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U.S., Iraqi Troops Killed by Rocket Strike; Funeral Held for Woman Murdered for Baby; Safety Concerns Raised about Aleve
Aired December 21, 2004 - 13:00 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, CO-HOST: Attack in Iraq. American troops killed by rockets. A radical group claims responsibility. We're live from Baghdad and the Pentagon.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Battle for democracy. Will Iraq be ready for elections next month? Will Iraqis even vote? We'll go in depth this hour.
PHILLIP: Another health alert about a painkiller. This time, it's an over the counter medication. What you need to know about Aleving your pain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt bad and it made me feel down and horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A boy named Osama. An 11-year-old shares his story of playground insults and some very real threats, all because of his name.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
A mess tent crowded with U.S. and Iraqi soldiers at lunchtime. A CNN photographer who recently spent time at Camp Marez near Mosul says the G.I.'s there felt vulnerable and one even said it was only a matter of time before the attack took place.
Well, as you know if you've been watching CNN, the time was today. And more than 20 U.S. and Iraqi troops and contractors are dead.
Joining me on the phone from Camp Marez is U.S. Army Colonel Paul Hastings.
Colonel, not a good time to talk, but, sir, I appreciate your time. Can you describe the scene for us now and how you've been responding to this?
COL. PAUL HASTINGS, U.S. ARMY: Well, as you know, it was a pretty difficult day, a terrible day here in Mosul in Camp Marez. And we lost 24 soldiers -- or actually, 24 people were killed. That included soldiers and contractors and Iraqi security force personnel.
And, you know, I think it's certainly a difficult time, but we're responding well. And we've taken all the -- all the wounded. And they're being taken care of. And we're doing the best I can.
PHILLIPS: Sir, I was reading in one of the newsletters that you put together, and this was a few months ago, you said that -- this was referring to another attack just days ago when a car bomb detonated outside the Mosul airfield. "Our quick response was noticed at secretary of Army level in the Pentagon."
Has this become standard operating procedure, this thought process of expecting the unexpectable, and knowing how to respond? And what is the mindset and how do you respond?
HASTINGS: I think in that newsletter, in the response, what we were talking about was trying to get the most accurate and credible information back to the American people through public affairs channels and through our technology and satellite network systems.
And our response there was the same as we did today, where we got General Ham out and was able to explain to the people in America what exactly happened and how we're responding to that.
PHILLIPS: Sir, a number of soldiers told one of our photographers there that they felt vulnerable. Do you feel vulnerable where you are? And how are soldiers dealing with the mixed feelings that they have about being there right now?
HASTINGS: I think when soldiers are talking about vulnerabilities, it's -- they're probably talking about the dining facilities, where it's not in a hard span. There's -- in the dining facility here that was hit, it was a -- a large tent area.
And so there is a level of vulnerability when you go in there and you don't feel like there's a hard -- hard roof over your head. And when there's mortar attacks and explosions that happen, there is a level of vulnerability.
And interestingly enough, a new dining facility is under construction now at Camp Marez. And it just hasn't been completed yet. And so the vulnerability there is the unexpected relating to indirect fire.
Vulnerability to attacks, when you're on a forward operating base, you have good protection. It's -- we have security forces on towers and gates. And so the vulnerability is not -- you don't really consider ourselves too vulnerable there.
Certainly, when you're moving between operating bases and when you're going on operations, there's a level of vulnerability. But all our vehicles are up armored, and we -- we take all appropriate actions to try to strengthen our positions wherever we are.
PHILLIPS: Sir, that's interesting that you bring up the issue of armored vehicles. Let me ask you this question. If you had the chance to go before Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, if you were able to be in an open former -- forum, rather, with your fellow soldiers, what would you tell the secretary what you need right now in Mosul, where you are? What is the biggest need for you and the men and women that are there?
HASTINGS: Well, you know, I think we've got what we need here. I mean, we constantly work hard to improve our positions, whether it's armoring our vehicles or hardening where we live in our -- whether it's in trailers or hard stands, in the dining facilities. And you can't do everything at once. And there's always priorities and tradeoffs.
And so we're -- I mean, everybody's on the same sheet of music. It just doesn't happen overnight. And we're working each and every day to, you know, get our position to be a little bit stronger.
In the military, we always say -- we always talk about, you know, we want to always, every day improve our fighting position, and that's what we do here. It's just not going to happen overnight.
PHILLIPS: Colonel, I've got to ask you one final question. Just days before Christmas, how do you rebound? How do you prepare for the holidays?
HASTINGS: Well, I'd say that -- you know, it's never easy to lose soldiers. It never is. And certainly, during this Christmas period time of peace and joy, it's that much more tragic.
But that's what soldiering is about. And that's what we signed up for. We knew the risks. We know the risks. And the best way that we honor our fallen is to pick up the mission and to continue it and to do it the best that we possibly can each and every day.
And the soldiers demonstrated that here today, in the dining facility. And they helped the fellow wounded, no matter if they were Iraqi or not, and -- or race, religion or color. We take care of each other. And we did that today, and we'll do that tomorrow. And we'll be able to -- we'll rebound. I have no -- no doubt about that.
PHILLIPS: Sir, that mindset is incredible. It inspires a number of us. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, U.S. Army, right from Mosul there. Sir, thank you for your time today.
HASTINGS: No problem. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: The Mosul attack would seem to be a part of a surge in pre-election violence that U.S. and Iraqi officials long said they expected. An Islamist group calling itself Jaish (ph) Ansar al-Sunnah is claiming responsibility.
Our coverage continues now with CNN's Karl Penhaul, live from Baghdad -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. Earlier on in the evening, we heard from Brigadier General Carter Ham, the commander of the U.S. forces up in the region in and around Mosul. He described this as a single explosion. It was midday, local time.
This was the chow hall, the dining facility, several hundred soldiers packed in there. And we've seen now the dramatic photographs taken by a photographer from the "Richmond Times-Dispatch." He was one of the group of embedded reporters up there. He was up there with a print reporter from that same publication.
And what they describe, these horrendous scenes, as this impact from the mortar or rocket came into the chow hall, soldiers were sent reeling, were sent flying across the dining room. And at one stage, these reporters say that their buddies even picked up the dead and wounded and loaded them on to dining tables, using those as impromptu stretchers to get them out and get them some kind of medical attention.
We see in also that photo a big yawning hole in the -- in the canvas roof of the dining facility, and that was engulfed in a fireball, according to the photographer who took that picture.
We've heard there from U.S. military commanders on the scene there, that the death toll, they're putting that now at 24 people killed, in excess of 60 people wounded.
We've still not got a specific breakdown of how many of the dead are U.S. soldiers, how many may be U.S. and Iraqi civilian contractors and how many may be members of the Iraqi security forces.
We do know, though, Camp Marez, they all shared this facility and all had different functions at that base. What we know for sure is that that dining facility was packed at that time.
As I say, we don't yet know whether this was a rocket or mortar attack. But obviously, the size and the caliber of the artillery that was used in this attack would also determine how close the insurgents were to that base at the time of the attack.
If it were 105-millimeter artillery shell, for example, those things can fly in excess of 15 miles. If it was a smaller caliber mortar, the insurgents could have been as close as four to six miles.
What we've also seen in the past, though, is insurgents staging these random attacks on U.S. military bases around the country, and very hastily packing up their mortar equipment and going away again. So this could have been just a lucky strike at a very busy time in that dining hall -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Karl, there had been some concern expressed by some of the soldiers about this particular facility and whether it was hardened enough, in other words, provided enough defense against precisely what we just saw. What are you hearing about that? PENHAUL: That is correct. One of our CNN photographers, Gabe Ramirez, was actually up in Camp Marez about three weeks ago now. That was the height of the U.S. offensive there against insurgent groups who were operating in and around Mosul, in particular, attacking police bases there.
Gabe Ramirez did have occasion to eat in this dining hall that was hit today. And he says some of the soldiers there said to him that they didn't feel that this facility was sufficiently protected and, in their words, that it was an accident waiting to happen.
As we've seen from those photos and as Gabe Ramirez has described to us, this dining facility was in part a canvas tent. There was some -- a thin metal structure around there that also formed part of the dining facility, but nothing that could withstand the blast from a mortar or from a rocket. And that's the same on most of the U.S. bases around Iraq -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Karl Penhaul in Baghdad, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Roughly 8,500 U.S. troops are in and around Mosul serving in Task Force Olympia. Many of those are based in Fort Lewis, Washington, where officials have just said they'll make an announcement at the top of the next hour.
Following the story at the Pentagon for us, CNN's Elaine Quijano.
Elaine, what do you know?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.
Well, that's right. As you mention, 8,500 U.S. troops, 3,500 of which are part of that Stryker Brigade that is based out of Fort Lewis, Washington. The rest, we are told, support troops from all around the U.S. military.
But the Stryker Brigade really responsible for conducting patrols, as well as helping out civil affairs and perhaps some reconstruction, as well. Although obviously, combat missions certainly are a part of that. And we're told that they work hand-in- hand with the Iraqi National Guard as part of those combat missions.
And we heard today from the general, the brigadier general Ham, who expressed, obviously, sadness at the loss of the soldiers but also was very clear, that the soldiers' mission would continue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: It's a sad day in Mosul. But as they always do, soldiers will come back from that. And they will do what they can do best to honor those who have fallen today, and that is to see this very important mission through to a successful completion.
That's what we owe you, the American people, and that's what we owe the people in Iraq. And that is exactly what we shall do. (END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now to provide perspective, Mosul and the area around it was relatively calm. There was one point after the invasion, the 101st was in place there, and they were helping, really, with the public relations sort of effort, reaching out to the Iraqi civilians. You hear so much about the winning heart and minds. They were seen to have been making progress.
Then they left and were replaced by another Stryker Brigade -- by a Stryker Brigade, rather, and this current Stryker Brigade team came in.
And what we have been finding out, according to the person in charge of the multinational force in Iraq, is that Mosul is not so much seen as a safe haven.
In fact, the commander in charge of the multinational forces, General George Casey, was asked about this specifically at a briefing last week. And he said in his opinion, he did not see any evidence that Mosul was, in fact, turning into another Falluja.
But at that time, what he did say is that it's an area, Mosul is, where insurgents have had some successes. And they have had those successes against the Iraqi security forces, the local forces in place there. He said it's an area where, certainly, insurgents are attempting to disrupt the elections, as well as the operations of not only coalition forces but the Iraqi forces in place.
But he did not go so far as to call it a safe haven.
Nevertheless, there is obviously concerns about ongoing violence. Perhaps now that the Falluja offensive is over, that perhaps there may be some movement of those terrorists, those insurgents into Mosul, and perhaps more violence like we've seen today.
PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano, live from the Pentagon, thank you.
Well, will democracy work in Iraq? Preparations under way for elections next month. But is the insurgent campaign against it working? We're going to go in depth this hour.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jonathan Freed, live in Maryville, Missouri, for the funeral of the woman who was murdered last week and had her baby cut from her womb. I will have the story live, coming up.
PHILLIPS: Later, an 11-year-old boy hides his face to tell us his story of being humiliating and threatened. The reason? His name is Osama.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: Anger and grief in Missouri today as a small town prepares to bury a young woman who was brutally killed for her baby. Services for Bobbie Jo Stinnett are to begin in just a couple of hours in Maryville, Missouri.
And that's where we find CNN's Jonathan Freed -- Jonathan.
FREED: Good afternoon, Miles.
That's right, in just under two hours from now, the funeral home behind me, those funeral services for Bobbie Jo Stinnett are, indeed, set to begin.
It has been quite an emotional ride for this family, to say the least, over the last couple of days. But they've had at least some spot of good news late yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREED (voice-over): Bobbie Jo Stinnett did not live to see her child born. But Monday evening, relief for her family When Victoria Jo Stinnett was released from a Kansas hospital, a month premature and four days old.
Earlier, on Monday, Lisa Montgomery, who is facing federal charges of kidnapping resulting in death, had an initial court hearing in Kansas City, Kansas, the first time she's been seen in public since her arrest on Friday.
At the courthouse, Montgomery's husband told reporters that he did not know anything about his wife's alleged actions.
KEVIN MONTGOMERY, SUSPECT'S HUSBAND: My heart ain't broke just for me and Lisa and her kids. It's them, too. That was a precious baby. I know.
FREED: So far, Lisa Montgomery is the only one charged. And the U.S. Attorney's office prosecuting the case says it's too early to know if anyone else might be accused, as well.
There are questions about why Montgomery's husband accepted her story that she had suddenly given birth last Thursday and was ready to be picked up with the baby that day. And not at a hospital, but outside a restaurant.
Stinnett was strangled on Thursday, her body mutilated and her 8- month-old unborn baby abducted. The 23-year-old was a dog breeder, and investigators allege that Montgomery used an assumed name, Darlene Fisher, to arrange a meeting with Stinnett through an Internet message board.
One message posted last Wednesday reads, "Please get in touch with me soon, as we are considering the purchase of one of your puppies."
Stinnett's posted reply: "I've e-mailed you directions so we can meet. Look forward to chatting with you tomorrow."
Stinnett was known as a kind and caring person in her northeastern Missouri town of Skidmore. The county sheriff knows the family and says Stinnett will be remembered...
SHERIFF BEN ESPEY, NODAWAY COUNTY, MISSOURI: As a nice girl, a nice lady, come from a nice family that didn't have any enemies, that just didn't deserve anything like this. And didn't deserve it the week before Christmas.
FREED: Prosecutors explain they're proceeding cautiously about the possibility of seeking the death penalty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREED: Now, Miles, there's been some question as to how long or in what capacity Bobbie Jo Stinnett and Lisa Montgomery may have known each other. Up until now, things have been focusing on the Internet message board that we just saw in my report.
But CNN has obtained a photograph, and we'd like to show it to you now. It was taken in November of 2003 in Abilene, Kansas, at a dog show. And you can see both Bobbie Jo Stinnett and Lisa Montgomery in the photograph.
Now, investigators are saying that it is photos like these and like this one which have led them to believe -- they are quite convinced at this point, that the two of them have known each other for some time -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Jonathan Freed, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now to latest drug study raising life or death questions over hugely popular pain relievers. Today, it's naproxen, sold over the counter as Aleve. And that's being link to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen can tell us more.
You and I have been talking about this since we started...
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: For days and days, right, absolutely.
Well, first it was Vioxx. Then it was Celebrex. And now there are questions about the pain reliever naproxen. As Kyra mentioned, that's sold over counter as Aleve. It's also sold as a prescription drug called Naprosyn. It also goes by other names. The active ingredient is naproxen.
What this study by the National Institutes of Health found was that people who were taking Aleve were 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke during the course of the study.
Now, there's two important things to remember about the study. First of all, the people in the study were taking two pills a day for up to three years. And also, the patients were 70 and older.
So it's important to remember not everyone takes Aleve that way. Many times people just take it, they have a headache or they twisted their ankle. And so they just take it for short periods of time.
And obviously, if you're over 70, then you're going to be at a higher risk for heart attacks and strokes anyways.
Another interesting point in this study: the researchers also used -- looked at the drug Celebrex. Some of the people in the study were taking Celebrex. Those people did not have an increased risk of having a heart attack or a stroke. That, of course, contradicts the earlier study done last week. So a lot of questions here.
PHILLIPS: So what are people to do?
COHEN: Well, the Food and Drug administration has specific instructions for people who are taking both of these drugs.
What they say is if you're taking Aleve, don't take it for any longer than 10 days. If you need pain relief beyond that, you should talk to your doctor.
The FDA also says if you're taking Celebrex, talk to your doctor about using other drugs instead. If your doctor says that Celebrex is really the drug for you, you should use the lowest effective dose.
PHILLIPS: All right. This is what I always use, ibuprofen. What's the difference?
COHEN: Ibuprofen. Also a lot of people know it as Advil. There have been no studies on that and long-term cardiovascular risk. But yesterday in a conference call a reporter asked the Food and Drug Administration, well, what about Advil? Do people need to be worried about that?
And they said look, we don't know, but certainly Advil is in the same class of drugs as Celebrex, as Aleve. They're all nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories and all of this data does raise questions about the entire class of drugs.
Nothing bad about Advil thus far. However, the FDA did say this entire class of drugs, now they do have some questions.
PHILLIPS: All right. I have a feeling this is going to continue.
COHEN: Go on and on.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not authorized to go out and chase or catch. It's just -- it's a devastating impact on morale.
PHILLIPS: A "CNN Security Watch." Is bureaucracy threatening efforts to keep illegal immigrants out of the U.S.?
Later on LIVE FROM, nice work if you can get it. This guy bags a six-figure job. Find out why he's paid to play.
Appetite for Destruction. Tomorrow on LIVE FROM, does virtual violence lead to the real thing? Our special report on the billion- dollar game industry continues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: All right. Listen up, Harry Potter fans. A little Christmas present for you here. Author J.K. Rowling has made a surprise announcement. David Haffenreffer joins us with that and more.
There are a couple kids in my house that are going to be hanging on every word now. So what I'm going to ask you to do is get right to it so we won't allow -- the kids won't have to wait another second to learn about what's happening with J.K. Rowling.
J.K. HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The brand-new one is coming out, Miles. And I'm sure that is music to the ears of the O'Brien household. Harry Potter is set to reappear in bookstores next summer.
Author J.K. Rowling says she has finished the sixth installment of the best-selling series. This one is titled "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
The book will be released next year. January 16 is your magic date. Rowling had been expected to announce the release date on Christmas day.
Publisher Scholastic says the book will retail for $29.99. The sixth book is bound to make some records, just like its predecessor. The fifth book in the series made publishing history by selling five million copies within 24 hours.
Overall, more than a quarter of a billion Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide in 60 different languages, believe it or not, Miles.
O'BRIEN: And that last one was what, it was close to 1,000 pages, wasn't it?
HAFFENREFFER: It -- they're very long.
O'BRIEN: Yes. HAFFENREFFER: Which just, you know, brings about the, I guess, the surprising amount of attention span, I guess, that the average reader is going to have for this type of subject matter.
O'BRIEN: Yes, they dive right into it.
All right. Let's talk about some magic in the markets. Anything to report?
(STOCK REPORT)
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Aired December 21, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Attack in Iraq. American troops killed by rockets. A radical group claims responsibility. We're live from Baghdad and the Pentagon.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Battle for democracy. Will Iraq be ready for elections next month? Will Iraqis even vote? We'll go in depth this hour.
PHILLIP: Another health alert about a painkiller. This time, it's an over the counter medication. What you need to know about Aleving your pain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt bad and it made me feel down and horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A boy named Osama. An 11-year-old shares his story of playground insults and some very real threats, all because of his name.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
A mess tent crowded with U.S. and Iraqi soldiers at lunchtime. A CNN photographer who recently spent time at Camp Marez near Mosul says the G.I.'s there felt vulnerable and one even said it was only a matter of time before the attack took place.
Well, as you know if you've been watching CNN, the time was today. And more than 20 U.S. and Iraqi troops and contractors are dead.
Joining me on the phone from Camp Marez is U.S. Army Colonel Paul Hastings.
Colonel, not a good time to talk, but, sir, I appreciate your time. Can you describe the scene for us now and how you've been responding to this?
COL. PAUL HASTINGS, U.S. ARMY: Well, as you know, it was a pretty difficult day, a terrible day here in Mosul in Camp Marez. And we lost 24 soldiers -- or actually, 24 people were killed. That included soldiers and contractors and Iraqi security force personnel.
And, you know, I think it's certainly a difficult time, but we're responding well. And we've taken all the -- all the wounded. And they're being taken care of. And we're doing the best I can.
PHILLIPS: Sir, I was reading in one of the newsletters that you put together, and this was a few months ago, you said that -- this was referring to another attack just days ago when a car bomb detonated outside the Mosul airfield. "Our quick response was noticed at secretary of Army level in the Pentagon."
Has this become standard operating procedure, this thought process of expecting the unexpectable, and knowing how to respond? And what is the mindset and how do you respond?
HASTINGS: I think in that newsletter, in the response, what we were talking about was trying to get the most accurate and credible information back to the American people through public affairs channels and through our technology and satellite network systems.
And our response there was the same as we did today, where we got General Ham out and was able to explain to the people in America what exactly happened and how we're responding to that.
PHILLIPS: Sir, a number of soldiers told one of our photographers there that they felt vulnerable. Do you feel vulnerable where you are? And how are soldiers dealing with the mixed feelings that they have about being there right now?
HASTINGS: I think when soldiers are talking about vulnerabilities, it's -- they're probably talking about the dining facilities, where it's not in a hard span. There's -- in the dining facility here that was hit, it was a -- a large tent area.
And so there is a level of vulnerability when you go in there and you don't feel like there's a hard -- hard roof over your head. And when there's mortar attacks and explosions that happen, there is a level of vulnerability.
And interestingly enough, a new dining facility is under construction now at Camp Marez. And it just hasn't been completed yet. And so the vulnerability there is the unexpected relating to indirect fire.
Vulnerability to attacks, when you're on a forward operating base, you have good protection. It's -- we have security forces on towers and gates. And so the vulnerability is not -- you don't really consider ourselves too vulnerable there.
Certainly, when you're moving between operating bases and when you're going on operations, there's a level of vulnerability. But all our vehicles are up armored, and we -- we take all appropriate actions to try to strengthen our positions wherever we are.
PHILLIPS: Sir, that's interesting that you bring up the issue of armored vehicles. Let me ask you this question. If you had the chance to go before Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, if you were able to be in an open former -- forum, rather, with your fellow soldiers, what would you tell the secretary what you need right now in Mosul, where you are? What is the biggest need for you and the men and women that are there?
HASTINGS: Well, you know, I think we've got what we need here. I mean, we constantly work hard to improve our positions, whether it's armoring our vehicles or hardening where we live in our -- whether it's in trailers or hard stands, in the dining facilities. And you can't do everything at once. And there's always priorities and tradeoffs.
And so we're -- I mean, everybody's on the same sheet of music. It just doesn't happen overnight. And we're working each and every day to, you know, get our position to be a little bit stronger.
In the military, we always say -- we always talk about, you know, we want to always, every day improve our fighting position, and that's what we do here. It's just not going to happen overnight.
PHILLIPS: Colonel, I've got to ask you one final question. Just days before Christmas, how do you rebound? How do you prepare for the holidays?
HASTINGS: Well, I'd say that -- you know, it's never easy to lose soldiers. It never is. And certainly, during this Christmas period time of peace and joy, it's that much more tragic.
But that's what soldiering is about. And that's what we signed up for. We knew the risks. We know the risks. And the best way that we honor our fallen is to pick up the mission and to continue it and to do it the best that we possibly can each and every day.
And the soldiers demonstrated that here today, in the dining facility. And they helped the fellow wounded, no matter if they were Iraqi or not, and -- or race, religion or color. We take care of each other. And we did that today, and we'll do that tomorrow. And we'll be able to -- we'll rebound. I have no -- no doubt about that.
PHILLIPS: Sir, that mindset is incredible. It inspires a number of us. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, U.S. Army, right from Mosul there. Sir, thank you for your time today.
HASTINGS: No problem. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: The Mosul attack would seem to be a part of a surge in pre-election violence that U.S. and Iraqi officials long said they expected. An Islamist group calling itself Jaish (ph) Ansar al-Sunnah is claiming responsibility.
Our coverage continues now with CNN's Karl Penhaul, live from Baghdad -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles. Earlier on in the evening, we heard from Brigadier General Carter Ham, the commander of the U.S. forces up in the region in and around Mosul. He described this as a single explosion. It was midday, local time.
This was the chow hall, the dining facility, several hundred soldiers packed in there. And we've seen now the dramatic photographs taken by a photographer from the "Richmond Times-Dispatch." He was one of the group of embedded reporters up there. He was up there with a print reporter from that same publication.
And what they describe, these horrendous scenes, as this impact from the mortar or rocket came into the chow hall, soldiers were sent reeling, were sent flying across the dining room. And at one stage, these reporters say that their buddies even picked up the dead and wounded and loaded them on to dining tables, using those as impromptu stretchers to get them out and get them some kind of medical attention.
We see in also that photo a big yawning hole in the -- in the canvas roof of the dining facility, and that was engulfed in a fireball, according to the photographer who took that picture.
We've heard there from U.S. military commanders on the scene there, that the death toll, they're putting that now at 24 people killed, in excess of 60 people wounded.
We've still not got a specific breakdown of how many of the dead are U.S. soldiers, how many may be U.S. and Iraqi civilian contractors and how many may be members of the Iraqi security forces.
We do know, though, Camp Marez, they all shared this facility and all had different functions at that base. What we know for sure is that that dining facility was packed at that time.
As I say, we don't yet know whether this was a rocket or mortar attack. But obviously, the size and the caliber of the artillery that was used in this attack would also determine how close the insurgents were to that base at the time of the attack.
If it were 105-millimeter artillery shell, for example, those things can fly in excess of 15 miles. If it was a smaller caliber mortar, the insurgents could have been as close as four to six miles.
What we've also seen in the past, though, is insurgents staging these random attacks on U.S. military bases around the country, and very hastily packing up their mortar equipment and going away again. So this could have been just a lucky strike at a very busy time in that dining hall -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Karl, there had been some concern expressed by some of the soldiers about this particular facility and whether it was hardened enough, in other words, provided enough defense against precisely what we just saw. What are you hearing about that? PENHAUL: That is correct. One of our CNN photographers, Gabe Ramirez, was actually up in Camp Marez about three weeks ago now. That was the height of the U.S. offensive there against insurgent groups who were operating in and around Mosul, in particular, attacking police bases there.
Gabe Ramirez did have occasion to eat in this dining hall that was hit today. And he says some of the soldiers there said to him that they didn't feel that this facility was sufficiently protected and, in their words, that it was an accident waiting to happen.
As we've seen from those photos and as Gabe Ramirez has described to us, this dining facility was in part a canvas tent. There was some -- a thin metal structure around there that also formed part of the dining facility, but nothing that could withstand the blast from a mortar or from a rocket. And that's the same on most of the U.S. bases around Iraq -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Karl Penhaul in Baghdad, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Roughly 8,500 U.S. troops are in and around Mosul serving in Task Force Olympia. Many of those are based in Fort Lewis, Washington, where officials have just said they'll make an announcement at the top of the next hour.
Following the story at the Pentagon for us, CNN's Elaine Quijano.
Elaine, what do you know?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.
Well, that's right. As you mention, 8,500 U.S. troops, 3,500 of which are part of that Stryker Brigade that is based out of Fort Lewis, Washington. The rest, we are told, support troops from all around the U.S. military.
But the Stryker Brigade really responsible for conducting patrols, as well as helping out civil affairs and perhaps some reconstruction, as well. Although obviously, combat missions certainly are a part of that. And we're told that they work hand-in- hand with the Iraqi National Guard as part of those combat missions.
And we heard today from the general, the brigadier general Ham, who expressed, obviously, sadness at the loss of the soldiers but also was very clear, that the soldiers' mission would continue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAM, COMMANDER, TASK FORCE OLYMPIA: It's a sad day in Mosul. But as they always do, soldiers will come back from that. And they will do what they can do best to honor those who have fallen today, and that is to see this very important mission through to a successful completion.
That's what we owe you, the American people, and that's what we owe the people in Iraq. And that is exactly what we shall do. (END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now to provide perspective, Mosul and the area around it was relatively calm. There was one point after the invasion, the 101st was in place there, and they were helping, really, with the public relations sort of effort, reaching out to the Iraqi civilians. You hear so much about the winning heart and minds. They were seen to have been making progress.
Then they left and were replaced by another Stryker Brigade -- by a Stryker Brigade, rather, and this current Stryker Brigade team came in.
And what we have been finding out, according to the person in charge of the multinational force in Iraq, is that Mosul is not so much seen as a safe haven.
In fact, the commander in charge of the multinational forces, General George Casey, was asked about this specifically at a briefing last week. And he said in his opinion, he did not see any evidence that Mosul was, in fact, turning into another Falluja.
But at that time, what he did say is that it's an area, Mosul is, where insurgents have had some successes. And they have had those successes against the Iraqi security forces, the local forces in place there. He said it's an area where, certainly, insurgents are attempting to disrupt the elections, as well as the operations of not only coalition forces but the Iraqi forces in place.
But he did not go so far as to call it a safe haven.
Nevertheless, there is obviously concerns about ongoing violence. Perhaps now that the Falluja offensive is over, that perhaps there may be some movement of those terrorists, those insurgents into Mosul, and perhaps more violence like we've seen today.
PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano, live from the Pentagon, thank you.
Well, will democracy work in Iraq? Preparations under way for elections next month. But is the insurgent campaign against it working? We're going to go in depth this hour.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jonathan Freed, live in Maryville, Missouri, for the funeral of the woman who was murdered last week and had her baby cut from her womb. I will have the story live, coming up.
PHILLIPS: Later, an 11-year-old boy hides his face to tell us his story of being humiliating and threatened. The reason? His name is Osama.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: Anger and grief in Missouri today as a small town prepares to bury a young woman who was brutally killed for her baby. Services for Bobbie Jo Stinnett are to begin in just a couple of hours in Maryville, Missouri.
And that's where we find CNN's Jonathan Freed -- Jonathan.
FREED: Good afternoon, Miles.
That's right, in just under two hours from now, the funeral home behind me, those funeral services for Bobbie Jo Stinnett are, indeed, set to begin.
It has been quite an emotional ride for this family, to say the least, over the last couple of days. But they've had at least some spot of good news late yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREED (voice-over): Bobbie Jo Stinnett did not live to see her child born. But Monday evening, relief for her family When Victoria Jo Stinnett was released from a Kansas hospital, a month premature and four days old.
Earlier, on Monday, Lisa Montgomery, who is facing federal charges of kidnapping resulting in death, had an initial court hearing in Kansas City, Kansas, the first time she's been seen in public since her arrest on Friday.
At the courthouse, Montgomery's husband told reporters that he did not know anything about his wife's alleged actions.
KEVIN MONTGOMERY, SUSPECT'S HUSBAND: My heart ain't broke just for me and Lisa and her kids. It's them, too. That was a precious baby. I know.
FREED: So far, Lisa Montgomery is the only one charged. And the U.S. Attorney's office prosecuting the case says it's too early to know if anyone else might be accused, as well.
There are questions about why Montgomery's husband accepted her story that she had suddenly given birth last Thursday and was ready to be picked up with the baby that day. And not at a hospital, but outside a restaurant.
Stinnett was strangled on Thursday, her body mutilated and her 8- month-old unborn baby abducted. The 23-year-old was a dog breeder, and investigators allege that Montgomery used an assumed name, Darlene Fisher, to arrange a meeting with Stinnett through an Internet message board.
One message posted last Wednesday reads, "Please get in touch with me soon, as we are considering the purchase of one of your puppies."
Stinnett's posted reply: "I've e-mailed you directions so we can meet. Look forward to chatting with you tomorrow."
Stinnett was known as a kind and caring person in her northeastern Missouri town of Skidmore. The county sheriff knows the family and says Stinnett will be remembered...
SHERIFF BEN ESPEY, NODAWAY COUNTY, MISSOURI: As a nice girl, a nice lady, come from a nice family that didn't have any enemies, that just didn't deserve anything like this. And didn't deserve it the week before Christmas.
FREED: Prosecutors explain they're proceeding cautiously about the possibility of seeking the death penalty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREED: Now, Miles, there's been some question as to how long or in what capacity Bobbie Jo Stinnett and Lisa Montgomery may have known each other. Up until now, things have been focusing on the Internet message board that we just saw in my report.
But CNN has obtained a photograph, and we'd like to show it to you now. It was taken in November of 2003 in Abilene, Kansas, at a dog show. And you can see both Bobbie Jo Stinnett and Lisa Montgomery in the photograph.
Now, investigators are saying that it is photos like these and like this one which have led them to believe -- they are quite convinced at this point, that the two of them have known each other for some time -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Jonathan Freed, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now to latest drug study raising life or death questions over hugely popular pain relievers. Today, it's naproxen, sold over the counter as Aleve. And that's being link to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen can tell us more.
You and I have been talking about this since we started...
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: For days and days, right, absolutely.
Well, first it was Vioxx. Then it was Celebrex. And now there are questions about the pain reliever naproxen. As Kyra mentioned, that's sold over counter as Aleve. It's also sold as a prescription drug called Naprosyn. It also goes by other names. The active ingredient is naproxen.
What this study by the National Institutes of Health found was that people who were taking Aleve were 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke during the course of the study.
Now, there's two important things to remember about the study. First of all, the people in the study were taking two pills a day for up to three years. And also, the patients were 70 and older.
So it's important to remember not everyone takes Aleve that way. Many times people just take it, they have a headache or they twisted their ankle. And so they just take it for short periods of time.
And obviously, if you're over 70, then you're going to be at a higher risk for heart attacks and strokes anyways.
Another interesting point in this study: the researchers also used -- looked at the drug Celebrex. Some of the people in the study were taking Celebrex. Those people did not have an increased risk of having a heart attack or a stroke. That, of course, contradicts the earlier study done last week. So a lot of questions here.
PHILLIPS: So what are people to do?
COHEN: Well, the Food and Drug administration has specific instructions for people who are taking both of these drugs.
What they say is if you're taking Aleve, don't take it for any longer than 10 days. If you need pain relief beyond that, you should talk to your doctor.
The FDA also says if you're taking Celebrex, talk to your doctor about using other drugs instead. If your doctor says that Celebrex is really the drug for you, you should use the lowest effective dose.
PHILLIPS: All right. This is what I always use, ibuprofen. What's the difference?
COHEN: Ibuprofen. Also a lot of people know it as Advil. There have been no studies on that and long-term cardiovascular risk. But yesterday in a conference call a reporter asked the Food and Drug Administration, well, what about Advil? Do people need to be worried about that?
And they said look, we don't know, but certainly Advil is in the same class of drugs as Celebrex, as Aleve. They're all nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories and all of this data does raise questions about the entire class of drugs.
Nothing bad about Advil thus far. However, the FDA did say this entire class of drugs, now they do have some questions.
PHILLIPS: All right. I have a feeling this is going to continue.
COHEN: Go on and on.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not authorized to go out and chase or catch. It's just -- it's a devastating impact on morale.
PHILLIPS: A "CNN Security Watch." Is bureaucracy threatening efforts to keep illegal immigrants out of the U.S.?
Later on LIVE FROM, nice work if you can get it. This guy bags a six-figure job. Find out why he's paid to play.
Appetite for Destruction. Tomorrow on LIVE FROM, does virtual violence lead to the real thing? Our special report on the billion- dollar game industry continues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: All right. Listen up, Harry Potter fans. A little Christmas present for you here. Author J.K. Rowling has made a surprise announcement. David Haffenreffer joins us with that and more.
There are a couple kids in my house that are going to be hanging on every word now. So what I'm going to ask you to do is get right to it so we won't allow -- the kids won't have to wait another second to learn about what's happening with J.K. Rowling.
J.K. HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The brand-new one is coming out, Miles. And I'm sure that is music to the ears of the O'Brien household. Harry Potter is set to reappear in bookstores next summer.
Author J.K. Rowling says she has finished the sixth installment of the best-selling series. This one is titled "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
The book will be released next year. January 16 is your magic date. Rowling had been expected to announce the release date on Christmas day.
Publisher Scholastic says the book will retail for $29.99. The sixth book is bound to make some records, just like its predecessor. The fifth book in the series made publishing history by selling five million copies within 24 hours.
Overall, more than a quarter of a billion Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide in 60 different languages, believe it or not, Miles.
O'BRIEN: And that last one was what, it was close to 1,000 pages, wasn't it?
HAFFENREFFER: It -- they're very long.
O'BRIEN: Yes. HAFFENREFFER: Which just, you know, brings about the, I guess, the surprising amount of attention span, I guess, that the average reader is going to have for this type of subject matter.
O'BRIEN: Yes, they dive right into it.
All right. Let's talk about some magic in the markets. Anything to report?
(STOCK REPORT)
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