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Cambodian Hostage Crisis; Brothers in Arms; Stock Report
Aired June 16, 2005 - 14:30 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: Stories now in the news.
A pilot and passenger are killed in a plane crash near Williamson in Georgia. That small plane, owned by the commemorative Air Force, crashed on take-off. Our officials, quoted by local television, say it went down in a wooded area. The victims have not yet been identified.
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan is sore but unhurt after a fall in her hotel room in London. A spokesperson says that the 83-year-old widow of President Reagan was taken to a hospital as a precaution, but was treated and released. She continued with her engagements.
Two gunmen killed, four others captured. That's the ending to a hostage standoff at a school in Cambodia filled with dozens of international students. Before it all ended, one young child was killed by the gunmen.
More now from CNN's Aneesh Raman in Bangkok.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The six-hour long hostage standoff began as four masked militants seized control of an international elementary school in the tourist town of Siem Reap. Dozens of children between the ages of two and six held captive for hours. Among them, various nationalities. Siem Reap, of course, home to a number of expatriates because of the tourism industry there.
On negotiations throughout the day, focused on three demands by the hostage takers. First, money. They asked for about a thousand U.S. dollars. Second was transport and safe passage to the Thai border. And the third was additional arms. They had arrived in the school with AK-47s and shotguns. They wanted also RPG launchers. The government, willing to give them the first two, refusing the third.
After some hours of discussions, gunfire erupted from the scene, a tense situation on the ground. Tanks surrounded this school. Also parents standing by, waiting anxiously for the fate of their children. At that point, officials say, the masked gunman killed a Canadian boy before attempting to leave in a van when they were taken into custody.
A member of Doctors Without Borders saw the scene unfold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to crawl under the ground and so I try -- because there was a heavy shooting, so everybody tried to hide. RAMAN: Speculation throughout the day as to the motive of this act. Initial suggestions were that it was politically motivated, sought to cripple the economy of Cambodia, which is hugely dependent on tourism in Siem Reap. Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sent (ph) quickly putting out a statement that this was not a politically- motivated act, that these were essentially small-time criminals looking to gain some money.
But the intended effect aside, the consequence is such that throughout this region, international schools will be evaluating their security. And for those families, those expatriate families living in Siem Reap tonight, anxious moments as they rethink whether to remain.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Bangkok.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Powerful image now. The man running while carrying a girl to safety. It captures the intensity and fear during today's school standoff in Cambodia.
Other news around the world now.
A security breach at the academy Prince Harry attends that prompted a British government investigation. "Sun" tabloid says that one of its reporters got in by posing as a student. It said that the reporter was there several hours and took video of the prince, built a fake bomb and even got into the prince's dorm.
Aruba police have seized cars and other items at the home of a judicial official. His son was with Natalee Holloway the night the Alabama disappeared more than two weeks ago. The young man and two others are still being detained in that case.
A new development in the investigation of last year's murder of the editor of the Russian version of "Forbes" magazine. Russian prosecutors say it was ordered by Chechen man with a grudge against the editor. They say the murder was carried out a Chechen organized crime group. Two members already had been arrested. Other arrests are pending.
Back in the states, the controversial Downing Street memo is the subject of a forum on Capitol Hill today. That memo from the British prime minister's office alleges the Bush administration fixed intelligence to support a war in Iraq. Live pictures right now from that forum.
CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider gives us the background.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Six weeks ago, the "London Sunday Times" published the leaked minutes of a July 2002 meeting in the Downing Street offices of British prime minister Tony Blair, eight months before the war in Iraq. According to the notes, a high-ranking British intelligence official who had just returned from Washington reported," Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
The implication? The Bush administration had already decided to go to war before asking for a vote of Congress, before going to the United Nations.
At their June 7 press conference, President Bush and Prime Minister Blair addressed the issues raised by the memo.
TONY BLAIR, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: But the facts were not being fixed in any shape or form at all.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somebody said, well, you know, we had made up our mind to go -- to use military force to deal with Saddam. There's nothing farther from the truth.
SCHNEIDER: End of debate? Not if Democratic Congressman John Conyers can help it. He's holding a forum Thursday to look into the allegations. What does Conyers hope to prove?
REP. JOHN CONYERS, (D) MICHIGAN: It may turn out that we got into a secret war that had already been planned and now that we're in it, we can't get out of it.
SCHNEIDER: There were a lot of reports during the summer of 2002 that the Bush administration was intent on going to war. What's so sensational about the allegations of the British documents?
CONYERS: Ironically, there are those now writing that we knew he was going to go to war all the time. But if we knew -- those who claimed that they knew that, he wasn't telling the Congress that. And it's in this crucible that we get the question of deception. Did he deceive us into a war? Were we tricked in a war?
SCHNEIDER: The difference is, the mood of the country. In June, 2002, 61 percent of Americans favored sending U.S. troops to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Now only 42 percent say it was worth going to war in Iraq. That's why questions about how the U.S. got into the war are being raised now more than they were then.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, up next, "Brothers in Arms."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of get this queasy feeling in my stomach and say oh, you know, hopefully my brothers are OK, hopefully the guys out there are OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just have to trust that there's guys taking care of my brothers when I can't be there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Brothers by blood and by bond. Four young men serving together in Iraq. An up close and personal look at the struggles they face keeping the Iraqi people and each other safe. The incredible story, next on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More now on the journey of the Pruetts, four real-life "Brothers in Arms" serving in Iraq. Last hour, you met the brothers from Idaho. Now we take a look at how they spend their days on their jobs in Kirkuk.
Again, CNN's Alex Quade reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX QUADE, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): In March, I spend time with each Pruett brother at a separate location in Kirkuk.
PFC. JEFF PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: The rocket came in over the top of us and landed about -- about 200 meters from us.
Did you see guys with A.K.'s from that house?
QUADE: Youngest brother, Jeff.
J. PRUETT: Those two shepherds over there said it came from that direction.
QUADE: Is on house-to-house searches.
J. PRUETT: It's not a raid. You just knock and then you go in.
QUADE: Training new Iraqi forces.
J. PRUETT: Let the police go in first and then we follow in behind them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They looked in here, too?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. One of them was already...
QUADE: Jeff just turned 20.
J. PRUETT: Hey, what is your name? Good. Go to school. School is good? You go to school, OK? School. School.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chocolata.
J. PRUETT: I don't got chocolata. Go to school, man.
QUADE (on camera): Do you think that your parents worry more about you because you are the youngest out here? J. PRUETT: No. I think my mom is scared out of her mind for every one of us.
(LAUGHTER)
J. PRUETT: And so, just because we're gone and in a combat zone.
SPC. GREG PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: All right.
QUADE (voice-over): Middle brother Greg lives at the former summer home of Chemical Ali.
G. PRUETT: This right here is what -- actually where he used to hang and torture some of his people.
QUADE: Chemical Ali is the king of spades in that deck of cards. He's accused of gassing a Kurdish village in the '80s and is awaiting trial.
G. PRUETT: When I first got here, I kind of thought about it a little bit. And it was kind of eerie thinking about it and thinking about what he used to do here.
But you have to put all that aside and just try and focus on what we're doing here and remember that we're trying to help change all of the past.
This is Halcom (ph) on radio check. Over. Hal (ph) base, Hal base, this is Halcom on radio check. Over.
QUADE: Greg is a communications expert.
G. PRUETT: You know, let's say this antenna goes down and we get attacked really bad. We lose communications with the outside. And we can't call for backup if we need it or anything like that.
QUADE: While we are there, a pipeline blows up near the base.
G. PRUETT: They like to blow the pipelines with IEDs or different types of explosives.
QUADE: In this incident, nine Iraqi security guards were killed; 40 percent of Iraq's oil comes from this area. Insurgent attacks cost have $8 billion in lost revenue that could have been used for reconstruction.
G. PRUETT: I think it is a little edgy here sometimes. When you hear the mortars come in and stuff, you just kind of hope and pray that everything is OK.
You know, being a radio operator, I hear everything that goes on. And so, when I hear stuff is happening or hear about IEDs and stuff like that, I just kind of get this queasy feeling in my stomach and say, hopefully, my brothers are OK. Hopefully, the guys out there are OK. And...
2ND LT. ERIC PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: Let's mount up.
The security of the tank can't be replaced by an up-armored Humvee, by any means.
QUADE: Big brother Eric is a tank platoon commander who now patrols Kirkuk by Humvee and on foot.
ERIC PRUETT: Yes. We trained up for six months to come over here and be on tanks. And we showed up. And we used our tanks for about a month before they decided that, up here in Kirkuk, they weren't needed.
QUADE: He's responsible for 23 soldiers and also trains Iraqi police.
ERIC PRUETT: Weapon at the ready? Good. Weapons on safe? No cell phones. No smoking when we are out walking. Make sure we're talking to the people, being friendly, too. That's important.
QUADE: The police here are targeted here by insurgents, even during funerals.
ERIC PRUETT: Is there any civilians hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, two.
ERIC PRUETT: Two hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
QUADE: This was a bomb attack during a procession for one fallen policeman. It killed four others.
ERIC PRUETT: There's been about seven of these guys just within the last month that have given up their lives trying to make this city a safer place.
QUADE: The day after we taped this, Eric's unit found an improvised explosive device here.
ERIC PRUETT: We take it personal. And that is why we've had a renewed effort to try and train these guys to keep themselves alive, because, I mean, if it's not them, it's us.
QUADE: Which is why he needs to know the word on the streets and in the mosques.
ERIC PRUETT: They're just trying to track in the area who's pro- coalition forces, who is anti-, who is neutral.
How are you?
Ask these people how they're doing up here on the roof.
Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. How are you?
ERIC PRUETT: Good. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fine.
ERIC PRUETT: It's difficult. We have got two missions here. We got to provide security for ourselves and the people here. But we also got to, at the same time, make the people feel like we're here to help them and not just be occupiers and that sort of thing.
Candy?
QUADE: And even on patrol...
ERIC PRUETT: Want a piece of candy?
QUADE: ... Eric never stops worrying about his brothers.
ERIC PRUETT: I'm concerned for all of us. I just have to trust that there's guys taking care of my brothers when I can't be there.
EVAN PRUETT: Whatever is broken, they will bring to us and we try to fix it as fast as we can.
QUADE: Evan's job is critical. He fixes the vehicles his brothers and their units use for missions and repairs those damaged by roadside bombs.
SPC. EVAN PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: That keeps my brother's unit, you know, that is infantry right now up and running. You know, they got to go through the town and all that, and if they don't have vehicles that work, they can't do their job.
QUADE: In a way, you're still helping the brothers?
EVAN PRUETT: Yes, I'm helping my brothers.
QUADE: Watching their backside?
EVAN PRUETT: Yes. That's how I look at it is, I'm helping my brothers get through their day.
QUADE: While we're taping, a recruiter tries to sign Evan up for six more years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would they pay for my school is what I'm...
QUADE: But Evan's got other things on his mind, like what happened to his wife Amber since we last talked to him. It began with an urgent e-mail from his dad: "Amber's water broke! We will let you know what happens."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just ready for the baby to come already.
QUADE: Evan's mom Tammy (ph) shoots home video, since he can't be here. It's Evan, calling from Iraq. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Evan says he's proud of you. Push, push, push.
QUADE: After 24 hours of labor...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you hear him?
QUADE: Evan hears his daughter's first cries by phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, talk to daddy. Just give him hell.
QUADE: You are seeing this video even before the new daddy has.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's finally here.
QUADE: At least he was able to call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's fine. He heard her cry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I could have been there for my first girl, first kid altogether. I wish I could have been there.
QUADE: So, for now, reenlisting is on Evan's back burner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole thought of being gone away from your family for 18 months, a year, whatever it is going to be, it's tough. I just hope nothing bad happens. I just want us all to be safe and all my brothers and everything to go home and be with our families.
QUADE: Evan, Eric, Greg and Jeff have not seen each other the entire time they've been in Iraq. That will change when we come back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the brothers do get a chance to spend some time together and catch up, a chance to make sure each one is making it through OK and a chance for their family back home in Idaho to see for themselves that all is well for the Pruett boys. More with "Brothers in Arms," coming up in the next half hour of LIVE FROM. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Our affiliates helping us out tremendously today on a developing story. These pictures via our affiliate WCVB in Boston, giving us a helicopter shot of a neighborhood where police believe three men are holed up armed with AK-47s.
Now, according to our other affiliate WHDH, we are learning that it was an attempted heist of an armored Loomis-Fargo truck in the north end of Hanover Street in front of Citizens Bank near Cafe Victoria and Mike's Pastry in the north side of Boston. Well, these men tried to get the truck. They're described as armed and dangerous. They're holed up in this neighborhood, once again, believed to be armed with AK-47s.
The SWAT team we believe has surrounded the area. We'll keep you posted on what exactly happens.
Well, one hotel chain is offering more than just fluffy towels and chocolates to loyal guests. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us what they're giving away. What could be better, Susan?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, : Well, I -- you know, stock, right? You know, we're on Wall Street. It's not just those complimentary bottles of shampoo and soap you'll be walking out. Jameson Inns is a planning to reward loyal customers with shares of its own stock. The "Stock for Sleep" plan will be open to guests who enroll in it after three or more nights' stay. But it's only for experienced investors. It's off-limits to children or adults who haven't previously invested in stocks or stock mutual funds.
Guests who enroll in the program would have 10 percent of their room charges credited toward the purchase of Jameson stock. Jameson trades over at the NASDAQ, ticker symbol JAMS. It's shares are down four cents, just under $2.50 a share, close to its 52-week high. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, well, let's talk about auto workers at General Motors, putting up a fight. What's the dispute about?
LISOVICZ: Well, it's one of the biggest challenges for GM, Kyra, and something we've talked about a lot which is it's ballooning health care costs which are expected to cost $6 billion -- nearly $6 billion this year alone. So, Gm and the UAW are trying to come to agreement on health care costs, but the president of the union has reportedly said he won't agree to roll back health benefits for GM's hourly workers. He says the company has not presented him with enough information to convince him of the severity of the company's financial situation. GM has also reportedly warned the union that it could reduce retiree benefits on its own unless the union agrees to concession.
GM is a big drag on the DOW. Its shares are down 3 percent, the worst DOw performer, but the broader market is higher. The DOW industrials have been flopping around, but up 8 points. The NASDAQ is up nearly 10, or half a percent. And that is the latest from Wall Street, Kyra. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Susan, thanks so much.
Well, a couple of happy endings in this edition of LIVE FROM. Dog lovers, fear not. This story does have a happy ending. This way- ward pooch wandered on to the interstate 95 in Miami, forced its closure during rush hour yesterday. Well, animal control workers were in dog pursuit, finally corralled the canine and took it to safety.
And, a story about a woman who bought a farm and a cat that didn't. Well, you see this kitten inherited in the purchase, apparently had gotten its head stuck in the pipe and the pipe wouldn't slip off. Fire fighters ever-so-carefully sawed through the pipe and freed the little kitty.
Well, coming up in the next half hour of LIVE FROM, was it a royal security blunder or just an overblown oversight? British security officials are taking a closer look at Prince Harry's safety. More on why when
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," identity theft and how to stop it. Lawmakers in both Houses and on both sides of the aisle are debating how better to protect the personal records of every American.
A possible hate crime: police in Blacksburg, Virginia, want to know who left burned copies of the Quran near a mosque and why. The bag was discovered by worshipers over the weekend.
Fear and panic outside this international school in Cambodia. Four gunmen stormed the school just after classes began today. They killed a little boy before police killed two of them and captured the other two.
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Aired June 16, 2005 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Stories now in the news.
A pilot and passenger are killed in a plane crash near Williamson in Georgia. That small plane, owned by the commemorative Air Force, crashed on take-off. Our officials, quoted by local television, say it went down in a wooded area. The victims have not yet been identified.
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan is sore but unhurt after a fall in her hotel room in London. A spokesperson says that the 83-year-old widow of President Reagan was taken to a hospital as a precaution, but was treated and released. She continued with her engagements.
Two gunmen killed, four others captured. That's the ending to a hostage standoff at a school in Cambodia filled with dozens of international students. Before it all ended, one young child was killed by the gunmen.
More now from CNN's Aneesh Raman in Bangkok.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The six-hour long hostage standoff began as four masked militants seized control of an international elementary school in the tourist town of Siem Reap. Dozens of children between the ages of two and six held captive for hours. Among them, various nationalities. Siem Reap, of course, home to a number of expatriates because of the tourism industry there.
On negotiations throughout the day, focused on three demands by the hostage takers. First, money. They asked for about a thousand U.S. dollars. Second was transport and safe passage to the Thai border. And the third was additional arms. They had arrived in the school with AK-47s and shotguns. They wanted also RPG launchers. The government, willing to give them the first two, refusing the third.
After some hours of discussions, gunfire erupted from the scene, a tense situation on the ground. Tanks surrounded this school. Also parents standing by, waiting anxiously for the fate of their children. At that point, officials say, the masked gunman killed a Canadian boy before attempting to leave in a van when they were taken into custody.
A member of Doctors Without Borders saw the scene unfold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to crawl under the ground and so I try -- because there was a heavy shooting, so everybody tried to hide. RAMAN: Speculation throughout the day as to the motive of this act. Initial suggestions were that it was politically motivated, sought to cripple the economy of Cambodia, which is hugely dependent on tourism in Siem Reap. Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sent (ph) quickly putting out a statement that this was not a politically- motivated act, that these were essentially small-time criminals looking to gain some money.
But the intended effect aside, the consequence is such that throughout this region, international schools will be evaluating their security. And for those families, those expatriate families living in Siem Reap tonight, anxious moments as they rethink whether to remain.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Bangkok.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Powerful image now. The man running while carrying a girl to safety. It captures the intensity and fear during today's school standoff in Cambodia.
Other news around the world now.
A security breach at the academy Prince Harry attends that prompted a British government investigation. "Sun" tabloid says that one of its reporters got in by posing as a student. It said that the reporter was there several hours and took video of the prince, built a fake bomb and even got into the prince's dorm.
Aruba police have seized cars and other items at the home of a judicial official. His son was with Natalee Holloway the night the Alabama disappeared more than two weeks ago. The young man and two others are still being detained in that case.
A new development in the investigation of last year's murder of the editor of the Russian version of "Forbes" magazine. Russian prosecutors say it was ordered by Chechen man with a grudge against the editor. They say the murder was carried out a Chechen organized crime group. Two members already had been arrested. Other arrests are pending.
Back in the states, the controversial Downing Street memo is the subject of a forum on Capitol Hill today. That memo from the British prime minister's office alleges the Bush administration fixed intelligence to support a war in Iraq. Live pictures right now from that forum.
CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider gives us the background.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Six weeks ago, the "London Sunday Times" published the leaked minutes of a July 2002 meeting in the Downing Street offices of British prime minister Tony Blair, eight months before the war in Iraq. According to the notes, a high-ranking British intelligence official who had just returned from Washington reported," Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
The implication? The Bush administration had already decided to go to war before asking for a vote of Congress, before going to the United Nations.
At their June 7 press conference, President Bush and Prime Minister Blair addressed the issues raised by the memo.
TONY BLAIR, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: But the facts were not being fixed in any shape or form at all.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somebody said, well, you know, we had made up our mind to go -- to use military force to deal with Saddam. There's nothing farther from the truth.
SCHNEIDER: End of debate? Not if Democratic Congressman John Conyers can help it. He's holding a forum Thursday to look into the allegations. What does Conyers hope to prove?
REP. JOHN CONYERS, (D) MICHIGAN: It may turn out that we got into a secret war that had already been planned and now that we're in it, we can't get out of it.
SCHNEIDER: There were a lot of reports during the summer of 2002 that the Bush administration was intent on going to war. What's so sensational about the allegations of the British documents?
CONYERS: Ironically, there are those now writing that we knew he was going to go to war all the time. But if we knew -- those who claimed that they knew that, he wasn't telling the Congress that. And it's in this crucible that we get the question of deception. Did he deceive us into a war? Were we tricked in a war?
SCHNEIDER: The difference is, the mood of the country. In June, 2002, 61 percent of Americans favored sending U.S. troops to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Now only 42 percent say it was worth going to war in Iraq. That's why questions about how the U.S. got into the war are being raised now more than they were then.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, up next, "Brothers in Arms."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of get this queasy feeling in my stomach and say oh, you know, hopefully my brothers are OK, hopefully the guys out there are OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just have to trust that there's guys taking care of my brothers when I can't be there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Brothers by blood and by bond. Four young men serving together in Iraq. An up close and personal look at the struggles they face keeping the Iraqi people and each other safe. The incredible story, next on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More now on the journey of the Pruetts, four real-life "Brothers in Arms" serving in Iraq. Last hour, you met the brothers from Idaho. Now we take a look at how they spend their days on their jobs in Kirkuk.
Again, CNN's Alex Quade reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX QUADE, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): In March, I spend time with each Pruett brother at a separate location in Kirkuk.
PFC. JEFF PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: The rocket came in over the top of us and landed about -- about 200 meters from us.
Did you see guys with A.K.'s from that house?
QUADE: Youngest brother, Jeff.
J. PRUETT: Those two shepherds over there said it came from that direction.
QUADE: Is on house-to-house searches.
J. PRUETT: It's not a raid. You just knock and then you go in.
QUADE: Training new Iraqi forces.
J. PRUETT: Let the police go in first and then we follow in behind them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They looked in here, too?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. One of them was already...
QUADE: Jeff just turned 20.
J. PRUETT: Hey, what is your name? Good. Go to school. School is good? You go to school, OK? School. School.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chocolata.
J. PRUETT: I don't got chocolata. Go to school, man.
QUADE (on camera): Do you think that your parents worry more about you because you are the youngest out here? J. PRUETT: No. I think my mom is scared out of her mind for every one of us.
(LAUGHTER)
J. PRUETT: And so, just because we're gone and in a combat zone.
SPC. GREG PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: All right.
QUADE (voice-over): Middle brother Greg lives at the former summer home of Chemical Ali.
G. PRUETT: This right here is what -- actually where he used to hang and torture some of his people.
QUADE: Chemical Ali is the king of spades in that deck of cards. He's accused of gassing a Kurdish village in the '80s and is awaiting trial.
G. PRUETT: When I first got here, I kind of thought about it a little bit. And it was kind of eerie thinking about it and thinking about what he used to do here.
But you have to put all that aside and just try and focus on what we're doing here and remember that we're trying to help change all of the past.
This is Halcom (ph) on radio check. Over. Hal (ph) base, Hal base, this is Halcom on radio check. Over.
QUADE: Greg is a communications expert.
G. PRUETT: You know, let's say this antenna goes down and we get attacked really bad. We lose communications with the outside. And we can't call for backup if we need it or anything like that.
QUADE: While we are there, a pipeline blows up near the base.
G. PRUETT: They like to blow the pipelines with IEDs or different types of explosives.
QUADE: In this incident, nine Iraqi security guards were killed; 40 percent of Iraq's oil comes from this area. Insurgent attacks cost have $8 billion in lost revenue that could have been used for reconstruction.
G. PRUETT: I think it is a little edgy here sometimes. When you hear the mortars come in and stuff, you just kind of hope and pray that everything is OK.
You know, being a radio operator, I hear everything that goes on. And so, when I hear stuff is happening or hear about IEDs and stuff like that, I just kind of get this queasy feeling in my stomach and say, hopefully, my brothers are OK. Hopefully, the guys out there are OK. And...
2ND LT. ERIC PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: Let's mount up.
The security of the tank can't be replaced by an up-armored Humvee, by any means.
QUADE: Big brother Eric is a tank platoon commander who now patrols Kirkuk by Humvee and on foot.
ERIC PRUETT: Yes. We trained up for six months to come over here and be on tanks. And we showed up. And we used our tanks for about a month before they decided that, up here in Kirkuk, they weren't needed.
QUADE: He's responsible for 23 soldiers and also trains Iraqi police.
ERIC PRUETT: Weapon at the ready? Good. Weapons on safe? No cell phones. No smoking when we are out walking. Make sure we're talking to the people, being friendly, too. That's important.
QUADE: The police here are targeted here by insurgents, even during funerals.
ERIC PRUETT: Is there any civilians hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, two.
ERIC PRUETT: Two hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
QUADE: This was a bomb attack during a procession for one fallen policeman. It killed four others.
ERIC PRUETT: There's been about seven of these guys just within the last month that have given up their lives trying to make this city a safer place.
QUADE: The day after we taped this, Eric's unit found an improvised explosive device here.
ERIC PRUETT: We take it personal. And that is why we've had a renewed effort to try and train these guys to keep themselves alive, because, I mean, if it's not them, it's us.
QUADE: Which is why he needs to know the word on the streets and in the mosques.
ERIC PRUETT: They're just trying to track in the area who's pro- coalition forces, who is anti-, who is neutral.
How are you?
Ask these people how they're doing up here on the roof.
Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. How are you?
ERIC PRUETT: Good. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fine.
ERIC PRUETT: It's difficult. We have got two missions here. We got to provide security for ourselves and the people here. But we also got to, at the same time, make the people feel like we're here to help them and not just be occupiers and that sort of thing.
Candy?
QUADE: And even on patrol...
ERIC PRUETT: Want a piece of candy?
QUADE: ... Eric never stops worrying about his brothers.
ERIC PRUETT: I'm concerned for all of us. I just have to trust that there's guys taking care of my brothers when I can't be there.
EVAN PRUETT: Whatever is broken, they will bring to us and we try to fix it as fast as we can.
QUADE: Evan's job is critical. He fixes the vehicles his brothers and their units use for missions and repairs those damaged by roadside bombs.
SPC. EVAN PRUETT, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: That keeps my brother's unit, you know, that is infantry right now up and running. You know, they got to go through the town and all that, and if they don't have vehicles that work, they can't do their job.
QUADE: In a way, you're still helping the brothers?
EVAN PRUETT: Yes, I'm helping my brothers.
QUADE: Watching their backside?
EVAN PRUETT: Yes. That's how I look at it is, I'm helping my brothers get through their day.
QUADE: While we're taping, a recruiter tries to sign Evan up for six more years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would they pay for my school is what I'm...
QUADE: But Evan's got other things on his mind, like what happened to his wife Amber since we last talked to him. It began with an urgent e-mail from his dad: "Amber's water broke! We will let you know what happens."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just ready for the baby to come already.
QUADE: Evan's mom Tammy (ph) shoots home video, since he can't be here. It's Evan, calling from Iraq. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Evan says he's proud of you. Push, push, push.
QUADE: After 24 hours of labor...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you hear him?
QUADE: Evan hears his daughter's first cries by phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, talk to daddy. Just give him hell.
QUADE: You are seeing this video even before the new daddy has.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's finally here.
QUADE: At least he was able to call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's fine. He heard her cry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish I could have been there for my first girl, first kid altogether. I wish I could have been there.
QUADE: So, for now, reenlisting is on Evan's back burner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole thought of being gone away from your family for 18 months, a year, whatever it is going to be, it's tough. I just hope nothing bad happens. I just want us all to be safe and all my brothers and everything to go home and be with our families.
QUADE: Evan, Eric, Greg and Jeff have not seen each other the entire time they've been in Iraq. That will change when we come back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the brothers do get a chance to spend some time together and catch up, a chance to make sure each one is making it through OK and a chance for their family back home in Idaho to see for themselves that all is well for the Pruett boys. More with "Brothers in Arms," coming up in the next half hour of LIVE FROM. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Our affiliates helping us out tremendously today on a developing story. These pictures via our affiliate WCVB in Boston, giving us a helicopter shot of a neighborhood where police believe three men are holed up armed with AK-47s.
Now, according to our other affiliate WHDH, we are learning that it was an attempted heist of an armored Loomis-Fargo truck in the north end of Hanover Street in front of Citizens Bank near Cafe Victoria and Mike's Pastry in the north side of Boston. Well, these men tried to get the truck. They're described as armed and dangerous. They're holed up in this neighborhood, once again, believed to be armed with AK-47s.
The SWAT team we believe has surrounded the area. We'll keep you posted on what exactly happens.
Well, one hotel chain is offering more than just fluffy towels and chocolates to loyal guests. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us what they're giving away. What could be better, Susan?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, : Well, I -- you know, stock, right? You know, we're on Wall Street. It's not just those complimentary bottles of shampoo and soap you'll be walking out. Jameson Inns is a planning to reward loyal customers with shares of its own stock. The "Stock for Sleep" plan will be open to guests who enroll in it after three or more nights' stay. But it's only for experienced investors. It's off-limits to children or adults who haven't previously invested in stocks or stock mutual funds.
Guests who enroll in the program would have 10 percent of their room charges credited toward the purchase of Jameson stock. Jameson trades over at the NASDAQ, ticker symbol JAMS. It's shares are down four cents, just under $2.50 a share, close to its 52-week high. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, well, let's talk about auto workers at General Motors, putting up a fight. What's the dispute about?
LISOVICZ: Well, it's one of the biggest challenges for GM, Kyra, and something we've talked about a lot which is it's ballooning health care costs which are expected to cost $6 billion -- nearly $6 billion this year alone. So, Gm and the UAW are trying to come to agreement on health care costs, but the president of the union has reportedly said he won't agree to roll back health benefits for GM's hourly workers. He says the company has not presented him with enough information to convince him of the severity of the company's financial situation. GM has also reportedly warned the union that it could reduce retiree benefits on its own unless the union agrees to concession.
GM is a big drag on the DOW. Its shares are down 3 percent, the worst DOw performer, but the broader market is higher. The DOW industrials have been flopping around, but up 8 points. The NASDAQ is up nearly 10, or half a percent. And that is the latest from Wall Street, Kyra. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Susan, thanks so much.
Well, a couple of happy endings in this edition of LIVE FROM. Dog lovers, fear not. This story does have a happy ending. This way- ward pooch wandered on to the interstate 95 in Miami, forced its closure during rush hour yesterday. Well, animal control workers were in dog pursuit, finally corralled the canine and took it to safety.
And, a story about a woman who bought a farm and a cat that didn't. Well, you see this kitten inherited in the purchase, apparently had gotten its head stuck in the pipe and the pipe wouldn't slip off. Fire fighters ever-so-carefully sawed through the pipe and freed the little kitty.
Well, coming up in the next half hour of LIVE FROM, was it a royal security blunder or just an overblown oversight? British security officials are taking a closer look at Prince Harry's safety. More on why when
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," identity theft and how to stop it. Lawmakers in both Houses and on both sides of the aisle are debating how better to protect the personal records of every American.
A possible hate crime: police in Blacksburg, Virginia, want to know who left burned copies of the Quran near a mosque and why. The bag was discovered by worshipers over the weekend.
Fear and panic outside this international school in Cambodia. Four gunmen stormed the school just after classes began today. They killed a little boy before police killed two of them and captured the other two.
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