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CNN Live Today
Brothers in Arms
Aired June 16, 2005 - 11:30 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News." Edgar Ray Killen, the man accused of planning the murders of three civil rights workers back in 1964, has been taken to a hospital. The former Klansman left a Mississippi courtroom on a stretcher of after complaining of feeling sick. His attorneys have repeatedly said the 80-year-old defendant is too ill to stand trial.
In -- dramatic new pictures of a hostage siege at an elementary school in Cambodia. Police there say a small Canadian boy is the lone victim of that standoff. Two gunmen are dead and four others in custody following the six-hour ordeal at an international school in Siem Reap. Authorities describe the gunmen as drug-addicted bandits.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle call for an end game in Iraq. They want President Bush to set a timetable for pulling out American troops. Republican Congressman Walter Jones says the U.S. has done as much as it can there. Mr. Bush says setting a timetable will simply encourage the insurgents.
And President Bush calling the upcoming elections in Iran unfair, undemocratic and oppressive. During a prayer breakfast this morning, Mr. Bush accused Tehran of blocking reformists from running and ignoring the basic requirements of democracy. Iran's voters go to the polls tomorrow.
As we've been telling you, there's a key development in the murder trial of Edgar Ray Killen. Let's go live now to Philadelphia, Mississippi and Ed Lavandera with the latest -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn, well, the proceedings here in the trial of Edgar Ray Killen have stopped temporarily. We're still trying to figure out what will happen the rest of the day's testimony. The judge had said a little while ago that they will recess for about an hour. Mr. Killen, as you mentioned, had been taken -- has been taken here to a hospital in Philadelphia.
His attorney tells us that, as the trial was about to start, Mr. Killen's blood pressure shot up and he was taken into a side room, where there are nurses and physical therapists who have been set up to take care of him for the course of this trial. And then after a little while there, everything kind of came to a halt and Mr. Killen was taken out of the courtroom.
But we're not sure when he'll come back, if he'll come back today and what will happen with the rest of the day's testimony. Attorneys are milling around the courthouse as we speak right now, as are family members of the victims. So everything is kind of up in the air here as we try to get the latest word as to what is going on with Mr. Killen and if he will be brought back to the courthouse here today -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Lavandera, live from Philadelphia, Mississippi. Thank you.
LAVANDERA: Sure.
KAGAN: And we're going to go ahead and continue to continue our special report on the Pruett brothers. They are all fighting the war in Iraq. In our last segment, the men underwent urban warfare training. Now we go to part three of CNN's Alex Quade report. The Pruetts put that training to work.
(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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: 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.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We will get back to the Pruett Brother story in just a moment.
First, though, we want to bring to you new developments coming in on a big capture in Mosul, Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman says troops have captured Al Qaeda's leader in that northern Iraqi city. Abu Talha is his name, and he is said to be a trusted agent of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.
Military leaders talked about the capture just moments ago during a Pentagon briefing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. JAMES CONWAY, U.S. MARINE CORPS: He is a key lieutenant in the Al Qaeda that has been established. He has said that he will not be taken alive, that he wore a vest and would detonate himself. In fact, he gave up rather peacefully when U.S. and Iraqi forces went to actually an associate's house, and he happened to be there with a number of others. In terms of the impact, we think it will be significant. He has been in charge of the operation up there for a long time. Mosul, as you know, has become more and more a focal point for insurgent activities. So we have to think that the number two won't be as capable as he.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Once again, those are comments about the capture of Abu Talha. More on that ahead probably at the top of the hour. Now we're going to go back to our special report, "Brothers in Arms," looking at four brothers. They are all serving in Iraq. In this report, CNN's Alex Quade arranges for a reunion, where the brothers discover how the war has changed them, and really how much they have stayed the same.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, bro? How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up!
QUADE: This is the first time Eric, Jeff, Evan and Greg Pruett have seen each other in four months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Pruett around here.
QUADE: I arranged with the U.S. Army to reunite them in April.
What is it like actually getting a chance to spend a little time together?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To have a familiar face around is just -- it's priceless. You know? It does so much for our morale.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The comfort of actually seeing each other and saying, OK, I have seen him. I know he's OK.
QUADE: They look different?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Eric's getting a little pudge belly, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No way. I'll still whoop him.
QUADE: Between the kidding, they share what they've seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing all the kids and what poverty they live in makes you think about what you have back home. Makes you grow up, makes you more mature and more of a man. QUADE: Evan, do you think that your little brother here is grown up and more of a man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my little brother's more of a man but I'm still more of a man than he is. I got a baby now so I -- that's why I feel like more of a man but, yes. My little brother grown up a lot since we've been deployed.
QUADE: But none of them have outgrown surprises. We deliver care packages from their mom and dad.
For Evan.
One for Eric.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
QUADE: One for Greg, and I suppose we also have one for Jeff. So, little something from home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's better than Christmas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, that's awesome. I got a cute little Easter bunny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes the holidays get lost until you get a care package and it reminds you of what's going on in the world around us. A purple bunny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got the orange bunny.
QUADE: Now, is this something you're going to bring out on patrols? Do you need an orange bunny with you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it'll go out on patrol, but it will stay near the bed somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just a perfect stuff to take you back just a little bit on your down time.
QUADE: Not only have they missed Easter, but also, the wedding of Aaron, their other brother back home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I miss him a lot. You know, I just -- I remember -- I just had a quick thought when I was walking down the aisle and I was looking and, you know, and just none of my brothers were there.
QUADE: This is actually another family reunion, an electronic one, in May.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine what it was like in World War I. You know, soldiers would wait for months just to get a letter.
QUADE: Via webcam, Greg confides in his dad Lee, another Iraq vet. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were retaking the PT test and the (INAUDIBLE) came in while they were doing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh jeez.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the day they're firing them, too, on you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Usually happens in the mid-afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man. They're getting pretty gutsy.
QUADE: Back home only a year, Lee is keenly aware of the realities his sons face.
LEE PRUETT: I've seen a lot of Army units and National Guard Reserve units while I was there. Some took it real serious. Some didn't.
QUADE: Is this something that you told them about before...
LEE PRUETT: We had that talk alot, yes, before they left. I told them, I said, guys look. It's going to be dangerous out there and there's -- could be a point where it's going to be you or them, and you got to decide what you've got to do. You know? If you've got to take a shot, then you take the shot. Do what you need to do, and I think they're doing that.
QUADE: I show the family some of what the boys are doing with our video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just last night, we got rocketed that flew over our head when we were outside and blew up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hoping I get to see my baby take her first step. It would be an exciting thing for -- you know, I missed the birth, so seeing her take the first step might be a little replacement. But, if not, then, you know, I will see her say her first daddy or something.
QUADE: Eric, what do you think is important for your parents to know?
ERIC PRUETT: I think that they need to know that we are all doing really well being together. We've all got jobs to do here and we are all doing them and we're all happy that we can be here to serve our country and we're proud of our parents for bringing up such fine young men.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard seeing them and not being able to...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what they -- what they said at the end about -- that they're proud to be there, that's what they tell us every time we talk to them, is they're proud to be there. They know that they're there for a purpose and the sacrifice that they're making is worth it.
QUADE: Their sister Emily.
EMILY PRUETT, SISTER: I think Jeff looked older. I think he seems more grown up. It's hard because we're the same age and I feel like all that I do is play and take for granted and he is there seeing things that are scary and being in situations that are scary. And that's kind of hard.
QUADE: Evan's wife, Amber.
AMBER PRUETT, WIFE OF EVAN PRUETT: I worry that something could happen to him and she could never know her dad and it scares me.
QUADE: Then -- a phone call from Iraq.
L. PRUETT: What is wrong?
QUADE: Jeff is in a field hospital.
L. PRUETT: He's sick?
T. PRUETT: He's sick?
L. PRUET: So you're still doing I.V.s? Are they still shooting I.V.'s into you then, or are done with that part?
QUADE: But luckily, nothing more serious than food poisoning.
L. PRUETT: Well, I love you. You've -- take care when you go back out on patrol, OK?
All right. I love you, hon.
Bye.
Jeff's been sick in bed for the last four days and Eric showed up, walks right up to the bed and got to take care of him. We're actually blessed to have four of them over there because they do take care of each other.
QUADE: The phone call was a reminder: Jeff, Eric, Evan and Greg have been away from home an entire year already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is important for people to know the sacrifices that we're all making here. Not only me and my brothers, but every and person that's here. Hopefully, to make the place a more free society; that they might be able to share in a little bit of what we have back home.
QUADE: The Pruetts of Pocatello, just one of nearly 140,000 American families with loved ones in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: You can even read more about the "Brothers in Arms" and the entire Pruett family, from Idaho to Iraq, at CNN.com. Alex Quade's reports are available there, as well, along with video and more family photos. Thank you to Alex Quade and her team, who put together that great series.
We are back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: To medical news for you now.
A Colorado woman is recovering from a kidney transplant that was arranged over the Internet. This was the ninth organ donation arranged by the Web site, called matchingdonors.com. According to the site, Karen Traxler was on a waiting list for years when she found a kidney donor online.
A new study out linking a diet high in red meat to an increased risk of colon cancer. European researchers studied more than 470,000 men and women. They say those would ate more than about six ounces of red or processed meat a day had a 35 percent higher chance of colon cancer. That's compared to those who ate less than an ounce a day.
For your "Daily Dose" of health news, just go online. Just click on CNN.com/health. You'll find the latest medical stories, special reports and information on diet and fitness.
We are back in moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
KAGAN: And in sports, the U.S. Open is underway now in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Retief Goosen is the defending champ. Tiger Woods, looking to take the title. Woods was three strokes behind the leader, Jeff Maggert, after the first nine holes. We have our Mark McKay there. We'll continue to monitor that as the day goes on.
And that's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. International news up next. I'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired June 16, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News." Edgar Ray Killen, the man accused of planning the murders of three civil rights workers back in 1964, has been taken to a hospital. The former Klansman left a Mississippi courtroom on a stretcher of after complaining of feeling sick. His attorneys have repeatedly said the 80-year-old defendant is too ill to stand trial.
In -- dramatic new pictures of a hostage siege at an elementary school in Cambodia. Police there say a small Canadian boy is the lone victim of that standoff. Two gunmen are dead and four others in custody following the six-hour ordeal at an international school in Siem Reap. Authorities describe the gunmen as drug-addicted bandits.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle call for an end game in Iraq. They want President Bush to set a timetable for pulling out American troops. Republican Congressman Walter Jones says the U.S. has done as much as it can there. Mr. Bush says setting a timetable will simply encourage the insurgents.
And President Bush calling the upcoming elections in Iran unfair, undemocratic and oppressive. During a prayer breakfast this morning, Mr. Bush accused Tehran of blocking reformists from running and ignoring the basic requirements of democracy. Iran's voters go to the polls tomorrow.
As we've been telling you, there's a key development in the murder trial of Edgar Ray Killen. Let's go live now to Philadelphia, Mississippi and Ed Lavandera with the latest -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn, well, the proceedings here in the trial of Edgar Ray Killen have stopped temporarily. We're still trying to figure out what will happen the rest of the day's testimony. The judge had said a little while ago that they will recess for about an hour. Mr. Killen, as you mentioned, had been taken -- has been taken here to a hospital in Philadelphia.
His attorney tells us that, as the trial was about to start, Mr. Killen's blood pressure shot up and he was taken into a side room, where there are nurses and physical therapists who have been set up to take care of him for the course of this trial. And then after a little while there, everything kind of came to a halt and Mr. Killen was taken out of the courtroom.
But we're not sure when he'll come back, if he'll come back today and what will happen with the rest of the day's testimony. Attorneys are milling around the courthouse as we speak right now, as are family members of the victims. So everything is kind of up in the air here as we try to get the latest word as to what is going on with Mr. Killen and if he will be brought back to the courthouse here today -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Lavandera, live from Philadelphia, Mississippi. Thank you.
LAVANDERA: Sure.
KAGAN: And we're going to go ahead and continue to continue our special report on the Pruett brothers. They are all fighting the war in Iraq. In our last segment, the men underwent urban warfare training. Now we go to part three of CNN's Alex Quade report. The Pruetts put that training to work.
(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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: 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.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We will get back to the Pruett Brother story in just a moment.
First, though, we want to bring to you new developments coming in on a big capture in Mosul, Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman says troops have captured Al Qaeda's leader in that northern Iraqi city. Abu Talha is his name, and he is said to be a trusted agent of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.
Military leaders talked about the capture just moments ago during a Pentagon briefing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. JAMES CONWAY, U.S. MARINE CORPS: He is a key lieutenant in the Al Qaeda that has been established. He has said that he will not be taken alive, that he wore a vest and would detonate himself. In fact, he gave up rather peacefully when U.S. and Iraqi forces went to actually an associate's house, and he happened to be there with a number of others. In terms of the impact, we think it will be significant. He has been in charge of the operation up there for a long time. Mosul, as you know, has become more and more a focal point for insurgent activities. So we have to think that the number two won't be as capable as he.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Once again, those are comments about the capture of Abu Talha. More on that ahead probably at the top of the hour. Now we're going to go back to our special report, "Brothers in Arms," looking at four brothers. They are all serving in Iraq. In this report, CNN's Alex Quade arranges for a reunion, where the brothers discover how the war has changed them, and really how much they have stayed the same.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, bro? How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up!
QUADE: This is the first time Eric, Jeff, Evan and Greg Pruett have seen each other in four months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Pruett around here.
QUADE: I arranged with the U.S. Army to reunite them in April.
What is it like actually getting a chance to spend a little time together?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To have a familiar face around is just -- it's priceless. You know? It does so much for our morale.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The comfort of actually seeing each other and saying, OK, I have seen him. I know he's OK.
QUADE: They look different?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Eric's getting a little pudge belly, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No way. I'll still whoop him.
QUADE: Between the kidding, they share what they've seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing all the kids and what poverty they live in makes you think about what you have back home. Makes you grow up, makes you more mature and more of a man. QUADE: Evan, do you think that your little brother here is grown up and more of a man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my little brother's more of a man but I'm still more of a man than he is. I got a baby now so I -- that's why I feel like more of a man but, yes. My little brother grown up a lot since we've been deployed.
QUADE: But none of them have outgrown surprises. We deliver care packages from their mom and dad.
For Evan.
One for Eric.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
QUADE: One for Greg, and I suppose we also have one for Jeff. So, little something from home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's better than Christmas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, that's awesome. I got a cute little Easter bunny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes the holidays get lost until you get a care package and it reminds you of what's going on in the world around us. A purple bunny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got the orange bunny.
QUADE: Now, is this something you're going to bring out on patrols? Do you need an orange bunny with you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it'll go out on patrol, but it will stay near the bed somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just a perfect stuff to take you back just a little bit on your down time.
QUADE: Not only have they missed Easter, but also, the wedding of Aaron, their other brother back home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I miss him a lot. You know, I just -- I remember -- I just had a quick thought when I was walking down the aisle and I was looking and, you know, and just none of my brothers were there.
QUADE: This is actually another family reunion, an electronic one, in May.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine what it was like in World War I. You know, soldiers would wait for months just to get a letter.
QUADE: Via webcam, Greg confides in his dad Lee, another Iraq vet. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were retaking the PT test and the (INAUDIBLE) came in while they were doing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh jeez.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the day they're firing them, too, on you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Usually happens in the mid-afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man. They're getting pretty gutsy.
QUADE: Back home only a year, Lee is keenly aware of the realities his sons face.
LEE PRUETT: I've seen a lot of Army units and National Guard Reserve units while I was there. Some took it real serious. Some didn't.
QUADE: Is this something that you told them about before...
LEE PRUETT: We had that talk alot, yes, before they left. I told them, I said, guys look. It's going to be dangerous out there and there's -- could be a point where it's going to be you or them, and you got to decide what you've got to do. You know? If you've got to take a shot, then you take the shot. Do what you need to do, and I think they're doing that.
QUADE: I show the family some of what the boys are doing with our video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just last night, we got rocketed that flew over our head when we were outside and blew up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hoping I get to see my baby take her first step. It would be an exciting thing for -- you know, I missed the birth, so seeing her take the first step might be a little replacement. But, if not, then, you know, I will see her say her first daddy or something.
QUADE: Eric, what do you think is important for your parents to know?
ERIC PRUETT: I think that they need to know that we are all doing really well being together. We've all got jobs to do here and we are all doing them and we're all happy that we can be here to serve our country and we're proud of our parents for bringing up such fine young men.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard seeing them and not being able to...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what they -- what they said at the end about -- that they're proud to be there, that's what they tell us every time we talk to them, is they're proud to be there. They know that they're there for a purpose and the sacrifice that they're making is worth it.
QUADE: Their sister Emily.
EMILY PRUETT, SISTER: I think Jeff looked older. I think he seems more grown up. It's hard because we're the same age and I feel like all that I do is play and take for granted and he is there seeing things that are scary and being in situations that are scary. And that's kind of hard.
QUADE: Evan's wife, Amber.
AMBER PRUETT, WIFE OF EVAN PRUETT: I worry that something could happen to him and she could never know her dad and it scares me.
QUADE: Then -- a phone call from Iraq.
L. PRUETT: What is wrong?
QUADE: Jeff is in a field hospital.
L. PRUETT: He's sick?
T. PRUETT: He's sick?
L. PRUET: So you're still doing I.V.s? Are they still shooting I.V.'s into you then, or are done with that part?
QUADE: But luckily, nothing more serious than food poisoning.
L. PRUETT: Well, I love you. You've -- take care when you go back out on patrol, OK?
All right. I love you, hon.
Bye.
Jeff's been sick in bed for the last four days and Eric showed up, walks right up to the bed and got to take care of him. We're actually blessed to have four of them over there because they do take care of each other.
QUADE: The phone call was a reminder: Jeff, Eric, Evan and Greg have been away from home an entire year already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is important for people to know the sacrifices that we're all making here. Not only me and my brothers, but every and person that's here. Hopefully, to make the place a more free society; that they might be able to share in a little bit of what we have back home.
QUADE: The Pruetts of Pocatello, just one of nearly 140,000 American families with loved ones in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: You can even read more about the "Brothers in Arms" and the entire Pruett family, from Idaho to Iraq, at CNN.com. Alex Quade's reports are available there, as well, along with video and more family photos. Thank you to Alex Quade and her team, who put together that great series.
We are back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: To medical news for you now.
A Colorado woman is recovering from a kidney transplant that was arranged over the Internet. This was the ninth organ donation arranged by the Web site, called matchingdonors.com. According to the site, Karen Traxler was on a waiting list for years when she found a kidney donor online.
A new study out linking a diet high in red meat to an increased risk of colon cancer. European researchers studied more than 470,000 men and women. They say those would ate more than about six ounces of red or processed meat a day had a 35 percent higher chance of colon cancer. That's compared to those who ate less than an ounce a day.
For your "Daily Dose" of health news, just go online. Just click on CNN.com/health. You'll find the latest medical stories, special reports and information on diet and fitness.
We are back in moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
KAGAN: And in sports, the U.S. Open is underway now in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Retief Goosen is the defending champ. Tiger Woods, looking to take the title. Woods was three strokes behind the leader, Jeff Maggert, after the first nine holes. We have our Mark McKay there. We'll continue to monitor that as the day goes on.
And that's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. International news up next. I'll see you right back here tomorrow morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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