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CNN Sunday Morning
Airport Gridlock Day 3; Surge Depleting Rapid Deployment Equipment; Iraq War Vet Commits Suicide after Waiting for V.A. Help
Aired March 18, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got put on two more flights to D.C. Those were canceled. We got put on a flight to Philly, which was canceled. And then we were put on a flight for tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: But do you think she actually got to where she was going? You better fasten your seat belts for day three of airport gridlock.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, talk about buckling up. We're going to tell you about this scary spinout. Check that out.
NGUYEN: And this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM SCHULZE, FATHER OF JONATHAN SCHULZE: When a vet cries out that he's suicidal, even if they would have to set a bed up in the kitchen, you don't turn him away. You don't put him on a waiting list.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A cry for help that did not get answered, and a family is left searching for answers.
NGUYEN: From the CNN Center? In Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is March 18th. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We want to get you up to speed on what's happening right "Now in the News."
NGUYEN: Well, the winter storm has moved on, that's a little bit of good news, but many air travelers, well, they have not, at least not yet. Delays and cancellations throughout the Northeast have left thousands of airline passengers simply stuck this morning between point A and point B with no clear way to get out.
One key problem, keeping ice off of the planes so that they're safe to fly. Now, some airports report a shortage of de-icing fluid. That's a problem. Plus a new regulation means that they have to be repeatedly de-iced if they're delayed. So as a result, countless passengers found themselves just stranded hour after hour after hour, waiting around is bad enough, but lots of people say they aren't even getting an official information from the airlines about the holdup.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday we slept in the airport for about four hours, just waiting for flights, and I don't know, we're just losing hope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably even on like nine flights, trying to go to Knoxville, Tennessee, Nashville, anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're advised that today's flight is canceled. We said...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now what do you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now what do we do? They direct us to a line -- wait in line for another ticket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm almost delirious at this point. I think I've been in this airport so long.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a lot of folks to re-accommodate on flights throughout the system so we're working as fast as we can to get them on to flights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Way back there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's utterly ridiculous that they can't have someone come out and say, this is what's going on. This is the situation, instead of just letting us stand in line and have our plane come and go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have not talked to one person from U.S. Airways.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And if you could, what would you say to that person?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think you can say it on TV. We've been here since 6:30 in the morning and not one person has come up and said anything. God only knows if we're even in the right line.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: I'm glad she watched her language for us. And the goal today of course for the airlines, simple enough, get all of their passengers moving in the right direction. For the airport-weary, the boarding call cannot come soon enough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know where your luggage is? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe it's in Hartford. I don't know. It isn't here. So I think -- I hope it has gone on through there, but they've told me that I can't get a flight out until Tuesday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know where our luggage is. It could be -- it is either here in some cargo hold or it's in Hartford. They haven't even told us. Like, they don't know. I don't think they know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, we're going to try to get some answers to what's happening in at least one airport around the country. With me on the phone now, Phyllis Vanistendal, the government affairs manager at the Philadelphia International Airport.
Phyllis, ma'am, thank you for giving us a little time here. Tell me first, do you still have a parking lot out there on your runway or are things starting to get moving?
PHYLLIS VANISTENDAL, PHILADELPHIA INTL. AIRPORT: Good morning. We have four runways have been opened since 6:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon, the fourth runway opened. There was always one runway in good condition, and operational.
It is my understanding that there were several hundred travelers stranded in the airport overnight. We have a hospitality program which we implement in situations like that, just to offer those stranded travelers a few amenities, water, snacks, pillows, blankets.
Apparently this morning, there are a few cancellations. We were not showing any flight delays, but several cancellations, and the information that I've received is there may be some crew issues based upon the availability of who is getting to Philadelphia International, or, you know, they've already extended their time limit.
HOLMES: And, Phyllis, tell me, has the issue been the biggest problem, getting the ice off the planes?
VANISTENDAL: A question of getting the ice off the airplanes, you know, I would say that that would be the main issue on Friday, and then from Saturday morning -- from yesterday morning on, basically you had travelers, those thousand travelers that I mentioned who were required to be re-booked, and depending on where they were going, you know, as you know, if they were traveling north of us, the storm had moved northward, so that was problematic.
HOLMES: All right. A last couple of things here. You have -- are you starting to get those folks cleared out? I know it can be a mess trying to get re-booked in those long lines, we're hearing some of those horror stories.
VANISTENDAL: Yes, well, they did -- you know, yesterday that activity was in full force from early morning until very late in the evening, and those people who were re-booked, there were long lines but the lines were moving quickly, and I believe in a situation like this, by the time things even out, you know, you can see a 24- to 48- hour period.
HOLMES: All right. Well, sounds like things are getting better. It's tough to think they could get much worse for a lot of folks at least, a lot of horror stories. But Phyllis Vanistendal of the Philadelphia International Airport, appreciate you giving us a couple of minutes here and giving us and our viewers kind of an update. Sounds like things maybe, hopefully, starting to get a little better for you guys. Thank you so much and good luck there.
VANISTENDAL: My pleasure. Thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: We want to tell you now about details we are just getting this morning about a Boy Scout missing in the mountains of North Carolina. It's pretty cold there, that's certainly fueling some of the concerns here. The 12-year-old boy was reported missing yesterday afternoon, part of a Boy Scout group camping out in western North Carolina, Stone Mountain State Park. And again, weather a big factor in this search. Temperatures in the search area dropped to the 20s overnight. We'll keep an eye on that.
NGUYEN: Well, a milestone to tell you about this week in the war in Iraq. The war entering its fifth year. The dawn of the war, the first military strikes in Baghdad on March 19th. President Bush went on national television and announced U.S. and coalition forces had begun military action against Iraq. It was just after 9:30 p.m. in Washington, but it was already the morning of March 20th in Baghdad.
And since the war began, there have been 3,219 U.S. troops killed in Iraq. Today, increasing pressure on the administration to leave Iraq. Thousands of protesters as you can see marched to the Pentagon yesterday to denounce the war. There was a small counter demonstration as well and today more protests in the U.S. and around the world.
HOLMES: And in the past four years, public opinion about the war has changed dramatically. A CNN poll this month found 68 percent of Americans thought the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over back in 2003. Now quite a chance, 61 percent say it was not worth it. That poll was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, the majority of Americans have made it very loud and clear. Many in the Democratic-controlled Congress have, too. This week the House will consider a war-spending measure calling for U.S. troops to withdraw by September, 2008. The president says setting a timetable is a bad idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even if every condition required by this bill was met, all American forces, except for very limited purposes, would still be required to withdraw next year, regardless of the situation in Iraq. The consequences of imposing such an artificial timetable would be disastrous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, there you heard the president saying that a timetable would be disastrous, but the decision to add more troops is keeping the commander-in-chief on the defensive.
CNN's John King has more from Kuwait.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This desert base is the staging point for the Iraq troop surge. Refurbished Bradley Fighting Vehicles ready for soldiers heading to Iraq just as the unpopular war reaches the four-year mark.
Adding troop levels in 2007 is far from what the Bush White House envisioned when it launched the war in March, 2003, and far from what the American people support.
BILL MCINTURFF, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: They're tired. They want a resolution, and they want American troops home. This is a country that has largely come to judgment and the judgment is, we've been in Iraq long enough.
BUSH: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.
KING: When the president made his now infamous "mission accomplished" visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1st, 2003, the U.S. death toll stood at 139. It is more than 3,200 now. And a president who already lost Democratic and independent support for the war is facing increasing opposition within his own party.
MCINTURFF: Today for the first time by double digits Republicans say that they are less confident of success in Iraq. That's a change. That's a shift. And it just tells you that, again, the very difficult job facing the president.
KING (on camera): And as profound as the domestic political problem is, the bigger crisis facing Mr. Bush is the deepening belief that it is too late for 20,000 more troops or more tanks like these about to head north from Kuwait into Iraq to make any lasting difference.
RICHARD HAASS, PRES., COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: I, for one, would say the odds are against Iraq becoming a normal country, much less a thriving democratic country.
KING (voice-over): The troops tend to steer clear of the politics. Their immediate concern here is their equipment and those back a second or third time quickly notice the improved armor on these Humvees.
STAFF SGT. CLARENCE CALHOUN, U.S. ARMY: They can see the changes being made and it's also letting us know that voices are being heard and things are being corrected from the soldier's standpoint.
KING: But even this progress is not without some controversy. (on camera): The newly-arriving troops are getting tanks, Humvees and other equipment from what the Army calls pre-positioned stocks designed to be kept in reserve for rapid deployments. Critics in Congress say depleting those reserves to fill urgent needs in Iraq leaves the Army unprepared should a crisis spring up elsewhere in the world.
John King, CNN, Kuwait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And the big question into this fifth year, what strategic choices lie ahead? This morning's on CNN's LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER, he talks with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, and that comes your way at 11:00 Eastern.
Meanwhile a Ku Klux Klan rally in Texas takes an ugly turn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm already arrested. What you got?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Details on this straight ahead.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ALLEN (R), FORMER VIRGINIA SENATOR: ... the yellow shirt, macaca.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: From bad singing to bad judgment, the YouTube revolution changed politics but can it be a candidate's friend instead of a foe?
HOLMES: And speaking of your friends and your foes, which one is this guy? Congressional Democrats are told to beware of Colbert. We'll tell you why, that's a bit later on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground! Get down! Move, get down!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Take a look at this, a Ku Klux Klan rally in Texas gets rough. Three people were arrested after a scuffle broke out. That rally comes two months after some white students at Tarleton State University were photographed making fun of African-American stereotypes at an off-campus party. About two dozen Klan members attended the rally which drew about 500 onlookers.
HOLMES: A chemical scare now to tell you about in Minnesota. Ammonia leaking from a train led authorities to evacuate more than 100 people for a few hours, others were warned to stay inside. It happened in Lake City in the southeastern part of the city. Ammonia fumes can be fatal if inhaled. Lake City's mayor says no one was injured or had to be hospitalized.
NGUYEN: Evacuations in Reno, Nevada, as well. This time it was fire that put them on the run. Warm weather and high winds fanned an early season wildfire. The fire destroyed one home and then damaged other buildings. At one point flames got so close to Interstate 80, lanes had to be shut down. The fire comes a week after unseasonably high temperatures for Reno.
HOLMES: And news out of the Justice Department this morning, embattled attorney general has reportedly been trying to mend fences with U.S. attorneys around the country. According to the Associated Press, Alberto Gonzales held a conference call with the federal prosecutors on Friday. He did not apologize for firing eight of them, which has caused a political firestorm and put Gonzales' own job in jeopardy, but he did apologize for how the terminations were handled.
NGUYEN: Well, from gotcha to getting votes, check this out, up next you'll want to hear how YouTube is changing the campaign trail for politicians.
HOLMES: And we all remember what mama said about keeping your hands to yourself. Oh, may have been a...
(VIDEO OF SHARK BITING MAN)
NGUYEN: Ouch!
HOLMES: ... good idea in this particular case. We'll get more on this guy's bright idea coming up.
NGUYEN: Yes. Who sticks his hands in a shark's mouth? Uh-oh, that's what you get.
HOLMES: He didn't listen to his mama.
NGUYEN: Apparently not.
HOLMES: All right. We'll tell you about this guy a little later on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: Now in 674 days we're going to have a new president. And the field is just so crowded. On the Republican side, there is McCain and Giuliani. Now is it me or wasn't McCain too old eight years ago?
(LAUGHTER)
ROCK: And then we have Giuliani. Now Giuliani's great. He's great in a crisis, but in a real life, Giuliani's kind of like a pit bull. He's great when you have a burglar, but if you don't, he just might eat your kids.
(LAUGHTER)
ROCK: Then we have the Democrats, and everybody's saying the same thing. Hillary or Obama. A black man or a white woman. It's so hard to make up my mind!
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK, it's funny now. We might not be laughing when somebody actually gets elected a little later, but of course that's comedian Chris Rock talking politics, giving his take as only can on the candidates' 2008 presidential election.
NGUYEN: Well, comedians may poke fun but for the presidential hopefuls it's some serious business out there. And it has been a busy weekend on the campaign trail. Neither snow nor sleet nor even freezing rain could keep Republican Senator John McCain from his New Hampshire campaign stops. He hired a snow plow in fact to clear the way for his campaign bus just to get around. And at a town hall meeting in Milford, McCain acknowledged the mistakes in the way the war has been handled but he also stressed other issues such as Social Security and immigration reform.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On the Democratic side, Illinois Senator Barack Obama attracted a crowd of 10,000 or more in Oakland, California, where the weather was much better. Obama told the audience he's proud that he opposed the war from the get-go.
Obama's chief rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, well, she took her presidential campaign to Texas. At a stop in Houston, Clinton said she'd run a more competent government than the Bush administration.
HOLMES: Well, if there had been any major gaffes on the campaign trail, they'd probably be amusing us on YouTube. Now the wildly popular Web site is inviting candidates to post their own messages.
CNN's Chris Lawrence looks at who stands to benefit from this new media outlet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: Something is stirring across the country...
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama's speech at a Selma, Alabama, church was quickly posted on the Internet by someone outside his campaign. When politicians first met YouTube, it was like a rude guest who points out every embarrassing flaw, from bad singing to just bad judgment.
ALLEN: The yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is...
LAWRENCE: Now YouTube is inviting those same candidates over for dinner, giving them a seat at the table, so to speak.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Keep that faith, keep your courage. Stick together.
LAWRENCE: YouTube is inviting political candidates to post their own videos as part of a push to educate voters.
OBAMA: We want a positive vision for the future.
LAWRENCE: Most of the major presidential candidates are on board.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe we're spending too much money.
LAWRENCE: But it's the second tier candidates who could benefit most by broadcasting their message at minimal cost.
ALAN HOFFENBLUM, POLITICAL ANALYST: And this could help a lot of candidates that don't have the big money that the top tier candidates have.
LAWRENCE: But will anyone watch?
THOMAS HOLLIHAN, UNIV. OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Some of them are long, 15-, 20-minute films. You have got to really be devoted to want to sit through 15 minutes of that.
LAWRENCE: Professor Thomas Hollihan wrote a book called "Political Campaigns in a Media Age."
(on camera): Do you think some candidates will benefit more than others from YouTube?
HOLLIHAN: Those candidates who are spontaneous, quick on their feet, smile easily, are witty, they're going to really prosper in a YouTube age.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My bill would cap the number of troops in Iraq at January 1st levels.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I don't get is the nonbinding resolution.
HOLLIHAN: Candidates who are ponderous, who need a closely- guided script, who don't have good emotional control, they're the candidates likely to suffer in the YouTube era.
LAWRENCE: And it really is a new era. Unlike television advertisement, YouTube is free. The video clips are not subject to campaign finance limits and you don't need those disclosure statements such as "my name is Chris and I approve this message."
Chris Lawrence, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: OK, three words to the wise to Capitol Hill Democrats, beware of Colbert. We'll explain a little bit later.
But first...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARRETT REPPENHAGEN, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I respect that point of view but we're going to continue to represent the majority of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Facing off over the war in Iraq, protesters and counter protesters in the streets, details straight ahead on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And good morning to you all again. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for joining us today. An Iraqi milestone to tell you about is being met by thousands of protesters in fact. But these anti-war activists weren't the only ones making their voices heard. We have that story straight ahead.
Plus this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIANNE SCHULZE, STEPMOTHER OF JONATHAN M. SCHULZE: If our men are going to serve for our country, and serve in a war or a conflict, when they come home, they should be taken care of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: He died before he could get the help he pleaded for. The medical delay that may have cost an Iraq War veteran his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That was March 19th, 2003, about 9:30 at night in Washington. This is what was happening just before dawn, March 20th, in Iraq, crippling explosions in Baghdad, as President Bush announces the start of the military campaign against Iraq. HOLMES: And this week, as we head into the fifth year of the war here now a quick look at some of the major changes and things of note.
Former Iraqi dictator, of course, Saddam Hussein, was captured in a spider hole. He was convicted for killing nearly 150 people in Dujail in 1982 and then of course executed by hanging.
Also since the war began, there have been 3,219 American service members killed in Iraq. Also, instead of a pullback of U.S. troops, there's now a buildup, 31,000 more U.S. troops being sent into the war zone.
NGUYEN: Well, this anniversary sparking anti-war protests all around the country, protesters are expected to march against the war a little bit later today in New York. Yesterday, thousands marched on the Pentagon.
And CNN's Gary Nurenberg has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 2007 march on the Pentagon began at the Vietnam War Memorial, near the stepoff point for the 1967 march on the Pentagon that helped galvanize opposition to the Vietnam War.
The 30-degree temperatures were a long way from the heat of Iraq for Reserve Army Sniper Garrett Reppenhagen. He took part in nearly 200 missions in and near Baquba, worries about friends still serving and wants them home now.
REPPENHAGEN: I feel that the military was hijacked by this administration and used immorally in a war of aggression.
NURENBERG: Counter demonstrators confronted marchers as they passed the Lincoln Memorial. They, too, felt it important to be here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my country and I love it, and I thank God for the president and all the presidents that really stands for freedom. That's what it's all about, freedom.
REPPENHAGEN: I respect their point of view but you know, we're going to continue to represent the majority of America.
NURENBERG: Among speakers at the Pentagon rally, Seaman Jonathan Hutto, active duty, opposed to the war.
JONATHAN HUTTO, CO-FOUNDER, APPEAL FOR REDRESS: Tell your congressperson to get a backbone and get a spine and to stand up on a mandate that the American people gave them last November!
NURENBERG: Demonstrators hope their actions here will make a difference.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But even if it doesn't, just for one's own integrity, one has to come out with one's body to protest. NURENBERG: What one Brooklyn man called an American tradition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's the history of this country, that what you feel you have to come out and say loudly.
NURENBERG (on camera): Loudly or quietly, some of the demonstrators plan to stay in Washington to lobby Congress, which next week considers funding for the war.
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, what strategic choices lie ahead for ending the war and sectarian violence in Iraq? This morning on CNN's "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer talks with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, that comes your way at 11:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Meanwhile a Marine returns home, still haunted by memories of the war in Iraq.
NGUYEN: He needed treatment and he was told, you have to wait. Now, his unanswered cries for help took a very tragic turn. We have that story from CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, STEWART, MINNESOTA (voice-over): This is the story of Marine Jonathan Schulze, number 26 on a list, a list no one wants to be on.
(on camera): So you're telling me that Jonathan told this hospital twice now that he was feeling suicidal.
M. SCHULZE: Yes.
KAYE: And they told him ...
M. SCHULZE: He was number 26. They didn't have room. It would take two weeks before he could be admitted.
KAYE: Twenty-sixth on a waiting list.
M. SCHULZE: Right. And to check back in a few days to see what number he was on the list.
KAYE: Did you think that Jonathan had a few days at that point to wait?
M. SCHULZE: No. No.
KAYE (voice-over): Months of intense fighting in Iraq, that's all it took for this fun-loving, teddy bear of a guy with a smile as wide as the Minnesota farm he grew up on to unravel.
Twenty-five-year-old Schulze returned home in March 2005, a tortured soul.
M. SCHULZE: I remember a broken man, somebody who had no expression on his face, who would cry very easily, who at night you'd hear him screaming, moaning, groaning.
KAYE: Jonathan's step-mom says he was sleeping just two hours a night, drinking heavily, having panic attacks. There was guilt over the loss of 16 men from his squad, including his two best friends.
J. SCHULZE: He was big, he was strong, he was brave. But his whole experience over there almost left him trembling like a little kid.
KAYE: Jonathan's drinking and violence led the Marines to give him a general discharge. Jim Schulze says his son became withdrawn, edging dangerously close to ending his life.
Jim says Jonathan talked openly about suicide.
The family doctor had diagnosed Jonathan with post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and prescribed Valium, Ambien and Paxil. None of it seemed to quiet this Marine's mind.
Desperate for help, Jonathan turned to the V.A. Hospital in Minneapolis. He couldn't hold a job. And without medical insurance, the V.A. was the only place he could afford.
KAYE (on camera): When he asked to be accepted into an inpatient program at the Minneapolis V.A., what did that hospital tell him?
M. SCHULZE: They told him he couldn't get into that program at that time. It was full.
KAYE: And he had to wait how long for the next one?
M. SCHULZE: Six months.
KAYE (voice-over): Jonathan was sinking fast. In January this year, the Schulzes tried another V.A. Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota, about an hour outside Minneapolis.
(on camera): Jim and Marianne Schulze both insist they heard Jonathan tell the intake nurse he was feeling suicidal. They recall being told the social worker who screens PTSD patients was too busy to see their son that day, even though, they say, he'd been made aware of Jonathan's suicidal tendencies.
Jonathan was sent home and told to call back the next day. And when he did, his step-mom was listening.
M. SCHULZE: And Jonathan said, yes, I feel suicidal.
KAYE: The next day, when he called the hospital, you heard him tell them a second time ...
M. SCHULZE: Yes, a second time. KAYE: ... that he was feeling suicidal.
M. SCHULZE: A second time.
He eventually was told that, right at that point, there would be about a two-week wait. He, at this point, was number 26 on the list, and to check in periodically.
KAYE (voice-over): Four days later, with a picture of his daughter at his side, Jonathan wrapped an extension cord around his neck, tied it to a beam in the basement of this home he'd been renting from a friend, and hanged himself, unanswered cries for help silenced.
M. SCHULZE: If our men are going to serve for our country and serve in a war or a conflict, when they come home they should be taken care of.
They were promised when they went in, they were promised when they signed on that piece of paper.
And they come home and they have a problem, what are they told? You're number 26.
KAYE: In Jonathan's massive medical file, an alarming absence. The social worker Jonathan spoke to by phone did not record the Marine's suicidal thoughts.
KAYE (on camera): How do you explain that, in that 400-page medical file of his, there isn't a single note mentioning that he said he felt suicidal?
J. SCHULZE: Very plain and simple, St. Cloud V.A. altered those records, or else the individual he talked to did not put it in there when Jon did mention that.
KAYE (voice-over): If so, why wasn't he admitted immediately?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating, and would not comment.
J. SCHULZE: When a vet cries out that he's suicidal, even if they had to set a bed up in a kitchen, you don't turn them away. You don't put them on a waiting list.
KAYE: Keeping them honest, we've learned the St. Cloud V.A. hospital has just 12 beds for PTSD patients. The Schulze say those beds were full. We've also confirmed the number of beds has remained unchanged for a decade, even though the U.S. has spent the last five years fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Department of Veterans Affairs tells us it expects one in five returning veterans to need treatment for PTSD.
While the Schulzes struggle to heal, they find themselves at the center of a debate over the seemingly ill-prepared and overwhelmed V.A. system. Jonathan, in death, has breathed new life into the issue.
M. SCHULZE: Jonathan didn't come home to die.
KAYE: Nor did he come off the battlefield expecting he'd have to fight to get medical help at home.
Randi Kaye, CNN News, Stewart, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: There's much more on the situation in Iraq on THIS WEEK AT WAR with year five beginning. What is ahead for Iraq? We're going to explore that question.
NGUYEN: Plus, why wounded soldiers are being sent into battle. Join John Roberts today at 1:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Well, we've go a controversy brewing of "Titanic" proportions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROF. STEPHEN PFANN, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR: I would like to take these people, Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron, and give them the chance to be in our university for a semester.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Up next, we'll tell you why these stone boxes and a new documentary has people talk and a Biblical scholar upset.
NGUYEN: But first, we're going to test your knowledge this morning, a little Biblical refresher of our own. Do you know how many books are in the Bible? CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues with an answer in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a Michael, maybe, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, I know them, but I just can't name them all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I can't do this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. No, that's what I meant, like Gospel writers don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, our faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher went polling, asking people questions about the Bible, particularly the four Gospels and as you heard, some need a refresher course. For the record, there are four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. As for our Bible IQ quiz, we asked you before the break, how many books are there in the bible? The answer is 66. There are 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament. I won't bore you by naming them all, as I have it all right here. Not really. I could use a refresher as well, we all could.
But speaking of Biblical quizzes, a biblical scholar is inviting filmmaker James Cameron and his partner and their crew for a little Bible 101. He insists that the documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is buried in errors.
CNN's Ben Wedeman has the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These simple stone boxes known as ossuaries are at the heart of the controversy, the subject of the documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." The filmmakers, Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron of "Titanic" fame, contend the ossuaries contained the bones of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Mary Magdalene.
The first three, apparently common Jewish names at the time, but the clincher here is the Greek inscription on one of the ossuaries that the documentary claims says "Mary-Ahm-Nay (ph)."
JAMES CAMERON, PRODUCER, "THE LOST TOMB OF JESUS": "Mary-Ahm- Nay" is, according to certain Christian texts, the Acts of Philip and Gospel of Mary Magdalene, that is the name of Mary Magdalene.
WEDEMAN: But in a recently published paper, Biblical scholar Stephen Pfann argues the inscription actually says "Mariam and Mara (ph)." Mariam being Mary, and Mara, another version of the name Martha. He suggests it may be time for the filmmakers to go back to school.
PFANN: I would like to take these people, Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron, and give them a chance to be in our university for a semester and sit down and study through so they can really do the research they need to do a documentary properly with all of these scientific facts.
WEDEMAN: The producer says, if anything, Pfann is bolstering the film's claims.
SIMCHA JACOBOVICI, DIRECTOR, "THE LOST TOMB OF JESUS": So he doesn't question that there is a second Mary in the tomb. He's added a Martha, which as we know from the New Testament, is the sister of Lazarus and may very well be related to the family of Jesus of Nazareth. So if anything, Pfann's argument actually strengthens the argument that this is -- you know, now there's a Martha in the tomb.
WEDEMAN: Most Christians believe the tomb of Jesus is in Jerusalem's Church of Holy Sepulchre. While the ossuaries at the center of this storm were found here in a tomb in the city's southern suburbs. Pfann doesn't dispute the filmmakers' claim that they found the tomb of Jesus. It's just not the right Jesus.
PFANN: I would say this is probably what we'd call kind of another brand of science fiction, and what we have in this tomb, yes, is the tomb of another Jesus but it certainly isn't Jesus of Nazareth.
WEDEMAN: The documentary disputes many other fundamental beliefs held by hundreds of millions of Christians, including that Jesus never married and had no children.
(on camera): Given that this documentary tries to slay so many holy cows in one go, it should come as no surprise to anyone that it's stirring up far more than a scholarly storm in a stone box.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We want to get you a check of some of the top stories that folks are clicking on this morning at cnn.com. It was about this time yesterday that we told you about bombers detonating three chlorine-filled trucks in Anbar province. Two Iraqi police officers were killed in those attacks. Some 350 Iraqis and six coalition force members were sickened by those fumes.
HOLMES: Also a mass recall of wet pet food made by Menu Foods, a number of cats and dogs have gotten sick. Ten died as a result of the tainted food. You can log on to cnn.com for a complete list of the affected brands and where they're sold.
NGUYEN: And nearly four years after his indictment, music pioneer Phil Spector's trial starts Monday. Prosecutors say he shot his girlfriend inside his California mansion. Spector's trial is going to be televised live, and for more on these stories, perhaps even Phil Spector's hair, log on to cnn.com and click on "Top Stories."
HOLMES: I didn't know if I should ask.
NGUYEN: Hey, hair spray works. You know, you ought to make a copy of your tax return but just not at the office, because here's why. Before you head to that copier, you should know that there is a risk of identity theft.
HOLMES: Yes. We'll explain why the new machines work too well in some cases. That's coming up in "The WaterCooler."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. We do have a message for all of you spring breakers out there. Rule number one, with sharks that is, keep those fingers and toes way from the mouth at all times.
(VIDEO OF SHARK BITING MAN'S HAND)
NGUYEN: See that right there? HOLMES: Are you seeing this? This could happen to you. These young guys had just landed this four-foot shark at Delray Beach, Florida.
NGUYEN: When one of them tried to actually take the hook out. Yes, smart idea -- chomp! That shark just bit right down, maybe a bit of a shark payback, we should say. The victim eventually freed his hand and was treated for lacerations. He is OK but he probably will always have just a few scars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NINO SALIMAJ, RESTAURATEUR: I call it luxury. Because it's not for everyone because it's expensive, let's face it, but the ingredients of whatever I put in, it's worth every penny. And of course people without a job, they cannot afford the pizza of $1,000, but it's worth every penny and a great pie.
NGUYEN: Did he say what I thought he said? Pizza worth $1,000? All right. Here's a good rule of thumb. Don't pay $1,000 for a pizza. Come on. Even if it's loaded with caviar, lobster and gourmet cheese.
HOLMES: What happened to Italian sausage, extra cheese? Yes, this thing is...
NGUYEN: For $2.50.
HOLMES: Two hundred and fifty bucks a slice is steep.
NGUYEN: One hundred and fifty.
HOLMES: But it has got to be good. Actually one satisfied New Yorker called it, and I'm quoting here, "frikin' delicious, the best I ever ate."
NGUYEN: It had better be for that price. And with tax season right around the corner, a cautionary tale about photo copiers. You may not realize that modern digital copiers have a computer hard drive.
HOLMES: So that means all of the document images are stored there indefinitely. So if you use the office machine to copy your tax returns or other sensitive stuff, that information might not be safe.
NGUYEN: In other words, the info on those hard drives could lead to identity theft. Now copy makers have begun to take some action, such as encrypting the drives and posting warnings at public machines, but just keep this as a good rule of thumb. Just don't make copies at work, of personal, sensitive info, it's a good idea -- or your face or any other body parts.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: What are you doing to the copier around here, Betty?
NGUYEN: Well, you've seen those (INAUDIBLE) -- not me.
HOLMES: Well, no joke here to tell you about, Stephen Colbert, you know this guy. Well, he -- some people, Democrats are being warned in Congress to stay away from his TV show, because he does a segment on there called "Know Your District (sic)." He goes and seriously sits down and interviews some of the congressmen and congresswomen, but he makes fun of them, he makes them nervous, he makes them uncomfortable.
NGUYEN: Because they don't always have the right answers.
HOLMES: They don't at all.
NGUYEN: Which is embarrassing, especially if that is your district. So we're going to have much more on this. In fact, Jeanne Moos has a report, that's going to be in the 9:00 a.m. hour.
But in the meantime, winter did rear its ugly head again in the Northeast this weekend. And in three minutes, we're going to find out what that region is facing today.
HOLMES: Plus, what sent Australia's prime minister running from his plane in Baghdad. New details from Iraq, that's coming up in 10 minutes.
Then coming up at 8:30, if you're tired of searching for the fountain of youth, tune in to "WEEKEND HOUSE CALL." Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has tips on how you can slow the effects of aging.
NGUYEN: And it's a whole new world for Disney, as that company prepares for a new addition. Check her out. CNN SATURDAY (sic) MORNING continues in a moment.
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