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Cyclone Larry Hits Australia; President Bush Holds News Conference; New Book Shows Servicemen's Photographs Of Life In Iraq

Aired March 21, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: New and improved, the plan to rebuild New Orleans. The may has set out a welcome mat to one and all but warns that some who choose to come home do so at their own risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: I am more confident every day from my briefings and inspections that we will be safer this hurricane season. However, I want to caution all residents that after much probing and questioning, the Army Corps of Engineers has warned me that some of our most -- our lowest-lying areas of New Orleans east and the Lower Ninth Ward will have some flooding from levees overtopping if another hurricane travels along the same path as Katrina, even with the restoration of higher, better-fortified levees.

This challenges is correctable, but it will not be fixed for probably another year or two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, just in time for spring breakers, the storms are hitting the Florida coast. CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen has the forecast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: "Amazing" is the word Australians are using after the worst storm to hit that country in decades. Amazing that no one died. Amazing that no one was seriously hurt. But while tropical Cyclone Larry spared lives, it didn't spare much else.

Adrian Brown of Australia's Channel 7 reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADRIAN BROWN, REPORTER, AUSTRALIA CHANNEL 7 (voice over): Who could have possibly been prepared for this? In the town of Innisfail, there is destruction everywhere you look, except perhaps miraculously the church where people were huddled during the storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got a 3-year-old, plus a 6-year-old. Trying to not cry because you're really scared because you don't want the kids scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can feel the whole house vibrating and shaking. BROWN: Whatever survived Cyclone Larry is now being ruined by rain. Without roofs for shelter, some residents are living in the back of cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went to a friend's place, but they lost their roof as well. So it wasn't any good being there.

BROWN: The cleanup could take months; repairing the damage even longer.

The enormity of it all summed up in the innocence of this little girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're trying to throw (ph) it back on for daddy because he needs help. His fence is broke. Everything's broke.

BROWN: But where do the authorities start?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your priority today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today is to get -- get away.

BROWN: Queenland's premier, Peter Beattie, chaired an emergency meeting to coordinate disaster relief. There's no shortage of people offering help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Resources, manpower, anything from generators to bobcats to semi trailers.

BROWN: Volunteers are coming from all over Queensland and supplies from across Australia.

The army is now here setting up camp at the local race course. Help for a town without power, no running water or sewage system and little food.

A sausage sizzle is feeding those who have nothing left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Started off just serving all the volunteer guys, the firemen and SES people. And we've got that many people around that just are hungry. And businesses are starting to donate us food now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never been to a soup kitchen before. It's terrible.

BROWN: Qantas has started delivering 8,000 meals a day. They can't come soon enough for some families now putting saucepans on campfires.

Gone, too, are the crops that keep towns in this part of Queensland alive. Most of Australia's banana industry was wiped out along with other farms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not see a single stalk of sugar cane standing upright. BROWN: And that will mean the loss of thousands of jobs.

The prime minister will inspect the region tomorrow and says financial assistance is coming.

JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIA PRIME MINISTER: When something comes along like this and flattens you, then you are entitled to say, well, can somebody give us a bit of a hand to get back on our feet?

BROWN: Larry has made news around the world...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something that is stronger than Hurricane Katrina.

BROWN: ... bringing a message of sympathy from U.S. President George Bush.

And as the remnants of the cyclone leave this devastated region, rest at last for those who lived through the terror.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Been up since about 4:30 this morning, so they're ready to go to bed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Great Barrier Reef is considered one of the great natural wonders of the world.

Here's the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Great Barrier Reef is actually more than 2,800 coral reefs off the northeastern coast of Australia. It's the world's largest system of coral reefs stretching over 1,200 miles from Fraser Island to the coastline of Papua New Guinea. The reef is made up of living colonies of both soft and hard coral.

As far back as the 19th century, the reef has been a tourist wonderland. Today, Great Barrier Reef tourism is more than a $1 billion business. One and a half million people visit the reef each year to fish, swim, scuba dive and snorkel.

The reef is home to 1,500 species of fish, 400 species of coral, 500 species of birds, and six of the world's seven species of sea turtles. But, like many natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef is under attack.

Some experts say global warming is reducing coral growth. Over- fishing also is a big problem, as is runoff from farmland and urban areas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Iraqis had a chance to fall apart and they didn't, President Bush's take on Iraq as he takes on growing doubts back home.

Our Kathleen Koch at the White House with highlights of Mr. Bush's news conference.

Kathleen, it looks like the president again rejected any kind of timetable for bringing troops home.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did, indeed, Kyra, and he tried to walk a very fine line between sounding upbeat, while at the same time appearing to be realistic about what's happening in Iraq.

Mr. Bush insisted over and over again that he does see progress. He said he believes the U.S. plan in Iraq is working and it will succeed, otherwise he wouldn't keep U.S. troops there.

Now, this is part of an ongoing U.S. effort to try to convince Americans, some 61 percent of whom disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, that it's worth continuing. And one interesting exchange implied that that war could continue until well after Mr. Bush leaves office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will there come a day -- and I'm not asking you when, not asking for a timetable -- will there come a day when there will be no more American forces in Iraq?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That, of course, is an objective, and that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it won't happen on your watch?

BUSH: You mean a complete withdrawal? That's a timetable. I can only tell you that I will make decisions on force levels based upon what the commanders on the ground say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: And President Bush took issue in the press conference with former interim prime minister Ayad Allawi's insistence that Iraq is right now embroiled in a civil war. President Bush said, yes, while there is certainly sectarian violence, he believes that the Iraqi army is holding together and doing its best to defend the citizens of the country -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, live from the White House.

Thanks so much.

KOCH: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Well, they looked like an invading army and left behind a charred and bloody battlefield. In a brazen attack at dawn, about 100 stormed a police station 60 miles north of Baghdad armed with grenades, mortars and machine guns. They killed at least 18 police officers and freed some 30 prisoners.

U.S. troops say 11 attackers were killed, too. But local Iraqis say only one was.

Thousands of Iraqi families don't have homes anymore. But soon they'll have some help.

More than $350,000 earmarked for more than 3,700 Iraqi families who have been driven away by violence, Iraq's government is discussing how to divvy it up. The families live in 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Soldiers' snapshots. New technology takes us behind the lens to see the war in Iraq through their eyes. That's straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The troops, the civilians, the fighting and rebuilding. We've seen all kinds of images out of Iraq, but now we're going to see them in a different way: American troops using their own cameras, downloading pictures of unforgettable moments as soon as something happens.

Now you can experience them, too. Two hundred and fifty of the soldiers' snaps are featured in a new book called "This is Our War: A Soldier's Portfolio," servicemen's photographs of life in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "This is Our War" is a collaborative project between me and a bunch of guys at the magazine and a bunch of soldiers who we got to contribute their own photographs to make sort of a compilation of photographs from the war. It is their war. And you see -- you see the people who are really fighting the way that they see each other -- interviews with the soldiers in their words.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "There was a real problem with roaches. There were roaches everywhere, in the bed, on the floor. I slept outside after that."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That girl was a Marine in my unit. I'm still not sure of her name. People come in and out of your life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of them are kids, and you can see from these pictures that this is going to be one of the most intense experiences of their life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I can still smell that day, the burnt hair, the explosives. It's nothing you really get used to."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is s one of the most intense series of pictures that we got. The first picture is literally moments after the bomb's gone off. They're putting him on a stretcher and then they're loading him on to the evacuation helicopter. And luckily, he ended up living. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just something about a soldier carrying a picture of his girlfriend inside of his helmet. Obviously the closest thing to him, and he's protecting it inside of his helmet.

I think it's our first real digital war. Soldiers themselves were making their own images and documenting the war themselves.

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started to get pictures of people who had died in Iraq, and these were the last known pictures of them. This kid named Taylor Prezinski (ph) was from Ohio, and he's just caught in a moment. That's kind of what the book is about. This is a way for us to get out of the way and let them tell their own story.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: "GQ" senior writer Devin Freidman got the idea for "This is Our War" while embedded with the National Guard troops from Florida. He joins us from New York.

The pictures on the book's opening pages were taken by Army Specialist Adam Nuelken. He's here with me in Atlanta.

Great to have you both. What a pleasure.

DEVIN FRIEDMAN, SR. WRITER, "GQ": Nice to be here.

PHILLIPS: Devin, let's -- we'll talk about your photos in a moment, Adam. But I want to ask Devin, how did being embedded, putting this book together and just looking at those photos on a regular basis while you were working on this book make an impact on you?

FRIEDMAN: Well, as a journalist you kind of realize that you're always in the way of your story. And there's always a layer between you and your subject. And this was just a way to get out of the way and see the way the war looked when we weren't around, which I think is really important.

PHILLIPS: And Adam, so many times I even remember being in Iraq and I wanted to get something out of the soldier, the Marine, the pilot, whomever it was, but they couldn't comment because this was the duty -- this was their duty and they had to say what they needed to say. But these pictures tell a lot without evening having to say it.

SPEC. ADAM NUELKEN, U.S. ARMY: Yes. There's a lot of times -- I worked in public relations for the Army -- a lot of times where people through training get to the point when dealing with the media they just want to tell their job and this is all we're going to talk about. But I think what Devin did with his pictures, he actually was able to reach past that barrier of possible fear of the media with the military and pull those images from the soldiers and actually show the lives that they had while in Iraq.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, Devin, let's -- I want to talk about some of your favorite photos. We have some of yours, too, Adam, ones that you took.

But Devin, you mentioned this one photo, Specialist Eric Bingham (ph). I love the story. His mom used to pay him 25 cents to shoot the sparrows, and he ends up being a sniper and never trained to be one, right?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, he just was a kid from a farm in Ohio and he joined the Army and became a sniper. And these are the stories that we got from talking to -- each picture is accompanied by an interview with the soldier because we wanted to have the words of the soldier also along with their picture.

PHILLIPS: Well, tell me about Lance Corporal Adam Schumaker (ph), another very raw, candid picture through training about how to survive if something happened to you and a medic wasn't around.

FRIEDMAN: This is one of the funniest pictures in the book. There's just this kid with these sunglasses and he's got a cigarette in his hand if you -- if you pan down. And you know that these kids are aware of the absurdity of what they're doing just as much as we are.

PHILLIPS: But they had to know how to use the IVs, right, if they were somewhere and a doctor wasn't around?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, I mean -- exactly. I mean, this is, you know, an important thing for them to train, but they also are sitting there holding their own IV with a cigarette in their hand. It's kind of an interesting dichotomy.

PHILLIPS: Well, there are a number of pictures in there that are very raw and very of the moment, and these are a few of your favorites. And it's when some of these young men came across all of Saddam's money.

Tell me about these pictures and just the stories behind finding this -- $650 million? Is that right?

FRIEDMAN: These guys -- these guys found all this American cash in a shed -- in a shed in the green zone. And no one's really to this day sure where that money came from. But again, I think these guys were seeing crazy things in war, and we just get to see those things through their eyes.

PHILLIPS: Now, did they think it was oil-for-food money? That's what I was reading.

FRIEDMAN: They think that it was. I mean, we can't be -- we can't be certain. I'm sure someone at the Pentagon might know. But according to the soldiers, they found the money and they were with it for a few minutes, and then they sent it off. And they think that it might be oil-for-food money.

PHILLIPS: So do we know what happened to the cash? FRIEDMAN: I think it got shipped back to the U.S. and it was paid -- was used to pay for the reconstruction.

PHILLIPS: Interesting.

Let's talk about your pictures, Adam.

These night shots that you took, I remember the sandstorm and how dramatic that was. But you didn't realize how beautiful the red sky was when you were taking these photos, right?

NUELKEN: Well, it was actually daytime, around probably noon to 1:00 when I took those pictures. And it was I think what they call a shamal (ph), just a really big sandstorm. And it would go from sand blowing every which way to as thick as could be one minute, to the next minute, just torrential downpour, storming, lightning, thunder and then the sand would start up again. And the whole time this was going on we had to pull guard duty through the night, through that and everything else.

PHILLIPS: I mean, you couldn't even see where you were going.

NUELKEN: No, at times it got to the point where it's only -- you could only see about two to three feet in front of you.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

And what about this one with the bullet hole? This was up in the -- was this the control tower at Baghdad airport?

NUELKEN: It was at Baghdad International Airport. I'm not sure the name of the airport.

PHILLIPS: OK.

NUELKEN: It's right in the center of Baghdad. And we came there and we started just walking around, looking around and surveying the area. And I got to the top of the control tower and saw the bullet holes like this through there, and I just thought, that would make an excellent frame for a picture.

PHILLIPS: And what's smoking in the background?

NUELKEN: I think it's a burned out vehicle or maybe a building. It's hard to tell. I ended up shooting about four or five images of that with different focal lengths and such with the background in focus and the glass blurred out to try to get a different feel with each one.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Devin and Adam, stay with us. We've got some more pictures to look at.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll come right back. All right? NUELKEN: All right.

PHILLIPS: OK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "This is Our War" is a book that we're talking about. American troops using their own cameras, downloading pictures of unforgettable moments as soon as something happens.

Devin Friedman, "GQ" senior writer, he had the idea for this book.

Adam Nuelken, Army specialist, took a number of photos that appear in that book.

Let's talk some more about the photos that you took. We were looking at some of the pictures within combat, but you really got to know the Iraqi people, as well.

I was moved by a number of these photos of the kids. They really swarmed you when you came around, didn't they?

NUELKEN: When we got over there, the kids just loved us, and they would come and rush us and charge us every chance they could just to basically touch us. I mean, we were the heroes in their eyes, and it was the most remarkable feeling you could ever have is when being mobbed by a thousand kids just cheering and chanting for you.

PHILLIPS: Devin, did that surprise you when you looked at all these photos? You saw, of course, a lot of the action and the death and a lot of the destruction, but at the same time, these soldiers really wanted to capture the Iraqis, the children, the hearts and minds of how they were feeling and what they were doing.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, we got a lot of pictures of kids or of families that people got to know because they were part of the soldiers' experience over there. I mean, the thing that struck me about seeing all these pictures from these guys was the real spectrum of the war for them. Everything from -- from loneliness to total boredom to, you know, total fear. And when you see their pictures of it, you get to see the entire spectrum, not just the stuff that's picked out by journalists.

PHILLIPS: That was what I wanted to ask you, Devin. Do you think there are photos -- I think definitely there are photos in this book that as a journalist you just can't capture that moment or that raw emotion because usually men and women in the military are a little held back, I guess, when they're with someone in the media.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, totally. I mean, sitting here I'm acting differently than I would if I were hanging out at home with my friends. And it's the same thing -- it's the same thing for them.

Knowing that someone's around, you don't -- you don't relax as much. And you get to sort of see not only what they saw, but what they were interested in.

It was really interesting to get their pictures because they took pictures of what -- what they cared about. And that says almost as much as the images do.

PHILLIPS: And Adam, they cared a lot -- because there's a whole section about the fallen -- the men and women that have died so far in this war.

NUELKEN: It was hard when that was going on. There was a lot of memorials that we went through. And a lot of the times we'd go in, we'd do the memorials, take the pictures and then just try to move on away from that. Because there's so much else going on, and you're already alone out in the desert away from your family and loved ones. You didn't want to spend the whole time focusing on your friends and stuff who were killed, as well.

PHILLIPS: You had to compartmentalize, didn't you?

NUELKEN: A lot. And a lot of times I look back on it and think it was probably one of the greatest times I ever had in my military career was over there because the people I got to know around me. And we just became so close and such good friends, that we didn't, you know, need anything else. Everything was so much simpler and basic when we were there.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a beautiful book.

Devin Friedman, Adam Nuelken, gentlemen, thank you so much. I sure appreciate your time.

NUELKEN: Thank you.

FRIEDMAN: Thanks for having me.

PHILLIPS: It was wonderful. And stay with us, guys, for a second, because I want you to see this last part here of this segment, and that's the final chapter of "This is Our War." It's called "Last Shots," photos of servicemen and women who didn't make it home.

And as we continue to salute the fallen heroes, we bring you some of those final images, the last photos that families received of their loved ones in Iraq.

When she was 10 years old, Army Specialist Michelle Whitmer told her sisters that she wanted to be a hero. The 20-year-old from New Berlin, Wisconsin, was killed April 9, 2004 during an attack in Baghdad.

Army Sergeant Tomaine K. Toy, Sr., was from Eastville, Virginia. He was killed in combat in Ramadi in April of last year. Tomaine was 24 years old.

Army Private Anthony Mazzarella of Blue Springs, Missouri, was killed in a Humvee accident last year. It happened in Taji, Iraq. He was 22 years old. And Lance Corporal Lawrence R. Philippon was engaged to be married last December but was killed just months before his wedding day. He died in Porum (ph), Iraq. Lawrence was a member of the Marine Corps Color Guard. He carried the flag at President Reagan's funeral.

Fallen heroes, just four of the 2,316 service men and women killed in the Iraq war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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