dude, i didn t know what happened. i thought the whole road was going up. i thought that was it. i thought, we re going to die now. i don t know how anybody could forget that who was in that vehicle. it will stick with you for a while. whoa! holy [ muted ]. everybody good? baghdad, iraq. october 24th, 2005. it s late afternoon when a surveillance camera pointed at a traffic circle captures an suv slowing down. suddenly, it explodes. nbc news bureau chief carl bostic is in the traffic circle when it happens. everything around me was just orange, you know, from the front window and the side window, a
the blast rattles buildings all over baghdad and damages both hotels. dazed guests stumble out of the smoke and rubble. less than 50 yards from the explosion in the car with its hazard lights flashing is carl bostic. i was thinking, jesus, we have to get out of here, get out of the car. the security guard says, no, no, no, we re not the target. we re not the target. stay in the car. don t get outside. right now, we re trying to stay together.
home to western journalists and one of the most fortified compounds in baghdad. it s also where carl was heading for a meeting. there was a car that was behind us. and the car that was behind us swerved from behind us and kept going down that road and headed straight for that checkpoint. and that was the second suicide bomber. and we were actually about to drive right into that. seconds later, the car that passes them explodes. their main goal with the first two explosions was to make a hole into our perimeter, which the first explosion did. the second vehicle was deterred and went into a different direction. guards opened fire on the cement truck using everything
once because at first you re like, oh, no, and then you re like, wow, look how big it is. and then, whoo, they missed. so you get a big group of emotions running at the same time. they have several close calls, but the unit doesn t lose anyone in its yearlong tour. but the soldiers will remember this drive through the desert for a long time to come. holy [ muted ]. i don t know how anybody could forget that who was in that vehicle. it will stick with you for a while. whoa! holy [ muted ]. everybody good? baghdad, iraq. october 24th, 2005. it s late afternoon when a surveillance camera pointed at a traffic circle captures an suv slowing down. suddenly, it explodes. nbc news bureau chief carl bostic is in the traffic circle when it happens. everything around me was just orange, you know, from the front window and the side window, a big bang or roar. he s so close to the
soldiers keep firing. and then it explodes, a massive fireball. i honestly believe that he himself detonated it with some sort of handheld charge. the blast rattles buildings all over baghdad and damages both hotels. dazed guests stumble out of the smoke and rubble. less than 50 yards from the explosion in the car with its hazard lights flashing is carl bostic. i was thinking, jesus, we have to get out of here, get out of the car. the security guy says, no, no, no, we re not the target. we re not the target. stay in the car. don t get outside. it s a good thing we didn t get outside because there was gunfire everywhere. carl talks with nbc news headquarters from his car. despite the life-threatening situation, he stays professional and calm. right now, we re trying to stay together. we re not getting out of the car. we re trying to negotiate with the police. it s a very, very tense situation. but he s scared to death. quite frankly, i was just