JAG s04e08 Episode Script
Mr. Rabb Goes to Washington
Tonight on JAG: Good evening, I'm Norman Delaporte.
The report you are about to see contains graphic descriptions of war and death.
It involves a breaking story about war crimes committed by American Marines during Operation Desert Storm, here in Kuwait, at the El Bakkar compound.
The accusations are serious.
The repercussions, great.
The footage you are watching was shot by a Marine Force Recon Team sent behind enemy lines the day before the ground-war phase of Desert Storm began.
The team was led by Sergeant Clyde Morrison.
Its mission: To eliminate three Americans.
The war crime was discovered by then Second Lieutenant Franco Cefalu.
Two days ago, I interviewed Franco Cefalu, now a Marine captain, at his home in Northern Virginia.
My unit overran El Bakkar two days after the Force Recon raid.
And what did you find in Building 5? Three dead Americans.
Chemical engineers working with Saddam Hussein on his programme to develop weapons of mass destruction.
How did these three men die? From the effects of sarin gas.
Video footage shot that night shows the Force Recon Team surrounding Building 5.
Encountering fierce resistance, the Marines fired canisters of what later proved to be sarin gas into the building.
That's when taping stopped at Sergeant Morrison's order.
Stop it! Stop it! Get out of here! Classified intelligence documents indicate that the American military knew of the presence of these engineers at El Bakkar.
A source high up in the Pentagon confirmed that these men posed a serious threat to our war effort.
The Marines suffered four casualties.
The survivors were airlifted out by helicopter.
Sergeant Richard Ford was crew chief and gunner.
Sergeant, did the Marines you evacuated from El Bakkar carry sarin gas? Yes, sir.
Sergeant Morrison did, sir.
And how do you know that? He had it in his bandoleer, sir.
We'll be back in a minute with reaction from the Pentagon.
The charges are serious: Americans using chemical weapons to kill other Americans.
I'll consider an administrative discharge.
- Three's the best you're gonna get.
- Months? - Years.
- You gotta be kidding.
Harm, Petty Officer Ellsworth stole a bulldozer from a secured facility and destroyed the headquarters of his local congressman.
- That's one way of looking at it.
- No time to argue.
I've gotta go pick up that Australian exchange officer, Lt.
Cmdr.
Brumby.
- Send Bud.
- I hear Brumby's cute.
Mac, Petty Officer Ellsworth was making a political statement.
Congress won't approve pay raises for the military.
So his actions are protected under free speech? No, but I don't think justice is served with brig time.
Think again.
Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, admiral.
Been glad to come to you, congresswoman.
I wanted this off the record, A.
J.
The House National Security Subcommittee is holding hearings next week.
We intend to find out whether a Marine Team Recon Force used chemical weapons to assassinate three renegade American civilian engineers.
Working on Saddam's weapons programmes.
Yeah, I saw Delaporte last night.
You don't actually believe that story, do you? I believe it's plausible.
One way or another, I need to know if it can be substantiated.
Pentagon's looking into it.
That's like sending the fox in to count the chickens.
And that's why my committee will hold meetings and will forward a report to Congress.
Well, in that case, ma'am, what do you need from me? I want Lt.
Cmdr.
Rabb assigned to my staff on temporary duty.
Ma'am, I'd love to cooperate, but Commander Rabb's caseload is full.
- I need him.
- I need him too, A.
J.
This is a complex subject.
A lot of people are gonna lie.
I need to have someone who will recognise the truth.
Besides, I'll owe you one.
And I have every intention of collecting, ma'am.
Announcing the arrival of Flight 274 from Sydney, at Gate 20B.
At this time we would like to pre-board Flight Number 676 to Barcelona.
You may board through Gate 11.
- Right.
- Take care in the meantime.
- Will do, mate.
- I'll see you.
Hi, I'm Major Sarah Mackenzie, JAG Corps.
- Sorry? - Excuse me.
No, excuse me.
I'm talking to someone.
I was asked to meet you here.
- Really? - Major, l-- Look, I don't care what kind of wager you made with your pals.
- Leave me alone.
- Wager? I can take you anywhere you wanna go.
Now, that's an interesting offer.
It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander Brumby.
- Brumby? - The pleasure's all mine, major.
I ran into some mates on the flight.
We were gas bagging it.
I'm not Commander Brumby, but I will be in town for a few days.
You can reach me at the Hilton.
Well, you made yourself a friend.
I'm so sorry.
Sarah Mackenzie.
No worries, honest mistake.
Mic Brumby.
Well, where would you like to go? Office or hotel? Hotel, then the office.
Might as well get straight down to the cases.
I like a man with a hard work ethic.
Perhaps he has to go to the Advocate first.
When I was a kid, I never dreamed I'd be anywhere near this place.
When I was a kid, it was all I dreamt about.
So where do we start? Norman Delaporte.
You think that's smart, considering we don't have all the facts? That's exactly why we're talking to him.
I don't usually get my facts from a reporter.
Harm, Norman is not just a reporter, he's an institution.
Besides, they don't give you a Peabody and a Pulitzer for being wrong.
Anyway, I know him.
Maybe that's what worries me.
Who put you on to this story, Mr.
Delaporte? Someone who refused to cover up a war crime.
Someone who wanted me to find out who was responsible for what happened that night, and to make sure that it never happened again.
Someone was busy.
So how did you get access to classified intelligence reports? I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to disclose my sources.
Sergeant Clyde Morrison led the Force Recon Team in El Bakkar that night.
Why didn't you interview him for your report? Oh, I did, but I couldn't get anything out of him.
- He was all over the place.
- Morrison is a hopeless alcoholic.
He's been in and out of VA hospitals.
What happened on the ground at El Bakkar haunted the men who were there that night.
We don't know for sure what happened that night, ma'am.
Well, we know this, commander: The dead bore witness.
Four Marines came home in body bags, and a fifth, Cary Dugan, blew his brains out three months ago.
Dugan was the Marine corporal who videotaped the raid.
The tape of the El Bakkar raid is missing from the Naval Historical Archives.
- Where'd you get your copy? - Just what's your part in all this? He's my truth detector.
You haven't answered my question.
Where did you get your copy, sir? Well, that's privileged.
Nui Lon was up north.
It was about 20 klicks from the border, right? That's right, sir.
Picture this: One dark night, me Uncle Jack gets separated from his unit on recon.
And he finds himself sitting 5 feet off the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
And all night long, these little bastards are going back and forth, carrying sacks of rice to the troops in the south.
He was so close, he could hear them break wind.
Luckily enough when daylight came, he managed to crawl the mile back to his own lines.
Did Uncle Jack make it back to Australia? Jack-o did two tours in Vietnam, major.
A lot of the mates he fought with never made it home but he did, and in one piece.
But he carked it in a car just last year.
"Carked it in a car"? Died in an auto accident.
How did you know that, sir? Met a lot of Aussies in Vietnam, major.
You know the really funny thing, admiral? I'll be darned if the driver of the other car wasn't a Vietnamese.
A lot of them came down under after the war.
Major Mackenzie will be showing you the ropes, commander.
In the short term, you'll be assisting her with Commander Rabb's caseload.
Welcome aboard.
Thank you, sir.
It will be good to have help with case research.
I can do more than look things up, major.
You see, my mother's American, so I have dual citizenship.
I got my degree at Georgetown and passed the D.
C.
Bar ten years ago.
No reason I shouldn't try a case or two, is there? Ensign Sims, Commander Brumby.
He'll be assisting with the Ellsworth case.
- Very nice to meet you, sir.
- Good day.
There's someone in your office.
I'm sorry I didn't get his name.
Oh, thank you.
The ensign will show you around, commander.
I've pretty much seen all I need to, ensign.
Hello, Sarah.
Aren't you gonna say hello to your husband? Colonel Cobb, you were the officer in command of Operation Sirocco? Yes, ma'am.
That's correct.
What was your mission? Two days prior to the start of the ground-war phase of Operation Desert Storm, I inserted a six-man Force Recon Team into Kuwait to gather intel on the shore batteries in the area of Safwan.
Their orders were to identify and report on Silkworm missile batteries in the area of El Bakkar.
- That was the extent of your orders? - Yes, ma'am.
While on this mission, did your men employ chemical or biological weapons? No, ma'am, absolutely not.
Then why were they dressed in nuclear biological-chemical suits with gas masks? Standard procedure given an eminent threat, ma'am.
We knew that Saddam had used chemical weapons in the past and we fully expected him to do so again.
Were your men given orders to assassinate three American engineers working at El Bakkar? No, ma'am.
We had no indication that Americans were there.
If we had, we would have brought them back for intel.
Can you be absolutely sure that your Force Recon Team didn't kill the Americans? I wasn't there, sir, but I trust my Marines and that's not what they reported.
Colonel Cobb, you said you had no knowledge of Americans being held in this compound.
Yet, in my hand, I have a recently declassified document prepared by the CIA two months prior to Operation Sirocco.
This intel report indicates that there were three American engineers working at El Bakkar.
Have you ever seen that document before? No, ma'am.
The report indicates that the American engineers posed a clear and present danger to our national interest.
Colonel, did anyone give you an order to eliminate that danger? No, ma'am.
What would have happened if you had been shown the intel report? That calls for speculation, sir.
What's the problem with that, colonel? I deal in facts, ma'am.
The fact is, three Americans died at El Bakkar.
The fact is, my Marines did not kill them.
Were you always this beautiful? Last time you saw me was 12 years ago.
My hair was a foot longer, my skirt a foot shorter, and I was still using Clearasil.
You're as handsome as ever, Chris, and as unpredictable.
It was you that walked away from our wedding vows, not me.
You've changed a lot in 12 years.
You've made yourself a Marine major and a lawyer.
What makes you think that I haven't changed too? You show up after all these years.
There must be a reason.
Being a lawyer has made you suspicious.
No, being an adult has made me suspicious.
Maybe I want a second chance.
I gave you that years ago.
Well, let's go for three.
You deserted me, Sarah.
It still hurts.
I didn't desert you.
You were doing three to five for armed robbery.
I was trying to stay sober.
Why wait until now? This isn't the first time I came looking for you.
When I got out of prison, I went all the way to Okinawa.
Except I didn't have the nerve to face you, so I spent the next eight years of my life living with the loss until I just couldn't handle it anymore.
What I don't know is why you left.
I spent a lot of nights trying to figure that out.
Look, Chris, I was drunk the day we got married and on the honeymoon and up until the day they put you in prison.
You married me because you loved me.
You never filed for divorce, because you could never find anyone better than me.
I just never got around to the paperwork.
- There've been others along the way.
- Hey.
Like the guy in Okinawa, Major Farrow? Everything all right, major? Everything's fine, commander.
The judge wants to see us in chambers.
Thank you, I'll be right there.
I'll call you.
During Desert Storm, I commanded a light-armoured infantry platoon in support of the Third Tank Battalion.
We overran the El Bakkar compound at 1543 Zulu, on G plus one.
What happened then? We went through the compound and we found maybe 30 dead Iraqi soldiers.
We discovered the bodies in Building 5.
- Three Americans? - Yes, ma'am.
And how did those men die? From exposure to sarin gas.
At ease, major.
How is everything with the Ellsworth case? Fine, sir.
Commander Brumby is a real asset.
Everything else all right? Nothing I can't handle, sir.
Are you sure? You seem a bit distracted.
Sir, ma'am, I think there's something you should see on Channel 3.
My squadron received a Medevac frag from Sergeant Morrison at 0400.
I was the crew chief/door gunner aboard the Huey that flew to the El Bakkar compound in response.
When we arrived, Sergeant Morrison and Corporal Dugan extracted the casualties, then we all got out of there.
Did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Yes, ma'am.
When we landed on the beach a few miles southeast of Safwan, I got a good look at Sergeant Morrison's bandoleer.
He had two or three canisters left.
Can you describe those canisters? Yes, ma'am.
They were about this big with writing on the outside.
Gulf Bravo.
GB.
Those are the initials for sarin gas.
Ask him what time it was that his bird landed near Safwan.
Sergeant Ford, what time was it when your helo landed near Safwan? Around 0500, ma'am.
That's pre-dawn.
Was the interior lit? Sergeant Ford, 0500 is pre-dawn.
Was the interior of the helo lit? No, ma'am.
Of course not.
So it was dark when you saw the contents of Sergeant Morrison's bandoleer? Yes, ma'am.
Thank you, sergeant.
Bobbi, we need to talk.
I've got meetings until 6.
Come to my house.
I'll cook you dinner.
Good.
Bobbi, this whole story is based on speculation, innuendo, hearsay and anonymous sources.
Are you talking to me as a lawyer or as a military officer? Was that a congresswoman talking or a senator? Who told you I was gonna run for the Senate? - You did.
- When? Just now.
You're sneaky.
Well, you've gotta use what you got.
Yeah, you figure this hearing is gonna put you on the map.
That's not why we're holding them, Harm.
I believe the story.
No, Bobbi, I think you've been seduced by the story.
You think I'm that easy? No one's ever accused you of being easy.
This story is made for the evening news.
War crimes, chemical weapons, bad soldiers.
The military has been dealing with this sort of thing since Vietnam.
Are you sorry you agreed to work for me? No, so long as you let me do my job.
But I will not roll over for you or for anybody, Bobbi.
Really? Too bad.
Oh, those are just so cute, commander.
Ensign Sims knitted them for me for Christmas.
Don't you wish you had a pair? You wanna get that? - Mac.
- Come on in.
Yeah, there's plenty of food to go around.
I'm not hungry, ma'am.
I need to talk, but this isn't a good time.
Just call me tomorrow.
Sure.
Aren't you gonna go after her? She told me to call her tomorrow.
I never understood why you two didn't get together.
Mac? We fight all the time.
So do you and I.
Well, that's different.
- Really? How? - Yeah.
Well, for starters, we don't work together.
We do now.
- She's beautiful.
- So are you.
Oh, good evening, major.
How did you know where I live? Lieutenant Roberts was kind enough to tell me.
I didn't mean to intrude, but as we're in court first thing, I thought you might need these.
Oh, thank you.
Would you care for some tea? Tea? I'm not a pommie, Mac.
- A pommie? - English, yeah, they go for tea.
I wouldn't mind a beer.
I don't drink.
That doesn't mean your company has to be sober.
You know-- - It's late.
- Yeah.
- Maybe another time, huh? - Yep.
There's something we need to talk about.
Oh, yeah? Today in the hearing room, I felt you were pushing me to ask certain questions.
I was.
That's why you hired me.
I know.
You made me look bad.
Bobbi, you were asking the wrong questions, and there's a reason for that.
You're rushing.
I think you should recess the hearings.
Give me a chance to find this missing Marine and get a line on the videotape.
I see why you're so good at what you do.
You don't give an inch.
I'm not good with compromise.
Sometimes you have to meet a person halfway.
Give a little, get a little.
Sometimes halfway isn't close enough.
Good to see you, Ragle.
I wasn't sure you'd show up.
You're smarter than I thought.
You remember Bryer? Yeah.
Did you have a nice conversation with your wife? Work with me on this, Benny.
You're a loser, Ragle.
You got nothing to offer.
You've gotta give me more time.
I can make us both well.
I don't gotta give you nothing.
I choose to give you another 24 hours.
Now, if you don't come up with the 15 bills, you know how it works.
I pay Bryer by the bone.
So much for a hairline fracture, a little more for a clean break.
And a bonus for breaking the same bone in more than one place.
Now, do yourself a favour.
Talk to the missus again.
- Lieutenant Roberts, Ensign Sims.
- Good morning, sir.
Are you two busy? I could use some help.
Commander Brumby has us researching the Ellsworth case.
He's a really great guy, commander.
Really? Well, glad to hear it.
How's Miss Latham? Quite a handful.
I need you two to do something for me.
Well, is it a priority, sir, for the sarin-gas hearing? Yeah, if you can tear yourself away from Ellsworth.
I'd like you to help me find Sergeant Clyde Morrison, the sole surviving member of the team that entered the El Bakkar compound.
He's the only one who can tell us what happened.
Last known address, sir? A cardboard box in the Baltimore tenderloin.
He went missing three weeks ago and no one's seen or heard from him since.
Check with the FBI, police, NCIS.
Use your imagination.
We'll find him for you, sir.
Oh, and see if you can get a line on the El Bakkar video, the one missing from the Naval Historical Archives.
Aye, aye, sir.
Mrs.
Dugan? Hi, I'm Lieutenant Commander Rabb with JAG Corps.
I wonder if I can ask you a few questions, ma'am.
Kids, go on.
Time to go get in the car.
Hurry up, I'll be there in a minute.
Is this about Cary? Yes, it is, ma'am.
You know, I've had to re-experience my husband's suicide three times already, commander.
I don't think I can do it again.
Well, I understand how difficult this must be for you, but it's not about your husband's suicide.
It's on another matter, ma'am.
Look, I don't want to get back into this.
Your husband was a member of a Force Recon Team that raided the El Bakkar compound in Kuwait in 1991.
Yes.
It killed him.
Ma'am? Cary was never the same after the war.
What he saw and what he did there changed him.
Did your husband tell you what happened that night, Mrs.
Dugan? No.
Your husband videotaped part of the operation, ma'am.
I don't know anything about that.
Well, Norman Delaporte, the reporter, has a copy of that tape.
We have reason to believe he didn't get it from the Navy Historical Archives.
What does that have to do with me? Did you sell the tape to Norman Delaporte, Mrs.
Dugan? I want you to leave.
Mrs.
Dugan, I need a copy of that tape, ma'am.
I need to know if there's more than Delaporte has shown us.
Sit still and put on your belt.
Look, my husband is dead, so whatever happened doesn't matter.
Not anymore.
There are more important things.
I saw you at the hearing, didn't I, commander? Yes, sir.
I'm Miss Latham's liaison.
So whose side are you on? Well, sir, I don't take sides.
Why did you send a Force Recon Team to El Bakkar, sir? Before the start of the ground war, the Navy pounded the shoreline with 16-inch guns.
The Iraqis were expecting amphibious landing, so they held several divisions of Republican Guards in the area.
We just went in to make sure that their shore batteries couldn't hit our battle group with their Silkworm missiles.
Hand me that distributor cap, will you, please? Well, sir, how is it that you didn't see a classified intel report? Nobody showed it to me.
Colonel, is it possible that someone above you knew the American engineers were housed at El Bakkar? Those engineers went to work for the Iraqis for money.
Now, I can't say I mourn their deaths, but I did not order them killed and I don't know anybody who did.
On the night of the raid, sir, Sergeant Morrison ordered the videotaping of the operation to be terminated outside Building 5.
- Why? - You have to ask him.
Well, I'd like to.
It seems he's dropped off the face of the Earth.
Listen, I lost four good men that night, and to a man, they died bravely fighting for their country.
Now some jackass wants to blacken their memories? That gets under my skin, commander, and it damn sure ought to be bothering you.
Where have you been, Harm? I expected you hours ago.
Look, I had to talk to some people.
No, what you had to do, commander, is stay in touch.
Bobbi, you need to delay these hearings.
Are you out of your mind? No way we're backing off of this.
We don't have all of the facts.
This could come back and bite you.
Oh, commander, I'd like to get you in this shot as well.
Tell me something, Mr.
Delaporte.
What the hell happened to you? I haven't changed, commander.
The world has changed.
Now you got breaking news and all that matters is who gets there first and you bought into it.
Even if it does violence to the truth.
I have adapted, commander.
It's what a good journalist does.
I go with my hunches.
It's what I've always done.
Now, could you stand here to the left? No, sir.
That's your place, Mr.
Delaporte.
Call me when you need me for something important.
Correspondent Rob Stein reports live from Williamsburg, Virginia.
Thank you, Lois.
Record highs in New York City and the Eastern seaboard.
Record low temperatures in Los Angeles and on the West Coast.
I called you.
You never called me back.
What do you want, Chris? I want you to remember.
You're a hard man to forget.
The good times, Sarah.
Come on, before things got strange.
They were always a little strange.
Yeah, but we sure had a good time, didn't we? Like the time we rode the Harley from Flagstaff to Gallup in the rain and you lost your shirt in Winslow.
- Remember? - It was Joseph City.
And I never could seem to keep it buttoned when you were around.
The truth, Chris.
Truth? I came here six months ago looking for you.
I didn't have anything to offer, so I borrowed 15 grand.
Looking for the big score? What was it? The track? - The fights? NFL? - All of it.
Now I owe Benny Turpin the 15.
- Who the hell is Benny Turpin? - Don't ask.
When I got the courage to come to you I was looking for money.
Plain and simple.
Only now I don't care about the money, Sarah.
I don't even mind if I get my leg broke.
As long as I have a chance to get you back into my life.
I'm leaving tomorrow.
You think it over.
I don't know what to believe, Chris.
Believe this.
Some things you can't fake.
Commander, as long as this hearing is going on, I have to be able to count on you to be there.
This is a mistake, Bobbi.
I'm going back to JAG.
Not acceptable.
I need you.
What, to stand behind you next to the flag? Is this about hurt pride? My only loyalty, Bobbi, is to the truth.
I'm resigning.
I never figured you for a quitter.
Rabb.
I'll be there in 15 minutes.
Harm, I don't like fighting with you.
Sure you do.
You just don't like losing.
This is Norman Delaporte.
I'm here at the Capitol after the second day of hearings.
Oh, thanks.
I'll see you.
With me is Congresswoman Bobbi Latham of Detroit, Michigan, chair of the House National Security Subcommittee's ongoing investiga-- I'm looking for Clyde Morrison.
--assassinated three Americans Whatever he drinks, give me two of them.
Exclusive ZNN special reports.
What happens now? Pending the outcome of the hearings, Norman, I'm introducing legislation Sergeant Morrison? - It's on me.
- Thank you.
I'm Lieutenant Commander Rabb with JAG Corps.
Do you watch much TV? I got better things to do.
Did you see this? If the charges come out to be true, I'm calling for the prosecution of all the men involved with the killing at El Bakkar.
She's talking about how you killed three Americans at El Bakkar compound with chemical weapons.
I know what happened, sergeant.
I'm not a sergeant anymore, commander.
You wanna call me something, you call me Clyde.
You followed orders.
You lost four men to a superior fighting force.
You carried out your dead.
And that's all you did.
- You really believe that? - Yeah.
But I can't prove it.
I didn't have chemical weapons.
We fired tear gas in there.
That's all we did.
Why'd Sergeant Ford tell Norman Delaporte that you had GB canisters? Delaporte, he'll get you to say anything he wants you to say if you talk to him long enough.
You set him straight? Oh, he'd already made up his mind about me.
He condemned me before he even met me.
I need you to testify, sergeant.
Look, come on.
Commander, take a good look at me.
Look close, would you? I mean, I can't even keep my hands steady long enough to have a drink.
You're all I got, sergeant.
Well, if I'm all you've got, you ain't got squat.
Buddy? Where have you been hiding? Milly, I had no idea you were still working-- Sure, I'm not married, Buddy.
Well, not yet, anyway.
So how are you? Well, actually, you remember the last time that I was here? Yeah, you were with that squirrelly little blond thing.
That "squirrelly little blond thing" is now his loving wife.
Nice to see you again.
Oh, a pleasure, I am sure.
So, what can I do for you? We're looking for a videotape and it was catalogued with the written statements and an after-action report for Operation Sirocco.
I found the documents, but I can't find the videotape.
That Delaporte guy from ZNN, he asked me the same thing.
Milly, could you just help us out? It's really important.
Well, these are waiting to be filed.
- Here.
Here.
- What is it? It's footage from Task Force Sandhawk on the Kuwaiti border.
It's been sitting here a while, but we've been waiting for a new case from Processing.
Maybe your tape got put in the Sandhawk box by mistake.
Code number ODS-9104, come on.
But Sirocco came before Sandhawk, Milly.
There it is, "Operation Sirocco, February 23rd, 1991.
" It must have gotten switched around.
All right, let me make you a VHS copy.
Interesting filing system you have here.
Well, it works one way or the other.
Bobbi.
I didn't expect to see you here.
Unedited.
- Am I gonna like it? - No.
Harm, I've taken a position on this.
Cut your losses, Bobbi.
You're on the wrong side of the truth.
My name is Clyde Morrison, sergeant, United States Marine Corps, Inactive Reserve.
Please be seated.
Sergeant Morrison, the night of the raid at El Bakkar, what did you and your men fire into the buildings? Tear gas, ma'am.
Were you aware that there were three American engineers working for Saddam Hussein at El Bakkar? - No, ma'am.
- You didn't see the CIA intel report? No, ma'am.
I did not.
There is evidence that the people on the ground died of sarin gas poisoning.
How do you explain that? Well, aren't you asking the wrong person, sir? Who should I be asking? Saddam Hussein.
He used it on the Iranians, on the Kurds.
That was one of the reasons we fought the damn war in the first place.
- Excuse my language, ma'am.
- I've heard worse, sergeant.
My guess is that he had them eliminated.
Why would he kill the men he needed to work his weapons programmes? Well, dead men tell no tales, sir.
That's quite a story.
Do you have any proof that's what happened? - No, sir.
- So all we have is your word for it? Yes, sir.
Sergeant Morrison, have you spent time in VA hospitals for acute alcoholism? Yes, sir.
Are you delusional? Only to think that I would get a fair hearing in this room, sir.
Thank you, Sergeant Morrison.
Please remain here in case I need to recall you.
Yes, ma'am.
Sergeant Ford, it was your statement before this committee that Sergeant Morrison carried sarin gas.
Yes, sir.
You told us that you saw canisters labelled GB.
Yes, sir.
In a television report, you made the same claim.
Why did you do that, sergeant? I was answering a question, ma'am.
Do you remember the exact questions Mr.
Delaporte asked you? Pretty much, ma'am.
Did it have something to do with officials high up in the CIA who told him the Americans had died from nerve gas? Did he mention that your guys were the ones who used that gas? Yes, ma'am.
Did he tell you he needed someone to back it up? He might have.
I don't recall all his questions, ma'am.
Did Mr.
Delaporte lead you into your testimony, suggest what you might have seen? No, ma'am.
At least I don't remember it that way.
The letters for tear gas are CS.
Those canisters were labelled GB, ma'am.
Sergeant Ford, isn't it a reporter's job to ask questions? Yes, sir.
So Mr.
Delaporte was just doing his job? Yes, sir.
Thank you, Sergeant Ford.
Yes, ma'am.
My next witness is Norman Delaporte.
Please be seated.
Mr.
Delaporte, in the preparation for your report, did you ever attempt to interview Sergeant Morrison? I did, his story didn't track and he had every good reason to cover up what he did.
At what point during the interview with Sergeant Ford did he confirm that Sergeant Morrison carried sarin-gas canisters? I don't recall.
But you do have the full transcript of your interview with Sergeant Ford? Yes.
Would you be willing to make those transcripts available to the committee? I'd have to give that some thought, ma'am.
I promised Sergeant Ford confidentiality.
Where did you get your tape of the raid on El Bakkar? I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am.
Did you pay for that tape? No.
It was given freely by someone who wanted to see the truth come out.
Thank you, Mr.
Delaporte.
That's all I wanted to know.
Oh, just one more thing.
The tape is 18 minutes long? Yes.
And it ends when Sergeant Morrison cuts taping just after he fires the canister into Building 5? Yes.
Mrs.
Dugan, did your husband keep a bootleg copy of the videotape he made on the night of the raid on the El Bakkar compound? He had lots of tapes.
Yes or no? I remind you you're under oath.
Yes.
Did you sell that tape to Mr.
Delaporte? Yes.
Mr.
Delaporte claims that his tape was 18 minutes long.
How long was the tape you sold Mr.
Delaporte? Twenty-two minutes.
Why did you sell him that tape? I needed the money.
Thank you, Mrs.
Dugan.
You're dismissed.
My next witness is Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb.
Please take your place at the table, commander.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? I do.
State your name.
Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb.
Your duty station? I'm assigned to the headquarters of the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps.
Did you recently work on my staff? That was my privilege, ma'am, yes.
Why did you quit and return to JAG? I had outlived my usefulness, ma'am.
Let me rephrase my question, commander.
Did you resign because you and I had a difference of opinion on the accuracy of Norman Delaporte's reporting on Operation Sirocco? Yes, ma'am.
That is exactly the reason.
Did you recently come into possession of a 22-minute copy of the El Bakkar videotape from the Naval Archives? - I did.
- How did you locate it? It had been misfiled, ma'am.
Do you have that tape with you? I do.
Clear the area! Let's go! Clear! Norman Delaporte claims that Sergeant Morrison had the videotaping stopped to cover up a war crime.
When, in fact, Sergeant Morrison was ordering his men to take cover.
Stop it.
Stop it.
Stop it and get out of here! The videotaping resumed moments later.
There were four additional minutes of tape.
Get down! Get down! Murray, Carson, left flank.
Corporal Dugan filmed the action while the Force Recon Team fought for their lives.
At one point, Corporal Dugan put the video camera down long enough to help a mortally wounded comrade.
It hit his leg! Clear! Angel One Five.
This is Pony Boy 4.
Medevac 4, urgent.
Airborne med assist required.
Grid 854342.
LZ is hot, over.
I repeat, LZ is hot.
Medevac helicopter arrives minutes later.
Dugan and Morrison helped load the dead.
Once aboard the helicopter, Corporal Dugan resumed videotaping.
Sergeant Ford is the crew chief/door gunner.
Sergeant Morrison is wearing the bandoleer belt.
That's a canister and it's labelled CS.
That's CS for tear gas.
You knew the truth, Mr.
Delaporte.
You altered it to fit your story.
You deliberately left things out.
No.
I chose what to put in.
That's what a reporter does.
You rejected the things that didn't fit your thesis, sir.
You reported rumour.
I made a judgement call.
You lied to this committee on several counts, Mr.
Delaporte.
You testified that you did not buy the tape.
You did.
You testified that the tape was 18 minutes long.
It was 22 minutes.
Mr.
Rabb, address your remarks to this committee.
Let him talk.
I'm interested in what he has to say.
Tell me something, Congressman Martin, why is it that people are so ready to believe the worst of the military? These men put their lives on the line.
They're the ones who risk it all.
So why are people like Sergeant Morrison the last to be believed and men like this, the first? This hearing is in recess.
My first witness tomorrow is Norman Delaporte.
Come with me, Mac.
Where? Does it matter? It's 3,000, Chris.
It's the best I can do.
All I want is you.
You had me, Chris.
This isn't the way I thought things would turn out.
I don't wanna see you again.
You're not good for me.
The report you are about to see contains graphic descriptions of war and death.
It involves a breaking story about war crimes committed by American Marines during Operation Desert Storm, here in Kuwait, at the El Bakkar compound.
The accusations are serious.
The repercussions, great.
The footage you are watching was shot by a Marine Force Recon Team sent behind enemy lines the day before the ground-war phase of Desert Storm began.
The team was led by Sergeant Clyde Morrison.
Its mission: To eliminate three Americans.
The war crime was discovered by then Second Lieutenant Franco Cefalu.
Two days ago, I interviewed Franco Cefalu, now a Marine captain, at his home in Northern Virginia.
My unit overran El Bakkar two days after the Force Recon raid.
And what did you find in Building 5? Three dead Americans.
Chemical engineers working with Saddam Hussein on his programme to develop weapons of mass destruction.
How did these three men die? From the effects of sarin gas.
Video footage shot that night shows the Force Recon Team surrounding Building 5.
Encountering fierce resistance, the Marines fired canisters of what later proved to be sarin gas into the building.
That's when taping stopped at Sergeant Morrison's order.
Stop it! Stop it! Get out of here! Classified intelligence documents indicate that the American military knew of the presence of these engineers at El Bakkar.
A source high up in the Pentagon confirmed that these men posed a serious threat to our war effort.
The Marines suffered four casualties.
The survivors were airlifted out by helicopter.
Sergeant Richard Ford was crew chief and gunner.
Sergeant, did the Marines you evacuated from El Bakkar carry sarin gas? Yes, sir.
Sergeant Morrison did, sir.
And how do you know that? He had it in his bandoleer, sir.
We'll be back in a minute with reaction from the Pentagon.
The charges are serious: Americans using chemical weapons to kill other Americans.
I'll consider an administrative discharge.
- Three's the best you're gonna get.
- Months? - Years.
- You gotta be kidding.
Harm, Petty Officer Ellsworth stole a bulldozer from a secured facility and destroyed the headquarters of his local congressman.
- That's one way of looking at it.
- No time to argue.
I've gotta go pick up that Australian exchange officer, Lt.
Cmdr.
Brumby.
- Send Bud.
- I hear Brumby's cute.
Mac, Petty Officer Ellsworth was making a political statement.
Congress won't approve pay raises for the military.
So his actions are protected under free speech? No, but I don't think justice is served with brig time.
Think again.
Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, admiral.
Been glad to come to you, congresswoman.
I wanted this off the record, A.
J.
The House National Security Subcommittee is holding hearings next week.
We intend to find out whether a Marine Team Recon Force used chemical weapons to assassinate three renegade American civilian engineers.
Working on Saddam's weapons programmes.
Yeah, I saw Delaporte last night.
You don't actually believe that story, do you? I believe it's plausible.
One way or another, I need to know if it can be substantiated.
Pentagon's looking into it.
That's like sending the fox in to count the chickens.
And that's why my committee will hold meetings and will forward a report to Congress.
Well, in that case, ma'am, what do you need from me? I want Lt.
Cmdr.
Rabb assigned to my staff on temporary duty.
Ma'am, I'd love to cooperate, but Commander Rabb's caseload is full.
- I need him.
- I need him too, A.
J.
This is a complex subject.
A lot of people are gonna lie.
I need to have someone who will recognise the truth.
Besides, I'll owe you one.
And I have every intention of collecting, ma'am.
Announcing the arrival of Flight 274 from Sydney, at Gate 20B.
At this time we would like to pre-board Flight Number 676 to Barcelona.
You may board through Gate 11.
- Right.
- Take care in the meantime.
- Will do, mate.
- I'll see you.
Hi, I'm Major Sarah Mackenzie, JAG Corps.
- Sorry? - Excuse me.
No, excuse me.
I'm talking to someone.
I was asked to meet you here.
- Really? - Major, l-- Look, I don't care what kind of wager you made with your pals.
- Leave me alone.
- Wager? I can take you anywhere you wanna go.
Now, that's an interesting offer.
It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander Brumby.
- Brumby? - The pleasure's all mine, major.
I ran into some mates on the flight.
We were gas bagging it.
I'm not Commander Brumby, but I will be in town for a few days.
You can reach me at the Hilton.
Well, you made yourself a friend.
I'm so sorry.
Sarah Mackenzie.
No worries, honest mistake.
Mic Brumby.
Well, where would you like to go? Office or hotel? Hotel, then the office.
Might as well get straight down to the cases.
I like a man with a hard work ethic.
Perhaps he has to go to the Advocate first.
When I was a kid, I never dreamed I'd be anywhere near this place.
When I was a kid, it was all I dreamt about.
So where do we start? Norman Delaporte.
You think that's smart, considering we don't have all the facts? That's exactly why we're talking to him.
I don't usually get my facts from a reporter.
Harm, Norman is not just a reporter, he's an institution.
Besides, they don't give you a Peabody and a Pulitzer for being wrong.
Anyway, I know him.
Maybe that's what worries me.
Who put you on to this story, Mr.
Delaporte? Someone who refused to cover up a war crime.
Someone who wanted me to find out who was responsible for what happened that night, and to make sure that it never happened again.
Someone was busy.
So how did you get access to classified intelligence reports? I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to disclose my sources.
Sergeant Clyde Morrison led the Force Recon Team in El Bakkar that night.
Why didn't you interview him for your report? Oh, I did, but I couldn't get anything out of him.
- He was all over the place.
- Morrison is a hopeless alcoholic.
He's been in and out of VA hospitals.
What happened on the ground at El Bakkar haunted the men who were there that night.
We don't know for sure what happened that night, ma'am.
Well, we know this, commander: The dead bore witness.
Four Marines came home in body bags, and a fifth, Cary Dugan, blew his brains out three months ago.
Dugan was the Marine corporal who videotaped the raid.
The tape of the El Bakkar raid is missing from the Naval Historical Archives.
- Where'd you get your copy? - Just what's your part in all this? He's my truth detector.
You haven't answered my question.
Where did you get your copy, sir? Well, that's privileged.
Nui Lon was up north.
It was about 20 klicks from the border, right? That's right, sir.
Picture this: One dark night, me Uncle Jack gets separated from his unit on recon.
And he finds himself sitting 5 feet off the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
And all night long, these little bastards are going back and forth, carrying sacks of rice to the troops in the south.
He was so close, he could hear them break wind.
Luckily enough when daylight came, he managed to crawl the mile back to his own lines.
Did Uncle Jack make it back to Australia? Jack-o did two tours in Vietnam, major.
A lot of the mates he fought with never made it home but he did, and in one piece.
But he carked it in a car just last year.
"Carked it in a car"? Died in an auto accident.
How did you know that, sir? Met a lot of Aussies in Vietnam, major.
You know the really funny thing, admiral? I'll be darned if the driver of the other car wasn't a Vietnamese.
A lot of them came down under after the war.
Major Mackenzie will be showing you the ropes, commander.
In the short term, you'll be assisting her with Commander Rabb's caseload.
Welcome aboard.
Thank you, sir.
It will be good to have help with case research.
I can do more than look things up, major.
You see, my mother's American, so I have dual citizenship.
I got my degree at Georgetown and passed the D.
C.
Bar ten years ago.
No reason I shouldn't try a case or two, is there? Ensign Sims, Commander Brumby.
He'll be assisting with the Ellsworth case.
- Very nice to meet you, sir.
- Good day.
There's someone in your office.
I'm sorry I didn't get his name.
Oh, thank you.
The ensign will show you around, commander.
I've pretty much seen all I need to, ensign.
Hello, Sarah.
Aren't you gonna say hello to your husband? Colonel Cobb, you were the officer in command of Operation Sirocco? Yes, ma'am.
That's correct.
What was your mission? Two days prior to the start of the ground-war phase of Operation Desert Storm, I inserted a six-man Force Recon Team into Kuwait to gather intel on the shore batteries in the area of Safwan.
Their orders were to identify and report on Silkworm missile batteries in the area of El Bakkar.
- That was the extent of your orders? - Yes, ma'am.
While on this mission, did your men employ chemical or biological weapons? No, ma'am, absolutely not.
Then why were they dressed in nuclear biological-chemical suits with gas masks? Standard procedure given an eminent threat, ma'am.
We knew that Saddam had used chemical weapons in the past and we fully expected him to do so again.
Were your men given orders to assassinate three American engineers working at El Bakkar? No, ma'am.
We had no indication that Americans were there.
If we had, we would have brought them back for intel.
Can you be absolutely sure that your Force Recon Team didn't kill the Americans? I wasn't there, sir, but I trust my Marines and that's not what they reported.
Colonel Cobb, you said you had no knowledge of Americans being held in this compound.
Yet, in my hand, I have a recently declassified document prepared by the CIA two months prior to Operation Sirocco.
This intel report indicates that there were three American engineers working at El Bakkar.
Have you ever seen that document before? No, ma'am.
The report indicates that the American engineers posed a clear and present danger to our national interest.
Colonel, did anyone give you an order to eliminate that danger? No, ma'am.
What would have happened if you had been shown the intel report? That calls for speculation, sir.
What's the problem with that, colonel? I deal in facts, ma'am.
The fact is, three Americans died at El Bakkar.
The fact is, my Marines did not kill them.
Were you always this beautiful? Last time you saw me was 12 years ago.
My hair was a foot longer, my skirt a foot shorter, and I was still using Clearasil.
You're as handsome as ever, Chris, and as unpredictable.
It was you that walked away from our wedding vows, not me.
You've changed a lot in 12 years.
You've made yourself a Marine major and a lawyer.
What makes you think that I haven't changed too? You show up after all these years.
There must be a reason.
Being a lawyer has made you suspicious.
No, being an adult has made me suspicious.
Maybe I want a second chance.
I gave you that years ago.
Well, let's go for three.
You deserted me, Sarah.
It still hurts.
I didn't desert you.
You were doing three to five for armed robbery.
I was trying to stay sober.
Why wait until now? This isn't the first time I came looking for you.
When I got out of prison, I went all the way to Okinawa.
Except I didn't have the nerve to face you, so I spent the next eight years of my life living with the loss until I just couldn't handle it anymore.
What I don't know is why you left.
I spent a lot of nights trying to figure that out.
Look, Chris, I was drunk the day we got married and on the honeymoon and up until the day they put you in prison.
You married me because you loved me.
You never filed for divorce, because you could never find anyone better than me.
I just never got around to the paperwork.
- There've been others along the way.
- Hey.
Like the guy in Okinawa, Major Farrow? Everything all right, major? Everything's fine, commander.
The judge wants to see us in chambers.
Thank you, I'll be right there.
I'll call you.
During Desert Storm, I commanded a light-armoured infantry platoon in support of the Third Tank Battalion.
We overran the El Bakkar compound at 1543 Zulu, on G plus one.
What happened then? We went through the compound and we found maybe 30 dead Iraqi soldiers.
We discovered the bodies in Building 5.
- Three Americans? - Yes, ma'am.
And how did those men die? From exposure to sarin gas.
At ease, major.
How is everything with the Ellsworth case? Fine, sir.
Commander Brumby is a real asset.
Everything else all right? Nothing I can't handle, sir.
Are you sure? You seem a bit distracted.
Sir, ma'am, I think there's something you should see on Channel 3.
My squadron received a Medevac frag from Sergeant Morrison at 0400.
I was the crew chief/door gunner aboard the Huey that flew to the El Bakkar compound in response.
When we arrived, Sergeant Morrison and Corporal Dugan extracted the casualties, then we all got out of there.
Did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Yes, ma'am.
When we landed on the beach a few miles southeast of Safwan, I got a good look at Sergeant Morrison's bandoleer.
He had two or three canisters left.
Can you describe those canisters? Yes, ma'am.
They were about this big with writing on the outside.
Gulf Bravo.
GB.
Those are the initials for sarin gas.
Ask him what time it was that his bird landed near Safwan.
Sergeant Ford, what time was it when your helo landed near Safwan? Around 0500, ma'am.
That's pre-dawn.
Was the interior lit? Sergeant Ford, 0500 is pre-dawn.
Was the interior of the helo lit? No, ma'am.
Of course not.
So it was dark when you saw the contents of Sergeant Morrison's bandoleer? Yes, ma'am.
Thank you, sergeant.
Bobbi, we need to talk.
I've got meetings until 6.
Come to my house.
I'll cook you dinner.
Good.
Bobbi, this whole story is based on speculation, innuendo, hearsay and anonymous sources.
Are you talking to me as a lawyer or as a military officer? Was that a congresswoman talking or a senator? Who told you I was gonna run for the Senate? - You did.
- When? Just now.
You're sneaky.
Well, you've gotta use what you got.
Yeah, you figure this hearing is gonna put you on the map.
That's not why we're holding them, Harm.
I believe the story.
No, Bobbi, I think you've been seduced by the story.
You think I'm that easy? No one's ever accused you of being easy.
This story is made for the evening news.
War crimes, chemical weapons, bad soldiers.
The military has been dealing with this sort of thing since Vietnam.
Are you sorry you agreed to work for me? No, so long as you let me do my job.
But I will not roll over for you or for anybody, Bobbi.
Really? Too bad.
Oh, those are just so cute, commander.
Ensign Sims knitted them for me for Christmas.
Don't you wish you had a pair? You wanna get that? - Mac.
- Come on in.
Yeah, there's plenty of food to go around.
I'm not hungry, ma'am.
I need to talk, but this isn't a good time.
Just call me tomorrow.
Sure.
Aren't you gonna go after her? She told me to call her tomorrow.
I never understood why you two didn't get together.
Mac? We fight all the time.
So do you and I.
Well, that's different.
- Really? How? - Yeah.
Well, for starters, we don't work together.
We do now.
- She's beautiful.
- So are you.
Oh, good evening, major.
How did you know where I live? Lieutenant Roberts was kind enough to tell me.
I didn't mean to intrude, but as we're in court first thing, I thought you might need these.
Oh, thank you.
Would you care for some tea? Tea? I'm not a pommie, Mac.
- A pommie? - English, yeah, they go for tea.
I wouldn't mind a beer.
I don't drink.
That doesn't mean your company has to be sober.
You know-- - It's late.
- Yeah.
- Maybe another time, huh? - Yep.
There's something we need to talk about.
Oh, yeah? Today in the hearing room, I felt you were pushing me to ask certain questions.
I was.
That's why you hired me.
I know.
You made me look bad.
Bobbi, you were asking the wrong questions, and there's a reason for that.
You're rushing.
I think you should recess the hearings.
Give me a chance to find this missing Marine and get a line on the videotape.
I see why you're so good at what you do.
You don't give an inch.
I'm not good with compromise.
Sometimes you have to meet a person halfway.
Give a little, get a little.
Sometimes halfway isn't close enough.
Good to see you, Ragle.
I wasn't sure you'd show up.
You're smarter than I thought.
You remember Bryer? Yeah.
Did you have a nice conversation with your wife? Work with me on this, Benny.
You're a loser, Ragle.
You got nothing to offer.
You've gotta give me more time.
I can make us both well.
I don't gotta give you nothing.
I choose to give you another 24 hours.
Now, if you don't come up with the 15 bills, you know how it works.
I pay Bryer by the bone.
So much for a hairline fracture, a little more for a clean break.
And a bonus for breaking the same bone in more than one place.
Now, do yourself a favour.
Talk to the missus again.
- Lieutenant Roberts, Ensign Sims.
- Good morning, sir.
Are you two busy? I could use some help.
Commander Brumby has us researching the Ellsworth case.
He's a really great guy, commander.
Really? Well, glad to hear it.
How's Miss Latham? Quite a handful.
I need you two to do something for me.
Well, is it a priority, sir, for the sarin-gas hearing? Yeah, if you can tear yourself away from Ellsworth.
I'd like you to help me find Sergeant Clyde Morrison, the sole surviving member of the team that entered the El Bakkar compound.
He's the only one who can tell us what happened.
Last known address, sir? A cardboard box in the Baltimore tenderloin.
He went missing three weeks ago and no one's seen or heard from him since.
Check with the FBI, police, NCIS.
Use your imagination.
We'll find him for you, sir.
Oh, and see if you can get a line on the El Bakkar video, the one missing from the Naval Historical Archives.
Aye, aye, sir.
Mrs.
Dugan? Hi, I'm Lieutenant Commander Rabb with JAG Corps.
I wonder if I can ask you a few questions, ma'am.
Kids, go on.
Time to go get in the car.
Hurry up, I'll be there in a minute.
Is this about Cary? Yes, it is, ma'am.
You know, I've had to re-experience my husband's suicide three times already, commander.
I don't think I can do it again.
Well, I understand how difficult this must be for you, but it's not about your husband's suicide.
It's on another matter, ma'am.
Look, I don't want to get back into this.
Your husband was a member of a Force Recon Team that raided the El Bakkar compound in Kuwait in 1991.
Yes.
It killed him.
Ma'am? Cary was never the same after the war.
What he saw and what he did there changed him.
Did your husband tell you what happened that night, Mrs.
Dugan? No.
Your husband videotaped part of the operation, ma'am.
I don't know anything about that.
Well, Norman Delaporte, the reporter, has a copy of that tape.
We have reason to believe he didn't get it from the Navy Historical Archives.
What does that have to do with me? Did you sell the tape to Norman Delaporte, Mrs.
Dugan? I want you to leave.
Mrs.
Dugan, I need a copy of that tape, ma'am.
I need to know if there's more than Delaporte has shown us.
Sit still and put on your belt.
Look, my husband is dead, so whatever happened doesn't matter.
Not anymore.
There are more important things.
I saw you at the hearing, didn't I, commander? Yes, sir.
I'm Miss Latham's liaison.
So whose side are you on? Well, sir, I don't take sides.
Why did you send a Force Recon Team to El Bakkar, sir? Before the start of the ground war, the Navy pounded the shoreline with 16-inch guns.
The Iraqis were expecting amphibious landing, so they held several divisions of Republican Guards in the area.
We just went in to make sure that their shore batteries couldn't hit our battle group with their Silkworm missiles.
Hand me that distributor cap, will you, please? Well, sir, how is it that you didn't see a classified intel report? Nobody showed it to me.
Colonel, is it possible that someone above you knew the American engineers were housed at El Bakkar? Those engineers went to work for the Iraqis for money.
Now, I can't say I mourn their deaths, but I did not order them killed and I don't know anybody who did.
On the night of the raid, sir, Sergeant Morrison ordered the videotaping of the operation to be terminated outside Building 5.
- Why? - You have to ask him.
Well, I'd like to.
It seems he's dropped off the face of the Earth.
Listen, I lost four good men that night, and to a man, they died bravely fighting for their country.
Now some jackass wants to blacken their memories? That gets under my skin, commander, and it damn sure ought to be bothering you.
Where have you been, Harm? I expected you hours ago.
Look, I had to talk to some people.
No, what you had to do, commander, is stay in touch.
Bobbi, you need to delay these hearings.
Are you out of your mind? No way we're backing off of this.
We don't have all of the facts.
This could come back and bite you.
Oh, commander, I'd like to get you in this shot as well.
Tell me something, Mr.
Delaporte.
What the hell happened to you? I haven't changed, commander.
The world has changed.
Now you got breaking news and all that matters is who gets there first and you bought into it.
Even if it does violence to the truth.
I have adapted, commander.
It's what a good journalist does.
I go with my hunches.
It's what I've always done.
Now, could you stand here to the left? No, sir.
That's your place, Mr.
Delaporte.
Call me when you need me for something important.
Correspondent Rob Stein reports live from Williamsburg, Virginia.
Thank you, Lois.
Record highs in New York City and the Eastern seaboard.
Record low temperatures in Los Angeles and on the West Coast.
I called you.
You never called me back.
What do you want, Chris? I want you to remember.
You're a hard man to forget.
The good times, Sarah.
Come on, before things got strange.
They were always a little strange.
Yeah, but we sure had a good time, didn't we? Like the time we rode the Harley from Flagstaff to Gallup in the rain and you lost your shirt in Winslow.
- Remember? - It was Joseph City.
And I never could seem to keep it buttoned when you were around.
The truth, Chris.
Truth? I came here six months ago looking for you.
I didn't have anything to offer, so I borrowed 15 grand.
Looking for the big score? What was it? The track? - The fights? NFL? - All of it.
Now I owe Benny Turpin the 15.
- Who the hell is Benny Turpin? - Don't ask.
When I got the courage to come to you I was looking for money.
Plain and simple.
Only now I don't care about the money, Sarah.
I don't even mind if I get my leg broke.
As long as I have a chance to get you back into my life.
I'm leaving tomorrow.
You think it over.
I don't know what to believe, Chris.
Believe this.
Some things you can't fake.
Commander, as long as this hearing is going on, I have to be able to count on you to be there.
This is a mistake, Bobbi.
I'm going back to JAG.
Not acceptable.
I need you.
What, to stand behind you next to the flag? Is this about hurt pride? My only loyalty, Bobbi, is to the truth.
I'm resigning.
I never figured you for a quitter.
Rabb.
I'll be there in 15 minutes.
Harm, I don't like fighting with you.
Sure you do.
You just don't like losing.
This is Norman Delaporte.
I'm here at the Capitol after the second day of hearings.
Oh, thanks.
I'll see you.
With me is Congresswoman Bobbi Latham of Detroit, Michigan, chair of the House National Security Subcommittee's ongoing investiga-- I'm looking for Clyde Morrison.
--assassinated three Americans Whatever he drinks, give me two of them.
Exclusive ZNN special reports.
What happens now? Pending the outcome of the hearings, Norman, I'm introducing legislation Sergeant Morrison? - It's on me.
- Thank you.
I'm Lieutenant Commander Rabb with JAG Corps.
Do you watch much TV? I got better things to do.
Did you see this? If the charges come out to be true, I'm calling for the prosecution of all the men involved with the killing at El Bakkar.
She's talking about how you killed three Americans at El Bakkar compound with chemical weapons.
I know what happened, sergeant.
I'm not a sergeant anymore, commander.
You wanna call me something, you call me Clyde.
You followed orders.
You lost four men to a superior fighting force.
You carried out your dead.
And that's all you did.
- You really believe that? - Yeah.
But I can't prove it.
I didn't have chemical weapons.
We fired tear gas in there.
That's all we did.
Why'd Sergeant Ford tell Norman Delaporte that you had GB canisters? Delaporte, he'll get you to say anything he wants you to say if you talk to him long enough.
You set him straight? Oh, he'd already made up his mind about me.
He condemned me before he even met me.
I need you to testify, sergeant.
Look, come on.
Commander, take a good look at me.
Look close, would you? I mean, I can't even keep my hands steady long enough to have a drink.
You're all I got, sergeant.
Well, if I'm all you've got, you ain't got squat.
Buddy? Where have you been hiding? Milly, I had no idea you were still working-- Sure, I'm not married, Buddy.
Well, not yet, anyway.
So how are you? Well, actually, you remember the last time that I was here? Yeah, you were with that squirrelly little blond thing.
That "squirrelly little blond thing" is now his loving wife.
Nice to see you again.
Oh, a pleasure, I am sure.
So, what can I do for you? We're looking for a videotape and it was catalogued with the written statements and an after-action report for Operation Sirocco.
I found the documents, but I can't find the videotape.
That Delaporte guy from ZNN, he asked me the same thing.
Milly, could you just help us out? It's really important.
Well, these are waiting to be filed.
- Here.
Here.
- What is it? It's footage from Task Force Sandhawk on the Kuwaiti border.
It's been sitting here a while, but we've been waiting for a new case from Processing.
Maybe your tape got put in the Sandhawk box by mistake.
Code number ODS-9104, come on.
But Sirocco came before Sandhawk, Milly.
There it is, "Operation Sirocco, February 23rd, 1991.
" It must have gotten switched around.
All right, let me make you a VHS copy.
Interesting filing system you have here.
Well, it works one way or the other.
Bobbi.
I didn't expect to see you here.
Unedited.
- Am I gonna like it? - No.
Harm, I've taken a position on this.
Cut your losses, Bobbi.
You're on the wrong side of the truth.
My name is Clyde Morrison, sergeant, United States Marine Corps, Inactive Reserve.
Please be seated.
Sergeant Morrison, the night of the raid at El Bakkar, what did you and your men fire into the buildings? Tear gas, ma'am.
Were you aware that there were three American engineers working for Saddam Hussein at El Bakkar? - No, ma'am.
- You didn't see the CIA intel report? No, ma'am.
I did not.
There is evidence that the people on the ground died of sarin gas poisoning.
How do you explain that? Well, aren't you asking the wrong person, sir? Who should I be asking? Saddam Hussein.
He used it on the Iranians, on the Kurds.
That was one of the reasons we fought the damn war in the first place.
- Excuse my language, ma'am.
- I've heard worse, sergeant.
My guess is that he had them eliminated.
Why would he kill the men he needed to work his weapons programmes? Well, dead men tell no tales, sir.
That's quite a story.
Do you have any proof that's what happened? - No, sir.
- So all we have is your word for it? Yes, sir.
Sergeant Morrison, have you spent time in VA hospitals for acute alcoholism? Yes, sir.
Are you delusional? Only to think that I would get a fair hearing in this room, sir.
Thank you, Sergeant Morrison.
Please remain here in case I need to recall you.
Yes, ma'am.
Sergeant Ford, it was your statement before this committee that Sergeant Morrison carried sarin gas.
Yes, sir.
You told us that you saw canisters labelled GB.
Yes, sir.
In a television report, you made the same claim.
Why did you do that, sergeant? I was answering a question, ma'am.
Do you remember the exact questions Mr.
Delaporte asked you? Pretty much, ma'am.
Did it have something to do with officials high up in the CIA who told him the Americans had died from nerve gas? Did he mention that your guys were the ones who used that gas? Yes, ma'am.
Did he tell you he needed someone to back it up? He might have.
I don't recall all his questions, ma'am.
Did Mr.
Delaporte lead you into your testimony, suggest what you might have seen? No, ma'am.
At least I don't remember it that way.
The letters for tear gas are CS.
Those canisters were labelled GB, ma'am.
Sergeant Ford, isn't it a reporter's job to ask questions? Yes, sir.
So Mr.
Delaporte was just doing his job? Yes, sir.
Thank you, Sergeant Ford.
Yes, ma'am.
My next witness is Norman Delaporte.
Please be seated.
Mr.
Delaporte, in the preparation for your report, did you ever attempt to interview Sergeant Morrison? I did, his story didn't track and he had every good reason to cover up what he did.
At what point during the interview with Sergeant Ford did he confirm that Sergeant Morrison carried sarin-gas canisters? I don't recall.
But you do have the full transcript of your interview with Sergeant Ford? Yes.
Would you be willing to make those transcripts available to the committee? I'd have to give that some thought, ma'am.
I promised Sergeant Ford confidentiality.
Where did you get your tape of the raid on El Bakkar? I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am.
Did you pay for that tape? No.
It was given freely by someone who wanted to see the truth come out.
Thank you, Mr.
Delaporte.
That's all I wanted to know.
Oh, just one more thing.
The tape is 18 minutes long? Yes.
And it ends when Sergeant Morrison cuts taping just after he fires the canister into Building 5? Yes.
Mrs.
Dugan, did your husband keep a bootleg copy of the videotape he made on the night of the raid on the El Bakkar compound? He had lots of tapes.
Yes or no? I remind you you're under oath.
Yes.
Did you sell that tape to Mr.
Delaporte? Yes.
Mr.
Delaporte claims that his tape was 18 minutes long.
How long was the tape you sold Mr.
Delaporte? Twenty-two minutes.
Why did you sell him that tape? I needed the money.
Thank you, Mrs.
Dugan.
You're dismissed.
My next witness is Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb.
Please take your place at the table, commander.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? I do.
State your name.
Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb.
Your duty station? I'm assigned to the headquarters of the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps.
Did you recently work on my staff? That was my privilege, ma'am, yes.
Why did you quit and return to JAG? I had outlived my usefulness, ma'am.
Let me rephrase my question, commander.
Did you resign because you and I had a difference of opinion on the accuracy of Norman Delaporte's reporting on Operation Sirocco? Yes, ma'am.
That is exactly the reason.
Did you recently come into possession of a 22-minute copy of the El Bakkar videotape from the Naval Archives? - I did.
- How did you locate it? It had been misfiled, ma'am.
Do you have that tape with you? I do.
Clear the area! Let's go! Clear! Norman Delaporte claims that Sergeant Morrison had the videotaping stopped to cover up a war crime.
When, in fact, Sergeant Morrison was ordering his men to take cover.
Stop it.
Stop it.
Stop it and get out of here! The videotaping resumed moments later.
There were four additional minutes of tape.
Get down! Get down! Murray, Carson, left flank.
Corporal Dugan filmed the action while the Force Recon Team fought for their lives.
At one point, Corporal Dugan put the video camera down long enough to help a mortally wounded comrade.
It hit his leg! Clear! Angel One Five.
This is Pony Boy 4.
Medevac 4, urgent.
Airborne med assist required.
Grid 854342.
LZ is hot, over.
I repeat, LZ is hot.
Medevac helicopter arrives minutes later.
Dugan and Morrison helped load the dead.
Once aboard the helicopter, Corporal Dugan resumed videotaping.
Sergeant Ford is the crew chief/door gunner.
Sergeant Morrison is wearing the bandoleer belt.
That's a canister and it's labelled CS.
That's CS for tear gas.
You knew the truth, Mr.
Delaporte.
You altered it to fit your story.
You deliberately left things out.
No.
I chose what to put in.
That's what a reporter does.
You rejected the things that didn't fit your thesis, sir.
You reported rumour.
I made a judgement call.
You lied to this committee on several counts, Mr.
Delaporte.
You testified that you did not buy the tape.
You did.
You testified that the tape was 18 minutes long.
It was 22 minutes.
Mr.
Rabb, address your remarks to this committee.
Let him talk.
I'm interested in what he has to say.
Tell me something, Congressman Martin, why is it that people are so ready to believe the worst of the military? These men put their lives on the line.
They're the ones who risk it all.
So why are people like Sergeant Morrison the last to be believed and men like this, the first? This hearing is in recess.
My first witness tomorrow is Norman Delaporte.
Come with me, Mac.
Where? Does it matter? It's 3,000, Chris.
It's the best I can do.
All I want is you.
You had me, Chris.
This isn't the way I thought things would turn out.
I don't wanna see you again.
You're not good for me.