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Countdown to 2008; Ambushed in Afghanistan: U.S. Platoon Fights Back

Aired December 31, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN HOST: And thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. You have fun tonight. I expect to see back bright and early tomorrow.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN HOST: Thank you. I'm going call you, 11:59.

ROBERTS: You'll be sleeping in tomorrow?

CHETRY: Sure will.

ROBERTS: I don't blame you.

CHETRY: CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins starts right now.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN HOST: : You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, good morning everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Watch events come into the newsroom live Monday, December 31, 2007. It is New Year's Eve. Here is what's on the rundown now.

Gun shots and seconds later, an explosion. New videotape shows the brazen attack on Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto.

COLLINS: Iowa pile-up, three days to the presidential caucuses and polls point to dead heats for candidates in both parties.

And the foreclosure crisis claims new victims. Pets abandoned at boarded up houses. Home alone in the NEWSROOM.

This morning, Pakistan looking beyond last week's assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The stakes are huge, nuclear weapons and potential power base for al Qaeda. Today new questions about the killing and the elections as well. CNN's Zain Verjee is in Islamabad and joins us now this morning. Zain, new, clearer pictures, in fact, of Bhutto's latest moments.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Every day almost brings new images from different angles as to Benazir Bhutto's last moments, they are extremely dramatic, and it's really fanning the flames here. People beginning to question and continuously getting angry, thinking that there's some sort of cover up that's been going on.

I want you to take a look at some of the latest pictures that we've got. What we see is Benazir Bhutto standing. And we hear the three gunshots. We don't actually see the gunman. Then we see Benazir Bhutto slumping over and sliding into the car. There's a moment in that tape where it appears as though her -- the head scarf, the white dupita (ph), as it's called, lifts up slightly and then falls. So a lot of people are saying that looks like she got hit by a gun shot and was kill by a gunshot wound. But the government here is maintaining that is not the case. What they are saying is that the force of the suicide blast caused her to basically react and fall down. And, in doing so, she hit her head on a metal lever as she was falling and that fractured her skull.

So, there are a lot of questions. There's a lot of confusion and speculation. The only thing that can give us some sort of direction here is if there was an autopsy. But that's not been done. And the family is not agreeing to it. Heidi?

COLLINS: Yeah. We kind of imagined that that would happen, Zain. We are also awaiting this very big decision obviously on Pakistani elections which were scheduled for next week. Any word yet on whether or not those will be postponed?

VEJREE: Well, that's really up in the air. That's what everyone is really waiting to see, is that going to happen or not? They were scheduled for the 8th of January. But we're learning that the election commission is going to make a final and definitive decision tomorrow on whether to push ahead with it.

The Pakistan's People's Party says they want to contest. Nawaz Sharif, a significant opposition leader here initially said there is no way he would not stand in any election, but now said he would if it's free and fair. The Cabinet met today to discuss this and what everyone is waiting to get reports from all over the country and the provinces to see if the law and order situation will prevail. Because a lot of election offices got burned down.

The other thing, too, that people think there may be a delay, is that there's a 40-day period of mourning here after Benazir Bhutto's death, and that coincides with the month of Muharam (ph) that's a Shia month of mourning. And that's a time where the political establishment shuts down, there's no political activity. Things in the country wind down and people respect that. So, it's likely that the elections could be delayed until after those events. Heidi?

COLLINS: And there's also been a lot of talk, Zain, about Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son. What is the word there? Is this young man someone that the people see as a potential leader?

VERJEE: Well, in a symbolic way, yes. Really, he's just a figure head. Because what the party is doing is looking towards someone that can unify them, someone that can get them the vote to win. They think that Bilal could gain a lot of sympathy for what happens happened and they would basically win the election.

But the bottom line is, Heidi, he's 19 years old, he's a young guy, is inexperienced. He has no idea how to navigate politics here. It's his father that is going to run the show behind the scenes along with other party officials. So he is really a symbol. COLLINS: Well, we know you are covering it very closely for us. Zain Verjee live this morning from Islamabad, Pakistan. Thanks so much, Zain.

Just three days to go now. And, for Democrats, it's neck in neck, heading into the Iowa homestretch. CNN'sSuzanne Malveaux is in Des Moines this morning. Suzanne, you sat down with Barack Obama we know just yesterday. What did he have to say?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, it's really amazing. Because you have this three-way race -- sorry, I'm getting a little echo in my ear here. What we saw here is really kind of an evolved Barack Obama, a message, a tone that was direct, that was punchy at times. He used humor. And he used cadence and said if you believe, if you believe, if you believe, then I'm the one you should vote for when it comes to faith, when it comes to hope.

When he talked about civil liberties, he said he taught the Constitution and he believes in the Constitution. Therefore, as president, he would follow the Constitution.

When he talked about fighting special interest, he says I'll fight in the courts. I've fought in the legislature. I understand how difficult the fight will be.

He made the case that he believes he's the one whose more electable than, say, Senator Hillary Clinton because he says she's too divisive, Senator John Edwards, who has not fought well enough or hard enough against the special interests and he has been talking about hope, having hope.

But now we're hearing him define what he is talking about, specifically. He says it's doing what you never thought was possible. So, in his speech, he talks about abolishing slavery, the civil rights marches. And I asked him in particular about one phrase that got a lot of people's attention and really had the crowd laughing with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You said when you're a black guy running for president named Barack Obama, you've got to have hope. Tell me what you meant by that and why do you think it resonated with Iowa voters?

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think they understand that it's very unlikely for me to be in this position, it's a testimony to what this country is about. It's a testimony to the American dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Heidi, he was very confident that he got a lot of support from that line. And it really kind of showed what he was saying is that his sacrifice, that it's worth it to make the sacrifice. He understood the risks that people were making, and doing so in supporting him. I should also let you know just days away from the caucuses, it's all about the message, but it's also just about getting people to turn out and caucus on that special night. So, the Obama folks, their aides tell me they're offering free babysitting service, 90 minutes, drop off your kid so you can get out there and caucus.

On the other side, Clinton aides told me already they bought 600 snow shovels, because they were concerned about the weather, if it's icy or snowy. They want to get their supporters out. And a lot of their supporters are elderly ladies. So they want to be sure to clear their drives, get them out on that night. The Obama folks, it's a younger group, 45 and under, skews toward men. They decided, hey, let's take care of the kids. A lot of competition over getting folks out that evening. Heidi?

COLLINS: If that is not covering all the angles, I don't know what is. All right. Very interesting. Suzanne Malveaux live for us today in Des Moines. Thank you, Suzanne.

COLLINS: It's going to be a fun night.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, a very fun night. That is the story on the Democrats in Iowa.

COLLINS: What about the Republicans, though? We'll take a closer look at how things are turning negative on the campaign trail. That's coming up in a live report still ahead right here in the NEWSROOM.

Also, this programming for you. Tomorrow on New Year's Day, catch the game that really matters, battle of the presidential candidates, the contenders talking about the most important issues of this campaign, the economy, the war, immigration in their own words. CNN's "Ballot Bowl" tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, home of the best political team on television.

To Ohio now. We are getting word of a deadly head-on crash. Five people, including a baby, were killed. Fire officials say a minivan collided with a pickup truck going the wrong way on Interstate 280, that's just north of downtown Toledo. All of the dead were in the minivan. It had Maryland license plates. Three others in the van and the driver of the pickup survived.

Also, tragic turn in the search for a lost hunter in northwestern Alabama. All three people onboard a rescue helicopter were killed. The crew had just spotted the hunter in these dense woods, they were hovering over him when the chopper crashed. The hunter was found and taken to the hospital. He is OK. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

She is the only survivor of a deadly plane crash in Panama. And today, she's out of the hospital. Twelve-year-old Francesca Lewis plans to stay in Panama for a few days with her parents before going home to California. Her dad says she's still has a lot of aches and pains. Francesca was found on Christmas Day, two days after the crash. The brothers who helped to rescue her say they don't want the $25,000 reward offered. Instead, they want visas so they can work in the United States. The crash killed Francesca's friend and her friend's dad along with the pilot.

NASA, talking today about a major airlines safety survey. According to the Associated Press, the report is expected to show near collisions, both in the air and on the ground, are more frequent than the public may have known. NASA's numbers come from a survey of 24,000 pilots. NASA has not said if it is going to release all the details in the report. The agency has refused, so far, to make the information publicly available. The Associated Press got the survey data through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Jacqui Jeras joining us now from the severe weather center. The Northeast digging out today, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: We are watching the clock as it strikes midnight around the world. Just an hour ago, Sydney, Australia welcomed the new year. Fantastic light explosion over the harbor there. First big city to reach 2008 is in New Zealand. Fire works shooting up from a tower in the center of the city. Nice.

Belgium is hours away from the popping of the cork on the champagne bottle. But already, celebrations have been canceled. A terror threat for the capital will close the Christmas market early. So no fireworks in Brussels this year.

And, of course, the big party right here in the U.S. in New York City. There's a live shot for you. More than a million people are expected to crowd Times Square for the 100th anniversary of the ball drop.

Forced out by foreclosure. Desperate homeowners are leaving pets behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to believe that the owners will have the heart to come back and pick them up. It is animal cruelty. And like I said, it is a penal code violation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Mortgage meltdown. And new victims coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Why did the tiger attack? Police try to figure it out. The story for you ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Death or life without parole? Prosecutors today are trying to decide which punishment to pursue in a horrific Christmas Eve slaughter. Six family members killed outside Seattle. Another member of the family and her boyfriend charged in those murders. Arraignment set for January 9th. Newly released court documents show the couple fled the scene on their way to Canada, but decided to come back, pretending to find the bodies.

Here, you can see them talking to police before their arrests. Police are trying to determine why officers stopped at a lock gate in front of the house after a 911 call from inside.

The San Francisco Zoo set to reopen on Thursday. Police, though, still looking into last week's fatal tiger attack. CNN's Kara Finnstrom has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police radio transmissions from the night of the tiger attack set a chaotic scene. An 18-page log lists the first report coming in at 5:08 pm with a very agitated male claiming he was bitten by an animal and bleeding from the head. The logs say zoo personnel initially told police the two men reporting an escaped tiger might be mentally disturbed and making something up.

By 5:10, zoo employees themselves were reporting a tiger on the loose. At 5:13, the zoo was on lockdown as Fire Department responders arrived. By 5:20, medics had found one victim, with a large puncture hole to his neck. The log warns the scene is not safe.

Then an officer spots the tiger, sitting down. And a 5:27, it attacks another victim. Officers begin shooting. And less than 20 minutes after the first reports, they kill the 300-pound Siberian tiger. But not before the tiger killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr.

Saturday, about 100 people gathered for a candlelight vigil in his honor. The same day, two brothers who were with Sousa Jr. and seriously hurt during the attack were released from the hospital.

(on camera): It may ultimately be the stories of those two survivors, who we have yet to hear from, that give us the best idea of what happened that evening at the zoo. Kara Finnstrom, for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: 2007 was a roller coaster ride for Wall Street, that's for sure. Find out which stocks raked it in big and which lost out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: 2007 has turned out to be one roller coaster of a ride for the stock market. Mortgage madness, a credit crunch and runaway fuel prices all contributing to a volatile year on Wall Street.

Jill Bennett from Businessweek TV is minding your business for us this morning. That being said, give us a preview of all of 2008. What do you think?

JILL BENNETT, BUSINESSWEEK TV: The crystal ball forecast?

COLLINS: Yeah.

BENNETTE: Exactly what I say? I would say first off, you need to be really worried about oil prices coming up. You have to be worried about this housing slump, which isn't ending any time soon and also just the stock market. Certainly turbulent in 2007. I don't think it's going to end this quickly in 2008. Although, usually election years are pretty good for stocks. We'll see how it does. But all in all we still have the worries from 2007 are carrying over in 2008. Let look at where the indices stand year to date. Because we do have some gains here. Really, not the substantial ones we've seen in years past. The Dow looking like it's finishing the year up seven percent, the NASDAQ a little bit stronger, up about 11 percent. Because it really has some of the big components like Apple and Amazon, which have done so well this year.

Standard & Poor's up about four percent. Now when you consider that it's usually up about eight or nine percent that's a big difference. This affects those people dabbling in individual stocks but also people who have retirement accounts and college savings accounts. Everything across the board there.

But we want to take a look at some of the big winners for 2007. Because of course, this is what people like to tell you about when they have the winners in their portfolios. Jacobs Engineering, which does engineering and construction for companies, up 141 percent. Amazon.com up the same amount. We had Apple, largely due to the success of the iPhone this year, up 135 percent.

Now we're going to move along to the group that most people don't like to talk about. These are the losers. E-Trade and Countrywide down both 141 percent. That's largely because of their ties to the subprime mortgage market. That was really a lot of fallout from that. Circuit City, consumer electronics retailer, been having a tough run this year, down 135 percent.

So overall, it was really financials that took it on the chin this year. The energy sector did very, very well, as we all know, since we've been paying those prices at the gas pump.

COLLINS: Yeah. Boy, that's for sure. All right, so, if you would, what stocks should people be looking at for the new year then?

BENNETT: Standard & Poor's has a couple of different things. When the going gets tough, people usually go out and eat and drink and go to the doctor. So those are things you want to look at.

COLLINS: Cheeseburgers?

BENNETT: That's what you want to look at. Cheeseburger, exactly. McDonalds and Burger King, those are getting five-star rating also Procter & Gamble is another one they had on their list.

COLLINS: All right. Very interesting. We'll be watching those certainly. Jill Bennett, appreciate that, that minding your business this morning. Thank you.

BENNETT: Thank you.

COLLINS: Lose the house. Lose the pets. That seems to be the attitude of desperate pet owners in California. Andrea Mennitti with affiliate KOVR reports on a disturbing trend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA MENNITTI, KOVR TV: People aren't just leaving their homes under foreclosure. Some are leaving their pets behind as well.

PETE ALARCON, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER: Now that the trend is foreclosures, there are animals that are just left out there, abandoned.

MENNITTI: Sacramento animal control officers say they receive calls from neighbors and realtors, concerned about neglected animals, living in deserted homes.

ALARCON: We want to believe that the owners will have the heart to come back and pick them up.

MENNITTI: But often they never do. It can be days before someone discovers pets living without food or water.

ALARCON: The property owners will be there to repossess the property and they walk into the backyard and see this poor abandoned animal left behind.

MENNITTI: This couple just purchased a home on a block notorious for foreclosures.

HUGH XIONG, NEIGHBOR: While I was driving up and down the street and saw the dogs up in the levee over here. I guess they belong in this neighborhood, but then, you know, the owner just kind of abandoned them.

MENNITTI: One possible explanation, families already struggling financially make pets a low priority.

MAYA XIONG, NEIGHBOR: They had to leave, you know. So, they probably just left their pet by itself.

H. XIONG: I can see the reason why. A lot of times they can't afford them. So they just kind of leave them.

MENNITTI: But animal control warns if you leave your four-legged friends behind, you're breaking the law.

ALARCON: It is animal cruelty. And like I said, it is a penal code violation, which we will pursue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: In fact, if caught, those who abandon their pets could face fines.

Ahead, something new in Times Square this year. A high-tech spin on the old ball drop.

We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. 9:30 Eastern Time now as we await the last ringing of the opening bell on December 31st, the last day of 2007.

A lot of people probably going to be saying good-bye to this year -- there it is for you, the opening bell -- very happily, especially because of the volatility in the stock market. Although, you have to remember we did break a few record this is year, too.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: Anatomy of a murder in Pakistan. An assassination strikes and videotape rolls. These images raise new questions now about last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The government said she was not shot and died, instead, from hitting her head. This tape appears to show the assassin shooting at Bhutto and her head snapping to the side.

Bhutto's husband will help to lead her party now. Their 19-year-old son will be the leader in symbol only, until he finishes college.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILAWAL ZARDARI, BENAZIR BHUTTO'S SON: Like all chairmen of the PPP, I will stand as a symbol of the federation. The party's long and historic struggle for democracy will continue with renewed vigor, and I stand committed to the stability of the federation. My mother always said democracy is the best revenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: What's not clear is whether the elections will be held one week from tomorrow as originally scheduled. Opposition leaders are demanding they not be delayed. The government's election commission says they should be postponed. A decision is expected tomorrow.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: CNN's countdown to 2008 now, live from Times Square tonight. This year is doubly special, too. The New Year's Eve ball turns 100. And to celebrate, it's going green.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick is in Manhattan now for the big party.

Hey, Deb, you're getting an early start.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are definitely getting an early start. And all I can tell you, Heidi, is this -- even if you would never stand out here yourself in the cold and the rain, penned in with hundreds of people who are about to be your best friends, on some levels you really respect the one million people who do come out and who do take part in this, because whether you want to be here or you want to be anywhere but, this is really the pulse of the city.

It's where everything happens. It's what you do, whether you're with a huge group of friends, or a small dinner with family, friends, kids, whatever it is, just before midnight there's always a tendency to reach for the television to see that ball dropping.

Now, that ball, as you said, 100 years old. Now more than 100 -- 1,000, I should say, Waterford crystals in all different colors. It is twice as bright as in previous years. Also, it is 95 percent more fuel efficient. So the big ball now green, joining the trend.

As for security in this area, well, you can imagine it is going to be very, very tight here later on. The area closes about 3:30 this afternoon. No traffic in this particular area. And that's when all these different pens are going to be set up.

Folks will start arriving. They're going to be ushered into small little areas, and that's where they have to stay.

So the best thing to do, bring a little bit of food. But you certainly can't bring in big backpacks. They want to avoid that. And then just hunker down for the night.

There's going to be some good music, loads of confetti, lots of balloons. And it's going to be a good time all around -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. So, what time does Times Square actually get locked down then?

FEYERICK: It does. It gets locked down at about 3:30 in the afternoon. That's when the police begin clearing out this area.

There are no cars. The pens are set up. And it's a really well orchestrated event.

The police make sure that they are managing the crowd. And that's what's pretty incredible.

Once you get in, it's very difficult to leave. And if you do leave, there's no guarantee that you're going to get back into the spot where you may have left a friend. A lot of people say, whatever you do, don't drink anything at all the entire day.

So, that's the price you have to pay, on some levels, if you want to come here. Otherwise, you've just got to take your chances -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. It sounds like it. We know those messages are going to be falling out of that ball as well when they come down. So we will be watching all of it very closely right here on CNN.

Deb Feyerick, thanks so much, live from Times Square this morning. In fact, CNN, on New Year's Eve, we are going to be bringing the party right to you. We've got a look back at the year's top stories and big events, too.

Anderson Cooper and comedienne Kathy Griffin live from Times Square. It all starts tonight, 11:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

It could be the most talked about issue in 2007, illegal immigration. Now "The Dallas Morning News" is naming the illegal immigrant the Texan of the year.

The paper says, "We can't seem to live without him and his family, and if we can live without him, nobody's figured out how."

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, half of the immigrants in Texas are in the United States illegally.

Ambushed in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These were trained fighters who knew what they were doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were outnumbered and we were surrounded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had RPGs being fired every couple seconds at us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: CNN's Nic Robertson on the front lines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 a.m. until noon Eastern, but did you know you could take us with you anywhere on your iPod? What a great way to start off the new year, too. You've got to start doing this.

The CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7, right on your iPod.

2007 is now recorded as the deadliest year for U.S. troops fighting in Iraq. Eight hundred ninety-nine Americans were killed, most of them in the first six months. Since then, troop deaths have plummeted, and U.S. military officials say violence is down a dramatic 60 percent. The military credits increased troop strength and support from Sunni tribal leaders.

The year also ends on a brutal note in Afghanistan. It is the deadliest since the 2001 U.S. invasion ousted the Taliban. The Taliban regrouped. The Associated Press now counts more than 6,300 people killed by insurgents.

A dangerous mission for American GIs, a remote corner of a remote country. CNN's Nic Robertson traveled to the front lines in Afghanistan. He has this exclusive story now of courage under fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. ALEX NEWSOM, BULLDAWG COMPANY: X-ray 36 here. We're moving around the eastside of the camp right now.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): High in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush Mountains, Lieutenant Alex Newsom leads his platoon...

NEWSOM: Ten feet outside the wire, movement up the trail. Over.

ROBERTSON: ... on a hunt for Taliban and al Qaeda.

NEWSOM: Are you OK?

ROBERTSON: The air is thin. The peaks so steep, the soldiers struggle under heavy body armor, weapons and ammunition.

Less than 15 miles from the border with Pakistan, Newsom and his men are at the far edge of the war on terror.

NEWSOM: The only way to get anything done, in fact (INAUDIBLE) appears from the high ground. Down there on the road, by the river, you're just a target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your rifle.

Get your hands up!

ROBERTSON: Their tiny base, surrounded by mountains...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got one on top of the building right here, too.

ROBERTSON: ... is a magnet for insurgent attacks, hit regularly by rocket and sniper fire. They are so remote they can only be resupplied by helicopter.

Ammunition competes with food. Soldiers get only two cooked meals a day. They've never had their full ration of ammunition, and their Humvees are lighter, with less armor, because the helicopters can't carry the heavier version, making them more vulnerable to attack.

These are the men of Bulldawg Company, thousands of miles from home, nearly a year to go in their 15-month tour. Their leader, Captain Tom Bostick (ph).

NEWSOM: He's a take-charge kind of guy and definitely the kind of man that a lot of us saw as invincible. You know? The kind of guy, if he's out there, you're going to be fine.

ROBERTSON: But on July 27th, just after daybreak, as Captain Tom Bostick (ph) led his men on a routine patrol, they aren't so sure.

SGT. JOHN WILSON, BULLDAWG COMPANY: I was feeling kind of apprehensive that day.

ROBERTSON: Sergeant Wilson has a bad feeling as they head eight miles from their base to the tiny village of Saret Koleh, a few scattered huts next to a fast river in a narrow, steep-sided valley.

WILSON: Part of our mission, a subtask, was to go into the village of Saret Koleh and conduct a village assessment. Basically, talk to all of the elders.

ROBERTSON: The other part of their mission, to check out intel reports that insurgents were planning an attack.

WILSON: We heard that there was something like 100 fighters, you know, just to the southwest.

ROBERTSON: Bostick (ph) and his men set up a stakeout, placing 40 U.S. and 30 Afghan national army, ANA, soldiers strategically around the village. Newsom stands by with a quick reaction force of 15 more solders. But soon they learn their enemy is dug into the mountains, too.

LT. JOHN MEYER, BULLDAWG COMPANY: Within 30 minutes of actually leaving Saret Koleh, the first actual round was fired. It was awfully quick.

WILSON: You heard them shooting at you, but you had no idea where they were.

ROBERTSON: Sergeant Wilson and four others head up to mountain to find them. Sergeant William Frischy (ph), who just joined the platoon -- this is his first mission since arriving -- is out front. They discover tracks that show insurgents are all around them.

NEWSOM: There's one in far most (ph) with an AK out there. These are trained fighters. They knew what they were doing.

MEYER: We were outnumbered and we were surrounded. We had RPGs being fired every couple of seconds at us. They're pinging off the turf, hitting off the doors.

ROBERTSON: Even high above, soldiers on lookout are being attacked from both sides of the valley. And below, Meyer's platoon is pinned down, too.

MEYER: We had fighters spread across probably 500 meters on the north base engaging us. So it was not just fighting against the north face. It was north, northwest and the northeast. We had two U.S. platoons plus ANA, all -- all basically pinned down.

ROBERTSON: Newsom's reaction force is ordered into the fight. The enemy is gaining the upper hand.

NEWSOM: They knew what they were doing. It seemed like they had a plan. And it even seemed like they were tightening their noose around us.

ROBERTSON: Captain Joey Hutto is monitoring the situation from their secure base 15 miles away.

CAPTAIN JOEY HUTTO, BULLDAWG COMPANY: You feel helpless at times, because you can only sit there and listen to a radio.

ROBERTSON: He didn't know it then, but, he, too would be heading into the battle.

(on camera): By now their enemy was circling around them, trying to cut off their exit, close in for the kill. If they didn't get out soon, then the situation could get a whole lot worse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The men of Bulldawg Company surrounded, classic ambush. See what happens next when Nic Robertson's exclusive report continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Back now to the story of the men of Bulldawg Company, pinned down in the remote mountains of Afghanistan, under fire on all sides.

Once again, CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The shooting comes from everywhere. Captain Tom Bostick (ph) and his men are being fired on from every direction.

MEYER: We had fighters to the north, to the south, to the east and to the west.

ROBERTSON: Sergeant Wilson's squad is higher up the mountain but is also taking fire and trying to make his way down to safety. They almost run into insurgents dressed as Afghan army soldiers.

WILSON: I come up on three guys in a cave. They're about 15 meters away. I almost yelled out, "Hey, hey, hey." And I just kind of stopped.

And I just was like, wait a minute. These guys aren't looking in my direction. If they were security, they'd be looking at me. They're paying attention to the guys on the road.

These are bad guys. We need to kill them.

So we took those three guys down.

ROBERTSON: An hour and a half into the battle they know they need help. Air support comes to their rescue.

WILSON: At that point two big 500-pound bombs got dropped. I heard the bomb coming in, and it hit and it just rocked my world like, you know, I went deaf.

ROBERTSON: As they get up, another insurgent appears. WILSON: That was when Frischy (ph) got shot. It was, like, two rounds. Yes, he was right in front of me. I saw him get hit. And it was kind of unreal at the moment. To me, that was the first time I had really seen death.

ROBERTSON: The men have no time to mourn. They are under attack.

WILSON: When I was up there, I had this horrible feeling you're trained and trained and trained to never leave a guy behind. Here you are in a situation where your choices are to leave a guy behind or to die with him.

ROBERTSON: They choose to move.

Down in the valley, Newsom's quick reaction force makes it in and takes fire.

SPC. MICHAEL DEL SOTO, BULLDAWG COMPANY: They swarmed us, and I was engaging a target. It was a 360 ambush.

ROBERTSON: The men suddenly realized their company commander, Captain Bostick (ph), hasn't been heard on the radio. They continue their firefight. At the same time, they begin a search. When they find him, he's dead.

NEWSOM: As we were putting his body in it really hit me the hardest. You know, oh, what do we do? But we had the situation under control. I mean, we just kept going. You go with the momentum of the situation, and you just don't stop.

ROBERTSON: And now the valley is a kill zone. Meyer and Newsom's two lightly-armored Humvees are full of wounded soldiers.

MEYER: I was scared like everyone else was out there. We had soldiers, you know, getting shot or getting blown up. I mean, it was happening, probably, you know, one guy a minute was getting hit. Every time we tried to move there was another person shot. It got so bad I had eight casualties in my vehicle.

ROBERTSON: Their only escape, to hide behind their Humvees.

WILSON: It is a real helpless feeling, because you're just kind of out there in the open. I just kind of accepted it. I'm just waiting to get shot, basically. From about 200 meters and that's when stuff really started to get bad. We took a whole bunch of casualties. They pounded us with RPGs.

ROBERTSON: But with Newsom's quick reaction force adding crucial firepower, and air support preventing the insurgents from advancing, the soldiers in their Humvees gradually back out of the valley, still taking fire from all sides.

Seven hours after the first shots were fired, Bulldawg makes it out.

Seven U.S. soldiers are wounded; two are dead. The Afghans lost even more. (voice-over): They were out of the kill zone, but Sergeant Frischy's (ph) body was still on the mountainside, where they'd been forced to leave him. They had to go back.

(on camera): They go back in on foot, the insurgents now gone.

WILSON: It was real humbling, too, when we found Sergeant Frischy's (ph) body. He was laying down where he had been killed, and his arms were like this across his chest. I had totally expected his body to be gone. And just kind of show that there is humanity on both sides.

ROBERTSON: Bulldawg Company held together, despite the heavy losses.

HUTTO: As a troop as a whole, it would have been easy for them to collapse. I think, due to Tom's leadership, he had built a dynasty here. Every platoon leader seemed to understood their mission. They continued with their mission. They knew exactly what they had to do.

ROBERTSON: Their commanding officers called them heroes, but these soldiers say they were just looking out for each other.

WILSON: I don't feel like a hero. I just feel like I was there. I got put in a bad place, and I got out of it the best I could.

ROBERTSON: But there is frustration. Without enough resources, they feel forgotten and hope their brothers' lives won't be.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Forward Operating Base Keating, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Widespread violence in one of Africa's most developed nations. Thousands of opposition supporters have been rioting in Kenya. They say the president rigged his reelection bid.

New video here that we're showing you. State television reports at least 124 people have been killed. The death toll is expected to go higher.

Several police officers have told The Associated Press they've been ordered to shoot to kill. Kenya's government denies that.

New evidence in Pakistan. A tape shows the attack on Benazir Bhutto. What does it mean for the investigation?

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