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CNN Live Sunday

Baghdad Settling Down After Handover?; When Will U.S. Return to Moon?

Aired July 18, 2004 - 16:00   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 VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought we were going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I thought we were going to get killed or get hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: No longer up, up and away. Passengers of a troubled helium-filled balloon tell their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were standing there buying (ph) and around there was fighting and bombs and explosions, and nobody cared. Nobody gave it a second thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The price of doing business. Life at the Iraqi stock exchange.

An anniversary of the first moon walk is coming up. Will the space program ever again approach those magical days.

Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Those stories are a part of our show. But first a check of what's happening now in the news.

Vice presidential hopeful John Edwards says the swing state of Florida will swing in the Democrats direction this November. Speaking at a predominantly black church in Orlando just an hour ago or so, he said getting more minorities registered to vote will be key for the Democrats this fall. We'll hear some of his remarks later on in the show.

About 2000 people forced from their homes by a wildfire near Los Angeles are now being allowed to return. Firefighters working the Riverside County fire report about 20 percent containment, sparing all buildings in the area for now. A live report is just minutes away.

Race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is hospitalized this afternoon after crashing his car during a practice run in California. Medical officials at the track say he suffered moderate burns. He was able to climb out of the car on his own before being airlifted to a nearby hospital.

We begin with a big mission in America's small towns, that's where the CIA has dispatched experts to brief local officials about the current terror threat. On a larger scale the CIA's acting chief is giving a thumbs down to the idea of a new intelligence super boss. Let's get details now on both of these developments from CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this is a report that is expected to be highly critical of the administration and something that the White House has been preparing for for some time. And Mr. Bush, in a preemptive move of his own, has come out before saying that he supports an overhaul of the CIA.

But what is going to happen on Thursday is the 9/11 Commission will release its final report. Now this is something where they are going to be highlighting a call for a national director of intelligence. This a new position, someone who would be at the cabinet level who would report directly to the president and oversee all 15 intelligence agencies.

Now the here goal is to better prepare the country for a terrorist attack by consolidating information. This is a proposal, however, that is already drawing fire from those who stand to lose authority over the estimated $40 billion annual intelligence budget. Namely that is the Pentagon as well as the CIA.

Today the CIA's acting director argued that it is his job to overhaul the agency. He says this is simply another level of bureaucracy. Now privately, sources who are involved in these talks, these interagency talks about the creation of this intelligence czar, say there is so much debate over this issue that they are not even close to coming up with a consensus on how to reform the intelligence agencies.

Also we heard from members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Both of them saying that they felt that the issue was very divisive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I'm open to suggestions for reform for one basic reason, intelligence is our first line of defense on any war on terrorism. Our intelligence failed us before our invasion of Iraq.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: Now if you just add another level of bureaucracy, and that's exactly what Dick is talking about here that we need to look at, if you just add that, we are not going to do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now one thing that the CIA is doing that we have learned, Fred, is that one U.S. intelligence official said that they're reaching out to small town America. Essentially over the last couple of weeks they have sent out agents and counterterroism experts to small cities and towns to help work with the local and state law enforcement officials in the event and the case of an attack from al Qaeda. This is something they feel they are actively doing here to try to counter some of that criticism that you are going to hear about on Thursday -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks very much.

Well, the war on terror has changed the lives of many Americans. The latest to be forced to make an adjustment, some of the very people working to protect the country. For them worries about security are hitting close to home.

CNN's Sean Callebs has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL WOOD, PARENT: Hold onto both sides, sweetie, OK?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Wood family's comfortable organized daily routine has become a casualty of national security concerns. Jill works at the Pentagon. She and her husband Marshall relish the convenience of the Pentagon day care. That's changing.

Defense Department officials say they are closing the day care within two months for security reasons.

WOOD: We have been briefed as parents for two-and-a-half years that the center is secure, strengthened, fortified, and to use the Defense Department's own words, "the safest child care center in the country." So, I don't know what happened between then and last Wednesday when they made the announcement.

CALLEBS: That's the day parents of the 115 or so children here were told to look for an alternative. During the attack on 9/11, no children were hurt. With new heightened security concerns raised by U.S. officials, authorities say the Pentagon could be targeted again and say they don't want to put children at risk.

They don't want to relive images of children hurt and killed during Timothy McVeigh's attack on the Oklahoma City federal building. Many parents believe their children are safe here and point out area day care centers have long waiting lists; and openly wonder why now, and why only 60 days notice?

REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: I think that most of the parents when presented with the situation would have said, well, let's move our children to a safer location that's not as likely to be a target of terrorists. But let's work out a time frame so that we can find some alternative location.

LARRY DI RITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: I know that there has been a lot of discussion with families about alternative sites. CALLEBS: DOD officials contend they have been working to find alternatives. In a July 16 memo saying: "We have been aggressively working toward this goal over the last week and have been in communication with many of you."

WOOD: There should have been a way to involve the parents early on in this decision, and also do some contingency planning, have an interim plan for us.

CALLEBS (on camera): Military officials say they want to build a new day care center for Pentagon parents nearby. Parents argue that will take time. And by the time construction is complete, many of the children in need now will have moved on to grade school.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now to Iraq where U.S. planes returned to the skies over Fallujah. It was the sixth U.S. air strike against targets in the city since last month. The U.S. military says this attack targeted fighters linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and was approved by Iraq's interim prime minister. The health ministry official says 14 people were killed.

To the north a car bomb killed a police officer in Tikrit, that is Saddam Hussein's hometown. Another police officer was wounded.

Despite the violence, they're bullish in Baghdad, investors that is. The Iraq stock exchange is finally up and running. And not even the sound of bombs exploding nearby is scaring traders away.

CNN's Michael Holmes paid a visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is not Wall Street, and the opening bell could easily be a closing boom. But it is a start, closed for 16 months because of the war and the chaos that followed, the Iraqi stock exchange is back in business; for now tucked away in an anonymous hotel function room.

This is the fifth session after a U.S.-backed reorganization of the exchange and all is well. Last Sunday was a little noisier.

TALIB AL TABATABAIE, CHAIRMAN, IRAQI STOCK EXCHANGE: We were standing there buying and there was fighting and bombs and explosions. And nobody cared. Nobody gave it a second thought. .

HOLMES (on camera): Say the word Iraqi stock exchange, and the next word out of a lot mouths may well be, "sell." But let's remember this, Iraq was before the bombs and bullets and has the potential to again become a very, very wealthy country.

TABATABAIE: Iraq is not a newcomer to this. Iraq is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It used to be. HOLMES (voice-over): The market opens just twice a week for two hours, and with only 27 companies trading so far, mostly banks, utilities and a chemical company. But by the end of the year Mr. Talib hopes to have nearly 200 companies listed and be trading six days a week in brand new headquarters.

He says the exchange has to succeed for Iraq's sake.

TABATABAIE: Very important. Essential. It is vital.

HOLMES: Back in the '90s when the exchange was first launched there were ordinary investors, plenty of them. But the big-timers were members of Saddam's regime, many of them now either dead or in jail; and, Mr. Talib says, all of them having seen their shares confiscated.

Other ordinary investors however will have their old shares recognized on the new boards. In the old days there were price controls, too, limiting fluctuations to 5 percent, no more. The second trading session saw the index rise 20 percent. At session five, it is clearly a bull market in Baghdad.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's the mouthpiece of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but a controversial Iraqi newspaper may soon resume publishing, almost four months after the coalition ordered it shut down. Iraq's interim prime minister today gave the go-ahead for it to reopen.

In a statement the office of Ayad Allawi said he made the decision because of his belief in the freedom of the press. The newspaper's closure in March sparked months of fighting between U.S. forces and militants loyal to al-Sadr.

Well, Allawi's decisions are just the latest examples of his increased visibility and involvement in Iraq. How do Iraqis feel about him? Earlier today I spoke with Vivienne Walt, a "TIME" magazine reporter who has been focusing on everyday life in Baghdad. And she joined me from the Iraqi capital. And I asked her about Allawi's influence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VIVIENNE WALT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, Fredricka, it really is a different phase in Iraq now. Those of us who have been here for a long time really sense that, much to my surprise, actually, the handover really seems to have had some real substance to it.

And certainly Iraqis feel like this is much more of an Iraqi city. People are really planning for the future. I was just at dinner tonight with a bunch of politicians who were all busily planning towards this national conference that's going to organize the permanent assembly. There really is a lot going on. And there is less and less of the feeling of this being a city under occupation, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And what is being credited with that? Is it because the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is much more a take-charge kind of approach, people are seeing him out and about and he is certainly putting forth some new policies, even allowing the newspaper that once supported militant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, he's now allowing that to be back in print?

WALT: Yes, indeed. I mean, this is a prime minister who really is quite aggressive. I mean, he did not waste any time from the hour that he was sworn into office, he has been on this aggressive campaign to normalize things in his country.

He's a very controversial figure, of course. He has got a ruthless touch to him, which in the West would not go down too well. But certainly among Iraqis, after 15 months of violence he seems to have struck the right note, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And how much does it help that in terms of security Iraqis are seeing more Iraqi forces out in front and the coalition forces kind of taking the rear approach, is that making a difference?

WALT: There's no doubt about it. This really is -- has become an Iraqi city in the last couple of weeks. You drive around, some days I drive right across the city several times and barely see an American face.

You see Iraqi police, Iraqi soldiers everywhere. Just driving back to this hotel tonight, a couple of miles with numerous Iraqi police checkpoints, Iraqi military checkpoints that we have to drive through. Of course it's still a very violent and insecure situation, but the security tackling it now has an Iraqi face on it. And that is a remarkable difference here.

WHITFIELD: And let's talk about a very disturbing finding that you focused on this week in "TIME" magazine in your report. Talking about women, daughters and sisters who are victims of honor killings and they're happening in the hundreds, what is happening?

WALT: You know, this has been an issue that has really been somewhat unspoken about and untouchable for years. I have covered many countries in the Middle East and heard whispers of it in almost every country I have been in.

Even in Iraq when I began investigating this issue, people told me, don't go there, don't touch it. We won't talk to foreigners about it. When you start peeling back the layers, it's really immensely disturbing.

And from -- judging from the police reports I found that the judges report, it seemed clear to me that hundreds of women have been killed, even under the American military occupation, even while American military police were stationed inside police stations. There are a lot of wives, mothers, sisters, being killed by male relatives who suspect them of essentially violating very, very rigid rules of fidelity and chastity.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's interesting because just a few months ago it was being reported that a number of women were being killed in most part because their households were unprotected by men, many of these families were saying they did not know where their husbands, brothers, and sons were. And so the women were trying to take or having to take a more forceful role in the household and keeping their young daughters from walking to school because they were being kidnapped and raped. So has this honor killing kind of replaced that previous or is all of this taking place in victimizing women?

WALT: I would say all of it is taking place. I mean, obviously, the honor killing has been very silent until now. I think I must be the first person to have really gone in and sort of tried to look at what was going on.

I found men who had walked into police stations, confessed that they had just murdered their wives, and been allowed to just walk free right out of the police station. Not even an arrest.

I saw people who were conflicted just for a few months of shooting dead their sister because she was deemed not to be a virgin anymore. I mean, I could go on and on. There were numerous, numerous tales that people finally agreed to share with me.

WHITFIELD: And you also indicate in your report that these are things that were taking place during the Saddam Hussein regime as well as in other Arab countries. And the story is riveting. It's called "Marked Women" in this week's "TIME" magazine.

Vivienne Walt, thanks very much for joining us from Baghdad.

Here in the States, the problems are wildfires; burning, raging, in fact, in California, having residents worried about their homes and firefighters are starting to get the upper hand on the 3200-acre Melton fire in Riverside County. It threatened hundreds of homes. Another wildfire in northern Los Angeles County has forced evacuations and charred thousands of acres. Our Donna Tetreault is in Santa Clarita with the very latest -- Donna.

DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we are about 20 miles north of Los Angeles here in Santa Clarita. And earlier firefighters were getting a hold on this fire. But now because of the high winds, you can see the high winds are gusting, picking up, and the temperature is in the 90s, so that's causing some concern. We were actually told by firefighters to leave this live shot location because of the winds, the winds are changing.

Now there were mandatory evacuations that have been lifted for residents in Placerita Canyon, that's about 200 to 300 people. Voluntary evacuations are still in place. But many homeowners are still very concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTY KELLY, PLACERITA CANYON RESIDENT: We love our house here and the area, it's just so scary because you just don't know.

CAPT. DENNIS CROSS, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: They can be -- rest assured that they will be returning to deserted neighborhoods. There are still dozens of fire engines in place, doing structure protection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TETREAULT: And 3200 acres have burned here in Santa Clarita. Choppers are being used to hit hot spots, but fixed-wing aircraft have been grounded because of the smoke and low visibility.

Now fire crews are on the ground. Last night this fire never laid down. Most do at night. But this fire was still burning. This area hasn't burned in over 40 years and that's more fuel for the fire.

A thousand fire personnel are here working. Many have come from other areas in Southern California. Many firefighters were at the Pine fire, that's about 20 miles north of where we are. All working 12-hour shifts, some trying to rest when they can.

Now you will recall Captain Daniel Elkins (ph), a 20-year veteran, died Tuesday morning in a single fire car accident -- actually a single car accident, after a very long shift at the Pine fire. Captain Elkins will be laid to rest tomorrow.

Now this fire here is at 35 percent containment. We were just told that there is another mandatory evacuation in Sand Canyon. There's still no cause for this fire. It's still under investigation. No homes have been destroyed at this point.

Two fire fighters have been injured with minor injuries. But at this point, again, it's the wind that is causing the problem. The shift, and that could change things for firefighters. So right now we are actually leaving this live shot location because we are having to evacuate as well -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Donna Tetreault, take care. We are going to let you go and take care of business there.

Well, do you have any idea what chicklet is? No. Well, we will share it a little bit later on in the show. And it has nothing do with chewing gum.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For people in several Asian countries, the problem: too much water. Flooding has forced tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes across northern Japan. At least 18 people have died in flooding and landslides caused by recent rain storms.

Heavy rain again battered parts of the country today. More storms are forecast for tomorrow. And rain is lashing central china as well. Flooding there is affecting some 64,000 people. The added water is pushing rivers to record levels, 100,000 soldiers and residents are bracing against the torrents.

In Bangladesh flooding has left millions of people there stranded by the region's worst monsoon season in years, 12 million people from Bangladesh to India to Nepal are dealing with the muddy brown mess. Flooding in Bangladesh alone has killed at least 124 people.

And U.N. officials are worried about epidemics from water-borne diseases.

The fate of an accused U.S. Army deserter is at the heart of an international debate. Charles Robert Jenkins has lived in North Korea for nearly over 40 years, well out of the reach of U.S. authorities. But now he's in Japan, a country sharing an extradition treaty with the U.S.

Our Atika Shubert reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charles Robert Jenkins stepped off the plane looking frail, taking his first steps in Japan with the help of a cane and the support of his Japanese wife, Hitomi Soga.

Their two daughters followed closely behind. When asked how he felt, Jenkins shook his head. There were no police waiting to arrest him, no sign that he would be handed over to U.S. authorities. Instead, Jenkins was whisked to a Tokyo hospital for immediate medical treatment.

The U.S. position remains unchanged. Jenkins is a wanted man for allegedly deserting his military post and defecting to North Korea in 1965 at the age of 24. Now 64, Jenkins is wanted in U.S. custody to face a military trial.

Japan's extradition treaty requires the country to hand him over. But with the Japanese public closely following the case, sympathizing with the family, the government is under pressure to find a way to keep Jenkins and Soga united in Japan.

The temporary solution it seems is medical. Japanese officials insist Jenkins needs hospital treatment in Japan as a result of abdominal surgery in North Korea

SHUBERT (on-camera): It seems that as long as Jenkins receives medical treatment here there is still time to negotiate a solution. But the U.S. maintains the former Army sergeant will eventually have to face charges of deserting his military post nearly 40 years ago.

Atika Shubert, CNN Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yesterday we told you about a helium-filled balloon that was having a little trouble landing. Well, today we'll hear from the people who were on board that scary flight. And it is music, it's dance, it's the flavor of Cuban culture and it's supposed to play Las Vegas. What happens when politics and art collide?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A childrens museum in Baltimore won't be offering anymore balloon rides until investigators determine why one went out of control yesterday. Four of the 20 passengers on board suffered minor injuries as high wins tossed the balloon around for a terrifying 90 minutes.

Sarah Parker of affiliate WMAR reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN PHELPS, BALLOON PASSENGER: I thought we were going to die. It was pretty tough.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I thought we were going to get killed or get hurt.

SARAH PARKER, WMAR REPORTER (voice-over): Fear flying high over 350 feet above ground. It was the first Kevin Phelps couldn't promise his little girl everything would be OK.

PHELPS: It was tough. The worst part was hitting the building. That was a big problem for us.

PARKER: Wind whipping over 50 miles per hour slammed the massive Port Discovery (ph) balloon into the roof of Baltimore's police headquarters.

CHRIS GORMAN, BALLOON OPERATOR: I just told them stay down in case another gust comes. Just be calm.

PARKER: Calm amid chaos. Chris Gorman was helming the balloon, A balancing act between his terrified passengers, and communicating to ground crews, the balloon at the mercy of the wind.

GORMAN: We were just being pulled --it was so bad that the cable was actually bending. It wasn't straight. We were bending and we were dipping down below like way where we should have been.

PARKER: Fire officials say it may have been a mechanical malfunction paralyzing the controls that bring the balloon back to ground. .

KEVIN CARTWRIGHT, BALTIMORE FIRE DEPARTMENT: It appears that there had been some problem with the retractor to the cable, had some type of interruption and it was not retracting as it ordinarily would.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You must leave the area, that way.

PARKER: All eyes on the sky. Crowds stopped to stare. Relief rippled through tourists next in line for a ride. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were packing up. And if we would have been a couple minutes earlier, we would have been up there. So I'm glad we were not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That report from Sarah Parker of WMAR in Baltimore. The balloon will stay grounded as federal, state and city officials investigate the mishap.

Here's a check of what's happening now in the news. Talks to bolster a shaky government. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began negotiations today aimed at building support for his controversial Gaza withdrawal plan. He admits, quote: "It's not going to be an easy thing."

A deadly U.S. air strike approved by Iraq's interim government. Today's mission targeting fighting positions used by suspected Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah left 14 people dead.

New post unnecessary, that's according to acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, who said the cabinet-level intelligence chief the 9/11 Commission may propose this week is not needed. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

David Ensor continues his report on U.S. missile defense when we come right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: On a remote Alaskan base, new underground silos in place for the nation's first- ever defense against attack by enemy missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The ground-based portion of the system is almost in place. But will it address the security needs of the country?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Sometimes, it takes a sobering scenario to answer the most chilling questions about a country's terrorism readiness. Today, emergency officials in Britain asked themselves, "What if a poison gas cloud were unleashed over one of their cities?"

CNN's Diana Muriel has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Masked up and ready to go -- police move in at the scene of an exercise designed to simulate a chemical attack on an exhibition center in the British Midlands. But it was at least two hours before the site was secured by decontamination units and 400 or so volunteer casualties could begin going through chemical cleaning tents. More than four hours later, there were still 150 of the volunteers wearing red plastic capes, standing in line. Organizers say the delay was not unexpected.

DEP. CHIEF CONSTABLE CHRIS SIMS, WEST MIDLANDS POLICE: You've got to separate the exercise from reality. Whenever you run an exercise, it's terribly important that you are monitoring what's going on and recording, because otherwise, you lose the learning that comes from it. So no doubt, the exercise will have added considerably to the time taken to get to the scene.

MURIEL: Two thousand emergency service personnel participated in Sunday's disaster drill, dubbed "Exercise Horizon." More than 25 fire trucks were involved in this, the largest such exercise ever staged in Britain. In the middle of a pay dispute, the 300 firemen taking part weren't too happy to be there, according to their union representatives.

TONY PEARSON, FIRE BRIGADE UNION: They certainly will probably feel aggrieved. But they will still take a full and meaningful role within the exercise.

MURIEL: The exercise has been deemed a success by organizers, although it will take some time to fully evaluate it. But as in previous exercises, there appeared to be problems with communications.

(on-camera) With the ever-present threat of terrorism, this kind of exercise is useful in improving coordination and communications between Britain's emergency services, and in testing their equipment. But it is just an exercise. What could happen in the event of a real terrorist incident is likely to look very different.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Birmingham, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And back in this country, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards is trying to energize voters in Florida. He made campaign stops in Lake Buena Vista and Orlando today. The area is considered a swing region in the states. Alluding to the disputed 2000 Florida presidential election, Edwards said Democrats will get it right this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John and I are personally committed to making sure that we not only register voters in Florida, that we not only mobilize voters and get them to the polls, but that every single person who votes in the State of Florida's vote will be counted. We're going to make sure that that happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Edwards is in the middle of his first solo campaign swing since being picked as John Kerry's running mate. Far from Iraq and a long way from Afghanistan, preparations continue for what President Bush believes is another threat to national security. He's made clear, from day one, that building a missile defense system is one of his top priorities.

Phase one of the project is nearly complete, but the system remains unproven, and its critics won't go away. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor now with part two of his series on this controversial endeavor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): On a remote Alaskan base, new underground silos in place for the nation's first-ever defense against attack by enemy missiles. Tests so far have shown the system can track a missile...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff is confirmed.

ENSOR: ... launch an interceptor capable of traveling at eight kilometers a second, and sometimes -- more often than not -- knock out the missile in space.

LT. GEN. RONALD KADISH, FMR. DIR., MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY: We do not choose to be vulnerable against someone like North Korea or Iran, who are trying to get weapons of mass destruction.

ENSOR: The system will use radars positioned around the world on land and at sea to track enemy missiles -- eventually, about 20 interceptor missiles tipped with sophisticated kill vehicles to stop them. This is just the ground-based portion of a multi-layered missile defense system, which will eventually include space-based and sea-launched intercepts. Total projected price tag over the next five years, $53 billion.

The cost of the giant radar that will sit atop a massive floating platform that can deploy at sea is in itself $815 million.

(on-camera): President Bush is likely to point to it as a major accomplishment of his administration when the first missile defense capability comes online, which is expected to be towards the end of September. But critics charge that billions have been wasted deploying a program that they say is under-tested and, they say -- that 9/11 showed -- will not address the main national security dangers to this country.

SEN. CARL LEVIN, (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Even the CIA says that a missile attack is not a likely threat. Terrorists aren't going to use a missile, because you know where it comes from. Terrorists will use a truck, or a human being, or a ship.

ENSOR (voice-over): Advocates counter that the nation must protect against terrorists and rogue states with missiles at the same time.

SEN. WAYNE ALLARD, (R-CO), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: It takes a combination of both. And that's my position. I think that we need to do both.

ENSOR: But critics also charge President Bush is rushing to deploy a system that may not work, and the tests so far have not been in real world conditions.

LEVIN: It's got a beacon effect on it, so it tells you, "Here I am. Come and get me." Well, that's not what any potential enemy missile is going to be doing. So you have unrealistic tests.

KADISH: The implication is that somehow we're cheating on the tests. And I reject that out of hand.

ENSOR: The program's outgoing Director, General Kadish, says now is the right time to get a rudimentary system deployed.

KADISH: We've tested it enough to know that we can make it work. We have confidence in it working. We need now to put it in place where we actually use it to gain more experience.

ENSOR: And by the end of September, the beginnings of a missile defense system will be in place. Skeptics warn it could be a multi- billion-dollar bust. But Bush administration officials say they believe something is better than nothing.

David Ensor, CNN, Corpus Christi, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, news around the world now. A suspected serial killer is in custody in South Korea. The 34-year-old man is accused of killing at least 19 people. Police say the man confessed to the crime spree, saying he was motivated by his hatred of women and the rich.

On a much lighter note, former South African President Nelson Mandela turned 86 today. The aging anti-Apartheid activist and Nobel Prize laureate has been cutting back on his public appearances lately. In keeping with that decision, his birthday celebration was a rather low-key affair, celebrating it with family.

A quiet American has claimed the Claret Jug at the British Open. Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff today, clinching his first major title. Hamilton didn't even have a PGA tour card a year ago. He had been touring on the Japanese circuit. The win gave Hamilton the biggest payday of his career, $1.34 million.

Advanced ticket sales are on in Las Vegas for a lavish Cuban cabaret show that may not even show up. The Havana performers are trying to keep the date, in defiance of two governments -- the U.S. government and their own.

CNN's Lucia Newman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called "Havana Nights," a Cuban musical revue formed five years ago by a German entrepreneur. It's the flavor of Cuban culture, and it was booked to perform in Las Vegas, starting July 31st, presented by none other than Siegfried and Roy. But from the start, politics got in the way. First, Washington refused to give them visas, in line with new restrictions barring most Cuban artists' entry into the U.S.

Then came the kicker. Their own government told them not to appeal. Unwilling to take no for the answer, they went to the U.S. Consulate anyway, even though they knew they might not get a decision for weeks or months.

DAVID ALVAREZ, DANCER (through translator): There's an old saying, "that there's no harm in trying." So what's wrong with that?

NEWMAN: They found out a few days later when Cuban cultural ministry officials turned up at rehearsal and told them they no longer answered to the company's German founder and president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They say the Cuban Artists Union is now in charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We're like their hostages. We're kept isolated.

NEWMAN: Their local manager, accused of inciting the group's act of defiance, was sacked.

ARIEL MACHADO, MANAGER (through translator): It was easy for them to find a scapegoat.

NEWMAN: No explanation to the press or to the representative of "Havana Nights" owner, whom officials barred from the meeting.

VANESSA BARRETT, PRODUCER: We will not give up. That's what I'd like to say.

NEWMAN: Cuban officials accuse the artists of defiance by applying for U.S. visas, which they claim will be rejected until the political climate in Washington changes. Angry and confused, many of the artists say they don't understand politics -- only what they thought was their right to exercise their free will.

Friday, the Stardust Hotel Web site was still selling $50 tickets. They, at least, still think "Havana Nights" will make it to Las Vegas by July 31st.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, 35 years ago this week, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Since then, NASA has continued to study the mysteries of our solar system. But just how far has NASA come? Space exploration when we come back. And then, "chick-lit" breaks down a few walls in the world of literature. The story coming up a little bit later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This Tuesday will mark exactly 35 years since the know-how of NASA took civilization to new heights by putting a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong's historic descent and subsequent speech were certainly awe-inspiring to engineers and laymen alike. The question is, has mankind taken any giant leaps since then when it comes to exploring space?

For some insight into that question, we're joined by Nick Furman. He's an aerospace policy analyst who's done considerable work on some of the latest space projects. Good to see you, Nick.

NICK FUHRMAN, AEROSPACE POLICY ANALYST: Good afternoon, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Buzz Aldrin, who followed Neil Armstrong, said, "Reaching the moon was the high point of the space program." How did you qualify it?

FUHRMAN: Well, I'd say it was the high point. We have not gone that far since the last humans left the moon in 1972. But what we have been doing with the space shuttle and the space station is finding ways to live and work for long periods of time in orbit. And it's not insignificant. We have permanently kept people in space for the last five years.

WHITFIELD: Since we haven't seen anything quite like that, experienced it as a nation in 35 years, do you see that perhaps there is some hope to experiencing some major milestone like that in the near future?

FUHRMAN: Well, in 35 years, we should be able to return to the moon, if that's what we want to do. And we should be in the position to start if not, you know, sending people to Mars for very short visits, utilizing the moon the same way we're utilizing the space station right now. So there is a plan intact, but it's got to be funded by Congress, and we also need to get more private money involved in order for this to really become a reality.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about some of that federal funding. Is that promised funding there, and is that what is, in part, stalling NASA now? We know that Columbia is, in part, why we haven't seen any manned missions -- but in terms of, you know, really giving a shot in the arm to space exploration as a whole.

FUHRMAN: They need to get their budgets. But over the course of the next 20 years, the plan is not to increase the NASA spending anymore than inflation, but to really use the resources NASA gets from the taxpayers, focusing on exploration, getting us back into space, traveling beyond our own gravity, which is where the shuttle and the space station are, but getting out, visiting the moon again.

And that's going to take a lot of money. It's going to take at least the 5 percent increase that NASA's trying to get this year, and more increases in the years to come. WHITFIELD: And we've seen a lot of excitement coming out of NASA for some of the unmanned missions -- people who have really kind of, you know, exalted over things like the Cassini mission, you know, being able to really study and see up close the rings around Saturn. But there's also some impatience, isn't there?

FUHRMAN: Well, we're at Saturn. We just launched this week a satellite that will look at Earth, to look at the ozone layers of Earth. We had the Mars rovers, and they're still operating at six times their expected design life. So NASA's got a lot to be proud of and a lot of accomplishments this year.

But looking ahead, people don't want to stop what we're doing now in order to go ahead with the exploration program, the new vision NASA's been talking about, if that means stopping what we do now. So they have to commit to getting the shuttle flying again, and then they have to convince Congress, basically, that they have the wherewithal to build a rocket that will take people back to the moon.

WHITFIELD: And there are an awful lot of people who are so excited about space that they don't want to wait for that federal funding. They don't want to wait for NASA.

FUHRMAN: No.

WHITFIELD: What is it about these private ventures?

FUHRMAN: Well, in June, we saw a company, Scaled Composites, in the process of competing for what's called the X Prize, you know, be the first private astronaut in sub-orbital flight. And they made that mission. And there's $100 million being spent by 27 different groups right now to win a $10 million prize.

And these are people who got tired of waiting for the government to invite them to come along. They've put their money together, and they're going to try to build rockets that are capable of carrying humans at least into low-earth orbit, where the shuttle goes.

WHITFIELD: And their motivation really is the experience and less the money, I bet.

FUHRMAN: It's the experience. They're not going to make profit if they win the prize. They'll have already spent probably more than that. But like other prizes in the course of aviation history -- Charles Lindbergh won a prize when he crossed the Atlantic -- the idea is to get people to put their own money where their mouth is. And the prize draws people out of the woodwork, if you will, to give it a try.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Fuhrman, thanks very much for helping us to remember what happened 35 years ago this week, and now trying to look forward and get...

FUHRMAN: Tuesday night will be the exact time.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that something? Wow. All right. Thanks a lot, Nick, appreciate it. FUHRMAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, still eager to find that perfect summer read? There's a wave of new books out there tapping into a growing market. Our Adaora Udoji flips through some of the hot picks on store shelves now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Gotham Diaries," launched in a scene reminiscent of its pages -- a hit Manhattan hotel penthouse, the latest in a new era of black chick literature. The author, Tanya Louis Lee, wife of Spike Lee, and Crystal McCrary Anthony, wife of former NBA star Greg Anthony, write about the rich and privileged they know well in a story revolving around New York City real estate.

CRYSTAL MCCRARY ANTHONY, CO-AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": We've been hungry for a story about educated, cultured, sophisticated African- Americans that also give us a fun read at the same time.

TANYA LOUIS LEE, CO-AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": And it's social satire, for sure.

UDOJI: That fun translated into a first printing of 100,000 books, a rare occurrence for two African-American women writers. It joins "Bling," with an estimated release of 125,000 -- "Hits and Misses," "Cosmopolitan Girls," which has sold a reported 25,000 copies, and the "Accidental Diva" -- unprecedented says Essence magazine's book editor Patrick Henry Bass.

PATRICK HENRY BASS, ESSENCE MAGAZINE: We saw a proliferation of these novels that are addressing the needs and wants of young, urbane girls who would watch "Sex and the City," who love Manolo Blahniks. You know, for the first time, we're having these books addressing the needs of African-American women.

UDOJI: Until now, say industry insiders, publishers have questioned their marketability. Change has come slowly following the smash hits of Terry McMillan's books, then movies, like "Waiting to Exhale."

CHARLOTTE ABBOTT, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: There are a growing number of African-American authors who are really making a dent in the bestseller list.

UDOJI: The business is taking note.

LEE: Our agent submitted our book to publishing houses, and we had an offer within 36 hours.

UDOJI: Expectations are high, especially for "Gotham Diaries." It may be a test for black chick lit books to come, or not.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And straight ahead, David Jay and our own Wolf Blitzer, late night laughs straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, if the late night talk shows come on past your bedtime, fear not. We stayed up to bring you this week's political laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": It's Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": There's talk now that Vice President Dick Cheney may be dropped from the Republican ticket. Oh, that's a good move -- lose the smart guy.

STEWART: First of all, your beard is looking more magnificent than I have seen it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I had it trimmed for the show.

STEWART: It looks magnificent. I can see the hint of face underneath it.

BLITZER: Should we get rid of it, do you think?

STEWART: No, I would not.

LENO: It looks like Howard Dean will be speaking at the Democratic Convention on the first night. They've got Howard speaking first. I guess they're using him to test the sound system.

STEWART: Is the media doing anything? Like at CNN, do they have meetings where they say, "You know what? We should have asked that?"

BLITZER: I think that we do that.

STEWART: You do have meetings?

BLITZER: We have meetings.

STEWART: At those meetings...

BLITZER: We have conference calls too.

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": The Kerry-Edwards relationship is working better than anybody has expected. As a matter of fact, earlier today, they went to Massachusetts and got married.

STEWART: The show is called...

BLITZER: You know.

STEWART: "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER."

BLITZER: And...

STEWART: Good Morning, Wolf Blitzer, Today with Wolf Blitzer, and watch it, and every eighth viewer gets one of these -- Wolf Blitzer.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, that's it for us. "NEXT @CNN" is coming up.

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 July 18, 2004 - 16:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought we were going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I thought we were going to get killed or get hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: No longer up, up and away. Passengers of a troubled helium-filled balloon tell their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were standing there buying (ph) and around there was fighting and bombs and explosions, and nobody cared. Nobody gave it a second thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The price of doing business. Life at the Iraqi stock exchange.

An anniversary of the first moon walk is coming up. Will the space program ever again approach those magical days.

Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Those stories are a part of our show. But first a check of what's happening now in the news.

Vice presidential hopeful John Edwards says the swing state of Florida will swing in the Democrats direction this November. Speaking at a predominantly black church in Orlando just an hour ago or so, he said getting more minorities registered to vote will be key for the Democrats this fall. We'll hear some of his remarks later on in the show.

About 2000 people forced from their homes by a wildfire near Los Angeles are now being allowed to return. Firefighters working the Riverside County fire report about 20 percent containment, sparing all buildings in the area for now. A live report is just minutes away.

Race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is hospitalized this afternoon after crashing his car during a practice run in California. Medical officials at the track say he suffered moderate burns. He was able to climb out of the car on his own before being airlifted to a nearby hospital.

We begin with a big mission in America's small towns, that's where the CIA has dispatched experts to brief local officials about the current terror threat. On a larger scale the CIA's acting chief is giving a thumbs down to the idea of a new intelligence super boss. Let's get details now on both of these developments from CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this is a report that is expected to be highly critical of the administration and something that the White House has been preparing for for some time. And Mr. Bush, in a preemptive move of his own, has come out before saying that he supports an overhaul of the CIA.

But what is going to happen on Thursday is the 9/11 Commission will release its final report. Now this is something where they are going to be highlighting a call for a national director of intelligence. This a new position, someone who would be at the cabinet level who would report directly to the president and oversee all 15 intelligence agencies.

Now the here goal is to better prepare the country for a terrorist attack by consolidating information. This is a proposal, however, that is already drawing fire from those who stand to lose authority over the estimated $40 billion annual intelligence budget. Namely that is the Pentagon as well as the CIA.

Today the CIA's acting director argued that it is his job to overhaul the agency. He says this is simply another level of bureaucracy. Now privately, sources who are involved in these talks, these interagency talks about the creation of this intelligence czar, say there is so much debate over this issue that they are not even close to coming up with a consensus on how to reform the intelligence agencies.

Also we heard from members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Both of them saying that they felt that the issue was very divisive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I'm open to suggestions for reform for one basic reason, intelligence is our first line of defense on any war on terrorism. Our intelligence failed us before our invasion of Iraq.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: Now if you just add another level of bureaucracy, and that's exactly what Dick is talking about here that we need to look at, if you just add that, we are not going to do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now one thing that the CIA is doing that we have learned, Fred, is that one U.S. intelligence official said that they're reaching out to small town America. Essentially over the last couple of weeks they have sent out agents and counterterroism experts to small cities and towns to help work with the local and state law enforcement officials in the event and the case of an attack from al Qaeda. This is something they feel they are actively doing here to try to counter some of that criticism that you are going to hear about on Thursday -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks very much.

Well, the war on terror has changed the lives of many Americans. The latest to be forced to make an adjustment, some of the very people working to protect the country. For them worries about security are hitting close to home.

CNN's Sean Callebs has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL WOOD, PARENT: Hold onto both sides, sweetie, OK?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Wood family's comfortable organized daily routine has become a casualty of national security concerns. Jill works at the Pentagon. She and her husband Marshall relish the convenience of the Pentagon day care. That's changing.

Defense Department officials say they are closing the day care within two months for security reasons.

WOOD: We have been briefed as parents for two-and-a-half years that the center is secure, strengthened, fortified, and to use the Defense Department's own words, "the safest child care center in the country." So, I don't know what happened between then and last Wednesday when they made the announcement.

CALLEBS: That's the day parents of the 115 or so children here were told to look for an alternative. During the attack on 9/11, no children were hurt. With new heightened security concerns raised by U.S. officials, authorities say the Pentagon could be targeted again and say they don't want to put children at risk.

They don't want to relive images of children hurt and killed during Timothy McVeigh's attack on the Oklahoma City federal building. Many parents believe their children are safe here and point out area day care centers have long waiting lists; and openly wonder why now, and why only 60 days notice?

REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: I think that most of the parents when presented with the situation would have said, well, let's move our children to a safer location that's not as likely to be a target of terrorists. But let's work out a time frame so that we can find some alternative location.

LARRY DI RITA, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: I know that there has been a lot of discussion with families about alternative sites. CALLEBS: DOD officials contend they have been working to find alternatives. In a July 16 memo saying: "We have been aggressively working toward this goal over the last week and have been in communication with many of you."

WOOD: There should have been a way to involve the parents early on in this decision, and also do some contingency planning, have an interim plan for us.

CALLEBS (on camera): Military officials say they want to build a new day care center for Pentagon parents nearby. Parents argue that will take time. And by the time construction is complete, many of the children in need now will have moved on to grade school.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now to Iraq where U.S. planes returned to the skies over Fallujah. It was the sixth U.S. air strike against targets in the city since last month. The U.S. military says this attack targeted fighters linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and was approved by Iraq's interim prime minister. The health ministry official says 14 people were killed.

To the north a car bomb killed a police officer in Tikrit, that is Saddam Hussein's hometown. Another police officer was wounded.

Despite the violence, they're bullish in Baghdad, investors that is. The Iraq stock exchange is finally up and running. And not even the sound of bombs exploding nearby is scaring traders away.

CNN's Michael Holmes paid a visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is not Wall Street, and the opening bell could easily be a closing boom. But it is a start, closed for 16 months because of the war and the chaos that followed, the Iraqi stock exchange is back in business; for now tucked away in an anonymous hotel function room.

This is the fifth session after a U.S.-backed reorganization of the exchange and all is well. Last Sunday was a little noisier.

TALIB AL TABATABAIE, CHAIRMAN, IRAQI STOCK EXCHANGE: We were standing there buying and there was fighting and bombs and explosions. And nobody cared. Nobody gave it a second thought. .

HOLMES (on camera): Say the word Iraqi stock exchange, and the next word out of a lot mouths may well be, "sell." But let's remember this, Iraq was before the bombs and bullets and has the potential to again become a very, very wealthy country.

TABATABAIE: Iraq is not a newcomer to this. Iraq is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It used to be. HOLMES (voice-over): The market opens just twice a week for two hours, and with only 27 companies trading so far, mostly banks, utilities and a chemical company. But by the end of the year Mr. Talib hopes to have nearly 200 companies listed and be trading six days a week in brand new headquarters.

He says the exchange has to succeed for Iraq's sake.

TABATABAIE: Very important. Essential. It is vital.

HOLMES: Back in the '90s when the exchange was first launched there were ordinary investors, plenty of them. But the big-timers were members of Saddam's regime, many of them now either dead or in jail; and, Mr. Talib says, all of them having seen their shares confiscated.

Other ordinary investors however will have their old shares recognized on the new boards. In the old days there were price controls, too, limiting fluctuations to 5 percent, no more. The second trading session saw the index rise 20 percent. At session five, it is clearly a bull market in Baghdad.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's the mouthpiece of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but a controversial Iraqi newspaper may soon resume publishing, almost four months after the coalition ordered it shut down. Iraq's interim prime minister today gave the go-ahead for it to reopen.

In a statement the office of Ayad Allawi said he made the decision because of his belief in the freedom of the press. The newspaper's closure in March sparked months of fighting between U.S. forces and militants loyal to al-Sadr.

Well, Allawi's decisions are just the latest examples of his increased visibility and involvement in Iraq. How do Iraqis feel about him? Earlier today I spoke with Vivienne Walt, a "TIME" magazine reporter who has been focusing on everyday life in Baghdad. And she joined me from the Iraqi capital. And I asked her about Allawi's influence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VIVIENNE WALT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, Fredricka, it really is a different phase in Iraq now. Those of us who have been here for a long time really sense that, much to my surprise, actually, the handover really seems to have had some real substance to it.

And certainly Iraqis feel like this is much more of an Iraqi city. People are really planning for the future. I was just at dinner tonight with a bunch of politicians who were all busily planning towards this national conference that's going to organize the permanent assembly. There really is a lot going on. And there is less and less of the feeling of this being a city under occupation, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And what is being credited with that? Is it because the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is much more a take-charge kind of approach, people are seeing him out and about and he is certainly putting forth some new policies, even allowing the newspaper that once supported militant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, he's now allowing that to be back in print?

WALT: Yes, indeed. I mean, this is a prime minister who really is quite aggressive. I mean, he did not waste any time from the hour that he was sworn into office, he has been on this aggressive campaign to normalize things in his country.

He's a very controversial figure, of course. He has got a ruthless touch to him, which in the West would not go down too well. But certainly among Iraqis, after 15 months of violence he seems to have struck the right note, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And how much does it help that in terms of security Iraqis are seeing more Iraqi forces out in front and the coalition forces kind of taking the rear approach, is that making a difference?

WALT: There's no doubt about it. This really is -- has become an Iraqi city in the last couple of weeks. You drive around, some days I drive right across the city several times and barely see an American face.

You see Iraqi police, Iraqi soldiers everywhere. Just driving back to this hotel tonight, a couple of miles with numerous Iraqi police checkpoints, Iraqi military checkpoints that we have to drive through. Of course it's still a very violent and insecure situation, but the security tackling it now has an Iraqi face on it. And that is a remarkable difference here.

WHITFIELD: And let's talk about a very disturbing finding that you focused on this week in "TIME" magazine in your report. Talking about women, daughters and sisters who are victims of honor killings and they're happening in the hundreds, what is happening?

WALT: You know, this has been an issue that has really been somewhat unspoken about and untouchable for years. I have covered many countries in the Middle East and heard whispers of it in almost every country I have been in.

Even in Iraq when I began investigating this issue, people told me, don't go there, don't touch it. We won't talk to foreigners about it. When you start peeling back the layers, it's really immensely disturbing.

And from -- judging from the police reports I found that the judges report, it seemed clear to me that hundreds of women have been killed, even under the American military occupation, even while American military police were stationed inside police stations. There are a lot of wives, mothers, sisters, being killed by male relatives who suspect them of essentially violating very, very rigid rules of fidelity and chastity.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's interesting because just a few months ago it was being reported that a number of women were being killed in most part because their households were unprotected by men, many of these families were saying they did not know where their husbands, brothers, and sons were. And so the women were trying to take or having to take a more forceful role in the household and keeping their young daughters from walking to school because they were being kidnapped and raped. So has this honor killing kind of replaced that previous or is all of this taking place in victimizing women?

WALT: I would say all of it is taking place. I mean, obviously, the honor killing has been very silent until now. I think I must be the first person to have really gone in and sort of tried to look at what was going on.

I found men who had walked into police stations, confessed that they had just murdered their wives, and been allowed to just walk free right out of the police station. Not even an arrest.

I saw people who were conflicted just for a few months of shooting dead their sister because she was deemed not to be a virgin anymore. I mean, I could go on and on. There were numerous, numerous tales that people finally agreed to share with me.

WHITFIELD: And you also indicate in your report that these are things that were taking place during the Saddam Hussein regime as well as in other Arab countries. And the story is riveting. It's called "Marked Women" in this week's "TIME" magazine.

Vivienne Walt, thanks very much for joining us from Baghdad.

Here in the States, the problems are wildfires; burning, raging, in fact, in California, having residents worried about their homes and firefighters are starting to get the upper hand on the 3200-acre Melton fire in Riverside County. It threatened hundreds of homes. Another wildfire in northern Los Angeles County has forced evacuations and charred thousands of acres. Our Donna Tetreault is in Santa Clarita with the very latest -- Donna.

DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we are about 20 miles north of Los Angeles here in Santa Clarita. And earlier firefighters were getting a hold on this fire. But now because of the high winds, you can see the high winds are gusting, picking up, and the temperature is in the 90s, so that's causing some concern. We were actually told by firefighters to leave this live shot location because of the winds, the winds are changing.

Now there were mandatory evacuations that have been lifted for residents in Placerita Canyon, that's about 200 to 300 people. Voluntary evacuations are still in place. But many homeowners are still very concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTY KELLY, PLACERITA CANYON RESIDENT: We love our house here and the area, it's just so scary because you just don't know.

CAPT. DENNIS CROSS, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: They can be -- rest assured that they will be returning to deserted neighborhoods. There are still dozens of fire engines in place, doing structure protection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TETREAULT: And 3200 acres have burned here in Santa Clarita. Choppers are being used to hit hot spots, but fixed-wing aircraft have been grounded because of the smoke and low visibility.

Now fire crews are on the ground. Last night this fire never laid down. Most do at night. But this fire was still burning. This area hasn't burned in over 40 years and that's more fuel for the fire.

A thousand fire personnel are here working. Many have come from other areas in Southern California. Many firefighters were at the Pine fire, that's about 20 miles north of where we are. All working 12-hour shifts, some trying to rest when they can.

Now you will recall Captain Daniel Elkins (ph), a 20-year veteran, died Tuesday morning in a single fire car accident -- actually a single car accident, after a very long shift at the Pine fire. Captain Elkins will be laid to rest tomorrow.

Now this fire here is at 35 percent containment. We were just told that there is another mandatory evacuation in Sand Canyon. There's still no cause for this fire. It's still under investigation. No homes have been destroyed at this point.

Two fire fighters have been injured with minor injuries. But at this point, again, it's the wind that is causing the problem. The shift, and that could change things for firefighters. So right now we are actually leaving this live shot location because we are having to evacuate as well -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Donna Tetreault, take care. We are going to let you go and take care of business there.

Well, do you have any idea what chicklet is? No. Well, we will share it a little bit later on in the show. And it has nothing do with chewing gum.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For people in several Asian countries, the problem: too much water. Flooding has forced tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes across northern Japan. At least 18 people have died in flooding and landslides caused by recent rain storms.

Heavy rain again battered parts of the country today. More storms are forecast for tomorrow. And rain is lashing central china as well. Flooding there is affecting some 64,000 people. The added water is pushing rivers to record levels, 100,000 soldiers and residents are bracing against the torrents.

In Bangladesh flooding has left millions of people there stranded by the region's worst monsoon season in years, 12 million people from Bangladesh to India to Nepal are dealing with the muddy brown mess. Flooding in Bangladesh alone has killed at least 124 people.

And U.N. officials are worried about epidemics from water-borne diseases.

The fate of an accused U.S. Army deserter is at the heart of an international debate. Charles Robert Jenkins has lived in North Korea for nearly over 40 years, well out of the reach of U.S. authorities. But now he's in Japan, a country sharing an extradition treaty with the U.S.

Our Atika Shubert reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charles Robert Jenkins stepped off the plane looking frail, taking his first steps in Japan with the help of a cane and the support of his Japanese wife, Hitomi Soga.

Their two daughters followed closely behind. When asked how he felt, Jenkins shook his head. There were no police waiting to arrest him, no sign that he would be handed over to U.S. authorities. Instead, Jenkins was whisked to a Tokyo hospital for immediate medical treatment.

The U.S. position remains unchanged. Jenkins is a wanted man for allegedly deserting his military post and defecting to North Korea in 1965 at the age of 24. Now 64, Jenkins is wanted in U.S. custody to face a military trial.

Japan's extradition treaty requires the country to hand him over. But with the Japanese public closely following the case, sympathizing with the family, the government is under pressure to find a way to keep Jenkins and Soga united in Japan.

The temporary solution it seems is medical. Japanese officials insist Jenkins needs hospital treatment in Japan as a result of abdominal surgery in North Korea

SHUBERT (on-camera): It seems that as long as Jenkins receives medical treatment here there is still time to negotiate a solution. But the U.S. maintains the former Army sergeant will eventually have to face charges of deserting his military post nearly 40 years ago.

Atika Shubert, CNN Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yesterday we told you about a helium-filled balloon that was having a little trouble landing. Well, today we'll hear from the people who were on board that scary flight. And it is music, it's dance, it's the flavor of Cuban culture and it's supposed to play Las Vegas. What happens when politics and art collide?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A childrens museum in Baltimore won't be offering anymore balloon rides until investigators determine why one went out of control yesterday. Four of the 20 passengers on board suffered minor injuries as high wins tossed the balloon around for a terrifying 90 minutes.

Sarah Parker of affiliate WMAR reports.

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KEVIN PHELPS, BALLOON PASSENGER: I thought we were going to die. It was pretty tough.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I thought we were going to get killed or get hurt.

SARAH PARKER, WMAR REPORTER (voice-over): Fear flying high over 350 feet above ground. It was the first Kevin Phelps couldn't promise his little girl everything would be OK.

PHELPS: It was tough. The worst part was hitting the building. That was a big problem for us.

PARKER: Wind whipping over 50 miles per hour slammed the massive Port Discovery (ph) balloon into the roof of Baltimore's police headquarters.

CHRIS GORMAN, BALLOON OPERATOR: I just told them stay down in case another gust comes. Just be calm.

PARKER: Calm amid chaos. Chris Gorman was helming the balloon, A balancing act between his terrified passengers, and communicating to ground crews, the balloon at the mercy of the wind.

GORMAN: We were just being pulled --it was so bad that the cable was actually bending. It wasn't straight. We were bending and we were dipping down below like way where we should have been.

PARKER: Fire officials say it may have been a mechanical malfunction paralyzing the controls that bring the balloon back to ground. .

KEVIN CARTWRIGHT, BALTIMORE FIRE DEPARTMENT: It appears that there had been some problem with the retractor to the cable, had some type of interruption and it was not retracting as it ordinarily would.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You must leave the area, that way.

PARKER: All eyes on the sky. Crowds stopped to stare. Relief rippled through tourists next in line for a ride. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were packing up. And if we would have been a couple minutes earlier, we would have been up there. So I'm glad we were not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That report from Sarah Parker of WMAR in Baltimore. The balloon will stay grounded as federal, state and city officials investigate the mishap.

Here's a check of what's happening now in the news. Talks to bolster a shaky government. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began negotiations today aimed at building support for his controversial Gaza withdrawal plan. He admits, quote: "It's not going to be an easy thing."

A deadly U.S. air strike approved by Iraq's interim government. Today's mission targeting fighting positions used by suspected Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah left 14 people dead.

New post unnecessary, that's according to acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, who said the cabinet-level intelligence chief the 9/11 Commission may propose this week is not needed. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

David Ensor continues his report on U.S. missile defense when we come right back.

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DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: On a remote Alaskan base, new underground silos in place for the nation's first- ever defense against attack by enemy missiles.

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WHITFIELD: The ground-based portion of the system is almost in place. But will it address the security needs of the country?

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WHITFIELD: Sometimes, it takes a sobering scenario to answer the most chilling questions about a country's terrorism readiness. Today, emergency officials in Britain asked themselves, "What if a poison gas cloud were unleashed over one of their cities?"

CNN's Diana Muriel has details.

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DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Masked up and ready to go -- police move in at the scene of an exercise designed to simulate a chemical attack on an exhibition center in the British Midlands. But it was at least two hours before the site was secured by decontamination units and 400 or so volunteer casualties could begin going through chemical cleaning tents. More than four hours later, there were still 150 of the volunteers wearing red plastic capes, standing in line. Organizers say the delay was not unexpected.

DEP. CHIEF CONSTABLE CHRIS SIMS, WEST MIDLANDS POLICE: You've got to separate the exercise from reality. Whenever you run an exercise, it's terribly important that you are monitoring what's going on and recording, because otherwise, you lose the learning that comes from it. So no doubt, the exercise will have added considerably to the time taken to get to the scene.

MURIEL: Two thousand emergency service personnel participated in Sunday's disaster drill, dubbed "Exercise Horizon." More than 25 fire trucks were involved in this, the largest such exercise ever staged in Britain. In the middle of a pay dispute, the 300 firemen taking part weren't too happy to be there, according to their union representatives.

TONY PEARSON, FIRE BRIGADE UNION: They certainly will probably feel aggrieved. But they will still take a full and meaningful role within the exercise.

MURIEL: The exercise has been deemed a success by organizers, although it will take some time to fully evaluate it. But as in previous exercises, there appeared to be problems with communications.

(on-camera) With the ever-present threat of terrorism, this kind of exercise is useful in improving coordination and communications between Britain's emergency services, and in testing their equipment. But it is just an exercise. What could happen in the event of a real terrorist incident is likely to look very different.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Birmingham, England.

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WHITFIELD: And back in this country, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards is trying to energize voters in Florida. He made campaign stops in Lake Buena Vista and Orlando today. The area is considered a swing region in the states. Alluding to the disputed 2000 Florida presidential election, Edwards said Democrats will get it right this time.

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SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John and I are personally committed to making sure that we not only register voters in Florida, that we not only mobilize voters and get them to the polls, but that every single person who votes in the State of Florida's vote will be counted. We're going to make sure that that happens.

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WHITFIELD: Edwards is in the middle of his first solo campaign swing since being picked as John Kerry's running mate. Far from Iraq and a long way from Afghanistan, preparations continue for what President Bush believes is another threat to national security. He's made clear, from day one, that building a missile defense system is one of his top priorities.

Phase one of the project is nearly complete, but the system remains unproven, and its critics won't go away. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor now with part two of his series on this controversial endeavor.

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ENSOR (voice-over): On a remote Alaskan base, new underground silos in place for the nation's first-ever defense against attack by enemy missiles. Tests so far have shown the system can track a missile...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff is confirmed.

ENSOR: ... launch an interceptor capable of traveling at eight kilometers a second, and sometimes -- more often than not -- knock out the missile in space.

LT. GEN. RONALD KADISH, FMR. DIR., MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY: We do not choose to be vulnerable against someone like North Korea or Iran, who are trying to get weapons of mass destruction.

ENSOR: The system will use radars positioned around the world on land and at sea to track enemy missiles -- eventually, about 20 interceptor missiles tipped with sophisticated kill vehicles to stop them. This is just the ground-based portion of a multi-layered missile defense system, which will eventually include space-based and sea-launched intercepts. Total projected price tag over the next five years, $53 billion.

The cost of the giant radar that will sit atop a massive floating platform that can deploy at sea is in itself $815 million.

(on-camera): President Bush is likely to point to it as a major accomplishment of his administration when the first missile defense capability comes online, which is expected to be towards the end of September. But critics charge that billions have been wasted deploying a program that they say is under-tested and, they say -- that 9/11 showed -- will not address the main national security dangers to this country.

SEN. CARL LEVIN, (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Even the CIA says that a missile attack is not a likely threat. Terrorists aren't going to use a missile, because you know where it comes from. Terrorists will use a truck, or a human being, or a ship.

ENSOR (voice-over): Advocates counter that the nation must protect against terrorists and rogue states with missiles at the same time.

SEN. WAYNE ALLARD, (R-CO), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: It takes a combination of both. And that's my position. I think that we need to do both.

ENSOR: But critics also charge President Bush is rushing to deploy a system that may not work, and the tests so far have not been in real world conditions.

LEVIN: It's got a beacon effect on it, so it tells you, "Here I am. Come and get me." Well, that's not what any potential enemy missile is going to be doing. So you have unrealistic tests.

KADISH: The implication is that somehow we're cheating on the tests. And I reject that out of hand.

ENSOR: The program's outgoing Director, General Kadish, says now is the right time to get a rudimentary system deployed.

KADISH: We've tested it enough to know that we can make it work. We have confidence in it working. We need now to put it in place where we actually use it to gain more experience.

ENSOR: And by the end of September, the beginnings of a missile defense system will be in place. Skeptics warn it could be a multi- billion-dollar bust. But Bush administration officials say they believe something is better than nothing.

David Ensor, CNN, Corpus Christi, Texas.

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WHITFIELD: Well, news around the world now. A suspected serial killer is in custody in South Korea. The 34-year-old man is accused of killing at least 19 people. Police say the man confessed to the crime spree, saying he was motivated by his hatred of women and the rich.

On a much lighter note, former South African President Nelson Mandela turned 86 today. The aging anti-Apartheid activist and Nobel Prize laureate has been cutting back on his public appearances lately. In keeping with that decision, his birthday celebration was a rather low-key affair, celebrating it with family.

A quiet American has claimed the Claret Jug at the British Open. Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff today, clinching his first major title. Hamilton didn't even have a PGA tour card a year ago. He had been touring on the Japanese circuit. The win gave Hamilton the biggest payday of his career, $1.34 million.

Advanced ticket sales are on in Las Vegas for a lavish Cuban cabaret show that may not even show up. The Havana performers are trying to keep the date, in defiance of two governments -- the U.S. government and their own.

CNN's Lucia Newman reports.

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LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called "Havana Nights," a Cuban musical revue formed five years ago by a German entrepreneur. It's the flavor of Cuban culture, and it was booked to perform in Las Vegas, starting July 31st, presented by none other than Siegfried and Roy. But from the start, politics got in the way. First, Washington refused to give them visas, in line with new restrictions barring most Cuban artists' entry into the U.S.

Then came the kicker. Their own government told them not to appeal. Unwilling to take no for the answer, they went to the U.S. Consulate anyway, even though they knew they might not get a decision for weeks or months.

DAVID ALVAREZ, DANCER (through translator): There's an old saying, "that there's no harm in trying." So what's wrong with that?

NEWMAN: They found out a few days later when Cuban cultural ministry officials turned up at rehearsal and told them they no longer answered to the company's German founder and president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They say the Cuban Artists Union is now in charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We're like their hostages. We're kept isolated.

NEWMAN: Their local manager, accused of inciting the group's act of defiance, was sacked.

ARIEL MACHADO, MANAGER (through translator): It was easy for them to find a scapegoat.

NEWMAN: No explanation to the press or to the representative of "Havana Nights" owner, whom officials barred from the meeting.

VANESSA BARRETT, PRODUCER: We will not give up. That's what I'd like to say.

NEWMAN: Cuban officials accuse the artists of defiance by applying for U.S. visas, which they claim will be rejected until the political climate in Washington changes. Angry and confused, many of the artists say they don't understand politics -- only what they thought was their right to exercise their free will.

Friday, the Stardust Hotel Web site was still selling $50 tickets. They, at least, still think "Havana Nights" will make it to Las Vegas by July 31st.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, 35 years ago this week, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Since then, NASA has continued to study the mysteries of our solar system. But just how far has NASA come? Space exploration when we come back. And then, "chick-lit" breaks down a few walls in the world of literature. The story coming up a little bit later.

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WHITFIELD: This Tuesday will mark exactly 35 years since the know-how of NASA took civilization to new heights by putting a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong's historic descent and subsequent speech were certainly awe-inspiring to engineers and laymen alike. The question is, has mankind taken any giant leaps since then when it comes to exploring space?

For some insight into that question, we're joined by Nick Furman. He's an aerospace policy analyst who's done considerable work on some of the latest space projects. Good to see you, Nick.

NICK FUHRMAN, AEROSPACE POLICY ANALYST: Good afternoon, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Buzz Aldrin, who followed Neil Armstrong, said, "Reaching the moon was the high point of the space program." How did you qualify it?

FUHRMAN: Well, I'd say it was the high point. We have not gone that far since the last humans left the moon in 1972. But what we have been doing with the space shuttle and the space station is finding ways to live and work for long periods of time in orbit. And it's not insignificant. We have permanently kept people in space for the last five years.

WHITFIELD: Since we haven't seen anything quite like that, experienced it as a nation in 35 years, do you see that perhaps there is some hope to experiencing some major milestone like that in the near future?

FUHRMAN: Well, in 35 years, we should be able to return to the moon, if that's what we want to do. And we should be in the position to start if not, you know, sending people to Mars for very short visits, utilizing the moon the same way we're utilizing the space station right now. So there is a plan intact, but it's got to be funded by Congress, and we also need to get more private money involved in order for this to really become a reality.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about some of that federal funding. Is that promised funding there, and is that what is, in part, stalling NASA now? We know that Columbia is, in part, why we haven't seen any manned missions -- but in terms of, you know, really giving a shot in the arm to space exploration as a whole.

FUHRMAN: They need to get their budgets. But over the course of the next 20 years, the plan is not to increase the NASA spending anymore than inflation, but to really use the resources NASA gets from the taxpayers, focusing on exploration, getting us back into space, traveling beyond our own gravity, which is where the shuttle and the space station are, but getting out, visiting the moon again.

And that's going to take a lot of money. It's going to take at least the 5 percent increase that NASA's trying to get this year, and more increases in the years to come. WHITFIELD: And we've seen a lot of excitement coming out of NASA for some of the unmanned missions -- people who have really kind of, you know, exalted over things like the Cassini mission, you know, being able to really study and see up close the rings around Saturn. But there's also some impatience, isn't there?

FUHRMAN: Well, we're at Saturn. We just launched this week a satellite that will look at Earth, to look at the ozone layers of Earth. We had the Mars rovers, and they're still operating at six times their expected design life. So NASA's got a lot to be proud of and a lot of accomplishments this year.

But looking ahead, people don't want to stop what we're doing now in order to go ahead with the exploration program, the new vision NASA's been talking about, if that means stopping what we do now. So they have to commit to getting the shuttle flying again, and then they have to convince Congress, basically, that they have the wherewithal to build a rocket that will take people back to the moon.

WHITFIELD: And there are an awful lot of people who are so excited about space that they don't want to wait for that federal funding. They don't want to wait for NASA.

FUHRMAN: No.

WHITFIELD: What is it about these private ventures?

FUHRMAN: Well, in June, we saw a company, Scaled Composites, in the process of competing for what's called the X Prize, you know, be the first private astronaut in sub-orbital flight. And they made that mission. And there's $100 million being spent by 27 different groups right now to win a $10 million prize.

And these are people who got tired of waiting for the government to invite them to come along. They've put their money together, and they're going to try to build rockets that are capable of carrying humans at least into low-earth orbit, where the shuttle goes.

WHITFIELD: And their motivation really is the experience and less the money, I bet.

FUHRMAN: It's the experience. They're not going to make profit if they win the prize. They'll have already spent probably more than that. But like other prizes in the course of aviation history -- Charles Lindbergh won a prize when he crossed the Atlantic -- the idea is to get people to put their own money where their mouth is. And the prize draws people out of the woodwork, if you will, to give it a try.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Fuhrman, thanks very much for helping us to remember what happened 35 years ago this week, and now trying to look forward and get...

FUHRMAN: Tuesday night will be the exact time.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that something? Wow. All right. Thanks a lot, Nick, appreciate it. FUHRMAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, still eager to find that perfect summer read? There's a wave of new books out there tapping into a growing market. Our Adaora Udoji flips through some of the hot picks on store shelves now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Gotham Diaries," launched in a scene reminiscent of its pages -- a hit Manhattan hotel penthouse, the latest in a new era of black chick literature. The author, Tanya Louis Lee, wife of Spike Lee, and Crystal McCrary Anthony, wife of former NBA star Greg Anthony, write about the rich and privileged they know well in a story revolving around New York City real estate.

CRYSTAL MCCRARY ANTHONY, CO-AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": We've been hungry for a story about educated, cultured, sophisticated African- Americans that also give us a fun read at the same time.

TANYA LOUIS LEE, CO-AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": And it's social satire, for sure.

UDOJI: That fun translated into a first printing of 100,000 books, a rare occurrence for two African-American women writers. It joins "Bling," with an estimated release of 125,000 -- "Hits and Misses," "Cosmopolitan Girls," which has sold a reported 25,000 copies, and the "Accidental Diva" -- unprecedented says Essence magazine's book editor Patrick Henry Bass.

PATRICK HENRY BASS, ESSENCE MAGAZINE: We saw a proliferation of these novels that are addressing the needs and wants of young, urbane girls who would watch "Sex and the City," who love Manolo Blahniks. You know, for the first time, we're having these books addressing the needs of African-American women.

UDOJI: Until now, say industry insiders, publishers have questioned their marketability. Change has come slowly following the smash hits of Terry McMillan's books, then movies, like "Waiting to Exhale."

CHARLOTTE ABBOTT, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: There are a growing number of African-American authors who are really making a dent in the bestseller list.

UDOJI: The business is taking note.

LEE: Our agent submitted our book to publishing houses, and we had an offer within 36 hours.

UDOJI: Expectations are high, especially for "Gotham Diaries." It may be a test for black chick lit books to come, or not.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And straight ahead, David Jay and our own Wolf Blitzer, late night laughs straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: Well, if the late night talk shows come on past your bedtime, fear not. We stayed up to bring you this week's political laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": It's Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": There's talk now that Vice President Dick Cheney may be dropped from the Republican ticket. Oh, that's a good move -- lose the smart guy.

STEWART: First of all, your beard is looking more magnificent than I have seen it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I had it trimmed for the show.

STEWART: It looks magnificent. I can see the hint of face underneath it.

BLITZER: Should we get rid of it, do you think?

STEWART: No, I would not.

LENO: It looks like Howard Dean will be speaking at the Democratic Convention on the first night. They've got Howard speaking first. I guess they're using him to test the sound system.

STEWART: Is the media doing anything? Like at CNN, do they have meetings where they say, "You know what? We should have asked that?"

BLITZER: I think that we do that.

STEWART: You do have meetings?

BLITZER: We have meetings.

STEWART: At those meetings...

BLITZER: We have conference calls too.

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": The Kerry-Edwards relationship is working better than anybody has expected. As a matter of fact, earlier today, they went to Massachusetts and got married.

STEWART: The show is called...

BLITZER: You know.

STEWART: "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER."

BLITZER: And...

STEWART: Good Morning, Wolf Blitzer, Today with Wolf Blitzer, and watch it, and every eighth viewer gets one of these -- Wolf Blitzer.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, that's it for us. "NEXT @CNN" is coming up.

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