. Police are treating the fire as suspicious.

INSPECTOR BRUCE MIDDLEMISS, GREENWICH BOROUGH POLICE: At the moment, we -- WE have no leads as to what started the fire. CCTV was covering when the fire was actually ablaze. And it -- there were people in the area. There's no evidence or link to these people actually starting the fire, but they may be able to give us some vital information that leads to -- to find out what did.

BLACK: The Cutty Sark was open to the public in Greenwich in 1997. Since then, it has been visited by 15 million people.

(on camera): In its working life, the Cutty Sark was a legend, smashing speed records on trade routes between the world's most distant cities. The people behind the restoration say this ship has survived hardship before, and it will again.

CHRIS ROBERTS, GREENWICH COUNCIL: The Cutty Sark ship has seen a number of trials and tribulations during its history. This is yet another one, but she will overcome it.

BLACK: Bad luck or historic vandalism? Either way, it begins a new chapter in a storied life spanning almost 140 years.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.

When NEWSROOM returns, I will have a refined analysis about the price of crude.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Prices at the pump are at record levels, and oil is soaring today. But the crude reality is, it's not just oil that is causing gas prices to rise.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us what goes into the price of a gallon of gas.

We know what goes into that price of a gallon of gas.

(LAUGHTER)

LISOVICZ: It's like all of our sweat equity, right...

PHILLIPS: Exactly.

LISOVICZ: ... our entire paycheck, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Every -- every paycheck. You got it.

LISOVICZ: Yes. Carpooling never looked so good, Kyra.

Crude is the largest component of a price of a gallon of gas. But it's sure not the only thing. We spent some time trying to break it down for you, starting at the bottom, moving up, the price of oil worth approximately $1.50 out of today's national average of $3.19, just less than half.

Refining costs and profits are the second largest component, making up another $1.08. Taxes, which, of course, vary by state, eat up about 38 cents. And marketing and distribution, which includes the gas station's profit, make up another 23 cents.

Who makes the most money? Well, it depends, but, usually, there are several companies, from the explorers, to the refiners, to distributors, to gas station owners. The latter, of course, are the ones who hear from the public the most.

But, as we have said before, in most cases, gas stations take less than 10 cents on a gallon. And they certainly hear it from us about the price hikes.

Now, while crude makes up a big part of the price we pay, the biggest jump in the components in the last couple of months has been refining. In March, when gas was about $2.56 a gallon, refining was about 61 cents of that. In April, when gas was about $2.88 a gallon, refining was about 86 cents.

And, now, with gas at $3.19, on average, a gallon, assuming no major changes in taxes or the cost of distribution and marketing, the cost of refining a gallon of gas has jumped to $1.08 -- 47 cents a gallon in two months. And that's one of the things contributing to these price hikes, obviously, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, yes. And we can all agree that gas prices are too high. But people don't seem to be changing their lifestyles very much. It's always that way, right, like, OK, yes, it's expensive, but I'm still going to take my SUV across country.

(LAUGHTER)

LISOVICZ: Well, so -- so far, that is. We haven't reach that -- that number, boy, but it seems like we're really testing people.

And we spoke to some folks today, Kyra. And the general consensus seems to be, what choice do we really have?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm traveling from Brooklyn every day to New Jersey to work. And it's costing me a lot out of my pocket. You know what I'm saying? But just got to continue driving. It's the only way to me reaching my work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure, it has an effect. There's nothing I can do about it. I have to drive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm driving less. You know, once in a while, I'm commuting with the PATH train. So, I'm getting back and forth that way as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of $45, maybe it was $28. So, it's a jump of about $17 two times a week, so, $35 a week. So, it's not too bad. So, maybe it will come down some time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LISOVICZ: Two words: wishful thinking on that. But AAA says not likely to come down, not soon. The motorist group expects gas to approach $3.25 a gallon over the next two months.

And crude, by the way, one of the big components of a price of gas, up $1.33 -- today alone above $66 a barrel.

The market is up too, mostly. So, that's good news as well -- the Dow industrials under a little bit of pressure right now. The blue chips are down six points. But the Nasdaq is up 18, or about three-quarters-of-a-percent. And the S&P is up as well, up about a fifth-of-a-percent. We will see if that very important average closes at an all-time high. Could be very likely -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Susan, see you again in a little bit.

And you can get more on oil and gas price trends at CNNMoney.com, get in-depth analysis of what's happening and why, and find out what you can do. Go to CNNMoney.com.

LEMON: A wild animal captured in the heart of New Orleans -- that's straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, this just in to CNN.

We have been reporting about this in Tripoli, in Lebanon, happening, the fighting happening there. Apparently -- this is according to Reuters -- there has been a truce. And we're just getting this in.

A cease-fire to end the battles between Lebanese troops and al Qaeda-inspired militants in northern Lebanon was agreed on, on Monday. That's according to a representative of the Palestinian faction in Lebanon. And they told the news organization Reuters that. Now, here's what that agreement says. It says: "This is an agreement for a cease-fire which has already gone into effect. And we hope that this is a permanent cease-fire." That is from Abu Imad Al Rifai. He's Islamic Jihad's representative in -- in Lebanon, again, telling those words to Reuters.

"Now, once all of the hostilities stop, Fatah al-Islam should evacuate all its newly acquired positions and end any appearance of arms," that same representative says. And, of course, the Fatah al- Islam is a Palestinian-led militant group based in the Nahr al-Bared camp, home to 40,000 Palestinian refugees.

Again, we're getting word of a cease-fire in all of this fighting this morning, according to a representative there who has been telling the news organization Reuters that.

We're going to keep on top of this, and bring you the very latest right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's been more than a week since attackers kidnapped three U.S. soldiers in Iraq. They haven't been seen or heard from since. But it's not for a lack of looking.

The search is still intense, as the military tries to make good on its pledge to leave no comrade behind. Troops are assuming the missing soldiers are still alive.

And, a short time ago, I spoke with Major General Rick Lynch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. RICK LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: We're day 10 into the search, and we're pursuing it with the same passion we did on the first day. We've got, you know, 37 company-level operations that are taking place. We've got 4,000 U.S. soldiers, 2,000 Iraqi soldiers. And we're not going to stop until we find our fallen comrades. That's part of our war ethos.

PHILLIPS: And sir, just over the weekend, General David Petraeus coming forward saying he believes that those men are still alive.

Do you believe that? And tell me why you are standing up and saying that in a time where, of course, there are a lot of people here and overseas concerned about those men.

LYNCH: Well, no one is more concerned about these men than we are. We have about 249 intelligence reports we're following, the majority of which tell us our soldiers are still alive.

So we choose to be cautiously optimistic. And we're pursuing all leads with a passion. But right now we believe that our soldiers are still alive. Each day that passes when we don't see proof of life, it causes us concern.

PHILLIPS: Sir, where are those leads coming from? Do you feel like you're getting good intel from Iraqi civilians, from Iraqi military? Where do you think you're getting that good intelligence?

LYNCH: We're getting most of the leads from the Iraqi population. A hundred and ninety of those leads are human (ph) leads from the Iraqi population, where folks are trying to come forward and give us some intelligence that allows us to find our missing soldiers.

PHILLIPS: Have you found any evidence? I know that a number of things have been picked up along these searches. What stands out to you? What do you think is an important sign of something that has been found that may lead you to these men?

LYNCH: Well, you know, we've detained over 1,000 individuals for tactical questioning, and we're talking to each and every one. Two of those individuals have confessed to being part of the attack a week ago Saturday, so they're giving us actual intelligence that we continue to follow through.

PHILLIPS: So you actually have men that are detained that were involved in that ambush that are giving you good intel?

LYNCH: Yes, that's exactly right. And they have known ties to Sunni extremist organizations. They're providing us actionable intelligence.

PHILLIPS: And sir, why would they extremists want to keep these men alive? What would be the purpose of doing that?

LYNCH: I have no idea. I just hope and pray that they do keep them alive so that we can recover our missing soldiers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: General Lynch commands the troops conducting the search for three missing U.S. soldiers.

LEMON: U.S. troops had been after the architect of the brazen attack on U.S. forces in Karbala for months. And this weekend, they got him.

Azhar al-Dulaymi is suspected of masterminding the January 20th attack that left five soldiers dead. You'll remember it. The insurgents wore U.S. military uniforms, drove American vehicles, and even spoke English. Al-Dulaymi was wounded in a raid in Sadr City over the weekend. The military says he died en route to the hospital.

Infiltrating a U.S. military base in the Iraqi heartland is no spur-of-the-moment operation. At first, the scope of what happened in Karbala wasn't even clear to the outside world.

CNN's Tom Foreman filed this report in January, just days after the diabolical plot was carried out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New details suggest the attack in Karbala was precise, well rehearsed and very different from the assault the Pentagon first described.

5:00 in the afternoon, a dozen American troops are reviewing security plans for an upcoming Shia pilgrimage to two important shrines. And a dozen gunmen wearing uniforms much like the Americans are heading straight toward them.

They travel in a convoy of at least five American-made SUVs, such as those used by high level military brass. Three times, the gunmen stop at Iraqi checkpoints, three times, they apparently pass themselves off as Americans and are waved through. When they reach the compound where U.S. troops are working, they unleash gunfire and explosives.

Five U.S. soldiers were killed, the governor of the town first reports, but the Defense Department now says only one American soldier is killed on the spot. Four others are abducted.

The convoy speeds away, outside town the kidnappers hit another checkpoint. Iraqi police let them through again, but suspicious, start following them. The convoy heads east, then north, and finally, the insurgents abandon their vehicles.

The Pentagon says two American soldiers are found handcuffed together dead in the back of one SUV. Each shot through the head. A third is dead on the ground nearby and a fourth found alive dies on the way to a hospital. It is a much more complex story than the first version from the military.

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I've just been made aware of the discrepancy in the account and I've asked for the specifics about it.

FOREMAN: This tactic of enemies posing as friends is not new. Two years ago, a suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi soldier struck a mess tent.

In Saudi Arabia when terrorists hit a U.S. compound, they even made a training tape showing how they painted an SUV to look like a police car. Military analysts say this attack was exceedingly well planned.

Pat Lang is retired from military intelligence.

COL. PAT LANG, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Whoever was involved in this is a professional who really knew how to do this.

FOREMAN: But investigators still want to know if the kidnappers had help from someone the Americans trusted, someone on the inside.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, is in the U.S., but it's no state visit. He's getting a checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He says he wants to lose weight. Talabani recently spent more than two weeks in a hospital in Jordan after collapsing. He's 73 years old.

LEMON: The White Housing firing back. What a former president said about the current one. Oh, man. And then the sharp response, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Privacy rights versus public safety. MySpace makes a decision about sharing sex offender names with law enforcement officials.

Stick around for details right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Let's get you straight to the newsroom.

(NEWSBREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you can't say something nice, you can always clarify it later. You may have heard Jimmy Carter's quote to an Arkansas newspaper that the Bush administration was the worst in history in its impact around the world. Well, the White House fired back, calling Carter irrelevant. But in New York today, the former president clarified his remarks, saying it was perhaps careless or misinterpreted.

LEMON: Well, you sent us a lot of e-mails about the war of words between former president Carter and the Bush administration.

PHILLIPS: Here's what some of you had to say.

Gene writes, "Jimmy Carter should shut up about any administration. His was absolutely the worst, with double-digit inflation and 18 percent interest rates. He sold the Shah down the river and gave Iran to the mullahs. He had the worst administration in my lifetime, and I have been around for a few."

LEMON: But Rene wrote just the opposite. "George Bush is the worst president. Jimmy Carter is the only former president who has actually personally helped people. He has not tried to enrich himself or to profit in any way from being president. He is not irrelevant. He is a national treasure."

PHILLIPS: And Barbara expressed her feelings this way: "Many Americans would agree with Jimmy Carter's assessment of President Bush. If anyone is 'irrelevant,' it is George W. Bush. The president is totally out of touch with U.S. citizens and feels that everything must be his way or the highway."

LEMON: All right. This is our favorite one. It's the e-mail of the day. It came from Larry.

Larry writes, "When it comes to bad presidents, I do not think either man is a candidate for Mt. Rushmore."

Thanks to all of you for e-mails in to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, as a one-term president, Jimmy Carter won some key victories, but he also suffered humiliating defeats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice over): A peanut farmer from Georgia, a born-again Christian, a man fond of quoting the bible. This was Jimmy Carter when he was elected the nation's 39th president in 1976.

Amid the aftershocks of Watergate, Americans widely embraced this first president from the Deep South since before the civil war. Four years later, they handed him a stinging defeat by voting overwhelmingly for Ronald Reagan.

In the summer before the 1980 election, a Gallup poll found Carter's approval rating to be 21 percent, the lowest of any president in the previous 40 years. Americans blame Carter for the nation's high inflation, a condition created in part by the '70s oil crisis and high unemployment.

On the international front, many criticized Carter for not being tough enough in responding to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The U.S. boycotted the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, but failed to get wide support for the move.

And then there was the Iranian hostage crisis. Dozens of Americans held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Eight American troops died in a failed attempt to rescue them. Adding salt to Carter's wound, the hostages were freed just as Reagan was being sworn in as president.

Of Carter's achievements, the crowning one was the Camp David Accords, in which Egypt formally recognized the state of Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, among the countless ordeals New Orleans has had to struggle with post-Katrina, no one expected wild boar. Right in the heart of the city.

CNN Gulf Coast Correspondent Susan Roesgen takes us on an urban hog hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Say "wild animals" in the same breath as "New Orleans" and most people think of drunk college kids on Bourbon Street. But the wild animal we found is real.

You are looking at a wild boar, all 150 snorting, smelly pounds of him. And he is not alone. To find a boar, you have to sneak up on him. And that's exactly what we did with a man named Trapper John.

TRAPPER JOHN SCHMIDT, HUNTER: If they kind of pick up on us, they're not going to come out.

ROESGEN: Trapper John loves to hunt, and he can hunt and catch anything.

SCHMIDT: Nutrias, beavers, coyotes, birds.

ROESGEN: To catch the boar, Trapper John baited his traps with corn soaked in molasses. And then we watched and waited.

ROESGEN (on camera): I'm really more afraid of the bugs than the boar.

(voice over): With night vision goggles, we spotted them in the distance, a mama boar and three little babies. Wild boar were first brought to Louisiana from Europe a hundred years ago to be hunted for sport. Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters forced these boar into civilization.

LISA LARRAWAY, CITY PARK COORDINATOR: I'll tell you, we do have snakes, we do have alligators, and we probably do have pigs. Wild boar.

ROESGEN (on camera): Wild board.

LARRAWAY: Well, wild boar, pigs. You know.

ROESGEN (voice over): Lisa Larraway doesn't even like to say "wild boar" because she's the park's volunteer coordinator, and she doesn't want to scare anyone away.

City Park is a 1300-acre oasis in the heart of the city. But the heart of the park is a jungle. City Park hired Trapper John to get the boar out.

SCHMIDT: If he touches you with his teeth, your skin will cut like wet paper. And your meat -- the meat on your bones is nothing. It will just cut right with it. And if he was to bite you, if he didn't break the bone, too, he would at least pull all the meat off the bone. And you'd just have -- if he got you by the hand, you'd have bones.

ROESGEN: In the past six weeks, Trapper John has caught 13 wild boar. Four little ones and nine big ones.

SCHMIDT: She looks friendly enough, huh?

ROESGEN: Like the rest, this one will be released in a wilder area about an hour north of the city. Trapper John doesn't think there are any more to catch in this park, but if there are, he'll be back, carting away a strange reminder of Hurricane Katrina.

Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: They were cute as babies. Now they are put on the cap and gown. They have put on the cap and gown.

We'll tell you about a quintessential graduation. Or should it be quinttessimal?

Something like that, coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And this just in to CNN. You know all day we've been talking about the heavy fighting that has been shaking up that refugee camp in Lebanon. We have video of nighttime.

You can still see the plumes of smoke as the Lebanese forces were battling members of an Islamic militant group in this Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli. Now we are hearing that there's an explosion in Beirut.

We had actually reported earlier after following these gun battles and this violence in the refugee camp that there was a cease- fire to end the battles between the Lebanese troops and these al Qaeda-inspired militants. It was a bit of calm for a short period of time. Now we are hearing there was an explosion in Beirut.

We'll continue to follow this. Reuters actually reporting about this explosion in Beirut. We're trying to follow up on it and confirm it. We'll bring you more information as soon as we get it.

LEMON: Naming names. MySpace agrees to give law enforcement in 14 states the names and addresses of registered sex offenders who use the popular Web site.

MySpace initially refused, but then came the subpoenas. Authorities suspect sex offenders may be violating their probation by contacting children online.

PHILLIPS: Well, just weeks ago a tornado wiped out their school and much of their town. But that couldn't stop all 25 high school seniors in Greensburg, Kansas, from grabbing those coveted diplomas. About 1,500 relatives, friends and neighbors crowded under two large tents Saturday to cheer on those graduates.

LEMON: Well, congratulations to them, and congratulations to this next group.

One mother couldn't stop cheering at a graduation ceremony in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Could it be because five of her seven children were getting out of high school? That's right, five, as in quintuplets.

Matt, Veronica, Paul, Danielle and Derek Martino, when they were born in 1989 -- I feel so old now -- they were believed to be only the 18th set of quints born in this country. Their mom says she's managed by taking things one day at a time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROLANDA MARTINO, MOTHER OF QUINTUPLETS: Some of them say I have favoritism, but if I do, I don't see it. And -- but I don't know. It's tough. It's tough, because some of them you can't get close to and some you can. So some of them show you a little more attention than the rest.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Kids, you all tell me, last thing, which one of you are all the favorite among -- favorite to your mom?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derek.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Derek is one.

DEREK MARTINO, BROTHER OF QUINTUPLETS: I'm not. I don't know what they're talking about. It's not me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even when we're together we still have our individuality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that's true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We try to live our separate lives even though we're all together anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, you may have noticed the new grads don't dress alike. They also took different classes, they play different sports, and they have individual plans for the summer and beyond.

Congratulations to them again.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

LEMON: He's standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's happening at the top of the hour.

Hi, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys. Thanks very much.

We all know the price of gas is soaring. But you might not know about some of the efforts to try to ease your pain at the pump. We'll talk about it with the California attorney general, Jerry Brown. He's standing by live.

Also, the filmmaker Michael Moore generating new controversy with his new film taking on the U.S. health care system. We're going to show you how it could land him in some legal trouble. We're watching that.

And the escalating war of words between former president Jimmy Carter and the White House. Find out what he said about the current administration that prompted the White House to fire right back.

All that, guys, coming up at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM".

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.

LEMON: The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The closing bell about to ring on Wall Street.

LEMON: Susan Lisovicz standing by with a final look at the trading day.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Time for "The Situation Room" now.

LEMON: And Wolf Blitzer.

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