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World Cyper Games Championship Begins Today; Some Criticize U.S. For Shipping Weapons Grade Plutonium To France

Aired October 10, 2004 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now in the news, 10 Turkish hostages are released in Iraq. That's according to the construction company that employs them. Al Jazeera TV reports the Turkish owned company is pulling out of Iraq. The company's general manager does not confirm or deny that. The drivers and mechanics were taken captive last month.
In Afghanistan international election monitors say there's no reason to nullify yesterday's presidential election. Opposition candidates say there was fraud and they're demanding a new vote. Results won't be known for days, but President Hamid Karzai is already calling it a victory over terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: Yesterday the Afghan people went and voted and by voting they have shown the defeat of terrorism in all of those who did not want peace in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In this country, John Kerry campaigns for votes in Florida. Kerry spoke to a mostly African-American crowd at a Miami church. He promised his campaign will work to avoid the problems that some minority voters faced there four years ago.

And it's a quiet day for President Bush. He's at his Crawford, Texas ranch prepping for his final debate rather with Kerry on Wednesday in Tempe, Arizona. The focus will be on domestic issues.

And the latest on the nation's flu vaccine shortage. Who should be getting a shot this year or who shouldn't? We'll talk to a health expert coming up at 6:00 p.m. Eastern and I'll be back with more headlines at the half-hour. NEXT@CNN begins right now.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN ANCHOR, NEXT@CNN: Hi there. I'm Daniel Sieberg. Today on NEXT@CNN, now that it is proven you don't have to be a government astronaut to go into space, are you looking for your ticket to ride? We'll tell you what's next for civilian space flight.

Big bucks time for computer gamers. The world cyber games championship is underway in San Francisco. And once endangered bears have become such a nuisance in Maryland, they're about to go under the gun. All that and more on NEXT.

Welcome to NEXT@CNN. We're here today in San Francisco for the world cyber games championship, to report on them by the way, not to play in them. I think I'd get soundly beaten here. $400,000 in cash is at stake in the competition, which features some of the most popular computer games. We'll tell you more about it a little later in the program. But the big story on our beat this week is about $10 million, the X-prize for private space flight. Miles O'Brien has that story

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two down, $10 million to come to the newly anointed winners of the Ansari X-prize. SpaceShipOne, piloted by a 51-year-old Brian Binney streaked straight and true as a flaming arrow passing into space and then some.

BRIAN BINNEY, SPACESHIPONE PILOT: It is literally a rush. You light that motor off and the world wakes up around you. It's the analogy of getting in the arena with a bull and they open the gate and off you go.

O'BRIEN: Off he went to 367,442 feet, a 40,000-foot slam dunk beyond the official boundary of space where everything floats, the sky is dark and the horizon is curved. X-prize founder Peter Diamandis couldn't have asked for a prettier picture.

PETER DIAMANDIS, X-PRIZE FOUNDER: It has been eight years of hoping that this is going to happen.

O'BRIEN: They earned it by becoming the first civilian team to fly to space in a three-seat vehicle twice within two weeks. They did it in less than a week, first reaching space on a wild ride last Wednesday. With pilot Mike Melville (ph) at the stick, the craft rolled 29 times as it reached its apogee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to have some left to get this thing done.

O'BRIEN: And a pretty good pile of money as well. Microsoft co- founder Paul Allen bankrolled the $25 million project. The credit goes to aviation designer and legend Burt Rutan. In 1986, a plane he designed, flown by his brother Dick, circumnavigated the globe on a single tank of gas.

BURT RUTAN, SCALED COMPOSITES: We had a milestone and we had nowhere to go with it. The difference in this program thanks to Sir Richard Branson is that we have the milestone and our challenge is in front of us and we have only begun.

O'BRIEN: The goal is to make it possible for regular people to buy a ride on a rocket. Virgin Airline CEO Richard Branson has commissioned Rutan to build a five-passenger space liner. He hopes to be flying passengers in three years at $200,000 a pop.

RICHARD BRANSON, VIRGIN GALACTIC: Initially, it's not going to be that cheap to go into space. Virgin has pledged that any money that we make from space travel we will reinvest in more space travel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: And hard on the heels of the X-prize, Las Vegas hotel magnate Robert Bigelow has announced a $50 million prize for the first civilian space craft that reaches orbit, a bit of a different story there. Now while the private space sector is flying high, NASA is reeling. The space agency says it will not be able to meet its goal of launching the shuttle next March or April because of hurricane damage. Bill Tucker has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's no question that hurricanes Frances, Charley and Jeanne left their marks on Cape Canaveral, home of NASA's launch site. Even Ivan, which threatened before turning away, caused work delays on the shuttle's redesigned fuel tanks. The damage and the work delays mean a planned early spring launch of the shuttle is delayed until mid May, early June.

GEN. MICHAEL KOSTELINK (ph): There was a very credible window that we were shooting for planning purposes and hoping to make and we would have stayed on that track had it not been for the hurricanes.

TUCKER: The shuttle program has been grounded since February 2003 after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated in reentry killing the seven astronauts on board. In the eyes of NASA critics, weather is only a part of a bigger problem. They say NASA is a large government bureaucracy which is increasingly risk adverse.

EDWARD HUDGINS, CATO INSTITUTE: Of course, the irony is that the more they delay, the higher the real costs go and the more uneconomical the shuttle is shown to be.

TUCKER: And the costs are rising for the shuttle program. Just last month, the head of NASA, Sean O'Keefe (ph) told a Senate panel that the cost of making the shuttle safer will be more than $2 billion or twice what NASA originally estimated.

(on-camera): But even NASA's toughest critics admit that the goals and purposes of the shuttle program are very different from the private programs. One simple difference, SpaceShipOne travels at a speed of mach three. The space shuttle tops speeds of mach 23 and actually goes into orbit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, on the day that the SpaceShipOne earned the X- prize, one of the original Mercury astronauts died. Gordon Cooper died at his California home of natural causes Monday at age 77. Gordon was the last of the Mercury astronauts to go to space. He was the first to stay in space for more than 24 hours. NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe says Gordon truly portrayed the right stuff and helped spread enthusiasm for space travel. Three of the Mercury seven astronauts are still alive, Scott Carpenter, Wally Shira (ph) and John Glenn.

WHITFIELD?: Later on NEXT@CNN, dramatic photographs documenting the history of nuclear testing in the United States. Also ahead, ready or not? Digital TV is on the way. What does that mean for your living room?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: We reported a couple of times on a service that let's you put any picture you want on a real postage stamp. If you haven't done so already, you have missed your chance at least for now. Stamps.com ended its market test of the program on September 30 and the Postal Service is mulling over whether to let it start up again. Some observers think the Postal Service got nervous after pranksters ordered stamps showing people like the Unabomber. Stamps.com says it sold about two million personalized stamps during the test. They hope to be back in business soon.

All right. Digital TV is supposed to be the next big thing, but so far not many homes have digital sets. That gives broadcasters a reason to take their time switching from analog. The FCC launched a campaign this week to promote the wonders of digital TV. Julie Vallese has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The change of television from black and white to color 40 years ago was considered revolutionary. Now comes the digital revolution.

DENNIS WHARTON, NATL ASSN. OF BROADCASTERS: For the consumer, it means a vastly superior end product. The sound is much better. The picture quality is absolutely phenomenal.

VALLESE: Congress imposed a deadline on converting today's analog television systems to digital by the end of 2006 but that could be delayed until 85 percent of the public can receive a digital signal. So the Federal Communications Commission must work at breakneck speed to persuade the public to go digital.

MICHAEL POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FCC: If handled well by those who develop programming, could mean lots more specialized programming and programming of much greater interest and sophistication for the public and that would be a good thing for everybody.

VALLESE: Some Americans have already bought into digital television. So far nearly 2.4 million digital sets have been sold this year, an 80 percent increase over last year. Even so, only 6 percent of American households have digital TV.

(on-camera): The FCC says digital TV will not only offer consumers a much better picture, it will also release the analog spectrum for other services.

POWELL: We want to use for public safety, first responders, police departments, fire departments. We really want all that spectrum back so that it can be used in the economy for the creation of Internet broadband services better mobile services.

VALLESE: Broadcasters estimate the transition will cost them $16 billion. Right now a digital TV set will cost consumers about $1,000. But once consumers see digital TV, they may have just one question. Where can I get it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Right. Well, on the topic of all things digital, we are in San Francisco just outside the Bill Graham civic auditorium where the world cyber games are well underway. You can think of them as the Olympics of computer gaming. Joining me now is the president of ICM, which overseas the world cyber games, Hank Jeong. Hank, first of all, this is the first time that the world cyber games have been held outside Korea in the last few years. Is that part of bringing competitive gaming to North America where it's not as well known?

HANK JEONG, PRES, WORLD CYBER GAMES: Yes. The reason we are (INAUDIBLE) Korea, is (INAUDIBLE) is very well known in Korea and a lot of gamers in Korea already knew that (INAUDIBLE) is very popular.

SIEBERG: In Korea, the gamers there are almost like celebrities or rock stars, it's so popular.

JEONG: Exactly. Some professional gamers they make six figures a year in annual income and carry more than 200,000 fan club members to themselves. And the USA, it's kind of -- (INAUDIBLE) brand new. (INAUDIBLE) In Korea not only to play but also fun to watch.

SIEBERG: It's almost a serious sport.

JEONG: That's right.

SIEBERG: All right. What do you think the future of competitive gaming is going to be here in North America or the rest of the world?

JEONG: Well, because of the high speed Internet accessibility is growing up and catching up very drastically so I think it's a matter of time to spread and like in the USA also, like in Korea.

SIEBERG: Turning into a spectator sport. Well, one of the participants joins us now, Dave "Moto" Geffen from the U.S team 3D. Dave, do you feel like you have a bit of a home court advantage being here in San Francisco?

DAVE "MOTO" GEFFEN, TEAM USA: Of course. Any time you get to play in an event such as this on your own turf, you're obviously going to have the obvious advantages, no jet lag, no time difference. I think it works to our favor, but it's really hard to say. There's so many good teams here from all over the world.

SIEBERG: For people who don't know anything about competitive PC gaming, explain what you do to prepare and what it's like to compete.

GEFFEN: We prepare all year, four to five hours a day, sometimes even more, five days a week (INAUDIBLE) last year we came very close, took second place. So this year we're shooting for first (INAUDIBLE).

SIEBERG: Good luck to you and Hank, thanks so much, guys for joining us and we'll have more with NEXT@CNN right after this.

WHITFIELD?: Coming up, as the world's nations convene to debate the fate of endangered species, we take you to the front lines to meet man who is saving these creatures one animal at a time.

Also ahead, controversy over U.S. shipments of weapons grade plutonium to France.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIEBERG: No volcanic activity here, at least I hope not But Mount St. Helens has been belching up steam and volcanic rock over the past week or so. While it hasn't erupted with the force of the catastrophic 1980 explosion, government scientists continue to keep a close watch on the volcano. Miguel Marquez goes for a ride with the folks who get a bird's eye view of the restless mountain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEZ MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The dome of the volcano. It is the plug holding back another Mount St. Helen's eruption. Studying it gives hints of what's happening below.

LARRY MASTIN, VOLCANOLOGIST: Under the best circumstances, it can tell us the approximate rate at which magma is rising towards the surface.

MARQUEZ: Bruce and Larry Bergman run an aerial mapping business in Portland, Oregon. They photographed the dome from overhead. The pictures are so detailed, every crack can be measured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can really see how there have been a lot of pressure pushing up in this area breaking the ice.

MARQUEZ: Their photos give geologists a three dimensional look at the dome. When Mount St. Helen's erupted, the Bergman's were overhead.

LARRY BERGMAN, BERGMAN PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICES: There was geysers of rocks and boulders shooting straight up in the air for about a two- minute period.

MARQUEZ: The pictures they captured that day illustrate the power of millions of pounds of pressure blasting through rock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We always have to remember that there's kind of a time bomb down there.

MARQUEZ: Their office, a twin engine Cessna, offers spectacular views, the rim of the crater, razor sharp. So far, they've witnessed the dome grow, seen a lake spring up as heat from below melts a slice of the glacier surrounding the dome and they have seen vents break open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's majestic. It's a show of nature's power. MARQUEZ (on-camera): The show of nature's power so far has been a warm up act. Based on the dome's growth, the main event is expected to be explosive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: All right. From a natural source of energy to a man- made one and a shipment of weapons-grade plutonium from the U.S arrives safely in France this week. The material, taken from nuclear warheads under a disarmament treaty, is to be converted to fuel for nuclear power in a facility in southeastern France. Now the interview (ph) department says that no plant in the U.S. is capable of the conversion. But some environmentalists say that transporting the plutonium across the ocean and then across France is simply too dangerous. More from Dan Rivers of British news service ITN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, ITN (voice-over): In the darkness before dawn shadowed by French military helicopters, Pacific (INAUDIBLE) slips into the port of Cherbourg (ph), watched intently by the crew at (INAUDIBLE) ship Esperanza, we've been waiting for this moment for days.

The radio crackles with instructions as the Greenpeace activists prepare their inflatable launches to go in for a closer look. Just feet above them a French helicopter watches their every move. We accompany Greenpeace intending only to film the ships from a distance, but soon it is clear our presence is not welcome.

(on-camera): As you can see, we're surrounded by French military police and helicopters. This is about as close as we're allowed to get to the plutonium shipment which has slipped in under the cover of darkness.

(voice-over): With a helicopter kicking up spray behind us and commandos on all sides, we were arrested and taken into port. After three hours detention, we were released but the Greenpeace helmsman was fined for speeding. Later, the plutonium shipment was safely unloaded without incident. The company responsible, telling me there was never any risk.

HENRY-JACQUES NEAU, DOGEMA SPOKESMAN: There are many physical protection barriers which have been put in place in order to be sure there is no risk for the material.

RIVERS: Certainly our experience showed security was very tight. But as the plutonium starts its road journey across France, Greenpeace is worried future convoys may prove an enticing terrorist target.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Well, the United States history of open air nuclear bomb testing is the subject of a recently published book by photographer Michael Light, called "100 Suns." And producer Amanda Townshend (ph) talked with Light about these striking yet disconcerting photographs. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHALE LIGHT, PHOTOGRAPHER: People don't tend to realize this, but the United States detonated 216 tests atmospherically and about 106 of those were detonated on the continent United States 60 miles north of Las Vegas which they felt was emptiest place in the country.

We did 216 tests from '45 to '62 in the air but we went on to do 800 more underground and so effectively, this period from '45 to '62, these atmospheric tests are the only records we have of what the bomb looks like. A detonation creates a mushroom cloud because of upward moving forces. In the desert, they are very, very, very clean. A lot of the classic sort of dirty mushroom clouds that we see come from desert detonations that were low to the ground so they suck up a lot of dust.

The test in Nevada called Stokes, it's quite an amazing photograph. It's one of the more surreal images in the book. The army wanted to find out just what would happen to an airship with the air blast coming out from the nuclear detonation. And there's a remarkable photograph of this blimp face down crumpled with the tail intact with the blast of the bomb in the back, the classic mushroom cloud in the back.

Smoky is a phenomenal diptych in the book. On the one side you have soldiers crouching, hiding their heads from the detonation just as the detonation is going and then as the fire ball is rising and glowing and giving off ionic radiation, the soldiers have turned around and are just gazing at it agog and astounded.

There's an image of soldiers in a trench, very very close to the point of detonation which the army pushed successively over the years. The soldiers closer and closer and closer in an attempt to create an atomically capable army. And the other -- they're both from Turkey, other image shows the media viewpoint which is about six or seven miles away raised up the benches down below and then off in the distance is the detonation it is so hot, the detonation, that it's caused the film to reverse itself which is a process called solarization.

Mike was the first hydrogen bomb and it was detonated in 1952. It was 10.4 mega tons and that alone is more detonative explosive power than all explosions in both world wars combined. The cloud rose to a height of about 120,000 feet and at its widest was longer than Long Island. Every reader has to grapple with his or her attraction to these images. One is responding inevitably to this beauty and of course then you are also responding to knowledge of what this is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: Incidentally, if you want to see more from Michael Light's book, "100 Suns," you can find a link to Lights website from our website. That's at cnn.com/next.

WHITFIELD?: Ahead in our next half hour, why biologist in charge of monitoring wild bears in Maryland say some of those bears need to be killed.

And later, Louisiana is putting out an SOS -- save our shores. An acre of land is disappearing every 15 minutes and experts aren't sure why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here's a look at what's happening now in the news. Ten Turkish workers being held hostage in Iraq have been released. Their Turkish-based company agreed to freeze its operations in Iraq.

New activity at Washington state's Mount St. Helens today with a new plume of steam rising out of the crater. The emission follows two days of increasing earthquake activity which geologists say indicates magma is still rising inside the volcano.

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