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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Bishops Approve New Abuse Guidelines; Smart Family Reorganizes Search; Car Bomb Kills 10 at U.S. Consulate in Karachi.
Aired June 14, 2002 - 17:00 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.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: A power struggle with the pope?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No priest or deacon who has abused a minor can remain in ministry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: America's bishops make a vow, but the Vatican may not go along.
On the run: Wanted in Utah, a possible sighting in Texas, a trail leading to New Mexico. But, is there any connection to a missing girl?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We still feel strongly that Elizabeth is alive and we don't want to lose hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A car bombing aimed at Americans. Is there an al Qaeda connection?
Under arrest, a substitute teacher charged with assaulting a class of first graders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he get the broom and he hit me in the back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Frying pan to the fire? Is Martha Stewart in hot water? We'll get the inside scoop.
It's Friday, June 14th, 2002. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. The hour of decision has arrived. Confronted by tearful abuse victims, angry parishioners and perhaps a reluctant Vatican, U.S. Catholic bishops have just voted on what to do about problem priests. CNN Dallas bureau chief Ed Lavandera is watching this story live. He joins us now from Dallas -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF: What is happening now is the bishops are taking a break. They are counting the votes, all 284 voting members of the U.S. Bishops Conference that are here in Dallas have already cast their votes on a written ballot. Those votes are being tabulated as we speak, and in a few moments we understand that that vote will be announced here publically.
We'll be able to bring that to you live, as a matter of fact, as well. And this is a vote on the sexual abuse policy that the bishops that are here have been working late into the night and throughout the day debating the finer points of this policy, a lot of technical language that was reviewed today, but the highlight of the day is an agreement on this policy line.
Essentially the zero policy where it says, "The diocesan policy will provide, effective immediately, that for even a single act of sexual abuse of a minor, past, present or future, the offending cleric will not remain in the ministry and will not receive a future assignment."
Now, this does not say "zero tolerance" for a reason. Zero tolerance, those words, is not language the bishops are comfortable with because the Vatican, quite frankly, is not comfortable with that language either. But the next line following that line in the policy also says that past abusers, abusers that admit that they have done wrong, will be allowed to be taken out of public ministry, but essentially cared for and sent off to a monastery, perhaps, for a lifetime of prayer.
So some of the critics also suggesting that that is one of the reasons they haven't used the words "zero tolerance," specifically because of this.
Now, one of the cardinals, McCarick from Washington, D.C., saying that he wants to send this policy to the pope to show him after he called all 13 U.S. cardinals to Rome last month, that he wants to show them that they have done their work here, that they have come back here to the U.S. and instituted a policy that will protect children in the future. Cardinal McCarick says that should be essential in the weeks ahead as they try to institute this policy that will be voted on -- or the final announcement of that vote will be brought here shortly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARICK, WASHINGTON: Seems to be the language that everyone is accepting. Any priest -- I think anybody in the future who does this will be laicized. I think that goes -- that goes without saying. Any priest who has done this in the past, they will be taken out of public ministry. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Now, Roger Mahony, the cardinal from Los Angeles, saying that this policy will not be, should not be sent to the Vatican, that it should be put to a two-year test here in the U.S. That's one of the other details that still needs to be worked out here.
A lot of critics saying that without the Vatican's approval, this policy won't have a lot of teeth, it will be very difficult for the bishops to implement, but the bishops seem convinced this is something they can put into effect here in the U.S., and it will go a long way to protecting children in the Catholic Church. Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Ed Lavandera, thank you very much. Once we get the announcement of the actual vote we'll get back and report that immediately, of course. And Delia Gallagher is a correspondent from "Inside the Vatican." She also joins us now from Dallas.
What does that mean, Delia, that these priests who may have committed one sexual abuse case in the past will be taken out of public ministry?
DELIA GALLAGHER, "INSIDE THE VATICAN": That is something that is allowed for under canon law. It is essentially a suspension from active ministry, it can also be a suspension from the ability to administer the sacraments, which of course is essential to the priests' duties. So he would be taken out of ministry in the sense of not working in a parish, for example, and he might also be -- his clerical functions would be taken away from him so that he wouldn't be able to say mass publicly, or hear confessions, et cetera.
BLITZER: Why is Pope John Paul II, the Vatican, so opposed to what we commonly call a "zero tolerance policy?"
GALLAGHER: Well, I'm not so sure that they are. In fact, I think one of the things that hasn't been made very clear here is that in fact "zero tolerance" in some respects is already provided for in canon law, because canon law allows for the laicization of a priest because of sexual abuse of a minor under 16. That has been in canon law, been on the books.
The problem that the Vatican sees is more with the process from an accusation to a conviction and the pope said to the cardinals when they were in Rome at a lunch, he said we cannot have hasty processes like they did in communist countries. So this is really more the concern, not the zero tolerance as far as what the punishment will be, because canon law already allows for laicizations, but not necessarily immediate or automatic, there has to be due process.
BLITZER: One Vatican official is quoted now by the "National Catholic Reporter," a publication, as saying that the Church is about reconciliation, its highest priority can't be driving out pedophiles. Now, when people hear that, that's shocking to a lot of Americans, obviously. GALLAGHER: Yes, well, I think the two should probably go together, that the church is about reconciliation and that there is a priority to drive out pedophiles, but that the Vatican wants to take each case on an individual basis and again, look at the process and the whole history of the case, because you can't just make a rash judgment for all these cases. They are individual and need to be looked at individually.
BLITZER: Delia Gallagher, thanks for joining us. Delia Gallagher, a reporter for the publication "Inside The Vatican." And of course we will be back as soon as we get the results of this historic vote in Dallas.
Here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question of the day: "Should the Vatican support a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to accused sex offenders?"
Go to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. That's where you can vot, and While you're there, send me your comments. I'll read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily column -- cnn.com/wolf.
Roadblocks are up in eastern New Mexico, and the manhunt surrounding a missing Utah girl is kicking into higher gear. Police say they have possible sightings in two states of a man they want to talk to about the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart. CNN's Michael Okwu joins us from Salt Lake City. What's the latest michael?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, well, the latest out of Salt Lake City, as you mentioned, is actually coming from New Mexico and Texas, where there have been apparent sightings of a man resembling Bret Michael Edmunds.
Now, one specifically is coming from Hereford, Texas, which is in the northern part of Texas, the panhandle there. A woman says -- a clerk in a convenience store says that she served a man who came into the store resembling this fellow, and that essentially he tried to buy a bottle of water, his credit card was declined, he left in a huff without paying for the water.
She said that essentially she had some words with him and that he mentioned that he had bought a ticket for Amarillo, Texas. However, authorities are looking into the possibility that he might have stolen a car in the area.
Meanwhile, back in Salt Lake City, authorities here say that he is not a suspect, they just want to interview him, that this was a man who was close to the home where Elizabeth Smart was abducted just a couple days before that event, and that also that he was seen at a vigil for Elizabeth Smart on Sunday.
The police want to know what he was doing at that particular vigil. In the meantime the focus is still on the family and extended members of the family. At least two members of the Smart family have undergone polygraph tests. Authorities here say that they have cooperated with authorities fully. And they say that the family has been helping them in a whole lot of other ways. One of the family members this afternoon made an impassioned plea to the person who might have abducted Elizabeth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CYNTHIA SMART OWENS, ELIZABETH'S AUNT: I have a message for this perpetrator. God knows where you are. God knows where Elizabeth is and we are praying with all our hearts to find her. The satisfaction that you might have dreamed of, of having Elizabeth, cannot possibly be there. And the best you can do is to let her go.
OKWU: Now, more than 8,000 volunteers have stepped forward to help in the search. We understand that within an hour there will be a press conference. The family will announce that they are trying a new program here to make the search more efficient -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Okwu with the latest. Thanks for joining us.
It has been nine days since Elizabeth Smart was taken from her bed at gunpoint, right under her younger sister's nose. Since then, the Smarts and countless friends and volunteers have been working around the clock to find her. Joining us now from Salt Lake City to get a deeper view of the family's vigil, the former United States Congressman Wayne Owens, a neighbor and close family friend.
Congressman, thanks for joining us. What do you know about this announcement that the Smart family is going to make, that they have a new plan to try to help find Elizabeth?
WAYNE OWENS, FMR. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, thousands of volunteers have combed the area and recombed it, Wolf. On Sunday we had almost 2,000 people out and Saturday much the same. We feel like we've covered -- they feel like they have covered that ground and now they want to organize it on a neighborhood watch basis, where volunteers accustomed and familiar with their own neighborhoods can have greater capacity and more perception, perhaps, to see things that are suspicious and different.
So it is an attempt to try to reconcile the fact that we've done the big thing and now it is time to do the minute careful analysis up close.
BLITZER: So this is basically a logistical hunt, basically an investigation that is going to go into the neighborhoods around the home, is that right?
OWENS: Not just around the home, but wider, to try to get basically all the neighborhoods in Salt Lake County and perhaps in some other areas, but assigned to people who live in the area, people who know the area, people who can understand that which might be suspicious.
It is a different kind of a search, a less intense in a sense of bodies, but a very important continuation.
BLITZER: Congressman, you've known the family for some 25 years. When you hear that there may be some suspicions about an extended family member -- someone within the family who might have been responsible for this -- that's been all over the press in Utah, what goes through your mind?
OWENS: Well, I know who they're talking about, and I know him well. And I'd bet my ranch, Wolf, that that's not true.
But the family has been totally cooperative, including he. He's taken a polygraph, he's answered every question, he's given them every access and the entire family wants so bad to bring this to a conclusion. And so confident that it is someone from outside that they're giving it everything they can in terms of cooperation and assistance and they're not offended.
You would think they might be offended. They understand that sometimes happens in these cases, Wolf. But it's an unbelievably good family, unbelievable.
BLITZER: And the reports out there, also widely reported -- Congressman Owens, I want you to stand by one minute.
We want to go back to dallas because the vote is now being announced on the resolution on child abuse, sexual abuse by the American Catholic Bishops. Let's listen in.
BISHOP WILTON GREGORY, PRES., USCCB: ... really rests on the solid and generous work of the committee that was first chaired by Bishop John Kenny (ph). Please, John, stand along with your committee.
(APPLAUSE)
And the members of that fist committee, please stand. -- first committee, please stand.
(APPLAUSE)
I would like also to add in our gratitude -- Bishop John McCormick (ph), who assumed chairmanship of that committee after Bishop Kenny (ph). Bishop McCormick (ph), thank you also.
(APPLAUSE)
And finally, but obviously with a profound sense of gratitude for just the extraordinary amount of work and the caliber of work and the swiftness of the work, we owe a deep debt to you, Archbishop Harry Flynn, and his committee.
(APPLAUSE)
And as always, most of our committees depend heavily on the staff of Father Kleek Keily (ph), Mark Chothko (ph), Frank Manascalpo (ph),
Thank you. I know from the heart, from all of us members of the conference. Immediately before we took our break, Archbishop Roger Sweitz (ph) had a point that he wanted to raise that he wanted to raise regarding implementation. I go back to Archbishop Sweitz (ph).
ARCHBISHOP SWEITZ: Thank you, bishop. I think there's a delicate task that lies ahead of us in implementing this, and especially in relation to past offenders who are perhaps in some kind of limited and monitored ministry at this time. And I'm wondering if I could suggest that our committee work perhaps with the NFPC in helping us devise some processes whereby we can pastorally and sensitively and justly deal with priests who have some kind of accusation in their past and need to be dealt with in the light of that Section 5.
GREGORY: Archbishop, are you proposing that as a task that the committee could use by way of offering assistance to bishops? Because obviously it is a situation that local bishops must pursue.
SWEITZ: Yes, maybe they could help us to devise ways in which we can have some kind of common and sensitive and just ways to handle it. Maybe with the priest (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ministry too.
But I think we really need to somehow involve our priests in this also because it is such a delicate and important issue.
GREGORY: All right. Archbishop Flynn, would the committeee accept that request to be in dialogue, perhaps, with the NFPC and other priests who could offer some guidance to individual bishops who will face this very delicate and sensitive procedure with some of the priests?
ARCHBISHOP FLYNN, ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS: Yes, we certainly can be. In Saint Paul-Minneapolis we've already been in some dialogue with some of the priests who would be affected. And so -- but we can be in dialogue with that particular committee and then also with priests, as it would need be.
GREGORY: All right. Does the body support that dialogue with the ad hoc committee?
(APPLAUSE)
GREGORY: All right. Thank you, then, very much. We now have a matter that Archbishop Lavada would like to present to us.
ARCHBISHOP LAVADA, SAN FRANCISCO: Thank you, Bishop Gregory. My brothers, as we all know, and from our discussion yesterday, concern not only among us, but among our our people has also focused on the responsibility of bishops in the general area of this concern of this current crisis.
And I had mentioned yesterday the possibility of adding something in our charter, but it seemed in our discussion that it was better not to try to expand the focus of this charter from the other very important and delicate task that was before us. You invited me and Cardinal George, Bishop Kenny (ph) and Bishop Braun (ph), the chairman of our Bishops Life and Ministry Committee to meet after the session last night and to develop some language that we could then bring to the conference of bishops today a proposal to adopt a resolution on episcopal oversight.
If it is agreeable to you, I would like to read that today, and to offer it as a motion here to the body of bishops, hoping that at least one of the other bishops might offer a second, so it can be here on the floor for our discussion, and, I hope, adoption.
Here is the text of this resolution.
BLITZER: The Catholic bishops meeting in Dallas, they're wrapping up their meeting. We're standing by for the formal announcement of the vote, a resolution on past offenders, current offenders, future offenders. What will happen to them as far as American Catholic bishops are concerned?
Once that announcement is made, we'll go back to Dallas, but for now I want to resume our conversation with former Congressman Wayne Owens. He's joining me once again from Salt Lake City.
Congressman, we were talking about one member of the extented family. You say you know who that person is, that there may be some suspicion. There are reports, as you well know, that perhaps this individual's lie detector test did not come up with a conclusive result, inconclusive results. Have you heard about those reports?
OWENS: Well, there are a lot of rumors around to that effect. I think it is a bad thing for the police to do. I think it is unfortunate. They shouldn't leak these kinds of things and I think it is irresponsible. If there is evidence, Wolf, they should put it out. If they don't, they should keep it quiet.
This family has had pure unadulterated hell for 10 days, and the whole family, every brother, every sister on both sides has worked 12, 14, 16, 18 hours a day for 10 days. They don't deserve to be treated by innuendo. Let them put it up. Let them put the evidence up if it is there. I don't think it is there. As I said earlier, I'd make a big, big bet on the fact that it is not there. There's nothing -- this family would not do that.
BLITZER: And what about all the interest in Bret Edmunds, who is wanted for questioning, presumably in connection with the disappearance, with the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, the beautiful 14-year-old. What is your assessment of his potental involvement?
OWENS: I have no idea. There's no evidence revealed. The police very properly have kept that very quietly. I hope that there's something there. I hope that Elizabeth can be found alive. We genuinely think that she will be. There's a great amount of faith being exercised in her behalf, Wolf, but we have no way of knowing what's real and what isn't, except Tom Smart, I'll bet you that's not real. I'd bet the family farm on it.
BLITZER: And what about the Smart family? You know these people, obviously, very well. How are they coping?
OWENS: They're coping very, very well. I was around most of them this morning for a long period of time, talking about the new plan that you brought up, and how they can pursue and how they can make things happen. They're desperate to make it happen. The feelings of pain and sorrow are very, very real. Fatigue now setting in after 10 days on all of them. Fatigue, in fact, setting in on the community. There've been 10,000 plus volunteers.
I helped run the air search over the weekend. We had 50, 60 airplanes in the air. This community has been extraordinary in supporting this search. We're trying to figure out how to do it in a more efficient, less costly manner.
BLITZER: The former United States Congressman from Utah, Wayne Owens. Thanks for joining us, and to all of the Smart family, to everyone out there, good luck in this important search.
OWENS: Thank you very much, Wolf. Thanks.
BLITZER: And there is fallout after an attack on first graders. The weapon, a broom handle. How could it happen? I'll ask the man in charge of New York City schools.
A CNN exclusive, up close to the site of a U.S. military crash in Afghanistan.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Burns in Karachi, Pakistan. I'll have a report on a car bombing right here outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi.
BLITZER: And later, what forced the King of Pop to the floor? Michael Jackson mobbed, coming up.
Today America celebrates Flag Day. This day was first observed while the U.S. was engaged in what war? Revolutionary War, Civil War, Korean War, World War I? The answer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. A deadly terror attack in Pakistan today, as a suicide bomber blew up a car outside the United States consulate in Karachi.
At least 10 people were killed, none of them Americans. More now from CNN's Chris Burns.
BURNS: Wolf, at last (UNINTELLIGIBLE) authorities say 10 people dead, 51 people injured, also six people inside the consulate, including one American, a U.S. military guard who was injured by flying debris.
A claim of responsibility in the last few hours coming from a group named Al-Panoon (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE) saying that America, its allies, and its slave Pakistani rulers should be prepared for more attacks. There have been attacks already in recent months, one last month that killed 11 French nationals here in Karachi a couple months ago.
Also an attack on a church in Islamabad, killing five people including two Americans. So jittery tensions here inside Pakistan as President Perez Musharraf wages his crackdown on Muslim militants, following along his alliance with the United States in attacking al Qaeda and the Taliban and other militant elements from within his country.
However the tensions have also prompted Washington and other countries to a travel warning, calling on their nationals to leave Pakistan because of these jitters within Pakistan, also the war jitters between India and Pakistan -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Burns on the scene in Karachi for us.
U.S. officials suspect al Qaeda is behind the Karachi car bombing, and behind Jose Padilla's alleged plot to explode a dirty bomb. Is al Qaeda back? CNN's Mike Boettcher reports from london.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Relentlessly pursued by coalition forces along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, al Qaeda has tried to stay out of sight, but not out of business. Coalition intelligence sources now believe al Qaeda's leadership is regrouping somewhere in eastern Afghanistan or western Pakistan, and is out to show it can still launch terrorist operations, big and small. Magnus Ranstorp is a terrorism expert at the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St. Andrews University.
MAGNUS RANSTORP, UNIV. OF ST. ANDREWS: Al Qaeda pursues a very sophisticated strategy. It's not just about revenge. It's also about engaging with the enemy, and not only in massive military response to any terrorist atrocity that it may carry out...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We want to interrupt that report to go back to Dallas where they're announcing the vote on the historic resolution on the Church and sexual abuse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...members, 190 votes affirming were needed -- 252 votes were cast -- 239 yes, 13 no, no abstentions.
The action item passes.
(APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: And so you have it. The historic vote at the American Catholic Bishops Conference still underway, wrapping up in Dallas.
Leon Harris has been covering it all week. He joins us now live. Leon, give our viewers an assessment, what this historic vote means.
Unfortunately we are having some trouble hearing Leon. We are going to try to fix that problem with Leon. but once again, a vote, a vote by the Catholic Church, 239, the American Catholic Church -- 239 yes, 13 no among the 252 votes by the American Catholic Bishops, a vote to go ahead and pass a resolution that would prevent -- that would prevent Catholics -- Catholic priests who have engaged in sexual abuse from going forward and continuing in ministry.
Let's listen in on the assessment.
GREGORY: We bishops apologize to anyone harmed by one of our priests and for our tragically slow response in recognizing the horror of sexual abuse. The charter for protection of children and young people stands as one of the greatest efforts anywhere in addressing sexual abuse of minors. The charter for the protection of children and young people ensures that young people are protected, that victims are truly listened to and assisted, that all priests are trustworthy and that all bishops will act responsibly. Thank you.
BLITZER: Bishop Wilton Gregory of the American Catholic bishops speaking after an historic vote, 239 to 13, a vote that will prevent Catholic priests from engaging in the ministry if they participate in sexual abuse, although there is a provision in there that the Catholic priest who may have done one such act in the past will be allowed to remain in ministry but will avoid any contact with parishioners.
Leon Harris has been covering this convention for us all week, this conference. He joins us now live from Dallas.
Leon?
LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf. Yes, we're sorry about audio problems here, but I think we've got everything straightened out.
And what we just saw and I believe you were able to catch from the clean audio feed you were receiving is a unanimous vote here from the bishops here in Dallas. Coming into this convention, they were saying that it was absolutely imperative that the message they send out before they leave is that, "We hear you. We got it, and it'll never happen again." Well, it remains the be seen whether or not that message of this overwhelmingly positive vote on behalf -- supporting this provision now, this so-called article 5 of the policy about what happens with sexually abusive priest, having them removed from ministry, is going to be strong enough to satisfy the street.
Jason Carroll's also been listening in, as well. You want to straighten out and clarify exactly what it was we were hearing here?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, just -- just a point of clarification here. What this vote does is -- it's actually a stronger version of the policy that we saw before, Wolf. And that's because what it does is, it closes a loophole that would have allowed one-time offenders to remain in the ministry. That loophole now closed. Anyone accused of sexual abuse -- past, present or in the future -- will immediately be removed from the priesthood.
It was very interesting to see how this vote went down, especially before the vote happened, because you had bishops on both sides of the issue speaking out, some of the bishops saying, "Look, I don't believe that this policy should go forward simply because it doesn't take into account forgiveness for those priests who may have had an indiscretion in past." Of course, some other bishops then coming forward, speaking up and saying, "Look, this is a situation where we have to protect children. We have had a loss of credibility, and we need to make sure that we do something to restore some of that credibility."
HARRIS: Now, one of the other issues that was also in play here this afternoon was whether or not this vote was going to be positive, and if that meant that the bishops here were on a collision course with the Vatican.
Our analyst, Father Thomas Reese, has been listening in, as well. I want you to weigh in what you think is going to happen with this now.
REV. THOMAS REESE, CNN COMMENTATOR: Well, I was -- I was very pleased to see the overwhelming vote here -- I mean, only 13 bishops voting against it. This is an overwhelming majority of the bishops, and this is sending a strong signal not only to the people in the pews but also to the Vatican that they feel very strongly about this policy. This is what they want to do, and the bishops are going to push this very, very strongly, a very strict policy -- no priest guilty any of abuse is going to be in ministry, period. That's it.
HARRIS: And as far as any conflict with the Vatican here, what we have been told here by at least two of the members here of that body that were voting today is that whatever they voted on today is going to be the policy for U.S. bishops for at least two years. They're going to be calling this an interim policy, and that does not need, they tell us -- that does not need the approval of the Vatican. So therefore, what they voted on now is positively the law for bishops and for dioceses here in the U.S.
Wolf, we'll have more coming up later on on the network. Back to you.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Leon, for that update. Once again, a historic vote, 239 to 13, a vote by American Catholic bishops saying that priests who engage in sexual abuse down the road will not be allowed to remain in the ministry and that priests who may have had one indiscretion in the past will remain in the Catholic church, but they will not be allowed to have any public ministry, will not be allowed to participate, effectively, as priests, a two-year policy adopted by the conference of bishops.
Firefighters in Colorado get a helping hand. We'll go there. Also ahead: a substitute teacher arrested for assault. The alleged victims, his 1st-grade class.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. There's still no word what caused Wednesday's crash of a U.S. special ops aircraft in Afghanistan, but we have exclusive look at the crash site near Gardez. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports by videophone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We come to you from isolated Paktika (ph) province in southeastern Afghanistan. This is a region where U.S. troops have spending time trying to find al Qaeda hold- outs. It's also the exact area where tragedy happened two nights ago. Behind me, the MC-130 transport plane that crashed (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 129 people, $155 million dollar plane.
Two nights ago, 10 people were aboard it -- 7 Air Force crew members, 2 Army special forces crew members. Three of them were killed, seven people wounded. You can see devastation of that plane. There was a terrible fire after it landed, but it was obviously after it landed because seven people escaped from it, and many of them only with minor injuries.
But three people who were killed, two of them are men, one a woman, the second woman killed during the war in Afghanistan -- Shawn Corley (ph), 37 years old, a California Air Force technical sergeant, and Misha Sheera (ph), 31 years old, an Air Force staff sergeant, and Peter Tice from New York state -- Tonawanda, New York, to be specific -- an Army sergeant.
Thirty members of the U.S. military have now been killed in support of the war on terrorism. You can still see two propellers on the plane, but you can't make out much else in this very isolated area.
We want to give you a look at where this plane took off from. It's only about 5 kilometers, 3 miles away from here. We know it wasn't hostile fire (UNINTELLIGIBLE) authorities are telling us right now, but they don't know what caused the accident. This is a very parched, dry, almost like a moonscape here. The nearest paved road is 160 kilometers or 100 miles away from here. But there's a landing strip right to the left of a little hill that you see there. There's no airport, no air base, just a strip where Air Force and Navy planes have been taking off, participating in routine and special missions. This particular mission was a special mission.
U.S. Air Force investigators have come from United States to start trying to find out what caused this terrible accident.
This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in southeastern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And now to the all-out war firefighters are waging with wildfires in Colorado. The bad news: tens of thousands of acres are in flames and will probably burn through much of the summer. The good news: The weather's a little bit better, and that gives crews a fighting chance.
CNN's Charles Molineaux is in Castle Rock, near Colorado's largest fire in recorded history. He joins us on the phone.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I'll tell you what, Wolf, we got a dramatic increase in the number of firefighters working on this fire. The fire itself has gotten bigger, too, but not dramatically so. Right now, there's 1,738 people working this one, and that number is still going up. This is, of course, the biggest fire in Colorado history, now about -- a little under 100,000 acres. Some 5,400 people have had to be evacuated in its path, although 131 were actually allowed to take a look back at their homes today, very briefly. Then they were brought back out again.
The word on homes in its path is not good. We have word more have been destroyed. The official count on homes destroyed by this fire, the Hayman fire, is 22, although officials say that they have seen aerial views of some other buildings that appear to have been destroyed. They think that number may actually creep closer to 30. But because there is instability, at southern end of the Hayman fire, they actually can't get a good look in and see how things are going.
But the weather today was cooperative yet again. We had lower winds and cooler temperatures. It had actually been very hot in the first couple days of this week, when we saw the fire make a 60,000- acre run. Conditions have gotten a lot more friendly to the firefighters, and they have been trying to work that for all it's worth. They've actually only built about one-and-a-half miles of fire line containing this one. If they were actually going to try encircle this entire fire, it would take 70 to 80 more miles to dig.
But at the moment, they are working break in the weather that they're getting for all it is worth and trying to construct as much containment on this fire, just in case the wind does pick up again. And the forecast is for more warm weather and possibly more winds this weekend.
And by the way, Wolf, tomorrow, June 15th, is the official start of Colorado forest fire season.
BLITZER: Charles Molineaux reporting from Colorado, thank you very much.
And almost two dozen homes have burned to the ground. Years of collected memories have been wiped out. Suzanne McCarroll (ph) of CNN Denver affiliate KCNC has the story of one family who lost everything while holding on to someone far more precious.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MCCARROLL, KCNC (voice-over): This was the Ingelharts' house until Saturday night. They played games here. They prayed here. They were a family here.
UNIDENTIFIED INGELHART FEMALE: That's where all my jewelry was and everything.
MCCARROLL: But the family home is gone, their belongings burned. Even the kids' baby albums were reduced to ashes. UNIDENTIFIED INGELHART CHILD: Look at what Jonah found!
UNIDENTIFIED INGELHART FEMALE: Yeah, he found a picture, huh! What is it?
UNIDENTIFIED INGELHART CHILD: A book!
UNIDENTIFIED INGELHART FEMALE: It's one of your books.
MCCARROLL: The younger kids get excited when they find a page of their favorite storybook, but the real story here seems awfully sad today.
UNIDENTIFIED INGELHART FEMALE: My grandma knitted me a quilt for a wedding present, and we had had it for 15 years, and it was on the back of the couch.
MCCARROLL: Yet there's one Ingelhart who's not here, the one who continually gives this family strength.
JENALEE INGELHART, DAUGHTER: It's really hard to breathe sometimes. Like, my lungs, like, close up, and it's just really hard to breathe.
MCCARROLL: Jenalee has cystic fibrosis. She had to be rushed here to the hospital last week because her lungs were filled with fluid. She couldn't breathe without horrible and painful coughing fits. While doctors were working to save her, firefighters tried to save her home.
JENALEE: Right now, I don't exactly have a home to go home to -- like, an actual house to go home to. We're going stay in a trailer at our church.
MCCARROLL: Her brother calls her with words of cheer interspersed with some depressing updates from the rubble of their shared bedroom.
JENALEE: He says, "Jenalee, you won't believe it." He says, "Our bunk beds," he said, "They melted completely flat on top of everything."
MCCARROLL: The Ingelharts could legitimately feel pretty sorry for themselves about now. But the same day they lost their house, their daughter survived. Her illness has taught them all about coping with whatever life throws you.
JENALEE: So I know bad things can happen. It's not like I don't -- I don't feel like I'm immune to those, to bad things. So I think it's just -- I take it better than some people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Once again, that was story that came to us from Suzanne McCarroll, our CNN affiliate KCNC. Parents and school officials are outraged. A substitute teacher has been arrested in New York City for allegedly attacking 19 1st- grade students with a broom handle. Scott Rapoport of CNN affiliate WCBS has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT RAPOPORT, WCBS (voice-over): One of the children allegedly hit was this 6-year-old, Michelle Hogan (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: The kids was throwing crayon, and the teacher get mean. And he get the broom and he hit me in the back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scared. She's very scared.
RAPOPORT: Her mother says she's afraid to send her child back to school. The man who allegedly wielded a broomstick at a classroom full of 1st-graders was 57-year-old Danilo Nunez (ph), a substitute teacher who spent most of the afternoon and night at 33rd Precinct under arrest for assault. It happened at PS-4, 160th and Amsterdam.
(on camera): The children had just come back from lunch. One mother tells me the teacher told the children to be quiet and sit down. And when they didn't, he got a broomstick.
He hit you? Where did he hit you.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Right there.
RAPOPORT: Right there?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: On my face.
RAPOPORT (voice-over): Another of those hit was this 6-year-old, Raven Sapp (ph), who told her mother that Nunez hit one child in the back, pulled a second child's hair, then allegedly hit Raven.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Well, he smacked her so hard in her face that he knocked her earring out of her ear, you know? And then he just continued.
RAPOPORT: Police say Nunez struck a total of 19 1st-graders, who were all taken to New York Presbyterian, where they were treated and released.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That's from CNN affiliate reporter Scott Rapoport, WCBS.
And CNN has been unable to reach a lawyer or any other representative for Danilo Nunez to discuss this case.
The chancellor of the New York City public school system is Harold Levy. He joins me now live to discuss this amazing, amazing case. How is this possible, Chancellor, that a substitute teacher could get through the system and commit what he's alleged to have committed?
HAROLD LEVY, CHANCELLOR, NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS: It's an extraordinary thing, and what happened here is inexcusable and unforgivable. What I can tell you is that this individual had worked for about 100 days last year as substitute, about 70 days this year. He was fingerprinted. There was a reference check. And there have been no prior incidents reported. I even had people call the principals of the prior schools where he had worked, and there was no indication that anything like this would happen. It is absolutely unimaginable, how somebody could do this in a class of 1st-graders. And this is something actually...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: I was going to say, it's shocking when you think about little 1st-graders and what he's alleged to have done. What can you tell us, based on what you know? What specifically did he do?
LEVY: Well, I mean, he took a broom and hit kids and pulled hair, and so on. But I want to -- I want to say one thing. I cannot imagine what stimulates somebody to hit, as a teacher, to hit a 1st- grade child. And this is somebody who was only serving as substitute for an hour or so. It makes no sense to me. But I also want to say it shouldn't impugn the professionalism of the other teachers in that school, who were every bit as shocked and surprised as everyone else hearing the story was. I spoke with them yesterday. I spoke with the PTA president and the officers of the parents association. This is a school that has strong roots in community, and it is just unspeakably awful that this has happened.
BLITZER: What -- what -- Chancellor, what can we do, what can you do, specifically, to make sure that there are no other cases like this out there?
LEVY: Wolf, as you know, when you have a school system of 80,000 teachers, the best you can do is ensure that there's top quality professional development, that the supervisors, the assistant principals and principals, are on the case, and most importantly, that the teachers are looking toward one another to make sure that everybody is working at a high standard.
The New York City school system has a proud history. I went back to look at, in the three years that I've been chancellor, what's the closest incident we've had to this, and there are virtually none. I mean, there are one-on-one fights. Occasionally a teacher pushes a child or grabs a child. And it's almost invariably in the high schools. But this is -- I mean, this is just so bizarre, you don't know where to begin.
I'm -- I'm very troubled that something like this could happen, but the message that I take away from it is we've got to make sure that there's first-rate professional development, and the people who go into teaching have to be people who are trained. And this was somebody who was a per diem sub and not adequately trained -- indeed, not trained.
BLITZER: Finally, Chancellor, how are the kids doing?
LEVY: The reports I got both last night and again this morning -- there was a parent meeting -- is that the kids are remarkably resilient. They view it as an oddity because they love their teachers and they trust their school. It's the kind of thing that just leaves you speechless, and it was unforgivable. Fortunately, I think the children will survive it. And I think, again, it just does not represent the 80,000 dedicated teachers in the school system, anymore than it represents the four million teachers, across America.
BLITZER: I'm sure you're right. Chancellor Harold Levy, thanks for joining us and giving our viewers a little bit of perspective on this awful, awful case. Appreciate it very much.
And call it another day at the office or call it dangerous duty for the king of pop. We'll tell you about Michael Jackson's trip to London. And questions surround Martha Stewart. It could land her in a big bucket of hot water.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's see what the buzz is from the entertainment industry. Evidence today that Michael Jackson can still send fans into a frenzy. He was on a fund-raising charity trip with spoon- bending psychic Uri Geller. The pop star was knocked to the ground by screaming admirers at London's Paddington railway station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URI GELLER, PSYCHIC: I have met Elvis Presley, Elton John, John Lennon, all Beatles. I've never, ever, ever seen anything like that, and I hope I will never see it again because Michael was crushed. He actually fell on the platform. Now, let me tell you this. If Michael wasn't in the shape that he is in, he would have stayed there. I just could not believe this energy that overwhelmed him (UNINTELLIGIBLE) catapulted up from the platform and just -- just ran towards his carriage. I was stunned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Jackson and his entourage survived the onslaught. Aboard the train, he signed autographs and posed for pictures with sick children who had been specially invited to visit with him.
The actress Winona Ryder today entered pleas of not guilty to charges of shoplifting and drug charges. She is accused of taking thousands of dollars worth of goods from a posh Beverly Hills store and of possessing painkillers without a prescription. The one-time Oscar nominee appeared in court with her arm in a sling after last week's scuffle with a camera crew. Pretrial motions will be heard next month.
A federal prosecutor tells CNN that Martha Stewart is among those under investigation for suspected insider trading. The case surrounds the sale of ImClone stock in the days before the FDA refused to approve (UNINTELLIGIBLE) experimental cancer treatment. Stewart sold almost 4,000 shares the day before the drug was rejected in December.
"Fortune" magazine's Andy Serwer joins us now live from New York. He's been following this. Andy, how much trouble, potentially, is Martha Stewart in?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, Wolf, she could be in a lot of trouble. I mean, insider trading is insider trading, and the feds don't like it. You can get fined. You have to return the proceeds from the sale, obviously. And you can go to jail. I think we're a ways away from that. Let's not forget, no charges have been filed against her. But the investigation continues. And I spoke with a government source today who said the circumstantial evidence against her does not look good.
BLITZER: You know, she's got a whole sort of industry out there around the name Martha Stewart -- of course, "Martha Stewart Living," her magazine, which is very, very popular, her own stock, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You know, at one point, it spiked one day when it first came out to 50. It closed today at just over $15 a share. Could there be a spillover on her own personal business enterprises?
SERWER: Well, there already has been a spillover. I mean, she has this magazine here, as you said, Wolf. She really is the high priestess of American style and taste, decor, design. I mean, she's a -- she's an industry unto herself. And more than that, you know, she's been held up as the ultimately successful woman entrepreneur. And she's built this business by herself. The stock, as you said, has drifted down, and it has come under pressure recently because of these allegations. Today Merrill Lynch downgraded her stock. The stock actually traded up a little bit, one of those strange things on Wall Street. But people on Wall Street are concerned. Investors are concerned. And there definitely could be spillover.
BLITZER: What about her TV show and her various TV appearances?
SERWER: Well, this really interesting, Wolf. She does have a TV show. She's also a director of the New York Stock Exchange. She's on the board of Revlon, the cosmetics company. And all these various entities have to be following this story very closely because if she is charged, then they have to decide, "Well, what do we do now? Do we keep her? Do we stand by her?" After all she hasn't been convicted. Of course, she hasn't even been charged yet. I'm saying in the event of. Especially the New York Stock Exchange. My goodness, if she's charged with wrongdoing in this environment, how can they stand by and let her represent the exchange, given those circumstances?
BLITZER: If you look at her resume, Andy, as I know you have, among other things, a caterer, a model, BA in history -- but one thing she does also have is she was once a Wall Street stockbroker, so she obviously knows the rules of the game.
SERWER: This is -- yeah, this is absolutely true, Wolf. She was a broker. She should know all about this stuff. She does know all about the vagaries of stock trading. And this gets back to another point. Even if everything is entirely circumstantial and she is completely innocent, the timing of the sale -- she really ought to have known better.
I mean, here she is, a friend of the CEO. She knew that this company was facing a big decision from the FDA. She knew there'd be a lot of scrutiny. So why take the risk and sell the stock because of this kind of scrutiny that she's facing right now? I mean, she might have gotten that scrutiny, and in fact, she is getting that scrutiny. So why risk that for just a couple hundred thousand dollars? This is someone who has a fortune of many hundreds of millions of dollars. It just wasn't very smart, even if she is completely innocent.
BLITZER: Andy Serwer of "Fortune" magazine, our good friend, good friend to CNN. Thanks for joining us.
You have two minutes to speak out. Our Web question of the day: Should the Vatican support a zero-tolerance policy, when it comes to accused sex offenders? Go to my Web page, cnn.com/Wolf, and vote.
And still ahead also, our Picture of the Day. Bet you've never had a job interview like this!
Stay with us, and stay dry.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's get a preview of Lou Dobbs Moneyline. That begins right at the top of the hour. Kitty Pilgrim is sitting in for Lou.
Kitty?
KITTY PILGRIM, GUEST HOST: Thanks, Wolf.
Coming up on Moneyline, a dramatic turn in the Andersen trial. The judge sides with the government, handing the prosecution a major victory. We'll have the latest from Houston. A remarkable turn on Wall Street. Our Wall Street panel will discuss the week in the markets. And in Pakistan, a blast targets a U.S. consulate, killing 10, wounding dozens. We'll have a live report from Karachi and White House reaction. All of that and more just ahead. Please join us.
Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Kitty. We certainly will.
Looking at our Picture of the Day: When the boss says, "Hop to it," some of these summer job seekers will literally do that. Beginning tomorrow, those who pass the try-outs will deliver mail to 65 residential piers on Wisconsin's Lake Geneva, jumping back and forth from a moving boat. On Sunday mornings, they'll deliver newspapers -- if they can. Tough work.
Now, here's your chance to weight in on our Web question of the day. Earlier, we asked should the Vatican support a zero-tolerance policy, when it comes to accused sex offenders? Ninety-three percent of you say yes, seven percent say no. This is not -- remember, not -- a scientific poll. And this one correction from yesterday. We misspoke when it came to the results of our Web question yesterday: Do you think the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference will bring an end to the church's sexual abuse problem? In fact, 90 percent of you -- that's 90 percent -- said no, 10 percent said yes -- 90 to 10.
That'll be all the time we have today. Tune in Monday. Among my guests, the former Nixon White House counsel, John Dean, on the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. He says -- he claims he knows the identity of "Deep Throat." We'll find out.
And I'll also see you Sunday on Late Edition, last word in Sunday talk. Among my guests, Senators Richard Shelby and Evan Bayh of the Intelligence Committee. That's Sunday at noon, Eastern.
Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE begins right now.
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