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Israel at War; Devastating Impact of Combat Stress; One Year Since Death of 14 Marines in Iraq; BP Oil Pipeline Problem; Krispy Kreme in Asia
Aired August 08, 2006 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Finally free after almost eight hours under tons of concrete. You saw the rescue right here on LIVE FROM. A construction worker in Phoenix pulled out, badly hurt, but alive. He was demolishing a parking garage when part of it fell on top of his front-end loader. His legs were pinned in that tractor. Rescuers say the 28-year-old worker was conscious and talking much of the time. They were most worried about what would happen after they pulled the equipment off of him.
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MIKE SANDULAK, CHIEF, PHOENIX FIRE DEPT (on phone): When you bring that much weight off your body, it puts you in a shock condition. it putting toxins and lactic acids throughout your body. To prepare for that, they give him some medication, maybe some bicarb that's kind of a buffer when the lactic acid gets throughout your body. They give him plenty of fluid.
They have a heart monitor on him, so whatever care happens when you take that weight off of him, we'll prepare for that. We actually could do -- you know, if we had to, we could have done a medical amputation. We have doctors on site, trauma teams on site, so if we had to go that far. Fortunately we didn't have to do that, we got him out safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well the injured worker is now in a hospital, his wife and father right by his side.
Back to the Mideast, it's hard to know where the front is. And sometimes who the enemy is, but Israeli troops in Lebanon never doubt they are at war and CNN's John Roberts doesn't doubt it either.
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JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SR. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under cover of night, an elite army reserve unit prepares to strike out across the border. Their faces painted black, briefed on the battle plan, they put boots on the ground -- destination, a hot zone some seven miles inside southern Lebanon.
(on camera): We have been walking for a couple of miles now. We're going to just stop to drink a little bit of water. The going has been hard, up one hill, down another -- very, very dusty. But it's an amazingly clear night here in south Lebanon. The moon was up a little while ago. Now the moon is down. It's much darker than it was before. But it's just a sky full of stars, somewhat at odds with the action on the ground, this peaceful night.
(voice-over): Before daybreak, the unit enters an abandoned house near the Lebanese town of Rajamin, their base of operations for the next 24 hours.
Richard -- last name withheld -- is one of the senior officers.
CAPTAIN RICHARD, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES: We're using all the forces available to us, army, tanks, and our air force, to fight these Islamist fundamentalist terrorists.
ROBERTS: The mission is to identify and suppress possible Hezbollah positions.
They scout the hills with powerful binoculars and cameras that can bring far-off villages into sharp focus, then dispatch patrols to probe nearby ground and buildings.
Abi (ph) is the fire control officer. He doesn't like this terrain. Hezbollah guerrillas, he says, could hide there. So, he calls in artillery. Within moments, the hill is ablaze with incoming fire and smoke.
The company is under constant threat from Hezbollah missiles and snipers. So, the unit's own sharpshooters keep a hair-trigger alert.
(on camera): It had been a fairly quiet day in this position. The soldiers were getting some rest. They were waiting for some resupply. But, just moments ago, some intelligence came in that this location may be targeted by Hezbollah.
We heard the tanks start opening fire a couple of seconds ago. And now these soldiers have taken a very aggressive defensive posture.
(voice-over): Commanders evacuate another platoon from the building next door. Not long after, mortars hit close by.
The stress of battle weighs on these civilian soldiers. Oded Norman (ph) is an attorney by trade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't avoid being a soldier in Israel.
ROBERTS: Tomer Cohen (ph) was to have graduated acting school on this day. Instead, he is in the theater of war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lebanon is a cursed country, you know, for us.
ROBERTS: Conditions here are extreme. Everyone succumbs to exhaustion. And the mission to rout Hezbollah fighters is frustrating.
A volley of Katyushas that fly right overhead is proof of that. The soldiers move constantly. Staying too long in one place invites attacks. They find a new position and fire rockets into the building to make sure it's clear.
As diplomacy moves forward, the mission to degrade Hezbollah's potency becomes more urgent. There is little faith among these soldiers that an expanded U.N. force could provide a barrier to the attacks. And they fear they may be in Lebanon for a long time to come.
RICHARD: The reality is that the only force that Israel can rely on to protect the citizens of Israel is the Israel Defense Forces. There has not been a great track record of other people protecting the Jewish people and the people of Israel.
ROBERTS: We're pulling back to Israel now after two days in the field and after spending 48 hours with this unit, we get a greater appreciation for just how difficult this battle really is. It would appear that in this conflict, neither side would be able to claim victory in the classic sense of military versus military, state versus state. The over-arching question in the Middle East -- can there ever be peace? John Roberts, CNN, deep inside southern Lebanon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Combat stress is as old as war itself. It came up today at a Baghdad hearing for the four U.S. soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl and killing her and her family back in March. At issue, whether the G.I.'s will face court martial.
A soldier from the same unit, Private First Class Justin Cross testified that combat, quote, "drives you nuts. You feel like every step you might get blown up." Well he told the hearing that soldiers drink whiskey and take painkillers to cope.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more on the often devastating impact of combat stress.
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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the war in Iraq grinds on, one question that continues to confront the Army: Is the stress of combat simply too much for the troops?
Former Private First Class Steven Green and other soldiers, charged with the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the murder of her family in Mahmoudiya, sought help for combat stress according to their former commander. The Army wants to know more about the impact of war, months of killing insurgents, and seeing your buddies killed.
Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley, the Army surgeon general, is co- chairing a mental health task force.
LT. GEN. KEVIN KILEY, U.S. ARMY SURGEON GENERAL: We clearly recognize that those soldiers that have been in close combat have experienced IEDs, RPGs, complex attacks, that their stress levels as a group appear to be higher than soldiers that don't experience those.
STARR: The Army has put combat stress teams on the front line to offer assistance. So far, there is no apparent limit to how many combat tours a person can tolerate, the Army says, some troops now on their second and third tours.
But conclusions about mental health are uncertain. The Army says up to five percent of troops take antidepressants, but can't compare it directly to other wars. Army surveys indicate as many as 30 percent of returning soldiers report post-traumatic stress symptoms. Kiley says that may be OK.
KILEY: We don't have an expectation that just because 30 percent answer yes that they're going to land up in long-term therapy.
STARR: A former reporter for the government-backed "Stars and Stripes" newspaper unwittingly may have the clearest insight about how little is known about the stress of war. He met Green just before the Mahmoudiya killings.
ANDREW TILGHMAN, FMR. "STARS AND STRIPES" REPORTER: When I met Steven Green, I have to say, he did not strike me as uniquely troubled relative to all the other guys in his unit that were all just sort of very scared to be where they were.
STARR (on camera): Military mental health experts say the most important thing is for the troops to recognize when they do have a problem, get help, and spend time with their families between tours of duty.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: One year ago this month, America was stunned to learn of the deaths of 14 marines in Iraq. The blow was even more devastated for Brook Park, Ohio, the Cleveland suburb where those marines were based. Reporter Paul Thomas of CNN affiliate WKYC talks with families who are still finding it hard to say good-bye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL THOMAS, KYC REPORTER (voice-over): It was a 1-2 punch to the heart, 20 men lost.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jeff Boskovitch was my future son-in-law.
THOMAS: A city and nation tried to find the words, a way to comfort the families of the 3rd battalion 25th marine regimen, For some those days last August have faded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just remember him always with a smile on his face.
THOMAS: But for the family of Lance Corporal Brian Montgomery, not a day goes by that they don't think about him. PAUL MONTGOMERY, FATHER OF FALLEN SOLDIER: He gave me a big hug and said, "Don't worry dad, I'll be back." And I could still feel him hugging me. I mean, that seems like it was just a few weeks ago.
THOMAS: Paul Montgomery wears a bracelet for his son. There is no anger in his voice. One year later, he doesn't question the war or his son's motivation to serve.
MONTGOMERY: I think the real significance of today is it's another day that Brian's son is a little safer.
THOMAS: Montgomery left behind a wife and son, Alexander, who turns two on Thursday. His younger brother Eric, who served in the 325 with him, is now enrolled in the Naval Academy.
August 1st is a tough day, but then every day is.
MONTGOMERY: I visit the cemetery a lot. And that helps me. You know, you never get over it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Those Ohio marines are among the 2,592 men and women who have sacrificed their lives in this war in Iraq.
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PHILLIPS: $3.03 and holding. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas as quoted by AAA a day after BP broke the news about Prudhoe Bay. That price is not expected to hold very long.
Our Alina Cho is following BP's problems, which are your and my problems, too.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I put almost $75 in this car just this week. $75.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And don't expect relief from those gas pains any time soon. BP is shutting down its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska. It found corrosion so severe it's replacing 16 miles of pipeline. That means 400,000 fewer barrels of oil being pumped each day, an 8 percent drop in U.S. oil production. Some 2.5 percent of the total U.S. oil supply.
BOB MALONE, CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENT, BP AMERICA: On behalf of the BP Group, I apologize for the impact this has had on our nation and to the great state of Alaska. BP will commit the necessary human and financial resources to complete this job safely and as quickly as possible.
CHO: The west coast will take the biggest hit. Some 25 percent of its oil comes from Alaska.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Important that all these companies are all at different levels, you need to be accountable and responsible. Ultimately it's affecting all of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how long will it take (INAUDIBLE) increasing the prices.
CHO: Just how long will it take to bring the nation's biggest oil field back on line? Weeks? Months?
MALONE: We will not commit to a date. This is going to be based upon when we can safely restart some of these lines.
CHO: BP is under investigation for a massive oil spill at Prudhoe Bay back in March and for an explosion and fire at a Texas refinery last year which killed 15 people. As for the 16 miles of corroded pipeline discovered at Prudhoe Bay, federal regulators say it hadn't been cleaned and tested properly since 1992.
AXEL BUSCH, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE: It is damaging, not just because it's part of a series of incidents. It's not a stand alone. A stand alone accident, accidents will happen. When you have a number of them, people will start asking questions.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And as you followed Alina's report, we're just getting these pictures in from BP. As you know, the news broke about Prudhoe Bay. Now they're releasing these two photos of the spill area, and you can actually see the workers working on the affected region there, and the pipes.
It's pretty amazing, if you see that one photo from the air. It just shows how massive it is, and how far it reaches. There you go. There's that other photo and the area that they're working on. Once again, those photos released to us from BP after the news broke about Prudhoe Bay and the long-going problems that Alina Cho has been following for us.
Well, U.S. oil supplies are still in pretty reasonable shape, says Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, Prudhoe Bay or no. That's due in part to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which Washington is offering to tap if needed. The reserve was created after the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74. It holds about 700 million barrels of crude, enough to cover U.S. needs for about a month. The oil is stored in 62 salt caverns along the Gulf Coast, and according to the Energy Department, each one of those caverns is large enough to hold Chicago's Sears Tower with room to spare.
So who can resist a fresh, out of the oven Krispy Kreme doughnut? Two enterprising brothers hope a billion Chinese can't. Tasty treats, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
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PHILLIPS: East meets west -- a treat that brings smiles to many a western workplace, including this newsroom, debuts in Hong Kong. But do the Chinese have a taste for Krispy Kreme?
CNN's Eunice Yoon is at Asia's newest sweet spot.
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EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's said the Chinese have been eating doughnuts since the Song Dynasty, 1,000 years ago. At this shop in Hong Kong, Mr. Yao Tse Son (ph) has been serving these deep, sweet fried, cow-tongue shaped pastries for the past 50 years, but now Yao is in for some real American-style competition from the Krispy Kreme doughnut.
CROWD: Three, two, one.
YOON: Krispy Kreme opened a shop here Tuesday as part of an overseas expansion. With sales sagging in the United States, the company is hoping Asians, with their growing wealth, will be tempted to open their wallets for a dessert glamorized by American cop shows and movies. Wayne and Brian Parfitt run Krispy Kreme in Hong Kong. They plan to open another 19 outlets here over the next five years.
BRIAN PARFITT, KRISPY KREME HONG KONG: And what's going to be the big plus for Asia, it's a sharing food. You buy a dozen, you take them to the office, you take them to a family gathering, you take them to a barbecue. It suits the Asian way of eating.
YOON: Krispy Kreme certainly hope so. The doughnut maker, once one of Wall Street's tastiest darlings, has seen its share price plummet due to America's low-carb diet craze and an investigation into its accounting practices.
(on camera): The company's problems back home are making the opening of this store and others like it in South Korea, Tokyo and the Philippines all the more important for its bottom line.
JEFF WELCH, KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUT CORP.: People travel, they try the brand and they want to bring it back to their own country. So Hong Kong is an important stepping stone as we continue to expand in Asia.
YOON (voice-over): Reporter: Some say these doughnuts are too sweet for Asian pallets. But in Hong Kong, the Parfitt brothers are on a campaign to prove otherwise, giving away nearly 20,000 doughnuts a day. And they seem to be winning over some fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It tastes good.
YOON: Sweet sounding words for a company millions of dollars in the hole.
Eunice Yoon, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by in Jerusalem to tell us what's coming up in "THE SIT ROOM." But, Wolf, before I give you the floor, I just want to you -- well, actually the show -- a happy birthday. It's been exactly a year since you launched "THE SITUATION ROOM." That's equivalent to what, five years in television years?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In dog years or whatever. Kyra, thanks very much. It's been a lot of fun, one year in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Who would have thought a year ago when we started this experiment. We weren't exactly sure where it was going. We are a little bit more sure now. We are looking forward to year two which begins today.
Kyra, thanks. And by the way, Kyra, I understand this is a special day for you, too.
PHILLIPS: Oh, Wolf, yes it is.
BLITZER: Big day for you.
PHILLIPS: Sweet 16 today.
BLITZER: IS this a number, a big number? Is it a number that ends in a zero?
PHILLIPS: No.
BLITZER: Let me just say happy birthday, Kyra, and many more happy returns.
Let me tell our viewers what's coming up from Jerusalem right at the top of the hour. Bombs and leaflets falling from Israeli warplanes over Lebanon. We have got live reports from Beirut and northern Israel. All the latest on the fighting. This war continues.
And it's been a day of intense negotiations at the United Nations where Arab League ministers are making their voices heard right now. Is a peace plan close any closer to a vote?
Also today the incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman battling to hang onto his job. Will his support of the Iraq war make him a political casualty? Kyra, on this special day, the first anniversary of "THE SITUATION ROOM," your birthday, we have got a lot going on.
PHILLIPS: Oh, Wolf, you made my day and I will never forget doing live shots for you for "THE SIT ROOM" a year ago from U.S. Northern Command.
BLITZER: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you for your support.
BLITZER: I remember those.
PHILLIPS: Are you going to sing for me now?
BLITZER: Any time. Happy Birthday -- no, I'm not, Kyra. Go back to work. PHILLIPS: You made my day, Wolf. I love you. All right, Ali Velshi joins us for the "Closing Bell." More LIVE FROM coming up next.
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