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Massive Suicide Bombing in Iraq; Jack Reed Talks About Troop Surge in Iraq; Live Earth Makes Pitch to Save Planet; It's a Lucky Day to Get Hitched

Aired July 07, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Two big stories we're following this hour in the NEWSROOM. First, a massive suicide bombing in Iraq. I'll talk to a U.S. senator and military veteran Jack Reed about the latest violence and about the troop surge. Is this operation last chance?
Also, some of rock and roll's biggest stars make their pitch to save the planet. But can a concert really help cure a climate crisis?

Hello everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We start with that huge suicide bomb attack in northern Iraq. Earlier today, someone drove a truck filled with two tons of explosives into a marketplace in a village named Amerli. Police say at least 105 people are dead, hundreds more were wounded. Cars were set on fire and at least 12 houses were damaged. Six Americans and two Britains have died in Iraq since Friday.

There is growing pressure on Capitol Hill for at least a partial troop withdrawal in Iraq. Some U.S. commanders in Iraq say that would be a big mistake. Here's CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Ask what will happen if the so-called surge is called short and major general Rick Lynch will mince no words.

RICK LYNCH, MAJOR GENERAL: It would be a mess, Jamie. It would be a mess.

MCINTYRE: Lynch and his counterparts of the north, Major General Benjamin Mixon are showing a united front in calling for more time to build on successful operations like this one. U.S. paratroopers on a night-time air assault cleared and destroyed three al Qaeda safehouses near Iskandariyah.

LYNCH: We need these surge forces. They came in for a reason, they're be used for the reason they came in. It's going to take some time to mature the situation over time and we can turn the area over to Iraqi security forces and then we'll be ready to do something that looks like a withdrawal. But that's not going to happen anytime soon. MCINTYRE: That's not what many members of Congress want to hear, including a growing number of disenchanted Republicans. And they're not likely to be cheered by the Pentagon's latest quarterly Iraq progress report, due out in a week. It will show a mixed bag of small successes, tempered by big problems. Especially the lack of Iraqi political reconciliation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth is that September is too soon. An honest assessment on the Iraqi police, of the Iraqi army tells you that if you wish to really make this work, you have to be patient enough to at least test this well into 2008.

MCINTYRE: So what's shaping up is a real disconnect between what's been dubbed the Washington clock into which there is growing pressure to bring the troops home and the Baghdad clock, which U.S. commanders say will require more time to ensure success. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And military veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed is in Baghdad. We'll have an exclusive interview with him coming up.

Meantime in Pakistan, an explosion in a tense stand-off at a mosque. Intelligence sources tell CNN that Pakistani forces targeted a fuel tank inside the mosque and triggered an explosion heard across Islamabad. The stand-off began Tuesday when about 150 militant students attacked a police checkpoint close to the mosque. Since then, more than two dozen people have died. The latest casualties, two students who tried to surrender yesterday. Pakistani intelligence sources say they were shot to death by other students.

The first suspect charged in a terror bomb plot in Britain appeared in a London court today. Bilal Abdella, seen in this photo moments after his arrest a week ago spoke only to confirm his name and age. He is charged with conspiring to cause explosions in London and Glasgow, Scotland. The court ordered him held until his next court appearance on July 27th. Also today, new Prime Minister Gordon Brown took part in a low-key event marking the London suicide bombings two years ago -- 52 people were killed, hundreds wounded.

Failed car bomb attacks in Britain, how much damage could have been done if they had detonated properly? At least according to the suspected terrorist plan. We're about to show you. We stress this is not a how-to guide, but we want to illustrate what's at stake for all of us. CNN's David Mattingly takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under the blazing New Mexico sun, a deadly weapon of terror takes shape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a car bomb, this is an improvised car bomb. MATTINGLY: Using the same volatile ingredients investigators say terrorists attempted to use in the failed attacks on London and Glasgow. We commissioned explosives experts at New Mexico tech to build us a similar car bomb and then blow it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will happen is this entire car will turn into shrapnel.

MATTINGLY: This not a how-to in building car bombs. This bomb starts with about $100 of simple materials. Two tanks of liquid propane, the kind you would attach to your backyard grill. Then, tanks of gasoline, about 20 gallons in all. But where the London bombs contained nail, for practical purposes our tests uses metal nuts. They're less likely to cause flat tires at the site later.

VAN ROMERO, NEW MEXICO TECH: For a suicide bomber, a suicide bomber will have a plastic or C-4 explosives and they'll put that to their -- on top of the explosives. And then when it detonates, these will shoot out into the surrounding area.

MATTINGLY: You can see that these are items that are easy to find. Anyone can buy them, anyone can put them together. The real expertise behind a car bomb is in knowing how to blow it up. And for security reasons, detonating a car bomb is the one thing experts here do not discuss publicly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two, one.

MATTINGLY: From a half mile away, the sound takes about a second to catch up to the churning orange fireball. Watch in slow motion as the car blows to pieces.

From this angle, we can see fiery debris jetting out of the back, but it's not until we get on the ground to get a clear idea of the damage this could have done on a busy London street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The casualties would probably be fire victims.

MATTINGLY: The building next to the car was incinerated by the blast. If this had been a night club full of people, fire would have claimed many lives. And all those metal nuts representing nails strapped to the propane nuts could have wounded pedestrians within a half block or more.

No doubt, a deadly weapon, but a weapon intended to create mass panic, more so than mass destruction. David Mattingly, CNN, Socorro, New Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And on this 7th day of July, concerts are going on around the world right now. It's called Live Earth. Shakira shook things up in Germany earlier today, still ahead in the NEWSROOM, we'll go live to two other venues to see what's happening there.

Later, a woman who is making a difference in another sort of way. She's our CNN Hero, we'll tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All across the country, it's everything from really hot, triple digit temperatures to very dry or very wet. Jacqui Jeras is in the Severe Weather Center with a look at all of that. I guess you're going to start with the flooding in Texas, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Let's talk again about Iraq, where it has been a very violent and a very deadly weekend. Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a West Point graduate, is on a fact-finding trip to Iraq.

Reed is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former member of the 82nd airborne. He met with General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker earlier today. He joins us live now from Baghdad.

Senator, this your 10th trip, if I got that correctly there to Iraq. Your observations and do you think that militarily the U.S. can do anything to really improve the lives of people there?

SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: Well, militarily, the increase in forces have gained some tactical advantages but the real question, Fredricka, is whether those tactical advantages will translate into political progress by the Iraqi government.

That is in my mind very doubtful. And also there's the question of how long this effort can be sustained. Because of the constraints on our land forces, the army and marines, they can't keep this level of forces up indefinitely, so I think the best approach is to recognize we have to shift to other missions and begin to reduce our force size so we that can still counter terrorists and still train the Iraqi army. But we can maintain that effort. This effort, I think, it was stretching us too far.

WHITFIELD: So you touched on a few things there. Let's begin with the government, one of the things that you mentioned. The al- Maliki government, are you feeling frustrated like we've heard many others express about the al-Maliki government? Or is it just too much to have such grand expectations of a very novice government?

REED: Well, I think it's a combination of both factors. One, they're asked to do some remarkable things in a short period of time. Two, they don't have the preparation or even sort of the sense that we do having grown up in a democratic process.

So all of this is to many of them a case of first impression and of difficult challenges, but the bottom like is unless they make real progress and reconciliation, unless they open up their government to all of their communities that we're not going to resolve the differences here. It's the political differences, the political issues that are most critical to the future stability of Iraq. WHITFIELD: Well, you've been on record as being a real advocate for U.S. troop withdrawal beginning as early as 2008. Given the state of affairs and given the fact that you mention the Iraqi troops are not quite equipped or prepared to act as an independent country without the U.S. military assistance right now, do you still feel that U.S. military troop withdrawal as early as next year is the best thing to do?

REED: Well, I think the key is changing the mission. We have an open-ended mission now of basically trying to protect the population of Iraq and very difficult mission for any force to perform.

But I do think there's legitimate need to continue to train the Iraqi forces. There's certainly the need to counteract terrorists wherever they are and to go after those terrorists in Iraq.

So those missions I think are important and those missions should be maintained. But the open-ended commitment I think is not going to be ultimately successful in terms of the politics of Iraq nor is it sustainable given the force structure of our land forces.

WHITFIELD: You met today with Commanding General David Petraeus. He's been quoted as saying, "You have to envision what security here should look like when you are gone." Has he painted that picture perhaps as early as today in that meeting? Or even have you envisioned what would happen to security when U.S. troops are gone?

REED: Well, part of any reduction in forces is planning for the fact that we won't be here in as many numbers as we are today and that requires conscious decisions.

It requires bulking up the Iraqi forces, it requires political accommodation. It requires a host of things. General Petraeus is an extremely capable officer and I think he's thinking through all of those issues.

I know he hasn't formally committed to a course of action but I'm confident he'll take this whole range of issues in mind when he makes his recommendation.

WHITFIELD: We keep hearing the word "progress," that it exists. But when you look at the kind of violence that's taking place today with 100 people killed at a village market in one location, another six at least people killed at a checkpoint location.

It's hard for anyone to understand how progress is being measured. Given that you've been there many times now, 10 times, how are you measuring progress in Iraq?

REED: Well, I think the real measure of progress here would be the political maturation of the Iraqi government, their ability to introduce and welcome all the various segments, the Sunni, the Shia, the Kurds. Their ability to do it in tangible ways, having security forces that are effective and include all of the different sectarian groups. We haven't seen enough of that yet and I think that's a long, long, long process. And on the other side, the insurgent, the terrorists still maintain the ability to mount these very high profile attacks.

There has been some progress in Anbar Province with respect to alliances with the Sunni tribes. Together with the United States going after al Qaeda, but the most decisive issue here is really the consistent split between the Shia communities and Sunni communities and that bridge does not appear to be closed as yet.

WHITFIELD: How do you see the end game here?

REED: Well, you think the best policy the United States can pursue, a policy that I've been urging along with colleagues like Carl Levin for over a year is to begin the phased reduction of our forces complemented by an extensive diplomatic effort.

We have to understand this is part of a regional complex of problems. We have to devote attention diplomatically as we are also devoting attention militarily.

But I think if we shift the missions to counterterrorism, training the Iraqi military forces and also protecting our forces at all time, we can begin to reduce the size here and we might in fact even encourage the Iraqis to be more progressive and positive in terms of their political progress here in Iraq.

WHITFIELD: Senator Jack Reed, thanks so much for your time from Baghdad.

REED: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, like a rock star, Al Gore spreads his global warming message around the world as Live Earth concerts help raise public awareness.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Every day at CNN, we come across ordinary people who with little or no fanfare, have an extraordinary impact in the communities where they live.

All this year we're bringing you their stories and we're also inviting you to tell us about heroes you know. Today, we introduce you to a 16-year-old young man who since the age of six has been saving the lives of children all over the world by giving them their most basic necessity, clean water. Ryan Hreljac is today's CNN hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by, go ahead, please.

RYAN HRELJAC, CNN HERO: Every day, 6,000 children die because they don't have access to clean water. That's like 20 full jumbo jets crashing every day year. I feel that we shouldn't live in a world like that.

I was six-years-old and I was in my grade one classroom. My teacher said there are people who have to walk 10 kilometers to get to a dirty mudhole and I decided to do something about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ryan told me he has been saving money to put up a well in Africa and he said he wanted a school. The well which Ryan built was the first clean water they ever had.

HRELJAC: I went to Uganda when I was 10. I was pretty excited to go see what the impact was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ryan's well, funded by Ryan H.

CROWD: Thank you Ryan, for the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up to that moment maybe Ryan never knew how much this means. A little boy who had this big dream now look where he is. Not only doing one with so many wells. The clean water has reached far and wide.

HRELJAC: When a well is built in a community the health, it skyrockets. You see smiles light up on people's faces because they have clean water to drink. It's great to see the impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ryan has changed many, many lifestyles here. So he is a hero. He is a warrior who made it happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So we're not the only ones who are incredibly impressed with Ryan's work. Just last week, the actor Matt Damon, through his nonprofit organization, H20 Africa agreed to partner with Ryan's Foundation to bring even more clean water to people around the world. So if you would like it make your own contribution to Ryan's Foundation or nominate your own hero for special recognition later this year, you'll find more information on our Web site at CNN.com/Heroes.

The concert to stop global warming. That's how organizers are billing Live Earth. We head to two of the venues next in the NEWSROOM.

And a personal look at the cost of the war in Iraq. We hear from those who have fought there. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: From Jersey to Johannesburg, people are rocking to the sounds of some of the biggest names in the music industry. More than 150 artists taking part in Live Earth concerts happening in nine major cities in 24 hours. Their message -- save the environment.

CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson is standing by live at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. And CNN's Isha Sesay is live in Johannesburg, South Africa. First let's go to Brooke in New Jersey. Brooke, what's happening?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, the show here kicked off about 15 minutes ago with the band Kenna. They're on stage right now, they may be leaving the stage actually. The second act is coming up, but Giants Stadium, the organizers just told us the tickets are now sold out. Stadium capacity is about 80,000 people. This is the last concert in Live Earth's trek across the globe. And I spoke with attendees a little bit earlier as they were making their way into the stadium to ask them why they wanted to be here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I also watched the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and it really raised my awareness of global warming, and so I wanted to come out and support this cause.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I like some of the artists but at the same time, I think the message is really strong and I want to support that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I totally support the cause, man. It's -- we got to start doing something now and we got to raise awareness now, so this a good start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm most excited about hearing Bon Jovi, John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson and The Police. That's the ones I'm really looking forward to hearing here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here for the entertainment, I have to be honest. I think that people are going to take into the cause of the environment. You know, we took the bus over from New York City because of the fact that you know that helps in the cause. And we were watching on television and people were, they turned off the lights at some of the concerts, so that's nice because of the fact that you can enjoy the music without the pollution, without the lights and such.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Sixteen acts on the roster here today, including Scottish singer/song writer K.T. Tunstall, whom I spoke to earlier about why she is committed to this cause.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

K.T. TUNSTALL, MUSICIAN: I've been interested in working hard on environmental issues for quite some time, before I even brought out "Eye to the Telescope," my first album, I met a guy who set up a company called Global Cool, who helps musicians offset their carbon emissions.

So I have a forest of 6,000 trees in Scotland, eating all the carbon from my CD production, and I use biodiesel buses and I'm renovating my apartment back in London. I'm getting solar panels and using sheeps' wool insulation, and I'm really excited about all the things that you can do now to help the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And right now, they're setting up the stage for K.T. Tunstall, in fact, to perform. She told me she wants to leave herself a little bit of time in between songs so she can talk to the crowd, motivate them to make a difference in the environment. The organizers are also hoping to make a difference, Fredricka, they hope this event reaches 2 billion people worldwide.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, ambitious project but let's hope it works. Thanks so much, Brooke Anderson in New Jersey, rocking on.

Well, let's rock on over to Johannesburg now, and we could find Isha Sesay there.

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Live Earth, South Africa is well under way here at the (INAUDIBLE) Dome just north of the capitol Johannesburg, and you know, the event got kicked up (ph), going about 2 1/2 hours ago, and the atmosphere inside the venue is just electric.

South African artist Danny K (ph) and the Soweto (ph) Gospel Choir kicked things off with a rousing performance. If you haven't seen the Gospel Choir live, you must, because they really are something special. They were followed by the Senegalese moss (ph) and musician Dabba Mal (ph), and really, he got the crowd going with his traditional African music.

There's a real sense of festivity in the dome, lots of dancing, just a real sense that it's a party theme (ph) in there, people looking forward to lot of the great acts that will be taking the stage a little later on this evening. Joss Stone, U-40, lots of great acts that people are embracing, not just the music but also the message that lies at the heart of this global extravaganza, the issue of climate change.

We spoke to a lot of people before the concert started, and they all said South African government -- the governments (ph) of Africa and industrialized world must do more to combat the issue of climate change which is really affecting Africa quite severely, so the situation here in Africa is this is a world event but more must be done.

Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Isha, thanks so much from Johannesburg.

So, you know what it's all about, raising money and raising awareness. As Live Earth gets under way, our Josh Levs has been doing a little digging to find out, how ambitious is this?

JOSH LEVS, REALITY CHECK: A little digging.

It's really ambitious. And before I go on, can I just take a moment to say how good it is to have you back?

WHITFIELD: Well, thanks so much. It's great to be back.

LEVS: She was just in Johannesburg.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: So good to have you back, see?

WHITFIELD: Should have hung out a little bit longer, it would have been me instead of you, Isha.

LEVS: Well, you know ...

WHITFIELD: Hanging out in (INAUDIBLE).

LEVS: ...in the end, we are the lucky ones.

WHITFIELD: Yes, aw, well thank you.

LEVS: Always enjoy the holiday (ph) with Freddie.

All right, here's the deal. So we obviously want to get through to the reality here. It's true, massive undertaking today, you've got multiple venues, stars from different countries all over the world all aimed at taking on one of the world's hugest problems. That sounds familiar? It's because this is not the first time.

So, to see what kind of an impact this event can actually have, we're taking a look back now at a musical extravaganza, that in a way, started it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE (singing): We are the world, we are the children ...

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First, it was the single. And then ...

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE (singing): We are the world, we are the children ...

LEVS: The Live Aid concerts in 1985 drew millions of people and raised more than $200 million meant to help end Ethiopia's famine. Some of the food made it, and helped. But critics say much of the aid never made it to those in need.

NILE RODGERS, LIVE AID PERFORMER: We didn't understand the business and the politics of those -- that particular country and that war. We didn't understand the infrastructure.

LEVS: Twenty years after Live Aid, Bob Geldof, the man who organized it, took a new tactic. The Live 8 concerts of 2005 were designed to draw attention to global poverty, not to raise money.

BONO, MUSICIAN/ACTIVIST: This is not about charity. This is about justice.

LEVS: World leaders appeared with Live 8 leaders. The G-8 and other world powers increased aid and alleviated Africa's debt, though we'll never know how much credit goes to Live 8.

Now, Live Earth is taking on climate change. Organizers hope the concert will have lasting affects by educating people about the environment. But, back in 1985, many people credited Live Aid with educating the world about famine in Africa. And in the following years, the region faced more famine. Its population remains one of the most undernourished in the world. There's no evidence Live Aid made a long-term difference.

Still, organizers of Live Earth say this event will lead to change by inspiring people to make some environmentally-friendly changes in their own lives.

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: If we can get a small fraction of the people watching this concert to sign up to those measures, then you're going to see the beginnings of major change.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEVS (on camera): But can they get that, and if so, will it last? If they achieve their goals, and they get people all over the world to make some concrete, lasting changes, then Live Earth, Fred, would become one of the most influential musical events in all of history.

WHITFIELD: And so, let's talk about history because there is quite an extensive history that goes way back in terms of issue or fund-raising oriented concerts.

LEVS: There are, exactly. There have been so many over the years, yes, and you know, we look at Live Aid because Live Aid really set up a new template, but you can look back to Woodstock, you can look to a concert for Capuchere (ph) or Cambodia. There's also a big one for Bangladesh back in the '70s.

Just last weekend, remember, Princess Diana's charities, so the idea of using concerts, I mean, that -- using concerts to focus on charities, that actually goes back to ancient Greece, the classical civilization, you can always see that relationship, and throughout American history.

But what Live Aid did was it created the template that, to this day, everybody looks at, they say what did they do right, what did they do wrong and that's exactly what they go by.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and maybe because the numbers were so huge in terms of those who participated and those who enjoyed it.

LEVS: Yes, well, you remember. I mean, it was unprecedented.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it was huge.

LEVS: It was like the pop cultural event ever at the time ...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: ...and there had never been anything like it, so that's why it created a new era of concerts as fund-raising or in this case, a charity.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and they -- yes, it's made being socially aware very cool.

LEVS: Yes, exactly.

WHITFIELD: You know?

LEVS: And the guys (ph) who pointed out, you know in the end, since the money thing didn't take off, now you've got events like this that aren't about money, that are about getting a message out because that part, they say, works.

WHITFIELD: People pay attention.

LEVS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Josh Levs, thanks so much.

LEVS: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, does today's date -- how about that? Look at the calendar. Did you notice seventh day, seventh month, 2007, how lucky does it make us all?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been planning it for a year now. So, we're the trendsetters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: 7/7/07, for thousands of couples it is the day to get married, that's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

And coming up next, we often hear about the battles they fight and the casualties, well now we hear their own account, the soldiers tell us what the war is like for them. That's next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The war in Iraq has cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars and it has taken a toll in many other ways. Tonight, in "Battlefield Breakdown," CNN's Special Investigations Unit looks at the war through the eyes of those fighting it.

Here now is John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like the army he proudly serves, Sergeant Chris Tucker is hurting. He can't walk in his military- issued combat boots, both feet need surgery. He is near deaf in his right ear, and if the nightmares don't wake him up, his wife Nicky often nervously chases him down sleepwalking.

STAFF SGT. CHRIS TUCKER, U.S. ARMY: The next morning when I wake up, finding out that Nicky made me go back to bed because, you know, she found me wandering across the house, you know, yelling and screaming get down and playing army with people. It's kind of frustrating.

NICKY TUCKER, WIFE OF STAFF SGT. CHRIS TUCKER: He's in this dream of being in battle, so it is scary because I'm not going to be over there with him in Iraq to stop him from waking up in the middle of the night.

C. TUCKER: My uniform is in there somewhere.

KING: Chris Tucker is 24-years-old, and despite his mangled feet, failing hearing, nightmares and depression ...

C. TUCKER: Man.

KING: ...he's off to Iraq for the third time in four years. The army promises help. But says Sergeant Tucker is needed first on the battlefield. Chris Tucker's first exposure came during the march on Baghdad back in 2003.

STAFF SGT. CHRIS TUCKER, CHARLIE COMPANY 54TH ARMOR REGIMENT: What's up? We're in a big fire fight out here, right outside Baghdad. it's kind of hot.

KING: When then Private Tucker mounted a camera on his tank. CNN has kept in touch since the beginning. The flashbacks and nightmares started between the first and second deployments.

TUCKER: I wake up places, and I don't even know where I'm at and it just, you know, freaks you out. And you're like, wow, that -- it just can't be safe, and you know, I've had -- I had a big problem with my anger and depression.

KING: Counseling and medications have helped some, Tucker told us, when we visited just before he shipped out the third time.

TUCKER: There's not many other places I'd rather be on the battlefield than in this baby.

KING: First, the army told Tucker he must stay in Iraq five additional months after his commitment runs out next March.

TUCKER: Yes, I'm kind of banged up, but I think there are many other people in the same position as me.

KING: Banged up, and now, feeling a bit betrayed. Just as he deployed, this bombshell. His tank unit was re-tasked, assigned to humvee patrols with Iraqi troops. Not the mission they spent months training for. Two men in his company died in the first two weeks back. This is it. No more army for Chris Tucker.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: You want to watch the entire program, that's tonight at 8:00 Eastern, CNN's Special Investigations Unit, "Battlefield Breakdown."

Well, a lot of marriages have their ups and downs, well, these actually started that way.

And don't try this at home. In fact, I wouldn't even try this in Spain, but a lot of people do. Running with the bulls. Still ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Thousands of engaged couples taking the plunge and tying the knot on this, the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year. Triple sevens, a day like this comes along only once in a century. And these two, like many others, enjoying the thrill of exchanging "I dos" on a ride at a Six Flags theme park.

Well, many other couples are hoping to get lucky in Las Vegas.

More now from CNN's Chris Lawrence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The line to get a marriage license came down the block, up the steps, wrapped around the corner and went inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show of hands who's here for the 7/7/7?

(CHEERING)

LAWRENCE: Some experts predict 70,000 couples could get hitched on the seventh day of the seventh month in '07.

NIA HAMILTON, BRIDE: We've been planning it for a year now, so, we're the trendsetters.

LAWRENCE: Nia Hamilton says she's paying a premium to marry Miles Ware (ph).

HAMILTON: For your chapel, they add a little bit more money because your on the special day. For your dinner, they add a little bit more money because it's on your special day. So, it's tax upon tax because you're on 7/7/7 with everyone else.

LAWRENCE: Chapels are all booked up, and the competition over superstition is fierce.

JUDY BOWE, OWNER, CUPID'S CHAPEL: We actually had one couple that booked quite a ways out, try to sell their package on eBay. So, it's been crazy.

LAWRENCE: The significance of seven can be traced back to Egyptian culture. The number shows up throughout the Bible. It's a positive card in tarot card readings. It means you've hit the jackpot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sevens are all chocolate with a blue cocoa butter on it.

LAWRENCE: Mandalay Bay's world-renowned pastry chef is making plans for a mass wedding outside. The Venetian will conduct 77 ceremonies on Saturday, and the Bellagio's flower factory is in full bloom.

Across the Atlantic, Eva Longoria and Tony Parker tied the knot in France, and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck takes the plunge.

As for Miles and Nia ...

MILES WARE, GROOM: Official. Nothing left to do now but walk down the aisle.

LAWRENCE: Marriage can be a bit of a gamble, so any couple counting on those lucky sevens should take note, next week is Friday the 13th.

(on camera): Experts say this could go down as one of the busiest wedding days ever. And a few couples told me their marriage can use all the luck it can get.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, it's one of the most amazing places in the world, but is it a wonder? The case for Petra as the new Seven Wonders of the World are decided.

You are watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So it's that time of year again, time to run with the bulls. The streets of Pamplona, Spain were packed for the opening day of this year's festival. You see one guy getting tossed aside like a rag doll, well he was one of seven people injured. None too seriously, though. Amazingly, there hasn't been a fatality in 12 years.

So now you've seen the running of the bulls, but what about the running of the crabs? Thousands of land crabs on the prowl, so to speak.

We get more now from Jana Eschbach of WPEC.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JANA ESCHBACH, WPEC REPORTER (voice-over): After the 2004 hurricanes, they were nowhere to be found. Well, in 2007 ...

JOANNE PANTANO, HOMEOWNER: It's just a part of living on Hutchinson Island.

ESCHBACH: ...they're back.

PANTANO: Hundreds and hundreds, especially when the sun goes down.

ESCHBACH: After sundown, the giant land crabs make their way out of the shade, across the street, and right to Joanne Pantano's home.

PANTANO: The dog goes crazy all night long. They're climbing on the house, they're walking through the yard, the dog tries to get out to get them.

ESCHBACH: Too bad little Priscilla here is no match for the thousands, yes, thousands of crabs. St. Lucie County's natural resource agent knows they're in town.

KEN GIOELI, ST. LUCIE CTY. NATURAL RESOURCES: People when they call me, they want to be able to squirt some sort of repellant or something on the lawn, and there are no repellants out there for land crab control. Basically, what they're stuck doing is living with the problem or finding some way of trapping them and removing them.

ESCHBACH: But state law now prohibits you from catching and eating the crabs during breeding season. And by the way, it is breeding season.

PANTANO: It sounds like (INAUDIBLE), little claws on your house. You got to make sure you don't leave your doors open because they'll get inside.

ESCHBACH (on camera): And then what?

PANTANO: And then you got to chase them to get them out.

ESCBACH (voice-over): And as for the chase, these guys are faster than they look.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK, well, here's one from the you don't see this everyday file. We're not talking about just the crabs. It's not a polar bear, just a regular bear up a 100 foot pole. The sight distracted drivers in Lancaster, California, yesterday. Police actually shut down the highway for a couple of hours while they tried to decide what to do. Well eventually, the bear came down on his own. And there you have it, a happy bear. We're glad it was a happy ending.

So, what better day than 7/7/7 to find out which amazing places will be named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World? Twenty-one sites are vying for the honor, including the Great Wall of China, Paris's Eiffel Tower and the Coliseum in Rome. Eygpt's Pyramids of Giza and Jordan's Ancient City of Petra are the only sites in the Arab world on the contest's short list.

CNN's Hala Gorani takes us to Petra.

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HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the most breathtaking man-made sites in the world, the ancient Nabatian capital of Petra, the Nabatians, Arabs who dominated large parts of Arabia during pre-Roman times. The sandstone city is a show-stopper, that's for sure. But, does Petra have what it takes to become one of the new Seven Wonders of the World? The Jordanian tourism board says yes.

On this day, Petra officially became one of the 21 finalists in the competition to become a modern day wonder, with documents handed to the queen. A colorful show greeted visitors, complete with re- creations of everyday Nabatian life, and even a clash of gladiators in Petra's Roman amphitheater.

The chairman of the Jordan Tourism Board says Petra, among contenders like the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, deserves to make the final seven.

MAZEN HOMOUD, JORDAN TOURISM BOARD: It is just a magnificent city that was built by Nabatians with very little tools hidden within the ropes, and it was a very important trade route around the world.

GORANI: Petra is also competing against man-made wonders such as the Taj Mahal, the Kremlin, the Coliseum and Christ Redeemer in Rio. Voters around the world are asked to cast their ballots and pick their favorites among the 21 on the list. And on July 7, 2007 or 07/07/07, the New Seven Wonders will be announced in Lisbon, Portugal.

BERNARD WEBER, NEW7WONDERS FOUNDER: Well, I think it's the first time for all the people in the world to participate and create history in the making because history is always written after things had happened, but this time, we are capable with the modern technology to create actually history.

GORANI (on camera): Oh, we're creating history?

WEBER: Yes.

GORANI (voice-over): Ancient Petra held a monopoly over caravan trade of spices and frankincense in the region. Way ahead of their time, the Nabatians were masters of water technology, forced to manage water distribution because of their desert location.

Some two millennia later, forget trade, it's modern day tourism that is bringing in the money and is the sole source of income for nearby villages like this one, a stone's throw away from the Rose Red City. And becoming a new wonder can only help bring more tourism dollars to the desert site. HOMOUD: Having a seven wonder of the world within Jordan, that definitely will market Jordan in a more -- in a stronger sense around the world, to bring in more tourists to Jordan. And by bringing more tourists to Jordan, what we are saying is we bringing in more income, more opportunities, and more demand on our destination, to bring in more investments to our destination.

GORANI: Alongside an old wonder, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Petra is the only site in the Arab world to have made the final list. The founders of New7Wonders say that half of all net revenues from the campaign will go toward restoring heritage sites worldwide.

Hala Gorani, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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