Transcripts For WMAR Nightline 20100219 : vimarsana.com

tonight on nightline, suicide by plane. a man angry at what he called big brother government unleashes that rage by plowing an airplane into the side of an irs office. and now the question who is joe stack? the taking of marja. we have a dramatic dispatch from the front lines of war, as american marines help afghan soldiers take on the taliban, and the stakes couldn t be higher. plus, america s ski bum. you may not find him winning olympic gold in vancouver, but his fearless skiing and free to be me style have made this mohawk man a legend. we hit the slopes with glen plake. announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, this is nightline, february 18th, 2010. good evening. it was a smoldering sense of anger that erupted into flames earlier today. first, he set fire to his home. then, he piloted a small aircraft into an office building that contained the local irs. the crash ignited a massive blaze, but remarkably, claimed just one life beyond his own. and if such a series of actions seem almost impossible to comprehend, well, he also left his own explanation. as ryan owens now reports. reporter: tonight, we know this is the face behind all of the terror. a lone pilot with a grudge against the government. his target? an office full of irs workers. but just before 10:00 this morning, all anybody knew were the basic facts that still strike fear in the hearts of every american. a plane turned a building into a fire ball, and hundreds were trapped inside. i got some intel from one of our units on the scene. we need units out here asap. sounded like a huge, huge bang. our whole building shook like it was going to shatter. some of our people in our office saw the plane hit it and then just saw a huge fire ball explode. and then all the smoke started, and everybody just poured out. by the time, you know, the explosion happened, everybody was pulling over on the side of the road and there were people running out of the building once you got up and could see backwards. i heard a small plane engine flying very close, and i looked up, and there was a blue and white piper cherokee, a small plate, single engine. i used to flight instruct them, and i thought it was going to hit me for a second. it was flying right across the top of the trees, and it whipped right across the building and slammed directly between the first and second floor of what i think is the echelon two building. reporter: president obama was briefed by his top counterterrorism adviser. two f-16s were scrambled. soon enough, investigators determined it wasn t terrorism, at least not the organized kind everyone was worried about. it was the terrorism of a lone man, determined to kill himself and apparently as many others as he could. investigators identified that man as 53-year-old andrew joseph stack, known as joe. a father, software engineer, a bass player in a local country band and yes, a very experienced pilot. his weapon of choice, then, was obvious. so, too, was his motive. once up read this six-page rambling letter posted on a website registered to joe stack. it lists today as the date of his death and chronicles-year-olds of struggle with the federal government in general, the irs in particular. he concluded the rant with this. i saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. i am finally ready to stop this insanity. well, mr. big brother irs man, let s try something different. take my pound of flesh and sleep well. the last entry of his website was at 6:42 this morning. and then, according to authorities, he set his house on fire, where he lived with his wife and daughter. both are safe tonight. neighbor albert hutchins called 911. my wife and i were both inside. she was watching tv. i was working at my computer and we heard a loud noise. it was an unusual noise and so we immediately, you know, wondered what was that. and we ran into the yard and saw the smoke and flames from the house two doors down. and i immediately grabbed our cordless phone and called 911, and made a report on it. reporter: another neighbor who would not speak on camera says the family had grown withdrawn and less social in recent years. she worries now about his young daughter. she doesn t have a home to come home to anymore. the security she knew has been ripped out. and that s what i feel for. it s that family who he had no respect for. reporter: his rampage, as we know, didn t end at home. at 9:40 a.m., joe stack took off from a small airport 20 miles north of his home. his single engine plane, a piper cherokee, was full of fuel. authorities suspect he made sure of that to make the crash as deadly as possible. just 15 minutes later, investigators believe he intentionally slam into the second and third floors of that office building. it s the exact spot where nearly 200 employees of the irs go to work every day. glass worker robin dehaven used the ladder on his truck to rescue a half dozen. i jumped out, grabbed the extension ladder and went over there. and there was five people up there just looking out, trying to get air because the room was filling with smoke. i called my mom and tried telling her, you d be proud of me today and she said, why? and then, it kind of like now, i get kind of choked up. i don t know, all the emotions of helping those people, knowing you did something, and it all kind of came down on you later, like, just sitting in traffic because of the traffic jam everywhere. and i just got a little choked up after that. still kind of hard to think about it, but i m trying to. i m all right. reporter: rescue workers arrived minutes later. the human toll they found was remarkably and mercifully low. out of this entire building, one federal employee was killed. two had to go to the hospital. late tonight, searchers recovered two bodies. joe stack, no doubt, hoped to kill many more. i m ryan owens for nightline in austin, texas. and the investigation continues. our thanks to ryan owens. and when we come back, from violence at home to conflict abroad. we imbed with american marines and the afghan army in marja as they engage the taliban. anncr vo: with the new geico glovebox app. anncr vo: .you can get help with aflat tire. anncr vo: .find a nearby tow truck or gas station. anncr vo: .call emergency services. anncr vo: .collect accident information. anncr vo: or just watch soe fun videos. anncr vo: it s so easy, a caveman can do it. caveman: unbelievable. caveman: where s my coat? 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[ male announcer ] talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you. it it was the sixth day of a massive assault on the taliban stronghold of marja. u.s.-led forces including afghan soldiers made significant headway in seizing control of the town, but not without a severe cost. today saw the most serious incident since the battle began. an explosion and several marine casual tips. our miguel marquez is in marja. reporter: early morning in the southern end of marja. the afghan army comes looking for a fight. he said that if there s a problem, he needs helicopter, so we got our guys here and we ll be your support. reporter: with the barest instruction, the afghan battalion commander sends his men into the field. taliban finished. reporter: finished? taliban go, finished. reporter: when it comes time to fight, they are ready for it. dozens of soldiers fan out. they swarm across farm fields. the people who live here know exactly what s coming. there are four come pounds in the area now controlled by the taliban, he says. mine men ay men are headed theo take them out. if they stuck with a plan it would fall through because taliban is moving around everywhere right now. they just come up with a general idea of what they want to accomplish and then they flex from there. reporter: and you guys can roll with it? yes. we d do anything for them. reporter: it s not long before the fighting begins the gun fire quickly increases, a mortar round lands nearby. the afghan army counters with rocket-propelled grenades. the afghan forces are on both sides of this road. there were reports of the taliban in come pounds here. they went in to clear them and a huge fight broke out. an e mother mouse amount of metal flying through the air. it appears as though the marines that we re with didn t fire one bullet. their rules of engagement are much higher than those for the afghans. u.s. troops must have positive identification of a target that has hostile intent. i have no idea what he s opening up on. reporter: the biggest problem for marines today? too many friendly forces in the field. did you guys even get a round off? no. no. we sure didn t. reporter: why? why? we re just out here supporting the ana. this is their fight. we re not really supposed to do this for them. but if they absolutely need it, we ll go and help them. we re here and backup right now. reporter: right. the fighting only intensified. you might want to get back. reporter: for about two hours, with barely a letup. marines in the battalion were in vehicles that took almost constant fire. we took a couple of rounds to our vehicle. everybody s fine. but a little a little out there. reporter: get the blood pumping. right. reporter: these m-raps would like to move north, but they had to get across this road. it has not been cleared of ieds, and that s what marine engineers are doing now. finally, there was a lull in the fighting. late this afternoon, a huge bomb exploded while two detainees were being questioned. it s still not clear whether the blast was from a booby trap set in a building or a suicide bomber. the aftermath? horrific. it s the most serious incident so far in the battle for ma ja. the blast caused so many casualties it took three medevac helicopters to transport them all. the speed of help was incredible, from the moment of explosion to the triage to the medevac helicopters lifting off, but 15 minutes. and even as the helicopters took off, insurgents fired on them, trying to bring them down. as terrible as the incident was, commanders here say the battle for the city is largely won, that international and afghan forces now control the major roads, bridges and buildings across the entire city. i guess it will take us another 25 to 30 days to be entirely sure that we have secured that which needs be secured and we probably won t know for about 120 days whether or not the population is entirely convinced by the degree of commitment that their government is showing to them. reporter: encouraging signs, but more fighting to come. for nightline, i m miguel marquez in marja, afghanistan. reporting from the front lines. our thanks to miguel marquez. intelligence officials confirmed today that a pair of senior taliban leaders have been arrested inside pakistan in the past few days. and when we come back, a ski trip. but this is no lindsey vonn story. no, this colorful character is a legend of the slopes. so, doc. so, doctor. i ve been thinking. no. you know how. no. so, doc, i ve got this friend. 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reporter: wherever he goes on a mountain, they know him. cheese. cheese. yeah. that is so sweet. reporter: you have just enough head clearance. do i? reporter: he s 44 now, and he s been wearing that mohawk since he was a teenager. the secret ingredient? gelatin. unflavored. reporter: he lays his head on the table, she straightens the hair. this is the big flip. don t miss this. reporter: he s ready to ski. did we mention the diamond-studded tooth. he likes like a maniac. reporter: he skis 200 or 300 day as year. skis are part of his feet. and he s inexhaustible. he never stops. when you re skiing what do you think about? i try to make as much snow fly in the air as possible. reporter: because? it s my way of kind of playing with the snow. reporter: you want the snow looking like your hair? i guess so, yeah. ow. reporter: when you take that jump, you don t care that you can t see what s underneath it? no. i know what s down there. i looked. you pick a pocket. i was in that little pocket there and you want to put your skis right on that. if you were to miss the angle, it might be different. reporter: so, basically, anybody can do it. yeah. reporter: he used to be a hard drinker, and as a young man, collected felony convictions for barroom brawling. he doesn t drink anymore. jumping off a cliff doesn t land me in county for too many days. reporter: why did you stop drinking? because skiing isn t very good in jail. reporter: plake and his wife kimberly married 18 years now travel the world seeking snow. she was raised southern baptist in texas. i brought him home, but i brought him home with a great big blue mohawk to a houston oiler playoff game so they were happy and they thought he was a big fan. reporter: okay with dad? i think he slowly but surely saw the heart i see. reporter: it s a wild life. it s a complicated life. it is a crazy life. and our schedule is i wish i could show you our calendar. reporter: they are good will ambassadors of skiing, cruising america on what they call their downhome tours to visit the tiny hills where real people ski. skiing is a dumb hick sport that takes place at the end of a dirt road. i like the simply tis. there s snow on the ground, a winter day and we re out sliding around, and that s all it is, really there s no better way than to waste time than a day skiing. it s that simple. reporter: riding ski lifts, what he calls yo yos, and skiing tamed mountains are not really his thing. last july, plake was one of the first americans to descend a deadly chute on the back side of france s mt. blanc. he s into what s called skinning. we took a run with him in the back country of california s eastern sierras. see new a bit. reporter: easy for him. you have to work for this kind of fun. one foot in front of the other. reporter: he s killed me. but that s what skiing used to be before all the lifts, the lodges and the social life. what do you think? you ll be surprised. how good that looks. reporter: he s so cool, he makes you want your own mohawk. despite having fun, does skiing have any importance in this world? no. it makes a lot of people happy, a lot of smiles, but other than that, no. not a lot. reporter: useless. it s pretty useless. that s what s great about it, huh? awesome. reporter: as he likes to say, he s just a skier. this is brian rooney for nightline in mammoth lakes, california. a never ending search for fresh powder. our thanks to brian rooney. and in olympic news, lindsey vonn, after winning the gold last night, fell during today s super combined downhill event. but her teammate, julia mancuso, skied well enough to earn the silver and her third medal. and when we come back, tiger woods is ready to just do it. but first, here s jimmy kimmel with what s coming up next on abc. jimmy: thanks, martin. tonight, freddy prinz jr., danica patrick and robin thick will be here, so, please watch. thanks. and finally tonight, the moment of truth for tiger woods. the golfer soon will stand behind a podium at the pga tour headquarters in florida, stare into a crowd of friends and asso