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CNN Live Sunday

Details on Pat Tillman Investigation; Preparation for Hurricane Season; Emergency Aid Reaching Indonesia; Taliban's Organized Attacks in Afghanistan

Aired May 28, 2006 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SINGING)
CAROL LIN, ANCHOR: Remembering those lost in war while honoring those who continue the fight. Straight ahead, we're going to examine the state of war, and the state of the U.S. military on this Memorial Day weekend.

It's Sunday, May 28, and you're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Carol Lin, and these are the stories making news right now.

We're still following developments in Indonesia where the death toll is now rising after that devastating earthquake yesterday. More than 4,600 people have died and 200,000 people lost their homes. Rescue crews are on the scene searching for survivors, and emergency aid has finally started to arrive.

At least 24 Iraqi civilians were killed last November in the city of Haditha. But was it a massacre carried out by U.S. Marines? Well the Senate Armed Services Committee says it's going to investigate.

Now, they don't know if they'd make it through the night. There was a mayday call yesterday to the Coast Guard, and the Coast Guard rescued five Canadian men from a battered sailboat off the coast of Nantucket. They're reportedly in good shape.

And Barry Bonds hits home run number 715 to pass Babe Ruth in the career home run list. Bonds is now in second place behind Hank Aaron, and we're waiting for a news conference for the latest.

In the meantime, a star is born. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are celebrating the birth of their daughter, Shiloh. Security is extremely tight in Namibia, the African nation where mom and daughter are said to be doing very well.

This is our top story -- Indonesia's killer earthquake. The death toll now tops 4,600, and scores more are injured. And another 200,000 people are left homeless. That's like an entire city. CNN's Dan Rivers is there.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm standing in what's left of the village of Mbulus Kulon, a small community of some 4,000 people. The locals here say that about 95 percent of the standing buildings have now crumbled into rubble like the one behind me. Of the 4,000 people that used to live here, some 2,000 have been ferried away to local hospitals with severe injuries, with broken bones. And 12 people here have been killed.

We've seen the cemetery in this little village and the newly cut graves, the mourning relatives. It's a real traumatized atmosphere here as people come to terms with what has happened to this tiny village. And this has been repeated right across this earthquake- stricken area.

The death toll is climbing all the while now. And as you can see behind me, there is a heavy storm with torrential rain which is making it miserable for the people who have had to flee their homes, and who are now making due in temporary shelters, in tents, in this weather. It's really pretty difficult for them to cook. They're having to survive on what they have salvaged from their homes.

So far, this area has received very little help from the Indonesian army. The Indonesian army -- we have seen soldiers out. They're doing what they can. But clearly they are extremely overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this earthquake. Dan Rivers, Mbulus Kulon, CNN, Indonesia.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: So finally, emergency aid is now reaching Indonesia, some 40 hours after this quake. But relief efforts there are nothing new. You'll recall the killer tsunami that hit there in December of 2004. And the lessons learned from it are now being practiced with earthquake relief.

JAN EGELAND, U.N. UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL: We are committed to make this a better coordinated effort than even the tsunami relief effort was. It was most difficult than Aceh. This is an area where it's easier to reach. Infrastructure is making it easy for us to reach people faster.

LIN: Jan Egeland is the U.N. undersecretary general. Now, if you would like to help, the Indonesian government is desperately seeking aid. So you can call the Red Cross at 1-800-Red-Cross or go to the Web site, RedCross.org.

Now, amazingly, two more quakes hit in the Papua New Guinea and the island nation of Tango area today. Both struck within minutes of each other. Now, there are no reports of casualties or damage. But geologists believe today's quakes are unrelated to the one in Indonesia.

Pope Benedict XVI is back in Rome. He left Poland today after an emotional visit to Auschwitz. Now for the German-born Pope, the trip was highly symbolic and very moving. Here's our Tim Lister.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A moment of great poignancy for Pope Benedict XVI, as he entered Auschwitz beneath its infamous motto, work shall set you free. When this was a place of evil, he was an unwilling recruit into the Nazi Army.

As church bells peeled in the background, the Pope walked between the prisoner blocks where about 1.5 million people spent their last days and weeks. He stopped to pray at the place where tens of thousands were killed as part of the final solution -- the Wall of Death. And he placed a candle at the wall in their memory.

And then Pope Benedict met 32 aging survivors of Auschwitz, many of them frail, some wearing the blue and white scarves of the prisoner's uniform. One offered him a photograph. Others somehow managed to smile in the place that had inflicted so much horror.

The Pope appeared moved as he visited the cell where a Franciscan monk starved to death after voluntarily taking the place of a condemned prisoner with a family. At nearby Birkenau, where prisoners were led straight from trains to gas chambers and crematoria, the Pope paused in the drizzle before memorials to the dead. And then, a rainbow suddenly illuminated the scene.

Addressing a crowd of several thousand, the Pope said he'd come as a son of Germany. To speak in this place of horror, he said, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man is almost impossible. And, it's particularly difficult for a Christian, for a Pope from Germany, he said. He added that, in trying to exterminate the Jews, the Nazis ultimately wanted to tear up the roots of the Christian faith.

Earlier on this final day of his tour of Poland, a more joyous event, as the Pope greeted nearly a million Poles at a three-hour mass in Krakow. He told the crowd that Poland became a special place for the faith when his predecessor John Paul II was elected Pope. And he urged Poles to be a beacon of faith in an evermore secular world.

A day of contrasts for Benedict XVI, one that both celebrated and challenged the human spirit. Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: Professor Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor who wrote the book "Night" -- and he won the Nobel Peace Prize as well -- is going to be my guest tonight at 10 o'clock Eastern on "CNN SUNDAY NIGHT."

Well, it may look and sound more like bike week in Daytona Beach or Sturgis, South Dakota. But this is Washington, D.C. -- the bikers, members of Rolling Thunder. The veterans' group spent Veteran's Day weekend riding in support of prisoners of war and soldiers still missing in action.

Though we are looking at people burying their remembrances at the Vietnam War Memorial there. And we're going to focus much of this hour on the state of war and the U.S. military. We're going to take a long, hard look at the war in Iraq -- where we are three years into the mission, and what some may call the forgotten war. Why Afghanistan and the Taliban are once again grabbing headlines.

Plus, new details tonight into the death of former NFL star turned army ranger Pat Tillman. On paper, accusations of negligence and deceit.

And we're going to take a closer look at our U.S. troops deployed closer to home along the U.S.-Mexico border.

First, to Iraq and Afghanistan -- two countries that share at least one thing -- a volatile and very active insurgency. CNN's Barbara Starr has the story from the Afghan capital.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

(NO AUDIO)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- place today. But in other parts of Afghanistan, especially in the south, violence is again on the rise. The Taliban have been conducting a number of organized attacks. U.S. military officials say parts of Afghanistan are getting to be as dangerous as Iraq.

There are several worrying signs. U.S. military intelligence says in recent months, Taliban fighters at times have been able to cross freely into southern Afghanistan. Roadside bombings and suicide attacks are on the rise. The Taliban have closely watched the insurgent success in Iraq. There's even been evidence the Taliban is conducting rudimentary training inside Afghanistan.

Kandahar, where the Taliban first rose to power, is now the center of much of the recent violence. Afghan president Hamid Karzai and the top U.S. commander, General Karl Eikenberry, have been there to try to appeal for calm. But U.S. intelligence officials say there are parts of the region where the Taliban are in control. U.S. and coalition forces are just beginning a series of combat operations against the Taliban that are now expected to continue through much of the summer.

The Taliban really never went away, say U.S. intelligence officials. They've just been waiting it out until now -- four and a half years after they were chased out of power. The war here, U.S. officials say, is definitely not over. Barbara Starr, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LIN: Retired major general and CNN military analyst, James "Spider" Marks joins me now live from Washington. Spider, good to have you.

MAJOR GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET): Hi Carol.

LIN: The beginning of Barbara Starr's piece was to illustrate, you know, the food markets are busy, flowers are being sold, happy children are walking around the streets. And yet, there has been the fiercest fighting in southern Afghanistan since the 2001 war. So the situation there shows that the situation is escalating. It's not deescalating. And, in fact, more U.S. troops are heading to Afghanistan. So what do you make of the situation? MARKS: Well, I tell you, Carol. It's complex terrain in Afghanistan. That's a military term for telling you that it's very compartmentalized. It's very difficult to make a very firm presence, unless you physically put a lot of troops on the ground, both marines and soldiers. And that's the real challenge right now is what is enough in order to stabilize the region?

Plus, they're very porous borders. There are safe havens in Pakistan. There's not enough going on in terms of Pakistani forces working aggressively along the border there. They would tell you they're waiting for and trying to develop actionable intelligence to after some of those pockets, so that they can get at them before they cross into Afghanistan. But that truly is the heart of the issue, is what's enough? And what does the terrain look like down there? It's very, very compartmentalized, very tough to operate.

LIN: Tough to operate. You've got tribal warfare going on. Doesn't the situation in Afghanistan look more and more like the situation in Iraq, as insurgents in Afghanistan learn from what's happening on the ground in Iraq?

MARKS: Certainly there is a -- there's an acknowledged transfer of lessons among insurgents from those that are fighting in Iraq and those that are fighting in Afghanistan and elsewhere in southwest Asia. So clearly, one group can learn from another, and in many cases you'll have folks that have been involved in both.

The similarities are somewhat different, clearly, in that what you have in Afghanistan is a government with a little bit more maturity and some development. Clearly, there's corruption that is within the government. It's a burgeoning, growing government.

LIN: But very little control outside of Kabul to the north.

MARKS: Well, there are many challenges of control throughout the countryside because of the terrain. And again, because advanced poverty is still there, lack of education in many cases. You now have the nexus of drugs and terrorism that's taking place in Afghanistan. So, these hosts of challenges are being addressed. It's just what is enough? How much force can be placed on the ground to go after it? How are the Afghani forces growing and training? And how much of the U.S. and the growing NATO presence?

LIN: Right. But the same -- outside of the NATO presence I mean, the same question's being asked in Iraq. And there's even a question now whether NATO can take over security controls in southern Afghanistan. And then you have a situation in Iraq where, OK, there's a parliament in place. What happened to the promise of troop withdrawals, of some kind of draw-down on U.S. forces in Iraq?

MARKS: Carol, I don't know that there ever really has been a promise. Not --

LIN: Certainly implied -- if not a promise, then it was implied that once the parliament was together, that the Iraqi forces were gaining territory and responsibility, that U.S. forces could at least draw down.

MARKS: Carol, that's absolutely correct. Clearly, the metric for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is the maturity and the capability of their Iraqi security forces -- all types of security forces. And so clearly, you can draw that causal link between those two events. But there's never been a promise that the forces are going to be reduced. There are expectations and there are hopes that the forces will be reduced.

But the challenges remain. And until those metrics are met, until the Iraqi forces can step up, expectations are that by the end of the '07, Iraqi forces will own, from soup to nuts, from top to bottom, the security. But that doesn't mean that U.S. forces will automatically be withdrawn.

LIN: Spider, stay right there. We're going to take a quick break. But I want to invite our audience to stay for a couple of minutes. I'm going to continue my discussion with Spider Marks, because now you've got a situation where national troops are being called to the U.S.-Mexico border. How is that going to affect the war overseas and right here at home against illegal immigration?

Also, he was killed in the line of duty two years ago. Why are there still so many questions about the death of former NFL player turned army ranger Pat Tillman? We have a CNN investigation. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We have taken a look at Iraq and Afghanistan. And now we want to take a closer look at home -- the status of security here in the United States, and how it's affected by the military presence overseas. Let's bring back Major General Spider Marks, our military analyst. Spider, I want to share with the audience and with you something that George W. Bush said back in 1999.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America must be involved in the world. But that does not mean our military is the answer to every difficult policy situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: That was his direct criticism of Bill Clinton's intervention in Kosovo and in Haiti. Now, a situation here where we have troops what seems like all over the place -- a commitment in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now a commitment to send national troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Is that stretching forces too far?

MARKS: We certainly have our U.S. military stretched, and it's stretched thin. But it's extremely resilient. It is not at risk of breaking. You know, the United States military is in over 120 countries around the world at all times, and in advance of Iraq, and in advance in Afghanistan. It was about that number. So my point is the military is used to this type of operational tempo. And so, missions along the border frankly are not new, number one. This is not a new mission set for the military. The military's been involved in border missions for probably the last 20 years. Personally, I was involved from 1990 on, on a number of missions along the border, both active forces and reserve forces.

So this is not a new mission set. This isn't something that hasn't been worked through many times before, that the military hasn't thought about, down to the very lowest levels. So these are not contingency plans taken off the shelf that haven't already been worked through many times before.

LIN: Well Spider, does it really make America safer? I mean, you know, nobody can really gauge, you know, the so-called threat from illegal immigrants. I mean, we didn't have an Osama bin Laden cross from Mexico into the United States. So how much of an impact are these troops going to have?

MARKS: Well, we sure could have somebody coming across the border at any time in the future. And we don't know that it hasn't already happened in the form of sleeper cells and the injection of some guys who really mean us harm.

See, the point of the matter is our borders -- this is a national issue. You don't need to talk to me about a policy issue. But in terms of the military being involved, it is a -- it is a match of skill sets and challenges. And the forces that are going to be used along the board are going to be executing missions that they execute routinely, that they have routinely been asked to do.

Infantry units are going to apply their forces and apply their soldiers in infantry tactics. Intelligence units will be used to gather intelligence, fuse that intelligence, and then hand it off to law enforcement agencies, so that they can use it in the apprehension and the further following of potential bad guys -- transportation units, etcetera. Units that are going to be used will be used in areas and in functions where they should be.

So, how you measure that Carol is based on the value that those local law enforcement agencies can give you in terms of the reduction in the crossings.

LIN: What do you say, though, to military families? When we talk about the National Guard, these are citizen soldiers. I mean, this is, you know, the dentist and the insurance guy -- you know, these people who gave up their careers to serve their country -- but a never-ending battle for the families who wait for them to come home.

MARKS: Carol, you can never thank those families and those soldiers and marines and all service members enough and those in the National Guard. I mean, just think about it. What you just described is the challenge that happens every day -- the desire to serve the nation and the desire to try to make it better for your family and a National Guardsman who signs up for periodic service.

Since 9/11, National Guard reserves, and all active service members, have really been putting it out there in a very, very high operational tempo. So we're asking a lot of them. Carol, the very simple answer is you tell them thank you, thank you for your service, and try to stay the course.

LIN: As they do. Thank you very much. Major General Spider Marks. Great to have you.

MARKS: Thanks, Carol.

LIN: Well, this holiday weekend, we also want to take time to remember the fallen military men and women. And one of their stories remains shrouded in questions. Pat Tillman, the football star turned soldier, and his death in Afghanistan. We've been digging for details and uncovered more about his final mission, a CNN investigation coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: You are looking at history being made as Barry Bonds hits it out of the park, a home run, the 715th which made him only the second -- second to Hank Aaron's record of career home runs there. Hitting it there at the AT&T Ballpark.

And the guy who caught the ball? Just the average guy -- 38- year-old Andrew Morbitzer who happened to be going to get something to drink and eat when he heard the roar of the crowd. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MORBITZER, CAUGHT HOME RUN BALL: We were down -- so I went down. She stayed in the stands. And I went down to just to get a couple of beers. And I was going to get her peanuts and a barbecue sandwich. And the one place wouldn't sell the barbecue sandwich -- told me to go next door. As I walked up, I heard the roar, looked up and saw everybody reaching into the air. And the ball came over, and I snagged it. And the brilliant men of SFPD got right around me and took me away immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know it was Barry's ball that was coming over?

MORBITZER: I did. Because once I got downstairs, and I started trying to figure out where to get the peanuts from, I heard that Barry was coming up to bat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now what are you going to do with the ball?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you going to do with the ball?

MORBITZER: Yet to be determined. Hold it tightly in my hands for a little while.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a Barry Bonds fan?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Now that's a guy who must love his wife, if he's going to get her something to eat when Barry Bonds is up at bat.

All right. Now, here's the news also from around America.

They actually counted alligators in the state of Florida and found out that they have more than a million now. Forty years ago the species was considered nearly extinct.

And take a look at this. It's almost June, but there's snow in California's Sierra Nevada. Some five inches of snow fell there in parts of California.

And a rush to the nation's theaters to the see the final film in the X-Men series. "The Last Stand" established the fourth highest mark in history for a movie's first two days.

Arizona Cardinal to army ranger Pat Tillman left NFL fame to go to war in Afghanistan. And he returned wrapped in a flag -- his final mission, a mystery until now. CNN looked for answers. And we found contradictions, pointed fingers, accusations of gross negligence. What happened to Pat Tillman? It's only on CNN, and it's coming up. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Now in the news, it is a race against time in Indonesia as rescue crews are searching for survivors from that massive earthquake yesterday on the island of Java. Now, officials are saying that a 6.3 earthquake killed more than 4,600 people. And 200,000 people have lost their homes.

Now the pope is back at the Vatican after an emotional visit to one of Nazi Germany's most notorious concentration camps, Auschwitz in Poland. The German-born pontiff asked how god could tolerate the quote, "unprecedented mass crimes of the Holocaust."

And five Canadian sailors safe today after being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard 250 miles southeast of Nantucket last night. The five have spent days on a battered sailboat dealing with gale-force winds before they radioed for help.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt celebrating the start of a new life. Their daughter Shiloh was born last night in Namibia. "CNN PRESENTS" looks at the obsession with celebrities in tonight's "Chasing Angelina." It begins at 8:00 Eastern.

Memorial Day. When it's time to stop and remember the names and the faces and the ultimate sacrifice of Americans who have died in defense of this country. Now, it may seem too easy to hold up the well-known story of one famous soldier but there's a reason we're talking about Pat Tillman tonight. A gifted athlete who left fame and easy money to join the army and fight terrorists.

Pat Tillman died violently in Afghanistan. And you may know a little of his story up to that point. Well, tonight, we know more. And after this report, so will you. CNN has been investigating what happened to Tillman and what happened when the army started investigating. Here's our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre reporting those chilling details

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At his memorial service two years ago, Pat Tillman was remembered as an inspiration to thousands of Americans. California's first lady, Maria Shriver, was among those supporting the family, recalling how much Tillman gave up to fight for his country in Afghanistan.

MARIA SHRIVER, CALIFORNIA FIRST LADY: Pat had it all, intelligence, movie-star good looks, a loving wife, athletic prowess, fame, a lucrative and promising career. Who among us could walk away from riches and a job we love?

MCINTYRE: But Pat Tillman did just that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lateral to Pat Tillman!

MCINTYRE: The former safety for the Arizona Cardinals gave up a multi-million dollar pro football deal the day after September 11th to enlist as an elite army ranger. Tillman explained his decision in a rare interview just before he went into the army.

PAT TILLMAN, DIED IN AFGHANISTAN: My great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, and my whole family has gone and fought in wars and I haven't done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that and so I have a great deal of respect for those who have.

MCINTYRE: But his devotion to duty, honor and country, would end with his death in a desolate section in Afghanistan. It would be 26 days after the memorial service, more than a month after his death, before the army would publicly acknowledge what the rangers who were with him in combat knew almost right away. Tillman's death was from friendly fire.

He was hit in the head by three bullets fired by American soldiers, who say they mistook him for the enemy.

(on camera): Much, but not all of the story of what went wrong that April day in 2004, can be found in thousands of army documents obtained by CNN.

(voice-over): Many details from the army documents are being televised here for the first time. And while the heavily-blacked out documents provide some answers, they also raise substantial questions that three separate army investigations have failed to resolve. Tillman's platoon was on a mission in eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistan border. His platoon was trying to flush out enemy Taliban or al Qaeda fighters.

CNN took these army topographic maps of the location where Pat Tillman was killed and independently created the first detailed television animation of what happened to Tillman and the army rangers that day.

The platoon's problems began with a broken-down humvee, which had to be towed by a local truck and was slowing the platoon. The platoon was split into two groups on orders of a commander and a base far away according to army documents.

The split was ordered over the objections of the platoon leader. There was a concern back at the base that the broken humvee was causing unacceptable delays to the mission.

CNN military analyst retired Brigadier General David Grange has commanded rangers himself and also lost a soldier to friendly fire.

GEN. DAVID L. GRANGE, (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Here you had the senior guy on the ground saying, I don't want to split my force. Someone that's not there on the ground, but on a radio in a tactical operations center saying "split it," you know, do you take the word of the guy on the ground or not? You know, usually the guy on the ground knows what's going on.

MCINTYRE: Corporal Tillman was with the first group that pressed on. Moving safely through a deep canyon and arriving at a small village. The second group, with the humvee in tow, included Tillman's younger brother, Kevin, who also enlisted with Pat after September 11th. That second convoy, led by the truck towing the broken humvee, followed a different route, but found the terrain too rugged. So they backtracked and followed the first group, deep into the narrow canyon.

Though they were just a half hour back, the first group was unaware the second group was coming up behind them. In the canyon, the second group was ambushed from above by enemy fighters.

GRANGE: There was confusion in the force. People were scared. Very restricted terrain. Sun's going down. A lot of shadows. So, the light is not dark enough to use night-vision goggles, but it's in between.

MCINTYRE: To add to the confusion, in the deep canyon the two groups lost radio contact. But Pat Tillman's group heard the gunfire back in the canyon and turned back to help. Tillman, as described in his Silver Star citation, showed great courage under fire in leading a small rifle team, including an Afghan soldier, to the top of the ridge to engage the enemy. Down below, a humvee armed with a .50-caliber machine gun and four soldiers with other weapons, pulled out from behind the truck and broken humvee. As they emerged from the canyon, the soldiers in the vehicle were firing with an abandon that one army investigator would later say demonstrated gross negligence.

The soldiers would later say they thought the enemy was all around them. As they fired in all directions, they began hitting U.S. troops. Down in the village, the platoon leader was hit in the face, and another soldier, shot in the leg. From Tillman's position up on the ridge came anguished cries of alarm. First, the friendly Afghan soldier was shot and killed by the soldiers in the ranger vehicle. The soldier standing alongside Tillman described what he witnessed in a sworn statement. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "A vehicle with a .50-cal rolled into our sight and started to unload on top of us. Tillman and I were yelling, stop, stop, friendlies, friendlies, ceasefire. But they couldn't hear us."

MCINTYRE: According to another sworn statement obtained by CNN, the driver of the humvee was initially confused when he saw the Afghan soldier with Tillman on the ridge, then realized others in his humvee were firing on fellow rangers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE" "I yelled twice, 'We have friendlies on top," and the crew must not have heard me, because my vehicle opened fire on them. I screamed, "No" and then yelled repeatedly several times to cease fire, and no one heard me.

MCINTYRE: Tillman threw a smoke grenade to signal they were rangers and for a few moments it appeared to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "We thought the battle was over, so we were relieved, getting up and stretching out and talking with one another, when I heard some rounds coming from the vehicle. They started firing again. That's when I hit the deck and started praying."

MCINTYRE: The soldier hit the deck when the vehicle tired fired on them again, and that's when the soldier said Tillman was hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I know this because I could hear the pain in his voice when he called out, ceasefire, I'm Pat Tillman, damn it, and he said this over and over again until he stopped."

MCINTYRE: Moments later, a sound caught the attention of the soldier next to Tillman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I heard what sounded like water pouring down. I then looked down to see a river of blood coming down from where he was. I had blood all over my shoulder from him, and when I looked at him, I saw his head was gone."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Pat Tillman's parents have more questions about what happened to their son. That is next in the second part of Jamie McIntyre's investigation. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It's been two years since former NFL football player Pat Tillman was shot to death by his fellow army rangers in Afghanistan. And as we've been showing you in detail this evening, there are many unanswered questions about precisely how that happened.

Two years later there is yet another army investigation under way. CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre and CNN senior investigator producer, Scott Bronstein have combed through thousands of documents and what they found includes accusations of negligence and deceit. Here again, Jamie McIntyre. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Two years and three investigations have produced a mountain of files. But there is still a long list of unanswered questions about the death of Pat Tillman at the hands of his fellow rangers. Why were Tillman's body armor and uniform burned by his fellow soldiers after he was killed? Why did some soldiers change their testimony from investigation to investigation? And should some rangers have faced courts martial?

COL. JOSEPH G. CURTIN, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Simply put, the family is not satisfied with the information they are getting, and they've asked for more details, and simply put, we owe the family honest answers.

MCINTYRE: In part because of the family's anger and disillusionment, the Pentagon has launched a fourth investigation. A criminal probe, into whether Tillman's death was negligent homicide as well as a separate review of whether the army engaged in any intentional deception.

(on camera): It's been two years. Is there a -- is there an excuse for this taking that long?

EUGENE R. FIDELL, ATTORNEY, MILITARY LAW PROFESSOR: I can't think of one.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Eugene Fidell represents military clients in his private practice, and teaches military justice at American University in Washington. He reviewed the Tillman documents at CNN's request, examining the charge made by one investigator that stories changed after his initial probe.

(on camera): Is there anything here that could be considered a smoking gun?

FIDELL: I don't know that we have a smoking gun at this point. What we do have is an initial investigator who thought that there should be, let's say, a serious look at criminal negligence. We have people changing their stories. We have somebody given -- being given a grant of immunity.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): In the documents, the army blacked out names and other identifying information. So it's unclear exactly whose testimony changed and when.

But the initial investigation, conducted by an army captain CNN has identified as Richard Scott, contains much harsher judgments than those reached in a later probe by a one-star general. In a sworn deposition given five months after Tillman's death, Scott says ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The stories have changed. They have changed to, I think, help some individuals."

MCINTYRE: Scott states that in the retelling, some distances have grown longer. Some lighting conditions worse, and even the position of the allied Afghan soldier changed. In his deposition, Captain Scott says of one soldier in the lead vehicle that fired on Tillman ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I think he demonstrated gross negligence. He recognized the individual, the Afghan soldier, wasn't shooting in his direction. But he shot and killed him anyway."

MCINTYRE (on camera): In this stack right here that we were looking at, this is where one of the first investigators offers his opinion when he's being questioned that there might be gross negligence involved in this. How significant is that?

FIDELL: It's quite significant, because that original investigation was the one closest in time to the events in controversy, by an individual who caught witnesses, presumably when their memories were fresh and expresses the opinion that gross negligence has been committed.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Captain Scott notes the rangers in the lead vehicle firing on Tillman were not being shot at themselves at the time. And that, quote ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "There were numerous attempts to signal to that lead vehicle that the friendlies were up on that ridge line."

MCINTYRE: The documents show the numerous attempts included soldiers yelling into radios to cease fire, Tillman's smoke grenade, the driver of the vehicle yelling to cease fire, and, finally, Tillman and the soldier next to him, waving their arms frantically over their heads. But the firing continued, with no attempt to properly identify the targets.

It was, in the opinion of Captain Scott, a lack of discipline that should have brought serious punishment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The other difficult thing, though was watching some of these guys getting off with, what I thought, was a lesser of a punishment than what they should have received."

GRANGE: If someone lied under oath on the investigation, to cover themselves or cover someone else, that's inexcusable.

MCINTYRE: The documents show the officer who made the original decision to split the platoon was later granted limited immunity, to change his testimony about who above him knew about his order. He would later explain that it was only a clarification of his original testimony. But both Mr. Fidell and General Grange found the grant of immunity unusual.

GRANGE: The immunity issue does raise a few red flags. Because, I mean, why, unless they had accurate statements, why would you have to give immunity to anyone?

MCINTYRE: And on the issue of Tillman's uniform, which was burned by soldiers after his death? While the army's most recent investigation concludes Tillman's uniform and body armor should have been preserved, it disputes the idea it was burned in an attempt to cover anything up. The soldiers thought they were disposing of a biohazard. The army says so far seven soldiers have received various reprimands.

CURTIN: There were three officers and four enlisted personnel, all of them were disciplined. All received administrative reprimands. One soldier was demoted and fined, and three others were dismissed from the ranger regiment itself.

MCINTYRE (on camera): While no one was found grossly negligence nor less than truthful in the follow-up investigations, more serious charges could result from the ongoing probe, which is looking at questions of criminal negligence, intent to cover up and the awarding of Tillman's Silver Star.

(voice-over): But to some legal experts, the punishments in the Tillman case, so far, seem light.

FIDELL: The punishments that have been imposed have been on relatively junior people and they've been relatively informal, non- judicial punishments, non-record punishments, things that never leave the unit, were simply firing somebody from the rangers. To a ranger, that's a big deal, but it's not like going to the disciplinary barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, for example.

MCINTYRE: And the army said it learned a lesson in the delay of notifying the Tillman family about how their son died. The army has new procedures to ensure suspected friendly fire deaths are reported right away.

CURTIN: The unit erred on the side of caution to get all the facts first to determine that, indeed, that a friendly fire event had occurred, and that shouldn't have happened. In hindsight as soon as they suspected they should have told the family about it.

MCINTYRE: The army has expressed its deepest regrets to the Tillman family and is promising the fullest accounting possible.

CURTIN: The bottom line, we will go where the truth leads us, and we will get the answers to the best of our ability.

MCINTYRE: For some of Pat Tillman's family, that promise rings hollow. After two years of frustration, they wonder if any investigation will ever uncover the truth. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Our condolences to the Tillman family on this Memorial Day weekend.

Now, in case you missed the Sunday morning talk shows, here's some of the highlights. On ABC's "This Week," lawmakers talked about the allegations of U.S marine atrocities if Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: The point is the marines know about it all this time. Somebody in the chain of command decided not to allow this to happen. How far up it went, I don't know. But the worst thing is the Iraqis all knew about it. And then they made payments to the families which and that doesn't happen at the lowest level but the highest level before they make a decision to make payments to the families.

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: All I can assure the American public this morning as chairman of the armed services committee I'll do exactly what we did with Abu Ghraib. They were before us promptly raising their right hand in oath giving the explanation in full.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When will you do that?

WARNER: As soon as I cannot interfere with the uniformed code of military justice as it begins to protect the rights of all of those involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: And on CBS's "Face the Nation" Senate majority whip Mitch McConnell and Democratic Senator Charles Schumer two sparred over which party has the upper hand heading into the midterm elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: Americans are forgotten what they do when they're in the majority. I can tell what they'll do. They'll wave the white flag on the war on terror. They'll raise taxes, and they'll try to censure the president and Senate and impeach the president in the House. This is what their agenda really is.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The Republican Party whether it's the president or the Senate leadership doesn't have anything to say other than the sort of fear tactics aimed at Democrats. Now, it's not going to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well, every Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern CNN brings you the best heed lines from the Sunday talk show circuit.

Well, four days and counting until hurricane season begins. How bad could it be? We have got numbers, next.

And in less than 10 minutes, "Chasing Angelina." The actress and Brad Pitt are enjoying their new baby amid a whirlwind of paparazzi pressure. We're going to take you inside America's celebrity obsession.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: In today's "Leading Edge" segment, hurricane season. It begins Thursday and if there's one thing the devastation of last year has taught us, it's the value of being prepared and that preparation may be need now more than ever. Here's CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): The coming hurricane season isn't expected to be as bad as last year. But that doesn't mean it's going to be easy.

VICE ADMIRAL CONRAD LAUTEBACHER, UNDERSECRETARY OF COMMERCE: NOAA is predicting above normal hurricane season.

MARCIANO: Thirteen to 16 named storms. Eight to 10 of those hurricanes. Four to six of those hurricanes, major. Category 3 or higher. Katrina was a Category 3 when it hit the U.S., so were Dennis, Rita and Wilma. There were 15 hurricanes last year, 28 named storms. Far more than predicted. And one of the deadliest in history.

MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: If there's anything good that can come out of the last hurricane season, that's pretty hard to find, I hope that it's a motivation to help create a culture of preparedness. We have got to do a better job than we've been doing.

MARCIANO: Absent that culture of preparedness, Katrina killed more than 1,500 people and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage. Now, it seems, everyone is preparing.

DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: What we've been doing in FEMA is fixing the issues that did not work well in Katrina. Looking at all the logistics. How that having the right things in the right place at the right time is so important.

MARCIANO: It's not just about supplies, it is also understanding the risks posed by more hurricanes. For at least a decade ahead.

MAYFIELD: It is not all about the numbers. It just takes that one hurricane over your house to make for a bad year. We're in this very active period for major hurricanes. That may last an at least another 10 to 20 years.

MARCIANO: So whether it's a 2006 hurricane season or the next 20, if you live in the path of hurricanes, the forecast does not look good. Rob Marciano, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: As I'm sure you have heard, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are new parents. So now the race to snap the first photo of the baby girl and that's where the paparazzi comes in. In the next hour, "CNN PRESENTS" takes you along for the ride in "Chasing Angelina." an inside look at the obsession with celebrities.

And then at 9:00 Eastern, LARRY KING LIVE. He is joined by new "American Idol" Taylor Hicks and runner up Katharine McPhee. And then at 10:00, I have a rare interview actor Paul Newman. We are talking "Cars" and love. The hour's headlines next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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