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CNN Live Saturday

Two U.S. Soldiers Gone Missing in Iraq; Man Arrested for Allegedly Allowing his Wife to Committ Suicide

Aired June 17, 2006 - 16:00   ET

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

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: Good afternoon. Last night a coalition force soldier was killed and two others are currently listed as whereabouts unknown after their security element came under attack at a traffic control point south of Yusufiyah, Iraq, at approximately 7:55 p.m. local time Friday, June 16th.
The names of the soldiers are being withheld pending notification of their next of kin. Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces initiated a search operation within minutes to determine the status of these soldiers. And we are currently using every means at our disposal on the ground, in the air and in the water, to find them.

The specifics of this situation currently available for release are as follows: Coalition forces at an adjacent traffic control point heard an explosion and small arms fire at approximately 7:55 p.m. last night in the vicinity of the missing soldiers' checkpoint at a canal crossing near the Euphrates River in the vicinity of Yusufiyah.

After being unable to communicate with the checkpoint, a quick reaction force was launched arriving on scene within 15 minutes. The quick reaction force reported finding one soldier killed in action and two soldiers' duty status and whereabouts unknown.

All traffic control points were notified to stop civilian traffic and increase security. Helicopter, unmanned aerial vehicle and fixed wing assets provided reconnaissance over and around the site. A dive team was requested.

Within an hour of the incident, blocking positions were established throughout the area and a concerted effort to focus a search and prevent movement of suspects out of the area. Three raids were conducted during the night on suspected possible locations and a fourth operation was conducted this morning.

Coaliton forces engaged with local leaders in the area to enlist the support of civilians in providing any information they could and these engagements continue.

Dive teams are on site and working the canal and river. There is coordination amongst adjacent units to provide actionable intelligence on our soldiers' whereabouts. We are using all available assets, coalition and Iraqi, ground, air and water, to locate and determine the duty status of our soldiers. We continue today to search for Sergeant Matt Maupen, captured in April of 2004. We continue to search using every means available and will not stop looking until we find the missing soldiers. Make no mistake, we never stop looking for our service members until their status is definitively determined, and we continue to pray for their safe return.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: On the ground, in the air and under water, the search for those soldiers intensifies. Here's CNN's Sumi Das.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the search for two American soldiers, every military resource is called to action.

CALDWELL: Coalition forces engage with local leaders in area to enlist the support of civilians in providing any information they could and these engagements continue. Dive teams are now on site working the canal and river. There is cross coordination to develop actionable intelligence on our soldiers' whereabouts.

DAS: Three soldiers were stationed at a checkpoint by the Euphrates River near Yusufiyah that was attacked Friday night. According to sources, a mechanical bridge near the checkpoint had failed and the soldiers were warning others that it not be used.

Military officials say that troops nearby heard an explosion and small arms fire. U.S. forces arrived on the scene 15 minutes later to find one soldier killed and two missing. Since the incident, four raids were carried out on what the military is calling suspected possible locations. Sources say the military is considering all possible avenues and all possible outcomes.

It brings back painful memories for the family of Army Sergeant Matt Maupin, the only American soldier with the status, Missing/Captured in Iraq. His unit came under attack near Baghdad Airport more than two years ago.

CAROLYN MAUPIN: It's like we're reliving our first notice of when Matt's whereabouts unknown. So I can relate to the parents. And I have been praying for them. Hopefully they'll find them very very soon.

DAS: Once a week, the U.S. military updates Maupin's mother about ongoing the efforts to find her son. Military officials say the search for missing soldiers doesn't end until their status is determined once and for all. Sumi Das, CNN, Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Baghdad was rocked bay deadly series of explosions today. A car bomb at a police checkpoint killed at least 12 people, 23 people died in five other attacks in Iraq's capital. The president's secret trip to Baghdad and the speculation mounting over al Qaeda in Iraq's new leader. CNN's John Roberts takes a look at "Iraq, A Week at War," tonight at 7:00 eastern.

In news closer to home, remembering the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. An emotional groundbreaking ceremony in Colorado yesterday. A new memorial honors the 13 victims of Columbine. Former president Bill Clinton donated $50,000 to the memorial fund.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: This memorial is not only so that you will never forget the people you loved, but so that through your life, you can honor theirs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Organizers still need $250,000 to pay for the monument.

A death wish or a tragic accident. Authorities say a New York man knew his wife was suicidal but left her and their daughters alone in a family minivan before it went over a 300 foot cliff. He now faces charges. Mark Joyala (ph), with CNN affiliate WNYW has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK JOYALA, WNYW: Victor Han, his hands in cuffs, taken away. Now accused of allowing his wife to kill herself and very nearly taking the couple's two daughters with her. The three and five-year- old somehow surviving the 300-foot drop in the family minivan. Mr. Han claiming it was an accident. But after hours of questioning, police say he admitted his wife intended to kill herself.

COL. JAMES WARWICK, N.Y. STATE POLICE: Mrs. Han was suicidal. She had threatened her husband she would, if had the opportunity, would hurt herself and her children. And we believe that he afforded her that opportunity.

JOYALA: Han originally told police he'd taken the family on a sightseeing trip to Bear Mountain and stopped to step out and take pictures. The minivan then somehow rolling off the road, his wife and girls inside. They survived, the mother did not. Police now believe Mrs. Han put the minivan into gear and sent herself and the girls over the edge. Driven to suicide, police say, by her husband's affair with another woman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't even believe it. It just doesn't sound right, you know? Everybody seemed happy. She seemed happy. It's a sad thing.

JOYALA: Detectives went door to door on the Hans' quiet street on Staten Island, neighbors telling police they had no reason to suspect an affair and nothing to suggest Mrs. Han would ever hurt herself or her little girls. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never spoke to me personally about his wife or children. I mean, he's a loving father. The kids waited for him to come home, the wife would walk him every day to the car.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Time to go global with headlines around the world. The U.S. and Japan are warning North Korea not to carry out a long range missile test. Pyongyang denies it is preparing to do so. But South Korea media reports that booster rockets are on a North Korean launch pad.

Civil war fears in Sri Lanka. Eight government sailors and more than 20 rebels were killed in fighting today. The battle was sparked by a new rebel attack off the coast. Fighting on both sides has increased in recent weeks.

Fleeing Mogadishu. Two U.S.-backed but defeated Somali warlords have reportedly fled to a ship in the Indian Ocean. Militias controlled by the Islamic Courts Union seized the country's capital last week.

Coming up an exclusive look at a new battlefield in the border war, 23 miles of sewer pipes deep below the ground, filthy, pitch black, filled with deadly gases. But those desperate enough, a passage for freedom.

KFC cracked down. It might be finger licking good, but one watchdog group claims it can take years off your life. A look at trans fats.

Later, she said giving birth was terrifying. A preview of Anderson Cooper's a interview with Angelina Jolie.

But first, on this Father's Day Weekend, soldiers overseas want to give a quick shout out to their dads here at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Sergeant Kuva (ph) in al Takitum, Iraq (ph). I want to send a shout out to my father in Salinas, California. Love you and I'll see you soon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Cpl. Cory Vintner (ph). Like to wish my father, Ronald Vintner and my father-in-law Roger Taylor, Happy Father's Day and I'll be home soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Other news across America, one man is dead after being hit by the tour bus carrying Ricky Skaggs. It happened last night in middle Tennessee, near the Interstate 24 exit for the annual Bonnarroo concert. Skaggs performed there last night.

Vili (ph) Fualaau, the man who ultimately married his sixth grade teacher now has a criminal record. A Washington judge sentenced him for a DUI conviction yesterday. Fualaau and Mary Kay Latourneau made world wide headlines for her arrest for having sex with him when he was just 12 years old.

You know what they say about curiosity. It almost killed this kitty in Salt Lake City, Utah. The inquisitive feline was trapped for two days after fresh cement was poured into a hole that the cat had actually crawled into. The cat was ultimately cut out of the cement. No word if the incident counts against one of his nine lives.

A new front in the battle against illegal immigration. It's actually underground. Sewer pipes spanning the U.S./Mexican border are becoming a popular route into the U.S., but not without a fair share of potential pitfalls. Rick Sanchez first investigated the subterrainian sewer crossing for "AC 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You wouldn't think that underneath this 90-pound manhole cover, hundreds, maybe thousands of people are sneaking into the U.S. Through sewer pipes so filthy, so dangerous, city workers won't go inside them without first dropping a hazardous chemical detector to check for methane and other deadly gases.

Yet dangerous as they may be, these subterranean tunnels offer huge rewards for smugglers who know them well enough to escort as many as 30 immigrants per trip. Charging up to $1,500 per person, for their expertise in avoiding border patrol agents like Kurstan Rosberg.

KURSTAN ROSBERG, BORDER PATROL: This is ultimately where the smugglers come out. They enter through a manhole to the north inside the U.S., crawl through the pipes and ultimately come out here.

SANCHEZ: Here in these rancid waters which lead to a grated opening. This is where smugglers use blow torches to bust through.

ROSBERG: They've got time to work in concealment here, cut the grate, and the people just run over and hop in.

SANCHEZ: The fence they jump is only 20 feet away. That's how close the Mexican border is. And you see these tall reeds? Agents say immigrants use these as hiding places before heading into the sewer pipes. But then what?

What's it like to actually go inside the sewer? For those answers, we contacted the San Diego Streets Department Supervisor Aaron Snelling. At 6'5", he barely squeezes through an open manhole to show us the way. I follow behind. 15 to 20 feet underground, I find concrete pipes four feet across. Too small to get through without crawling or slouching. And there is no visibility down here.

AARON SNELLING, SAN DIEGO STREETS DEPARTMENT: No visibility at all.

SANCHEZ: The smuggler leading the way may use a cigarette lighter but for the rest of the immigrants, including women and children, it looks like this. (on camera): We're in total darkness just to show you what it's really like for these immigrants as they try and get in here. Go ahead now and turn on the light, Orly. This is how they have to go through these pipes, literally feeling their way because they're not able to see anything. You can see the smudge and the dirt and the mud that you have to walk through to get through this thing. What makes it worse oftentimes they come into these pipes thinking they're only going to be in here a few minutes. But it turns out, one of these manhole covers will be shut and they'll have to go to the next one, or worse, a smuggler will simply lie to them. We could be walking down this tunnel for a couple of blocks.

SNELLING: Yeah. A good seven to eight blocks, over 1,000 feet.

SANCHEZ: That's a long way.

SNELLING: Yes, it is.

SANCHEZ: To walk in the dark in a tunnel.

SNELLING: By just touch and feel, yes.

SANCHEZ: That's got to be real creepy.

SNELLING: Real creepy.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Look at the size of the cockroaches. They attract rats, and they attract snakes. But Snelling says the biggest danger is simply running out of air. That's why he and his workers only come down here with one of these.

SNELLING: This detects flammables, carbon monoxide or anything that's going to deplete the oxygen.

SANCHEZ: Undocumented immigrants who have been caught in these tunnels say they're taught to travel like a human chain. What, do they just feel their way around?

SNELLING: Normally they're just holding on to the person ahead of them and just touching the walls and feeling their way out until they get to a point where somebody's tapping on the street.

SANCHEZ: But too often the way out is no way out. This is their escape hatch. Imagine if a car or truck passes over as someone tries to get out. That's why in some areas, border patrol agents now seal the manholes or place sensors around them.

ROSBERG: The sensor will pick up the vibration and send a signal to dispatch. Dispatch will in turn call our agents in the area and they'll respond.

SANCHEZ: If they get there in time. For now, with a 23-mile network of sewage and drainage pipes snaking under the U.S. border, and 500 manholes, the serious border crisis has turned into a deadly subterranean game of catch me if you can. Rick Sanchez, CNN, San Diego. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Anderson cooper is covering all sides of the story. Catch "AC 360" at 10:00 eastern.

In Germany a vital match for team USA. They're playing power house Italy right now. Italians fans are a passionate bunch. Who better to gauge our reaction than Richard Quest in Turin. Certainly the American fans are outnumbered by the Italian fans there. How it is looking?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The crowds here in Turin have been somewhat remarkable. Listen to the quiet now because we're in that last part of the game when things are really tense for the Italian side.

(INAUDIBLE)

It's looking a little bit dodgey for the Italians. So we're having periods of great quiet like just now. It is almost hush in the square, San Carlos Piazza here in Turin. Then all of a sudden the Italians will look like they're about to make a good move and then will erupt like we heard earlier. I would say tense, worried and this might not go the Italians' way before it's finished.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my. So quiet at moments because those fans are praying that perhaps Italy will score another point? Because hasn't the U.S. scored at least one goal in that game so far?

QUEST: Yes, one-all at the moment. (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: Oh, so sorry, Richard Quest. We're we know you're giving a fine report but we can't hear you. We're having a signal problem. We'll get the update from Richard a little bit later on.

Refugees living in American communities trying to assimilate perhaps in your neighborhood. Do you have any idea what life is really like for them? Coming up, I'll talk with two young Sudanese refugees.

And at 4:38 eastern, it's a multi-billion dollar industry but little is know about it. CNN"s Nic Robertson takes us inside a giant private military contractor. It's an exclusive report, you're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So you probably heard a lot about trans fats lately with the filing of the so-called Kentucky Fried lawsuit this week. The operator at the KFC restaurant chain is being sued because of the type of oil it uses for frying. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says in a lawsuit that some KFC meals were found to have high levels of trans fats.

So exactly what are we talking about? And more importantly, is there a safe level of trans fat that you and your family should consume? For answers to those tough questions, Dr. Bill, you always know that fat is a bad word. Now we know that trans fat is really the bad word.

DR. BILL LLOYD, UNIV. OF CALIF. DAVIS, MED CTR.: Yes, you're in very bad company when you talk about trans fats. In the category with those saturated fats and dietary cholesterol like eggs and meat. Trans fats are artificially made made. They start with vegetable oil and pump in a lot of hydrogen. That makes the product firm and good for shelf life and they can re-use it again and again. But whenever you mess with Mother Nature, there's a down side to adding that hydrogen and creating those trans fats.

WHITFIELD: How do you identify trans fat if you don't see it on the label? Then how do you know it's in there?

LLOYD: If it's around your house and you're cooking with a fat or shortening product and it is firm at room temperature, it has trans fats in it. In the restaurant, look over the counter, see how they're preparing those French fries. If they're pouring something in, it is probably an unsaturated oil. But if they're throwing big bricks of white stuff into the hot oil, stay clear.

WHITFIELD: So are there safe levels of trans fats?

LLOYD: Many food and health experts say trans fats, in general, are a poison because they elevate those dangerous LDL cholesterol levels. That's compared to unsaturated fats like those omega threes that we know will actually lower those levels.

I have to say right off the bat there's no absolute safe level of the trans fats that you can enjoy. But when you're looking at packages of foods, look for the word hydrogen, partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated. You can bet there's plenty of trans fats there. Good news, there are lots of alternatives to using hydrogenated trans fats.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. That's a mouthful. Thanks so much Dr. Bill Lloyd.

LLOYD: Happy Father's Day, everybody.

WHITFIELD: Happy Father's Day to you. Our reminder, don't miss Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special "Fit Nation" tomorrow night right here on CNN.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed their daughter Shiloh into the world three weeks ago today in the African republic of Namibia. Anderson Cooper caught up with Angelina Jolie for her first U.S. television interview since the birth of her baby. In the conversation Jolie talks about her passions, her helping world refugees, her role as a U.N. special ambassador and, of course, Baby Shiloh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANJELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: Because you're there for the birth, which I wasn't for my first two kids, you're suddenly terrified that they are not going to take their first breath. That was my whole focus. I just wanted to hear a crying.

I was sure everything was going to go wrong. And she's healthy. And it was amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: You can see the full conversation on a special World Refugee Day edition of AC 360 Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m. eastern.

President Bush and public opinion. Did his recent trip to Iraq give him the boost he needed? A look at the latest polls in a live report from Crawford, Texas.

And on the front lines, how the war in Iraq has forced a radical turn in what was once known as the mercenary business. In a CNN exclusive report, our Nic Robertson takes us inside the world of private military contractor Blackwater.

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