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CNN Live Sunday

Latest on Hunt for Key al Qaeda Leader in Pakistan; Reality Check on New Job Prospects

Aired March 21, 2004 - 11:00   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome to "CNN LIVE SUNDAY."
Ahead: after days of fierce fighting, live with the latest on the hunt for a key al Qaeda leader deep in the mountains of Pakistan.

Also, a reality check on new job prospects. How bad is it out there, and where are some bright spots for jobs?

And later, from sports arena to rubble, in a matter of seconds, the implosion of Philadelphia's historic Veterans Stadium.

First, here's a look at the top stories.

Conflicting reports of violence in the Middle East this morning. Palestinian sources say Israeli forces killed at least five Palestinians during a raid near a Gaza refugee camp. Israeli defense sources say four Palestinians were killed after the target of a raid. A Hamas militant tried to escape while carrying a bag of explosives.

Security forces in Yemen have arrested a New suspect in connection with the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Seventeen U.S. sailors died. Sources say Samir Abdullah Mohammed Balaki (ph) and another man were arrested in southern Yemen. That's the same area where security forces on Friday arrested the last of 10 USS Cole suspects who escaped from a Yemeni jail last year.

Seven-time pro-bowler Warren Sapp is heading West. Late last night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer, turned free agent, signed a seven- year, $36.6 million contract with the Oakland Raiders. The move came one day after his agent announced Sapp was close to inking a four-year $16 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.

We start this hour in Pakistan. The border battle has become the latest front in the war on terrorism. Pakistani forces last week became engaged in a fierce firefight with suspected al Qaeda militants along the country's mountainous border. As many as 100 suspected al Qaeda fighters are now in custody.

It was first thought that militants were protecting a high-value target, possibly al Qaeda's top deputy. Now tribal leaders are involved in the conflict.

CNN's Inc Robertson is following the developments, and he joins us by videophone from Islamabad -- Inc. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, Pakistani military officials say that their operations continue. They are allowing local tribal leaders to go in and negotiate with tribesmen and these al Qaeda people who are holed up in the mountains there, going in to negotiate with them to try to get them to surrender.

One round of negotiations took place earlier this day. I just talked with a military official here. She told me that on Monday there will be a second round of talks to tribal leaders. Local tribal leaders will go in again and see what -- if there's been any result on their offer for surrender.

But we are told as well by military officials that despite the fact that they have held off on artillery fire, held off on their helicopter attacks in this particular area, there have been some exchanges of fire through the day. The area not entirely at peace.

It is a window of opportunity that military officials say they're providing for the al Qaeda members and local Pakistani tribesmen who are supporting them. It is a window of opportunity for them to surrender. But they say that they will continue with their cordon of the area and they will continue to go into that area and search the compounds where they believe these al Qaeda members and a high-value target could still be hiding -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Nic, are Pakistani officials backing off the explanation of this high-value target, that perhaps it's not the al Qaeda number two man?

ROBERTSON: They're saying that they still believe that there was a high-value target there. They base that on radio intercepts they heard. When somebody tried to break out of the area, their vehicle was shot at. The radio intercepts picked up that four people were needed to carry this injured person out and they would need a dozen people to protect this particular person.

What officials are saying now is that they still believe this high-value target could be there, although there is a possibility that they may have escaped. They believe this high-value target could still be Ayman al-Zawahiri, but they're also saying, look, it could also be this local criminal -- a senior criminal figure in the area, and also could be an Uzbek militia commander hiding out there, too -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson joining us via videophone from Islamabad. Thank you.

Well, as the battle wages on along the eastern Afghan border with Pakistan, an assassination unfolds in the west of the country of Afghanistan. The Afghan aviation minister was assassinated today in the western city of Harat. This, according to an Afghan presidential spokesperson.

Reports say assailants shot the minister in his car. The minister's father reportedly escaped unhurt. Pakistan is cracking down on militants with the help of forces from Afghanistan. These Afghan troops are involved in combat operations along the border. And many have just returned from fierce fighting, and they talked with our Ryan Chilcote. He's in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we caught up with a unit from the Afghan national army. That is the army that supports the federal government here in Afghanistan that is being trained by the U.S. military.

This unit was just in, arriving in Kabul from the Afghan side of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They told me that, in some cases, they had been fighting within just a couple miles of that border.

Now, they described two fire fights that they participated in over the last month. One on March 19. They said they had found working together with, as they always do, U.S. soldiers in that border area, they had found two weapons caches. And they were on their way back to their fire base when they were ambushed, they said, by members of al Qaeda and Taliban. They said they returned fire and were told later by local commanders that they had killed three of those al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Now, they described another fight that took place on March 5, one that they said is being described as the largest fire fight between U.S. and Afghan forces in Taliban and al Qaeda in that area in more than a year. In that fight, they say they killed nine Taliban and al Qaeda fighters and injured another 40.

Now, I asked how they know that they are Taliban or al Qaeda, and they said they're seeing a lot of Pakistani fighters, a lot of Afghan fighters, and a lot of Arab fighters in that area. There are other units from the Afghan national army in the border area working alongside the U.S. military at this time. They continue to fight. They say they're continuing to get contacts with Taliban and al Qaeda fighters that are coming over the border and then going back in.

The expectation of the U.S. military is that if the Pakistani military is not able to either apprehend or kill any Taliban or al Qaeda that's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) territory, that at a minimum they will be able to flush them out into Afghanistan, where the U.S. military, alongside these ANA soldiers, can ambush them.

That's not the only place that the ANA is engaged. They're also fighting alongside U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, now to Iraq, where more than a year after the war first began still unrest. They have reported attacks in the past 24 hours, apparently two reported attacks. Rockets today hit the heavily protected Green Zone in the Iraqi capital. The zone serves as coalition headquarters.

Iraqi and coalition sources say a U.S. soldier was among at least six people hurt in the attack. Two Iraqis were killed.

Meanwhile, in Fallujah, two American soldiers were killed last night during another attack. An American military spokesman says five soldiers and a sailor were hurt; 578 U.S. forces have died in Iraq so far.

A former presidential terrorism adviser says President Bush is doing a terrible job in the war against terror. In his New book, "Against All Enemies," due out tomorrow, former White House terrorism official Richard Clarke says Mr. Bush ignored ominous intelligence chatter in the days before September 11. In an interview with "60 Minutes," Clarke says it's outrageous that the president is running for reelection on grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism, when Clarke says Mr. Bush spent months ignoring terrorism.

Clarke also criticizes the president's handling of events since September 11, saying the way Mr. Bush has responded to al Qaeda has made the nation less safe. One Republican senator has seen some parts of the book.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: It's obviously a serious book. It comes from a serious professional. And I was not there, so I cannot attest to everything said in that book. I've read parts of the book. The administration is going to have to answer some of these charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Clarke isn't the first former Bush administration staffer to criticize the White House in print. In January, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill served as the main source for a book that claimed President Bush began making plans to invade Iraq within days of arriving at the White House. The White House has yet to respond formally to Clarke's latest allegations.

In the next hour on "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer talks with former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.

Stay tuned for that.

A mystery in the Florida Panhandle. What's killing dozens of bottlenose dolphins? The latest on the investigation after a break.

Also, splitting the D.C. sniper reward. We'll hear from one of the winners.

And later, the implosion of the city of brotherly love's arena stadium right there. History comes crashing down in a matter of seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Philadelphia this morning, it took a little more than a minute and 3,000 pounds of explosives to reduce the city's 30- year-old sporting landmark to a pile of debris. A crowd of onlookers cheered as Veterans Stadium, longtime home to the Phillies and the Eagles, came crashing down section by section right there.

Well, the Eagles, apparently they've already moved to their new home, Lincoln Financial Field. That happened last year. And the Phillies will throw out their season-opening pitch at Citizens Bank Park next month. Eventually, the former site of the Vet will house a 5,500-space parking lot, and the Phillies plan to paint an outline of the Vet's playing field across the new deck.

And here are more plans in place. They're going to put a granite marker at the form home plate pitching mound and the base locations.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Well, here's news across America now. Twenty-five same-sex couples are spending their first weekend as newlyweds after tying the knot in New Paltz, New York, on Friday. Six Unitarian universal ministers risked prosecution to perform the marriages at a local bed and breakfast.

In Washington State, a lesbian Methodist pastor says she's relieved after being acquitted in a church trial over her sexual orientation. A jury of 13 pastors found Karen DeMond (ph) not guilty of practices incompatible with Christian teaching.

Two men will share a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the D.C.-area snipers a year-and-a-half ago. One man gets $350,000 for telling authorities that his friend, John Allen Muhammad, might be the shooter. Another person got $150,000 for spotting the suspect's Chevrolet Caprice at a Maryland rest stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITNEY DONAHUE, SNIPER TIPSTER: I don't feel like I'm a hero. I just feel like I made a phone call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And scientists are trying to figure out what's killing dozens of dolphins along the Florida Panhandle over the past week. Early test results suggest that an algae-based biotoxin may be to blame. For more details on this story, tune into "NEXT@CNN." That's coming up at 5:00 Eastern Time.

In southern California, animal researchers are taking radical steps to stave off the extinction of many endangered species. The researchers hope to soon see how well their plan will work.

Miguel Marquez looks at San Diego's frozen zoo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The San Diego Zoo, it is home to many of the world's most exotic animals. Among the pandas and the rhinos, there is an endangered bovine species called a banteng.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A banteng is a kind of wild cattle from Asia.

MARQUEZ: Jahava, as he's called, is a native of the island of Java. But what makes this 10-month-old special is that he is a clone. Skin cells of Jahava's donor were inserted into the empty egg of a normal domestic cow. Now, the hope is Jahava will reproduce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's literally a conduit from a richer genetic past to the genetic present.

MARQUEZ: Jahava is special in another way. He is a carbon copy of another banteng that died almost 25 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the cells of over 6,800 animals in this collection.

MARQUEZ: Since 1975, San Diego Zoo has collected and stored live cells of thousands of animals. It is a frozen zoo. About 400 species of animals suspended in liquid nitrogen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here are cells of a European bison. Here are cells of a brush mouse. Here are cells from timberwolf.

MARQUEZ: The San Diego Zoo is one of a few places worldwide that maintains a catalog of frozen animal cells. But researchers stress the only way to ensure survival is through maintaining their native habitat. Cloning is seen as a last-ditch effort to stave off extinction.

GAYLENE THOMAS, SAN DIEGO ZOO: He is getting along with the ladies. You can definitely see a preference for the female.

MARQUEZ: Although Jahava is still too young to mate, Gaylene Thomas, who has been caring for San Diego Zoo's banteng for eight years is hopeful.

THOMAS: He is young. He's still not quite full-grown. He probably is going to get about double the size he is now at least. So I think he's about right where he should be for a young male banteng.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Zoo officials hope Jahava will start breeding in the next year. But even if he does, scientists won't know whether this cloning experiment is a success until they know whether his offspring are healthy.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, San Diego.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A reality check on one of the key issues in this year's presidential campaigns: jobs. Coming up, how tough is it to find a job, and which companies may be looking for new workers?

Also ahead, the big winners from last night's Soul Train Awards and what Janet Jackson had to say about her Super Bowl snafu.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The economy is shaping up to be the election year topic. The White House claims Democrats want to raise taxes on the middle class. Democrats blame millions of lost jobs on the president.

Kathleen Hays has more on employment prospects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the factory floor to the trading floor, from college grads to kids who never got a high school diploma, it seems everyone is worried about finding a job or keeping the one they have. The economy created 360,000 jobs since August, but it lost 2.48 million over the past three years. Worker advocates say even people who have jobs are running scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a sense of, boy, I'm lucky, but if I lost work, I know someone next to me who hasn't been able to get anything but consulting or temp work.

HAYS: The nation's unemployment rate stands at 5.6 percent, just over half the 10.8 percent high hit in December of '82. And the number of people applying for first-time unemployment benefits hit its lowest level in three years. A sign, experts say, that layoffs are declining.

But big pockets of weakness remain. Eight million are unemployed, compared to 5.5 million four years ago according to the Labor Department. Four million are working part-time, not because they want to, but because they can't find full-time jobs. And nearly half a million people are so discouraged they have simply stopped looking for work.

It now takes nearly five months on average to find a job once you've been laid off. Back in 2,000, it took just three-and-a-half months.

(on camera): And it's not just a blue collar problem. Over the past three years, the number of people out of jobs for more than five months is up 260 percent in manufacturing. The long-term unemployment is up 350 percent in the once high-flying information technology industry.

(voice-over): There are bright spots. Hiring is expected to pick up at small businesses, where half of all private sector jobs are created.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're expecting a lot of sales increases coming over the next six months, and they'll need more people to handle that.

HAYS: But it's slow going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They need to fill these positions, and yet no one's hiring just yet. So many companies are rebuilding their balance sheet, they're jacking their earnings, and everybody's being very, very cautious.

HAYS: So the economy is moving, but...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see the jobs market really having turned a convincing corner. It's a train that's moving out of the station, but pretty slow.

HAYS: So it looks like it could be awhile before it's all aboard for the American worker.

Kathleen Hays, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still much more ahead at the bottom of the hour on "RELIABLE SOURCES." A preview right now from Howard Kurtz.

HOWARD KURTZ, "RELIABLE SOURCES" Coming up, a young journalist's self-inflicted downfall. I'll talk with former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair about why he fabricated and plagiarized dozens of stories and why his new back is getting savaged by the press.

Plus, USA Today tainted by its own reporting scandal.

It's all next on "RELIABLE SOURCES."

WHITFIELD: And still to come, some of the most memorable images of the past week. Snow falls on some folks this first weekend of spring. The best picks of the week coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hey, Outkast is in. The big winner at the 18th annual Soul Train Awards. The pair took home two awards last night, including best rhythm and blues, soul or rap album. Other winners, Beyonce and Alicia Keys. And Janet Jackson, who you just saw a moment ago, well, she thanked the audience for standing by her after the Super Bowl fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET JACKSON, SINGER: You've been there for me during the good times, as well as the bad. And you've lifted me up with your love. Your loving support has always been a great source of comfort, especially in these last few weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Jackson received a lifetime achievement award.

Well, lots of memorable images you may have missed in the last week. So here's a look in pictures now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): An eruption of ethnic violence in Kosovo and in Belgrade. Just about anything that can burn is set ablaze from cars to a mosque. Serbs were protesting against a wave of violence in the region. That violence has claimed at least eight lives and injured hundreds more.

In Iraq, civilians are targeted. Gunmen opened fire on three trucks, setting them on fire. By midweek, hotels became targets for bombs in Baghdad and Basra. Several civilians killed.

Attacks and counterattacks in Israel and the West Bank. Palestinian protesters were trying to stop construction of the barrier separating Israel from the West Bank. Israeli soldiers set up a firing line to hold back protesters.

And in this country, some consider March the cruelest month. Spring starts today, but winter held strong across the Midwest. A series of snowstorms left people digging out or stuck in drifts.

Spring break is also taking hold in the South as students flock to sand, sun and fun from Florida to Mexico.

A warm welcome home for some U.S. troops. The soldiers are returning from months of duty overseas.

And in Australia, cleaning up tens of thousands of locusts that have invaded a small town. Half a million acres had been sprayed to kill the locust infestation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still much more ahead on CNN Sunday. "RELIABLE SOURCES" is coming up next with Howard Kurtz. The Jayson Blair Interview.

Then, "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER." Among his guests, former U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.

"PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" airs at 2:00 p.m. Today, profiling al Qaeda leaders Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.

But first, here's another look at the top...

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Reality Check on New Job Prospects>


Aired March 21, 2004 - 11:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome to "CNN LIVE SUNDAY."
Ahead: after days of fierce fighting, live with the latest on the hunt for a key al Qaeda leader deep in the mountains of Pakistan.

Also, a reality check on new job prospects. How bad is it out there, and where are some bright spots for jobs?

And later, from sports arena to rubble, in a matter of seconds, the implosion of Philadelphia's historic Veterans Stadium.

First, here's a look at the top stories.

Conflicting reports of violence in the Middle East this morning. Palestinian sources say Israeli forces killed at least five Palestinians during a raid near a Gaza refugee camp. Israeli defense sources say four Palestinians were killed after the target of a raid. A Hamas militant tried to escape while carrying a bag of explosives.

Security forces in Yemen have arrested a New suspect in connection with the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Seventeen U.S. sailors died. Sources say Samir Abdullah Mohammed Balaki (ph) and another man were arrested in southern Yemen. That's the same area where security forces on Friday arrested the last of 10 USS Cole suspects who escaped from a Yemeni jail last year.

Seven-time pro-bowler Warren Sapp is heading West. Late last night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer, turned free agent, signed a seven- year, $36.6 million contract with the Oakland Raiders. The move came one day after his agent announced Sapp was close to inking a four-year $16 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.

We start this hour in Pakistan. The border battle has become the latest front in the war on terrorism. Pakistani forces last week became engaged in a fierce firefight with suspected al Qaeda militants along the country's mountainous border. As many as 100 suspected al Qaeda fighters are now in custody.

It was first thought that militants were protecting a high-value target, possibly al Qaeda's top deputy. Now tribal leaders are involved in the conflict.

CNN's Inc Robertson is following the developments, and he joins us by videophone from Islamabad -- Inc. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, Pakistani military officials say that their operations continue. They are allowing local tribal leaders to go in and negotiate with tribesmen and these al Qaeda people who are holed up in the mountains there, going in to negotiate with them to try to get them to surrender.

One round of negotiations took place earlier this day. I just talked with a military official here. She told me that on Monday there will be a second round of talks to tribal leaders. Local tribal leaders will go in again and see what -- if there's been any result on their offer for surrender.

But we are told as well by military officials that despite the fact that they have held off on artillery fire, held off on their helicopter attacks in this particular area, there have been some exchanges of fire through the day. The area not entirely at peace.

It is a window of opportunity that military officials say they're providing for the al Qaeda members and local Pakistani tribesmen who are supporting them. It is a window of opportunity for them to surrender. But they say that they will continue with their cordon of the area and they will continue to go into that area and search the compounds where they believe these al Qaeda members and a high-value target could still be hiding -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Nic, are Pakistani officials backing off the explanation of this high-value target, that perhaps it's not the al Qaeda number two man?

ROBERTSON: They're saying that they still believe that there was a high-value target there. They base that on radio intercepts they heard. When somebody tried to break out of the area, their vehicle was shot at. The radio intercepts picked up that four people were needed to carry this injured person out and they would need a dozen people to protect this particular person.

What officials are saying now is that they still believe this high-value target could be there, although there is a possibility that they may have escaped. They believe this high-value target could still be Ayman al-Zawahiri, but they're also saying, look, it could also be this local criminal -- a senior criminal figure in the area, and also could be an Uzbek militia commander hiding out there, too -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson joining us via videophone from Islamabad. Thank you.

Well, as the battle wages on along the eastern Afghan border with Pakistan, an assassination unfolds in the west of the country of Afghanistan. The Afghan aviation minister was assassinated today in the western city of Harat. This, according to an Afghan presidential spokesperson.

Reports say assailants shot the minister in his car. The minister's father reportedly escaped unhurt. Pakistan is cracking down on militants with the help of forces from Afghanistan. These Afghan troops are involved in combat operations along the border. And many have just returned from fierce fighting, and they talked with our Ryan Chilcote. He's in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we caught up with a unit from the Afghan national army. That is the army that supports the federal government here in Afghanistan that is being trained by the U.S. military.

This unit was just in, arriving in Kabul from the Afghan side of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They told me that, in some cases, they had been fighting within just a couple miles of that border.

Now, they described two fire fights that they participated in over the last month. One on March 19. They said they had found working together with, as they always do, U.S. soldiers in that border area, they had found two weapons caches. And they were on their way back to their fire base when they were ambushed, they said, by members of al Qaeda and Taliban. They said they returned fire and were told later by local commanders that they had killed three of those al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Now, they described another fight that took place on March 5, one that they said is being described as the largest fire fight between U.S. and Afghan forces in Taliban and al Qaeda in that area in more than a year. In that fight, they say they killed nine Taliban and al Qaeda fighters and injured another 40.

Now, I asked how they know that they are Taliban or al Qaeda, and they said they're seeing a lot of Pakistani fighters, a lot of Afghan fighters, and a lot of Arab fighters in that area. There are other units from the Afghan national army in the border area working alongside the U.S. military at this time. They continue to fight. They say they're continuing to get contacts with Taliban and al Qaeda fighters that are coming over the border and then going back in.

The expectation of the U.S. military is that if the Pakistani military is not able to either apprehend or kill any Taliban or al Qaeda that's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) territory, that at a minimum they will be able to flush them out into Afghanistan, where the U.S. military, alongside these ANA soldiers, can ambush them.

That's not the only place that the ANA is engaged. They're also fighting alongside U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, now to Iraq, where more than a year after the war first began still unrest. They have reported attacks in the past 24 hours, apparently two reported attacks. Rockets today hit the heavily protected Green Zone in the Iraqi capital. The zone serves as coalition headquarters.

Iraqi and coalition sources say a U.S. soldier was among at least six people hurt in the attack. Two Iraqis were killed.

Meanwhile, in Fallujah, two American soldiers were killed last night during another attack. An American military spokesman says five soldiers and a sailor were hurt; 578 U.S. forces have died in Iraq so far.

A former presidential terrorism adviser says President Bush is doing a terrible job in the war against terror. In his New book, "Against All Enemies," due out tomorrow, former White House terrorism official Richard Clarke says Mr. Bush ignored ominous intelligence chatter in the days before September 11. In an interview with "60 Minutes," Clarke says it's outrageous that the president is running for reelection on grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism, when Clarke says Mr. Bush spent months ignoring terrorism.

Clarke also criticizes the president's handling of events since September 11, saying the way Mr. Bush has responded to al Qaeda has made the nation less safe. One Republican senator has seen some parts of the book.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: It's obviously a serious book. It comes from a serious professional. And I was not there, so I cannot attest to everything said in that book. I've read parts of the book. The administration is going to have to answer some of these charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Clarke isn't the first former Bush administration staffer to criticize the White House in print. In January, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill served as the main source for a book that claimed President Bush began making plans to invade Iraq within days of arriving at the White House. The White House has yet to respond formally to Clarke's latest allegations.

In the next hour on "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer talks with former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.

Stay tuned for that.

A mystery in the Florida Panhandle. What's killing dozens of bottlenose dolphins? The latest on the investigation after a break.

Also, splitting the D.C. sniper reward. We'll hear from one of the winners.

And later, the implosion of the city of brotherly love's arena stadium right there. History comes crashing down in a matter of seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Philadelphia this morning, it took a little more than a minute and 3,000 pounds of explosives to reduce the city's 30- year-old sporting landmark to a pile of debris. A crowd of onlookers cheered as Veterans Stadium, longtime home to the Phillies and the Eagles, came crashing down section by section right there.

Well, the Eagles, apparently they've already moved to their new home, Lincoln Financial Field. That happened last year. And the Phillies will throw out their season-opening pitch at Citizens Bank Park next month. Eventually, the former site of the Vet will house a 5,500-space parking lot, and the Phillies plan to paint an outline of the Vet's playing field across the new deck.

And here are more plans in place. They're going to put a granite marker at the form home plate pitching mound and the base locations.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Well, here's news across America now. Twenty-five same-sex couples are spending their first weekend as newlyweds after tying the knot in New Paltz, New York, on Friday. Six Unitarian universal ministers risked prosecution to perform the marriages at a local bed and breakfast.

In Washington State, a lesbian Methodist pastor says she's relieved after being acquitted in a church trial over her sexual orientation. A jury of 13 pastors found Karen DeMond (ph) not guilty of practices incompatible with Christian teaching.

Two men will share a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the D.C.-area snipers a year-and-a-half ago. One man gets $350,000 for telling authorities that his friend, John Allen Muhammad, might be the shooter. Another person got $150,000 for spotting the suspect's Chevrolet Caprice at a Maryland rest stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITNEY DONAHUE, SNIPER TIPSTER: I don't feel like I'm a hero. I just feel like I made a phone call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And scientists are trying to figure out what's killing dozens of dolphins along the Florida Panhandle over the past week. Early test results suggest that an algae-based biotoxin may be to blame. For more details on this story, tune into "NEXT@CNN." That's coming up at 5:00 Eastern Time.

In southern California, animal researchers are taking radical steps to stave off the extinction of many endangered species. The researchers hope to soon see how well their plan will work.

Miguel Marquez looks at San Diego's frozen zoo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The San Diego Zoo, it is home to many of the world's most exotic animals. Among the pandas and the rhinos, there is an endangered bovine species called a banteng.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A banteng is a kind of wild cattle from Asia.

MARQUEZ: Jahava, as he's called, is a native of the island of Java. But what makes this 10-month-old special is that he is a clone. Skin cells of Jahava's donor were inserted into the empty egg of a normal domestic cow. Now, the hope is Jahava will reproduce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's literally a conduit from a richer genetic past to the genetic present.

MARQUEZ: Jahava is special in another way. He is a carbon copy of another banteng that died almost 25 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the cells of over 6,800 animals in this collection.

MARQUEZ: Since 1975, San Diego Zoo has collected and stored live cells of thousands of animals. It is a frozen zoo. About 400 species of animals suspended in liquid nitrogen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here are cells of a European bison. Here are cells of a brush mouse. Here are cells from timberwolf.

MARQUEZ: The San Diego Zoo is one of a few places worldwide that maintains a catalog of frozen animal cells. But researchers stress the only way to ensure survival is through maintaining their native habitat. Cloning is seen as a last-ditch effort to stave off extinction.

GAYLENE THOMAS, SAN DIEGO ZOO: He is getting along with the ladies. You can definitely see a preference for the female.

MARQUEZ: Although Jahava is still too young to mate, Gaylene Thomas, who has been caring for San Diego Zoo's banteng for eight years is hopeful.

THOMAS: He is young. He's still not quite full-grown. He probably is going to get about double the size he is now at least. So I think he's about right where he should be for a young male banteng.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Zoo officials hope Jahava will start breeding in the next year. But even if he does, scientists won't know whether this cloning experiment is a success until they know whether his offspring are healthy.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, San Diego.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A reality check on one of the key issues in this year's presidential campaigns: jobs. Coming up, how tough is it to find a job, and which companies may be looking for new workers?

Also ahead, the big winners from last night's Soul Train Awards and what Janet Jackson had to say about her Super Bowl snafu.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The economy is shaping up to be the election year topic. The White House claims Democrats want to raise taxes on the middle class. Democrats blame millions of lost jobs on the president.

Kathleen Hays has more on employment prospects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the factory floor to the trading floor, from college grads to kids who never got a high school diploma, it seems everyone is worried about finding a job or keeping the one they have. The economy created 360,000 jobs since August, but it lost 2.48 million over the past three years. Worker advocates say even people who have jobs are running scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a sense of, boy, I'm lucky, but if I lost work, I know someone next to me who hasn't been able to get anything but consulting or temp work.

HAYS: The nation's unemployment rate stands at 5.6 percent, just over half the 10.8 percent high hit in December of '82. And the number of people applying for first-time unemployment benefits hit its lowest level in three years. A sign, experts say, that layoffs are declining.

But big pockets of weakness remain. Eight million are unemployed, compared to 5.5 million four years ago according to the Labor Department. Four million are working part-time, not because they want to, but because they can't find full-time jobs. And nearly half a million people are so discouraged they have simply stopped looking for work.

It now takes nearly five months on average to find a job once you've been laid off. Back in 2,000, it took just three-and-a-half months.

(on camera): And it's not just a blue collar problem. Over the past three years, the number of people out of jobs for more than five months is up 260 percent in manufacturing. The long-term unemployment is up 350 percent in the once high-flying information technology industry.

(voice-over): There are bright spots. Hiring is expected to pick up at small businesses, where half of all private sector jobs are created.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're expecting a lot of sales increases coming over the next six months, and they'll need more people to handle that.

HAYS: But it's slow going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They need to fill these positions, and yet no one's hiring just yet. So many companies are rebuilding their balance sheet, they're jacking their earnings, and everybody's being very, very cautious.

HAYS: So the economy is moving, but...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see the jobs market really having turned a convincing corner. It's a train that's moving out of the station, but pretty slow.

HAYS: So it looks like it could be awhile before it's all aboard for the American worker.

Kathleen Hays, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still much more ahead at the bottom of the hour on "RELIABLE SOURCES." A preview right now from Howard Kurtz.

HOWARD KURTZ, "RELIABLE SOURCES" Coming up, a young journalist's self-inflicted downfall. I'll talk with former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair about why he fabricated and plagiarized dozens of stories and why his new back is getting savaged by the press.

Plus, USA Today tainted by its own reporting scandal.

It's all next on "RELIABLE SOURCES."

WHITFIELD: And still to come, some of the most memorable images of the past week. Snow falls on some folks this first weekend of spring. The best picks of the week coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hey, Outkast is in. The big winner at the 18th annual Soul Train Awards. The pair took home two awards last night, including best rhythm and blues, soul or rap album. Other winners, Beyonce and Alicia Keys. And Janet Jackson, who you just saw a moment ago, well, she thanked the audience for standing by her after the Super Bowl fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET JACKSON, SINGER: You've been there for me during the good times, as well as the bad. And you've lifted me up with your love. Your loving support has always been a great source of comfort, especially in these last few weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Jackson received a lifetime achievement award.

Well, lots of memorable images you may have missed in the last week. So here's a look in pictures now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): An eruption of ethnic violence in Kosovo and in Belgrade. Just about anything that can burn is set ablaze from cars to a mosque. Serbs were protesting against a wave of violence in the region. That violence has claimed at least eight lives and injured hundreds more.

In Iraq, civilians are targeted. Gunmen opened fire on three trucks, setting them on fire. By midweek, hotels became targets for bombs in Baghdad and Basra. Several civilians killed.

Attacks and counterattacks in Israel and the West Bank. Palestinian protesters were trying to stop construction of the barrier separating Israel from the West Bank. Israeli soldiers set up a firing line to hold back protesters.

And in this country, some consider March the cruelest month. Spring starts today, but winter held strong across the Midwest. A series of snowstorms left people digging out or stuck in drifts.

Spring break is also taking hold in the South as students flock to sand, sun and fun from Florida to Mexico.

A warm welcome home for some U.S. troops. The soldiers are returning from months of duty overseas.

And in Australia, cleaning up tens of thousands of locusts that have invaded a small town. Half a million acres had been sprayed to kill the locust infestation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still much more ahead on CNN Sunday. "RELIABLE SOURCES" is coming up next with Howard Kurtz. The Jayson Blair Interview.

Then, "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER." Among his guests, former U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.

"PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" airs at 2:00 p.m. Today, profiling al Qaeda leaders Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.

But first, here's another look at the top...

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Reality Check on New Job Prospects>