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Hostage Rescue Requires Through Debriefing
Aired June 08, 2004 - 14:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Three hostages, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) sure, unshaven and eating with spoons from one plate. Those images now replaced with sighs of relief.
Three Italians, one Pole who have been held hostage in Iraq since April 12 were finally rescued by a coalition military operation made up of special forces. In addition, two Turks and an Iraqi driver who were taken hostage just a few days ago have also been set free.
Now these rescues may make great news but the reality of continuous kidnapping of innocent civilians is not so encouraging. CNN's special contributor Ron Young know the feeling. The former POW was held captive for 22 days after his helicopter was shot down in Iraq during the war. He joins us now live with some insight.
First of all, let's talk about this operation. Are the special forces obligated to rescue civilians?
RON YOUNG, CNN SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR: Not necessarily obligated to rescue them. I don't want to tell you they are not going to do everything they possibly can to rescue them, especially other countries' hostages in this case.
But the thing is, these guys went over there and they are trying to make money on what happened in Iraq and rebuilding efforts. And the difference is when you are a POW your country sends you over there, you're a part of the military. And they reserve the obligation to have to bring you back safely. With a civilian it doesn't work the same way.
PHILLIPS: All right. Now when we talk about U.S.-led coalition special forces, it's not just the U.S. There are a number of other countries that contribute to the special forces effort.
YOUNG: Absolutely. You are talking about Brits, you're talking about Polish, you're also talking about different other groups in the region, even the Italians have some guys there. And it could be very well they rescued some of their own people.
What you have to look at, also, these guys, each one of the countries come and they bring a different thing to the special forces table, something that they are good at. It's kind of like the Olympics. Each country has a sport that they are good at.
So if you take this and you mix it around, you end up with a really good force, the same way you would in the Olympics if you took all the world teams and you took the best from each country and put them all together. And it just makes it work a lot more efficiently and they can use a lot more force on target.
PHILLIPS: Now to give us sort of an inside perspective of what these men will now go through, this debriefing, decompression process. What did you go through when you were first rescued? And kind of put in perspective for us what they are going to go through now.
YOUNG: What happens as soon as you are rescued they want to get you out of the area and they want to take you to a secure location. So these guys were taken, they were thrown into the back of a vehicle and they were drove rapidly across town. They probably secured an area, something like a school or building where they could set up security posts and provide a lot of different guys around to, you know, keep the Iraqis from being able to converge on the area.
And they took them inside and they went ahead started decompressing them. We call it combat interrogation because you're actively still in combat. And they will ask some questions about who's in the area, what can you tell us about what went on, what type of people were holding you, can you give us any leads on anybody or any activities going on in the area?
And basically it's just to gather on the battlefield intelligence.
PHILLIPS: Now, we're looking at video there when you were finally rescued. I know. And I give you a hard time about those pajamas. But that's because we're friends now.
But on a serious note, take us back to that day. What did it feel like? What did you hear? What did it sound like? Give us that personal perspective of what it feels like to be rescued.
YOUNG: Well I saw the video. They looked like they were eating a little better than us, already.
But Marine Corps of course came in and they started kicking in the doors. And you know we hear all this excitement and everything. We think it's the Iraqis coming to kill us, that they found out where we were at.
And they enter the house and they are yelling get down, get down. And of course it;s English and I'm like OK! I mean it's our guys. And we hit the floor and they drag us out. And it's all the chaos and all this emotion coming in -- inside you and everything.
And they took us outside. And basically what they had to do was take each one of us and assigned us a soldier. And this soldier, he wanted you down on the ground, he was pushing you towards the ground. And he was jerking you around and they were trying to get you out of there as fast as possible.
Or sitting beside some ambulances and they drive up and they grab by the necks and they pull us out and throw us into the back of the vehicle. And we drive off to the place where they did the combat interrogation.
PHILLIPS: Ron, we're seeing more kidnapping and civilian hostage situations. Why are we seeing more of this versus military personal being taken in as POWs? I'm guessing because it's easier, number one.
YOUNG: Absolutely. A lot easier to catch a civilian than it is a military guy. Our military guys over there right now, they are definitely moving in groups. They are -- they have been trained a lot in how to move in convoys, especially with all the convoys that have been hit. They have vehicles front and back that are ready to start laying down lead toward the enemy if they are attacked. They're very in their roots.
These are things civilians don't have at their disposal. And also one of the other problems they have is that they don't travel in as great a number.
PHILLIPS: Ron Young, thank you very much. We'll do it again.
YOUNG: Absolutely.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The war in Iraq has put thousands of reservists and national guard troops on the front lines. Many have died in battle. Others have been injured. But when the time comes for care back home, some say they are being treated as second class soldiers. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Ramsey injured his shoulders and arms serving in Iraq and Kuwait. He's angry at the Army.
JOHN RAMSEY, ARMY VETERAN: The army is no longer an Army. It's a business. That's what it's come down to. It's a business.
TUCHMAN: Ramsey says he's not getting first-class attention in the military hospital, because he was in the National Guard, and not in the regular Army. He is one of hundreds of National Guard and Reserve soldiers at Fort Stewart, Georgia, who are on what the Army calls medical hold. They aren't ready to resume normal duties, and in most cases, they have to continue living at the fort to receive the Army's full medical treatment.
Ramsey says he's fulfilled his military commitment and wants to return to his home to his family in Florida, but the military won't authorize free medical treatment anywhere but Fort Stewart.
RAMSEY: There's been some points that I just wanted to quit, just give up and, you know, go home and figure out how to pay for it myself.
TUCHMAN: Fort Stewart's garrison commander, Colonel John Kidd, wasn't available for an on-camera interview, but did talk with us by phone. COL. JOHN KIDD, FT. STEWART GARRISON COMMANDER: A system is not in place to just allow soldiers to go home and sit at home, you know, and wait for their leg, or their arm or shoulder to heal up.
TUCHMAN: Most of the medical-hold patients live in air- conditioned trailers, four to a room, a step up from the non-air conditioned cement barracks where they lived last year, when many complaints started coming in, complaints that included charges of second-rate medical care for Reservists and Guardsmen.
The Army says an overwhelming patient load last year did indeed lead to troubling problems, but now...
KIDD: I can't say we're problem-free here, but we've made some good efforts.
TUCHMAN: Not good enough, though, for some, like John Ramsey.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Hinesville, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A new terror target. Ronald Reagan's state funeral presents some awesome security problems. Our Mike Brooks weighs in on the task at hand next.
And she went from independent, modern woman to princess to who knows where. Behind the scenes of the Japanese royal family in crisis. More LIVE FROM... right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Another tribute given to former President Reagan today. This one from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He told our Barbara Starr a short time ago about the impressions he had of the 40th president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: ... in terms of his general manner and demeanor and graciousness and warmth, approachability. He was a person that you didn't hesitate for a second to look him in the eye and say something to him and know that he would come back in a very responsive, human way.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: And then as the years went on...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Friday's state funeral for Ronald Reagan will bring world leaders, elected officials, thousands of ordinary Americans to the nation's capital. Preparations continue.
And the Department of Homeland Security has designated national special security event. I'm sure they'll be jumpy with 21 gun salute if nothing else. But give us a sense, Mike Brooks, our expert on such matters, give us a sense of sort of the standing army that will be out there to try tone sure security for this event.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Miles, I was talking to a number of people. They say this is a combination of the NATO 50th anniversary, inaugural and State of the Union all wrapped up into one.
And really didn't have much time to prepare for this. They kind of dusted off the books and they are going to go with the plan that they do best in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Secret Service has the overall responsibility for the anti-terrorism and the counterterrorism preparations of these major events. Then you have the metropolitan police, the U.S. Park Police, U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI, ATF that are also all going to be contributing manpower, they're going to have people in plain clothes, they'll have uniform folks out there.
Tomorrow is going to be a mess in D.C. On Wednesday after the remains arrive at Andrews Air Force Base they will be brought down 16th and Constitution Avenue where they will be put on the caisson. Then they will have the caisson parade up to the U.S. Capitol where they will then take him up the steps where he will lie in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol.
Then on Friday, they will have the service in Washington. They will go from the Capitol to the National Cathedral. And then from the Nation Cathedral back to Andrews Air Force Base.
So Friday is a national holiday, national day of mourning, if you will. The government will be closed. But tomorrow at 6:00 the p.m. rush hour is going to be a mess in Washington.
O'BRIEN: A couple issues injected, the G-8 summit, in all this. The first issue that comes to mind is just the manpower issue. A tremendous amount of resources have to be in the coast of Georgia in order to accommodate that. How much does it sap the effort in Washington?
BROOKS: Well it's going to sap the Secret Service a little bit. But there are agents they can pull. And uniformed division Secret Services. They'll be pulling up to Washington, D.C.
They will have the overall lead. But once they get to 16th and Constitution Avenue that's U.S. Park Police jurisdiction. And then as they move down Constitution, then it becomes metropolitan police jurisdiction. They cross over Third Street NW onto the Capitol grounds, then it's the U.S. Capitol Police. But they all work together.
The FBI is also going to be involved in this. The joint Terrorism Task Force, which I was on the last six years of may career, is going to play a heavy role is this. They're going to have explicit response teams working in conjunction with the other agencies, Miles. As well as the National Capitol Response Squad which brings a lot to the table there also with pre-stage assets in case there's a bomb threat, suspicious package those kind of things. So they can respond in a very, very expeditious manner.
But, D.C., they do this all the time. They are the best. Metropolitan police, U.S. Capitol, Park, FBI, all the agencies working together. They are the best.
O'BRIEN: Nobody knows it better than D.C. But if you had your choice on for providing security for an island you can close off or a city that has to remain open, what would you do?
BROOKS: No choice at all. I used to live on St. Simons and Sea Island is right next to it. They close it off. It's two miles long. One way on, one way off. Basically with the air patrols it's basically a dome there. There's no one coming in. No one is coming out.
But in Washington, you have got to go from point A to point B. That provides a lot of security nightmares. And you've got all possibly the heads of state coming there that are going to be moving from place to place. Staying in hotels in Washington, D.C. That also provides a security nightmare.
O'BRIEN: All right, listen up, general aviation pilots. Pay close attention to the notice to airmen or you will find yourself with an F-16 at your 6:00 position, as they say -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, she said "I do" to a prince, but she is not living the fairy tale. An update on the royal ruckus over a male heir.
Then in biz, Magic Johnson wants it his way. Imagine that.
And be still my heart. Is Mini Me back on the love market? Entertainment headline still ahead. LIVE FROM... keeps rolling along in a big way after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We've learned from Britain and other countries just how tough it is for common folk to marry into royalty.
O'BRIEN: It's tough being royal, isn't it? It's a royal -- you know.
In any case the latest royal household in disarray is in Japan. Schubert reports on a princess in depression and in a nation in obsession.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A fairy tale wedding to breathe new life into the world's oldest aristocracy. Eleven years ago Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito married Masako Owada, an ambitious young diplomat.
Today is no happily ever after. Masako has been missing from the public eye for more than six months amid widespread reports of depression. The reason pressure to produce a male heir to the Chrysanthemum throne. It took nine years for the couple to conceive a baby girl, Crown Princess Aiko. And Masako is now 40.
MIDORI WATANABE, BUNKA WOMEN'S UNIV. (through translator): I think the weight of family tradition, of inheriting this family must have affected Princess Masako. She's very lonely.
SCHUBERT: Masako's tries at normal life have been thwarted. Attempts to introduce Aiko to playmates outside of the palace have not been repeated.
(on camera): The public has noted Masako absence with deep concern,. And the role of the imperial household is being questioned by many including the crown prince himself.
(voice-over): The crown prince attended recent royal weddings in Europe alone. But before leaving delivered an unusually sharp rebuke of his imperial handlers.
CROWN PRINCE NARUHITO OF JAPAN (through translator): Princess Masako has worked hard to adapt to the imperial household. From what I can see I think she has completed exhausted herself in trying to do so. She has been denied her career as well as her personality.
SCHUBERT: On the streets concern for the princess. Many insists the imperial household must change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I have always thought that imperial household was becoming outdated. The best medicine is for them to leave the princess alone.
SCHUBERT: Now there is heated debate over whether an empress should be allowed to ascend the throne. Others wonder if there should be an imperial family at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I feel sorry for them. But I have always doubted whether we really need an imperial house in Japan today.
SCHUBERT: Japan's imperial family were once seen as deities. Now many Japanese pitty their secluded lives and see the imperial household as a relic of a bygone era.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MARKET UPDATE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 8, 2004 - 14:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Three hostages, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) sure, unshaven and eating with spoons from one plate. Those images now replaced with sighs of relief.
Three Italians, one Pole who have been held hostage in Iraq since April 12 were finally rescued by a coalition military operation made up of special forces. In addition, two Turks and an Iraqi driver who were taken hostage just a few days ago have also been set free.
Now these rescues may make great news but the reality of continuous kidnapping of innocent civilians is not so encouraging. CNN's special contributor Ron Young know the feeling. The former POW was held captive for 22 days after his helicopter was shot down in Iraq during the war. He joins us now live with some insight.
First of all, let's talk about this operation. Are the special forces obligated to rescue civilians?
RON YOUNG, CNN SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR: Not necessarily obligated to rescue them. I don't want to tell you they are not going to do everything they possibly can to rescue them, especially other countries' hostages in this case.
But the thing is, these guys went over there and they are trying to make money on what happened in Iraq and rebuilding efforts. And the difference is when you are a POW your country sends you over there, you're a part of the military. And they reserve the obligation to have to bring you back safely. With a civilian it doesn't work the same way.
PHILLIPS: All right. Now when we talk about U.S.-led coalition special forces, it's not just the U.S. There are a number of other countries that contribute to the special forces effort.
YOUNG: Absolutely. You are talking about Brits, you're talking about Polish, you're also talking about different other groups in the region, even the Italians have some guys there. And it could be very well they rescued some of their own people.
What you have to look at, also, these guys, each one of the countries come and they bring a different thing to the special forces table, something that they are good at. It's kind of like the Olympics. Each country has a sport that they are good at.
So if you take this and you mix it around, you end up with a really good force, the same way you would in the Olympics if you took all the world teams and you took the best from each country and put them all together. And it just makes it work a lot more efficiently and they can use a lot more force on target.
PHILLIPS: Now to give us sort of an inside perspective of what these men will now go through, this debriefing, decompression process. What did you go through when you were first rescued? And kind of put in perspective for us what they are going to go through now.
YOUNG: What happens as soon as you are rescued they want to get you out of the area and they want to take you to a secure location. So these guys were taken, they were thrown into the back of a vehicle and they were drove rapidly across town. They probably secured an area, something like a school or building where they could set up security posts and provide a lot of different guys around to, you know, keep the Iraqis from being able to converge on the area.
And they took them inside and they went ahead started decompressing them. We call it combat interrogation because you're actively still in combat. And they will ask some questions about who's in the area, what can you tell us about what went on, what type of people were holding you, can you give us any leads on anybody or any activities going on in the area?
And basically it's just to gather on the battlefield intelligence.
PHILLIPS: Now, we're looking at video there when you were finally rescued. I know. And I give you a hard time about those pajamas. But that's because we're friends now.
But on a serious note, take us back to that day. What did it feel like? What did you hear? What did it sound like? Give us that personal perspective of what it feels like to be rescued.
YOUNG: Well I saw the video. They looked like they were eating a little better than us, already.
But Marine Corps of course came in and they started kicking in the doors. And you know we hear all this excitement and everything. We think it's the Iraqis coming to kill us, that they found out where we were at.
And they enter the house and they are yelling get down, get down. And of course it;s English and I'm like OK! I mean it's our guys. And we hit the floor and they drag us out. And it's all the chaos and all this emotion coming in -- inside you and everything.
And they took us outside. And basically what they had to do was take each one of us and assigned us a soldier. And this soldier, he wanted you down on the ground, he was pushing you towards the ground. And he was jerking you around and they were trying to get you out of there as fast as possible.
Or sitting beside some ambulances and they drive up and they grab by the necks and they pull us out and throw us into the back of the vehicle. And we drive off to the place where they did the combat interrogation.
PHILLIPS: Ron, we're seeing more kidnapping and civilian hostage situations. Why are we seeing more of this versus military personal being taken in as POWs? I'm guessing because it's easier, number one.
YOUNG: Absolutely. A lot easier to catch a civilian than it is a military guy. Our military guys over there right now, they are definitely moving in groups. They are -- they have been trained a lot in how to move in convoys, especially with all the convoys that have been hit. They have vehicles front and back that are ready to start laying down lead toward the enemy if they are attacked. They're very in their roots.
These are things civilians don't have at their disposal. And also one of the other problems they have is that they don't travel in as great a number.
PHILLIPS: Ron Young, thank you very much. We'll do it again.
YOUNG: Absolutely.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The war in Iraq has put thousands of reservists and national guard troops on the front lines. Many have died in battle. Others have been injured. But when the time comes for care back home, some say they are being treated as second class soldiers. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Ramsey injured his shoulders and arms serving in Iraq and Kuwait. He's angry at the Army.
JOHN RAMSEY, ARMY VETERAN: The army is no longer an Army. It's a business. That's what it's come down to. It's a business.
TUCHMAN: Ramsey says he's not getting first-class attention in the military hospital, because he was in the National Guard, and not in the regular Army. He is one of hundreds of National Guard and Reserve soldiers at Fort Stewart, Georgia, who are on what the Army calls medical hold. They aren't ready to resume normal duties, and in most cases, they have to continue living at the fort to receive the Army's full medical treatment.
Ramsey says he's fulfilled his military commitment and wants to return to his home to his family in Florida, but the military won't authorize free medical treatment anywhere but Fort Stewart.
RAMSEY: There's been some points that I just wanted to quit, just give up and, you know, go home and figure out how to pay for it myself.
TUCHMAN: Fort Stewart's garrison commander, Colonel John Kidd, wasn't available for an on-camera interview, but did talk with us by phone. COL. JOHN KIDD, FT. STEWART GARRISON COMMANDER: A system is not in place to just allow soldiers to go home and sit at home, you know, and wait for their leg, or their arm or shoulder to heal up.
TUCHMAN: Most of the medical-hold patients live in air- conditioned trailers, four to a room, a step up from the non-air conditioned cement barracks where they lived last year, when many complaints started coming in, complaints that included charges of second-rate medical care for Reservists and Guardsmen.
The Army says an overwhelming patient load last year did indeed lead to troubling problems, but now...
KIDD: I can't say we're problem-free here, but we've made some good efforts.
TUCHMAN: Not good enough, though, for some, like John Ramsey.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Hinesville, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A new terror target. Ronald Reagan's state funeral presents some awesome security problems. Our Mike Brooks weighs in on the task at hand next.
And she went from independent, modern woman to princess to who knows where. Behind the scenes of the Japanese royal family in crisis. More LIVE FROM... right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Another tribute given to former President Reagan today. This one from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He told our Barbara Starr a short time ago about the impressions he had of the 40th president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: ... in terms of his general manner and demeanor and graciousness and warmth, approachability. He was a person that you didn't hesitate for a second to look him in the eye and say something to him and know that he would come back in a very responsive, human way.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: And then as the years went on...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Friday's state funeral for Ronald Reagan will bring world leaders, elected officials, thousands of ordinary Americans to the nation's capital. Preparations continue.
And the Department of Homeland Security has designated national special security event. I'm sure they'll be jumpy with 21 gun salute if nothing else. But give us a sense, Mike Brooks, our expert on such matters, give us a sense of sort of the standing army that will be out there to try tone sure security for this event.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Miles, I was talking to a number of people. They say this is a combination of the NATO 50th anniversary, inaugural and State of the Union all wrapped up into one.
And really didn't have much time to prepare for this. They kind of dusted off the books and they are going to go with the plan that they do best in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Secret Service has the overall responsibility for the anti-terrorism and the counterterrorism preparations of these major events. Then you have the metropolitan police, the U.S. Park Police, U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI, ATF that are also all going to be contributing manpower, they're going to have people in plain clothes, they'll have uniform folks out there.
Tomorrow is going to be a mess in D.C. On Wednesday after the remains arrive at Andrews Air Force Base they will be brought down 16th and Constitution Avenue where they will be put on the caisson. Then they will have the caisson parade up to the U.S. Capitol where they will then take him up the steps where he will lie in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol.
Then on Friday, they will have the service in Washington. They will go from the Capitol to the National Cathedral. And then from the Nation Cathedral back to Andrews Air Force Base.
So Friday is a national holiday, national day of mourning, if you will. The government will be closed. But tomorrow at 6:00 the p.m. rush hour is going to be a mess in Washington.
O'BRIEN: A couple issues injected, the G-8 summit, in all this. The first issue that comes to mind is just the manpower issue. A tremendous amount of resources have to be in the coast of Georgia in order to accommodate that. How much does it sap the effort in Washington?
BROOKS: Well it's going to sap the Secret Service a little bit. But there are agents they can pull. And uniformed division Secret Services. They'll be pulling up to Washington, D.C.
They will have the overall lead. But once they get to 16th and Constitution Avenue that's U.S. Park Police jurisdiction. And then as they move down Constitution, then it becomes metropolitan police jurisdiction. They cross over Third Street NW onto the Capitol grounds, then it's the U.S. Capitol Police. But they all work together.
The FBI is also going to be involved in this. The joint Terrorism Task Force, which I was on the last six years of may career, is going to play a heavy role is this. They're going to have explicit response teams working in conjunction with the other agencies, Miles. As well as the National Capitol Response Squad which brings a lot to the table there also with pre-stage assets in case there's a bomb threat, suspicious package those kind of things. So they can respond in a very, very expeditious manner.
But, D.C., they do this all the time. They are the best. Metropolitan police, U.S. Capitol, Park, FBI, all the agencies working together. They are the best.
O'BRIEN: Nobody knows it better than D.C. But if you had your choice on for providing security for an island you can close off or a city that has to remain open, what would you do?
BROOKS: No choice at all. I used to live on St. Simons and Sea Island is right next to it. They close it off. It's two miles long. One way on, one way off. Basically with the air patrols it's basically a dome there. There's no one coming in. No one is coming out.
But in Washington, you have got to go from point A to point B. That provides a lot of security nightmares. And you've got all possibly the heads of state coming there that are going to be moving from place to place. Staying in hotels in Washington, D.C. That also provides a security nightmare.
O'BRIEN: All right, listen up, general aviation pilots. Pay close attention to the notice to airmen or you will find yourself with an F-16 at your 6:00 position, as they say -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, she said "I do" to a prince, but she is not living the fairy tale. An update on the royal ruckus over a male heir.
Then in biz, Magic Johnson wants it his way. Imagine that.
And be still my heart. Is Mini Me back on the love market? Entertainment headline still ahead. LIVE FROM... keeps rolling along in a big way after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We've learned from Britain and other countries just how tough it is for common folk to marry into royalty.
O'BRIEN: It's tough being royal, isn't it? It's a royal -- you know.
In any case the latest royal household in disarray is in Japan. Schubert reports on a princess in depression and in a nation in obsession.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A fairy tale wedding to breathe new life into the world's oldest aristocracy. Eleven years ago Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito married Masako Owada, an ambitious young diplomat.
Today is no happily ever after. Masako has been missing from the public eye for more than six months amid widespread reports of depression. The reason pressure to produce a male heir to the Chrysanthemum throne. It took nine years for the couple to conceive a baby girl, Crown Princess Aiko. And Masako is now 40.
MIDORI WATANABE, BUNKA WOMEN'S UNIV. (through translator): I think the weight of family tradition, of inheriting this family must have affected Princess Masako. She's very lonely.
SCHUBERT: Masako's tries at normal life have been thwarted. Attempts to introduce Aiko to playmates outside of the palace have not been repeated.
(on camera): The public has noted Masako absence with deep concern,. And the role of the imperial household is being questioned by many including the crown prince himself.
(voice-over): The crown prince attended recent royal weddings in Europe alone. But before leaving delivered an unusually sharp rebuke of his imperial handlers.
CROWN PRINCE NARUHITO OF JAPAN (through translator): Princess Masako has worked hard to adapt to the imperial household. From what I can see I think she has completed exhausted herself in trying to do so. She has been denied her career as well as her personality.
SCHUBERT: On the streets concern for the princess. Many insists the imperial household must change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I have always thought that imperial household was becoming outdated. The best medicine is for them to leave the princess alone.
SCHUBERT: Now there is heated debate over whether an empress should be allowed to ascend the throne. Others wonder if there should be an imperial family at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I feel sorry for them. But I have always doubted whether we really need an imperial house in Japan today.
SCHUBERT: Japan's imperial family were once seen as deities. Now many Japanese pitty their secluded lives and see the imperial household as a relic of a bygone era.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MARKET UPDATE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
