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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Gas Prices Reach Record Levels; Survivors Reflect on 9/11; Tony Randall Dies

Aired May 18, 2004 - 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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): An arm and a leg. Gas prices reach record levels. Should the government take emergency measures?

On hold on 9/11.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on hold a second time and needed to repeat the story for a third time. But I told the third person that I'm only telling you once, I'm getting out of the building.

BLITZER: Survivors reflect on a terrifying time while the commission looks for accountability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were 18 square acres of catastrophe. And I think we did the best we could.

BLITZER: Cruel fate in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why couldn't they have said something? Why couldn't they have blocked off the highway before something like that happened?

BLITZER: New details on a missed opportunity to save lives.

An actor's actor.

TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: Warn me the next time you open a beer! I'll put on my scuba suit.

BLITZER: The nation knew him as the neurotic Felix from "The Odd Couple." Colleagues knew him as a serious student of stagecraft.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, May 18, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's a record few wanted to see broken, but the cost of gasoline is now at an all-time high in the United States with no relief in sight. The Energy Department says the average price nationwide has topped $2 a gallon and will likely go up again in June. Tom Foreman begins our coverage. He's at a gas station here in the nation's capital on Capitol Hill -- Tom. TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, take a look at this. This is something American drivers have never seen before. The average cost of a gallon of gasoline over $2. And a lot of people are getting seriously concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Spiralling gas prices are hammering consumers nationwide, and not just on the roadways. Shipping companies, retailers, airlines, almost every corner of the economy is seeing costs rise. A new survey by the National Retail Federation finds one-third of Americans ready to trim summer travel.

In Washington, Senate Democrats are blaming White House policies and demanding relief.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: We call on the White House to step up, do what is right for Americans everywhere, and send a signal to OPEC that they can't keep their hands around our neck.

FOREMAN: For those Democrats the issue is the Department of Energy's build-up since 9/11 of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a vast oil supply that is set aside for national emergencies.

The Bush administration insists releasing part of that supply will do little good for consumers and a lot to damage national security.

SPENCER ABRAHAM, ENERGY SECRETARY: The reserve is not there simply to try to change prices.

FOREMAN: Analysts for the oil industry say the main cause of high gas prices is overseas. The rapidly expanding world economy, especially in China and India, is increasing global demand for oil. Add to that the turmoil in the Middle East which creates fear of a possible interruption in supply and prices take off.

GENEVIVE MURPHY, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE: Although we're becoming a lot more efficient in our use of energy, our economies are requiring more energy as we create more products, as we travel more, as our economy expands.

FOREMAN: For now, consumers can only cope. GasBuddy.com, a Web site that helps people find cheaper gas, is getting a half million users a day.

And as AAA releases its summer travel predictions...

SANDRA HUGHES, AAA: We're saying more people are going to travel, but they are going to alter their plans slightly.

FOREMAN: Taking shorter trips, using more fuel efficient vehicles. And even with that, paying dearly to hit the road.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOREMAN: Here is a point of reference. If you drive an SUV and you fill it up only once a week, and a lot of us fill it up more than that, the extra money you will spend in the coming year compared to paying say $1.50, which is what people were paying about a year ago, would pay for a trip from Washington to New Orleans for the weekend, a hotel and $200 spending money besides.

That's how much this is costing the American public. And everybody says there's nothing to do but get used to it because it's going to stay that way -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, that's depressing. Tom Foreman thanks for that report.

And to our viewers here's a cross country sampling of just how costly it has gotten in the pump. In Freedom, California, for example, a gallon of premium gas at a premium pump price, a whopping $2.43. Not much better in Cleveland, Ohio. A gallon is going for between $2 and $3 -- $2.25 a gallon.

And check out this sign at a station in South Daytona, Florida. Look at this. A gallon for an arm, a leg, and a first born. No doubt tongue in cheek, but a sign of growing frustration felt by many around the country.

Gas prices are, of course, always a politically charged issue, especially in an election year. The Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says President Bush simply isn't doing enough to help drivers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bottom line, we need a president who's fighting for the American worker, the American family at the fuel pumps to lower the price of gasoline in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's take a look now at what other people are saying in this politically charged election year. Let's get some White House reaction to what is going on. Our senior White House correspondent John King standing by.

First of all, John, on the specific issue of using some of that Strategic Oil Reserve out there, the energy reserve. What are they saying?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House says no, Wolf. And the White House says this is the reason. It says President Clinton tried that a few years ago and this administration makes the case the impact on prices would be quite negligible.

And the White House press Secretary Scott McClellan today was quite adamant in making the point that the reserve is there for emergency, possibly for a terrorist attack. Not simply to try to drive the price of gas down at the pump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That was created for times of emergency. Like an attack on the homeland or a severe disruption in the supply and that's why the National Petroleum Reserve was created.

And heaven forbid we have another attack. But if we do, we need to make sure that we have the sources of energy there to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Wolf, Scott McClellan also saying the president is as concerned as anyone about the price of gas here at the White House. As the Democrats blame President Bush, the White House saying Senator Kerry and his fellow Democrats in Congress are as much to blame if not more to blame.

The White House again saying had they passed the president's Energy Plan in 2001, 2002, 2003, or this year, it would have had at least a modest impact on prices, at least that's what the White House says.

BLITZER: CNN's John King on a very, very sensitive subject. John, thanks very much.

Here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this, have you changed your driving habits because of rising gas prices? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

The nation's 9/11 commissioners are meeting in New York City. They are less than two miles from Ground Zero. And they are investigating how the city's emergency services reacted to the worst terror attack ever on American soil. CNN's Deborah Feyerick joining us live from New York on day one of these hearings -- Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the most dramatic moment of these hearings came when one of the 9/11 commissioners, John Lehman, criticized the police and fire department saying that there was no one person in command. There was bad communication. All of which may have hampered rescue efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: I think the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal.

(APPLAUSE)

LEHMAN: It's not worthy of the boy scouts, let alone this great city. It's a scandal that you as -- as the emergency preparedness manager did not have line authority to select, find the best technologies of radios and dictate what would be procured to solve these problems. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Those remarks addressed to both the fire and police commissioners who were there on 9/11. The fire commissioner reacted very badly, saying that the people who were in charge, who were on the ground were some of the most he experienced and dedicated fire officials, that they had done hundreds of practice drills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS VON ESSEN, FRM. FDNY COMMISSIONER: There's nothing scandalous about the way New York City handles its emergencies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Now, the former police commissioner at the time tried setting the record straight. He said that while there was a lot of chaos, there was no confusion as to who was running the operations. In fact, it was the fire department who was in control. The police, on the other hand, setting up perimeter, setting up blockades. It was very clear to them that was now a crime scene.

As for the issue of radios, well there are still no radios that work 100 percent, certainly not in high rises, according to the testimony. The one thing that the 9/11 commission did make clear, is that New York City still remains very much a target -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And we'll speak to Bernard Kerik momentarily. Deborah Feyerick, thanks very much for that.

A young family killed in what seems to be a freak accident. Now word of a botched warning that might have saved their lives.

A deadly offensive and a deteriorating situation in Gaza. We'll take you there live. There are dramatic developments. Explosions right now.

And remembering television's best loved neat freak. A look back at the life of actor Tony Randall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Joining us now from New York with a firsthand look at today's hearings as well as a firsthand bit of knowledge about the 9/11 attack, the former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik. Commissioner, thank you so much for joining us. I don't know if you heard John Lehman say directly. "It was a scandal, the communication failures during 9/11." That the police couldn't talk to the fire department, the communications equipment simply didn't work. I want you to respond to what he says.

BERNARD KERIK, FMR. NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, his statement about being scandalous really referred to the response and referred to the chain of command and the reporting authority and I think he's missed -- he's been misled or he misunderstands the functions of the police department and of the fire department. He made a reference to other urban agencies or large agencies around the country that report to a public safety commissioner. Well, I'm familiar with L.A., Miami, Houston, Dallas, Miami, all of the other large agencies and Philadelphia. None of them report to a public safety commissioner and public safety director. So I'm not exactly sure what he was talking about. I just think his comments were inappropriate at the time.

BLITZER: I think what he's suggesting in the rescue, in the immediate hours and days after 9/11, there were so many reports that during the actual rescue if you will, while the two towers had been attacked police weren't getting good information, they weren't being able to talk to the fire rescue workers. The first responders. The system didn't work at that time.

KERIK: Well, the way the protocols were, Wolf, on that day and prior to that and these are protocols that were established and policies. The fire commanders would be the event or incident commander. The police would set up their own incident command post to do what they do. The firemen would respond to the fire and rescue and put out the fire. The police commanders would respond and create security around the site, security around the city, assist in evacuation. And their report, their staff report this morning particularly from the police response indicated that there -- the protocols were followed, that there was communications, that the police did report in the manner they should. So I'm not exactly sure what he was getting to when he said this.

BLITZER: Well, what kind of changes have been made, as far as you know, since 9/11, presumably the communications capabilities are a lot better, the left hand can speak to the right hand more thoroughly right now, is that right?

KERIK: I think -- going back to that day, there were some problems with the repeater and in tower two or tower one when the first plane hit. I can't determine whether it was a human error or it was mechanical failure. But today the protocols that are established, basically are somewhat like they were back on 9/11 in that different commanders, the police and fire commanders will report to an event and talk to each other.

You know, the last thing that I spoke about today was the actual communications equipment. There's been this constant talk since September 11 about communication failure. The failure of the radios. I recommended and I said to the commission today, show me a radio today, today, two and a half years later, that is guaranteed to work 100 percent of the time in those circumstances. It -- taking into consideration the steel, the size of the building, the magnitude, the repeater capabilities, there is none made today. So I think we did the best we could with what we had on that day. I think the police department and the fire department would have to do the same today.

BLITZER: All right, Bernard Kerik, good advice from you, as usual. Thanks very much for joining us. Thanks for your work.

KERIK: Thanks, Wolf. Thank you. BLITZER: Congress calls in the top commanders from Iraq to testify on prison abuse. Is it taking them away from fighting the war?

A warning is misunderstood and a family suffers a cruel fate on a Colorado highway. New information about what happened and what might have happened.

Also ahead. Israel mounts an all-out assault on a refugee camp in Gaza. We'll have an assessment what is going on there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The unfolding violence in the Gaza Strip is troubling and underscores the need for all parties to seize every opportunity for peace. I support it. The plan announced by Prime Minister Sharon to withdraw military installations and settlements from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Words from the president of the United States today as Israel steps up its armored assault on a refugee camp in southern Gaza. CNN's Matthew Chance reports from Gaza City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A tank's eye view of the biggest Israeli incursion in years in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah refugee camp near the Egyptian border is densely populated. Still it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from the ground and the air. Essential Israel says to destroy secret tunnels militants use as gateways to smuggle weapons.

MAJ. SHARON FEINGOLD, ISRAELI ARMY: We are adamant in combating this phenomenon of smuggling. We have information that the Palestinians have been trying to smuggle very large caliber weapons into the Gaza Strip. Specifically speaking about (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We know that they have managed to smuggle RPGs into the Gaza Strip. RPGs which are then turned against our forces patrolling the border.

CHANCE: But the humanitarian cost is high. Doctors at the tiny hospital in Rafah cut off by the fighting say they are struggling to cope. Amongst the dead a civilian and at least two children, a brother and a sister just 10 and 11. They were killed in a rocket attack. Civilians have been attempting to flee the fighting but many are now caught in a strict Israeli curfew and can't leave. Others have had their homes destroyed by Israeli bulldozers and are surviving in the rubble.

LIONEL BRISSON, RELIEF AND WORK'S AGENCY: Most of the people affected by this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have nothing to do with what is happening in terms of the fighting between the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and the Palestinians groups.

CHANCE: It's what the U.N. and human rights groups are calling collective punishment now being meted out, they say, by Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well , the Palestinian officials that we've spoken to are calling for more international pressure to be put on Israel for it to stop what it's doing in Rafah. Israel for its part, though, says that it will continue. It's forces will stay where they are in the Rafah refugee camps until such times, as those tunnels, what they call the gateways for terrorism in the Gaza Strip have been closed -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Matthew Chance reporting live for us from Gaza. Thank you, Matthew, very much.

Earlier today I spoke with Israel's vice prime minister Ehud Olmert. He's here in Washington on this day. He insisted it's not his government's policy to knock down houses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI VICE PRIME MINISTER: We are not going to bulldoze homes. We are not going to destroy homes. We are going to fight terrorists. And it may happen in the course of such fighting there may be damages to houses. This is not a policy, this is not a purpose. This is not the strategy of Israel. We want to do precisely what the American government is doing which is to fight terror and find the terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The first court-martial stemming from the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers is set to open tomorrow in Baghdad. At the same time three other soldiers will be arraigned on charges they also took part in the mistreatment of Iraqis. Here with more details on what is going on, CNN's Brian Todd -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, on Wednesday, Specialist Jeremy Sivits becomes the first of seven accused U.S. reservists to face court-martial for the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. And if past this prologue, then events inside the coalition's Green Zone in Baghdad may provide a courtroom drama like none we've ever seen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): The pictures, the stories from people like former Abu Ghraib prisoner Saddam Saleh are now well documented and horrific.

SADDAM SALEH, FMR. ABU GHRAIB PRISONER: They started to laugh at me and take pictures. One of the soldiers urinated on me.

TODD: Allegations similar to those made by Saleh will be the centerpiece of a series of military trials beginning Wednesday. Specialist Jeremy Sivits facing three criminal counts is expected to plead guilty and has given statements implicating three other guards. No cameras will be allowed inside the courtroom but the proceedings will be open to the media an arrangement that already has U.S. commanders on guard.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: Our aspiration is not to turn this into a show trial. Our aspiration is to mete out justice to Mr. Sivits.

TODD: Some participants aren't so sure. Gary Myers, attorney for Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick shown here in this picture from Abu Ghraib tells CNN he believes these trials are being held in Iraq in order to appease the Arab world. And says security concerns of the trial location in Baghdad's Green Zone are so worrisome that in his words you might as well provide targeting coordinates to terrorists.

His client, a 38-year-old father of two from Buckingham, Virginia also a prison guard in civilian life is one of the guard's implicated by Jeremy Sivits in an assault. Frederick faces five criminal counts including assault, maltreatment of detainees, conspiracy to maltreat subordinates, dereliction of duty and committing indecent acts. If he's found guilty, Frederick could face confinement, dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank, loss of military income, or a combination of those penalties.

A source close to the case says Frederick's legal team will argue there were already naked men in cells when he arrived at Abu Ghraib and that Frederick actively sought guidance from his commanders to address the situation. A claim consistent with those made by Frederick's family.

MARTHA FREDERICK, WIFE: He had questioned a lot of things that were going on. He had talked to many different people on different occasions. When one of -- he would talk to one person. When that person wouldn't give him the solution or the paperwork, he would go to another person that was above him in command.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Pentagon sources say it's not unusual to hold courts- martial overseas near where alleged infractions took place. We're told security will be very tight for these proceedings. Still, Frederick's civilian and military attorneys are planning to file a change of venue motion with a military judge -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian Todd, thanks very much. Joining us now Frederick's attorney Gary Myers, he's in Manchester, New Hampshire. Gary, thanks for joining us. The Pentagon arguing we just heard Brian say it's not unusual to hold these kinds of courts-martial in the vicinity where the alleged actions took place. What do you think?

GARY MYERS, FREDERICK'S ATTORNEY: I'd say that they are right. I am in a murder trial in Korea next month. But this is a war zone. And the precedent we have for this kind of circumstance namely the My Lai trials suggests strongly the place to have this trial is the continental United States. In addition to that we know that Pfc. England is already at Fort Bragg and will be tried there. We know secondarily that such trials can be held in the United States. It is my belief that the only reason that the trials are being held in Iraq is because of the great concern that if they were to be changed to the United States, that would be one more element to concern the Arab world about the efficacy of our system of justice. My view is that the only way to achieve justice in these cases is to bring these young people home and try the cases here or at the very least in Europe.

BLITZER: What was the normal situation during the Vietnam war, these kind of courts-martial? Were they usually held in Vietnam or brought back stateside?

MYERS: These cases were typically -- cases all over the world were held in Vietnam. They weren't typically brought back. But then again, one has to assess the question of whether this case is typical. It clearly is not. And one of the reasons or many of the reasons why we should be giving public discourse to the question of where this trial should be, is that we have a very anomalous circumstance here. The only people we have in Iraq at the moment are in fact the accused. They have been held over there on legal hold. All of the other witnesses, have been dispersed either into Europe or the continental United States. We do not have the capacity to subpoena civilians to come to Iraq. That means that they would have to be deposed in the United States. And anyone who has tried criminal cases knows that trial by deposition is not a successful means of functioning in that arena.

BLITZER: Your argument basically as I hear it is that your client and the other accused soldiers simply cannot get a fair trial on the ground in Iraq. Is that right?

MYERS: Well that's part of it. And -- but there's more. The military judge is in Germany. The defense lawyers are principally in Germany. My associate, Captain Robert Shauper (ph), a very fine young lawyer is in fact at Camp Victor (ph). But in addition to that, we have the inquiry as to whether or not individuals who would compose the jury in Iraq could possibly provide, under the unending stream of denunciations of these young people, a fair...

BLITZER: It looks like we have just lost our satellite, unfortunately, with Gary Myers. We're going to try to fix that -- he's in Manchester, New Hampshire -- and get him back, get him up. But we'll try to fix that technical problem. We apologize to you, our viewers.

We'll take a quick break.

You knew him as fussy and fidgety Felix on TV's "The Odd Couple." We'll show you the other side of the late Tony Randall.

This year's Games haven't begun, but the Olympic Committee is narrowing the field as it looks for a future host city.

And Congress commands top generals to testify on prison abuse in Iraq. But who will be running the war?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Taking the hot seat in the Iraq prison abuse scandal as two generals prepare to offer their side of the story. Details coming up.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

U.S. military officials have now reassured their earlier claim that the suicide bombing -- they have reassessed, that is, their earlier claim the suicide bombing of Iraqi Governing Council President Izzadine Saleem was the work of suspected al Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Saleem was liked yesterday. Those officials now say the -- quote -- "methodology" in the attack didn't match that previously used by al-Zarqawi.

An independent commission set up to examine football recruiting practices at the University of Colorado is calling for sweeping changes in the program. Investigators found that sex, alcohol and drugs were used to entice high school players to sign up with the university. They also concluded that there was -- quote -- "no clear evidence" that university officials sanctioned the practices.

More Capitol Hill testimony today on the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. In the hot seat on this day, the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld's No. 2 man, Paul Wolfowitz.

For more on that and what scheduled on the Hill tomorrow, here's our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, if today's hearing was any guide, you can expect some tough questioning tomorrow when the top commanders in Iraq come up to Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, some members of Congress are questioning whether all of these hearings and investigations are too much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is described as frustrated that the Iraq prison scandal and the resulting congressional hearings are distracting him from the war according to one of several senators who had breakfast from him. Sources say Rumsfeld has been forced to delegate much of his daily routine to his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, who has also spent hours testifying before Congress.

Wolfowitz again denied there was any Pentagon policy encouraging mistreatment of detainees.

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are trying to find out what, if any, possible truth could have led to that story. I'm aware of nothing that would substantiate that.

MCINTYRE: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner has called the two top commanders for Iraq, General John Abizaid and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, along with Major General Geoffrey Miller, who is now in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison, to answer questions Wednesday. For some fellow Republicans, the oversight is going overboard.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: I said it's time to refocus on winning the war and not pull our battlefield leadership out of the theater.

MCINTYRE: More hearings are being scheduled for the various generals heading a half dozen separate investigations, including Major General George Fay, who is looking at whether the abuse was directed by military or civilian interrogators.

Colonel Thomas Pappas, the officer in charge of interrogations, has reportedly told a senior Army investigator military police were sometimes told to strip and shackle prisoners. "The New York Times" says it has obtained a sworn statement in which Pappas says instructions given to the M.P.s, such as shackling, making detainees strip down or other measures used on detainees before interrogations are not typically made unless there is some good reason.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: And, Wolf, late word just in, my colleague Barbara Starr quoting Pentagon sources, saying that General David Barno, the commanding general in Afghanistan, will announce tomorrow a top-to- bottom review of the operations there in handling detainees -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie, thanks very much.

We've reconnected with Gary Myers. He's the attorney representing Sergeant Ivan Frederick. He's joining us once again from Manchester, New Hampshire.

You were making the point, Mr. Myers, that you believe that you simply won't be able to call the witnesses and have a fair enough trial for your client because the venue, the location of the trial is going to be in Iraq and it's going to be impossible to get everyone there, all the witnesses you want there. What are the chances that the judge, the presiding judge, will listen to you and get this trial moved?

MYERS: I have a tremendous faith in the courage of the military judiciary. I have been around them all my professional life. And they are people of moral courage.

The reason I have an interest in engaging in public discourse on this question is because I think the pressure on any military judge would be so enormous. Given the fact that the Army has decided as a political matter that these trials should be held in Iraq, that there should be an exercise of public discussion on this issue so that the judge could gauge that in his determination with respect to any venue change motion.

And I would say this to you, that it is not a frivolous matter getting civilians into a war zone. I have an expert on criminal abuse -- excuse me, prisoner abuse -- who is a 71-year-old retired professor from Stanford and the leading authority in the world on this subject. He has told me categorically that I will go anywhere but to Iraq to testify.

So these are genuine problems. We have a sentencing phase, if we get to that point, where family members should be able to testify. It should not be done by teleconferencing.

And lastly, Mr. Blitzer, I would like to say this, that these people are not ignorant people or trailer people or crude people. These are our people. And they are not disposable people. And they deserve to have the presumption of innocence applied to them and be given a fair and honest trial.

I believe at the moment, the United States is subordinating their individual interests in a fashion inconsistent with our entire history to the political interests of the country and the Arab region. And that's why I felt it so important to take this overview, rather than to discuss the individual case that I am involved in.

BLITZER: Gary Myers, thanks very much for joining us. We apologize to you for that technical snafu. We'll continue this conversation down the road.

MYERS: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Turning now to the entertainment world, which today lost a talented actor. Broadway theaters will go dim tonight 8:00 in honor of Tony Randall, who died yesterday after a lengthy illness.

As CNN's David Mattingly reports, he could do stage and was no stranger to the silver screen, but for most of us he'll always be remembered as half of TV's "The Odd Couple."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He starred on stage, in movies and five separate television series. But to millions he'll always be Felix Unger, the neat half of "The Odd Couple."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ODD COUPLE")

TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: Warn me the next time you open up a beer. I'll put on my scuba suit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Fussy Felix was the role of a lifetime and Randall found his perfect counterpart in Jack Klugman's Oscar Madison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

LARRY KING, HOST: You can take two good actors and put them together, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work, right?

RANDALL: That's right.

KING: So there has to be a natural chemistry.

RANDALL: Yes. And you can't explain it and you can't predict it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The Emmy Award winning role of Felix overshadowed a long, impressive stage career. Randall performed on Broadway for six decades.

RANDALL: It will wondering riding on a private trip thundering across the country side in style.

MATTINGLY: In 1991, he launched the nonprofit National Actors Theater, dedicated to providing theater to all at a price all could afford. Randall married actress Heather Harlan in 1995, three years after the death of his wife of 54 years, Florence Gibbs. Harlan gave birth to daughter Julia in 1997 and son Jefferson in 1998.

RANDALL: Nothing in life is equal of it. And it's as if this is what I was waiting for all my life.

MATTINGLY: Tony Randall died in his sleep after a long illness. He was 84.

I'm David Mattingly reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: He will be missed.

It was a fishing boat in deep trouble, sinking fast off San Francisco. Now dramatic pictures of a desperate attempt to rescue the people caught in the frigid waters.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple days. Well, it's rolled. And it looks like it is structurally unsafe over the freeway.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BLITZER: A botched warning, how miscommunication cost an entire family their lives.

And a woman of reason. She's the wife of the former Defense Secretary William Cohen. She is also the author of a new book. Later this hour, Janet Cohen joins me. We'll talk to her live.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Sonia Gandhi stuns her Congress Party by declining to be the next prime minister of India. Despite pleas to change her mind, Gandhi said she would not reconsider. Her move followed Hindu national outrage over the prospect of the Italian-born Gandhi becoming head of the world's biggest democracy. Gandhi';s party and its allies trounced the ruling Hindu Nationalist Party in national elections that ended last week.

Olympic decision. The International Olympic Committee has announced the finalists to host of 2012 Summer Games. The five candidates are Paris, New York, Moscow, London, and Madrid. The winner will be announced in July of next year.

Happy birthday. Pope John Paul II is celebrating his 84th birthday by keeping to his regular busy schedule. But he did set aside time for a birthday lunch and cake with his closest aides.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Today, a bittersweet ending to a grueling rescue effort on Washington's Mount Rainier. Stranded climber Scott Richards was finally airlifted to safety and is said to be in good condition. However, the injured companion that Richards spent three days trying to save died at a hospital yesterday.

Investigators are still puzzled about why this ship went down off San Francisco. News reports say the vessel passed its last inspection and was said to be -- quote -- "a safe boat." It went down just a couple miles off the coast Saturday. Everyone was rescued, but an elderly passenger later died.

Colorado's governor calls it a baffling tragedy, but we're learning more about what led to a deadly collapse on a Colorado interstate and the 9/11 call that might have prevented it.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bridge -- the T-470 over I-70, it looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple days. Well, it's rolled. And it looks like it is structurally unsafe over the freeway.

BLITZER (voice-over): That call from a passerby came just one hour before the 40-ton girder fell from an under-construction bridge onto Interstate 70 near Denver Saturday, crushing this van and a young family inside. The caller, who said he had worked on bridge construction himself, knew something was wrong with what is called an I-beam. But the 911 operator thought he said, sign, not I-beam, a miscommunication with deadly consequences. OPERATOR: There's a sign actually hanging down?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's rolled towards the existing bridge a good two or three feet.

BLITZER: That miscommunication was then passed on to state highway workers.

JIM WOLFINBERGER, COLORADO STATE PATROL: They were being sent out looking for a sign as opposed to potentially an unsafe girder that was suspended above the highway.

BLITZER: The accident killed Billy (ph) and Anita Post (ph) and their 2-year-old daughter, Kobyanne (ph). A relative says Anita Post was pregnant with the couple's second child. Before moving to Colorado, the family lived in New York, where Billy Post worked across the street from the World Trade Center. A family member says the Posts moved after 9/11, looking for a safer place to live.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes us very angry. We can't understand. We heard on some news reports that people noticed there was a problem with the bridge the night before and that morning. But why couldn't they have said something or why couldn't they have blocked off the highway before something like that happened?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Colorado officials call the accident very regrettable and are expressing their condolences. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this tragic accident.

She was born into poverty, hampered by skin color, yet persevered and prospered like few Americans have. Still ahead, author Janet Langhart Cohen and her unique vantage point on America. She'll join me live.

Also, our picture of the day, a centenarian who simply won't slow down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Few people have experienced the best and worst of this country more than our next guest. She went from poverty to prosperity enduring racism along the way and wound up married to one of the most powerful men in the United States. Her new autobiography is called "From Rage to Reason: My Life in Two Americas."

It chronicles the incredible life of Janet Langhart Cohen. She joins us now.

To our viewers who don't know, you're married to William Cohen, the former secretary of defense.

JANET LANGHART COHEN, AUTHOR, "FROM RAGE TO REASON": Yes.

BLITZER: Congratulations on this excellent new book. COHEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Let's talk about the rage part.

COHEN: Oh, the rage.

BLITZER: I want to show a picture of -- our viewers when you interviewed Rosa Parks, one of the leaders of the civil rights movement. Talk a little bit about the rage in your life.

COHEN: Well, this woman was very inspiring. We know her history. But the rage comes from hearing stories as a little girl.

When my mother was teaching my prayers and my ABCs, she was also teaching me that I was colored -- this was back in 1947 -- and that there were people in this country who would not like me because I'm colored. But she also taught me that I must not judge others or measure others by anything they can't help. The rage also comes from my father who served during World War II. He served in the military that fought the Nazis and he had to come home fight another war, the war of racism and the Klan.

And that uniform he was so proud to wear, Wolf, he was afraid to wear it in the South of this country. And moreover, on the way to Kentucky, he had to sit on the back of the bus. So that enrages you.

BLITZER: How did you get over that rage?

COHEN: I don't think you get over it. But what enables you to move from rage to reason is the fact that this is the greatest country in the world and we've seen its promise and its progress. So that's enabled me to move to reason.

And as an experience of working with our military -- you mentioned my husband being the former secretary of defense. I had the opportunity to travel with him and see the fine men and women that serve us all over the world. That moved me from rage to reason to action

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And you had a very successful career as a broadcaster when you worked for BET, Black Entertainment Television. You interviewed some of the great leaders of the world, including Muhammad Ali.

COHEN: Oh, Muhammad Ali, he's one of my great mentors. I have two mentors that are still living, Muhammad Ali and Cordi King (ph), a woman who enlightened my career. She helped me begin my career as a model and move into television.

But I was just with Muhammad. He was here in Washington to receive an award, a much-deserved award. It's interesting. We knew each other from the time we were 24 and we had our background in common, not just race, but the fact that we were originally from Kentucky. Our folks are from Kentucky. And when they stripped him of his title because he refused, based on principle, not to serve in Vietnam, he wasn't going to war, he wouldn't be going to the front. They would be using him as a recruiting tool. So he would have had it easy. But he didn't want to do that. And I saw him shortly after he had been stripped him of his title. And I was crying.

And I said, Muhammad, they've taken everything from you. They have taken your livelihood from you. And he said, oh, no, Janet, he said, they didn't take everything from me. They didn't take me from me. And he said, I know you're very ambitious. You want to be on television. You want to be a model. He said, never want anything so much that when they take it away from you, you don't have anything.

BLITZER: So you have lessons from your own life that are not just good for black Americans, but are good for all Americans?

COHEN: I do.

Everybody. It's like my mother, she told me, she said, I have great confidence in America and I have great faith in you. Get your education. Remain abstinent. America will change. And the things that I can't do now, you'll be able to do. America has changed.

BLITZER: It sounds like you had incredible parents.

COHEN: Oh, my mother is a hero. My father is a great American hero who served his country. And despite the problems he had with racism within the military and out, he said he would serve it again. But my mother was mother and father to us. She's the real hero.

BLITZER: "From Rage to Reason: My Life in Two Americas," good reading. Thanks.

COHEN: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Longevity 101, that is the lesson being taught by a tireless teacher in Mexico. We'll have that and the results of our "Web Question of the Day." That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of the Day." Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day, she's believed to be the world's oldest teacher. Albita Vasquez (ph) has been teaching students in 1918. And at age 101, she still refuses to retire. Good work.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Aired May 18, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): An arm and a leg. Gas prices reach record levels. Should the government take emergency measures?

On hold on 9/11.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on hold a second time and needed to repeat the story for a third time. But I told the third person that I'm only telling you once, I'm getting out of the building.

BLITZER: Survivors reflect on a terrifying time while the commission looks for accountability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were 18 square acres of catastrophe. And I think we did the best we could.

BLITZER: Cruel fate in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why couldn't they have said something? Why couldn't they have blocked off the highway before something like that happened?

BLITZER: New details on a missed opportunity to save lives.

An actor's actor.

TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: Warn me the next time you open a beer! I'll put on my scuba suit.

BLITZER: The nation knew him as the neurotic Felix from "The Odd Couple." Colleagues knew him as a serious student of stagecraft.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, May 18, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's a record few wanted to see broken, but the cost of gasoline is now at an all-time high in the United States with no relief in sight. The Energy Department says the average price nationwide has topped $2 a gallon and will likely go up again in June. Tom Foreman begins our coverage. He's at a gas station here in the nation's capital on Capitol Hill -- Tom. TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, take a look at this. This is something American drivers have never seen before. The average cost of a gallon of gasoline over $2. And a lot of people are getting seriously concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Spiralling gas prices are hammering consumers nationwide, and not just on the roadways. Shipping companies, retailers, airlines, almost every corner of the economy is seeing costs rise. A new survey by the National Retail Federation finds one-third of Americans ready to trim summer travel.

In Washington, Senate Democrats are blaming White House policies and demanding relief.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: We call on the White House to step up, do what is right for Americans everywhere, and send a signal to OPEC that they can't keep their hands around our neck.

FOREMAN: For those Democrats the issue is the Department of Energy's build-up since 9/11 of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a vast oil supply that is set aside for national emergencies.

The Bush administration insists releasing part of that supply will do little good for consumers and a lot to damage national security.

SPENCER ABRAHAM, ENERGY SECRETARY: The reserve is not there simply to try to change prices.

FOREMAN: Analysts for the oil industry say the main cause of high gas prices is overseas. The rapidly expanding world economy, especially in China and India, is increasing global demand for oil. Add to that the turmoil in the Middle East which creates fear of a possible interruption in supply and prices take off.

GENEVIVE MURPHY, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE: Although we're becoming a lot more efficient in our use of energy, our economies are requiring more energy as we create more products, as we travel more, as our economy expands.

FOREMAN: For now, consumers can only cope. GasBuddy.com, a Web site that helps people find cheaper gas, is getting a half million users a day.

And as AAA releases its summer travel predictions...

SANDRA HUGHES, AAA: We're saying more people are going to travel, but they are going to alter their plans slightly.

FOREMAN: Taking shorter trips, using more fuel efficient vehicles. And even with that, paying dearly to hit the road.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOREMAN: Here is a point of reference. If you drive an SUV and you fill it up only once a week, and a lot of us fill it up more than that, the extra money you will spend in the coming year compared to paying say $1.50, which is what people were paying about a year ago, would pay for a trip from Washington to New Orleans for the weekend, a hotel and $200 spending money besides.

That's how much this is costing the American public. And everybody says there's nothing to do but get used to it because it's going to stay that way -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, that's depressing. Tom Foreman thanks for that report.

And to our viewers here's a cross country sampling of just how costly it has gotten in the pump. In Freedom, California, for example, a gallon of premium gas at a premium pump price, a whopping $2.43. Not much better in Cleveland, Ohio. A gallon is going for between $2 and $3 -- $2.25 a gallon.

And check out this sign at a station in South Daytona, Florida. Look at this. A gallon for an arm, a leg, and a first born. No doubt tongue in cheek, but a sign of growing frustration felt by many around the country.

Gas prices are, of course, always a politically charged issue, especially in an election year. The Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says President Bush simply isn't doing enough to help drivers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bottom line, we need a president who's fighting for the American worker, the American family at the fuel pumps to lower the price of gasoline in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's take a look now at what other people are saying in this politically charged election year. Let's get some White House reaction to what is going on. Our senior White House correspondent John King standing by.

First of all, John, on the specific issue of using some of that Strategic Oil Reserve out there, the energy reserve. What are they saying?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House says no, Wolf. And the White House says this is the reason. It says President Clinton tried that a few years ago and this administration makes the case the impact on prices would be quite negligible.

And the White House press Secretary Scott McClellan today was quite adamant in making the point that the reserve is there for emergency, possibly for a terrorist attack. Not simply to try to drive the price of gas down at the pump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That was created for times of emergency. Like an attack on the homeland or a severe disruption in the supply and that's why the National Petroleum Reserve was created.

And heaven forbid we have another attack. But if we do, we need to make sure that we have the sources of energy there to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Wolf, Scott McClellan also saying the president is as concerned as anyone about the price of gas here at the White House. As the Democrats blame President Bush, the White House saying Senator Kerry and his fellow Democrats in Congress are as much to blame if not more to blame.

The White House again saying had they passed the president's Energy Plan in 2001, 2002, 2003, or this year, it would have had at least a modest impact on prices, at least that's what the White House says.

BLITZER: CNN's John King on a very, very sensitive subject. John, thanks very much.

Here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is this, have you changed your driving habits because of rising gas prices? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.

The nation's 9/11 commissioners are meeting in New York City. They are less than two miles from Ground Zero. And they are investigating how the city's emergency services reacted to the worst terror attack ever on American soil. CNN's Deborah Feyerick joining us live from New York on day one of these hearings -- Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the most dramatic moment of these hearings came when one of the 9/11 commissioners, John Lehman, criticized the police and fire department saying that there was no one person in command. There was bad communication. All of which may have hampered rescue efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LEHMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: I think the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal.

(APPLAUSE)

LEHMAN: It's not worthy of the boy scouts, let alone this great city. It's a scandal that you as -- as the emergency preparedness manager did not have line authority to select, find the best technologies of radios and dictate what would be procured to solve these problems. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Those remarks addressed to both the fire and police commissioners who were there on 9/11. The fire commissioner reacted very badly, saying that the people who were in charge, who were on the ground were some of the most he experienced and dedicated fire officials, that they had done hundreds of practice drills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS VON ESSEN, FRM. FDNY COMMISSIONER: There's nothing scandalous about the way New York City handles its emergencies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Now, the former police commissioner at the time tried setting the record straight. He said that while there was a lot of chaos, there was no confusion as to who was running the operations. In fact, it was the fire department who was in control. The police, on the other hand, setting up perimeter, setting up blockades. It was very clear to them that was now a crime scene.

As for the issue of radios, well there are still no radios that work 100 percent, certainly not in high rises, according to the testimony. The one thing that the 9/11 commission did make clear, is that New York City still remains very much a target -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And we'll speak to Bernard Kerik momentarily. Deborah Feyerick, thanks very much for that.

A young family killed in what seems to be a freak accident. Now word of a botched warning that might have saved their lives.

A deadly offensive and a deteriorating situation in Gaza. We'll take you there live. There are dramatic developments. Explosions right now.

And remembering television's best loved neat freak. A look back at the life of actor Tony Randall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Joining us now from New York with a firsthand look at today's hearings as well as a firsthand bit of knowledge about the 9/11 attack, the former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik. Commissioner, thank you so much for joining us. I don't know if you heard John Lehman say directly. "It was a scandal, the communication failures during 9/11." That the police couldn't talk to the fire department, the communications equipment simply didn't work. I want you to respond to what he says.

BERNARD KERIK, FMR. NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, his statement about being scandalous really referred to the response and referred to the chain of command and the reporting authority and I think he's missed -- he's been misled or he misunderstands the functions of the police department and of the fire department. He made a reference to other urban agencies or large agencies around the country that report to a public safety commissioner. Well, I'm familiar with L.A., Miami, Houston, Dallas, Miami, all of the other large agencies and Philadelphia. None of them report to a public safety commissioner and public safety director. So I'm not exactly sure what he was talking about. I just think his comments were inappropriate at the time.

BLITZER: I think what he's suggesting in the rescue, in the immediate hours and days after 9/11, there were so many reports that during the actual rescue if you will, while the two towers had been attacked police weren't getting good information, they weren't being able to talk to the fire rescue workers. The first responders. The system didn't work at that time.

KERIK: Well, the way the protocols were, Wolf, on that day and prior to that and these are protocols that were established and policies. The fire commanders would be the event or incident commander. The police would set up their own incident command post to do what they do. The firemen would respond to the fire and rescue and put out the fire. The police commanders would respond and create security around the site, security around the city, assist in evacuation. And their report, their staff report this morning particularly from the police response indicated that there -- the protocols were followed, that there was communications, that the police did report in the manner they should. So I'm not exactly sure what he was getting to when he said this.

BLITZER: Well, what kind of changes have been made, as far as you know, since 9/11, presumably the communications capabilities are a lot better, the left hand can speak to the right hand more thoroughly right now, is that right?

KERIK: I think -- going back to that day, there were some problems with the repeater and in tower two or tower one when the first plane hit. I can't determine whether it was a human error or it was mechanical failure. But today the protocols that are established, basically are somewhat like they were back on 9/11 in that different commanders, the police and fire commanders will report to an event and talk to each other.

You know, the last thing that I spoke about today was the actual communications equipment. There's been this constant talk since September 11 about communication failure. The failure of the radios. I recommended and I said to the commission today, show me a radio today, today, two and a half years later, that is guaranteed to work 100 percent of the time in those circumstances. It -- taking into consideration the steel, the size of the building, the magnitude, the repeater capabilities, there is none made today. So I think we did the best we could with what we had on that day. I think the police department and the fire department would have to do the same today.

BLITZER: All right, Bernard Kerik, good advice from you, as usual. Thanks very much for joining us. Thanks for your work.

KERIK: Thanks, Wolf. Thank you. BLITZER: Congress calls in the top commanders from Iraq to testify on prison abuse. Is it taking them away from fighting the war?

A warning is misunderstood and a family suffers a cruel fate on a Colorado highway. New information about what happened and what might have happened.

Also ahead. Israel mounts an all-out assault on a refugee camp in Gaza. We'll have an assessment what is going on there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The unfolding violence in the Gaza Strip is troubling and underscores the need for all parties to seize every opportunity for peace. I support it. The plan announced by Prime Minister Sharon to withdraw military installations and settlements from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Words from the president of the United States today as Israel steps up its armored assault on a refugee camp in southern Gaza. CNN's Matthew Chance reports from Gaza City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A tank's eye view of the biggest Israeli incursion in years in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah refugee camp near the Egyptian border is densely populated. Still it's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from the ground and the air. Essential Israel says to destroy secret tunnels militants use as gateways to smuggle weapons.

MAJ. SHARON FEINGOLD, ISRAELI ARMY: We are adamant in combating this phenomenon of smuggling. We have information that the Palestinians have been trying to smuggle very large caliber weapons into the Gaza Strip. Specifically speaking about (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We know that they have managed to smuggle RPGs into the Gaza Strip. RPGs which are then turned against our forces patrolling the border.

CHANCE: But the humanitarian cost is high. Doctors at the tiny hospital in Rafah cut off by the fighting say they are struggling to cope. Amongst the dead a civilian and at least two children, a brother and a sister just 10 and 11. They were killed in a rocket attack. Civilians have been attempting to flee the fighting but many are now caught in a strict Israeli curfew and can't leave. Others have had their homes destroyed by Israeli bulldozers and are surviving in the rubble.

LIONEL BRISSON, RELIEF AND WORK'S AGENCY: Most of the people affected by this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have nothing to do with what is happening in terms of the fighting between the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and the Palestinians groups.

CHANCE: It's what the U.N. and human rights groups are calling collective punishment now being meted out, they say, by Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well , the Palestinian officials that we've spoken to are calling for more international pressure to be put on Israel for it to stop what it's doing in Rafah. Israel for its part, though, says that it will continue. It's forces will stay where they are in the Rafah refugee camps until such times, as those tunnels, what they call the gateways for terrorism in the Gaza Strip have been closed -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Matthew Chance reporting live for us from Gaza. Thank you, Matthew, very much.

Earlier today I spoke with Israel's vice prime minister Ehud Olmert. He's here in Washington on this day. He insisted it's not his government's policy to knock down houses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI VICE PRIME MINISTER: We are not going to bulldoze homes. We are not going to destroy homes. We are going to fight terrorists. And it may happen in the course of such fighting there may be damages to houses. This is not a policy, this is not a purpose. This is not the strategy of Israel. We want to do precisely what the American government is doing which is to fight terror and find the terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The first court-martial stemming from the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers is set to open tomorrow in Baghdad. At the same time three other soldiers will be arraigned on charges they also took part in the mistreatment of Iraqis. Here with more details on what is going on, CNN's Brian Todd -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, on Wednesday, Specialist Jeremy Sivits becomes the first of seven accused U.S. reservists to face court-martial for the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. And if past this prologue, then events inside the coalition's Green Zone in Baghdad may provide a courtroom drama like none we've ever seen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): The pictures, the stories from people like former Abu Ghraib prisoner Saddam Saleh are now well documented and horrific.

SADDAM SALEH, FMR. ABU GHRAIB PRISONER: They started to laugh at me and take pictures. One of the soldiers urinated on me.

TODD: Allegations similar to those made by Saleh will be the centerpiece of a series of military trials beginning Wednesday. Specialist Jeremy Sivits facing three criminal counts is expected to plead guilty and has given statements implicating three other guards. No cameras will be allowed inside the courtroom but the proceedings will be open to the media an arrangement that already has U.S. commanders on guard.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: Our aspiration is not to turn this into a show trial. Our aspiration is to mete out justice to Mr. Sivits.

TODD: Some participants aren't so sure. Gary Myers, attorney for Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick shown here in this picture from Abu Ghraib tells CNN he believes these trials are being held in Iraq in order to appease the Arab world. And says security concerns of the trial location in Baghdad's Green Zone are so worrisome that in his words you might as well provide targeting coordinates to terrorists.

His client, a 38-year-old father of two from Buckingham, Virginia also a prison guard in civilian life is one of the guard's implicated by Jeremy Sivits in an assault. Frederick faces five criminal counts including assault, maltreatment of detainees, conspiracy to maltreat subordinates, dereliction of duty and committing indecent acts. If he's found guilty, Frederick could face confinement, dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank, loss of military income, or a combination of those penalties.

A source close to the case says Frederick's legal team will argue there were already naked men in cells when he arrived at Abu Ghraib and that Frederick actively sought guidance from his commanders to address the situation. A claim consistent with those made by Frederick's family.

MARTHA FREDERICK, WIFE: He had questioned a lot of things that were going on. He had talked to many different people on different occasions. When one of -- he would talk to one person. When that person wouldn't give him the solution or the paperwork, he would go to another person that was above him in command.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Pentagon sources say it's not unusual to hold courts- martial overseas near where alleged infractions took place. We're told security will be very tight for these proceedings. Still, Frederick's civilian and military attorneys are planning to file a change of venue motion with a military judge -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian Todd, thanks very much. Joining us now Frederick's attorney Gary Myers, he's in Manchester, New Hampshire. Gary, thanks for joining us. The Pentagon arguing we just heard Brian say it's not unusual to hold these kinds of courts-martial in the vicinity where the alleged actions took place. What do you think?

GARY MYERS, FREDERICK'S ATTORNEY: I'd say that they are right. I am in a murder trial in Korea next month. But this is a war zone. And the precedent we have for this kind of circumstance namely the My Lai trials suggests strongly the place to have this trial is the continental United States. In addition to that we know that Pfc. England is already at Fort Bragg and will be tried there. We know secondarily that such trials can be held in the United States. It is my belief that the only reason that the trials are being held in Iraq is because of the great concern that if they were to be changed to the United States, that would be one more element to concern the Arab world about the efficacy of our system of justice. My view is that the only way to achieve justice in these cases is to bring these young people home and try the cases here or at the very least in Europe.

BLITZER: What was the normal situation during the Vietnam war, these kind of courts-martial? Were they usually held in Vietnam or brought back stateside?

MYERS: These cases were typically -- cases all over the world were held in Vietnam. They weren't typically brought back. But then again, one has to assess the question of whether this case is typical. It clearly is not. And one of the reasons or many of the reasons why we should be giving public discourse to the question of where this trial should be, is that we have a very anomalous circumstance here. The only people we have in Iraq at the moment are in fact the accused. They have been held over there on legal hold. All of the other witnesses, have been dispersed either into Europe or the continental United States. We do not have the capacity to subpoena civilians to come to Iraq. That means that they would have to be deposed in the United States. And anyone who has tried criminal cases knows that trial by deposition is not a successful means of functioning in that arena.

BLITZER: Your argument basically as I hear it is that your client and the other accused soldiers simply cannot get a fair trial on the ground in Iraq. Is that right?

MYERS: Well that's part of it. And -- but there's more. The military judge is in Germany. The defense lawyers are principally in Germany. My associate, Captain Robert Shauper (ph), a very fine young lawyer is in fact at Camp Victor (ph). But in addition to that, we have the inquiry as to whether or not individuals who would compose the jury in Iraq could possibly provide, under the unending stream of denunciations of these young people, a fair...

BLITZER: It looks like we have just lost our satellite, unfortunately, with Gary Myers. We're going to try to fix that -- he's in Manchester, New Hampshire -- and get him back, get him up. But we'll try to fix that technical problem. We apologize to you, our viewers.

We'll take a quick break.

You knew him as fussy and fidgety Felix on TV's "The Odd Couple." We'll show you the other side of the late Tony Randall.

This year's Games haven't begun, but the Olympic Committee is narrowing the field as it looks for a future host city.

And Congress commands top generals to testify on prison abuse in Iraq. But who will be running the war?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Taking the hot seat in the Iraq prison abuse scandal as two generals prepare to offer their side of the story. Details coming up.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

U.S. military officials have now reassured their earlier claim that the suicide bombing -- they have reassessed, that is, their earlier claim the suicide bombing of Iraqi Governing Council President Izzadine Saleem was the work of suspected al Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Saleem was liked yesterday. Those officials now say the -- quote -- "methodology" in the attack didn't match that previously used by al-Zarqawi.

An independent commission set up to examine football recruiting practices at the University of Colorado is calling for sweeping changes in the program. Investigators found that sex, alcohol and drugs were used to entice high school players to sign up with the university. They also concluded that there was -- quote -- "no clear evidence" that university officials sanctioned the practices.

More Capitol Hill testimony today on the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. In the hot seat on this day, the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld's No. 2 man, Paul Wolfowitz.

For more on that and what scheduled on the Hill tomorrow, here's our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, if today's hearing was any guide, you can expect some tough questioning tomorrow when the top commanders in Iraq come up to Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, some members of Congress are questioning whether all of these hearings and investigations are too much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is described as frustrated that the Iraq prison scandal and the resulting congressional hearings are distracting him from the war according to one of several senators who had breakfast from him. Sources say Rumsfeld has been forced to delegate much of his daily routine to his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, who has also spent hours testifying before Congress.

Wolfowitz again denied there was any Pentagon policy encouraging mistreatment of detainees.

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are trying to find out what, if any, possible truth could have led to that story. I'm aware of nothing that would substantiate that.

MCINTYRE: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner has called the two top commanders for Iraq, General John Abizaid and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, along with Major General Geoffrey Miller, who is now in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison, to answer questions Wednesday. For some fellow Republicans, the oversight is going overboard.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: I said it's time to refocus on winning the war and not pull our battlefield leadership out of the theater.

MCINTYRE: More hearings are being scheduled for the various generals heading a half dozen separate investigations, including Major General George Fay, who is looking at whether the abuse was directed by military or civilian interrogators.

Colonel Thomas Pappas, the officer in charge of interrogations, has reportedly told a senior Army investigator military police were sometimes told to strip and shackle prisoners. "The New York Times" says it has obtained a sworn statement in which Pappas says instructions given to the M.P.s, such as shackling, making detainees strip down or other measures used on detainees before interrogations are not typically made unless there is some good reason.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: And, Wolf, late word just in, my colleague Barbara Starr quoting Pentagon sources, saying that General David Barno, the commanding general in Afghanistan, will announce tomorrow a top-to- bottom review of the operations there in handling detainees -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie, thanks very much.

We've reconnected with Gary Myers. He's the attorney representing Sergeant Ivan Frederick. He's joining us once again from Manchester, New Hampshire.

You were making the point, Mr. Myers, that you believe that you simply won't be able to call the witnesses and have a fair enough trial for your client because the venue, the location of the trial is going to be in Iraq and it's going to be impossible to get everyone there, all the witnesses you want there. What are the chances that the judge, the presiding judge, will listen to you and get this trial moved?

MYERS: I have a tremendous faith in the courage of the military judiciary. I have been around them all my professional life. And they are people of moral courage.

The reason I have an interest in engaging in public discourse on this question is because I think the pressure on any military judge would be so enormous. Given the fact that the Army has decided as a political matter that these trials should be held in Iraq, that there should be an exercise of public discussion on this issue so that the judge could gauge that in his determination with respect to any venue change motion.

And I would say this to you, that it is not a frivolous matter getting civilians into a war zone. I have an expert on criminal abuse -- excuse me, prisoner abuse -- who is a 71-year-old retired professor from Stanford and the leading authority in the world on this subject. He has told me categorically that I will go anywhere but to Iraq to testify.

So these are genuine problems. We have a sentencing phase, if we get to that point, where family members should be able to testify. It should not be done by teleconferencing.

And lastly, Mr. Blitzer, I would like to say this, that these people are not ignorant people or trailer people or crude people. These are our people. And they are not disposable people. And they deserve to have the presumption of innocence applied to them and be given a fair and honest trial.

I believe at the moment, the United States is subordinating their individual interests in a fashion inconsistent with our entire history to the political interests of the country and the Arab region. And that's why I felt it so important to take this overview, rather than to discuss the individual case that I am involved in.

BLITZER: Gary Myers, thanks very much for joining us. We apologize to you for that technical snafu. We'll continue this conversation down the road.

MYERS: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Turning now to the entertainment world, which today lost a talented actor. Broadway theaters will go dim tonight 8:00 in honor of Tony Randall, who died yesterday after a lengthy illness.

As CNN's David Mattingly reports, he could do stage and was no stranger to the silver screen, but for most of us he'll always be remembered as half of TV's "The Odd Couple."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He starred on stage, in movies and five separate television series. But to millions he'll always be Felix Unger, the neat half of "The Odd Couple."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ODD COUPLE")

TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: Warn me the next time you open up a beer. I'll put on my scuba suit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Fussy Felix was the role of a lifetime and Randall found his perfect counterpart in Jack Klugman's Oscar Madison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

LARRY KING, HOST: You can take two good actors and put them together, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work, right?

RANDALL: That's right.

KING: So there has to be a natural chemistry.

RANDALL: Yes. And you can't explain it and you can't predict it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The Emmy Award winning role of Felix overshadowed a long, impressive stage career. Randall performed on Broadway for six decades.

RANDALL: It will wondering riding on a private trip thundering across the country side in style.

MATTINGLY: In 1991, he launched the nonprofit National Actors Theater, dedicated to providing theater to all at a price all could afford. Randall married actress Heather Harlan in 1995, three years after the death of his wife of 54 years, Florence Gibbs. Harlan gave birth to daughter Julia in 1997 and son Jefferson in 1998.

RANDALL: Nothing in life is equal of it. And it's as if this is what I was waiting for all my life.

MATTINGLY: Tony Randall died in his sleep after a long illness. He was 84.

I'm David Mattingly reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: He will be missed.

It was a fishing boat in deep trouble, sinking fast off San Francisco. Now dramatic pictures of a desperate attempt to rescue the people caught in the frigid waters.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple days. Well, it's rolled. And it looks like it is structurally unsafe over the freeway.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BLITZER: A botched warning, how miscommunication cost an entire family their lives.

And a woman of reason. She's the wife of the former Defense Secretary William Cohen. She is also the author of a new book. Later this hour, Janet Cohen joins me. We'll talk to her live.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Sonia Gandhi stuns her Congress Party by declining to be the next prime minister of India. Despite pleas to change her mind, Gandhi said she would not reconsider. Her move followed Hindu national outrage over the prospect of the Italian-born Gandhi becoming head of the world's biggest democracy. Gandhi';s party and its allies trounced the ruling Hindu Nationalist Party in national elections that ended last week.

Olympic decision. The International Olympic Committee has announced the finalists to host of 2012 Summer Games. The five candidates are Paris, New York, Moscow, London, and Madrid. The winner will be announced in July of next year.

Happy birthday. Pope John Paul II is celebrating his 84th birthday by keeping to his regular busy schedule. But he did set aside time for a birthday lunch and cake with his closest aides.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Today, a bittersweet ending to a grueling rescue effort on Washington's Mount Rainier. Stranded climber Scott Richards was finally airlifted to safety and is said to be in good condition. However, the injured companion that Richards spent three days trying to save died at a hospital yesterday.

Investigators are still puzzled about why this ship went down off San Francisco. News reports say the vessel passed its last inspection and was said to be -- quote -- "a safe boat." It went down just a couple miles off the coast Saturday. Everyone was rescued, but an elderly passenger later died.

Colorado's governor calls it a baffling tragedy, but we're learning more about what led to a deadly collapse on a Colorado interstate and the 9/11 call that might have prevented it.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bridge -- the T-470 over I-70, it looks like they hung a new I-beam girder in the last couple days. Well, it's rolled. And it looks like it is structurally unsafe over the freeway.

BLITZER (voice-over): That call from a passerby came just one hour before the 40-ton girder fell from an under-construction bridge onto Interstate 70 near Denver Saturday, crushing this van and a young family inside. The caller, who said he had worked on bridge construction himself, knew something was wrong with what is called an I-beam. But the 911 operator thought he said, sign, not I-beam, a miscommunication with deadly consequences. OPERATOR: There's a sign actually hanging down?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's rolled towards the existing bridge a good two or three feet.

BLITZER: That miscommunication was then passed on to state highway workers.

JIM WOLFINBERGER, COLORADO STATE PATROL: They were being sent out looking for a sign as opposed to potentially an unsafe girder that was suspended above the highway.

BLITZER: The accident killed Billy (ph) and Anita Post (ph) and their 2-year-old daughter, Kobyanne (ph). A relative says Anita Post was pregnant with the couple's second child. Before moving to Colorado, the family lived in New York, where Billy Post worked across the street from the World Trade Center. A family member says the Posts moved after 9/11, looking for a safer place to live.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes us very angry. We can't understand. We heard on some news reports that people noticed there was a problem with the bridge the night before and that morning. But why couldn't they have said something or why couldn't they have blocked off the highway before something like that happened?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Colorado officials call the accident very regrettable and are expressing their condolences. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this tragic accident.

She was born into poverty, hampered by skin color, yet persevered and prospered like few Americans have. Still ahead, author Janet Langhart Cohen and her unique vantage point on America. She'll join me live.

Also, our picture of the day, a centenarian who simply won't slow down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Few people have experienced the best and worst of this country more than our next guest. She went from poverty to prosperity enduring racism along the way and wound up married to one of the most powerful men in the United States. Her new autobiography is called "From Rage to Reason: My Life in Two Americas."

It chronicles the incredible life of Janet Langhart Cohen. She joins us now.

To our viewers who don't know, you're married to William Cohen, the former secretary of defense.

JANET LANGHART COHEN, AUTHOR, "FROM RAGE TO REASON": Yes.

BLITZER: Congratulations on this excellent new book. COHEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Let's talk about the rage part.

COHEN: Oh, the rage.

BLITZER: I want to show a picture of -- our viewers when you interviewed Rosa Parks, one of the leaders of the civil rights movement. Talk a little bit about the rage in your life.

COHEN: Well, this woman was very inspiring. We know her history. But the rage comes from hearing stories as a little girl.

When my mother was teaching my prayers and my ABCs, she was also teaching me that I was colored -- this was back in 1947 -- and that there were people in this country who would not like me because I'm colored. But she also taught me that I must not judge others or measure others by anything they can't help. The rage also comes from my father who served during World War II. He served in the military that fought the Nazis and he had to come home fight another war, the war of racism and the Klan.

And that uniform he was so proud to wear, Wolf, he was afraid to wear it in the South of this country. And moreover, on the way to Kentucky, he had to sit on the back of the bus. So that enrages you.

BLITZER: How did you get over that rage?

COHEN: I don't think you get over it. But what enables you to move from rage to reason is the fact that this is the greatest country in the world and we've seen its promise and its progress. So that's enabled me to move to reason.

And as an experience of working with our military -- you mentioned my husband being the former secretary of defense. I had the opportunity to travel with him and see the fine men and women that serve us all over the world. That moved me from rage to reason to action

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And you had a very successful career as a broadcaster when you worked for BET, Black Entertainment Television. You interviewed some of the great leaders of the world, including Muhammad Ali.

COHEN: Oh, Muhammad Ali, he's one of my great mentors. I have two mentors that are still living, Muhammad Ali and Cordi King (ph), a woman who enlightened my career. She helped me begin my career as a model and move into television.

But I was just with Muhammad. He was here in Washington to receive an award, a much-deserved award. It's interesting. We knew each other from the time we were 24 and we had our background in common, not just race, but the fact that we were originally from Kentucky. Our folks are from Kentucky. And when they stripped him of his title because he refused, based on principle, not to serve in Vietnam, he wasn't going to war, he wouldn't be going to the front. They would be using him as a recruiting tool. So he would have had it easy. But he didn't want to do that. And I saw him shortly after he had been stripped him of his title. And I was crying.

And I said, Muhammad, they've taken everything from you. They have taken your livelihood from you. And he said, oh, no, Janet, he said, they didn't take everything from me. They didn't take me from me. And he said, I know you're very ambitious. You want to be on television. You want to be a model. He said, never want anything so much that when they take it away from you, you don't have anything.

BLITZER: So you have lessons from your own life that are not just good for black Americans, but are good for all Americans?

COHEN: I do.

Everybody. It's like my mother, she told me, she said, I have great confidence in America and I have great faith in you. Get your education. Remain abstinent. America will change. And the things that I can't do now, you'll be able to do. America has changed.

BLITZER: It sounds like you had incredible parents.

COHEN: Oh, my mother is a hero. My father is a great American hero who served his country. And despite the problems he had with racism within the military and out, he said he would serve it again. But my mother was mother and father to us. She's the real hero.

BLITZER: "From Rage to Reason: My Life in Two Americas," good reading. Thanks.

COHEN: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Longevity 101, that is the lesson being taught by a tireless teacher in Mexico. We'll have that and the results of our "Web Question of the Day." That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in our "Web Question of the Day." Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Our picture of the day, she's believed to be the world's oldest teacher. Albita Vasquez (ph) has been teaching students in 1918. And at age 101, she still refuses to retire. Good work.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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