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CNN NEWSROOM

Aired January 04, 2002 - 04:30   ET

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


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN FREIDMAN, HOST: We start with U.S. Special Forces and Afghan troops as they moved northwest of Kandahar in their hunt for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda leaders. The Pentagon says that while some may have fled to neighboring Pakistan, dangerous groups likely remain in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Afghan-Pakistani border may have become more porous. U.S. officials estimate Pakistan has withdrawn half of its troops from the region and sent them to the Kashmir border where India and Pakistan are building up their forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Tensions are mounting between India and Pakistan. The two nuclear powers have amassed thousands of troops along their border in response to rising hostilities over the disputed Kashmir region.

Wednesday, violence flared in the streets of the disputed Kashmir. At least 19 people were hurt outside the state legislature when Muslim militants threw grenades at police.

Relations between India and Pakistan plummeted last month to their lowest level in decades, following a suicide attack on the Indian parliament. India has accused Pakistan of backing the militant groups that were, allegedly, behind the attack. Indian authorities want Pakistan to hold responsible the two groups they believe were involved. They want the suspects arrested and extradited to India. Authorities in Islamabad, however, say they must have evidence before they'll make any arrests.

International pressure is mounting for India and Pakistan to diffuse the tension. And many leaders hope a resolution can be reached through dialogue, as officials from South Asian nations meet at a summit in Nepal.

CNN's Tom Mintier has more from Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If there are talks between Pakistan and India, they will probably occur here, in Nepal. Both foreign ministers are here for meetings, but so far, except for an exchange of greetings, there has been no movement toward dialogue. India has sent a list to Pakistan of 20 suspected terrorists it says are wanted by Indian authorities. Some on the list have been arrested in Pakistan, but on local charges. Pakistan says India must provide evidence if there is to be any extradition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED PAKISTANI OFFICIAL: As far as this list is concerned, it is India which has asked for the -- these individuals. And, obviously, they have to provide the evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MINTIER: Pakistan started another round of crackdowns on Islamic militant groups after this meeting of political and religious leaders with Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, last Sunday. Within hours of the meeting, police in Pakistan raided two militant groups' headquarters and made arrests.

Mr. Musharraf has promised to take a tougher stand against groups with alleged terrorist connections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: I would like to eradicate any form of terrorism from the soil of Pakistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MINTIER: With tension still running high, civil defense officials in the Pakistani city of Karachi are testing their level of preparedness. This is only a drill, but city officials say the training is needed not only in times of tension, but at all times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSHARRAF: For the purpose that we prepare civil populous to defend themselves in -- for all eventualities whether it's (ph) peace time or war time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MINTIER: Far from peaceful Karachi, in disputed Kashmir, the line from peace and war is not very clear. From both the Indian and Pakistani sides of the border, the bullets and mortars and very real.

Tom Mintier, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: U.S. President Bush is watching the India-Pakistan military build up very closely. Monday, Mr. Bush praised Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, for recently cracking down on terrorists. President Musharraf gets the praise for arresting some Islamic militants accused of attacking India's parliament.

CNN's Walter Rodgers reports on how the Pakistani president has been thrust into the public spotlight just recently.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Napoleon once said "I wish all my generals had luck." Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, has been very, very lucky since September 11th. Amid threats of a military coup against him, even possible assassination, Musharraf nudged Pakistan along the knife's edge between his radical Islamists who supported Osama bin Laden, and the West, which demanded Musharraf cooperate against bin Laden and the Taliban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIFAT HUSSEIN, PAKISTANI ANALYST: If they were a civilian comrade (ph), that would not have lasted very long. It would have either been overthrown by the jihadi protests, or it could have been sidelined by the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Islamist conservatives demand Musharraf's head because he allowed the United States to use Pakistani bases for the war against terrorism across the border in Afghanistan. Muslim clerics like Hasi Hussein Ahmed were virulent, until Musharraf muzzled them with house arrests shortly after this interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QAZI HUSSEIN ACHMED, PAKISTANI MUSLIM CLERIC: The people have lost confidence in Pervez Musharraf government. Pervez Musharraf government has got no popular support. He is isolated from the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: But Musharraf had luck. American bombing in Afghanistan, though unpopular in Pakistan, turned the Taliban into losers, marginalizing pro-Taliban supporters in Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAZEEM ZEHRA, JOURNALIST: There is a dynamic of power that is at play, and when success tends to attract power, and defeat of Taliban, I think, has played a major role.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: The September 11 bombings also turned into a huge break for Musharraf. America suddenly needed Pakistan in the war on terror. Pakistan suddenly broke out of its diplomatic, political, and economic isolation. Before, General Musharraf was snubbed because he overthrew a terribly corrupt civilian government. Pakistan was also being punished for earlier testing a nuclear bomb. (on camera): Testing a bomb, Pakistan defied the world, but Musharraf could not do it twice, could not defy the United States and the war on terror despite majority Pakistani sentiment for the Taliban. Pakistan would have risked being branded a terrorist state, so Musharraf made an unpopular choice at home: He sided with Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSSEIN: He made the right choice at the particular time, and then took everybody into confidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS (voice-over): Sounding at first the reluctant partner in the war, behind the scenes, Musharraf was a brilliant politician, courting and seducing the critics, the moderate clergy, intellectuals, tribal leaders, and journalists, all through his consultative consensus building.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALIB BOKHARI, NEWSPAPER EDITOR: This experience of handling the situation, a very critical after 11 September tragedy, has polished him. I would now rate him as a greatest statesman than probably the political leaders in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: But, it the ever-contemplative Musharraf out of danger now? The General's cooperation with Washington leaves him vulnerable to widespread anti-Americanism at home, and he is constantly tested by India over the disputed Kashmir.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZEHRA: You can have a military ruler at the top, but certainly, at the end of the day, it's what the public thinks of him which will define his future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Pakistan's future remains worrisome and Musharraf will need double the luck he has already had. Illiteracy and poverty are staggering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSSEIN: If as a result of the depressed economic situation, the people are to begin to feel the hurt, and if they were to come out on the streets, maybe seven or six months down the road, at the time when he wants to hold national elections, there is a very good chance that the right wing elements, here, who do not like his withdrawing support from the Taliban hate his alliance with the United States, could make very significant electoral gains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: But President and General Musharraf has outsmarted the odds makers and outmaneuvered opponents through a soldier's constant sea of purpose. His purpose, the preservation of Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: The vision remains constant. The vision is constant, vision never changes. Vision and strategy, and national interest never change. They remain constant, and they remain constant even now. The modalities and the method to reaching those may get adjusted and readjusted, but the final objective of vision, and strategy and national interests will always remain constant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: That vision has so far placed Musharraf on the winning side during the seismic events of the last year. Walter Rodgers, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: As people across the world ushered in the new year, some European banks welcomed 2002 with $568,000 billion worth of new money called the euro. More than 300 million people in 12 countries from Greece to Portugal -- the Netherlands to Italy are using the new legal tender. By the end of February, the euro will take the place of the lira, drachma, mark and other currencies. Many had feared a global computer breakdown like what was expected at the turn of the millennium, but much to many government's sighs of relief, changing money and using the new euro went without any major hitches. The only European union countries not using the new cash are Britain, Sweden and Denmark.

And CNN's Jill Dougherty tells us Russians aren't using it either.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The euro's here, but most Russians couldn't care less.

"No, nothing's going to change so far," this man says. The rubel is still the official currency of Russia, but the unofficial currency is the dollar. People may pay for merchandise in rubels, but they save overwhelmingly in U.S. dollars.

According to some estimates, Russians hold up to $50 billion in cash, often keeping it at home. The dollar is more reliable, and the majority of people here think so to, this woman tells us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Russians even think in dollars. They have their own Russian word for it, "bucks," you hear it right "bucks." There's even the joke about the two Russians who go to New York. They take a look at the money, and one guy says to the other, "It's amazing, they're using our bucks."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JILL DOUGHERTY: So, for Russians, switching to the euro, some international bankers here say, goes beyond the issue of money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERNATIONAL BANKER: This is more a psychological factor for a population than a technical problem for banks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JILL DOUGHERTY: The Moscow branch of the Austrian Bank, Reiffessen (ph), began working last year on transitioning to the euro, training staff and brining on line new equipment to deal with it. For example, The euro, says the bank, is thinner than either the dollar or the ruble.

A major problem here in Russia: Counterfeiting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Technically, these counterfeit bank bills are really very sophisticated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JILL DOUGHERTY: On the macro level, Russia will have to deal with the euro. Up to 40 percent of its foreign trade is with European Union countries. Up to one million Russians travel abroad each year. Many of them will be using the euro, as will Russians who work for companies with commercial ties to Europe. But, for now, at least, many average Russians don't see why they should switch from dollars to euros.

"If the euro increases in value versus the dollar," Sergei says, "then of course, I'll have to rethink it." In Russia, the buck still rules.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: So, how many euros equals one dollar? What does it look like? Well, for the answer to those questions and more, check out our Web site, cnnfyi.com.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CANNIZARO (ph): Hi, my name is Chris Cannizaro (ph), from Los Angeles, California, and I'd like to know who does security clearances and background checks for the FBI. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The FBI conducts its own background checks on every person who applies for employment with the agency, and that's a lot of people. Since the FBI employs about 11,400 special agents, and 16,000 professional support personnel.

The background checks include a look at a person's finances, verification of items listed on their employment applications, and it also can include interviews with family members and even neighbors. Anyone who has such a background check can request the contents of his or her own report through the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. The agency can update these background checks and do periodic checks, particularly when a person is being granted greater access to sensitive or classified materials.

In addition, the FBI does the checking on other government agencies, such as the White House, Department of Justice, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and certain House and Senate committees, and many political appointees, even cabinet secretaries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: The first man charged in connection to the September 11th terrorist attacks on America was arraigned Wednesday in Federal Court in Virginia. The arraignment was short, and the judge set a trial date. CNN's Deborah Feyerick (ph) reports.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Under heavy guard, Zacarias Moussaoui, the word prisoner on his green jumpsuit, entered a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Seconds into his arraignment he stood and with a thick French accent addressed the judge in English saying "in the name of Allah, I do not have anything to plea. I enter no plea".

The judge asked Moussaoui's lawyers if that meant not guilty and they said yes. Some officials believe Moussaoui may be the missing hijacker, possibly destined to be on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. That one plane had four, not five, skyjackers.

Moussaoui was taken into custody a month before the September 11th attacks. Minnesota flight instructors teaching him to fly grew suspicious about his motives and called the FBI. A letter now shows FBI agents at the time were warned by the flight school of the possibility that Moussaoui may have wanted to hijack the plane or fly it as a bomb.

Sources say at the time there was nothing to suggest a broader plot in the works. When the Pentagon and World Trade Center were hit, Moussaoui was in jail on immigration violations. He is now charged with being part of Osama bin Laden's terrorist conspiracy. His mother, who chose not to attend the hearing, claimed her son's innocent before returning to France.

AICHA EL-WAFI, MOTHER OF MOUSSAOUI (through translator): He told me he didn't do anything because on September 11th he was in jail. So in my opinion, my son told me he didn't do anything, and on that basis until I have proof to the contrary my son has done nothing.

FEYERICK: Prosecutors have linked Moussaoui with suspected skyjack ringleader Mohammed Atta. Both men at different times at a Norman, Oklahoma flight school, with Moussaoui receiving money from one of Atta's Hamburg, Germany roommates.

ERIC HOLDER: And I suspect the government's going to have an ability to show that he did a whole variety of things that are consistent with the aims of the overall conspiracy.

FEYERICK: Moussaoui is also indirectly connected to shoe bomb suspect Richard Reid, both praying at the same Mosque in London, though it's unclear they ever met. The trial date is set for October 15th.

(on camera): Moussaoui's lawyers asked the judge to set an even later trial date saying they needed more time to prepare their defense. They cited the vast amount of evidence they'll have to sort through including translating Arabic documents into English and interviewing witnesses in France, Britain, Germany, and Spain.

(voice-over): The judge said no, dismissing defense worries that publicity on the anniversary of the September attacks would influence the jury pool. Prosecutors have until March 29th to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: The Pentagon says U.S. military officials believe some members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network have broken into smaller groups. Military officials say some of those al Qaeda members may resurface, perhaps in Pakistan, following U.S. air strikes near Tora Bora. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar remain a mystery.

CNN National Correspondent, Bob Franken, reports from the Pentagon.

FRANKEN (voice over): Just in case anyone was thinking that the war was over...

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Reports about mopping up, meaning sort of the end of the effort in Afghanistan notwithstanding, the War on Terrorism is still in a relatively early phase.

FRANKEN: And while it is true that there is far less bombing these days.

GENERAL RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: We conducted strikes between 10:00 and 11:00 our time in Afghanistan on a leadership compound that was a fairly extensive compound.

It had a base camp, a training facility, and some cave pieces to that, fairly close to the Pakistani border, as a matter of fact, and that was the last strike in the last several days.

FRANKEN: This was the very same site that was bombed in November by the United States, and attacked with cruise missiles during the Clinton administration in 1998. That was one of the failed efforts to get Osama bin Laden.

The Pentagon did release copies of leaflets dropped in the region. They show impressions of how bin Laden might look now, if he shaved his beard and was wearing western style clothing, and they include captions. One translates to English, "Osama bin Laden, the murderer and coward, has abandoned you."

As for the reports there are negotiations over the fate of that other fugitive #1, Mullah Omar, the reports are persistent, the defense secretary insistent.

RUMSFELD: And I've already said what we would accept. We will accept surrender. These people have killed a lot of people. They deserve to be out of there. They deserve to be punished. And that is what we're there to do.

FRANKEN: Plans are now well underway to transfer some of those already in custody to detention facilities under construction at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as soon as possible, and as carefully as possible.

RUMSFELD: We plan to transport them, and we plan to use the necessary amount of constraint so that those individuals do not kill Americans in transport or in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

FRANKEN (on camera): Secretary Rumsfeld raise the possibility that some of the other detainees, as they prefer to call them, could be detained at bases in the United States, if the military runs out of room at Guantanamo. This another of the loose ends that reinforces the Secretary's point that the war is still in its early stages.

Bob Franken, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: At the stroke of midnight on December 31st, what did you promise? Many say a new year means a new start. CNN's Bill Schneider tells us about a few folks who know well the game of reinvention and fresh starts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Out with the old, in with the new. That's what New Year's is all about, but a lot of politicians didn't wait for New Year's; they had their transformation in 2001, a year when many old political images gave way to new.

Consider President Bush; the old George W. Bush kept the world at arm's length. He was the great unilateralist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRESIDENT BUSH: The stated mandates in the Kyoto treaty would affect our economy in a negative way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The new George W. Bush has found a vision: He will lead the world in a struggle for freedom over fear. That new cause gives meaning to President Bush's life as well as his politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We have found our mission and our moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Consider Donald Rumsfeld. The old Rumsfeld was a retread who had first served as Secretary of Defense in the Ford administration 25 years ago -- a bean counter with no strategic vision beyond the Cold War.

The new Rumsfeld is cool, crisp, and authoritative. His daily briefings are a metaphor. The U.S. is in control of the military situation just as Rumsfeld is in control of the press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES: He is important. We're after him. We intend to find him. I believe we will, but we haven't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turns up somewhere thumbing his nose at you ...

RUMSFELD: We will go see about that thumb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Trust us. We know what we're doing.

Consider Rudy Giuliani. The old Giuliani was petty and abrasive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: I imagine there must something else going on in the life of this city that you'd like to ask about.

(CROSSTALK)

We've gotten to the point of ultimate frivolity. Yes?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The Mayor's personal life filled the New York City tabloids for months this summer. The new Giuliani is a hero and an inspiration -- a figure of comfort and reassurance and courage. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIULIANI: We will strive now very hard to save as many people as possible and to send a message that the city of New York and the United States of America is much stronger than any group of barbaric terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Suddenly no one is interested in Mayor Giuliani's personal life.

Consider Jim Jeffords. The old Jeffords was a curiosity -- the last liberal Republican, distrusted by his party, ignored by Democrats.

The new Jeffords is a man of conscience who has turned his independence into a badge of honor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES M. JEFFORDS, VERMONT: In order to best represent my State of Vermont, my own conscience, and principals I have stood for my whole life, I will leave the Republican party and become an Independent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Consider Tom Daschle. The old Daschle was an obscure senator who enjoyed the confidence of his colleagues, but didn't make much of a mark on public life.

The new Daschle is an assured figure who rallies Democrats and infuriates Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D), SOUTH DAKOTA: I think that it's almost impossible to think of a Republican remedy that doesn't involve a tax cut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Two events turned Daschle into a political celebrity. He became Senate Majority Leader and the highest-ranking Democrat in Washington and he became the target of an anthrax attack that magnified his image of importance.

Consider Hillary Rodham Clinton. The old Mrs. Clinton was co- President of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: We're going to try to win it. Will you help us win it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're doggone right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: She took on the nation's healthcare system. She spoke out on national and world issues. She was a personality.

The new Mrs. Clinton is a freshman Senator from New York -- hardworking, low profile, one among 100. Her latest cause lobbying federal aid dollars for New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: When Senator Schumer and I received the commitment for the $20 billion immediate response from the President, we knew at that time that wouldn't be enough. And I will (INAUDIBLE) ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The former First Lady has become a pol (ph). Self- invention is part of the American faith. We believe we can become whatever we want to be. But politicians are the ones who make a career of it.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: We know we were transformed following September 11, and we'll just have to wait a little while to see exactly how. We do know the site of the World Trade Center has become one of the saddest places on earth. But that isn't the only way it deserves to be remembered. CNN's Jeanne Moos takes us back to happier times atop the Twin Towers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After all the tears of sorrow that have been shed over the World Trade Center, maybe it would be nice to recall some tears of joy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carl, you may kiss your bride.

You may kiss your bride.

MOOS: In past years, we've covered everything at the twin towers, from weddings, to egg balancing in celebration of the coming of spring. When we did a story called "Foggy New York," we learned that tourists will gladly take pictures of nothing...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll remember it forever.

MOOS: ... from socked-in observation decks at the Empire State Building and World Trade Center. It was another world up there, at eye level with New York's tallest antenna, the antenna that ended up being the last part to hit the ground. With all those windows, where better to hold a press conference to announce the launch of self- cleaning glass?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wouldn't it be great to have something like this in your home?

MOOS: A coating on the glass reacts to sunlight, dissolving dirt. But, at the World Trade Center, they washed windows the old- fashioned way, with soap and water dispensed by an automated device that went up and down on tracks.

One of our favorite World Trade Center stories featured the world's tallest Christmas tree.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The tree actually is only about 3 feet, 4 four inches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sort of like a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree up there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS")

PETER ROBBINS, ACTOR: I've killed it!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Folks competed to have their tree grace the Trade Center. The trees even had to go through metal detectors. The winner had to be fastened down with aircraft cable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope I don't blow away.

MOOS: True, the twin towers' tree couldn't compare with the one at Rockefeller Center.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one!

MOOS: But who needs a tree with a zillion lights when you've got a whole city of lights below? The twin towers were the perfect location for a twin talent contest. It may seem frivolous now, but pre-September 11, belly-dancing twins were just double the fun. Things that were innocent have become eerie. Take the Skyride at the Empire State Building. It takes you on an aerial tour of Manhattan.

ANNOUNCER: Straight ahead, the twin towers.

MOOS: The craft ends up almost crashing into Wall Street. There are plans to edit out this part of the Skyride. The twin towers may be gone, but happy memories of them remain. Take the dozens of couples who were married on Valentine's Day at the top of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I proposed on the Eiffel Tower, so I wanted -- we wanted to keep the high standard.

MOOS: These days, all of America seems to have fallen for the towers that fell. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOST: Well, that's all for the first CNN Newsroom of the new year. Have a good weekend. We look forward to seeing you next week. So long.

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