>> Stahl: For five weeks, this no-man's land of ice
was home to an expeditionary team of sailors, scientists and
engineers, who's mission was to understand how to survive in
maybe the most hostile conditions on earth. How cold does
it get up here? >> It's about 25 below zero
with the wind chill. >> Stahl: The stakes are high--
trillions of dollars of natural gas and oil long-buried under
the sea floor. Which is one reason we came upon
a U.S. attack submarine in a most unlikely way. >>
rebel! >> Cooper: Nate Parker's new movie is about a
slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831. At early screenings, it
got standing ovations, and talk of Oscar nominations. But with
fame, came scrutiny, and Nate Parker's past began to make
headlines. >> You know, I-- I was falsely accused. You
know, I went to court. And I sat in trial.
You know, I was-- I was-- I was vindicated. I
was proven innocent. I was vindicated. >> Mary quin: Right
away, we knew this was-looked like we were going to
be taken hostage, this was a kidnapping. >> Whitaker: How
many kidnappers were there? >> Quin: About 18. >> Whitaker:
How Mary quin survived is a story in itself. And
so is what the terrorist behind the you don't mess
with Mary quin. >> Quin: I just took another step
closer to him and put my foot down on his
head and that just gave me some leverage. >> Whitaker:
So you wrestled the gun away from him? >> Quin:
Yes, and said some things that we won't repeat on
television. >> Whitaker: What did you say? >> Quin: It
was casting aspersions on his mother, I'll put it that
way. >> I'm Steve kroft. >> I'm Leslie stahl. >>
I'm bill Whitaker. >> I'm Anderson Cooper. >> I'm Scott
pelley. Those stories tonight, on "60 minutes." >> Leslie stahl:
The sea ice over the arctic is melting and shrinking
so fast, we will see in our lifetime something that
hasn't happened, it's believed, since the end of the the
opening of an ocean, the arctic ocean, and with that
access to trade routes and trillions of dollars worth of
oil and natural gas, almost as much as the entire
U.S. economy. But this isn't a story about climate change;
this is a story about the competition for those riches.
The Russians, for instance, have already amassed a major military
presence in the region. It's U.S. scientists and naval personnel,
learning to tough it out in the harshness of this
still ice- covered frontier. We discovered just how harsh, on
a recent trip to the arctic. The arctic ocean sits
on top of the globe, encircled by Russia, which encompasses
about half of its coastline, Norway, Greenland, Canada and the
United States, thanks to Alaska. We flew, as guests of
the Navy - from prudhoe bay Alaska 200 Miles in
the direction of the north pole, over fractured, thinning ice,
to a spot where the ice was still thick enough
to support this base camp. It was a small temporary
village, disrupting the peace and purity of the ice, white
as far as the eye can see. The camp was
built for a scientific and military exercise, called "ice-x 2016".
Hi, everyone. How do you do? Nice to meet you.
>> Welcome, welcome. >> Stahl: For five weeks, this no
man's land of ice was home to an expeditionary team
of sailors, scientists and engineers, whose mission was to understand
how to survive in maybe the most hostile conditions on
earth. The Navy says those taking part in this exercise
are the first humans ever to set foot on this
part of the planet. It's actually beautiful beyond belief isn't
it? >> Chuck mcguire: It really is. >> Stahl: Chuck
mcguire was one of the first to arrive. He's an
engineer with the university of Washington's applied physics lab that
was brought in to build this camp from scratch. So
you get off the plane. There's nothing. >> Mcguire: Yeah.
>> Stahl: There's no shelter, there's no indoors. >> Mcguire:
No. >> Stahl: There was just ice? >> Mcguire: Ice
everywhere. That's right. >> Stahl: And you say, "how am
I going to survive?" >> Mcguire: You pick up a
hammer and start building. >> Stahl: They built a makeshift
city called sargo for roughly 60 people, consisting of a
command post, tight living quarters, a mess hall stocked with
food airlifted in weekly, and some very primitive toilet facilities.
>> Mcguire: That outhouse is really cold. (Laughter) >> Stahl:
That outhouse is awful! Oh my God! What about water?
You can't just eat the ice, right? >> Mcguire: You
can if you know what you're looking for. >> Stahl:
This ice mining team knows what to look for: Old
sea ice that's been baking in the sun long enough
that the salt has leached out. >> Ice mining team,
ice mining team. We are returning back to camp. >>
stahl: They bring back chunks to melt down into the
camp's only drinking water. >> Mcguire: All the things that
you take for granted in normal civilization, right, shelter, food,
the ease of going to the bathroom, right? That is
all different out here. (Laughs) >> Stahl: What qualities do
you think it takes to stay here and survive out
here for weeks? >> Mcguire: I think maybe you have
to be a little off, initially. And really understand that
everything outside that door is trying to kill you here.
>> Stahl: If the ice and wind don't get you,
polar bears might. An armed sentry patrols the perimeter of
the camp in case one comes looking for food. >>
good evening everyone. Another successful day here at sargo. >>
stahl: There's a daily briefing in the command post to
coordinate the various researchers who are studying and trying to
understand this part of the world as they plan for
a more sustained presence here. They're analyzing among other things
>> Scott: The ice floe's moved about nine Miles to
the west northwest today. >> Stahl: How climate change is
affecting the way the ice here drifts and migrates. It
feels like you're on land, you get the sense that
you're on land-- it's very firm you know, a plane
could land, but we're moving, which is kind of astonishing.
>> Luers: I think every day it's interesting to wake
up and recognize you're eight or nine Miles from where
you were the day before. It looks the same, but
it's pretty interesting to try and figure that out. >>
stahl: The ice moves that much every day in unpredictable
directions because of the currents underwater and the wind above.
>> Down here, we're 23 degrees celsius. >> Stahl: Also
unpredictable is the weather. We met a team of meteorologists
using balloons to help with forecasting which is key for
any military operation. >> Scott Parker: So, these balloons measure
your temperature, your dew point, the wind speed. >> Stahl:
Commander Scott Parker, a meteorologist with the Navy's Atlantic submarine
force, says there's virtually no weather data collected up here.
In other parts of the world meteorologists rely on satellites
for forecasting, but up here near the north pole satellite
coverage is minimal. How cold does it get up here?
'Cause it's-- right now, I don't know if-- >> Parker:
It is freezing, right? >> Stahl: People can see, it's
terribly-- >> Parker: The lowest we've had is-- is 26°
below fahrenheit, and today's actually our warmest day-- >> stahl:
Come on? >> Parker: --And right now, it's 6° below.
>> Stahl: And with this wind chill factor? Because the
wind is really blowing. >> Parker: It is. And it's
terrible. It's about 25° below zero with the wind chill.
>> Stahl: And you're telling me this is the warmest
day you've had? >> Parker: This is the warmest day
we've had so far. >> Stahl: Do you want to
go inside? >> Parker: I do. Let's go. >> Stahl:
The temperature can drop to as low as 50 below
and that can wreak havoc on just weapons, communications systems,
sensors... and people, including these Navy divers who were here
to test their latest cold- weather gear, and their endurance,
in the frigid water. These robotics engineers are conducting underwater
experiments in a temperature- controlled tent. When we were there,
Doug horner and his team were field-testing these underwater drones,
for the first time in the arctic. >> Doug horner:
When we first put it in, we check the ballast
>> stahl: The drones are collecting scientific data about the
arctic where the water gets warmer the deeper you go.
They're also getting a picture of what it looks like
down below. >> Horner: My primary emphasis here is the
ability to map the under-ice. So we have sensors, sonar
specifically which is sound, which is focused upwards and what
we hope to do with continually putting sound upwards is
to make a map. >> Stahl: You're the mapping the
bottom of the ice? >> Horner: Yes, the underneath portion
of the ice. >> Stahl: Uh uh. And why is
that important? >> Horner: I want to be able to
navigate relative to that. So this is the idea of
being able to navigate an underwater robot accurately without g.P.S.
Cause in the ice you don't have the opportunity to
come up to the surface for a GPS fix. >>
stahl: He says these drones could also be used to
patrol the waters of the arctic, looking for enemy subs,
for instance, the way drones hover in the sky over
a battlefield. The Navy is testing this technology, and amassing
all of this research, to prepare for an expanded presence
in the arctic, as the ice continues to melt. The
Russians are already there in force. Last year they staged
a military exercise in the arctic as seen in this
Russian ministry of defense footage. It involved about 40,000 troops,
15 submarines, 41 warships and multiple aircraft. No one disputes
their right to do that on their own territory. It's
just that it wasn't announced. >> Philip breedlove: We pre-
announce ours. No one is surprised by them. Whereas the
exercise that Russia did was a snap exercise which is
a bit destabilizing. >> Stahl: Until may of this year,
retired four-star general Philip breedlove was the supreme allied commander
of NATO with responsibility for the arctic. What else is
destabilizing, he says, is Russia's military build up along something
called the northern sea route skirting the Russian arctic coastline.
The route could become an alternative to the suez canal,
saving huge amounts of time and money for the commercial
shipping industry. >> Breedlove: I have heard as much as
28 days decrease in some of the transit from the
northern European markets to the Asian markets. That is an
incredible economic opportunity. And it could be a very boon-
big boon to business around the world. >> Stahl: What
would it mean if the Russians did gain control over
the northern sea route? >> Breedlove: If the Russians had
the ability to militarily hold that at ransom, that is
a big lever over the world economy. >> Stahl: So
tell us in a nutshell what's happening. >> Breedlove: Along
that route what we see is Russia upgrading over 50
airfields and ports, 14 of them to be done this
year, increasing the number of ground troops, putting in surface-to-
air missiles, putting in sensors. That could be used to
guide weapons. That could be used to deny access. >>
stahl: In 2007 Russia went so far as to plant
its flag on the sea floor under the north pole.
>> Breedlove: I think it's important to understand what the
deputy prime minister said, that the arctic is a part
of Russia, that-- that they will provide the defense for
the arctic and that they will make money in the
arctic and that the Western world may, therefore, bring sanctions
on them, but that's okay because tanks don't need visas.
I think it sends a pretty clear message. >> Stahl:
The U.S. has not tried to match the Russian build
up, the Navy relying on its fleet of nuclear and
attack submarines, the most powerful in the world. When we
were there, the Navy was conducting a submarine warfare exercise,
something it does in the arctic every two years. When
a sub surfaces in the arctic, they use shovels to
carve a visual landmark in the ice that the sub
can see." X" literally marks the spot. But that "x"
is a moving target because of the drifting ice. >>
luers: There we go >> stahl: Which makes maneuvering a
windowless steel cylinder the size of a football field to
such a pinpoint location seem impossible. But on this day,
the skipper and his crew, punching up through thick ice,
nailed it on their first try. It took a few
minutes for the sail, the shark fin on top, to
completely emerge. >> There they are. >> Stahl: When they
popped the hatch, a special guest climbed out, the secretary
of the Navy, ray mabus, who'd been on board for
five days, taking part in the naval exercise. What does
it mean that the secretary of the Navy has come
up to the arctic? Is there a special significance to
you being here? >> Ray mabus: Our responsibilities are increasing
as the arctic ice melts, as the climate changes. And
so the Navy has got to be here, we've got
to provide that presence and I hope that my presence
emphasizes what we do. >> Stahl: As he flew off
to Alaska, we climbed down the ladder into the fast-attack,
nuclear-powered u.S.S. "Hampton," and went through a 100 degree change
in temperature, from 25 below to about 75. You feel
claustrophobic? >> Theron Davis: Oh no. Not at all. You
get used to it. >> Stahl: Commander of the Hampton,
theron Davis, took us to the control room as the
crew prepared to submerge. >> Davis: Stationary dive the ship.
>> Stationary dive the ship, aye, sir. Dive. Stationary dive
the ship. Make your depth 1-5-0 feet. >> Stahl: What
he and his crew of 20-somethings are practicing is something
subs only do in the arctic. (\horn sounding\) Diving down
through new ice that had formed around the sub. What
is that? >> Davis: That's the ice breaking away. It's
the first time we've surfaced through this thick ice and
stayed up here this long. So that's the ice that's
beside us. And as we go down, it's got to
crack-- crack away from the hull. >> Stahl: We're listing.
I'm tilting this way. I can feel everything. >> Davis:
And now we're starting to see water. See the water
on the monitor? >> Stahl: Once they get to a
cruising level, they practice hide and seek with another sub.
In some of the exercises, they also test-fire blank torpedoes.
>> Davis: So I'm going to show you a torpedo
tube. >> Stahl: One of their challenges is ice keels,
huge chunks of ice that jut down from the surface,
and confuse sonar- guided torpedoes that can't distinguish them from
enemy submarines. >> Davis: So what we're working on is
saying, "hey, how can we fix that? How do we
know we can go and shoot-- shoot a weapon in
the ice and get a hit?" Right? So now, we
have to go up there and we have to figure
that out. >> Stahl: We returned to the surface... >>
Davis: We're coming up right now. One two two feet.
>> Stahl: One American sub in a region with a
growing Russian military presence. During our last day at the
camp, something dramatic happened. A crack in the ice along
the perimeter became a giant lake. New fissures formed right
through the heart of the camp, up to the doorstep
of the command post. Everything was packed up quickly for
an emergency evacuation, a reminder that the most formidable adversary
here may not be Russian forces, but the forces of
nature. >> Anderson Cooper: Nate Parker is a 36-year-old actor
whose new movie, "the birth of a nation," is about
a little-known slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831. At early
screenings the movie received standing ovations, and in Hollywood, long
criticized for a lack of diversity, there's been talk of
Oscar nominations. The slave revolt on which the film is
based is a real-life event from the past that Nate
Parker hopes can help blacks and whites confront America's fraught
racial present. But an episode from Parker's own past is
threatening the film's upcoming release, and the filmmaker's future in
Hollywood. 17 years ago when he was a student at
penn state university, Nate Parker and his roommate were accused
of rape. Parker was found not guilty in a court
of law, but now, on the cusp of stardom, he
finds himself back on trial, this time in the court
of public opinion. >> The lord is our light and
our salvation. >> Cooper: "The birth of a nation" is
a film about nat Turner, a slave and preacher who
believed he was called by God to lead a rebellion
to end slavery. >> Rebel! >> Cooper: Nate Parker, who
plays nat Turner, not only stars in the movie, he
wrote, produced, and directed it. Parker spent eight years struggling
to bring his version of nat Turner's story to the
screen. Do you think it's fair to say you became
obsessed with nat Turner? With making this movie about nat
Turner? >> Nate Parker: Yeah, I-- I came-- I became
obsessed with what I believed to be the potential impact.
>> Cooper: When the "birth of a nation" was first
shown at the Sundance film festival in January, the impact
was immediate. It won top prizes, and Hollywood studios came
calling. >> First thing up right now is gonna be
the guys lined up. >> Cooper: Fox searchlight paid $17.5
million for this independent film, the most money any studio
had ever paid for a movie at Sundance. But with
fame, came scrutiny, about two months ago Nate Parker's past
began to make headlines. >> Charlie rose: One of Hollywood's
rising stars is facing tough questions about his past. Nate
Parker. >> Cooper: There are conflicting accounts of what happened
at penn state one night in 1999. Nate Parker was
a 19-year-old sophomore wrestler when he and his fellow teammate
Jean celestin were accused by a female student of rape.
Both men admitted they had sex at the same time
with the accuser, but they said it was consensual. The
woman, whom we aren't naming, admitted to a prior consensual
encounter with Nate Parker, but on the night in question
had consumed a lot of alcohol, and said she was
in and out of consciousness. Do you feel guilty-- about
anything that happened that night? >> Parker: I don't feel
guilty. >> Cooper: Do you feel you did something morally
wrong? >> Parker: As a Christian man, just-- being in
that situation, yeah, sure. I'm 36 years old right now.
And-- and-- and my faith is very important to me.
You know, so looking back through that lens-- I definitely
feel like-- it's not the lens that I had when
I was 19 years old. >> Cooper: Nate Parker was
found not guilty of rape, but what wasn't widely known
until "variety" magazine discovered it in August, was that his
accuser had dropped out of penn state and after suffering
years of psychological problems, killed herself in 2012. >> Parker:
I had no idea. I had absolutely no idea. I
found out in the news. >> Cooper: What did you
think when you heard that? >> Parker: I was devastated.
It was-- it was shocking. You know, I-- I couldn't
believe it. >> Cooper: You haven't apologized to the-- the
woman or her family? >> Parker: Uh-huh. >> Cooper: Do
you feel you have anything to apologize for? >> Parker:
I'll say this, you know, I do think it's tragic,
so much of what's happened. And-- and the fact that
the family's had to endure with respect to this woman
not being here. But I do-- I also think that--
you know, and I don't want to harp on this
and I don't want to be disrespectful of them at
all. You know, but, you know, at some point I
have to-- to say it. You know, I-- I was
falsely accused. You know, I went to court. And I
sat in trial. You know, I was-- I was-- I
was vindicated. I was proven innocent. I was vindicated. And--
and-- I feel terrible that this woman isn't here. You
know, I feel terrible that, you know, her family had
to deal with that. But as I sit here, an
apology is-- no. >> Cooper: There's been withering criticism of
Parker online and in print. In Los Angeles, "the birth
of a nation" posters appeared on the street with the
word "rapist." Did you see those? >> Parker: I didn't
see. I didn't see any of those. Of course, I
heard. I don't want to make myself the victim, you
know, to-- to-- it's-- you have to fight back the
instinct to defend yourself. You know, you just got to
take it. >> Cooper: While Parker was found not guilty
at trial, his friend Jean celestin was convicted of sexual
assault and went to prison, but his conviction was eventually
overturned and his criminal record expunged. Both men remain friends,
and celestin, a writer, helped Parker with the "birth of
a nation." Was it a mistake to have him involved
in the film? >> Parker: I don't think so at
all, the reality is Jean went to jail for something
he did not do, so when it came time to
write this story, I said, "well, you want to help
with this?" >> Cooper: Were you surprised that there was
criticism that you continued an association with him? >> Parker:
Yes. Remember your little sister is on here be careful.
>> Cooper: We met with Nate Parker in June, months
before the story of his trial was widely known. He
was excited audiences would soon have the chance to see
his film. It was not, he said, an easy movie
to make. >> Nat? >> Cooper: Turner's bloody rebellion against
slavery only lasted two days, but of the estimated 60
white people he and his enslaved followers killed, many were
women and children. Are-- are you ready for criticism that,
"look, the film isn't 100% historically accurate." >> Parker: Uh-huh.
There's never been a film that was 100% historically accurate.
That's why they say based on a true story and
doesn't say, "a true story." >> Cooper: Did you always
plan on calling this film "birth of a nation?" >>
Parker: I did. Before I ever wrote the first line
of dialogue. >> Cooper: Parker picked the title because of
the original film called "the birth of a nation," directed
by d.W. Griffith in 1915. It's a silent film that's
considered a technical masterpiece for its time but it's also
a film that glorified the ku klux klan and solidified
stereotypes of African Americans in Hollywood that Parker says persist
today. >> Parker: Why is it important that d.W. Griffith--
that we-- that we-- that we recognize what he did
to Hollywood. Oh, well, it'll give us a better understanding
of why we're having conversations about diversity now. >> Cooper:
So how is-- how is nat Turner the birth of--
of our nation? >> Parker: Well, because in the same
way that I'm reclaiming the title, I'm reclaiming-re- claiming a
hero. You know, nat Turner, birth of a nation of--
of resisters. Of people that were truly willing to die
for absolute freedom and liberation. >> Cooper: Nate Parker was
never taught about nat Turner's revolt in school, despite the
fact that it took place in southampton county Virginia, less
than 50 Miles from where Parker grew up. >> Parker:
Never once did I hear about nat Turner >> Cooper:
So, it wasn't until college that you actually read something
about nat Turner-- >> Parker: That's right. I started to
read, and I was like, "oh, my goodness. Like this
guy was real, and he existed." >> Cooper: Why is
it important to know what happened to nat Turner? To
know what he did? >> Parker: Well, why is it
important to know about George Washington? Why is it important
to know about the revolutionary war? >> Cooper: But you're
saying that what nat Turner did, and those around him
did, you're putting it on par with George Washington? With
the founders of this country. >> Parker: Absolutely. 100%. I
mean just by virtue of the-- the vocabulary. Of the
words they used. You know, when you think of, "give
me liberty or give me death," nat Turner embodied that.
Take up arms against your oppressor. Nat Turner embodied that
too. He just did. >> Cooper: When he was researching
nat Turner's story for the film, Parker spent time in
southampton county. The fields where the rebellion began look much
like they did 185 years ago, and above them, the
confederate flag still flies. Turner was hanged from a tree
when his revolt failed, but there aren't any memorials in
southampton county to honor him, just this small plaque on
the side of a country road. You came here to
basically do research. >> Parker: Yeah, did some research. At
the county courthouse there are some papers and artifacts related
to Turner. >> Cooper: Do you feel like you understand
nat Turner? That you know who he is? >> Parker:
I think I do. To know what nat Turner wanted,
you don't have to only know nat Turner. You know,
when you talk about freedom and liberation, these are constants,
you know what I mean? It's the-- freedom's binary. You're
either free or you're not. And so for him, in
fighting, as a preacher, as saying that, "if this Bible
that I'm being taught is real, then these people are
wrong. If they're wrong, and I am a person that
is moving as the hand of God, then I have
to do something to subvert this system." >> Rick Francis:
This is nat Turner's sword. >> Cooper: We were shown
the sword that Turner is believed to have used during
the uprising, by Rick Francis, the county clerk, who happens
to be a descendent of the family that owned nat
Turner. He doesn't see Turner as a heroic figure, at
least 17 of his ancestors were killed in the rebellion.
When you see this, what do you think? >> Parker:
I think there's power in it. I think it-- it
represents something-- very clear, you know? Resistance is an option,
you know? This is not only the identity of nat
Turner, but it's also the identity of America, you know?
Subjugation leads to revolution. And sometimes, it's done with a
sword. >> Cooper: Though nat Turner failed to end slavery,
his actions did strike terror into the hearts of white
southerners. Some residents we spoke to were worried that Nate
Parker's film would open old wounds. He says that's exactly
the point. >> Boy you better say something and quick.
>> Parker: I don't want to make a story that's
digestible. You know, I want you to have heartburn, you
know what I mean? I want this to be something
that is incendiary, that-- that really makes us think and
makes us question who we are. And I think that--
that is what nat Turner does. >> I see how
for every verse they use to support our bondage there's
another demanding our freedom. >> Cooper: Parker believes Turner's example
is just as relevant today as it was when he
led his revolt against oppression in 1831. >> Parker: There's
a line in the film where-- his wife says, "they're
killin' people everywhere for no all-- reason at all but
being black." >> They're killin' people everywhere for no reason
at all but being black. >> Parker: This was the
norm then. So too is it now in many ways,
where-- unarmed black men are being-- being killed and there's
no recourse. And we're becoming desensitized to the fact that
there's no recourse. >> Cooper: So what is the message
for today? >> Parker: For me, one, resistance is an
option. >> Cooper: And what does resistance mean? >> Parker:
Having a riotous disposition toward injustice. Any injustice we see.
>> Cooper: Does this encourage violence? >> Parker: Well, it--
I don't think it encourages violence. I think it encourages
action. But we have different tools than nat Turner had.
Nat Turner had-- axe handles-- and broomsticks. You know? We
have the worldwide web. If nat Turner had instagram or
a Twitter, said, "this is what we're doing," or, "we
want to be free," and he had followers, I think
it would have been a different revolution. But the reality
is is he had what he had. >> Cooper: The
film "the birth of a nation" will be opening in
theaters this week. Its success may depend not just on
audiences interest in nat Turner, but on their opinions about
Nate Parker. There are some people who've said they're not
going to see this film because of the accusations against
you. What do you say to them? >> Parker: Well,
I-- I do feel that's unfortunate. You know, I think
that nat Turner, as-- as a hero, what he did
in history is-- is-- is bigger than me. I think
it's bigger than all of us. >>\how should nat Turner
be \remembered? \descendants of men on opposite \sides of the
rebellion \disagree. \go to 60minutesovertime.Com. \sponsored by Lyrica. >> Bill
Whitaker: Mary quin is an unlikely hero. Diminutive, and middle-aged,
she was a top executive at xerox in New York.
A dual citizen of the U.S. and her native new
Zealand, who liked adventure travel. But when she joined a
tour in Yemen, back in 1998, her group got kidnapped.
Four of her fellow tourists were killed. How Mary quin
survived is a story in itself, and so is what
she did after the kidnapping. She got a prominent Muslim
cleric, abu hamza, sentenced to life in prison for his
role in her abduction. Abu hamza learned the hard way
that you don't mess with Mary quin. The kidnapping began
as her tour group drove through the yemeni desert. A
pickup truck full of gunmen, swerved onto the road, forcing
her convoy to stop. >> Mary quin: Right away, we
knew this was-looked like we were going to be taken
hostage, this was a kidnapping. >> Whitaker: How many kidnappers
were there? >> Quin: About 18. >> Whitaker: Were they
rough with you? >> Quin: Yeah. One of the drivers
was struck in the face, because I saw blood. >>
Whitaker: What are you thinking? >> Quin: It really felt
like you were in a movie. It has that surreal
quality that-is this really happening? >> Whitaker: Much of Yemen
is surreal. The tour group had explored breathtaking scenery and
unique historic sites; But now they were hostages, and some
would not survive. Quin's companions, mostly brits, included teachers and
managers. Quin, was a high level executive at xerox in
New York. The gunmen were yemeni rebels, an offshoot of
Al qaeda. They drove their captives off the main road
into the desert, and made them sleep outside that night.
The next morning, all hell broke loose. >> Quin: We
started to hear gunfire in the distance. And right away,
I thought," someone's coming in to rescue us." And there
were shells exploding in the air above us and it
was quite chaotic. And then, they just told us to
stand in a line. And that's when I thought-we're going
to be executed. >> Whitaker: Stand in a line- >>
quin: Yeah, just had us line up, and I thought,
well... >> Whitaker: Quin and the other hostages said they
were forced to be human shields. While the yemeni army
fired toward the terrorists from a thicket at the far
end of a vacant field; At the opposite end, the
terrorists made the tourists stand on a two foot dirt
wall. Then the kidnappers hid behind that berm shooting at
the army through the hostages legs. >> Quin: They made
us keep our arms in the air, but you can't
hold your arms up in the air for 45 minutes,
so we'd hold up one arm and then the other.
>> Whitaker: You feel the bullets whizzing by? >> Quin:
Yeah, there was a moment where I could feel the
air move on my cheek. They make this zinging sound.
And I remember thinking, "this has gone on longer than
the opening scene of saving private Ryan." >> Whitaker: But
this isn't a movie. >> Quin: No. I found I
was reminding myself," you could be dead any second." How
long is it going to be before one or more
of us gets hit by one of these bullets. I
mean, it just seemed inevitable. >> Whitaker: You were convincing
yourself minute by minute to stay alive. >> Quin: Yes.
I had this quite a strong feeling that I would
survive this. And I also had this feeling that I
was going to be really annoyed if I got killed
and didn't get to see how it ended. So, the
mechanism I used was just to say, "do it one
minute at a time." And so I'd actually say that
to myself, "stay alive one more minute, stay alive one
more minute." >> Whitaker: The terrorist right behind quin was
especially menacing. He wore a purple wraparound, so she called
him, "purple skirt". >> Quin: And then, purple skirt pushes
me forward with his ak-47 pushed against my back. >>
Whitaker: Right against your back? >> Quin: Yeah, right on
my spine. But I also remember thinking," just move that
gun a centimeter. Because I just had this vision of
my, the bones in my spine just shattering into a
thousand pieces. >> Whitaker: You'd gotten to that point where
you're thinking" thinking"I am going to die." >> Quin: Yeah.
>> Whitaker: She had no idea why he was pushing
her forward. But as they reach the middle of the
field, purple skirt is shot. >> Quin: And he's lying
on the ground. Still a lot of gunfire in both
directions, so I'm still a sitting duck out there in
the middle of this field. And then I take two
or three steps toward the Yemen army, and I suddenly
think, "oh purple skirt was trying to get up on
his elbow and his ak-47 is on the ground in
front of him. I better take his gun, because he
might shoot me as I'm running." Because I-- I sort
of thought how in all those movie scenes where you
think you've dispatched the bad guy, and then when you're
not paying attention, he gets off one last shot. So
that's what I think of. >> Whitaker: You had taken
some steps away-- >> quin: I had taken two or
three steps away, I turn around, I come back and
think-- I better take the gun so he can't use
it. So I reach down and grab the barrel, which
was closest towards me. And he grabs the stock. And
so, now we are literally having a tug of war
over an ak- 47. And he's screaming at me and
I'm screaming at him-- >> Whitaker: And bullets are still
whizzing by? >> Quin: And bullets still going in all
directions. So I just took another step closer to him
and put my foot down on his head and that
just gave me some leverage. >> Whitaker: So you wrestled
the gun away from him? >> Quin: Yes, and said
some things that we won't repeat on television. >> Whitaker:
What did you say? >> Quin: No I won't repeat
it. And-- but it was casting aspersions on his mother,
I'll put it that way. So-- she's probably a very
lovely woman. But I just kept running, anyway. >> Whitaker:
Holding onto the gun? >> Quin: Running with the gun
and thinking, "I probably shouldn't-- whoever's there in the trees,
running at them with a gun might not be a
good move, so I think I should toss it aside."
But I said, "no, it's such a souvenir, I want
to take it back." And I thought, "oh, U.S. customs
will never let me through with this." >> Whitaker: All
of this is going through your mind-- >> quin: It's
amaz-- you would never-- you would never guess what you
think about in a situation like that. But I threw
the gun aside, went up and over the last berm,
into the bushes, and I could see three soldiers sitting
in the bushes not far from me. And one of
them sort of gave me a thumbs up. >> Whitaker:
When you wrestled the ak-47 away from purple skirt, did
you think of shooting him? >> Quin: I did. >>
Whitaker: You did? >> Quin: Yes. Definitely. >> Whitaker: Why
didn't you? >> Quin: I had never held a rifle.
And it's going to take me too long, vital seconds
standing out here figuring out how to use it. >>
Whitaker: Did-- you feel angry enough that you-- you could
have shot him? >> Quin: Yes. And enjoyed it. And
that was scary to me when I thought about it
afterwards, it's like, you find another person inside you that
you kind of didn't know was there >> Whitaker: In
all, four of your tour group were killed there? >>
quin: Yes, out of the 16 taken hostage, four shot
dead and two seriously wounded. >> Whitaker: Quin told us
a terrorist executed one of the hostages. The other three
died in the crossfire. The yemeni army, killed three of
the kidnappers, including purple skirt. After 26-hours as captives, a
military helicopter flew the surviving tourists, and the dead, to
the city of Aden. Later, quin spent months obsessed with
the kidnapping. You had a whiteboard and you had names
and arrows and circles and-- >> quin: I wouldn't be
at the ending until I kind of pieced together who
was involved and why. >> Whitaker: Quin read everything she
could about the terrorists' trial. Four had been captured, and
convicted. Their leader was executed. Quin learned about a connection
between the defendants... >> We shall show the whole entire
world. >> Whitaker: ...And a radical British cleric, abu hamza,
whose hands had been blown off in an explosion. Mary
quin discovered that abu hamza, in London, had been on
the phone with the chief kidnapper in Yemen, during the
kidnapping. Their top demand was to get terrorists, including abu
hamza's step-son, released from a yemeni prison. To learn more,
Mary quin flew to London; Waited alone outside abu hamza's
mosque and approached him as he arrived for Friday prayers.
>> Quin: I went right up to him and said,
"look, I've come a long way just to talk to
you, can you give me 15 minutes, sometime over the
weekend? And no, no, he didn't have time. >> Whitaker:
It's quite bold of you. >> Quin: Yeah, well I
wasn't going to back off. So I said, "please can
I come back and talk to you when it's convenient?"
And he said, "well come back Sunday night." >> Whitaker:
Were you surprised? >> Quin: Yes. So I came back
two days later. I was taken into his office and
ended up talking to him for an hour. >> Whitaker:
How did you start the conversation? >> Quin: I said
to him, "I'm Mary quin and I was one of
the hostages taken by abu Hassan in Yemen." >> Whitaker:
What did he say? >> Quin: He sort of leaned
back in his chair and looked at me and said,
"I am very surprised that you would come here." So
I had a little micro cassette recorder and I said,
"would it be okay if I record the conversation?" He
said, "sure." So I put the tape recorder right on
his desk and between us. >> Whitaker: He had no
concerns about your tape recorder? >> Quin: No, none at
all. >> Whitaker: What did he say? >> Quin: Well,
he clarified his connection with abu Hassan, leader of the
kidnapping group. That he knew him. That he had had
phone calls with him. >> Whitaker: He admitted this? >>
quin: Oh, yes. He said that, he had never intended
for hostages to be killed and in fact one sort
of his most telling comments was," we never, we never
expected it to get this bad." And so, the implication
being that he had been part of the planning of
the hostage taking. >> Whitaker: On quin's tape hamza also
says the head kidnapper wants "to hold people ransom until
the government let my people go. And then he would
let you people go." >> Let you people go. >>
Whitaker: It was clear that he knew that the kidnapping
was going on? >> Quin: Oh, yes. I mean, there
was no doubt about that. >> Whitaker: Mary, how did
the FBI learn that you had this tape recording of
abu hamza? >> Quin: I had stayed in touch with
the f.B.I. Agent who had come out to Yemen right
after the kidnapping. So mentioned to him that I had
managed to meet abu hamza. And so he was like,
"really?" And it's on tape, I recorded it." And he
says, "really?" >> Whitaker: Mary quin gave the f.B.I. A
copy and the U.S. began a lengthy effort to get
abu hamza extradicted. Finally, 13 years after the kidnapping, abu
hamza was flown to New York to stand trial. Quin
testified against him, and prosecutors played her tape for the
jury. >> Quin: Do you think that the decision to
kidnap some foreigners was a good thing to do? >>
islamically, it's a good thing to do. >> Whitaker: Did
you ever imagine that your recording of your interview with
abu hamza would end up being evidence in U.S. federal
court? >> Quin: Not-- not in a million years would
that thought have occurred to me. >> Whitaker: I bet
it didn't occur to abu hamza either. The prosecutor called
quin's tape, "devastating evidence of the defendant's guilt." The jury
convicted him of kidnapping, and also of trying to set
up a terrorist training camp in the U.S. last year
abu hamza was sentenced to life in prison. Quin felt
the murdered friends she'd made on the tour, had finally
gotten justice. Now, she could put it behind her. >>
quin: It was a sense of relief that it was
over. >> Whitaker: So what have you learned from all
this? What, what's the moral to this story? >> Quin:
The moral first struck me as we were being air
lifted away and the bodies that were murdered were wrapped
in blankets and laid on the ground on the floor
of the helicopter. And Ruth, who, the Scottish woman who
was killed, her shoes, her feet were poking out the
end of the blanket and they were just a few
inches away from my feet and I remember looking at
her shoes and looking at mine and thinking how easy
it would have been that those were my shoes- >>
Whitaker: You could have been under the blanket? >> Quin:
Under that blanket. And how it was just for the
complete randomness of where the two of us were standing
that she was dead and I wasn't. >> Stahl: In
the mail this week: Comments about Scott pelley's interview with
king Abdullah of Jordan. Some viewers suggested other jobs fit
for the king... "The king of Jordan should be in
charge of our entire approach to isis and the middle
east... he's the first leader I've heard with any real
grasp on the situation." "Is it too late to get
him on the ballot for 2016 for president?" I'm Leslie
stahl. We'll be back next week with another edition of
"60 minutes."