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Paulson on the Bailout; Big 3 Automakers on the Brink; Two U.S. Soldiers Allegedly Killed By Iraq Soldier During Joint Patrol

Aired November 12, 2008 - 11:22   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: OK. You've just heard from Secretary Paulson. A lot there to work over.
The $700 billion bailout 40 days later -- how are things going? Let's get right to it.

Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here with me in Atlanta. Our Christine Romans is at the New York business desk.

Christine, let's start with an open-ended question. What did you hear? There is a lot here for us to work over.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It really is. I mean, this was a long, exhaustive list, both a history lesson, kind of an apology, and a look forward, a progress report on what's happening here.

He says that all of these efforts to date are thawing the credit problem. He says that they have stabilized the financial system. That's what they meant to do. There are signs of improvement in the credit market. But our financial system remains fragile.

He said that -- you know, went back about how this all happened and how it's now spread around the world. He says we in the U.S. are well aware and humbled by our own failings, our regulatory failings, and then failings of oversight that led to all of this. Quite interesting.

Also opening up the idea of TARP -- TARP, don't you love the acronym?

HARRIS: Yes.

ROMANS: TARP. It wounds like...

HARRIS: What does it stand for?

ROMANS: Troubled Asset Relief Program.

HARRIS: Yes.

ROMANS: Remember, the initial idea was they were going to get all of this garbage off the bank's books.

HARRIS: And now TARP has changed.

ROMANS: Oh yes.

HARRIS: It was pitched to the American people and Congress as one thing. And now it has changed. It is now an investment plan.

ROMANS: He says he's not going to apologize for that change. He said he changed because of realities on the ground, and he doesn't feel like he has to apologize that he sold Congress something different than what is -- what they're doing right now.

And it sounds like he's opening it up to other industries as well. It sounds like he's opening it up to -- the credit card market has had trouble, they've had trouble securitizing receivables. I'm sorry to use this language for you, Tony.

HARRIS: No, that's OK. Go ahead. Go ahead.

ROMANS: You know, we've just looked into it for so long. But it sounds like they're opening it up to other things.

We know that AIG is getting $40 billion of the TARP. AIG is an insurance company, so that's pretty interesting.

And, you know, Taxpayers for Common Sense just e-mailed us the application for the TARP Capital Purchase Program. It's only two pages long. And they say, hey, you can have $25 billion, too. I guess maybe anybody can -- it's kind of a joke, but...

HARRIS: Christine -- Gerri, let me bring you in on this. I'm telling you, the plan has changed.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, the plan has changed. And let me tell you...

HARRIS: And my question -- I'm not going to let you...

WILLIS: Yes, sir?

HARRIS: I've got to ask you a question. I'm not going to let you tell me anything yet.

If the plan were pitched to the American people as it is working in practice, OK...

WILLIS: Right?

HARRIS: ... one wonders if this plan, this investment plan into the banks and in the insurance companies, you wonder for a stake -- you wonder if this plan would have passed.

WILLIS: Well, let's face it...

HARRIS: OK.

WILLIS: ... most of the money is going to the financial institutions. And the treasury secretary told us today, hey -- he said, I care about the capital base. I care about the banks. Are the banks safe? Are they working? Is our capital base in this country secure?

Asset-backed securities, oh, my goodness. Can credit card companies, can they sell your debt and my debt and repackage it all together and sell it to investors all over the planet?

The same goes for auto loans, student loans. He's worried about that.

He says he wants to increase foreclosure mitigation, but he doesn't want to pick up on Sheila Bair's plan from the FDIC, which is very aggressive in getting out and helping people find that loan. The big difference here, he says, I want to invest.

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: I don't want to spend. This is one of those things that I don't think you've ever heard this conversation when this legislation was passing. This is new, Tony.

HARRIS: You know what? We've been talking here, Christine, and the concern that -- well, the question that I've asked is whether or not there is enough in this TARP now for consumers, for homeowners?

ROMANS: No. No.

WILLIS: No. No.

HARRIS: As we think about it, the essence of the problem isn't how -- and Gerri says the answer is no.

Christine, pick up on it. Then Gerri, talk -- you guys talk.

ROMANS: I hear again and again -- we hear the government talking about the illiquid assets that are hurting the financial system and the financial companies. And I hear from homeowners that they have a really big illiquid asset, too, and they are not seeing all the attention on their illiquid asset, which is their house, that they're seeing...

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Yes.

ROMANS: But the treasury secretary said yesterday the big plan -- and Gerri knows much more about the inner workings of this than I do -- this big plan announced yesterday by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, you know, it's not going to help everybody, but is it a step forward? Citigroup saying it's going to have a moratorium on some foreclosures, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America. Maybe they're too late, but are we seeing better progress now, people realizing, gosh, they've got to help the homeowners more?

WILLIS: But Christine, Tony, don't we have to solve the housing problem now? Don't we have to get on it now? Don't we have to improve, ratchet up our efforts now?

HARRIS: I'm sorry...

WILLIS: If we don't solve that problem -- and everybody's talking about this.

HARRIS: ... wasn't that what the TARP was all about, buying these mortgage-backed securities that were the problem at the essence of the housing crisis? Wasn't that the idea? Am I missing something here?

ROMANS: But they're a derivative of the problem. The problem was still the housing market was still going down. But the problem was that these assets, these derivatives of the actual home mortgage -- you know, the problem is these things have been sliced and diced, they've been sold all over the globe, nobody knew how much they had, the housing market was crumbling. Until you get the housing prices from falling, then those things are still not worth anything.

WILLIS: But guys, we've stabilized. Even the treasury secretary said we've stabilized the banking, the financial institutionless.

HARRIS: Yes. So now it's time...

WILLIS: They are stabilized. So let's get back to business.

HARRIS: ... to turn our attention -- all right. Stay here. Don't go anywhere.

Christine, stay there.

GM, Ford and Chrysler now on the brink.

Let's bring in our Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill.

And Kate, it sounds like, if you listen to Secretary Paulson, if the big three are looking for some help within the TARP legislation, forget about it. Again, TARP is an investment plan, not a bailout plan.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is a very big question. That's something that Congress is ready to take up.

Now, let's just start from the beginning.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, they have been urging the Bush administration to offer some relief to these very troubled automakers, this auto industry. Well, they say now they're taking it a step further, saying if the Bush administration won't help automakers, we will. And that's -- they're even now planning for a lame duck session here on Capitol Hill next week to take up the matter.

Why? Why are we helping automakers right now? Well, the leaders say that this is such a big industry and it's in such trouble right now, that a failure could have dire consequences and widespread consequences.

One Democrat even saying that the auto industry is the backbone of manufacturing in this country. That's why it's critical.

But we are now getting some initial reaction from Republicans. Listen hear to Republican Congressman Spencer Bachus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SPENCER BACHUS (R), ALABAMA: I'm afraid if we don't answer the question very soon, when does this stop, that it's going to stop when we run out of money, when we're unable to print more money. When foreign countries are unable to lend to us at a reasonable interest rate. And quite frankly, we need to stop before then. If we don't, I think the American people will simply rise up and stop us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You can see right there some skepticism to say the least from that Republican congressman. Now, there aren't a lot of details right now on how much of a bailout the leaders are considering, Tony. What we do hear from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement yesterday, she said what they want is legislation crafted to allow automakers to get help from the already passed $700-billion rescue package.

HARRIS: Oh, yeah.

BOLDUAN: That is crafted originally to help the financial industry. So, it's a big question of how it's going to work, if Republicans are going to allow it.

HARRIS: The Treasury secretary, you just heard him say, it's not going to happen on his watch.

BOLDUAN: There you go.

HARRIS: And there you go. All right, Kate. Thank you, Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill for us.

The troubles facing the Big Three automakers playing into the presidential transition. President-Elect Barack Obama wants more federal help for the struggling auto industry. Let's check in with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, covering the Obama transition team in Chicago.

Suzanne, good morning to you.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

It really is good news and bad news, what we heard from Secretary Paulson when it comes to the Obama camp. On the one hand, you heard Secretary Paulson saying that $25-billion loan, the legislation that has already been passed by Congress, they are actually looking at the possibility of amending it or modifying it for the Big Three automakers. That is something that Barack Obama is pushing. He believes you need to make that money available faster to the auto industry. That is a possibility that Paulson is looking at.

The other thing, however, the bad news here is when you take a listen to what he said, the bailout, the $700-billion bailout plan, he said it is not going for the auto industry, but rather you have to take a look at the trade-offs. What are the trade-offs here? Well, they are going to the financial institutions, to the banks. He really wants to make sure that credit is running freely and lending and that kind of thing, borrowing happens. He says that is the number one priority. Barack Obama wants to see some of that bailout money, the $700 billion going to the auto industry. It sounds like that is not something this current administration wants to do.

So, on the one hand you do have some suggestions, some possible solutions, these two teams coming together. On the other hand, it looks like Barack Obama is going to be on his own when he becomes president, when he looks at that big bailout package and how to resolve the situation with those Three Big automakers, Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Chicago. Appreciate it. We will get to the credit bottleneck with Gerri Willis in just a of couple moments.

A father writes to Barack Obama, at the beginning of his presidential campaign, and gets an inspirational reply and shares it with his son. We will hear what the young man thinks of the president elect coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's take a look at the markets. And, boy, Gerri Willis was quick to point out, as Secretary Paulson was speaking, the markets were taking a real hit. A coincidence? I don't know. But as you can see, about two hours into the trading day, the Dow is down 281 points, 83 points now, 283. We'll get a market check in a couple moments.

The $700-billion bailout, back-seat drivers are griping about how the Bush money team is spending the taxpayer dollars. Today Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson defending against claims such as these. Critics say banks aren't using the infusion of cash to boost lending. Not one dime has been used to buy troubled assets. Paulson's core argument for the bailout, help for homeowners with Fannie and Freddie owned mortgages, well that was announced just yesterday. AIG keeps coming back for more and more. And now the auto industry wants a piece of the pie. Within the last few minutes, Paulson announced the bailout will not be used to buy troubled assets as planned. He suggested the economy had weathered the worst of the meltdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Our financial system remains fragile in the face of an economic downturn here and abroad, financial institution balance sheets still hold significant illiquid assets. Market turmoil will not abate until the biggest part of the housing correction is behind us. Our primary focus must be recovery and repair.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Quickly now, let's shift to the struggling airline industry. Are airlines next in line for federal help? Listen to this. Discount area AirTran says it will charge flyers $15 for the first checked bag, the fee for a second bag remains $25. The third, $50, even though oil prices are half what they were over the summer, airlines are not pulling back on baggage fees. On the phone with me, right now, Kevin Healey. He is senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran Airways.

Kevin, I promise I'll be a good host here. Thanks for your time this morning.

KEVIN HEALY, SR. V.P., AIRTRAN: Thank you, Tony.

Even though there was plenty of outrage in my voice there.

Look, $15 for the first checked bag. Can you tell us why? And why now, in particular, just before the start of the holiday travel season? It feels like perhaps the airline may be reaching into our pockets a little too deeply right now.

HEALY: I think in part it's changing the way that people are buying travel, breaking up the ticket price to reflect the services being used. At AirTran, keeping the fare as low as we possibly can is the goal. And then adding fees for services, you know, optional services.

HARRIS: Kevin, checking bags is a service that we've always used with the airlines. It's something we've actually come to expect. Look at this, $15 for the first bag, $25 for the second. We're talking about $40 to check two bags. Let me bring the discussion back to the timing of all of this. OK, I need the first bag for my clothes to travel home for the holidays. I need the second bag for my gifts. Kevin, what do you say to folks who might suggest you're gouging a little bit here?

HEALY: I would say look at the fares we charge. We're the industry leader in terms of low-cost and low-fare airline. We believe that our business model works in terms of keeping lots -- being able to stimulate demand with low fares and quality service. We're number one in the airline quality rating. I think the demand that we see from our passengers is indicative of the value they believe they're getting. We don't feel the fee is unreasonable in terms of putting the costs where - if a passenger checks the bag, there's a fee. If they don't -- some don't. We've invested in our aircraft to make sure we have the largest overhead bins possible.

HARRIS: Well, Kevin, you know as well as I do, consumers get a choice here. Are you at all concerned that with these new surcharges that you will drive folks not to fly, but to drive more this holiday season?

HEALY: No, I think when you look at the overall price of the trip, particularly when you start with the very low fares that we offer, that people will continue to travel. I don't think it will change behavior. And that's our goal, is to be able to stimulate as much demand as we possibly can.

HARRIS: All right. Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran Airways.

Kevin, thanks for your time this morning. Appreciate it.

HEALY: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Will travelers this holiday season be stuck on the tarmac for hours? A government task force designed to help prevent that is meeting today, but leaving a lot of people disappointed. CNN's Josh Levs joining me now with more on that story.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That ever happened to you, Tony?

HARRIS: No. I'm still reflecting on Kevin. He wouldn't take my bait this morning. He would not acknowledge my outrage. I guess that's part of his job.

LEVS: Get him back, Kevin, don't you know what you're supposed to do? Take Tony's bait.

HARRIS: Take the bait.

LEVS: Come on, people.

HARRIS: Good to see you, Josh.

LEVS: This is Tony's NEWSROOM, here.

This is the thing. Hey, everybody check out this headline. I want you to see this: "Stuck on tarmac? Airlines not required to help passengers". This is one of the top stories on CNN.com today. And here's the basic idea. We all remember the horror stories particularly from last year, Valentine's Day, when JetBlue passengers were stuck on the tarmac, in some cases more than eight hours. Over the holidays there were more stories of passengers just sitting on these planes for hours. Last December the Transportation Department created a task force to recommend solutions. That task force is expected to vote today on its final recommendations.

The Associated Press is reporting the recommendations do not include requiring airports or airlines to do anything. The task force is not establishing how long is too long to leave passengers sitting on a tarmac.

The recommendations do include this. I have a graphic for you here.

The airlines should update passengers every 15 minutes, offer refreshments and entertainment when practical, and make every reasonable effort to keep airplane restrooms usable. But, Tony, there's nothing in it that passengers can point to and say we've been on the tarmac longer than this task force is says is OK.

HARRIS: Yes, and why is that, Josh? LEVS: Apparently the task force just couldn't agree on a figure. One member of the task force is a founder of this, let's zoom back in here, the Coalition for Airline Passengers Bill of Rights. She says she was hoping this group would define what is an extensive ground delay. We have graphic for you now. She said, the industry, quote, "Doesn't want anything remotely enforceable." The 36-member task force is largely made up of representatives of airlines and airports. But giver you the other side here, the Air Transport Association, which represents the airline industry said, quote, "The success of the task force clearly demonstrates that not every problem requires a new law or a new regulation."

Tony, the Transportation Department also tells us, you can't just come up with some figure that's too long because it will depend on the situation and the airport. We, of course, are keeping a close eye on this. The department is hearing from people all over the country. It will take some long-term steps. Let's just hope, Tony, we don't see any of those nightmares this holiday season.

HARRIS: Come on. You know we will.

LEVS: I know. Let's hope against hope. Let's hope it's relatively few. How is that?

HARRIS: There you go. Appreciate it.

LEVS: Thanks.

HARRIS: A letter of a lifetime. He wrote Barack Obama months ago and now treasures what he got in return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We are ramping up to the favorite time of the year for retailers, but new reports show this holiday season won't be so jolly. One major mall operator may even -- whoa -- be looking at bankruptcy. Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange for us.

What do you have for us, Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not such a jolly season this year.

HARRIS: No.

ELAM: That is how it's shaping up to be, Tony. That's so true.

Retail sales are expected to decline this holiday season for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. And the effects are easy to see. Let's start off with Macy's. They say it didn't make any money over the past three months. Not any money, at all.

Best Buy says this is the worst retail environment it's ever seen and that there's been a seismic shift in consumer behavior. And then, there is the nation's number two mall operator, it's called General Growth. It's warning it's on the brink of bankruptcy. Shares of those three companies are down between 2 and 26 percent.

Obviously, that's weighing on the markets today. Let's see what's going on. Dow off 300 points, 8391, Nasdaq off 44 at 1536. We're looking at losses of more than -- around 3.5 percent to the Dow right now, Tony.

HARRIS: Stephanie, what happens if a big mall operator goes bankrupt? Something like Macy's, Macy's is an anchor to the mall, it is not the entire mall?

ELAM: Yes, that's true. And one analyst says it is rare for a entire mall to shut down.

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: It's a piece by piece sale that is more likely to happen there. But because individual stores are closing, mall vacancy rates are soaring. Some malls could close their doors for good. If that happens to General Growth, it could be massive. This is a company that operates malls in 44 states including the Water Tower Place, you know, it's in downtown Chicago, right there on Michigan Avenue, been there several times. And Paramus Park Mall, in New Jersey where I happen to go quite often. I'm actually doing my part to stimulate the economy.

HARRIS: You really are.

ELAM: But these malls are huge. And they are huge for the areas that they are in, obviously. So, if they were shut down, Tony. They would have a huge impact for the whole region.

HARRIS: This is the type of economy, you might want to save a little money, here, Stephanie. Right?

ELAM: Well, you know, I still have to do little things here and there. I have to take care of the nieces and the nephew. I can't leave them without gifts. Come on, now.

HARRIS: All right. Do you stuff. Stephanie Elam, see you next hour.

ELAM: All right, see you later.

HARRIS: There is no doubt President-Elect Obama has inspired a lot of people since winning the election. But here is one personal story you haven't heard. It's about this letter -- there it is -- let me grab my copy of it here. A six-year-old boy from South Orange, New Jersey, received from Obama, after he announced he was running for office. It has been inspiring him an his father for months. Joining me is that young man.

There he is. Jonathan Minor, and his father, Marc Minor.

Gentlemen, good to see you both.

MARC MINOR, JONATHAN'S FATHER: Thank you for having us. HARRIS: Great to finally get a chance to talk to you. How did you manage, Mark -- here is the real question -- to pull your then two-year-old and five-year-old sons away from Saturday morning cartoons to watch Barack Obama 's speech from Springfield, Illinois, on that cold day, 21 months or so ago?

M. MINOR: It's still amazing. I'm not quite sure how I managed that. I was talking it up and telling them what an historic event it would be, and it would be so exciting. Somehow I managed to get them to turn away from cartoons long enough to watch the event.

HARRIS: Hey, Jonathan, how do you like being on television? I see you making faces there. Pretty cool, huh?

JONATHAN MINOR, RECEIVED LETTER FROM OBAMA: Yeah. It's really cool. And I'm liking being on television. It's like -- well, it's an honor for me to be on television. It's like -- well, it's cool for me to be on television. Because I never been on but my friends, his name is Isaiah, he's on television. He's on Sesame Street.

HARRIS: Oh, he is? All right. Well, enjoy yourself while you're here and make all the faces you want to make. And let me ask you a quick question there. What was it like for you, Jonathan, as were you watching Barack Obama 's speech? Do you remember what you said out loud so everyone in the room could hear you?

M. MINOR: You remember what you said?

HARRIS: Hey, Dad, you want to prompt your son a little bit?

M. MINOR: Yeah. Sure. We were watching the show, and he listened to the whole speech, and didn't really say anything. Right at the end he said, you know, he looks like me. And that was his only comment at the time.

HARRIS: How did you respond what did you hear from him, just a couple of weeks later?

M. MINOR: You know, it was a fascinating comment. But I left it alone. I really didn't say anything, but a few weeks later, we were just riding in the car, and a random comment, as kids are apt to do, Jonathan was rattling off things he wanted to do, or be when he grew up, he said I think I want to be a secret agent spy and I want to be a professional snowboarder -- and I want to be president of the United States just like Barack Obama .

HARRIS: How about that. You still want to be president of the United States, Jonathan?

J. MINOR: Yes.

HARRIS: You don't want to be a snowboarder anymore?

J MINOR: Nope.

HARRIS: You don't want to be a super spy anymore? J. MINOR: Nope.

HARRIS: You know, the new James Bond movie is coming out pretty soon, here. You sure you might want to change your mind after seeing that?

J. MINOR: Nope.

HARRIS: You want to be president of the United States?

J. MINOR: Yep.

HARRIS: I'd love it.

Marc, I have to ask you, aren't you amazed, when you think about it, that then-Senator Obama , now President-Elect Obama actually replied to your letter? I mean, come on. I got give you a little hard time here. It wasn't a particularly great letter. It wasn't particularly -- I mean, come on, it was an OK letter. You've got to be amazed he actually took the time to respond?

M. MINOR: I was really blown away. When I sent the letter, I had no expectation he would ever contact us. In fact, I think I opened the letter saying, I'm sure you have no time to read this. And then I was amazed when weeks after I sent it, or maybe even a little longer, we actually received something in the mail, which I assumed was just a form piece of constituency mail.

HARRIS: Let's do this. You have the letter with you?

M. MINOR: I sure do.

HARRIS: All right. Pick it up there. We're going to put portions of it on the screen here. Why don't you read the first two paragraphs for us?

M. MINOR: It says, "Dear Jonathan, your father tells me you want to run for president of the United States one day. Such determination and interest in politics at your young age is quite impressive and I encourage you to follow your dreams. As you grow up, I hope you remember that you can and should try to make the world a better place at every opportunity. Making the world better is not always easy, and you will probably find in your life that it is more comfortable, not to think about people who are in trouble in far away places. Don't take the comfortable road. Challenge yourselves to make a difference. "

HARRIS: A pretty good stuff, pretty inspiring stuff. Marc, what's the plan here? You going to try to get down for the inauguration?

M.MINOR: You know, we would really love to. Jonathan's been talking about it since we let him stay up and watch the evening of the election, and now that we're teaching him that anything's possible, he's really been undaunted and we're trying to find ways to get down there. HARRIS: If it happens, send us along I-Reports, would you please?

M. MINOR: We absolutely will.

HARRIS: We would love to see those and get those from you. Jonathan, good to see you, young man.

J. MINOR: Thank you.

HARRIS: You want to make one final face before we say good-bye to you? Give us a good one?

That's a lovely smile. Awesome.

Marc, good to see you, and don't forget those I-reports, all right?

M. MINOR: All right. Thanks for having us on.

HARRIS: Our pleasure, our pleasure.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, military families banned from using YouTube. Now they have a new way to send messages in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And breaking news right now. U.S. troops, again, U.S. troops gunned down in Iraq, a military spokesman tells CNN. Arwa Damon joins us live from Baghdad.

And Arwa, a pretty chilling story?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Tony. Again, we're just receiving initial information, but a spokesman with the U.S. military telling us that two U.S. soldiers were killed, another six were wounded in a firefight taking place in the northern city of Mosul.

They say that the shooter was wearing an Iraqi army uniform, but has yet to confirm his identity and whether or not he is, in fact, an Iraqi army soldier. They did later release a statement saying that they do believe it was an Iraqi army soldier. The soldier was killed when U.S. troops did return fire, but this is a very chilling incident.

We spoke with Iraq's ministry of interior. They are saying that the attack took place during a joint U.S./Iraqi patrol when an American soldier apparently slapped an Iraqi army soldier. That's what sparked it all, but very tragic, very chilling events.

And in Iraq, something like this is quite rare. The most recent such event took place back in December of 2007 when two U.S. soldiers died when an Iraqi army soldier opened fire on them, also during a joint patrol, Tony. HARRIS: OK, Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad. This is what is a horrible development. All right, Arwa, appreciate it. Thank you.