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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Fire War: The Battle to Save Lake Arrowhead; Security Scare: Capitol Hill Lockdown; Brutal Tape Of Saddam Regime Uncovered
Aired October 30, 2003 - 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, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the winds in California. They're totally unpredictable, complicating and endangering the work of some 13,000 firefighters. These wildfires remain an enormous threat. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Fire roar. The last stand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just trying to stay in front of it and protect any homes we can.
BLITZER: The last moments.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's where I hung my Christmas stocking.
BLITZER: Lawmakers under lockdown: a manhunt in the halls of Congress.
An ambush, arrests, and the U.N. evacuation. Are the peacemakers giving up? I'll ask Henry Kissing.
The economy roaring back. Can President Bush take the credit? I'll ask veteran journalist Cokie Roberts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, October 30, 2003.
BLITZER: Almost a week into a living nightmare for southern California. While crews are winning the battle against some blazes, the overall fire war rages on, with death and damage mounting. In the words of one exhausted firefighter, it's like trying to control chaos.
Despite cooler conditions, the flames are moving forward. In their wake, only piles of ash and debris. Here you see two of the fires still burning in San Bernadino and San Diego counties, along with two areas already ravaged. And at a cost of some $9 million a day in firefighting alone, Governor Gray Davis now warns, this could be the most expensive disaster ever to hit the state of California.
Right now, the battle is focused on saving two of southern California's most popular mountain getaways. Let's start in Lake Arrowhead, that's just east of Los Angeles. Lake Arrowhead, that is, surrounded on three sides by flames. CNN's Miguel Marquez is there -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, we're in Cedar Glen, just to the southeast of Lake Arrowhead, where firefighters had a big fight with the fire last night. I am sitting on someone's doorstep. Maybe the doorstep of the disaster here.
I'm sure this was a very nice place to sit at one point and watch the world go by. But this town lost about 300 houses. That's an estimated number. Eight hundred and fifty of those the official count so far for the old fire. But when it's all tallied up, this area may be the hardest hit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy man. Look at this. It's -- can you believe this?
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Shock and relief in the San Bernadino Mountains east of L.A.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cleared all this. All the pine needles were gone. So maybe this is like a little firebreak. I don't know.
MARQUEZ: But for every scene like this, there are many more like this. Firefighters are determined to save the popular resort community, Lake Arrowhead. Now surrounded on three sides by flames, they've already destroyed more than 300 homes in the area.
The larger community of Big Bear, home to several ski areas, lies just eight miles away. Residents of both communities are at the mercy of the weather.
BATT. CHIEF RANDY CLAUSON, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: The biggest question mark is what the wind is going to do after this. We know it's blowing erratically, like we just said earlier. The gusts are up to 40 miles an hour. That's limiting the aircraft usage for today.
MARQUEZ: One forest service official calls the inferno a tornado made of flames with a will of its own. For almost everyone involved, it's an inferno without precedent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This fire has been so unpredictable. Fire behavior has been something we've never seen before. So when can we get people back into the valley? I don't know. Soon, I hope.
MARQUEZ: Lake Arrowhead is now the latest front in a fire now almost a week old that started as two separate blazes, then merged into one monster. In Washington, one of the men who will overseat aftermath is trying to line up federal help. Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the White House today.
GOVERNOR-ELECT ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I've had a meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney. And we talked about expediting the funds for the victims of the homes, the people whose homes burned and the businesses burned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: The only thing left of so many of these homes, Wolf, are the smokestacks, the chimneys that once were the hearth for these homes. They look more like tombstones now.
The fire, I can tell you, even though it looks like it just blew through here completely, is still raging north and south of where we are. Firefighters were cutting a fire line just northeast of Lake Arrowhead today and are cutting another fire line to the south of Big Bear, hoping to contain the blaze there. With these cooler conditions we're getting today, absolutely cold conditions -- if you could hear that, Wolf, and you can look over there and see that dust, that's what you call a snag. Firefighters are actually over there cutting down these things.
That's the sound that we've been hearing up and down this area today. So it's not just the fire anymore that firefighters have to worry about it. It's trees falling on you. And those will kill you faster than flames, that's for sure -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Miguel. We want you to be careful as well. Miguel Marquez on the front lines for us. Thanks very much.
A similar battle is being waged to the south in San Diego County, where crews are trying to save another well-known mountain getaway. Our national correspondent Bob Franken is in the town of Julian -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they've been successful thus far. They made what they called a last-ditch stand here to save Julian, California, which is a very well known, very popular resort with a history that dates back to the gold rush. And it's an area that will continue to have a history, unless things go bad again.
What has happened, of course, is that they have had wonderful rain and fog which has dampened the fires. There are now smoldering embers just about everywhere instead of the inferno that had been experienced for the last several days. Two hundred seventy thousand have been affected.
And because of the possibility that these winds, which go up to 40 miles an hour, might re-ignite some of the smoldering embers, the firemen have to continue to be on the watch, to continue to stop -- try and stop fires that could at any time consume this town and much of the area. Already 14 lives have been lost, including the life of one firefighter.
There have been like 1,700 structures that have been destroyed, including about 1,400 homes. Already, it is awful, and the fire department and all the officials here say it could become awful again -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Bob Franken for us. Bob, thanks very much.
And to give our viewers an idea of what firefighters have accomplished so far, they have three fires contained or surrounded this afternoon. They're in the mountain -- there is the mountain fire in Riverside County and the roblar (ph) and the otai fires in San Diego County. But five more still burning out of control, include ing the pairu (ph) in the Simi Val Verde fires in the Ventura and the Los Angeles counties area.
The combined Grand Prix old and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fires in San Bernadino County, and the paradise and cedar fires and San Diego fires still there. The extraordinary pictures of these rampaging fires that we've been bringing you, and facts and figures of the devastation, are only part of the story. It's also one of individuals and their emotions, ranging from near exhaustion, amazement over good fortune, and shock over their loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came up this canyon here and started the decks there. We probably had, oh, I don't know, 300,000, 400,000 board feet of logs. They're just ash piles now. This was probably six, seven years of hard work down the drain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how tough is it to look out over this stuff?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's only wood. There is a lot more hopefully.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look pretty...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm beat. I've been up for two days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at this. It's -- can you believe this? That it's still here? Yes, I'm happy as hell that this is still here. This means a lot to me.
This is -- I'm not a millionaire. I don't have a House in Malibu on the cliffs. But that's what this is to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is where I hung my Christmas stockings. This is where I pushed (ph) my daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's the one who knocked on our House. She's the one who saved my family. She's the one who said, "Get out. Get out, it's coming." (END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grabbed our baby out of the bed. She was clinging on to her pink blanket, and we grabbed as many pictures as we could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you take a look around here, there aren't a lot of people sitting and crying. You know? Everybody is just, OK, let's get on with things.
Come back in a year. This is going to be a beautiful neighborhood again. You know? We are just going to rebuild something wonderful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And fighting these monster fires is a force of more than 13,000 -- yes, 13,000 -- men and women. Many have been in the thick of it for days, catching an hour or two of sleep whenever they can. Besides the fires themselves, one of the biggest threats facing the firefighters, fatigue.
One official says one goal now is for the firefighters to get as much rest as they can. He says once fatigue sets in, people start to lose some of the edge. One firefighter paid the ultimate sacrifice yesterday. Thirty-eight-year-old Steve Rucker, an 11-year veteran firefighter, was killed battling the cedar fire in San Diego County.
Considering the vast fire damage caused by the fires and the human suffering, it's hard to believe that some of the fires may have been caused by arson. But investigators released this sketch of a man who may have started one of the fires in San Bernadino County on Saturday. Witnesses reported seeing a man throw something into the brush, sparking a fire.
The reward for finding the suspect is now $110,000. Officials also say arson is -- arson caused at least one of the other fires.
Much more on the fires coming up. But also, earlier today there was chaos here in Washington on Capitol Hill. A suspected security breach put lawmakers into lockdown mode.
Pulling out for now. After a series of deadly attacks, the United Nations said goodbye to Baghdad. I'll talk live with the former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.
And on the up. Strong signs the economy is indeed recovering. Encouraging news, but who should take the credit? I'll ask veteran journalist Cokie Roberts. She'll join me live.
All that. First though, today's news quiz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Which state has the highest unemployment rate, Alaska, Florida, Michigan, Oregon? The answer coming up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Lawmakers were locked down on Capitol Hill here in Washington earlier today in a security scare triggered by a toy gun. Let's go live to CNN's Kathleen Koch -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, luckily it was just a false alarm that started when two House aides went through a security checkpoint at the Cannon House Office Building. Now, in a small bag, police say the two had what was just a plastic revolver, part of a Halloween costume.
But the police officer who was there was chatting and distracted and didn't look at the images as the bag went through the X-ray machine. The two had already left when the officer looked up.
So a frantic search began for hours. The House office building, the Cannon Building, was locked down. All of the doors sealed, all the tunnels to the Capitol and to the nearby House office buildings were sealed, the entire building searched.
Eventually the two realized that their Halloween costume was responsible. They notified police, who do admit that the impromptu drill revealed some serious security flaws.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TERRANCE GAINER, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: The very fact that someone brought a toy gun in, it was on the X-ray, and got further into the building than I would prefer, it does show that we've got to re-evaluate how the X-ray machines are run. So to that extent, it's another lesson learned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, the two young female staffers have not been identified. Police say that they did not break any laws. Some lawmakers are concerned because they didn't hear about the alarm from law enforcement, from police, but they heard about the alarm from television. So that upset a few of them.
But Wolf, a simple Halloween costume causing a real scare here on the Hill today.
BLITZER: Thank god it was a false alarm, only a scare. Kathleen Koch, thanks for that.
Growing violence. A series of attacks prompts U.N. peacekeepers to abandon their mission in Iraq. I'll talk live with the former secretary of state, Dr. Henry Kissinger.
And deadly parking garage collapse. Search and rescue teams attempting to find people trapped in the rubble. That's ongoing right now.
And these tense moments in the tort room, as more evidence is presented in the case against Scott Peterson. We'll update you live from Modesto, California. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Two months after its own headquarters in Iraq was attacked, and just days after a suicide bombing at Red Cross headquarters, the United Nations today said it's pulling its international staff out of Baghdad. Officials say the move is temporary and does not reflect a decision to disengage from Iraq.
U.S. troops fanned out in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and in pre-dawn raids they detained a number of people suspected of ties to the Ba'ath Party and the Fedayeen. The Army says weapons and documents were seized.
In the town of Bakuba (ph), the hunt was for bombmakers, those behind the improvised explosive devices that are taking a heavy toll among U.S. troops. Several arrests were reported.
A freight train believed to be carrying U.S. Army supplies was hit by rocket-propelled grenades and set ablaze near Fallujah. Looters quickly swarmed over the train. Troops sealed off the area following the attack.
Former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger helped turn the corner from war to peace in Vietnam and in the Middle East. He's joining us now live from New York with some perspective.
Dr. Kissinger, thanks very much for joining us. The fact that the U.N. and the Red Cross, they're pulling out of Baghdad, not in the north, not in the south, but in the Sunni triangle in and around Baghdad, what does that say to you?
HENRY KISSINGER, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it says that the guerillas can mount significant threats still inside of Baghdad. I'm a little disappointed that -- especially that the U.N. would pull out. What the guerillas are trying to do is to make this a confrontation between the United States and the local population.
And so they're trying to remove all the international institutions that can ease life and that could make conditions easier on the day-to-day existence. But it does not change our mission. It strengthens the need for our mission.
BLITZER: Dr. Kissinger, a lot of armchair generals out there saying that a lot more troops are needed to really go on the offensive in the Sunni triangle. General Abizaid, the U.S. commanding general, so far not asking. But there is a lot of suspicion he's under enormous political pressure not to ask for more troops. You've been in a quandary like this when you were the secretary of state. How serious of a problem is it that other countries so far are not coming militarily to help out the U.S.?
KISSINGER: Well, we are now in a position where, if we were clearly winning, then other countries would come in to join. If we were clearly losing, other countries would come in. I think we're doing as well as can be done in the six months of the occupation of a country that has been run by a dictatorship, that had very large military units whose weapons were left in dumps at the end of the war. But it is a difficult situation in which it will be recognized at the end of it that the United States served humanity and served the cause of peace.
BLITZER: Is it time for the Bush administration to go back to the international community, the traditional allies, including not only Britain -- Britain of course being part of the coalition -- but France and Germany and now Russia, for example, and take the extra step, what they want, greater control from the U.N. and the international community in order to get their assistance?
KISSINGER: Well, it depends what they mean by greater control. And the issue really is this: If the problem is how do we construct a government for Iraq that brings stability and progress, that is an issue that we can discuss and probably should discuss. If the purpose of these nations is to create something with which they can then undermine the American position in Iraq and start competing with us inside Iraq in the middle of a guerilla war, then we have another situation.
In principle, I think we should be prepared to talk to other nations about how to construct a political set of institutions in Iraq. That is not the key issue. The key issue is whether we can agree on what these institutions should look like and avoid this terrible performance of earlier this year, where close allies of the United States were running around the world organizing opposition to what we were trying to do.
At this moment, I think there is no conflict. It should be in everybody's interest to have a peaceful Iraqi government and a peaceful Iraq. And I think in due course, we should go back to the United Nations.
BLITZER: Dr. Kissinger, a lot of people, at least critics, are starting to make comparisons to Vietnam, an era you lived through. Is there a potential here of Iraq turning out to be another Vietnam?
KISSINGER: There is one important thing to remember. In Vietnam, by leaving, we could leave our enemies behind there. And the impact was indirect in the perception of us and other countries.
In Iraq, we cannot leave our enemies behind. They will follow us and they will follow our allies. And if we leave Iraq, we are going to radicalize the whole Middle East and increase the danger of terrorism. I hope that the people in our domestic debate understand that we cannot possibly afford a repetition of the Vietnam crisis and that some position will be found in which, as a united people, we go through this very difficult period.
BLITZER: Dr. Henry Kissinger, as usual, thank you very much for joining us. Always good to have you on our program.
KISSINGER: Thank you.
BLITZER: Snubbed by the Bush administration, the Senate Intelligence Committee today sent bluntly-worded letters to the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, demanding documents relating to its investigation of pre-war intelligence on Iraqi weapons.
CNN's David Ensor reports the panel wants that information by noon tomorrow and wants witnesses to call by that same deadline to schedule appearances. An earlier letter was sent to the CIA director, George Tenet.
Parking deck collapse. Right now, a team of rescue workers searching for missing workers feared trapped underneath. We'll have a live report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can save this house pretty easily, hopefully with help. If not, I'm going to do it with my own hands. This is my home. It's all I've got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A scene playing out in Julian, California today, as firefighters take a last stand to save this town. We'll take you there live.
And a very special delivery. Sir Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills, announce a new arrival.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Waging war on the firelines. Right now, firefighters are working to save entire towns. We're live from Julian, California.
First though, a quick check of the latest headlines.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: More now on the Southern California wildfires. Let's go back to the mountain town of Julian. That's west of San Diego. That's where CNN's Adrian Baschuk is standing by -- Adrian.
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I can tell you, the town of Julian is a very different place today. Yesterday it was filled with tense firefighters scurrying about to fight fires just hundreds of yards away. You can take a look at the main square today -- one weight lifted off their shoulders, the Cedar Fire and the Paradise Valley Fire that threatened to merge yesterday -- today we are told by fire officials are running parallel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASCHUK (voice-over): Today, the elements bring some hope. The steamy Santa Ana winds blowing from the northeast are gone. Instead, gusty Pacific winds force the flames away from several mountain towns allowing some to survey the damage to their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is where I hung my Christmas stockings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe it's still here.
BASCHUK: But the 15 fires, destroying more than 650,000 acres of land, are still threatening. In San Diego County, the Cedar Fire tiptoed around the historic town of Julian, sparing hundreds of homes. Tragically, though, as fire crews battled Wednesday near Winola (ph), 38 year-old firefighter Steve Rucker died and three other firefighters were injured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whether you're with a wildland agency or whether you're with a structural agency, a fireman down hits us all hard.
BASCHUK: In Simi Valley, residents can thank the heroic efforts of helicopter pilots for saving entire neighborhoods. In San Bernadino County, firefighters beat back the Grand Prix and Old fires from Lake Arrowhead. But shifting winds pushed flames toward the town of Cedar Glen, destroying homes there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fires come through here so fast, that we weren't able to put people in here. Too dangerous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASCHUK: You can see the American flag being whipped around by gusty winds, at half-staff for the fallen firefighter.
Also today, rain came. Weather reports saying it's the first time rain has fallen in San Diego County in 176 days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Adrian Baschuk, out in Julian, California. Adrian, thanks very much for that report.
Here are some of the latest numbers we're getting right now on this fire. They've blackened more than 728, 000 acres. That's an area larger now -- larger -- than the state of Rhode Island. More than 2,400 homes have been destroyed. And the cost of the disaster expected to top $2 billion -- billion.
All the smoke from those fires is affecting Southern California's air quality, even in normal times, among the worst in the nation.
Our meteorologist Orelon Sidney is standing by at the CNN Weather Center with that part of that story -- Orelon.
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Wolf.
It's not just Southern California, but also points east that are seeing quite a bit of -- almost said snow -- quite a bit of smoke from this area.
Take a look at what's going on right now in Las Vegas. Hazy conditions report there. They've been hazy just about all day long. And actually, there is an air quality advisory in effect for today. The winds are expected to be gusty there through Saturday , bringing in the smoke from the west. And those persons who are particularly susceptible -- people like me with asthma -- are advised to stay inside.
In Phoenix, a high pollution advisory is in effect, and the smoky haze there is increasing. Probably be seeing that throughout much of the weekend as well. And it just looks like you're going to take a good cold front to blast all that out of there. But for now, fires like these across Southern California still causing a problem.
The Cedar Fire, one of the largest now and also one of the least contained. But head on up the coast and you run into fire all the way around Los Angeles and then continuing northward even up to Simi Valley, with the Simi incident.
The Grand Prix Fire, one of the larger ones too, near San Bernadino. And there a couple of fires too -- these not the ones we're covering. But these are some of the newer fires up to the north that we certainly will be keeping an eye on as well.
Good news, though. We're starting to get a low pressure system, a big trough work in from the west. What that means is a better chance of rain, especially Friday. You can see as much as 40 percent chance, with some showers in the forecast even for tonight.
Gets better even on Saturday. And hopefully the winds will die off by Sunday -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Orelon Sidney with the latest on that. Orelon, thanks very much.
Let's move on to some other news today.
At least four people are dead in the collapse of a massive parking structure under construction at the Atlantic City casino. That would be in New Jersey.
CNN's Kris Osborn is on the scene for us with details -- Kris.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello -- hello, Wolf.
Well, certainly this is a rapidly evolving disaster scene. Both state and federal officials are here on site. This is in Atlantic City, the Tropicana Hotel and casino.
Now we can give you a look behind me at the collapsed garage. It's a parking structure. The top five floors of which, according to the officer who first watched the collapse, essentially just fell down on top of the first five floors.
Now, officials say they're still very much unstable structures there on scene. So emergency and rescue workers have been very cautious about how they go forward with the scene here. They've been getting close at times with visuals, some camera equipment and sniffing dogs, who at one point detected a human scent.
It has been a -- a very traumatic situation for many rescue workers trying to find people alive. Here are some comments from those others who witnessed the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A large boom. And it sounded like it was something caving in. I mean, like you can hear, like, boom, boom, boom, one after another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One guy I heard, he got the concrete in his eyes. His eye swelled up. Between that and whatever else was broken, he was bleeding when we pulled in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSBORN: Also, Wolf, they're waiting for structural engineers, experts to arrive before they get a sense of just how quickly they can get closer to the damaged or collapsed area.
Governor McGreevey is also here on site. Earlier today he said they're doing everything they can, try and figure out what caused this -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Kris Osborn on the scene for us in Atlantic City over at that casino. Thanks very much, Kris.
Other news today -- economy -- the U.S. economy, that is, seems to be improving. Is it a sign that President Bush's initiatives are, in fact, working?
And how will it impact your wallet? I'll ask the veteran journalist Cokie Roberts. She'll join me live here next.
Controversial evidence today. It's all about the hair in the Scott Peterson case. We're live. A complete rundown from Modesto, California.
And this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSIE O'DONNELL, ENTERTAINER: Funny to me that I'm going to court for this. Where are the Enron guys?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Rosie O'Donnell speaking out. Charges and counter charges. They're flying as she squares off with her former magazine publisher.
All that coming up -- though, first, a quick look at some other news making headlines "Around the World."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: North Korean nukes. China and North Korea have agreed in principle to reconvene six-nation talks on the North's nuclear program. The agreement was made during a meeting between a top Chinese official and North Korean leader Kim Jung Il. The White House says the talks are the best way of getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambition.
Political scandal. Israeli police say they questioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for seven hours about two funding cases. Mr. Sharon's Likhud Party has been rocked by allegations that the prime minister's two sons were involved in business deals linked to his 1999 election campaign. Mr. Sharon denies wrongdoing.
Crash landing. A helicopter pilot and four passengers were injured when the chopper crashed into a parking lot of an upscale restaurant in Mexico City. Witnesses say the chopper developed trouble almost as soon as it took off from the roof of a nearby building.
It's a girl! Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills are the parents of a baby girl. Mills gave birth at a hospital in London. Beatrice Millie weighed seven pounds. The 61-year-old former Beatle has three children from his marriage to his first wife, the late Linda McCartney.
Tails up. Researchers in Brazil are trying to figure out why giant humpback whales spend hours on end with their huge tails out of the water. Three theories: it's a form of resting, communicating or controlling body temperature.
And that's our look "Around the World."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Earlier we asked, "which state has the highest unemployment rate?" The answer, Oregon. According to the U.S. Labor Department, September 2, 2003 statistics, Oregon has the highest rate at 8 percent. South Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate at 3.4 percent. The U.S. economy skyrocketed this summer growing at its fastest rate, get this, in 19 years. President Bush took credit saying his tax cuts are doing the trick. But if the economy is so hot, why is the job market still so cold? Let's go live to Kathleen Hays of CNN financial news -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Wolf. It's a question on everybody's minds today. The stock market really didn't have a stellar performance, considering just how strong this report was. It exceeded forecasts that were already very strong.
But as you said, it leaves one big question unanswered. If the economy is so hot, why does the job market remain so darn cold?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS (voice-over): Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Madonna was single and singing "Like a Virgin" the last time the economy grew this fast. But for millions of unemployed Americans, there is still no reason to party like it's 1984.
BILL CHENEY, JOHN HANCOCK FINANCIAL SERVICES: The disconnect is essentially that businesses are producing more and more, the economy is growing nicely, but businesses are managing to do that without hiring anybody.
HAYS: No hiring at all in the third quarter. In fact, the economy lost 41,000 jobs. But still managed to surge by 7.2 percent. Thank consumers for that growth rate. They went on a shopping spree in the third quarter. Auto sales raced ahead. But jobs at big auto manufacturing did not. And many corporate giants continue to cut jobs.
Sony plans to cut 20,000 jobs, 13 percent of its work force. Drug giant Merck said it's laying off 4,400 people.
Those who are hiring are in the hotter areas of the economy. Home builders, hospitals, offices that need to add temporary workers. The big debate, can the president's tax cuts keep the economy growing long enough to get jobs growing across the entire economy.
STEVEN RICCHIOTO, ABN AMRO: Refunds will come back in the first and second quarter of next year and demand will pick back up again.
IRIS LAV, CENTER FOR BUDGET POLICY PRIORITIES: You're talking about one-time money. What we really need are the conditions for sustained growth and we're talking about one-time infusions of money which just doesn't do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS: One problem, Wolf, is that we're our own worst enemy is. We have become so productive as workers that we can work harder, longer, the economy can pick up. It has to run really, really fast before jobs really have to start growing again.
No doubt, this is a question that's going to keep President Bush and his advisers awake for many nights to come.
BLITZER: Indeed. Kathleen Hays in New York, thanks very much.
So will these surprising figures on the economy provide a huge political boost for President Bush as he heads into the election year? Joining us now to talk about that, and the Democrats running for the White House, the veteran ABC news correspondent also from National Public Radio, Cokie Roberts. Thanks for joining us. This is great news if it's sustained for the president.
COKIE ROBERTS, ABC NEWS: Sure, it is. But you know, jobs come after everything else. So if in fact we've got this growth, we've got this productivity, inflation stays low and as you know, the fed met this week and kept interest rates at that incredibly low rate, the jobs should follow and if the jobs start following in this coming year, that's very good news.
BLITZER: That would be good news. He'd be able to ask that question Ronald Reagan asked, are you better off today than four years ago. The Democrats are asking that now. But a year from now a lot could change.
ROBERTS: Well, it's going to be hard to make the case than you're better off than you were four years ago, because there is still going to be people whose jobs never come back. The manufacturing jobs are not coming back. And that's a huge part of the economy, and those are people who are going to be searching for something else to be doing and going to be hurting.
So he has to be careful about framing that question, and he has to be careful that it's an economic question only and not a security question.
BLITZER: Because Iraq is a huge wild card. A year from now is a long time. It could be great progress or it could be, as we discussed with Dr. Henry Kissinger, almost Vietnam, some are suggesting. So, that's a clearly unpredictable element right now.
ROBERTS: It's one that you can't control. Even as crazy as it is to try to control the economy, you have a few levers can you pull and push. In terms of Iraq, you're really stuck.
BLITZER: Cokie, you and I have gone around the campaign circuit politics for a long time. Who among the Democratic presidential hopefuls is best positioned right now to break out of the pack?
ROBERTS: I don't think any of them is. I think Howard Dean is the person who has broken out from a moment. But of course, he's now suffering the effects of that because everybody is beating up on him. But I think that given what we're seeing right now, the Democrats have decided to play on the Iraq and national security playing field instead of on the economic playing field. It's a bad field for them. They don't do well on that playing field.
BLITZER: That potentially could backfire on the Democrats if things begin to turn around, democracy begins to take hold if Iraq. ROBERTS: Even if things don't turn around right away, even if it helps them in the coming election, it's bad news for them down the line, because it just plays completely into that image of them as the party that's weak on defense.
BLITZER: We advertised that you're coming on this program. Our viewers love you. They want to know how you're doing battling cancer.
ROBERTS: I'm doing great. Thank you. I'm done with treatments. I'm cancer-free. My hair is back. Came in straight. But -- I'm feeling good.
BLITZER: And you're getting more actively involved now in the struggle against cancer, breast cancer in particular. Talk to us about that a little bit.
ROBERTS: Actually, I had been involved as a breast cancer -- I always say an advocate against breast cancer for a long time starting several when years ago when I had two friends die the same day from breast cancer in their 40s and 50s respectively. So I've done this for a long time.
But now, of course, that I am one of the unfortunate club, I'm called on to do more of it and I've done a great deal of it this October, which of course is breast cancer awareness month.
BLITZER: Thank god for you, Cokie Roberts. Thanks very much
ROBERTS: So nice to be with you.
BLITZER: We'll continue to monitor all these political developments together, you and me.
ROBERTS: Good.
BLITZER: Let's turn now to Iraq once again. Much has been said about the brutality about the former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, but in recent days a videotape has emerged which appears to show just how brutal, how brutal that regime really was. CNN has obtained that tape today, not from the Pentagon, or from other government sources, but from an independent source. And we warn you, our viewers, this tape you are about to see is extremely graphic and only, only part of this entire tape. Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is joining us now live with this very disturbing story -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the tape is of poor quality, but what it shows is undeniably shocking. It shows Iraqis, some of them being punished, some appear to be almost tortured because of the punishment meeted (ph) by the Fedayeen Saddam who swore allegiance to Saddam Hussein.
This man is being whipped publicly and videotaped before a crowd. Other parts of the tape also show people being thrown off buildings, buildings not high enough to kill them, but high enough to maim them and seriously injure them. Parts of the tape we are not showing you included pieces where people have had parts of their tongue cut out, fingers cut off and even an execution by beheading.
The gruesome videos were recovered back in April by soldiers of the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade in Baghdad. They were not released by the Pentagon but obtained from other sources. Nevertheless, they do have some propaganda value for the Pentagon. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today acknowledged that he'd seen the tape and said, quote, "They portray a regime that was about as vicious as any regime could possibly be" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I watched those other parts, at least part of the tape that we didn't show, Jamie. It's simply not watchable. I couldn't watch it myself. I just want to point out to our viewers, the reason we're showing this is because we've heard a lot about the brutality of the Saddam Hussein regime. We haven't really seen that evidence up close personal like this. We thought we should show it to our viewers so they could see this as well. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, we'll continue to monitor, review this tape, and bring excerpts of it as necessary, as important to show our viewers what exactly was going on during the Saddam Hussein regime.
Evidence in dispute. An FBI lab expert under scrutiny. We'll go live to Modesto, California, for new developments in the Scott Peterson murder case. That's coming up.
Also this. A lawsuit bringing out very nasty details about Rosie O'Donnell and her former magazine publisher.
And this.
Should Italy's prime minister give up his day job? Why Silvio Berlusconi is singing. The answer, don't give it up yet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More tough fighting among lawyers over the fate of Scott Peterson accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. It's the second day of a preliminary hearing that will determine if Peterson is tried for murder. CNN's Rusty Dornin joining us live from Modesto.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you said, it's day two. The same witness, an FBI DNA expert, is still testifying about the same piece of evidence. It's a single strand of hair, hair found on pliers at the bottom of Scott Peterson's boat. The defense wants it thrown out, claiming it's inadmissible because mitochondrial DNA, that's the type that's extracted from hair, is just not reliable. It shouldn't be accepted as a scientific technique. So Defense Attorney Mark Geragos has been poking and prodding this DNA expert's testimony, most of the afternoon. It was so confusing at some points, even the DNA expert had to ask several times, say she didn't understand and to ask the question again. He has finished his cross examination and now it is up to the prosecution, we're expecting the prosecution to be calling more witnesses, possibly even Amber Frey, in the next few days into next week -- Wolf.
BLITZER: We'll continue to watch this hearing with you, Rusty Dornin. Thanks very much.
Attorneys for Rosie O'Donnell and her former publisher locked horns today in a New York City court. O'Donnell and former publisher accuse each other of destroying the magazine named after her. The publisher says O'Donnell walked away from "Rosie Magazine" causing it to shut down in its second year. She says the publisher broke a promise to give her editorial control over the magazine and she's suing for $125 million. The publisher is suing her for $100 million.
Our picture of the day. Maybe even some sound of the day. That's coming up. The judge -- well, judge for yourself about the sound. We'll tell you why Italy's prime minister felt inspired to make music. You may want to hear this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: What do heads of states do to unwined. In the case of the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, they right love songs. Berlusconi has an album out called better with a song. He doesn't sing on the CD, a close friend does that, but Berlusconi did right 14 of the songs. You may want to listen to it. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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Scare: Capitol Hill Lockdown; Brutal Tape Of Saddam Regime Uncovered>
Aired October 30, 2003 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the winds in California. They're totally unpredictable, complicating and endangering the work of some 13,000 firefighters. These wildfires remain an enormous threat. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Fire roar. The last stand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just trying to stay in front of it and protect any homes we can.
BLITZER: The last moments.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's where I hung my Christmas stocking.
BLITZER: Lawmakers under lockdown: a manhunt in the halls of Congress.
An ambush, arrests, and the U.N. evacuation. Are the peacemakers giving up? I'll ask Henry Kissing.
The economy roaring back. Can President Bush take the credit? I'll ask veteran journalist Cokie Roberts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Thursday, October 30, 2003.
BLITZER: Almost a week into a living nightmare for southern California. While crews are winning the battle against some blazes, the overall fire war rages on, with death and damage mounting. In the words of one exhausted firefighter, it's like trying to control chaos.
Despite cooler conditions, the flames are moving forward. In their wake, only piles of ash and debris. Here you see two of the fires still burning in San Bernadino and San Diego counties, along with two areas already ravaged. And at a cost of some $9 million a day in firefighting alone, Governor Gray Davis now warns, this could be the most expensive disaster ever to hit the state of California.
Right now, the battle is focused on saving two of southern California's most popular mountain getaways. Let's start in Lake Arrowhead, that's just east of Los Angeles. Lake Arrowhead, that is, surrounded on three sides by flames. CNN's Miguel Marquez is there -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, we're in Cedar Glen, just to the southeast of Lake Arrowhead, where firefighters had a big fight with the fire last night. I am sitting on someone's doorstep. Maybe the doorstep of the disaster here.
I'm sure this was a very nice place to sit at one point and watch the world go by. But this town lost about 300 houses. That's an estimated number. Eight hundred and fifty of those the official count so far for the old fire. But when it's all tallied up, this area may be the hardest hit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy man. Look at this. It's -- can you believe this?
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Shock and relief in the San Bernadino Mountains east of L.A.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cleared all this. All the pine needles were gone. So maybe this is like a little firebreak. I don't know.
MARQUEZ: But for every scene like this, there are many more like this. Firefighters are determined to save the popular resort community, Lake Arrowhead. Now surrounded on three sides by flames, they've already destroyed more than 300 homes in the area.
The larger community of Big Bear, home to several ski areas, lies just eight miles away. Residents of both communities are at the mercy of the weather.
BATT. CHIEF RANDY CLAUSON, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: The biggest question mark is what the wind is going to do after this. We know it's blowing erratically, like we just said earlier. The gusts are up to 40 miles an hour. That's limiting the aircraft usage for today.
MARQUEZ: One forest service official calls the inferno a tornado made of flames with a will of its own. For almost everyone involved, it's an inferno without precedent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This fire has been so unpredictable. Fire behavior has been something we've never seen before. So when can we get people back into the valley? I don't know. Soon, I hope.
MARQUEZ: Lake Arrowhead is now the latest front in a fire now almost a week old that started as two separate blazes, then merged into one monster. In Washington, one of the men who will overseat aftermath is trying to line up federal help. Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the White House today.
GOVERNOR-ELECT ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I've had a meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney. And we talked about expediting the funds for the victims of the homes, the people whose homes burned and the businesses burned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: The only thing left of so many of these homes, Wolf, are the smokestacks, the chimneys that once were the hearth for these homes. They look more like tombstones now.
The fire, I can tell you, even though it looks like it just blew through here completely, is still raging north and south of where we are. Firefighters were cutting a fire line just northeast of Lake Arrowhead today and are cutting another fire line to the south of Big Bear, hoping to contain the blaze there. With these cooler conditions we're getting today, absolutely cold conditions -- if you could hear that, Wolf, and you can look over there and see that dust, that's what you call a snag. Firefighters are actually over there cutting down these things.
That's the sound that we've been hearing up and down this area today. So it's not just the fire anymore that firefighters have to worry about it. It's trees falling on you. And those will kill you faster than flames, that's for sure -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Miguel. We want you to be careful as well. Miguel Marquez on the front lines for us. Thanks very much.
A similar battle is being waged to the south in San Diego County, where crews are trying to save another well-known mountain getaway. Our national correspondent Bob Franken is in the town of Julian -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they've been successful thus far. They made what they called a last-ditch stand here to save Julian, California, which is a very well known, very popular resort with a history that dates back to the gold rush. And it's an area that will continue to have a history, unless things go bad again.
What has happened, of course, is that they have had wonderful rain and fog which has dampened the fires. There are now smoldering embers just about everywhere instead of the inferno that had been experienced for the last several days. Two hundred seventy thousand have been affected.
And because of the possibility that these winds, which go up to 40 miles an hour, might re-ignite some of the smoldering embers, the firemen have to continue to be on the watch, to continue to stop -- try and stop fires that could at any time consume this town and much of the area. Already 14 lives have been lost, including the life of one firefighter.
There have been like 1,700 structures that have been destroyed, including about 1,400 homes. Already, it is awful, and the fire department and all the officials here say it could become awful again -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Bob Franken for us. Bob, thanks very much.
And to give our viewers an idea of what firefighters have accomplished so far, they have three fires contained or surrounded this afternoon. They're in the mountain -- there is the mountain fire in Riverside County and the roblar (ph) and the otai fires in San Diego County. But five more still burning out of control, include ing the pairu (ph) in the Simi Val Verde fires in the Ventura and the Los Angeles counties area.
The combined Grand Prix old and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fires in San Bernadino County, and the paradise and cedar fires and San Diego fires still there. The extraordinary pictures of these rampaging fires that we've been bringing you, and facts and figures of the devastation, are only part of the story. It's also one of individuals and their emotions, ranging from near exhaustion, amazement over good fortune, and shock over their loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came up this canyon here and started the decks there. We probably had, oh, I don't know, 300,000, 400,000 board feet of logs. They're just ash piles now. This was probably six, seven years of hard work down the drain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how tough is it to look out over this stuff?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's only wood. There is a lot more hopefully.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look pretty...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm beat. I've been up for two days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at this. It's -- can you believe this? That it's still here? Yes, I'm happy as hell that this is still here. This means a lot to me.
This is -- I'm not a millionaire. I don't have a House in Malibu on the cliffs. But that's what this is to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is where I hung my Christmas stockings. This is where I pushed (ph) my daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's the one who knocked on our House. She's the one who saved my family. She's the one who said, "Get out. Get out, it's coming." (END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grabbed our baby out of the bed. She was clinging on to her pink blanket, and we grabbed as many pictures as we could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you take a look around here, there aren't a lot of people sitting and crying. You know? Everybody is just, OK, let's get on with things.
Come back in a year. This is going to be a beautiful neighborhood again. You know? We are just going to rebuild something wonderful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And fighting these monster fires is a force of more than 13,000 -- yes, 13,000 -- men and women. Many have been in the thick of it for days, catching an hour or two of sleep whenever they can. Besides the fires themselves, one of the biggest threats facing the firefighters, fatigue.
One official says one goal now is for the firefighters to get as much rest as they can. He says once fatigue sets in, people start to lose some of the edge. One firefighter paid the ultimate sacrifice yesterday. Thirty-eight-year-old Steve Rucker, an 11-year veteran firefighter, was killed battling the cedar fire in San Diego County.
Considering the vast fire damage caused by the fires and the human suffering, it's hard to believe that some of the fires may have been caused by arson. But investigators released this sketch of a man who may have started one of the fires in San Bernadino County on Saturday. Witnesses reported seeing a man throw something into the brush, sparking a fire.
The reward for finding the suspect is now $110,000. Officials also say arson is -- arson caused at least one of the other fires.
Much more on the fires coming up. But also, earlier today there was chaos here in Washington on Capitol Hill. A suspected security breach put lawmakers into lockdown mode.
Pulling out for now. After a series of deadly attacks, the United Nations said goodbye to Baghdad. I'll talk live with the former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.
And on the up. Strong signs the economy is indeed recovering. Encouraging news, but who should take the credit? I'll ask veteran journalist Cokie Roberts. She'll join me live.
All that. First though, today's news quiz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Which state has the highest unemployment rate, Alaska, Florida, Michigan, Oregon? The answer coming up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Lawmakers were locked down on Capitol Hill here in Washington earlier today in a security scare triggered by a toy gun. Let's go live to CNN's Kathleen Koch -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, luckily it was just a false alarm that started when two House aides went through a security checkpoint at the Cannon House Office Building. Now, in a small bag, police say the two had what was just a plastic revolver, part of a Halloween costume.
But the police officer who was there was chatting and distracted and didn't look at the images as the bag went through the X-ray machine. The two had already left when the officer looked up.
So a frantic search began for hours. The House office building, the Cannon Building, was locked down. All of the doors sealed, all the tunnels to the Capitol and to the nearby House office buildings were sealed, the entire building searched.
Eventually the two realized that their Halloween costume was responsible. They notified police, who do admit that the impromptu drill revealed some serious security flaws.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TERRANCE GAINER, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: The very fact that someone brought a toy gun in, it was on the X-ray, and got further into the building than I would prefer, it does show that we've got to re-evaluate how the X-ray machines are run. So to that extent, it's another lesson learned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, the two young female staffers have not been identified. Police say that they did not break any laws. Some lawmakers are concerned because they didn't hear about the alarm from law enforcement, from police, but they heard about the alarm from television. So that upset a few of them.
But Wolf, a simple Halloween costume causing a real scare here on the Hill today.
BLITZER: Thank god it was a false alarm, only a scare. Kathleen Koch, thanks for that.
Growing violence. A series of attacks prompts U.N. peacekeepers to abandon their mission in Iraq. I'll talk live with the former secretary of state, Dr. Henry Kissinger.
And deadly parking garage collapse. Search and rescue teams attempting to find people trapped in the rubble. That's ongoing right now.
And these tense moments in the tort room, as more evidence is presented in the case against Scott Peterson. We'll update you live from Modesto, California. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Two months after its own headquarters in Iraq was attacked, and just days after a suicide bombing at Red Cross headquarters, the United Nations today said it's pulling its international staff out of Baghdad. Officials say the move is temporary and does not reflect a decision to disengage from Iraq.
U.S. troops fanned out in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and in pre-dawn raids they detained a number of people suspected of ties to the Ba'ath Party and the Fedayeen. The Army says weapons and documents were seized.
In the town of Bakuba (ph), the hunt was for bombmakers, those behind the improvised explosive devices that are taking a heavy toll among U.S. troops. Several arrests were reported.
A freight train believed to be carrying U.S. Army supplies was hit by rocket-propelled grenades and set ablaze near Fallujah. Looters quickly swarmed over the train. Troops sealed off the area following the attack.
Former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger helped turn the corner from war to peace in Vietnam and in the Middle East. He's joining us now live from New York with some perspective.
Dr. Kissinger, thanks very much for joining us. The fact that the U.N. and the Red Cross, they're pulling out of Baghdad, not in the north, not in the south, but in the Sunni triangle in and around Baghdad, what does that say to you?
HENRY KISSINGER, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it says that the guerillas can mount significant threats still inside of Baghdad. I'm a little disappointed that -- especially that the U.N. would pull out. What the guerillas are trying to do is to make this a confrontation between the United States and the local population.
And so they're trying to remove all the international institutions that can ease life and that could make conditions easier on the day-to-day existence. But it does not change our mission. It strengthens the need for our mission.
BLITZER: Dr. Kissinger, a lot of armchair generals out there saying that a lot more troops are needed to really go on the offensive in the Sunni triangle. General Abizaid, the U.S. commanding general, so far not asking. But there is a lot of suspicion he's under enormous political pressure not to ask for more troops. You've been in a quandary like this when you were the secretary of state. How serious of a problem is it that other countries so far are not coming militarily to help out the U.S.?
KISSINGER: Well, we are now in a position where, if we were clearly winning, then other countries would come in to join. If we were clearly losing, other countries would come in. I think we're doing as well as can be done in the six months of the occupation of a country that has been run by a dictatorship, that had very large military units whose weapons were left in dumps at the end of the war. But it is a difficult situation in which it will be recognized at the end of it that the United States served humanity and served the cause of peace.
BLITZER: Is it time for the Bush administration to go back to the international community, the traditional allies, including not only Britain -- Britain of course being part of the coalition -- but France and Germany and now Russia, for example, and take the extra step, what they want, greater control from the U.N. and the international community in order to get their assistance?
KISSINGER: Well, it depends what they mean by greater control. And the issue really is this: If the problem is how do we construct a government for Iraq that brings stability and progress, that is an issue that we can discuss and probably should discuss. If the purpose of these nations is to create something with which they can then undermine the American position in Iraq and start competing with us inside Iraq in the middle of a guerilla war, then we have another situation.
In principle, I think we should be prepared to talk to other nations about how to construct a political set of institutions in Iraq. That is not the key issue. The key issue is whether we can agree on what these institutions should look like and avoid this terrible performance of earlier this year, where close allies of the United States were running around the world organizing opposition to what we were trying to do.
At this moment, I think there is no conflict. It should be in everybody's interest to have a peaceful Iraqi government and a peaceful Iraq. And I think in due course, we should go back to the United Nations.
BLITZER: Dr. Kissinger, a lot of people, at least critics, are starting to make comparisons to Vietnam, an era you lived through. Is there a potential here of Iraq turning out to be another Vietnam?
KISSINGER: There is one important thing to remember. In Vietnam, by leaving, we could leave our enemies behind there. And the impact was indirect in the perception of us and other countries.
In Iraq, we cannot leave our enemies behind. They will follow us and they will follow our allies. And if we leave Iraq, we are going to radicalize the whole Middle East and increase the danger of terrorism. I hope that the people in our domestic debate understand that we cannot possibly afford a repetition of the Vietnam crisis and that some position will be found in which, as a united people, we go through this very difficult period.
BLITZER: Dr. Henry Kissinger, as usual, thank you very much for joining us. Always good to have you on our program.
KISSINGER: Thank you.
BLITZER: Snubbed by the Bush administration, the Senate Intelligence Committee today sent bluntly-worded letters to the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, demanding documents relating to its investigation of pre-war intelligence on Iraqi weapons.
CNN's David Ensor reports the panel wants that information by noon tomorrow and wants witnesses to call by that same deadline to schedule appearances. An earlier letter was sent to the CIA director, George Tenet.
Parking deck collapse. Right now, a team of rescue workers searching for missing workers feared trapped underneath. We'll have a live report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can save this house pretty easily, hopefully with help. If not, I'm going to do it with my own hands. This is my home. It's all I've got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A scene playing out in Julian, California today, as firefighters take a last stand to save this town. We'll take you there live.
And a very special delivery. Sir Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills, announce a new arrival.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
Waging war on the firelines. Right now, firefighters are working to save entire towns. We're live from Julian, California.
First though, a quick check of the latest headlines.
(NEWSBREAK)
BLITZER: More now on the Southern California wildfires. Let's go back to the mountain town of Julian. That's west of San Diego. That's where CNN's Adrian Baschuk is standing by -- Adrian.
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I can tell you, the town of Julian is a very different place today. Yesterday it was filled with tense firefighters scurrying about to fight fires just hundreds of yards away. You can take a look at the main square today -- one weight lifted off their shoulders, the Cedar Fire and the Paradise Valley Fire that threatened to merge yesterday -- today we are told by fire officials are running parallel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASCHUK (voice-over): Today, the elements bring some hope. The steamy Santa Ana winds blowing from the northeast are gone. Instead, gusty Pacific winds force the flames away from several mountain towns allowing some to survey the damage to their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is where I hung my Christmas stockings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe it's still here.
BASCHUK: But the 15 fires, destroying more than 650,000 acres of land, are still threatening. In San Diego County, the Cedar Fire tiptoed around the historic town of Julian, sparing hundreds of homes. Tragically, though, as fire crews battled Wednesday near Winola (ph), 38 year-old firefighter Steve Rucker died and three other firefighters were injured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whether you're with a wildland agency or whether you're with a structural agency, a fireman down hits us all hard.
BASCHUK: In Simi Valley, residents can thank the heroic efforts of helicopter pilots for saving entire neighborhoods. In San Bernadino County, firefighters beat back the Grand Prix and Old fires from Lake Arrowhead. But shifting winds pushed flames toward the town of Cedar Glen, destroying homes there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fires come through here so fast, that we weren't able to put people in here. Too dangerous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASCHUK: You can see the American flag being whipped around by gusty winds, at half-staff for the fallen firefighter.
Also today, rain came. Weather reports saying it's the first time rain has fallen in San Diego County in 176 days -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Adrian Baschuk, out in Julian, California. Adrian, thanks very much for that report.
Here are some of the latest numbers we're getting right now on this fire. They've blackened more than 728, 000 acres. That's an area larger now -- larger -- than the state of Rhode Island. More than 2,400 homes have been destroyed. And the cost of the disaster expected to top $2 billion -- billion.
All the smoke from those fires is affecting Southern California's air quality, even in normal times, among the worst in the nation.
Our meteorologist Orelon Sidney is standing by at the CNN Weather Center with that part of that story -- Orelon.
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Wolf.
It's not just Southern California, but also points east that are seeing quite a bit of -- almost said snow -- quite a bit of smoke from this area.
Take a look at what's going on right now in Las Vegas. Hazy conditions report there. They've been hazy just about all day long. And actually, there is an air quality advisory in effect for today. The winds are expected to be gusty there through Saturday , bringing in the smoke from the west. And those persons who are particularly susceptible -- people like me with asthma -- are advised to stay inside.
In Phoenix, a high pollution advisory is in effect, and the smoky haze there is increasing. Probably be seeing that throughout much of the weekend as well. And it just looks like you're going to take a good cold front to blast all that out of there. But for now, fires like these across Southern California still causing a problem.
The Cedar Fire, one of the largest now and also one of the least contained. But head on up the coast and you run into fire all the way around Los Angeles and then continuing northward even up to Simi Valley, with the Simi incident.
The Grand Prix Fire, one of the larger ones too, near San Bernadino. And there a couple of fires too -- these not the ones we're covering. But these are some of the newer fires up to the north that we certainly will be keeping an eye on as well.
Good news, though. We're starting to get a low pressure system, a big trough work in from the west. What that means is a better chance of rain, especially Friday. You can see as much as 40 percent chance, with some showers in the forecast even for tonight.
Gets better even on Saturday. And hopefully the winds will die off by Sunday -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Orelon Sidney with the latest on that. Orelon, thanks very much.
Let's move on to some other news today.
At least four people are dead in the collapse of a massive parking structure under construction at the Atlantic City casino. That would be in New Jersey.
CNN's Kris Osborn is on the scene for us with details -- Kris.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello -- hello, Wolf.
Well, certainly this is a rapidly evolving disaster scene. Both state and federal officials are here on site. This is in Atlantic City, the Tropicana Hotel and casino.
Now we can give you a look behind me at the collapsed garage. It's a parking structure. The top five floors of which, according to the officer who first watched the collapse, essentially just fell down on top of the first five floors.
Now, officials say they're still very much unstable structures there on scene. So emergency and rescue workers have been very cautious about how they go forward with the scene here. They've been getting close at times with visuals, some camera equipment and sniffing dogs, who at one point detected a human scent.
It has been a -- a very traumatic situation for many rescue workers trying to find people alive. Here are some comments from those others who witnessed the scene.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A large boom. And it sounded like it was something caving in. I mean, like you can hear, like, boom, boom, boom, one after another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One guy I heard, he got the concrete in his eyes. His eye swelled up. Between that and whatever else was broken, he was bleeding when we pulled in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSBORN: Also, Wolf, they're waiting for structural engineers, experts to arrive before they get a sense of just how quickly they can get closer to the damaged or collapsed area.
Governor McGreevey is also here on site. Earlier today he said they're doing everything they can, try and figure out what caused this -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Kris Osborn on the scene for us in Atlantic City over at that casino. Thanks very much, Kris.
Other news today -- economy -- the U.S. economy, that is, seems to be improving. Is it a sign that President Bush's initiatives are, in fact, working?
And how will it impact your wallet? I'll ask the veteran journalist Cokie Roberts. She'll join me live here next.
Controversial evidence today. It's all about the hair in the Scott Peterson case. We're live. A complete rundown from Modesto, California.
And this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSIE O'DONNELL, ENTERTAINER: Funny to me that I'm going to court for this. Where are the Enron guys?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Rosie O'Donnell speaking out. Charges and counter charges. They're flying as she squares off with her former magazine publisher.
All that coming up -- though, first, a quick look at some other news making headlines "Around the World."
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BLITZER: North Korean nukes. China and North Korea have agreed in principle to reconvene six-nation talks on the North's nuclear program. The agreement was made during a meeting between a top Chinese official and North Korean leader Kim Jung Il. The White House says the talks are the best way of getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambition.
Political scandal. Israeli police say they questioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for seven hours about two funding cases. Mr. Sharon's Likhud Party has been rocked by allegations that the prime minister's two sons were involved in business deals linked to his 1999 election campaign. Mr. Sharon denies wrongdoing.
Crash landing. A helicopter pilot and four passengers were injured when the chopper crashed into a parking lot of an upscale restaurant in Mexico City. Witnesses say the chopper developed trouble almost as soon as it took off from the roof of a nearby building.
It's a girl! Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills are the parents of a baby girl. Mills gave birth at a hospital in London. Beatrice Millie weighed seven pounds. The 61-year-old former Beatle has three children from his marriage to his first wife, the late Linda McCartney.
Tails up. Researchers in Brazil are trying to figure out why giant humpback whales spend hours on end with their huge tails out of the water. Three theories: it's a form of resting, communicating or controlling body temperature.
And that's our look "Around the World."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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BLITZER: Earlier we asked, "which state has the highest unemployment rate?" The answer, Oregon. According to the U.S. Labor Department, September 2, 2003 statistics, Oregon has the highest rate at 8 percent. South Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate at 3.4 percent. The U.S. economy skyrocketed this summer growing at its fastest rate, get this, in 19 years. President Bush took credit saying his tax cuts are doing the trick. But if the economy is so hot, why is the job market still so cold? Let's go live to Kathleen Hays of CNN financial news -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Wolf. It's a question on everybody's minds today. The stock market really didn't have a stellar performance, considering just how strong this report was. It exceeded forecasts that were already very strong.
But as you said, it leaves one big question unanswered. If the economy is so hot, why does the job market remain so darn cold?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS (voice-over): Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Madonna was single and singing "Like a Virgin" the last time the economy grew this fast. But for millions of unemployed Americans, there is still no reason to party like it's 1984.
BILL CHENEY, JOHN HANCOCK FINANCIAL SERVICES: The disconnect is essentially that businesses are producing more and more, the economy is growing nicely, but businesses are managing to do that without hiring anybody.
HAYS: No hiring at all in the third quarter. In fact, the economy lost 41,000 jobs. But still managed to surge by 7.2 percent. Thank consumers for that growth rate. They went on a shopping spree in the third quarter. Auto sales raced ahead. But jobs at big auto manufacturing did not. And many corporate giants continue to cut jobs.
Sony plans to cut 20,000 jobs, 13 percent of its work force. Drug giant Merck said it's laying off 4,400 people.
Those who are hiring are in the hotter areas of the economy. Home builders, hospitals, offices that need to add temporary workers. The big debate, can the president's tax cuts keep the economy growing long enough to get jobs growing across the entire economy.
STEVEN RICCHIOTO, ABN AMRO: Refunds will come back in the first and second quarter of next year and demand will pick back up again.
IRIS LAV, CENTER FOR BUDGET POLICY PRIORITIES: You're talking about one-time money. What we really need are the conditions for sustained growth and we're talking about one-time infusions of money which just doesn't do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS: One problem, Wolf, is that we're our own worst enemy is. We have become so productive as workers that we can work harder, longer, the economy can pick up. It has to run really, really fast before jobs really have to start growing again.
No doubt, this is a question that's going to keep President Bush and his advisers awake for many nights to come.
BLITZER: Indeed. Kathleen Hays in New York, thanks very much.
So will these surprising figures on the economy provide a huge political boost for President Bush as he heads into the election year? Joining us now to talk about that, and the Democrats running for the White House, the veteran ABC news correspondent also from National Public Radio, Cokie Roberts. Thanks for joining us. This is great news if it's sustained for the president.
COKIE ROBERTS, ABC NEWS: Sure, it is. But you know, jobs come after everything else. So if in fact we've got this growth, we've got this productivity, inflation stays low and as you know, the fed met this week and kept interest rates at that incredibly low rate, the jobs should follow and if the jobs start following in this coming year, that's very good news.
BLITZER: That would be good news. He'd be able to ask that question Ronald Reagan asked, are you better off today than four years ago. The Democrats are asking that now. But a year from now a lot could change.
ROBERTS: Well, it's going to be hard to make the case than you're better off than you were four years ago, because there is still going to be people whose jobs never come back. The manufacturing jobs are not coming back. And that's a huge part of the economy, and those are people who are going to be searching for something else to be doing and going to be hurting.
So he has to be careful about framing that question, and he has to be careful that it's an economic question only and not a security question.
BLITZER: Because Iraq is a huge wild card. A year from now is a long time. It could be great progress or it could be, as we discussed with Dr. Henry Kissinger, almost Vietnam, some are suggesting. So, that's a clearly unpredictable element right now.
ROBERTS: It's one that you can't control. Even as crazy as it is to try to control the economy, you have a few levers can you pull and push. In terms of Iraq, you're really stuck.
BLITZER: Cokie, you and I have gone around the campaign circuit politics for a long time. Who among the Democratic presidential hopefuls is best positioned right now to break out of the pack?
ROBERTS: I don't think any of them is. I think Howard Dean is the person who has broken out from a moment. But of course, he's now suffering the effects of that because everybody is beating up on him. But I think that given what we're seeing right now, the Democrats have decided to play on the Iraq and national security playing field instead of on the economic playing field. It's a bad field for them. They don't do well on that playing field.
BLITZER: That potentially could backfire on the Democrats if things begin to turn around, democracy begins to take hold if Iraq. ROBERTS: Even if things don't turn around right away, even if it helps them in the coming election, it's bad news for them down the line, because it just plays completely into that image of them as the party that's weak on defense.
BLITZER: We advertised that you're coming on this program. Our viewers love you. They want to know how you're doing battling cancer.
ROBERTS: I'm doing great. Thank you. I'm done with treatments. I'm cancer-free. My hair is back. Came in straight. But -- I'm feeling good.
BLITZER: And you're getting more actively involved now in the struggle against cancer, breast cancer in particular. Talk to us about that a little bit.
ROBERTS: Actually, I had been involved as a breast cancer -- I always say an advocate against breast cancer for a long time starting several when years ago when I had two friends die the same day from breast cancer in their 40s and 50s respectively. So I've done this for a long time.
But now, of course, that I am one of the unfortunate club, I'm called on to do more of it and I've done a great deal of it this October, which of course is breast cancer awareness month.
BLITZER: Thank god for you, Cokie Roberts. Thanks very much
ROBERTS: So nice to be with you.
BLITZER: We'll continue to monitor all these political developments together, you and me.
ROBERTS: Good.
BLITZER: Let's turn now to Iraq once again. Much has been said about the brutality about the former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, but in recent days a videotape has emerged which appears to show just how brutal, how brutal that regime really was. CNN has obtained that tape today, not from the Pentagon, or from other government sources, but from an independent source. And we warn you, our viewers, this tape you are about to see is extremely graphic and only, only part of this entire tape. Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is joining us now live with this very disturbing story -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the tape is of poor quality, but what it shows is undeniably shocking. It shows Iraqis, some of them being punished, some appear to be almost tortured because of the punishment meeted (ph) by the Fedayeen Saddam who swore allegiance to Saddam Hussein.
This man is being whipped publicly and videotaped before a crowd. Other parts of the tape also show people being thrown off buildings, buildings not high enough to kill them, but high enough to maim them and seriously injure them. Parts of the tape we are not showing you included pieces where people have had parts of their tongue cut out, fingers cut off and even an execution by beheading.
The gruesome videos were recovered back in April by soldiers of the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade in Baghdad. They were not released by the Pentagon but obtained from other sources. Nevertheless, they do have some propaganda value for the Pentagon. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today acknowledged that he'd seen the tape and said, quote, "They portray a regime that was about as vicious as any regime could possibly be" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I watched those other parts, at least part of the tape that we didn't show, Jamie. It's simply not watchable. I couldn't watch it myself. I just want to point out to our viewers, the reason we're showing this is because we've heard a lot about the brutality of the Saddam Hussein regime. We haven't really seen that evidence up close personal like this. We thought we should show it to our viewers so they could see this as well. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, we'll continue to monitor, review this tape, and bring excerpts of it as necessary, as important to show our viewers what exactly was going on during the Saddam Hussein regime.
Evidence in dispute. An FBI lab expert under scrutiny. We'll go live to Modesto, California, for new developments in the Scott Peterson murder case. That's coming up.
Also this. A lawsuit bringing out very nasty details about Rosie O'Donnell and her former magazine publisher.
And this.
Should Italy's prime minister give up his day job? Why Silvio Berlusconi is singing. The answer, don't give it up yet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More tough fighting among lawyers over the fate of Scott Peterson accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. It's the second day of a preliminary hearing that will determine if Peterson is tried for murder. CNN's Rusty Dornin joining us live from Modesto.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you said, it's day two. The same witness, an FBI DNA expert, is still testifying about the same piece of evidence. It's a single strand of hair, hair found on pliers at the bottom of Scott Peterson's boat. The defense wants it thrown out, claiming it's inadmissible because mitochondrial DNA, that's the type that's extracted from hair, is just not reliable. It shouldn't be accepted as a scientific technique. So Defense Attorney Mark Geragos has been poking and prodding this DNA expert's testimony, most of the afternoon. It was so confusing at some points, even the DNA expert had to ask several times, say she didn't understand and to ask the question again. He has finished his cross examination and now it is up to the prosecution, we're expecting the prosecution to be calling more witnesses, possibly even Amber Frey, in the next few days into next week -- Wolf.
BLITZER: We'll continue to watch this hearing with you, Rusty Dornin. Thanks very much.
Attorneys for Rosie O'Donnell and her former publisher locked horns today in a New York City court. O'Donnell and former publisher accuse each other of destroying the magazine named after her. The publisher says O'Donnell walked away from "Rosie Magazine" causing it to shut down in its second year. She says the publisher broke a promise to give her editorial control over the magazine and she's suing for $125 million. The publisher is suing her for $100 million.
Our picture of the day. Maybe even some sound of the day. That's coming up. The judge -- well, judge for yourself about the sound. We'll tell you why Italy's prime minister felt inspired to make music. You may want to hear this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: What do heads of states do to unwined. In the case of the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, they right love songs. Berlusconi has an album out called better with a song. He doesn't sing on the CD, a close friend does that, but Berlusconi did right 14 of the songs. You may want to listen to it. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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Scare: Capitol Hill Lockdown; Brutal Tape Of Saddam Regime Uncovered>
