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Rick's List
Last U.S. Combat Convoy Has Left Iraq
Aired August 18, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez, and this is a special edition that we're bringing to you tonight of "Rick's List."
There is reason to believe that this is the very beginning of the end for "Operation Iraqi Freedom." that many of the combat troops inside Iraq are leaving as we speak, heading toward the border right now in Kuwait.
That would leave about 56,000 U.S. troops in the country. Another 6,000 troops are slated to leave by September 1st to meet the president's deadline of all the combat troops out by September 1st.
But the difference tonight is we're talking specifically about combat troops and the significance of this is -- and this is the Stryker Brigade that we've been talking about tonight. They comprise about 4,000 fighting men and women who are heading, as we speak, for the Iraqi border.
Many of their families are in contact with folks here in the states, and we here at CNN are going to be speaking to some of them, as they describe for us exactly how this is going on. We're getting information, as you might imagine, since we are so tied to social media here on "Rick's List" via tweets.
For example, the White House putting out this tweet. Let me go over to the Twitter board if we possibly can and read you that. It says that Biden welcomes troops home from Iraq. Message Obama on ending the war.
Now, this is the part of the story that is so curious, that I want to continue to share with you as we look at these tweets, and that is that this is obviously something that has to be done very carefully and very quietly.
The last thing that you would want to do is tip off the enemy where our troops are going to be, when exactly they're going out so they can use this as some type of PR maneuver. So the White House tonight has been generally mum about what's going on.
I have been sending my own information to my sources at the White House. As have many of our correspondents and producers here at CNN. So for those of you who are joining us right now, let me take you through what we're going to be sharing with you as we put all of this information together and we take you through the news that the end is near, the beginning of the end tonight, as combat troops are leaving Iraq and heading for the Iraqi border.
We're going to be talking to some of the military families who are going to be on the phone with us, trying to explain this for us. Let me tell you what else we've got. We've got Chris Lawrence standing by at the Pentagon.
Here's some of the pictures of the Stryker Brigade, by the way. We have been talking to them. In fact, Arwa Damon is going to joining us in just a moment. She's been speaking to some of the members of the Stryker Brigade about their exit from the country.
You can only imagine how emotional, how important, how significant and how historic this is for some of these men and women. Arwa Damon is going to be joining us. Brooke Baldwin is going to be joining us. Jessica Yellin is going to joining us as well.
Before we do anything else and before we begin the round robins here on this special edition of "Rick's List" tonight, the very beginning of the end of combat operations in Iraq, tonight, as they head for the Iraqi border.
Let me take you to our correspondent, Arwa Damon, she's in Mosul, Iraq, and she's joining us now to bring us up to date on what she has learned from her sources there in Iraq on how this operation is going, how long it's going to take, and the significance thereof.
Arwa, if you're there, come on in.
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Hi, Rick. Well, the U.S. military, as we know, has been drawing down for months now, but tonight, as you were mentioning, most certainly is historic, because we saw the last U.S. military combat convoy leaving the country over 24 hours ago.
That information was embargoed, as you mentioned, for security reasons, now arriving at the Iraqi/Kuwaiti border. For the troops now this entire process has, of course, been extremely emotional.
Soldiers that we've been talking to have been laughing, have been expressing their relief at having survived many of the multiple deployments and finally going home. Many of them were saying how they would never forget this war. It would always stay with them.
Talking about the first fire fights they had been in. The first time that they get shot at. How they come here thinking that they're an adult, that they're a grown man, but that Iraq changed them. Many of these troops have seen friends die. They've had to carry their buddy's bodies off of the battlefield.
But for many, there is a sense of finality, a sense that at least at their level the mission has been accomplished. But while these units have been rolling out, other units have been out there providing security for them.
In fact, just last night, we were on one of those security patrols that sees U.S. military troops who are still actively in a combat role in Iraq --
SANCHEZ: Yes, you know that's, and --
DAMON: -- numerous routes --
SANCHEZ: -- that's what's interesting about what's going on tonight. For some of you just now joining us we have breaking news. We're going to be dedicating "Rick's List" tonight to what certainly appears to be a historic night, The very beginning of the end for combat operations in Iraq on this night. It's happening as we speak.
Arwa Damon, who's our correspondent there, joining us from Mosul, just made an inference to the second part of this. It's going to be called "New Dawn." Again, some 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq. This is for training purposes and for getting the Iraqi army ready to go.
Arwa, though, and this is significant, Arwa was one of the few correspondents who's actually spent some time with the Stryker Brigade, a brigade, by the way, is composed of about 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers.
I believe this one, the Stryker, I was just reading on their web site, is about 4,000 soldiers. She spent some sometime with them recently. And started to ask them, well, how are you preparing for yourself for this eventuality, of actually leaving Iraq?
Some of those guys have done more than one tour of duty there. I want you to listen and watch this report that Arwa filed for us. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will be it. Just make sure you got your I.D. cards on hand too.
DAMON (voice-over): These are 24-year-old's Sergeant's Terry Wetsel's final hours in Iraq. Last-minute checks and laughter. Relief at having survived and finally going home.
Wetsel is part of the last U.S. combat brigade to convoy out of Iraq. As America dials back the war to an advice and assist mission with 50,000 troops. After two tours in Iraq, Wetsel says he feels like he's aged a decade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moments I'll never forget will be just you know, first -- one of the first firefights you ever been, the first time you get shot at. It's just - I mean, it wakes you up.
I mean, you think before you come here that, you know, you're an adult, you're a grown man, but this place will change you. I've seen some friends die, been right there had to carry the body. This place will change you. About that time four more days.
DAMON: On that very same night we spoke with the Wetsel in another part of the country, this patrol rolled out under cover of darkness.
(on camera): It's 10:00 p.m. at night and we're out with the U.S. military on a mission that is intended to disrupt roadside bomb and placement cells. They run these fairly regularly.
The areas that they choose are based on insurgent activity. They specifically target areas where there have been three or more roadside bombs in a 90-day period.
There's a lot that is going to be going on tonight that we won't be able to show you or talk about because of operational security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in a direct partnership with the Iraqi security forces in this area. They man the check points on the route. We provide overwatch from the shadows off the route. This provides security for logistic patrols that move nightly facilitating reduction of forces in Iraq.
DAMON (voice-over): While Kosler (ph) and others keep a close eye on the roads --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go, dude, it's time to leave --
DAMON: Those on their way out are keeping a close eye on their watches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, we put our blood, sweat and tears, you know, since we've been here for 12 months. And, you know, we know we did our job and we know it's not going to be in vain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's such a hard decision --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But there's a lot of excitement right now of course.
DAMON: Still, Lanfer says Iraq will always be on his mind. For the most part, the soldiers do feel they have accomplished their mission. And they hope this is a final good-bye to a war zone for which they have sacrificed so much. Arwa Damon, CNN, with the U.S. military in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We've been waiting to show you that report. It's interesting, as we talk now about this event that is taking place tonight. Some of the very first of the combat soldiers inside Iraq are leaving.
And you heard what the soldier said there. We would be remiss if we didn't say, at least at this point, something that I'm sure many of you are thinking. As it is exciting, and that's what the soldier said, and there might even be some jubilance that this war may be coming to an end.
We have to catch ourselves and almost suggest and remember all the American fighting troops, Marines, sailors, soldiers, who have lost their lives in this war, and that's something that can't be too far removed from our mind set as we move forward tonight. Taking you through this historic beginning of what appears to be the end of operations, combat operations in Iraq.
I'm Rick Sanchez. This is a special report that we're going to be bringing you through the hour. Chris Lawrence is standing by as well. He's at the Pentagon and Chris is going to be bringing us up to date.
Because look this is a very complicated maneuver and it's not something you want to come out and announce. We also have to be careful to keep this in perspective and not say, it's the end of the war, because it's not the end of the war.
It's a very significant milestone and that's the part of the story that we're going to be taking you through tonight very judiciously and very carefully. This is a special edition of "Rick's List." I'm Rick Sanchez. We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We do have a comment from the president of the United States earlier today when he was in Columbus, Ohio. In fact, let's go to that. This is the president talking about the draw-down. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're keeping the promise I made when I began campaigning for the presidency. By the end of this month, we'll have removed 100,000 troops from Iraq and our combat mission will be over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That is the president once again underscoring something he had said weeks ago. The significance of this, for those of you joining us on this night, I know some of you may be joining us now late -- is that it does appear that it's the very beginning of the end in Iraq as far as combat operations go anyway.
And that the draw-down has, in fact, begun, with at least one brigade, perhaps the last, 4,000 men, this is the Stryker Brigade, heading for the -- for the border, as we speak, the border between Iraq and Kuwait, that is.
Imagine, tonight, what the families of some of these soldiers must be feeling, as they wait for word that their loved ones, husband, wives, moms, dads, are leaving Iraq and getting ready to cross into the Iraqi border.
I just want to let you know from a programming standpoint, we've got all our troops putting this thing together. Brooke Baldwin's over there. Give me a shot of Brooke over there. She's working the phones with us and she's in contact now with a military family here in the United States. She's the wife of a soldier and she is going to be talking to us in a little bit to describe what she's feeling tonight, knowing that her husband is leaving the country. Stand by for that.
Also, we're covering this, of course, through social media. A lot of tweets tonight from very relieved family members. Look at this. Jacqueline Merman sending this tweet. She's got a picture there. Give me a -- go over there, go over there, you can cross.
She's got a shot of their wedding. This is her and her husband. I would presume that that's Matt and she says, "Matt is out of Iraq for good" and look at the exclamation marks. One, two, three, four, five, six, you don't think Jackie's happy on this night?
We're going to bring you a lot of this as we move forward as this operation continues. Let's go to Chris Lawrence now. He's standing by. He's our Pentagon correspondent. He's bringing u the very latest on what's going on.
You know, Chris, we understand that this is the very beginning. We understand it's a process that could take quite a while. It's certainly historic. Can you put into perspective for us, at least quantify, as best you can, who's out, who's staying behind?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: OK, here's what I understand right now, Rick. I just talked with the senior defense official who said, look, the combat mission, as it stands right now, is not over. It doesn't end until the end of the month.
He said yes, this -- the 4th Stryker Brigade is the last combat brigade that's leaving, but he said the units that are still there can still conduct combat missions. He says, in fact, two of them were originally combat brigades that were then transitioned over to this sort of assist and advice role that is going to become the U.S. mission there after September 1st.
He said basically what's going to happen is the U.S. is supposed to get down to 50,000 troops by the end of the month. Said now, logistically, what will be exactly at 50,000, he left that possibility open. He said, all the troops above 50,000 by that point, we'll have to see.
The key you have to look out for now, Rick, is money. What's going to happen with the money? Because now the Pentagon is handing off a lot of these roles to the state department. The state department has been asking for $400 million to carry out what it thinks it's going to need.
Their budget just got cut by Congress. They didn't approve some of the money that the state department had asked for. The state department has asked the Pentagon to leave behind surveillance systems. You know, 50 bomb resistant vehicles. A few dozen helicopters because they still have to get their personnel around Iraq and it's still a very dangerous place to be there.
The Pentagon was able to give them a lot of what they were asking for, but not all because some of those helicopters were need for Afghanistan. So that's going to be the key now. What happens, as the state department starts to take up some of these responsibilities, and do they have the money and the resources to really carry out the mission, as it stands?
SANCHEZ: I want to get back to you on this, because -- and you're absolutely right, and by the way, we have not said tonight at any point, and I want to be clear about this that combat operations are over in Iraq.
We've been very clear to say that it does appear to be the beginning of the end. As you just underscored moments ago, Chris, this is the last combat brigade, and they are leaving the country and heading into Iraq tonight. Let's just make sure we nail that down, correct?
LAWRENCE: Yes, exactly, Rick. He also told me, look, an entire brigade doesn't leave in a matter of hours --
SANCHEZ: That's 4,000 --
LAWRENCE: -- walk out of the door at the same time --
SANCHEZ: That's about 4,000 people.
LAWRENCE: Exactly.
SANCHEZ: Right.
LAWRENCE: He said this takes place over days, sometimes even weeks, to move an entire brigade out.
SANCHEZ: But as of tonight, they are at the Iraqi border or heading for the Iraqi border, is that correct?
LAWRENCE: Exactly, you got that right.
SANCHEZ: All right. I did contact White House. You know, all of us who work in this business have our contacts. I did send an e- mail just before I went on the air to my sources at the White House.
One of the president's spokespersons just shot me back this e- mail. He said, look, Rick, pay attention to this e-mail, he said, we sent this out earlier. He said, here's the note from the president earlier today. I'll read this to you and try and put this in perspective as best we can as we move forward.
Shortly after taking office, I put forward the plan to end the war in Iraq responsibly. This is the letter from the president of the United States. This was just sent to me moments ago by a spokesperson at the White House.
Today, I'm pleased to report that thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians, our combat mission will end this month and we will complete a substantial draw-down of our troops. Over the last 18 months, over 90,000 U.S. troops have left Iraq. By the end of this month, 50,000 troops will be serving in Iraq as Iraqi security forces take responsibility for securing the country.
A few weeks a men and women from one of the most deployed brigades in the U.S. Army, the 2nd brigade combat team, 10th Mountain Division, returned home from Iraq. The Vice President Joe Biden were at Fort Drum to welcome the veterans home with their personal experience as a military family.
The president goes on to say, our sacred trust and care of our veterans goes beyond simply healing the wounds incurred in battle. We must ensure that when our veterans leave the armed forces, they have the opportunity they need to further their education and support their families.
The president then speaks of the GI bill, some 300,000 veterans and family members have pursued a college degree. Then he finishes with this, my administration will continue to do our part to support the brave men and women in uniform that have sacrificed so much.
But supporting our troops and their families is not just the job of the federal government, it's the responsibility of all Americans. He finishes with this graph -- as we mark this milestone in Iraq, in the Iraq war, and our troops continue to move out of Iraq, I hope you'll join me in thanking them and all of our troops and military families for their service. Sincerely, President Barack Obama.
This letter, Chris, if you're still with me, which begins with "good afternoon," it doesn't seem to be saying with any finality that on this day or on that day or at this hour or at this minute, the war will end and everyone will be out. But it does seem to certainly suggest that this thing is ramped up and it's going as we speak.
LAWRENCE: Yes, exactly, Rick. How could it say that it's over? Because it's not. It's been five months since the Iraqi elections, Rick, and they still haven't formed a government.
They just -- just a few days ago, the two major political parties there, the two biggest power players, so to speak, broke off negotiations with each other.
So there's still -- you know, the U.S., I'm sure, and I'm sure President Obama and a lot of the officials would have loved to have seen a stable, formed Iraqi government in place when they did this handover. But unless it happens in the next two weeks, there are still huge political issues that are still going on there.
SANCHEZ: And that's a part of this which becomes political and it's into not to throw the politics into this discussion tonight because, you know, this is a night when we cover the details of a very important and historic event.
And that what's going on in Iraq right now, but it is important to be reminded that when this war began, part of the plan, part of what Paul Wolfowitz wanted to do was begin by democratizing this country, which would later spread to the democratization of other countries.
That's part of the political discussion that we're going to taking up. But once again, as we go to break, I want to show you this. Let's go to our green board if we possibly can, Kelly.
Mark, if you could shoot that. As we go to break, I just want you to look at this, because this is something that's very important to all of us. Yes, on this day, there are families that will be happy to see their loved ones coming one, but there are these many who won't be coming home.
This is a special edition of "Rick's List." We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It does -- welcome back, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez. We are following for you tonight what is a milestone, what is a -- certainly a historic night. It is breaking news, because there is tangible evidence tonight that the beginning of the end of combat operations in Iraq has begun.
With at least one very important brigade, the Stryker Brigade, heading, now, for the Kuwaiti border. They may well be the last of all the brigades, but they are not, and this is important, the last of the U.S. troops presence in Iraq.
Some 50,000 more will stay there in transition for training and for some of the specialty work that remains to be done. So I want to be as transparent and as clear with this as we move forward, but I also want to bring every detail that we possibly can.
We also need to have some important discussions about the politics of this, which can't be talked about without -- including some of that. I want to bring in two guests. Ed Rollins is a Republican strategist and frequently have seen him here as a contributor on CNN. Tom Fuentes was a commander in Iraq back in 2003. He is a former FBI as well.
Gentlemen. Ed, I want to begin with you and I know that you probably know Paul Wolfowitz and when I think of the strategy in Iraq that we as Americans have all wanted to really believe in and buy into it was, if we can democratize Iraq, we can help to democratize the Middle East. How's that gone?
ED ROLLINS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think we've stabilized a very important part of Iraq, and I think through the efforts of our great troop, the hundreds and thousands of troops that have served, and our diplomatic corps, which is sometimes the unforgotten warriors, you have created a government system.
You have rebuilt an army that was dismissed maybe mistakenly many years ago. You have rebuilt the police force. Even though the parliament is sitting there squabbling at something like the House and the Senate here, it is at least democratically elected people and they're going to work out their own problems. And I think we have stabilized that region. Now, whether democracies go beyond that I think will depend how effective this particular community can stay together and work together to build a great nation again. And I think that's the key we have -- but I don't think we --
SANCHEZ: It's like a tbd, to be determined, right?
ROLLINS: Well, it is, and I think -- but I don't think we can walk away saying Wolfowitz was wrong. I mean, many mistakes were made along the way. It's not easy to go to war. It's not easy to start a democracy.
Nothing like this has ever occurred before. I think to a certain extent we should not forget the efforts these people have made because there is a stability there today in a region that was totally unstable before.
SANCHEZ: Well said. Tom, let me bring you into this discussion. The experience for you was not like for many of us where we study, read and understand it.
You were there. You experienced this in 2003. Make our viewers understand, as a soldier, as someone who spent time in Iraq, what you saw, what you think some of the pitfalls and difficulties were, and what are your thoughts tonight, as we hear that the Stryker Brigade, the last of the combat troops, is on its way out?
TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Hi, Rick. At that time, I was in charge of the FBI deployment in Iraq, and a lot of that involved working on counterintelligence, counterterrorism issues.
But as the summer of 2003 went on, the insurgency picked up steam so we ended up running the investigations at the bombing of the embassy of Jordan and the U.N. headquarters bombing on August 19th of 2003. So the insurgency was becoming an extreme problem as we've watched over the last couple of years.
I don't want to rain on the parade. It's a great day for the military to be pulling out and there are many thank you thousands of happy families about that.
But I just want to add there are many thousands of very concerned families who still -- you know, representing the tens of thousands of nonmilitary and the civilian government employees and U.S. civilian contractors who are still in Iraq, and are very concerned about what will happen if they need help in the future, because the troops that are still there, yes, they can be mobilized for combat, but --
SANCHEZ: Are you suggesting -- I almost hear you saying this, but I don't want to put words in your mouth, that there's a sense of fear of reprisal, as the enemy finds out most of our combat troops are leaving, that's going to be their cue to move in and do something that I would hate to have to report in the next couple of days? Is that a fear? FUENTES: No, I'm not suggesting that, I'm just suggesting, it's still a dangerous place. It's been a dangerous place almost every week we have some report of a bombing or roadside bombings that have occurred. So what I am suggesting is that the tens of thousands of civilians still working there -
SANCHEZ: It looks like we lost that Tom Fuentes feed. We're hustling to get everybody in place for you. We've also got Jessica Yellin standing by. We've got Brooke Baldwin standing by over there. They're going to be bringing us up to date on the story as well.
We're going to try and sneak in a break now.
And -- hey, Mark, can you show that tweet over there, real quick, the one that says -- this is a wife of a soldier in Iraq. This is Jacqueline Murman. And she's tweeting, "Matt is out of Iraq for good." Look at the exclamation points. Guess what? We've got Jacqui on the phone. Brooke Baldwin has spoken with her and she's going to join us when we come back from this break.
Stay with us. This is a special edition of RICK'S LIST and we're so glad that you're here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. TERRY WETZEL, U.S. ARMY: I'll never forget they just, you know, first -- won the first firefight you've ever been, the first time you get shot at. It's just, I mean, it makes you hop. You even think that before you come here that, you know, you're an adult, you're a grown man, but this place will change you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That is 1 of 4,000 members of the Stryker Brigade, which is, as described to us, the last combat brigade that is in Iraq, heading for the border with Kuwait, as we speak.
Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is a story that we're bringing you on this night. Certainly a milestone, a historic night, as we see the very tangible beginning of the end of the draw-down of combat operations in Iraq taking place.
We've got a lot of crews. We've got a lot of people to talk to. And I want to take you through this very important night very carefully. I want to go to Brooke Baldwin now. She is going to bring us a segment -- you're on the other way of the side of the newsroom here in Atlanta. What do you got for us, Brooke?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a huge story, Rick, on obviously so many different levels. One of those being think of the men and women who are here at home who are thrilled beyond belief that their loved ones are now finally coming home.
We found this one woman. Her name is Jacqueline Murman. We found her, you guessed it, on Twitter. Her tweet which obviously caught our attention is Matt, her husband, is out of Iraq for good. Like five exclamation bars. She tweeted again. Watched Matt and the last of our combat troops leave Iraq. So we decided to reach out. And so I tweeted her and I said how long has your husband been in Iraq? What's the first thing you will say when you see him and how do you feel tonight?
Guess what? She got back to me directly. He has been gone for over 11 months. I guess he meant him there in the back of her Twitter backdrop. I'm going to say you're home. It's one of the greatest moments of my life. Nothing compares.
But we're taking this segment recalling this 140 plus, because we're taking the segment beyond just 140 characters on the Twitter board.
I'm going to walk towards you, Rick Sanchez, because we have Jacqueline good enough to call us on the phone here.
Jacqueline, are you with me?
VOICE OF JACQUELINE MURMAN, HUSBAND LEAVING IRAQ NOW: I'm here.
BALDWIN: Jacqueline, I know you're at work. I know you're just -- your phone has been blowing up over the story. And I thank you for calling in. This is amazing for you, I know. So your husband, Matt, who you just got engaged to and may even the last year he's been in Iraq for 11 months and tonight, when I talk to you, you're almost out of breath. You are excited, also relieved. Tell me about that.
MURMAN: Yes. You know, I try to even describe what I feel, I've never felt so much relief in my whole life. I think I'm going to go home and just start sobbing. But just happy and, you know, every night it's like you dream of this moment. For the last 11 months, it's like, OK, you know, it's three more months, two more months, one more month. And then when I found out, like, they're crossing right now, I just -- I'm just speechless. It's the best feeling I've ever had.
BALDWIN: How did you find out? How did you find out that his brigade would be that final brigade? When did he tell you and what exactly did he say?
MURMAN: Actually he just told me a couple of weeks ago I don't know when he found out that we discussed a few weeks ago and he talked about his loss of his friends and just the people who had given their life. Like, he -- what an honor it was for him to be such a part of history. You know what?
BALDWIN: You said it's been humbling. You said it's was humbling.
MURMAN: Yes. And it was humbling and he just seems -- I must had a loss for words, you know, when we talked about it. It was an honor for him and it's really --
SANCHEZ: Have you -- you haven't heard from Matt yet tonight, have you Jacqui?
MURMAN: No, I haven't. I talked to him two days ago. It was the last time. And we both usually we talk a lot and we both were just at a loss for words because we knew it was the last time we'd be talking and while he's in Iraq though.
SANCHEZ: Well, that's the thing I'm wondering about now. Did you give him specific instructions at the moment he crosses into Kuwait?
BALDWIN: Head on home, honey.
SANCHEZ: (INAUDIBLE) to call you in some way, shape or form, or fashion?
MURMAN: Oh, of course, I begged. I'm just like, find a way to call. You know, and he said he'd do all he could but he didn't know when he could contact me. But I'll probably just break down crying and screaming.
BALDWIN: And let me make sure we get this. The 138 Second Infantry Division, he's been there for 11 months. You say he is a sniper. He committed for 10 years. So Jacqui, you may have more sleepless nights ahead of you here with him committed.
MURMAN: Oh, don't say that. No.
BALDWIN: I mean, how do you feel about that? That's the honest truth, though.
MURMAN: I'm still walking through it, you know, this last year. You know, we'll probably have the kid by then. And it is hard. It's very, very hard to think about it right now. And you know, we'll get through it and we'll do it for our country. We both love our country. But it's pretty devastating to think about it honestly.
SANCHEZ: We love you, Jacqui. Way to go.
BALDWIN: We salute you and your hubby. Jacqueline Murman, thanks for tweeting me.
MURMAN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: You know, people don't realize the sacrifice that the wives and the husbands and loved ones have made.
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Their loved ones have been over there overseas. This has been such an important part of the American mindset over the last decade or so. And in fact, let's do something.
BALDWIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: As we go to break, I want to show our viewers how this all began. Remember the words, shock and awe. BALDWIN: Shock and awe campaign.
SANCHEZ: Shock and awe. Here it is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is, in fact, a historic night. We're treating this as breaking news because, in fact, it is. And it matters so much to Americans and certainly to Americans who have loved ones fighting for their country, fighting for us in Iraq. But it does appear tonight that the very beginning of the end is under way in Iraq. And what we mean by that is some of the very first combat units are heading right now to the Kuwaiti border, literally leaving, tangibly leaving Iraq. It doesn't mean all the troops are going to be gone. There are some 56,000 that will remain behind and some others.
But as we look at some of these, this is the Stryker Brigade, by the way. The Stryker Brigade is made up -- the brigade has about 3,000 to 5,000 troops in it. We've got some pictures that we can put up for you of the Stryker Brigade. We have been in contact with them through our correspondents who are there in Iraq. Arwa Damon. They've been talking to us. These are some of the pictures of them over the last couple of days as they prepared for this exit.
So as we bring you this story and as we take you through the details of it, we can't ignore that this also has huge political implications. The president of the United States said and promised that he would, in fact, see this through. Make it happen, so to speak, and he put out a letter.
In fact, you know, you have contacts at the White House. I may have a couple of contacts at the White House. It was Bill Burton who sent me this e-mail, one of the president's spokesperson. A little while ago, he sent me this e-mail. He said, Rick, I got your e-mail. Let me try and clear this up. Then he sent me this letter from the president of the United States. And I read the letter where the president essentially said what was going on.
Now, let me bring you in, Jessica. I know you've talk to a lot of people. What are you hearing from your sources about what's going on with this behind the scenes, what is the White House going to react to, what are they trying to say tonight?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, from the White House --
SANCHEZ: That they're not saying, incidentally, because they're being mum.
YELLIN: I actually think they're in the air at the moment. Some of these folks are in the air. But the president --
SANCHEZ: What do you mean in the air?
YELLIN: Flying home. SANCHEZ: OK.
YELLIN: OK. They were in Miami and flying back to the White House.
SANCHEZ: OK.
YELLIN: But, you know, the president did speak today and said that he is following through on his promise, and that is the message the White House is underscoring time and again on the politics of this. I know it's far secondary to the human drama here.
SANCHEZ: Of course, of course.
YELLIN: But on the politics, it matters -- their message is that politics and elections do matter. And we have such short attention spans. If you remember, during the election, Rick, this is one of those huge flash point debates with John McCain at one point saying it would be OK if we had troops in Iraq for 100 years. And then he tried to correct it and said it was taken out of context. And president -- candidate Obama is saying no, at that point, he said troops out by 2009.
Do you remember what a big back and forth that was? Obama being accused of being reckless, naive, clueless for taking this position.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
YELLIN: And so now, he was inaugurated. His point of view prevailed. He did amend his point of view. Initially I said it was 2009 he wanted troops out.
SANCHEZ: Right
YELLIN: Now, he changed it to this date. Some stay and John McCain endorsed it.
SANCHEZ: But this is going on very carefully and not openly. I mean, it's not like the White House said, OK, everybody get ready, because this is about to happen. And it's going to happen at this zero hour. I mean, this is something that's very -- that has to be conducted very carefully.
YELLIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: You noticed the White House is not celebrating.
YELLIN: Having a ticker tape parade.
SANCHEZ: No, there's no ticker tape parade at this point. That's not to say that these soldiers who remain, who are not coming back should not be celebrated, as well as their families, when they get back into U.S. soil.
YELLIN: Right, and there's two things. One is this overriding message that you don't want to flag that the U.S. has somehow left -- SANCHEZ: Right.
YELLIN: -- because the U.S. has not left fully. And also, we're still in Afghanistan.
SANCHEZ: Right.
YELLIN: And the minute you stop talking about Iraq, people start thinking about Afghanistan. Not a popular fight right now either. And a flash point for the president.
SANCHEZ: Let's bring in Ed Rollins in this discussion. I mean, this is a guy who's got, you know, years of experience dealing with this kind of situation.
Ed, this really is politically, you know, a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation for this White House as well. They have to be careful how they maneuver their way through this, correct?
ED ROLLINS, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure. What they don't want to do is they don't want to do a mission accomplished like President Bush did far too premature.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROLLINS: And I think what they have done and I think the man who deserves a great deal of credit is not just the president, but I think Secretary Gates who clearly has come through two administrations, has stabilized this, had good generals, good war plans, and basically got us to a point -- I think the thing that make me feel good, having lived through the Vietnam war, having been around on the Korean war, I'm so old, this is the first time our troops are marching out with their heads held high and they accomplished what they set out to accomplish.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROLLINS: They rebuilt an army. They have put a government in there. It's now up to the Iraqi people to basically make this all work. We've done everything we can possibly do. The key thing I think is we're leaving some support troops there. But eventually, they'll be out of there. I don't think it's going to be like a Korean situation where 60, 70 years later, you still have 50,000 troops there. But I do think that the men and the Pentagon, Secretary Gates and the White House -- and one of the things I think it does prove over and over again is that Americans pretty much on foreign policies can get beyond partisanship and basically have a pretty consistent foreign policy, and I think this has been evidence of that.
SANCHEZ: Well said, Ed Rowlands. By the way, Jessica and I both agree that you're not that old. You look good. You look good. You look good to both of us anyway.
ROLLINS: I've been battered and bruised in the wars, I tell you.
YELLIN: True survivor. ROLLINS: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: We're going be right back, folks. Stay with us. We're going to be reaching back out to our folks at the Pentagon to get you the very latest information from our sources there. Jessica is going to be standing by. Brooke Baldwin doing great work, getting some of the family members who are so happy. You can here it in her voice when we were talking to Jacqui on the phone.
YELLIN: That's fantastic.
SANCHEZ: And you know, I was well enough just to sit there listening to her. I mean, good for them, good for her.
This is a historic night, and we're going to continue to take you through it. This is a special edition of RICK'S LIST that we put together for you. We'll be right back.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, we put our blood, sweat and tears. Some have been here for 12 months. And you know, we know we did our job and we know it's not going to be in vain. But there's a lot of excitement right now for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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SANCHEZ: We're going to look at some of the tweets that we're getting in. By the way, I'm getting a lot of tweets from family members who are just so excited. You can almost hear it in their tweets as they explained that they're excited about the fact that their loved ones, their husbands, their wives, fathers, mothers, are going to be coming home.
Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is a special edition of RICK'S LIST.
One tweet I want to show you. Get that if you would, Mark, over there. We're getting ready to take you right back to the Pentagon, folks, as we take you through this breaking story. "Hard to explain the feeling of watching the last 440 U.S. troops, 4th Stryker Brigade crossed from Iraq into Kuwait." Patt Tibbs, "I'm in tears. "I'm in tears."
Let's go to Larry King. He's standing by as well. Larry has been a part of our coverage of this for so long. It's an important night, isn't it, Larry?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Yes, it is. And you know, it's a unique tie here. We have an exclusive interview with the New York governor, David Paterson, and he might be the one to defuse the controversy dividing the city for the Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero. You think about it, if there were no 9/11, there may never have been an Iraq war. Well, think about it. We're also going to talk to hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons who supports the center and others who are against it. And we'll have the latest on the combat troops leaving Iraq too. All next, Rick, on "LARRY KING LIVE."
By the way, I like the look tonight. Tomorrow night, try glasses and suspenders.
SANCHEZ: I had a feeling you might be going there. I just had that feeling. As long as you and I have known each other, I'm starting to finally figure you out. Thanks, Larry. Look forward to talking to you in just a little bit.
KING: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Hey, let's do this. Chris Lawrence is standing by. This is part of a puzzle that I really want to understand, and I think our viewers do too. We understand that the troops are leaving, the president has said that. We are seeing tangible evidence of that tonight, which is what makes this a significant night. But there's some 50,000 or more people staying behind. What is their mission? What are they going to do, Chris?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Technically, Rick, it's called advise and assist. Which means basically they're going to partner up with their Iraqi counterparts. So, you know, if you've got an intel officer, he's going to work with his counterpart in Iraq who do intelligence to say, look, this is how we do things. This is maybe some of the stuff you need to look out for. If a guy is in a -- you know, armory or weapons system, he's going to work with his counterpart there.
Now there's still a lot of things that the Iraqi army doesn't have, you know, unmanned drones, you know, some of the bomb sniffing dog teams, things like that. So the U.S. military is still going to have provide a lot of that. Also, one thing to realize, too, they think the Iraqi army is strong enough to protect itself domestically, which means to secure the country from within, but no one thinks that the Iraqi army is strong enough to repel, say, an attack from outside. So it will still be primarily the U.S. military's responsibility to sort of protect Iraq's borders in case there was ever a threat from outside the country.
SANCHEZ: So the operation we're in now, "Iraqi freedom," essentially will cease at some point and will move into "new dawn," is that correct?
LAWRENCE: That's right. On August 31st, it's going to be this big ceremony. General Ray Odierno is going to be there. All the big officials are going to be there, in which they'll sort of pass the torch. There was something smaller like that for this 4th Stryker Brigade at one of the (INAUDIBLE), just about a week ago, in which the --
SANCHEZ: Forward operations --
LAWRENCE: -- they took down the American flag.
SANCHEZ: Forward operating bases.
LAWRENCE: They walked away -- yes, forward operating bases. Right. You know, they took the American flag down, walked away. And their Iraqi counterparts were still there with the Iraqi flag flying. General Odierno was there. It was sort of a symbolic, sort of handover of this being sort of the last combat brigade, you know, taking down the flag and departing.
SANCHEZ: Got it. Chris, you're doing a heck of a job. Thanks so much for bringing us up to date on that. And we're going to take a quick break here. We're going to be back with more as we get some of the pictures out as well and we'll share those with you.
I'm Rick Sanchez. This is a special edition of RICK'S LIST. And we're going to be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back on this special night as we bring you the special edition of RICK'S LIST. And we bring you this breaking news story. I'm Rick Sanchez. So glad that you're with us.
You know, two weeks ago, some of my staff came to me and said, you know, the president has just made a comment that we ought to really jump on, because he finally was very specific on the draw-down and how we were getting out of Iraq. Now, it was in the middle of a speech. It was one of my producers, Gary Daughters (ph), who said watch this, listen to this.
It wasn't braggadocios. It wasn't a big moment. It was just a comment. I want to show you now how he covered it that day because it kind of puts this all together for us. I don't think I can say it as well as maybe Gary prepared it on that day. Here it is.
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SANCHEZ: Let's you and I look at where we've been. Hard to believe. But once upon a time, we were united over Iraq. Americans backed the Iraq war by 72 percent when George W. Bush launched it in March of 2003. Less than a month later, Saddam Hussein fell. And a month after that, Mr. Bush announced the end of major combat prematurely. It was premature because Iraq's insurgents weren't dead- enders, the words that Donald Rumsfeld erroneously used.
2004, and the war's bloodiest battle, Fallujah, U.S. deaths nearly doubled that year. Support for the war dropped to below 50 percent. We learned about Abu Ghraib and an official report concluded no weapons of mass destruction.
2005, Iraq's first election. They said it would break the insurgency. It didn't.
2006, Saddam Hussein, hanged. They said it would break the insurgency. It didn't. 2007, the U.S. sent David Petraeus in. And Petraeus launched the surge. American combat deaths hit an all-time high. Public support hit an all-time low. But in 2008, because of the surge, the tide turned. Annual combat deaths were the lowest since the war began.
Barack Obama took office, 2009. Promised to get us out. And here we are today. Except for tomorrow. And the questions my kids, your kids, will ask, like these. Why and did we win?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: That's an interesting look at where we are right now in Iraq. It certainly has been a very important night. I'm glad that you've been able to share this with us. And I'm especially appreciative of all the wonderful comments that you've tweeted. Not about us or the show, but about those troops. The ones who are not making it back and the ones that we're going to be welcoming home soon.
Thanks for being us. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Here, now, "LARRY KING LIVE."
