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Wildfires Rage in California; Debate Ensues over Iraq Pullout; Suicide Bombers Attack Mosques, Hotel; Businesses Prepare for Possible Flu Pandemic; Home Video Found of Teen Murder Suspect

Aired November 18, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Well, the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's the stories that we're working on for you, right now,
Wildfires whipped up by Santa Ana winds, raging in California. We're there live.

The war of words over the war in Iraq. Should American fighters be pulled out?

Bird flu quarantines, will they be coming to an airport near you?

All that and more as CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Stand by or get out. That's the advice for some people in Ventura County, California. Right now, hundreds of firefighters battling a wind-driven blaze that's moving through a rugged canyon not far from some hillside homes. Almost 1,500 acres have burned since the blaze first erupted overnight. You're seeing live pictures right now. There are growing concerns that residents there may have to evacuate the area. Well, as you heard, those winds are the wildcard as firefighters continue to battle this blaze.

Our meteorologist, Chad Myers, keeping an eye on the conditions for us from the CNN Weather Center -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not looking good, Kyra. Winds now 25, 35 miles per hour up there around Oxnard.

Here is Los Angeles, and here we are now, up the coast. And this is where the wildfire is. I'll zoom in a little for you where the winds are coming off shore. There's Santa Ana direction.

Look at this, Camarilla, 28; Oxnard, 21. Those are sustained winds. The guests are 10 miles per hour or higher than that, even down to about Point Mugu at 24.

Here's where the fire is, and how do we know that? Well, we actually can see it on radar. You're thinking, wait a minute, what? You can actually see the fire on the radar. The radar sends its beam out. If it sees rain drops it bounces back. If it sees smoke particles, it bounces back, as well.

And this is where the fire is, and it's been blowing offshore most of the day. Many of those fires, there are many hot spots with this fire now. They are getting closer and closer to homes. And if we can zoom in a little bit for you here, you can even see -- this is where the fire started, right in this little area here where there's been some oil wells and things. And then now the wind has been pushing those sparks closer and closer to 101, and that's where the homes obviously are located -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Chad. I know you're following it for us. We'll continue to check in with you.

Also, we want to get straight to how the firefighters are doing and if they're making any headway. Right now, we're going to talk with Michelle Faina. She's at the Ventura County Fire Department. She joins me by phone.

Michelle, what can you tell us about the firefighters' efforts right now?

MICHELLE FAINA, VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, FIRE DEPARTMENT: Right now, we have 1,000 firefighters on the scene of a 1,487-acre fire at this time. I do know that it's burning towards houses and we have some engine -- strike team engine companies in there for structure protection, and they're taking care of what they need to be doing.

PHILLIPS: Now for people that don't really know this area, these live pictures, Michelle, are coming to us via our affiliate, KABC, out of Los Angeles.

Can you give us some -- maybe some landmark areas so people might know exactly where this is? We've just been talking about the area in general by mentioning Ventura County.

FAINA: OK. It's if the foothills north of the city of Ventura.

PHILLIPS: North of Ventura. OK.

FAINA: North of the 101 Freeway and east of the 33. Very general.

PHILLIPS: All right. That's all right. For those that are from that area obviously know it well. But for those that maybe just know someone in the area, I want them to know that efforts are being made to protect those homes.

And we're looking actually at live pictures. It looks like you've got air support also fighting these fires. Tell us about the air support.

FAINA: Yes, ma'am, we had two water-dropping helicopters early on scene. And we are currently waiting for four six-wing aircraft and four additional helicopters, all that can drop water and retardant.

PHILLIPS: How many homes do you think are in trouble right now? And have you been able to make contact with all the people that live in those areas that may be threatened by the fires? FAINA: I don't have information on homes that are being threatened at this time, and I don't have any information on evacuation.

PHILLIPS: So for people that are looking at these live pictures, and they can see these homes, they know this area...

FAINA: Right.

PHILLIPS: ... what's your advice to them: get out of the area? Start packing their things? Or are things all right at this point?

FAINA: At this point, I would be telling people to just be aware of what the fire activity is. Listen to -- if there's firefighters in your area, listen to what they're telling you to do, because they would be those that have the most update information, because it's a dynamic situation, and just be prepared.

PHILLIPS: So Michelle, would it be a good idea for residents to call the local fire department and just, you know, basically get a situation report on what is happening in the area that they live in?

FAINA: As far as, we have it updated on our web site of what the fire is doing right now. And we're trying to keep it updated like as often as we get information. And they can certainly call our public information line and get updates, as well.

PHILLIPS: Michelle Faina with the Ventura County Fire Department. One thousand firefighters working this blaze right now throughout Ventura County. Thanks, Michelle. We'll continue to follow the story.

Fighting words about the fight for Iraq. For a day after retired Marine colonel and long-time Democratic Congressman John Murtha said the troops should come home, well, the silence from his allies in Congress was deafening. But that all changed just minutes ago with this double-barrel attack on Murtha's detractors and Democratic senator and fellow decorated veteran John Kerry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I don't intend to stand for, nor should any of us in the United States Congress stand for another swift boat attack on the character of Jack Murtha.

It frankly disgusts me that a bunch of guys who never chose to put on the uniform of their country now choose, in the most personal way, in the most venomous way, to question the character of a man who did wear the uniform of his country and who bled doing it. It's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, Kerry does not support an immediate pullout of troops. Earlier today, from the traveling White House, the Murtha proposal proud a diplomatic thanks, but no thanks. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We think it's the wrong position. We do not see how an immediate pullout contributes to the war on terror, bringing stability to Iraq, how it makes America -- the United States more secure. It doesn't seem to achieve any of the objectives that we have. So we simply believe that the Congressman is wrong on this issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That's national security adviser Stephen Hadley, and he's traveling with President Bush in South Korea.

And then there's the Pentagon, where officials today set up a sit rep via satellite from a field commander just north of Baghdad. His message: mission not accomplished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. JAMES BROWN, U.S. ARMY: Physically, here on the ground, our job is not done. It's been clear by our administration and by the leadership of the military here in Iraq that our exit from this theater should be condition-based. And it is condition-based. And each day, we see conditions being met where the Iraqis are taking a front seat.

I think that we have to finish the job that we began here. It's important for the security of this nation. It's important for the security of this region, and certainly, it's important in the vital interests of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Colonel Brown, incidentally, is due to come home on Sunday.

CNN's Kathleen Koch attended that briefing. She joins me now with more.

Kathleen, did you hear anything you didn't expect?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, I really didn't, Kyra. And it's interesting this briefing was scheduled before Congressman Murtha came out and made his comments of yesterday.

But the Pentagon did achieve, really, what it wanted by putting Colonel James Brown out there, because they believe that it is really those with the boots on the ground who can address this, who can say, "Is it really time for the U.S. to leave?"

The colonel also addressed one of Murtha's other contentions, that U.S. forces there in Iraq have become a catalyst for violence. And he did concede that in some ways, that is certainly to be expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Certainly, as we support the democracy, our forces and coalition forces are going to be the targets of insurgents. But as we incubate all the national elements of power of this young democracy, it's necessary for us to be here to provide the security, provide the support to the Iraqi security forces to be able to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Again, those security forces in Iraq now number some 212,000. The Pentagon says their numbers are growing every day. And it is their progress, their ability to defend their country on their own, that will really also help determine when U.S. forces can come home -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Kathleen, we heard from the colonel, and then of course Murtha calling for complete troop withdrawal. You've got John McCain saying we need more troops on the ground. Politics aside, the Pentagon now, how is it going to go about crafting its strategy?

KOCH: Well, what the Pentagon is saying, that it's not going to be influenced from -- and I know this debate is ongoing right now even as we speak on the Senate floor. It won't be lawmakers, be they Republicans saying we need more forces like McCain, or be they Democrats like Murtha saying we need to pull out.

What will determine that will be the conditions on the ground. The conditions on the ground will determine will U.S. forces be able to leave, when will they be able to leave? That's what will make the call. Not political cries from one side or the other. Is the job done? That's is what will determine it.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.

KOCH: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Also in Iraq, more suicide attacks, more destruction, more deaths. Most of those killed were civilians, including many children.

Two mosques near the border with Iran were packed with worshippers when attackers walked in and blew themselves up. And in the day's other attacks, suicide car bombs exploded outside a hotel in Baghdad popular with western news organizations and contractors.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Baghdad now with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The two suicide bombers in Baghdad attacking within seconds of each other, the first bomber driving a white van packed with explosives at about 12 minutes past 8 in the morning. Drives his van up to a security barrier outside the Al-Hamra (ph) Hotel where western journalists, western workers live. Detonated his explosives. A second bomber drives through the flying debris to try and get through that hole, get closer to the hotel. Is not able to get through, detonates his vehicle full of explosives.

And in the debris afterwards, police were trying to rescue a family trapped under a collapsed apartment. Many victims rushed to hospital. Among the dead, two children and one woman, six people in total killed, more than 40 wounded, according to the police. Thirty vehicles damaged by the force of those blasts. And in the Al-Hamra Hotel (ph), windows blown out and some structural damage to some parts of the hotel.

The other attacks in Iraq today coming around noon at the time of the midday press. This is the holy day, Friday, in Iraq. There would have been many prayer goers at the mosques about 140 kilometers, 85 miles north of Baghdad in the town of Khanoquin.

What we understand happened there, two suicide bombers walked into two different mosques right at the time of those mid-day prayers, detonated their explosives.

Now, according to the mayor of the town of Khanoquin, at least 70 people have been killed, 70 wounded. The Iraqi police put the figure at about 65 dead. The U.S. military, also on the scene, say perhaps around about 55 dead. The numbers may well change.

But what we have heard from the mayor of the town is that, among the dead, in the town, would have been many children, he says, perhaps as many as 20 young children. It would be traditional for the noontime prayers on Friday for fathers to take their sons with them to the mosque. That's why so many children would have been killed.

We heard also from the mayor that it was very difficult to get people out from underneath the rubble at one of those mosques. One of the mosques very substantially damaged. The more than 60 people, according to the mayor killed in Khanoquin.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up, caging bird flu, how the CDC plans to ground a potential pandemic, if it hitches a ride with air travelers. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Back live in B Control. We're talking about medical news now.

The FDA says it can find no evidence linking Tamiflu to the deaths of 12 children in Japan. Two cases involved teenage boys who took prescribed doses of the anti-viral drug and then exhibited -- exhibited, rather, abnormal behavior that led to their deaths. One jumped in front of a truck. The other fell from a building. U.S. regulators looked into the reports as part of an annual pediatric safety review. Well, there are no reports of deaths in the U.S. linked to Tamiflu, and the drug is in high demand as a defense against a possible bird flu pandemic.

Earlier this month, President Bush unveiled his billion-dollar plan to fight bird flu. Now some of the money was dropped from a health care bill due to concerns about how to pay for it. Businesses are also making flu plans.

Here's CNN's Ali Velshi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): SARS, Severe Accute Respiratory Syndrome. It got as close as the U.S. border in 2003. Forty-three of the 774 SARS deaths occurred in Canada. Close to home and costly. The World Health Organization says SARS cost the world $60 billion.

SARS wasn't a pandemic. Nor is avian, or bird flu. But if bird flu starts spreading between humans, it could spread fast, and it could cost $800 billion in costs like drugs, medical care, lost business and lost staff.

DR. MYLES DRUCKMAN, INTERNATIONAL SOS: Communication is very important in having a plan and a strategy. How you're going to organize your meetings. Should people work from home? How do you organize travel?

VELSHI: Many companies are hesitant to publicize their plans beyond their employees, preferring to play the threat down, rather than encourage panic.

DRUCKMAN: Most organizations have a good strategy for events that occur, you know, quickly and then they manage the aftermath. I think the challenge here is that a pandemic is a long-distance run. It's not a sudden bomb going off. It's going to evolve over days, and months and even years.

VELSHI: Microsoft is reported to have plans for staff to work from home. It's also dispensing hand sanitizer, something health experts say might have limited the spread of SARS.

Airlines will get hit if fears of contagion spread. The appeal of being in a contained space, sharing air with other people, could wane quickly.

Hotels are preparing not only for business slowdowns but for travelers who want to stay as healthy as possible. Face masks are selling fast to hotels and to restaurants. Rubber gloves are selling, too. And one of the only drugs known to reduce the symptoms of bird flu, Tamiflu. Tamiflu is not a cure, but companies have been stocking up on it for months.

And though shrines to America's favorite past time, shopping malls, could find themselves and their tenants in trouble if bird flu arrives in the United States. If it does, America's retailers can only hope it's not in the next six weeks. It's the most lucrative time of the year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, more business news next. What do you have for us today, Kathleen Hays?

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. A narrow win for a bill to trim the nation's ballooning budget deficit. I'll have all the juicy details coming up on LIVE FROM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, in Washington, a narrow victory in the House for a bill to trim the ballooning budget deficit. Kathleen Hays with all the details at the New York Stock Exchange -- Kathleen.

HAYS: Hi, Kyra.

Yes, this bill will sliced almost $50 billion from the deficit by the end of the decade by curbing benefit programs such as Medicaid, food stamps and student loan subsidies. In order to get some reluctant Republicans to go along, the Republican leadership of the GOP had to give up on drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, but that provision could return in negotiations with the Senate.

Meanwhile, the Senate OK'd a $60 billion tax bill in which the largest oil companies would be hit with about $4 billion in additional taxes. It would also prevent roughly 14 million families from paying higher taxes through the alternative minimum tax. But both the spending and the tax bills could change significantly in negotiations between the two houses of Congress.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Want to get straight to Fredricka Whitfield in the newsroom right now. More details on that teen who allegedly killed his girlfriend's parents in Pennsylvania -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. We're talking about David Ludwig, the 18-year-old.

Well, apparently, in addition to the cache of weapons that we reported yesterday that the police seized during a search of his home, they also came across a movie which depicts him plotting with his friend to, quote, "shoot and kill."

Let's check in with Allan Chernoff who covered the story after the -- the murders this past weekend.

Allan, what do you know about this latest evidence that has been submitted to the court? ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this is all according to new police documents that have been filed with the court. We're in the process of trying to get those documents.

But according to the Associated Press, the police in these documents say that they found a video, an 18-minute video on laptop computer that was taken from David Ludwig's home.

On that video, it is shown that Ludwig and his friend, Samuel Lohr, were taking guns from the Ludwig home and transporting them to another unidentified home and then discussing using those guns to, quote, "shoot and kill" family members. Now, we don't know which family members. And according to the Associated Press, investigators are saying the home was not the Borden home.

Mr. Ludwig is charged with shooting and killing the parents of Kara Borden, his 14-year-old girlfriend. Samuel Lohr is the friend of Mr. Ludwig who told investigators that Ludwig and his girlfriend were involved in a secret sexual relationship and also that they had exchanged what detectives described as inappropriate images that have been shared via e-mail and also over cell phone.

Mr. Ludwig currently is in Lancaster County prison. He's charged with homicide and kidnapping. And a pretrial hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday -- Fredricka.

PHILLIPS: And Alan, now what about David Ludwig's friend, Samuel Lohr, the 19-year-old who apparently was in this movie with him? Might he be facing any charges of any sort?

CHERNOFF: We don't know yet. We actually did speak to Mr. Lohr's father several days ago. And he informed us that Mr. Lohr was actually out of town, not near Lititz, the suburb of Lancaster, but I'm sure authorities are seeking him, if they have not already chatted with him again. But as we mentioned in their prior court documents, they had already interviewed Sam Lohr.

WHITFIELD: All right. Allan Chernoff, thanks so much. That reporting out of New York -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred. We'll continue to check in. Thank you so much.

Meanwhile, we're talking about carbon monoxide poisoning. It's deadly, it's invisible and it's a danger that kills without warning. Chris Huntington has the story now of a dramatic call for help and one very determined 911 operator.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carol Condon handles emergency calls for the police and fire departments in the Boston suburb of Waltham, Massachusetts. A little after 2:30 in the morning this past Tuesday, she received a 911 call unlike any she's ever heard in her 10 years on the job.

CAROL CONDON, 911 DISPATCHER: OK, ma'am, what's the problem?

HELEN ROY, 911 CALLER: I don't even talk. I can't talk. My husband's very -- we hurt so bad.

CONDON: OK, you have to give me your address to help you. Where are you? I know you're sick. You need some help? Are you in Waltham? Where are you?

H. ROY: Inside what shop?

CONDON: You're inside what shop?

There was something seriously wrong with the female. She was injured somehow. But I didn't know how or where.

HUNTINGTON (on camera): Did you speculate on what you thought might be happening?

CONDON: As soon as I could hear a man in the background, I thought that maybe there was a male in the building who had harmed her in some way.

HUNTINGTON: So you are thinking potentially a domestic dispute or some sort of assault?

CONDON: Correct.

HUNTINGTON (voice-over): The call was from Helen Roy. She and her husband Bob were in trouble but neither were capable of explaining what was wrong, where they were located or even who they were.

CONDON: You're inside a building?

H. ROY: Yes.

CONDON: OK. Did you just -- what does the building look like? Is it an office building? Tell me what's your first name.

H. ROY: July 7th.

CONDON: You said your birthday. What is your name?

HUNTINGTON: To make matters worse, the Roys were using a cell phone, virtually impossible to trace to an exact location. So rescuers rushed to the nearest cell phone tower, while Condon strung out the conversation with the Roys.

CONDON: I finally get Bob on the phone. And I'm not sure what Bob's done or what's going on with Bob. And I find it curious as to why they'd be in a shop at 2:30 in the morning.

HUNTINGTON (on camera): This is Bob Roy's welding business. As you can see, it's a garage-style shop in an industrial complex. The only ventilation into the shop is through the garage door and the front door and they were sealed up tight when he was working late on Monday evening. Inside, he was using a propane-powered forklift that was spewing out exhaust laced with carbon monoxide. He called his wife, Helen, to say that he was not feel willing. She came over. The two of them passed out, they believe, around 9:00 p.m. Miraculously, woke up again around 2:30 to make the 911 call.

(voice-over): It was four minutes into that call before Bob could finally give Condon an exact address.

CONDON: Sir, where are you?

BOB ROY, 911 CALLER: Who is it?

CONDON: Where are you?

B. ROY: I need a blanket.

CONDON: Sir, tell me where you are.

B. ROY: Hello.

CONDON: Hi. Where are you?

B. ROY: One -- who's this?

CONDON: It's Carol. Where are you?

B. ROY: I'm at 1-0-1 Clematis Avenue.

CONDON: You're at 1-0-1 Clematis Ave?

B. ROY: Yes.

CONDON: We said, thank God.

HUNTINGTON (on camera): That's the crucial bit of communication.

CONDON: Correct.

HUNTINGTON (voice-over): Within minutes, Bob and Helen Roy were headed for the hospital where they were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. Helen was released yesterday, Bob, not until just a few hours ago.

B. ROY: It's like being drunk. You're not really sure what you're doing, what decision you are making.

HUNTINGTON: But it was Condon's cool decision making that made the difference.

CONDON: When they were both being transported into Mass General, then I was almost overcome because I knew how close they had come to death. So when you get a call like this and it ends up that everyone walked away OK, it's a really good feeling.

HUNTINGTON: Chris Huntington, CNN, Waltham, Massachusetts. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So what were you doing when you were 20 years old? A closer look at the fallen. A special "Army Times" report on the soldiers killed in Iraq. You won't believe this stuff. The breakdown of the brave.

LIVE FROM is back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The fallen, by age, race, rank and more. We are talking about who has paid the ultimate price in Operation Iraqi Freedom. "The Army Times" has just published this fascinating article, breaking down some pretty powerful numbers.

Joining me from Washington is Chuck Vinch. He's with the paper. He wrote the story.

Hi, Chuck.

CHUCK VINCH, "ARMY TIMES": Hi.

PHILLIPS: One thing that surprised so many of us, when you broke down these numbers by certain, I guess, by age and race, et cetera, the biggest percentage of deaths, 20 to 24 years old. I don't think we realize how young these men and women are that are dying.

VINCH: Well, absolutely. The force is young. In fact, 53 percent of the first 2,000 deaths in Iraq were 24 years old and younger, down to as young as 17, in fact. That's what you would expect. The force is young, although that has been increasing. The average age in the force has increased over the past couple of decades. But still, the ones who fight on the front lines are overwhelmingly young.

PHILLIPS: Now I'm curious, with this article that's been published and in talking about how young these men and women are, have you received any type of reaction from Congress, from senators, from anybody within the circles of making decisions about being in Iraq?

VINCH: Not really in terms of the age of the force. There have been a couple of occasions over the course of the war in which the issue has been raised about whether the burden of the war, in terms of deaths and woundings, is falling more heavily on minorities and the poor. In fact, Congressman Charlie Rangel, Democrat from New York, has raised that issue a couple times, but not in terms of age. But in terms of the minority and the poor issue, on the minority side, the numbers don't bear that out: 74 percent of the first 2,000 casualties in the war were white, whereas whites make up about 67 percent of the total military force. So whites are over-represented among the deaths. Blacks, on the other hand, are under-represented, make up about 10 percent of the 2,000 deaths, versus 17 percent of the total force. And Hispanics are a little over-represented, 11 percent of the deaths versus 9 percent of the total face. So at least in terms of minorities among the deaths, that is not falling more heavily on minorities.

PHILLIPS: So bottom line, what you found, because a lot of people were saying it's the poor and the minorities that are dying in this war, more so than white men and women?

VINCH: That is not borne out by the figures, the analysis we did, no.

PHILLIPS: Interesting.

Let's talk about the National Guard versus active duty. What did you find?

VINCH: It's a ratio of about three to one. About 75 percent of the first 2,000 deaths are among active-duty members. Twenty-five percent from the Reserve components. But what's interesting about that is we broke that down over time. Over the first year of the war, from March '03 to March '04, about 17 percent of the deaths were among Reserve component members. The second 12-month period of the war, that had ridge to 22 percent, 23 percent. And since March of this year through October, 40 percent. So that's a pretty stark reflection of the increasing reliance on Reserve component members by the military as war has gone on.

PHILLIPS: And if you're just joining us, we're talking about the number of men and women that have died in Iraq, and sort of the breakdown of who they were, where they're from, how they died. Let's talk about where they come from. You found that most are from California, right?

VINCH: Right, in terms of sheer numbers, you would expect that the biggest states would have biggest numbers of deaths among the Iraq casualties: California, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Florida, the big states. But what's interesting about that is we also did a per capita analysis per 100,000 -- deaths per 100,000 population. And topping the list when you look at that, believe it or not, is American Samoa.

PHILLIPS: Really?

VINCH: They've had -- yes, indeed. They've had five casualties with a population of under 60,000, so that works out to about 8.6 per 100,000. And in fact, there have been casualties from every U.S. possession -- American Samoa, Guam -- Puerto Rico has had 16, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and we've even had some from the Northern Marianas, and Micronesia.

PHILLIPS: You also found numbers that, of course, most of these men and women have died because of IEDs, the improvised explosive devices.

VINCH: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: How about where they died? The most have died in Baghdad, but you also had a section there that talked about -- like sort of an unsure number. What did that mean? When you broke down the number of deaths in certain areas, what did the unsure area mean?

VINCH: Well, we're not quite sure about that ourselves. There is about 200, as I recall, about 200 of the casualties have not had a specified location. And my own supposition on that is that they were not in an identifiable area. They were just out in the wilderness somewhere. I mean, Iraq, obviously, is a vast country and it has vast open spaces where you're not actually in a given location.

Some of those, I would also assume, were classified missions. In fact, I think a lot -- there were a lot of deaths that are just labelled as Anbar Province which is a huge chunk of Iraq. The military often doesn't get into details about where a death occurred when there's a sensitive mission that might involve special operations troops.

PHILLIPS: Chuck, what can we learn from all these numbers? What can we learn from your report? I mean, can it affect this ongoing war in any way?

VINCH: I don't know that I would say that. But I think -- we had a discussion about this with the senior U.S. military spokesman in -- for coalition forces in Baghdad who wrote a letter after we published this article, a letter to the editor, in which he argued that noting such milestones as this is sort of like an "arbitrary mark on the wall." Those were the words he used.

And we responded to that in an editorial. We feel that noting such milestone as this does serve as an important purpose in terms of sort of summing up periodically the ultimate human -- the overall human toll of the war. And it serves to remind us all that, you know, there are real Americans bleeding and dying at the tail end of decisions being made in Washington. And I think that's something we shouldn't forget.

PHILLIPS: Well, Chuck, that's an ongoing discussion we have here all the time, putting a name and a face out there and not just a number.

VINCH: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: And we do need to remember who the human being was and not look at him or her as a statistic. Chuck, thank you so much.

VINCH: Absolutely. My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: The "Army Times," pick it up, read the article interesting stuff. Thanks so much, Chuck Vinch.

VINCH: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, American seminary students getting some pretty tough questions, not from their professors, but from the Vatican. The topic? Homosexuality and personal morals. We're being put in the holy hot seat straight ahead on LIVE FROM. Delia Gallagher joins us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: About 1,000 firefighters continuing to battle that wildfire in Ventura County. Our Ted Rowlands covering the story for us. Right now, he joins us on the phone. Ted, what's the latest?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we're up at the hill in the city of Ventura. And within the last ten minutes, firefighters started going home to home here in a cluster of about 20 homes and getting people out. Most of these people had spent the last few hours gathering their belongings and pets. And they have just been given the word to get out.

The winds have picked up considerably in the last 20 minutes or so, and fire has kicked up onto a hillside, a ridge which surrounds a cluster of homes in the Ventura Hills. For that reason, firefighters are clearing people out.

And it is a fairly dramatic thing. The fire has picked up considerably. Flames are shooting quite high. And the winds have picked up and they are getting very, very close to a number of homes. So, it has changed. It was a situation where there was no mandatory evacuations, but within the last 10 to 15 minutes, that has changed and people are being cleared out.

PHILLIPS: Obviously, we can hear the winds and how strong they are, even through listening to you on the cell phone, Ted. And we're getting pictures kind of in and out via our affiliates. We're actually seeing a beautiful beach shot via KCAL.

Now we have sort of a distant shot there that kind of show somewhat of the landscape there where the wildfire is working its way. But just moments ago we saw pretty amazing pictures of flames literally right there in the backyard of someone's home. We've got a number of pictures up now.

With regard to the homes, are firefighters going door to door and trying to get people out of there or has there been some sort of special broadcast across the televisions? How can these people -- how are they being warned?

ROWLANDS: Well, this fire started about 3:30 this morning and crews from around the region were dispatched and they have been stationed in these hillside communities. So, when word comes down that people have to get out, firefighters have already established contact with the individual homeowners. And some of the homeowners have left on their own hours ago.

But the ones that were hoping that they wouldn't be affected just packed their belongings, and those are the ones that are being told. And they are literally going door to door, knocking on the doors and saying, hi, it is time.

We were in the middle of an interview with a woman and she had all her things packed and the firefighter came up an said, let's go, let's go. And she scurried off and got into her vehicle with her two dogs and her husband. And they are leaving and hoping for the best. PHILLIPS: Ted, I don't even -- I haven't asked this question since I started covering these wildfires, since we started at 1:00 Eastern, but do we know how the blaze started?

ROWLANDS: No, they do not know. And it's in two separate areas. And the fire has some unusual characteristics in that it is strong in some areas and then it dampens down and then picks back up. But it's kind of hodgepodge, and for that reason, it's a bit difficult.

A lot of these fires have a clear wall to them that they can battle and set back fires to, but this fire is going in and out of little canyons and sprouting up with different degrees of intensity depending on where it is. In the area that we are in right now, it's intensified greatly, and that's the reason for these evacuations.

PHILLIPS: And we're seeing some of the air support, too, Ted. Is it pretty active? I understand there were some helicopters with water baskets and there are supposed to be more airplanes and helicopters coming in to help support he firefighters. Has that happened yet? Can you see anything from that air?

ROWLANDS: Yes, there's a helicopter right above me right now with a full load. And it's going to be dumping. And they have been at it all morning, since daybreak. They started to (INAUDIBLE). And if you're hearing they're going to increase it, that would make sense because it seems as though the intensity of the fire, at least in this area, has increased at least within the last 15, 20 minutes, to point where there has been real concern.

PHILLIPS: Well, right now, we're getting live pictures via our affiliate KCAL. And you can see the flames literally in the backyard of some of these homes, condos, apartments. Do we know how many people have been evacuated thus far? Now we've got live pictures actually of the firefighting operations via those helos above your head. Do you know how many people have evacuated so far, Ted?

ROWLANDS: We don't have any official word. In fact, they're still doing it. I'm watching right now as a fireman and a volunteer and a local police officer is going up and taking somebody out of their homes. So I think it's an ongoing situation. I can tell you, I've seen a good 25 people pulled out of their homes already.

An elderly couple today came out with clothes. They said they'd been here for 25 years and had never seen anything like it, obviously, and they're just hoping for the best. They did not look like they had prepared. They had clothes on the back (INAUDIBLE) clothing, that was about it (INAUDIBLE). They had stationed firefighters at each one of these homes. They're hoping that these guys can save a lot of these houses.

PHILLIPS: Ted Rowlands, reporting live for us there via his cell phone. My gosh, these pictures are just unbelievable. These are live pictures via our affiliate KCAL. And you can see the flames literally -- you can see how fast they're moving.

And you can actually see the firefighters down there on the corner of your screen, trying to desperately work the fire. You can see people getting pulled away and having to leave the area. You can actually see some people starting to run from that area. You can see the flames coming up on the homes. Firefighters out there trying to keep the blazes from getting into those homes.

We're going to continue to monitor all these live pictures via our affiliates. We've got them on all angles. Do we want to take a quick break here? Is that what I heard? Or do we want to stay rolling on these live pictures? OK. We're going to take a quick break. Once again, 1,000 firefighters trying to battle this wildfire in Ventura County.

We're on the story. We'll be right back.

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