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CNN Live Saturday

Story of Pat Tillman's Death a Subject of Dispute; Baby Boom in San Deigo's Naval Hospital

Aired May 27, 2006 - 18:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news. High level sources say the head of the FBI and Justice Department threatened to quit if compelled to return documents seized from Congressman William Jefferson's office.

First, a killer tsunami. Now it's a deadly earthquake in Indonesia. The island nation was shaken by a 6.3 magnitude quake this morning. The official death toll has topped 3,000.

Now, back after a one-day withdrawal, the private militia of the Hamas-led government returns to the streets of Gaza. The move could trigger more violence between Hamas and security forces led by its rival, Fatah.

An urgent search is underway for two Marines in Iraq's Anbar province. Their helicopter crashed but apparently not from enemy fire. Enemy action is blamed for the death of a Marine in that same province on Friday.

And remembering those who paid the ultimate price for freedom. Today's Memorial Day observances included this one at Arlington National Cemetery. The Rolling Thunder veterans group placing this wreath at the tomb of the unknowns.

Memorial Day. It's when we stop to remember the names and the faces and the ultimate sacrifice of Americans who have died in defense of this country.

It may seem too easy to hold up the well known story of one famous soldier. But there's a reason we're talking about Pat Tillman tonight, a gifted athlete who left fame and easy money to join the Army and fight terrorists.

Pat Tillman died violently in Afghanistan. And you may know a little of his story up to that point. Well, tonight we know a whole lot more. And after this report, so will you. CNN has been investigating what happened to Tillman and what happened when the Army started investigating itself. Here's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre reporting those chilling details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: At his memorial service two years ago, Pat Tillman was remembered as an inspiration to thousands of Americans. California's First Lady Maria Shriver was among those supporting the family, recalling how much Tillman gave up to fight for his country in Afghanistan.

MARIA SHRIVER, CALIFORNIA FIRST LADY: Pat had it all -- intelligence, movie star good looks, a loving wife, athletic prowess, fame, a lucrative and promising career. Who among us could walk away from riches and a job we love?

MCINTYRE: But Pat Tillman did just that. The former safety for the Arizona Cardinals gave up a multi-million dollar pro football deal the day after September 11th to enlist as an elite Army Ranger. Tillman explained his decision in a rare interview just before he went into the army.

PAT TILLMAN: My great-grandfather was at Pearl Harbor and a lot of my family has given up -- gone and fought in wars and I really haven't done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that, so I have a great deal of respect for those that have.

MCINTYRE: But Tillman's devotion to duty, honor, country, would end with his death in a desolate section of Afghanistan.

It would be 26 days after the memorial service, more than a month after his death, before the Army would publicly acknowledge what the rangers who were with him in combat knew almost right away. Tillman's death was from friendly fire. He was hit in the head by three bullets fired by American soldiers who say they mistook him for the enemy.

(on camera): Much, but not all of the story of what went wrong that April day in 2004 can be found in thousands of Army documents obtained by CNN.

(voice-over): Many details from the Army documents are being televised here for the first time. And while the heavily blacked-out documents provide some answers, they also raise substantial questions that three separate Army investigations have failed to resolve.

Tillman's platoon was on a mission in eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistan border. His platoon was trying to flush out enemy Taliban, or al Qaeda fighters. CNN took these Army topographic maps of the location where Pat Tillman was killed and independently created the first detailed television animation of what happened to Tillman and the Army Rangers that day.

The platoon's problems began with a broken-down Humvee, which had to be towed by a truck and was slowing the platoon. The platoon was split into two groups on orders of a commander at a base far away, according to Army documents.

The split was ordered over the objections of the platoon leader. There was a concern back at the base that the broken humvee was causing unacceptable delays to the mission.

CNN military analyst retired Brigadier General David Grange has commanded Rangers himself and also lost a soldier to friendly fire. GEN. DAVID L. GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Here you had the senior guy on the ground saying I don't want to split my force. Someone that's not there on the ground but on a radio in a tactical operations center saying split it. You know, do you take the word of the guy on the ground or not? You know, usually the guy on the ground knows what's going on.

MCINTYRE: Corporal Tillman was with the first group that pressed on, moving safely through a deep canyon and arriving at a small village. The second group with a Humvee in tow included Tillman's younger brother, Kevin, who also enlisted with Pat after September 11.

That second convoy led by the truck towing the broken Humvee followed a different route, but found the terrain too rugged, so they backtracked and followed the first group deep into the narrow canyon. Though they were just a half hour back, the first group was unaware the second group was coming up behind them. In the canyon, the second group was ambushed from above by enemy fighters.

GRANGE: There was confusion in the force. People were scared. Very restricted terrain. Sun's going down. A lot of shadows. So the light is not dark enough to use night vision goggles, but it's in between.

MCINTYRE: To add to the confusion, in the deep canyon, the two groups lost radio contact. But Pat Tillman's group heard the gunfire back in the canyon and turned back to help. Tillman, as described in his Silver Star citation, showed great courage under fire in leading a small rifle team, including an Afghan soldier, to the top of the ridge to engage the enemy.

Down below, a Humvee armed with a .50 caliber machine gun and four soldiers with other weapons pulled out behind the truck and broken Humvee. As they emerged from the canyon, the soldiers in the vehicle were firing with an abandon that one Army investigator would say demonstrated gross negligence.

The soldiers would later say they thought the enemy was all around them. As they fired in all directions they began hitting U.S. troops.

Down in the village, the platoon leader was hit in the face and another soldier shot in the leg. From Tillman's position up on the ridge came anguished cries of alarm. First, the friendly Afghan soldier was shot and killed by the soldiers in the Ranger vehicle. The soldier standing alongside Tillman described what he witnessed in a sworn statement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): A vehicle with a .50 cal rode into our sight and started to unload on top of us. Tillman and I were yelling, stop, stop! Friendlies. Friendlies, cease-fire! But they couldn't hear us.

MCINTYRE: According to another sworn statement obtained by CNN, the driver of the Humvee was initially confused when he saw the Afghan soldier with Tillman on the ridge, then realized others in his Humvee were firing at other rangers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): I yelled twice we have friendlies on top. The crew must not have heard me because my vehicle opened fire on them. I screamed no and then yelled repeatedly several times to cease-fire. No one heard me.

MCINTYRE: Tillman threw a smoke grenade to signal they were Rangers and for a few moments it appeared to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): We thought the battle was over, so we were relieved, getting up, stretching out, talking with one another, when I heard some rounds coming from the vehicle. They started firing again. That's when I hit the deck and started praying.

MCINTYRE: The soldier hit the deck when the vehicle fired on them again. That's when the soldier says Tillman was hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): I know this, because I could hear the pain in his voice as he cried out, cease-fire. Friendlies. I'm Pat Tillman, damn it. He said this over and over again until he stopped.

MCINTRYE: Moments later, a sound caught the attention of the soldier next to Tillman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): I heard what sounded like water pouring down. I then looked over to see a river of blood coming down from where he was. I had blood all over my shoulder from him and when I looked at him, I saw his head was gone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Pat Tillman's family has more questions about what happened to their son. That's next in the second part of Jamie McIntyre's investigation coming up in less than four minutes.

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LIN: It's been two years since former NFL football player Pat Tillman was shot to death by his fellow Army Rangers in Afghanistan. As we've been showing you in detail this evening, there are many unanswered questions about precisely how that happened. Two years later there is yet another Army investigation underway.

CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre and CNN senior investigative producer Scott Bronstein (ph) have combed through thousands of documents. What they've found includes accusations of negligence and deceit. Here again is Jamie Mcintyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Two years and three investigations have produced a mountain of files. But there is still a long list of unanswered questions about the death of Pat Tillman at the hands of his fellow Rangers. Why were Tillman's body armor and uniform burned by his fellow soldiers after he was killed? Why did some soldiers change their testimony from investigation to investigation? And should some Rangers have faced courts marshal?

COL. JOSEPH G. CURTIN, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: But simply put, the family is not satisfied with the information they're getting and they've asked for more details. Simply put, we owe the family honest answers.

MCINTYRE: In part because of the family's anger and disillusionment, the Pentagon has launched a fourth investigation, a criminal probe into whether Tillman's death was negligent homicide as well as a separate review of whether the Army engaged in any intentional deception.

(on camera): It's been two years. Is there an excuse for this taking that long?

EUGENE F. FIDELL, ATTORNEY, MILITARY LAW PROFESSOR: I can't think of one.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Eugene Fidell represents military clients in his private practice and teaches military justice at American University in Washington. He reviewed the Tillman documents at CNN's request, examining the charge made by one investigator that stories changed after his initial probe.

(on camera): Is there anything here that could be considered a smoking gun?

FIDELL: I don't know that we have a smoking gun at this point. What we do have is an initial investigator who thought that there should be, let's say, a serious look at criminal negligence. We have people changing their stories. We have somebody being given a grant of immunodeficiency.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): In the documents the Army blacked out names and other identifying information, so it's unclear exactly whose testimony changed and when. But the initial investigation conducted by an Army captain CNN has identified as Richard Scott contains much harsher judgments than those reached in a later probe by a one star general.

In a sworn deposition given five months after Tillman's death, Scott says --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The stories have changed. They have changed to, I think, help some individuals.

MCINTRYE: Scott states that in the retelling, some distances have grown longer, some lighting conditions worse and even the position of the allied Afghan soldier changed. In his deposition, captain Scott says of one soldier in the lead vehicle that fired on Tillman --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): I think he demonstrated gross negligence. He recognized the individual, the Afghan soldier, wasn't shooting in his direction, but he shot and killed him anyway. MCINTYRE (on camera): In this stack right here we were looking at, this is where one of the first investigators offers his opinion when he's being questioned that there might be gross negligence involved in this. How significant is that?

FIDELL: It's quite significant because that original investigation was the one closest in time to the events in controversy by an individual who caught witnesses presumably when their memories were fresh and expresses the opinion that gross negligence had been committed.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Captain Scott notes the Rangers in the lead vehicle firing on Tillman were not being shot at themselves at the time. And that, quote --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): There were numerous attempts to signal to that lead vehicle that the friendlies were up on that ridge line.

MCINTYRE: The documents show the numerous attempts included soldiers yelling into radios to cease fire, Tillman's smoke grenade, the driver of the vehicle yelling to cease fire and finally Tillman and the soldier next to him waving their arms frantically overhead but the firing continued with no attempt to properly identify the targets. It was, in the opinion of Captain Scott, a lack of discipline that should have brought serious punishment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The other difficult thing, though, was watching some of these guys getting off with what I thought was a lesser of a punishment than what they should have received.

GRANGE: If someone lied under oath on the investigation to cover themselves or cover someone else, that's inexcusable.

MCINTYRE: The documents show the officer who made the original decision to split the platoon was later granted limited immunity to change his testimony about who above him knew about his order. He would later explain that it was only a clarification of his original testimony. But both Mr. Fidell and General Grange found the grant of immunity unusual.

GRANGE: The immunity issue does raise a few red flags because, I mean, why -- unless they had accurate statements, why would you have to give immunity to anyone.

MCINTYRE: On the issue of Tillman's uniform which was burned by soldiers after his death, the Army's most recent investigation concludes Tillman's uniform and body armor should have been preserved. It disputes the idea it was burnt to cover anything up. The soldiers thought they were disposing of a biohazard. The Army says so far seven soldiers have received various reprimands.

CURTIN: There were three officers and four enlisted personnel, all of them were disciplined, all received administrative reprimands. One soldier was demoted and fined and three others were dismissed from the Ranger regiment itself.

MCINTYRE (on camera): While no one was found grossly negligent nor less than truthful in the follow-up investigations, more serious charges could result from the ongoing probe, which is looking at questions of criminal negligence, intent to cover up and the awarding of Tillman's Silver Star.

(voice-over): But to some legal experts, the punishments in the Tillman case so far seem light.

FIDELL: Punishments imposed have been on relatively junior people and they have been relatively informal, non-judicial punishments, non-record punishments, things that never leave the unit or simply firing somebody from the Rangers. To a Ranger that's a big deal, but it's not like going to the disciplinary barracks at Ft. Levinworth.

MCINTYRE: The Army says it learned a lesson. The Army now has new procedures to ensure suspected friendly fire deaths are reported right away.

CURTIN: The unit erred on the side of caution to get all the facts first to determine that indeed a friendly fire event had occurred. And that shouldn't have happened. In hindsight, as soon as it was suspected, they should have told the family about it.

MCINTYRE: The Army has expressed its deepest regrets to the Tillman family and is promising the fullest accounting possible.

CURTIN: The bottom line is we will go where the truth leads us and we will get the answer to the best of our ability.

MCINTRYE: For some of Pat Tillman's family that promise rings hollow. After two years of frustration, they wonder if any government investigation will ever uncover the truth. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: A much needed story. The unexpected side effects of service in wartime. More babies. We're going to explain next.

And at the top of the hour --

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi and we're "ON THE STORY." Dana Bash talks about why congressmen are outraged that the FBI searched a colleague's office. Candy Crowley asks Larry King what he sees on the story, and Suzanne Malveaux talks about President Bush and his regrets about the Iraq war. All that is coming up, all "ON THE STORY."

LIN: Pink and blue, the dominant decor these days at San Diego's Naval Medical Center. The hospital is witnessing a baby boom. Now, it's a time for celebration. But for these military families, the moment is also bittersweet. Here's CNN's Kareen Wynter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lonely journey for a military wife about to face one of life's greatest moments on her own. The birth of her first child.

BETHANY BLISS, MARINE CORPS WIFE: It's hard because I know it's his job, but I just wish it could have been different.

WYNTER: Bethany Bliss is eight months pregnant. Her husband, Corporal Travis Bliss is in Iraq. Down the hallway at San Diego Naval Medical Center, Eric Haigh takes a stroll with his newborn son.

Eric was at his wife's bedside for Andrew's delivery but knows it's just a matter of time before he has to head back overseas.

ERIC HAIGH, U.S. NAVY: I'll be missing six months of his life, six important months. But, you know, I just do it and it's my job.

JESSICA HAIGH, NAVY WIFE: I definitely think it's going to be a lot harder on me having to watch him go.

WYNTER: They Haigh's are also part of a Navy boom here at the Naval Medical Center, a significant increase in delivery rate since the start of the Iraq invasion.

DR. STEVEN BRAATZ, NAVAL MEDICAL CTR., SAN DIEGO: The average day, we would have eight or ten deliveries. With fluctuations that can occur, that could easily be 15 deliveries within a 24 hour period.

WYNTER: Sixteen hundred military moms-to-be are currently under the care of doctors. The hospital had a tradition of ringing a bell every time a baby was born. Not anymore. They're just too busy.

BRAATZ: Many of the young mothers that we see here who I know whose husbands are in Iraq right now amaze me with their courage. I know that they go through a lot of anguish.

WYNTER: Bethany Bliss tries to fight the tears. She bought a video camera to record her baby girl's birth but knows it won't be the same.

BLISS: I just wish he could be here. I love him very much. I hope that, you know, other fathers are home for when their kids are born.

WYNTER: Eric Haigh says for now he's just happy to celebrate little Andrew's homecoming until he has to say good-bye. Kareen Wynter, CNN, San Diego.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: The battle over the FBI raid of a Congressman's office. Up next, "ON THE STORY" gives you an insider's view on the controversy.

At 8:00 eastern "CNN PRESENTS: Wounded Warriors." We take a personal look at the fallen soldiers and the medics who save them. At 9:00, "LARRY KING LIVE" breaks down the ENRON trial that ended in conviction for Ken Lay. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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