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American Morning

Fatal Accident

Aired January 15, 2003 - 09:17   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is day two today of a U.S. military hearing to try to decide whether two American pilots should be court- martialed. They're accused of accidentally killing four Canadian soldiers last April, just outside of Kandahar in Afghanistan.
Ed Lavandera, live from Barksdale Air Force Base yet again today in Louisiana.

Ed, good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

We are expecting to hear from more of the Canadian soldiers that were on the ground, conducting that live-fire training exercise when the friendly-fire bomb fell on their exercise. Difficult testimony for family members, the Canadian families that are here listening to this.

We had a chance last night to speak Marlee Lejee (ph). Her husband, Sergeant Mark Lejee (ph), was one of the four Canadian soldiers killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in the right stage for where we need to be. We've gone through the two investigations, the Canadian and the American investigations. This is a step in the right direction, definitely. Where we need to be at this point in time.

LAVANDERA: What your husband was doing and the role he played and that sort of thing, when you hear those sorts of things, I think -- it has to make you proud, too, given what he was doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course. Always proud of Mark, no matter what he was doing. But it was rough, you know, it's one thing to read through a report and read the information, yes, he was here and standing or he was -- this is what he was doing that evening. But to actually hear it come out of the captain's mouth and him speaking about Mark Lejee (ph). The minute you hear the name, it was very, very emotional. It was really a hard day, and I didn't quite expect it to be. I thought I've heard this a hundred times before. I'll be fine. And no, it was rough.

LAVANDERA: Do you think he needs to go to a court-martial trial?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think I'll have the answer to that until we get through this article 32 hearing. I've come into this very open-minded just to find out what happened, and I want the truth to come out and I want steps to be taken to make sure that this does not happen anymore. And I know that we can't do that for sure, but it should happen less often.

But regardless of how he died, I lost my husband. Nothing is going to bring him back, no matter what happens in this hearing.

LAVANDERA: Can you describe the day you found out what happened? I guess it would be April.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE Seventeenth. Just finished working out, put my hair in a ponytail and in sweats, and the doorbell rang about 10:10, and when I answered the door, there three soldiers with berets in hand and quite somber, and I said, "Is Mark OK?" And they said, "No, he's not." And I lost it. I was walking backwards trying to get away from the information. My everything was gone. I lost everything, every hope, every dream, my plans for the future, my best friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Bill, more of that testimony will continue, and it's very hard for these families. Much of the testimony involved in this hearing describes exactly what the scene was like when the bomb fell on the training exercise. You might imagine, even though the family members have heard a lot of the details already, hearing this in this setting is extremely difficult for them -- Bill.

HEMMER: No question about it. Thank you, Ed Lavandera.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 15, 2003 - 09:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It is day two today of a U.S. military hearing to try to decide whether two American pilots should be court- martialed. They're accused of accidentally killing four Canadian soldiers last April, just outside of Kandahar in Afghanistan.
Ed Lavandera, live from Barksdale Air Force Base yet again today in Louisiana.

Ed, good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

We are expecting to hear from more of the Canadian soldiers that were on the ground, conducting that live-fire training exercise when the friendly-fire bomb fell on their exercise. Difficult testimony for family members, the Canadian families that are here listening to this.

We had a chance last night to speak Marlee Lejee (ph). Her husband, Sergeant Mark Lejee (ph), was one of the four Canadian soldiers killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in the right stage for where we need to be. We've gone through the two investigations, the Canadian and the American investigations. This is a step in the right direction, definitely. Where we need to be at this point in time.

LAVANDERA: What your husband was doing and the role he played and that sort of thing, when you hear those sorts of things, I think -- it has to make you proud, too, given what he was doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course. Always proud of Mark, no matter what he was doing. But it was rough, you know, it's one thing to read through a report and read the information, yes, he was here and standing or he was -- this is what he was doing that evening. But to actually hear it come out of the captain's mouth and him speaking about Mark Lejee (ph). The minute you hear the name, it was very, very emotional. It was really a hard day, and I didn't quite expect it to be. I thought I've heard this a hundred times before. I'll be fine. And no, it was rough.

LAVANDERA: Do you think he needs to go to a court-martial trial?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think I'll have the answer to that until we get through this article 32 hearing. I've come into this very open-minded just to find out what happened, and I want the truth to come out and I want steps to be taken to make sure that this does not happen anymore. And I know that we can't do that for sure, but it should happen less often.

But regardless of how he died, I lost my husband. Nothing is going to bring him back, no matter what happens in this hearing.

LAVANDERA: Can you describe the day you found out what happened? I guess it would be April.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE Seventeenth. Just finished working out, put my hair in a ponytail and in sweats, and the doorbell rang about 10:10, and when I answered the door, there three soldiers with berets in hand and quite somber, and I said, "Is Mark OK?" And they said, "No, he's not." And I lost it. I was walking backwards trying to get away from the information. My everything was gone. I lost everything, every hope, every dream, my plans for the future, my best friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Bill, more of that testimony will continue, and it's very hard for these families. Much of the testimony involved in this hearing describes exactly what the scene was like when the bomb fell on the training exercise. You might imagine, even though the family members have heard a lot of the details already, hearing this in this setting is extremely difficult for them -- Bill.

HEMMER: No question about it. Thank you, Ed Lavandera.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com