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CNN Sunday Morning
Getting Out of Iraq; Romney Gaining Momentum
Aired December 18, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you all.
Stories making headlines today:
It's over. The last convoy of U.S. troops has left Iraq. We'll give you more of the sights and sounds of what was a historic moment.
Many of you may have missed it last night. It took place while many of you were sleeping. We will get you caught up.
Also, take a look at this. A run-away cart just plows into people who were standing in the middle of a football field after a game. This was happening at Cowboy Stadium in Texas. You see they finally get it stopped but a couple of people had to go to the hospital.
Also, many of you are getting ready for the holidays, getting ready to travel somewhere. Some of you need to be getting ready for snow. A major winter storm expected to drop more than a foot of snow in a number of places.
Reynolds Wolf will have the very latest on what you need to know.
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: You'll remember it started with Shock and Awe for America's long military involvement in Iraq is now over. The last convoy left Iraq and arrived in Kuwait overnight. CNN was at the border crossing for this historic moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MAJ. GEN. JEFFREY BUCHANAN, SPOKESMAN, U.S. FORCES IRAQ: It's been in planning for more than a year now. Tremendous amount of coordination and synchronization every day but the amount of bases we've closed, redeployed equipment, brought all these troops out, it's been quite an accomplishment.
LT. COL. JACK VANTRESS, U.S. ARMY: Is a feeling of elation. It really does. To see what we've accomplished in the last 8 1/2 years and to be part of the last movement out of Iraq, hard to put words to it right now.
(END VIDEO CLIPS) HOLMES: It started with Shock and Awe -- you remember that? -- almost nine years ago. It ended in a much different way. Look at this.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
HOLMES: You're seeing them roll into Kuwait about 500 U.S. service members from Ft. Hood, Texas, traveling in about 110 military vehicles that made a five-hour nighttime trip from Camp Adder. The route was a cleared of any roadside bombs by the first elements of that convoy. Meanwhile, up above, Navy, Air Force and Marine aircraft were providing cover there.
Also take a look, the border crossing gate. This is it. The border crossing gate linking Iraq to Kuwait, closing and that is a signature and symbolic moment. This officially ends it all, the last U.S. military convoy. The Iraq war for all intents and purposes -- over.
It was in 2003 when the U.S. Marines entered Iraq from Kuwait, spring of 2003.
And CNN's Michael Holmes was traveling with them then. Michael has certainly come full circle now. He was there at the Iraq-Kuwait border overnight as the last U.S. military convoy arrived. He joins us now.
Michael, full circle for you, full circle for a lot of people in this country who have watched this over the past nine years.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Absolutely. Nine years, 4,500 U.S. servicemen lost their lives, more than 30,000 wounded. $1 trillion spent on this war. You know, they've left a country that's not technically at war but it is certainly not at peace.
Those guys coming across the border, T.J., they were elated. You heard the horns in that video you heard a few minutes ago blowing the big air horns on these MRAPs and other large armored vehicles, high fives. They went to a place initially called Midway Yard where they deweaponed, if you like, all the weapons in fact were cleared. And then they head down here to Camp Virginia.
There were hugs. They were posing with American flags, taking photographs. A few last memories.
And then they came here, as I said, actually, behind me you can see there, they are gathering some of them to watch the Washington Redskins cheerleaders who are about to come out on that stage behind me. A little bit of recreation for these lads as they've come back across the border.
You know, a lot of these fellows weren't in the military when this war began and as you saw, when we spoke earlier, I spoke to one young fellow, he said he was in ninth grade when it began. But for now, they're going to be enjoying the evening now that they are out of Iraq. No more soldiers in Iraq, T.J.
T.J. HOLMES: That's a lot different from what a lot of soldiers been going through the past several years. Fun to hear some cheerleaders will be there entertaining them. This is their prize for getting out of Iraq.
One other thing to you here, you mentioned that young man who was in ninth grade. Do a lot of these young men -- they get it and they're happy to be going home and knowing they're not going back but do they grasp -- are they really getting a good handle on the history they have been a part of now in.
M. HOLMES: Yes. You know, I think they do, even though they are all young men. It is amazing and over the years since 2003, I met a lot of these guys and talked to them and, you know, 18, 19 year-olds.
In fact, a general I was speaking to today, General Buchanan, said his son was in high school when the war began. His son is now a captain in the U.S. military and has served three tours in Afghanistan. That's how long this has gone on, just gives you a bit of a sense of the length of this war.
Yes, they do have a sense of history. They spoke about it often when they came across the border and they've got a sense of -- that they achieved their mission. Let's not be silly about this, Iraq is still a deeply trouble country, great divisions in that country, a political system that's on very shallow foundation and militias that are still very active. People die in Iraq every single day.
But these guys -- I got to tell you, I've gone back every years since 2003 -- at least once -- impressed with these guys' dedication to mission. Staying focus, they've carried out their task and they feel they have achieved something. The general was saying there is still a long way to go despite the progress that's being made.
Ad a terrorist threat does still exist very much so in Iraq. You know, it's not particularly a happy place to be if you are an Iraqi. But these fellows feel like they've done they're job, they've done their bit, they've done what's asked of them and they are looking forward to getting home. That's' for sure, T.J.
It takes two to four days to clear through the bureaucracy, if you will, of arriving here, and then flying out. But they are looking forward to it.
T.J. HOLMES: Michael Holmes there for us -- Michael thank you, as always.
Get you some numbers now about this war. When the war was at its peak in 2006, there was some 239,000 U.S. service members in Iraq at more than 500 bases.
The war cost more than $800 billion. Almost 4,500 American service members died in this war. Another 30,000 wounded. In all, 1.5 million Americans served in Iraq. The number of Iraqi deaths, meanwhile -- according to the group Iraqi Body Count -- more than 150,000.
And while the U.S. military involvement in Iraq is considered over, Washington has not. Earlier, I asked retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt about U.S. involvement that will continue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): It is good to see the troops getting home for a well-deserved break. There are other contingencies around the world we'll be focused on. But, as I said earlier, if we make the mistake of just believing that not only is this the end of a chapter but it's the end of the book, we're going to be involved in Iraq for many, many years. It's in a central spot in the Middle East. I don't think we have seen the last of Iraq. Certainly, the large diplomatic presence that will remain behind focused on the day-to-day activities will recognize that Iraq remains instrumental and key to our national security and our foreign policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: He mentioned diplomats there. More than 1,700 diplomats, advisors and other non-military personnel will remain in Iraq, along with hundreds of civilian contractors and about 5,000 security contractors.
Now, turn to some other news making headlines. Tens of thousands of people are facing another day in shelters in the southern Philippines after that tropical storm there. Military officials say 548 people are dead, another 500 missing. Entire villages were washed away in the floodwaters. Survivors are now without electricity and clean drinking water.
And the first of the debris from Japan's tsunami disaster has now reached the west coast of the United States. Some of it has washed up in Washington state.
Tons of debris washed out to sea after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan -- again, we're talking some nine months ago. Experts say more is coming, including homes, furniture. You might even see some cars roll up.
Nine minutes past the hour. We'll stick with some weather here. And check out this moment.
You a fan of these types of things, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The snow?
HOLMES: Not the snow. There's a big bear playing.
WOLF: Oh, bear, sure. Yes, absolutely. Love panda bears.
What's not to love when you see a panda bear? I mean, come on. It can make any bad day joyous and exciting.
HOLMES: OK. There you go. This panda, we got this video for you at least. Got up yesterday in a Nanshan Park in China. Had some play time in the snow. Got caught on home video. Fun for them.
This is kind of natural for them. This is not their natural habitat necessarily, this park. But still, they're used to a little snow. But people love these things.
WOLF: The thing about the pandas, though -- I mean, they don't have opposable thumbs. If so, someone needs to hand them a shovel and send them to Texas because we got some snow that's on the way, possibly over a foot of snowfall.
Who wouldn't love to see a panda on the side of I-45 scraping off smoke from wind shields? That's the way it should be. I mean, earn your keep, pandas. Don't just sit around and eat bamboo all the time. You got to work hard.
HOLMES: Well, I didn't know we were going that direction with the panda story but that's OK.
WOLF: C'mon. C'mon, they're lovable. But they can be useful, too.
HOLMES: All right.
WOLF: But, yes, absolutely serious, Texas could be seeing some heavy snow that's coming. It's the same system that brought the strong winds of southern California. We're talking about not only some heavy snow but strong high winds. We're talking white-out conditions.
Let me show you this very quickly. I just want to give you an idea of what's happened on the map. You see it there behind you? I want to give you another great shot right here.
Here's Shannon Travis. Shannon will talk to you in just a little bit.
All right. Here's what we got. Notice everything we have up here all the colors. Almost like a grateful dead concert t-shirt, all the variety of colors. We'll get the blues, we'll get the greens and the pinks indicating your warnings, your watches, your advisories and even a blizzard warning especially for North Texas and for the Oklahoma panhandle. We're going to talk about this wintry blast, how long it's going to last and what it's going to mean for other places like Dallas, Texas, for the Ft. Worth area and perhaps even into portions of Arkansas before the week is out.
Let's send it back to you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, thank you.
We'll check in with him in just a bit.
And also, a possible momentum shift in Iowa. Mitt Romney picks up some big-name backers -- all this with just two weeks to go until the first votes in the Republican presidential race. We'll tell you who's got Romney's back coming your way next. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETTY OFC. 2ND CLASS KIMBERLY RYAN, NORWICH, CONNECTICUT: Hi. I'm PO2 Kimberly Ryan, currently deployed in Sangin District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. I'd like to say happy holidays to my family back home in Norwich, Connecticut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Thirteen minutes past the hour now.
The most qualified candidate in the race on the Republican side for the nomination is Mitt Romney. At least that's what the "Des Moines Register" thinks. That's how they describe Mitt Romney.
Influential newspaper is endorsing Romney in the Republican presidential race, also getting on-board with Romney is former senator and GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole.
Let me bring in our CNN political reporter Shannon Travis.
Shannon, been a couple of good days here for Mitt Romney. Can we call this momentum after picking up the endorsement of the governor of South Carolina, now Bob Dole, and now, this influential paper in Iowa?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: I mean, that's right. It certainly seems like momentum -- momentum that I'm sure Newt Gingrich and some of the other GOP rivals want to stop.
But you're right, I mean, this is a big endorsement. It's the biggest newspaper here in Iowa, "The Des Moines Register." And getting their backing is a dear coin for any of these Republican presidential candidates, T.J. They all wanted it. They all met with the board except John Huntsman who is focusing his efforts on New Hampshire.
But Governor Mitt Romney, I mean, he got the endorsement. They call him a strong, reliable rock-solid leader. He is a conservative.
And take a listen to this -- you know, critics charge that Mitt Romney is a flip-flopper, that he's changed a lot of his principles. Democrats even say he has no core. But the paper seemed to almost defend him against that.
Take a listen to this quote, T.J. "Though Romney has attended to adapt positions to different times and places, he is hardly unique. It should be possible for politician to say, 'I was wrong and I've changed my mind.'"
However, a few lines down from that, the paper did say that they will leave it to the voters to decide whether Romney is trying to have it both ways. So this is a pretty big deal.
On the other hand, this is an establishment pick, T.J. "The Des Moines Register" has picked establishment candidates before.
And this year of conservative activists, Tea Party types, basically saying, you know what? We don't want the establishment types. We don't want the insider endorsements.
This may not bode well for him. So, it is a big deal but it remains to be seen just how important or how many people this will actually sway -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Shannon Travis for us there in Des Moines where he's been living for the past several months, for the most part. Shannon, thank you so much.
Quarter past the hour here. And today, the candidates are in Iowa. They're also on the phone. We'll explain here. Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, they're continuing their weekend tours of Iowa. They'll hit some 15 cities and towns today alone combined.
Bachmann is also joining front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney on the telephone. Yes, they're all taking part in a telephone forum hosted by the Tea Party Patriots.
Also coming up, you've seen this before, a basketball fan comes down at halftime, he gets a chance to make a shot from half-court and you win some money? Well, one fan, $25,000. And I wouldn't be telling you the story unless it went well. You'll see the video after the break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. BRENT THOMPSON, UNITED STATES ARMY: Hi. This is Captain Brent Thompson from beautiful FOB Shank, Afghanistan. I want to wish happy holidays to my folks Bill and Vickie Thompson back in Columbus, Montana. Merry Christmas, happy New York and I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour.
Now, our good friend, Joe Carter, from HLN Sports, is here.
We see this all the time -- halftime, they pull a fan out of the stands, make this shot from half-court, you win some money. We don't see them go in that often.
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: Not very often.
HOLMES: We'll get that to in a second. But this other story will get some people talking.
CARTER: Yes, got a lot of people outrage actually -- got an eighth grade football coach who has his players burn their third place trophies. So, as you can imagine, the parents -- not happy at all. So, coach basically said he was trying to make a positive lesson out of this whole thing, but that's not how anyone in this situation interpreted it. People in this Connecticut town are really worried about the message it sends, basically saying if you don't finish in first or second place, it really doesn't count.
HOLMES: That's not right?
CARTER: What's that Ricky Bobby saying, it's not first, it's last?
HOLMES: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: So, a few weeks after this team finished their season, they had like a team banquet like they always do. And parents handed out the trophies. Excuse me.
And then these kids, the coach said let's go outside. Had them all throw the trophies in the grass. You put a little kerosene on it, boom, set them on fire. People in the community are not happy at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What an example. What kind of a man is this? I mean, that blew my mind altogether completely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's silly. A trophy is a trophy and a win is a win, and it makes no sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: All right. So, you know, some would say that their motives were in the right place. Actions not so much in the right place, probably in the wrong place. All three coaches have resigned from their jobs as middle schoolteachers have apologized. So, there was some fallout.
HOLMES: Remind me again how old are these kids?
CARTER: Eighth grade.
HOLMES: Eight grade kids. What is that? Thirteen or so, somewhere in there? Have we heard from the kids?
CARTER: Don't have any word from the kids just yet.
HOLMES: This is an interesting debate actually because some will tell you, why are you rewarding, what, third, fourth, fifth? I think in young athletics at what point do you teach kids, you came in sixth -- why should you get a reward?
CARTER: I think, you know, younger kids, you're talking about, you know, fourth, fifth-grader, hey, you got a trophy, good job, good sportsmanship. HOLMES: Yes.
CARTER: As you get older, it's like strive for excellence, strive to be first, try to be the best.
HOLMES: He burned them. That's hard core.
All right. Let's turn to halftime, $25,000 on the line.
CARTER: Twenty-five thousand dollars on the line, make a shot and you can have a lot of cash. It's at a Florida-Texas A&M game. This fan gets the ball, and as you see on the video, pops it up and it goes, which is great.
And I love the end of this because it is at the University of Florida. So, of course, he's a big Gator fan which means he has to be a big Tim Tebow fan. And, of course, Tebow and the Tebowing is the phenomenon that's --
HOLMES: And there it is.
CARTER: And there is it is -- which is a great segue to today's conversation to end on the fact that, yes, they are playing the Broncos and Patriots are playing today, everyone talking about Tim Tebow possibly winning his eighth game in last nine starts.
HOLMES: He will.
CARTER: I think he will, too.
HOLMES: How are you going to bet against Tebow at this point?
CARTER: Have you seen Tebowing.com? It's a Web site --
HOLMES: I have. A friend of mine introduced me to it.
CARTER: Phenomenal. If you guys haven't seen it yet, Tebowing.com is an incredible Web site. People taking pictures their prayer pose all over the world. Unbelievable Web site, Tebowing.
Full disclosure: I'm a huge Broncos fan.
HOLMES: OK, there it is. You know, this is kind after another sports-related story. Let's go ahead and roll this video here.
This was at Cowboy Stadium last night after a high school football game. Look at this. This golf cart takes off and looks like -- nobody's saying this is what happened, but the way it was going, it was a direct hit for these folks.
CARTER: You know, I saw a YouTube video and the cart was actually tucked away in the corner of the field and it just suddenly started running. So, it got about 50 yards worth of momentum before hit this group of people. And one of the people that's got scooped up here was the head coach of the winning football team. It was like a 5A state championship game at Texas stadium. Excuse me, Cowboy Stadium.
But he was actually doing an interview with a media person and he had no idea it was coming. No one. So, two people I think had to go to the hospital.
HOLMES: Had to go to the hospital for this. We don't know how serious those injuries are, just a horrible scene there. They finally got it stopped.
But -- all right. Joe, thanks as always, my man.
CARTER: Thanks so much.
HOLMES: We're about 23 minutes past the hour. We've been talking a lot this morning about the story on a lot of people's minds and you've seen the pictures -- the war is over. The last convoy of U.S. troops rolled out overnight.
But a lot was left behind, including hundreds of bases. So, what's going to happen to all that empty space? We've got an example of a new super city being proposed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STAFF SGT. JAMES COLQUITT, U.S. ARMY: Hi. I'm Staff Sergeant James Colquitt, currently deployed to Southwest Asia. I'd like to send holiday greetings to my mom Jane Colquitt (ph) in Nashville, Tennessee. Love you guys, hope to see you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Now, Nadia Bilchik is joining us for our "Morning Passport."
And, yes, it's been years in Iraq -- nine years. That's a lot stuff --
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: That's a lot of money --
HOLMES: A lot money.
BILCHIK: -- a lot of infrastructure, and around 505 military bases.
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: So, what the Americans did was give back most of the military bases, about 500 to Iraq. Half of those will become Iraqi military bases, but some of those bases have been auctioned off and one that was auction off was Camp Bucca, named in memory of the Fire Marshal Bucca, in memory of fire marshal and his sacrifice, and having died on 9/11 while rescuing people.
So, Camp Bucca has been auctioned off and it's both a hotel and a logistics center. So, the idea is, instead of a doorman, you get a gunman. So you get a high-security hotel.
HOLMES: So, the hotel is already there.
BILCHIK: The hotel is already there. Now, it's more of a motel than a five-star hotel. And I spoke to somebody who stayed there, he said it's not exactly luxury but it's utilitarian. And for people involved in the oil industry, it's very, very usual.
Now, what you see is a proposal for plans. They would like to turn this into more of a center, a container storage oil for the oil industry -- bearing in mind this particular base is right near the old fields. So, oil and service companies are operating nearby, so that will be their clientele.
HOLMES: So, they auction it off again. Again, all the money goes back to the Iraqi government?
BILCHIK: All goes to the Iraqi government. Look, it was below land value. Think about this -- the Americans give the military bases back to the Iraqis.
The Iraqis auction this off to Kufan, which is a construction company. They make use of the infrastructure. You're seeing the plans. Think about electricity.
Great -- all the infrastructure that goes into having generators. They're providing water for 5,000 people in the area. So it's a very good commercial use of the military base.
HOLMES: And what we're seeing here is really way down the road, right?
BILCHIK: You're saying way down the line. You're seeing what Kufan, a construction company -- and the area is about the size of Disneyland. So, you're seeing what they're proposing for this area, brilliantly located near the oil fields.
So, on a very positive level, what are we looking at? We're looking at from a war torn country to a booming oil industry. On a negative front, you are saying does a hotel have to be like a prison in order for you to stay there?
HOLMES: Another chapter is going to be written but maybe this is positive. We can look forward to some economic development there. Maybe this is something that could work, a lot of bases there.
BILCHIK: Certainly a visionary this particular construction company to say how can we make best use of the infrastructure that already exists.
HOLMES: Nadia Bilchik, with our "Morning Passport." There it is. Maybe we'll see this down the road -- a grand opening down the road, you'll go cover that one.
All right. Nadia --
BILCHIK: That would be nice, a grand opening in Iraq.
HOLMES: Nadia, thank you, as always.
We're just coming up on the bottom of the hour now.
A lot of people have to adjust to life after deployment. And we're talking to a military chaplain to find out how they can help. A good conversation we want you to hear in today's "Faces of Faith."
Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Right at the bottom of the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'll give you a look at some of the stories making headlines now.
Testimony is expected to resume this morning in the pre-trial hearing of Army Private Bradley Manning. He's accused of leaking more than a quarter million classified U.S. military documents that eventually ended up on the WikiLeaks Web site. He is the shorter guy -- you can't see him that well -- but he's the shorter one being escorted out there. Manning faces 22 counts of violating military code including the most serious of the charges, aiding the enemy.
Also search and rescue operations under way after a migrant boat sank off the coast of Java in Indonesia. Two people confirmed dead more than 100 still missing. Emergency officials telling CNN almost 90 people have been rescued. 200 people were on-board the wooden boat when it capsized it was traveling to the Australian territory of Christmas Island.
Also Southern Baptist owned Life Way Christian Resources recalling its Pink Pierce Hope Breast Cancer Bible. They say sales of the Bible benefited a charity with ties to Planned Parenthood. The pink bibles were being sold at Wal-Mart stores and other major retailers; $1 for each copy sold was going to a Dallas-based cancer foundation.
We're turning to our "Faces of Faith" segment this morning. And on the battlefield military chaplains help service members cope with traumatic events of war. Now that the troops from Iraq at least are coming home chaplains are helping with a different kind of stress.
Joining me now Air Force Captain Jeffrey McMillen, chaplain at Robins Air Force Base right here in Georgia.
Good morning. Good to have you in for this conversation with us and I know a lot of people are in a way celebrating and happy to see this coming to the end but what did you know is coming in terms of the challenges when they get back home?
CAPTAIN JEFFREY K. MCMILLEN, CHAPLAIN, ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE: Well good morning T.J. First of all I want to thank you. It's an honor to be here. There is definitely a lot of challenges that our military members face when they come home. Adjustments after being away from home is -- is great, both personally and for their families as well.
HOLMES: How much do you see that -- that's over time -- over the past nine years here, this war, I mean, still a war going on in Afghanistan as well, do they oftentimes question their faith?
MCMILLEN: You know, actually it's interesting, in the deployed environment, many military members will tell you that it's actually a highlight in their journey of faith.
HOLMES: Yes.
MCMILLEN: You know many of the distractions from -- from being at home are grooved and you're very focused on what you are doing. And yet at the same time you're facing the challenges of life and death. And so it draws you very close to your faith as well.
HOLMES: And as a chaplain here we talk -- you deal with religion a lot, but how much of it is just serving as a counselor, maybe not something based in religion?
MCMILLEN: That's true. We as chaplains are chaplains to all members regardless of their faith background.
HOLMES: Yes.
MCMILLEN: And so yes, we do a lot of counseling for marriage, personal issues, family issues, we take care of a broad spectrum.
HOLMES: How difficult do -- how do you help people kind of get a handle on that? Because we know the -- the divorce rate is really high -- I mean it's high in the country in general, in the general population, but certainly high among members of the military.
I guess what are some of the unique challenges for a member of the military coming back from a war zone having to cope with a certain type of stress there and then you walk into a different kind of environment in your home?
MCMILLEN: Yes. And it is a stark contrast.
HOLMES: Yes.
MCMILLEN: At home, in a deployed setting you are used to making very quick decisions, dealing with traumatic events. And then you come back home and it's much more of a normal environment. And just emotionally it is difficult to re-adjust how to respond, even when I was deployed and came home I didn't expect that I would have as much adjustment as I did have.
HOLMES: Now you are -- from a personal experience you're bringing up there, you said the adjustment for you even surprised you.
MCMILLEN: It did. It did. In fact, I had military members tell me while I was deployed to expect up to six months before you really feel normal again and I found that to be true. I doubted it, but it is certainly true. It took me that long. HOLMES: How scary and even dangerous for a lot of these members of the military who are over in a war zone, you always got somebody right by you who's got your back, who cares, who knows you day in and day out who can identify if something is a little off or a little wrong. I mean, how much of a danger is it that they don't have that when they come home, nobody's really able to be there and be that wing man to identify something that might be going on?
MCMILLEN: Excellent and that's exactly what we encourage our troops to be everywhere they are, is to be a wing man. In fact I have a success story just from this past summer. That a -- an airman told me hey, I've got a buddy of mine who I really think could have -- use talking to someone and it would be really helpful to him. And found out that he was very close to taking his own life and I credit the airman for taking care of his fellow airman to be able to make that possible that he would get the help he needed.
HOLMES: Now do something here. Give people some advice, whether they are the spouse living in the house, the uncle, the cousin, the friend, the neighbor, a lot of these members of the military are coming home. What do we need to do to support them when they come home?
MCMILLEN: I think to me, whether you're in or out of the military, a strong sense of community is critical. Now if there's one thing we're lacking in our society generally, is that community where we really depend on each other. And when our troops come home, they need their fellow man and woman whether they are military or not to say, you know what I'm here for you, no matter what you need.
HOLMES: I guess on the other flip side of that, talk to those members of the military. I know you all try to stress this but you know these are -- these are some tough guys and gals and they are used to taking care of themselves and others.
(CROSSTALK)
MCMILLEN: That's true.
HOLMES: -- on stressful situations and being able to handle it but they're not used to sometimes taking care of themselves when they get back and reaching out for that help.
MCMILLEN: Well that's one thing the military does very well. Is it prepares its military members to not see reaching out for help as a sign of weakness but strength.
HOLMES: Yes.
MCMILLEN: That you cannot live on your own without anybody else to help you. You've got to have people with you.
HOLMES: All right, well Captain McMillen, thank you so much for coming in and being a part of this conversation. And a lot of people are certainly happy to see that last convoy come out but a lot of challenges as we all know still ahead. Thank you so much. Good to see you this morning.
MCMILLEN: Thank you T.J.
HOLMES: All right, we're 37 minutes past the hour.
If you want to hear more about our conversation here and also just all things related to faith and belief, you can go to our believe blog at cnn.com/belief and share your thoughts there.
And we're going to check back in with Reynolds Wolf here in just a moment -- or this moment. I hear him making some -- some noise back there. Are you ready, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Dude. I'm always ready. Always ready to talk about weather. And we have a heck of a storm that's brewing over parts of the Four Corners eventually bringing some heavy snow possibly to parts of the Central and Southern Plains.
We're talking up to a foot in some locations. It could be brutal. That can mind with the strong winds could give us whiteout conditions very tough times for travelers. T.J., we're going to touch on that coming up. Plus we're going to let you know what this may mean for other places the next several days.
Let's send it back to you.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, thanks so much. We'll see you in just a moment.
And the conversation we've been having this morning and the story everybody will be talking about -- the last U.S. military convoy rolled across the border from Iraq into Kuwait overnight. You may have missed this. Overnight you may have been sleeping but what you're seeing there is not just as simple as a gate closing. That is an historic moment, a symbolic moment and really the end of a long journey that has really defined the lives of so many families and members of our military.
Our Joe Johns will be with me in a second. We're getting ready for CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION"; ask him about the end of this military involvement.
Stay with us.
Also coming up for you Dr. Sanjay Gupta he's got a new show, another new show. It's called "THE NEXT LIST". Each week the profile is different kinds of endeavors and this week he is talking to an interactive artist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT SNIBBE, INTERACTIVE ARTIST: Now before the iPad I used to joke that I make useless programs. But they are as useless as a song, a movie, a story, something like that. And all of a sudden with the iPad I could just go directly to people and say check this thing out. It doesn't even -- we don't even have to label what it is. It is just called Gravel X. It's called Bubble Harp. See if you like it. And all of a sudden they did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So you can catch that on Sundays, "THE NEXT LIST," with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We can set that DVR for 2:00 Eastern time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: As we get close to the top of the hour getting ready for "STATE OF THE UNION" with Joe Johns in today for Candy Crowley. My man, Joe; I've missed you the last couple times you been to Atlanta I'm sorry about that but good to see you here out of D.C. A lot of the -- the Senate working yesterday; did they get something done?
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes well -- they passed -- they passed a tax cut extension, as you know. And this thing -- if you went to bed last night thinking all right, that $1,000 that I wanted in my paycheck over the next year is a done deal, apparently it's not. The House of Representatives has got to take that up and what we're hearing this morning from the House is they're not happy at all about this two-month extension. They think there should have been a 12- month extension.
So we're going to get an opportunity to talk to Gene Sperling of the National Economic Council and a couple of senators; Roy Blunt in fact who is a member of the Senate Leadership and Robert Menendez, a Democrat. I want to ask them, what do we do now? This is the week before Christmas. And the Senate has done what it's going to do. We thought the Senate was going away.
Now the House of Representatives has to weigh in. How are they going to get this deal done before the beginning of the year? A little bit more brinkmanship on Capitol Hill which has been just a very controversial year if you will T.J., for the United States Congress.
HOLMES: Oh have faith in Congress, Joe. What's wrong with you? Of course they'll get all this done on the American people's behalf.
JOHNS: You said it.
HOLMES: Let's move on, yes. Presidential politics here now; you got a presidential candidate with you today?
JOHNS: That's right. Yes I'm going to talk to Jon Huntsman, the former Governor of New Hampshire -- I'm sorry, he's the Governor of Utah. I say New Hampshire because he's there so much. He's trying to -- to get a win or at least do very well and we're going to sit down and talk to him a little bit about policies, about the things he's thinking.
A lot of people say of course he is a conservative. But he's really reaching out to Independents and so we want to try to quiz him on that and find out what he thinks he's going to be able to do in order to get ahead of Mitt Romney who is the guy who is presumed to be doing the best in New Hampshire, if you will, right now. And not to mention everything else in presidential politics. You know, we're just a couple weeks away from the Iowa caucuses.
HOLMES: All right lastly, just give us the rest of your rundown. What else have you got going on?
JOHNS: Right, ok well the other thing of course is the thing you sort of promo there and that is the end of the Iraq war, the last troops leaving. Did we get it right? You know, if you look at the polls, it is very close. A lot of Americans don't think we actually achieved our aims in Iraq.
You know, what about the President? Will he be able to claim a victory here? Do people really care about that? And going forward, what is Iraq going to look like and what is going to be the relationship between the United States and Iraq as we go forward.
We've got a lot to talk about here. And really looking at the place of the United States in history on this weekend right before we get to the New Year, T.J.
HOLMES: Got a lot going on. Joe Johns on "STATE OF THE UNION" --
JOHNS: You bet.
HOLMES: Always good to see you. And folks, you'll see more of Joe Johns here in just a few minutes. He's less than 15 minutes away; 9:00 Eastern time, 6:00 Pacific, Joe Johns hosting "STATE OF THE UNION".
We've been talking a lot about that last ride out of Iraq this morning and we're on-board as that final convoy of U.S. troops crosses the border. We'll take you along.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TECH. SGT. ROLANDO MARTINEZ, U.S. ARMY: I'm Technical Sergeant Rolando Martinez. I'm here in Southwest Asia. This greetings is going to my parents, family and friends in Enterprise, Alabama. Happy holidays, I love you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We're about 12 minutes off the top of the hour. Give you a look at some of the stories making news cross-country.
Police in Atlanta are investigating the shooting death of a young rapper. Slim Dunkin' is the name he goes by as far as the rapping, but his real name is Mario Hamilton. He was shot and killed at an Atlanta recording studio.
Also, police in North Carolina have arrested at least six Occupy Raleigh protesters. They were part of a group of about 20 to 30 protesters who blocked the downtown street, refused to move when ordered. Also a North Carolina man has survived a close encounter with a garbage truck compacter. Police say the 24-year-old Trinity Lunsford climbed into a dumpster trying to find a lost necklace. He was picked up with the trash, thrown into the back of a garbage truck and was squeezed by the compacter four times before he was discovered.
It is over. The last convoy of U.S. troops has crossed into Kuwait.
That was about 500 U.S. service members from Fort Hood, Texas. They were traveling in about 110 military vehicles. They made a five- hour overnight trip from Camp Adder into Kuwait. The route cleared of any roadside bombs by the first elements of that convoy. Navy, Air Force and Marine aircraft covered the convoy from above.
And at the border crossing we caught up with one of the commanders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. JACK VANTRESS, U.S. ARMY: It is a feeling of elation. It really does to see what we've accomplish in the last 8 1/2 years, then to be part of the last movement out of Iraq is hard to put words to it right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Combat operations in Iraq ended August 31st of last year. This is a historic drawdown, the largest since the war in Vietnam. This last convoy of U.S. troops, so now that it's gone and crossed the border while you were sleeping, what was it like to be in that final convoy? Our Martin Savidge rode along.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still riding in the convoy, the one that left Iraq at 2:30 in the morning from Camp Adder, now in friendly territory of Kuwait on their way to Camp Virginia. It was a five-hour drive through the darkness.
I'm riding with the protection of the one I came in which is this MRAP, this very large armored vehicle that we're inside but also with the help of some military police MPs from the First Cav Division out of Ft. Hood.
They were the ones that provided the security for this final convoy and that's no small measure, of course, because there were very, very strong security concerns. That's why there was all the secrecy to make sure that the last convoy out of Iraq wasn't going to leave on December 31st, the deadline set by President Obama, but instead left some weeks earlier.
The idea there to make sure that anybody who might have been planning some sort of attack wouldn't really know when the last Americans would leave. It seems to have worked well. There were no reports of any attacks, no reports of any IEDs. There was a lot of cover overhead. Aircraft and still traveling in convoy can be a bit difficult so we are slowing down here. But for the most part, it's been a problem-free run all the way from Iraq into history.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Kuwait.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: As we get close to the bottom of the hour now, getting close to "STATE OF THE UNION" with Joe Johns; he's in for Candy Crowley today. He's coming up at the top of the hour.
We'll check your headlines for you.
Also, we're going to try to keep Reynolds Wolf from crying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TECH. SGT. KEVIN OLSON, U.S. ARMY: I'm Tech. Sgt. Kevin Olson with the 70th Medium Truck Detachment out of Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. We'd like to wish everybody back home a happy holiday.
Happy holidays.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Stories making headlines now.
Reports out of the Czech Republic say the nation's former president, Vaclav Havel, one of the leading anti-communist dissidents of the '70s and '80s has died. The playwright turned political activities spent 4 1/2 years in prison for opposing the Czechoslovakia's communist government before emerging as a leader of the Velvet Revolution that swept it aside in 1989. Havel was 79 years old.
Also, alumni of Florida A&M University holding a news conference a little later today; expected to announce their support to the embattled university president, James Ammons. You see him getting out of the vehicle there. Florida's governor has called for the suspension of the president in light of an ongoing hazing scandal. One drum major of the school band died in a hazing -- a suspected hazing incident. Three suspects have been arrested in a separate incident.
And it started as shock and awe nearly nine years ago. It ends in sand and dust on a desert highway into neighboring Kuwait this morning. The last convoy of U.S. troops has left Iraq, arriving in Camp Virginia in Kuwait. That symbolic closing of the gate at the border crossing -- yes, simple enough, closing a gate, but awfully symbolic there.
About three minutes to the top of the hour with "STATE OF THE UNION" with Joe Johns. Reynolds is going to try to do us some weather here but because of schedules, Reynolds won't be here for Christmas next weekend. He'll be off with the family. I will be here next weekend but next weekend is my last as I am moving on to another venture.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You're not making me sad.
HOLMES: I'm not trying to make you sad but I'm saying this last three minutes --
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: This is the last -- you and I have been together five years on this show. These are our last three minutes.
WOLF: There are people that usually get cured of diseases in less time than five years. The thing is we are not co-workers. We're family. I'm going to see you again. You're not getting rid of me. I'm not going to go there with the sad stuff.
In fact before I start crying or something, let's do weather. Come on, let's just do weather. This is ridiculous.
All right, here's what we have right now. We are watching this big storm system that is in parts of the desert southwest. It's going to pull its way into the Four Corners. That's part one. What it's going to do over the next 12 to 36 hours could be very troubling.
What we anticipate is that it could be a big snowmaker, possibly a blizzard maker for parts of Texas and even into say parts of Oklahoma before all is said and done. It could be very rough. We've got a lot of called air on the screen funneling in from the north. Right now the highs that we're expecting today, not too impressive, mainly some 40s and 50s but it's really going to be the turning point tomorrow when that low lifts into the southern plains where you're really going to have that really hard punch from the cold air.
Overriding moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is going to supply the moisture. And yes, the combination of all those things will give us a chance of a big wintry blitz. Of course Jacqui Jeras is going to have more on that coming up throughout the day.
So again, T.J., come on back up here, man. I have no idea. I was told to bring up this panel.
HOLMES: Something people don't know -- I give Reynolds a hard time. You all can see this camera. I've been doing this for years. He does his weathercast, I'll be on the side here trying to get him to crack. He never does.
WOLF: Unbelievable. You wouldn't believe.
HOLMES: I had to do it one more thing.
WOLF: I mean he does things between -- like juggling, stuffing a turkey, knitting socks, all kinds of weird stuff to distract me. It usually works. It usually works.
HOLMES: But really, I hope it's been evident to our viewers -- you all have been great to us over the past five years, of course. But I think it's been evident that this is just not some colleague of mine. Reynolds clearly is a friend. You can tell by the interaction we've had on the air.
WOLF: It is the same on the air as it has been off the air.
HOLMES: It's always been the same, sometimes to management's chagrin.
WOLF: Absolutely. But you are family. You're family and it's going to be the same -- you're not going away (ph) -- we'll just see each other on different schedules. But it's been an honor. It truly has.
HOLMES: My man Reynolds.
WOLF: My brother, I love you to death, seriously. But yes, Christmas, it will be interesting. You're going to be here with just a skeleton. Unfortunately the way the holidays work, our executive producers are not going to be here. Of course, I won't be there. It's going to be empty. A lot of people.
HOLMES: Thank you guys for abandoning me on my last weekend here.
WOLF: This is family. This is what we do. It's good stuff.
HOLMES: Reynolds, again, not saying good-bye to him at all. We spend more time off the air than we do on the air anyway so we'll continue that.
But to all of you all -- thank you. That's it for me and Reynolds at least on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We're going to hand this thing over to "STATE OF THE UNION" with Joe Johns. He's filling in today for Candy Crowley. Talking Iraq and talking about presidential politics. Thanks guys.
