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CNN Saturday Morning News

Best of 'Novak Zone'; Interview With Jack Hanna

Aired January 01, 2005 - 09:30   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.


RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Randi Kaye, in for Betty Nguyen. Here's what's happening now in the news.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The first U.S. aid has arrived on the earthquake and tsunami-devastated Indonesian island of Sumatra. Helicopters from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln brought supplies and military officers to assess the relief needs in Aceh, the hardest hit Sumatran province. The U.S. military is also conducting search and rescue missions in other South Asian countries.

Police in Buenos Aires are questioning a night club owner about locked doors in his club where fire killed 175 concert goers Thursday night. Officers say some of the doors were padlocked, and others were wired shut. Authorities believe the fire started when someone fired a flare, which ignited a foam ceiling.

If you live in Morgantown, West Virginia or Lincoln, Nebraska and you smoke, this is a good time to quit. No smoking ordinances became effective in those towns, effective on this first day of 2005. Also, taxes on tobacco are taking a leap today in Montana and Oklahoma. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

KAYE: From jumping out of a plane to jumping onto the stage. It's been an eventful year for Robert Novak. Here is a taste of the best of 2004 in this week's edition of "The Novak Zone."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT NOVAK, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to "The Novak Zone," at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. We're in the historic Ford's Theater in downtown Washington, D.C. And we're on the terrace of the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. We're at the Orioles Park in Campden Yards. We're at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, with the U.S. Army (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Golden Knights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Juilliard, they have these things called the rehearsal rooms, and in the rehearsal rooms, you're supposed to be doing -- that's what you're supposed to be doing. And I was going, earth angel, earth angel.

NOVAK: You've been asked this question in 2000, and I'll ask it in 2001. If there is a Deep Throat...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know there is.

NOVAK: ... if he isn't a composite...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know there is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I dedicate my life totally to the singing of opera and conducting opera. And now some days I do some concerts with them, and some concerts alone, but my real passion is stage and the pit (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're extremely excited to jump with you. I hope you're excited to jump with us also.

Main parachute we're going to be using today is a 395 or 370- square foot E.Z. (ph). It's top of the line equipment, unlike everything else in the military, which we get from the lowest bidder. This is top-line equipment.

It's a semi-elliptical, high porosity. All you got to know, Mr. Novak, is that it will take a suspended weight of both you and I. OK? That's all you really got to know about it, OK?

NOVAK: When I was only 10 years old, in 1941, our family drove from Illinois to Colorado to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park, the first national park I ever visited.

I was in the high school band. I played the clarinet, not that well, but I enjoyed it.

I never did this. Closest I came was a close combat course and infiltration course, but I was always on the ground. I was a ground soldier.

What did you, just roam the floor after they adjourned and pick up stuff they leave, what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's one way that you could do it, but what we're really looking for are three things. We're looking for material, of course, but -- that represents the social part of the convention, the political part, the message part, and then the overall media spectacle that we're a part of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I've served five presidents. They disagreed on everything, but not when it came to chocolate chip cookies. See? If you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it a little bit, and you know, oil (ph) it a little bit.

BEN STEIN, AUTHOR: Fight back against your children's teacher. Fight back if you're a college student, against the uniform, monolithic left wing standing of the teachers, and stand up for America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you have the cue for -- we'll do it slowly one time. No, see, it's (SINGING).

Violins. You play together here, 114. Longer. You play that mixed with the piano on the fourth 16. No earlier. 177, everybody. Go. That's it. We can start at the beginning in tempo. That's it. Good.

NOVAK: Have you ever seen any substantial steroid use in the major leagues?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't seen it, and I think that it's been overblown. I don't think that -- you know, I'm sure that there's guys that are doing it, because I'm sure in every sport, there's players who want to get the edge, but I think that it's been blown over -- overly -- way more than -- than guys who are using it in our game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And look at these, voila.

NOVAK: Voila.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, look at these. This is the best. You see, look how chewy they are? Look at this. Look. You see? The inside is nice and chewy and loaded with chocolate. This is what you want when you do a chocolate chip cookie.

OK, let me get another try, broken hip and all.

We jumped out of an airplane. That is really scary, man. You're out in the middle of nowhere, you're free-falling. I mean, that is a scary situation.

And now, the big question.

And now, the big question.

And now, the big question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been waiting all week to ask you the big question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's do it again, Bob.

NOVAK: No.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Tourists frolicking on the beach, riding jet skies, posing for pictures. These are scenes you might expect in any number of tropical resorts, but believe it or not, this is the scene in Phuket, Thailand, just six days after it was swamped by a deadly tsunami. As CNN's Aneesh Raman reports from Phuket, it's a boost to an economy that desperately needs it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): On Phuket Island, the contrast is surreal. Almost incredible. What was once a pristine vision must be painstakingly restored from among the debris left here in moments last Sunday.

NINA ZEN, HOTEL OWNER: And that is what remains of my office.

RAMAN: That's the huge task for hotel owners like Nina Zen. But she says that because some resorts were left standing, the island can recoverer. And it must.

ZEN: We really have to go on, and we owe it to the people around us, the people who have worked very hard to develop this destination, both the agents, the operators, the people, the local people.

RAMAN: Livelihoods are at stake. Thailand's tourism industry brings in $10 billion annually. And Nina's employees rely on three peak months to sustain them for the rest of the year. It is that thought that keeps her going.

ZEN: The negative part of your brain says, I want to put down my papers and just pack my bags and go. But then when you see staff looking at you, what are you going to do?

RAMAN: Phuket is all that remains here. Other tourist areas like Phi Phi Island, to the coastal shores of Khao Lak, are devastated. Rebuilding them will take months, if not years. Nina realizes she is more fortunate than most and working helps numb the reality.

ZEN: Getting it up and running is a part of reliving the trauma, because if you just sit down and do nothing, it creeps in you and in the end you don't do anything. But it's just that initial push to get up, walk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN: And, Tony, despite those images, early indications, not so good for this island. Some 70 percent of reservations from here on have been canceled. But the Thai tourism minister says he wants everything up and running with a month. The hope is that they can try and rebuild and try and salvage something for this economy -- Tony.

HARRIS: Let's hope they can soon. Aneesh Raman in Thailand for us. Thank you.

KAYE: All morning, we've brought you quotes from those affected by the enormity of this tragedy. Now, one from a man whose sister was killed in this disaster. "She was spectacular and brilliant. She has everything except 40 more years." That from Mike Anderson, referring to his sister, Kristi, who was vacationing in Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck.

And on the sheer scale of devastation, there is this: "I've not experienced anything like this in my 30 years in the relief and emergency business." That from Scott Faiia, the director of CARE in Sri Lanka.

HARRIS: The tsunami tragedy is dominating the headlines this week, but right now, we're going to rewind to take a look at some of the other stories in the news from the past five days.

Tuesday, actor Jerry Orbach died of prostate cancer, at the age of 69. The award-winning actor was perhaps best known for his role as detective Lenny Briscoe on the NBC crime drama "Law & Order."

Wednesday, a government official told CNN that over the course of four days, six commercial jets had their cockpits lit up by laser beams as they made their descent for landing. None of the flights were affected. A New Jersey man has been questioned about possible involvement in similar incidents, but he hasn't been charged.

And Thursday, at least 175 people were killed in a fire during a rock concert in a crowded night club in Buenos Aires. Officials say stampeding crowds were trapped inside by locked doors. Hundreds were injured. The club owner has been detained for questioning.

And tomorrow, we'll fast forward to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the headlines.

KAYE: And straight ahead, animal expert and Rose Parade participant, Jack Hanna joins us to explain why he makes it a point -- there he is -- good morning, Jack.

HARRIS: Good morning, Jack.

KAYE: Why he makes it a point to participate ever year. We'll hear from him, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Be sure to stay with CNN for all the new developments in the fight to get help to the people of South Asia. In the next hour, we'll go live to Sri Lanka and Hugh Riminton for an hour-long look at the tsunami disaster. And at 11:00 a.m., a CNN special report with live updates and new developments from the region, with Tony Harris and me.

HARRIS: The tsunami disaster tops our coverage this New Year's Day. Here's the latest. U.S. military helicopters are bringing aid to Indonesia's Sumatra island, near the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered the deadly tsunamis. Aid workers face some big hurdles, including a lack of coordination, a fuel shortage, rough weather and washed out roads.

Other nations are also making big offers of aid. Japan's prime minister has pledged up to $500 million for tsunami-ravaged areas. That makes Japan the biggest single donor nation so far.

And police in Argentina have detained the owner of a Buenos Aires night club. Investigators say locked doors contributed to the deaths of 175 people after fire broke out at the club. Many of the escape doors were locked or tied shut with wires.

KAYE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Rose's Parade is today in Pasadena, California. It's been an annual New Year's Day tradition for generations, and a festive prelude to the Rose Bowl game. This animal-themed float by the Rain Bird Corporation will carry famed naturalist Jack Hanna along the parade route, marking his sixth appearance in that event. Jack Hanna is with us live right now from Pasadena with a preview. Good morning, Jack.

JACK HANNA: Good morning.

KAYE: Tell us about the float that you're going to be participating with today.

HANNA: Well, you won't believe it. The Rain Bird float, Playful Pandemonium, just won first place in sweepstakes award for six out of eight years. Isn't that something?

KAYE: That is something.

HANNA: We're all really excited right now. It really is. We're all excited right now. Of course, Walter Crawford is here with his American bald eagle, which is absolutely gorgeous. We felt with the year the way it is, and our troops overseas, that the bald eagle would be just real fitting for the parade this year, and obviously Walt is here with it, and has to go down the whole three or four hours holding that bird, but it is beautiful. Of course, that really fits in with the theme of the float too, the Playful Pandemonium, because the pandas are one of the most endangered animals of the world, and so we're real excited about that.

KAYE: Now, how involved are you with the -- with the decorating of the float?

HANNA: Well, as far as involved, I've put a few flowers on here. You got to remember, there's 30,000 roses, 10,000...

KAYE: A few flowers?

HANNA: Yeah, 30,000 roses, 10,000 volunteer hours. About 35,000 carnations. All the little seeds you see on the panda there are onion seeds that are put on by hand. Everything on that float -- and I know you know this -- has to be living. Even the chairs we sit in have to be living. Seven waterfalls, 1,500 gallons of water. Rain Bird being the largest irrigation company in the world. Obviously, they're very much concerned about the conservation of water, so this whole theme without water, we don't have bald eagles, and we sure don't have pandas or any other animal on the Earth.

KAYE: Yeah, sure. Now, Jack, I know it's early out there, but have you had a chance to maybe size up your competition a little bit and see how it's looking and maybe...

HANNA: Oh, yeah, I've been sizing it up since yesterday, with pouring rain yesterday, so we sized it up. And all these floats down -- you know, as I said, they're all absolutely magnificent. Rain Bird really just puts 100 percent effort, 10 months of preparation, as I said before, and of course when you see, though, you've seen the float, it's just magnificent. With all those waterfalls, the music and the pandas moving, you know, it's an emotional thing for me. I've been all over the world filming my series, and this is one of the highlights I do anything during the year.

KAYE: If we could just to get off topic just a little bit here, as long as we have you, I wanted to ask you about what's going on in Southern Asia, with the tsunamis.

HANNA: Right.

KAYE: There has been a lot of talk recently about whether or not the animals were able to sense it coming. Do you think that they were able, that they knew that the tsunami was coming and that the earthquake had occurred?

HANNA: Yeah, there is no doubt about it. I've done several interviews and told people that what my belief is that animals have a sense -- it's a sixth sense, yes, but they also have a compass in their brain -- some birds, some dolphins -- that let them know about changes in electromagnetic fields, especially in the ocean, when the fish and the dolphins really felt that quake -- they obviously knew about it right away, even before it happened. And so they start moving in a different direction. Then the birds, which feed off of fish, they say, something is wrong here. So what does an animal do? They go back to where their nesting places are. Now, when you start seeing animals do that, like in Yawa (ph) national park in Sri Lanka, 200 some people were killed but not one animal. Those elephants, they went up high right away along with all the other animals. So animals warn each other. Predator and prey at that point don't become enemies. They warn each other on where to go, and that's exactly what happened, is my feeling, in that part of the world.

Now, as far as loss of animal life. There's going to be tremendous loss of some of the greatest sea turtle nesting grounds the world over. I just got back from Phuket last year, filming in Thailand. So we're definitely going to lose those, and in a year or two from now, we'll know how bad it is going to be with a lot of the sea creatures. It's going to be pretty bad, I'm afraid.

KAYE: And just how far away can an animal sense it coming, or feel the vibration come?

HANNA: Well, when we were in Africa, filming out in Africa in the Serengeti, the elephants can actually hear us three or four miles away. Their hearing is beyond comprehension, but it's the feel of their feet. A lion, for example, feels us coming from several miles away, because they can feel the earth. And so what they do there is warn other animals. When they jump up, then the other animals tend to do the same thing. So you know, we used to have the same warning system in us, back when we -- when you're by a camp fire in Montana, I listen to when the squirrels start chirping, I know there's something around there, you know. But we have lost all that, because we don't have to have it anymore.

KAYE: Right. All right, Jack Hanna, joining us this morning from the parade route in Pasadena. Good luck today with your float and happy new year.

HANNA: Oh, it's going to be a beautiful float. I'll wave to you.

KAYE: OK, I'll wave back. Thank you.

HANNA: All right.

HARRIS: Well, the floats are ready, but how is the weather going to be in Los Angeles?

KAYE: We will have your complete weather forecast in about two minutes. CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Good morning, Santa Monica, and hello to those preparing to attend the annual New Year's Day Rose Parade in Pasadena. Brad Huffines has your forecast in just one minute.

HARRIS: As we peer now into the left of the picture, that's probably the 3rd Street Promenade...

KAYE: It's your old stomping ground there.

HARRIS: My old stomping grounds.

Well, you guys have been great this morning in sending us along your e-mails, and the question this morning is: What made 2004 memorable for you?

And here is how Barb answers that question. "A new job the last week of December after a three-year long search." That's what made it special for Barb.

KAYE: And we also got an e-mail from Judy. She writes: "There is no doubt it was the horror of the tsunami. The incredible suffering on that side of the planet overtakes any event in my 60 years of life. I hope and pray food and water gets to each of the survivors before it is too late, and I pray they know that the non- well-to-do people in America have not forgotten them." She writes: "We are the real America, and we have kind hearts."

HARRIS: Someone was talking about the Red Sox, and I guess they're a Red Sox fan. The year the Red Sox had in winning the World Series made it special for that particular person.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And thank you for joining us this morning. We will see you in one hour for our special coverage of the tsunami disaster, new developments from the region, and amazing stories of survival. I'm Tony Harris.

KAYE: And I'm Randi Kaye, in for Betty Nguyen. Now, a special simulcast live from Sri Lanka, with our sister network, CNN International.

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 January 1, 2005 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Randi Kaye, in for Betty Nguyen. Here's what's happening now in the news.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The first U.S. aid has arrived on the earthquake and tsunami-devastated Indonesian island of Sumatra. Helicopters from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln brought supplies and military officers to assess the relief needs in Aceh, the hardest hit Sumatran province. The U.S. military is also conducting search and rescue missions in other South Asian countries.

Police in Buenos Aires are questioning a night club owner about locked doors in his club where fire killed 175 concert goers Thursday night. Officers say some of the doors were padlocked, and others were wired shut. Authorities believe the fire started when someone fired a flare, which ignited a foam ceiling.

If you live in Morgantown, West Virginia or Lincoln, Nebraska and you smoke, this is a good time to quit. No smoking ordinances became effective in those towns, effective on this first day of 2005. Also, taxes on tobacco are taking a leap today in Montana and Oklahoma. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

KAYE: From jumping out of a plane to jumping onto the stage. It's been an eventful year for Robert Novak. Here is a taste of the best of 2004 in this week's edition of "The Novak Zone."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT NOVAK, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to "The Novak Zone," at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. We're in the historic Ford's Theater in downtown Washington, D.C. And we're on the terrace of the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. We're at the Orioles Park in Campden Yards. We're at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, with the U.S. Army (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Golden Knights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Juilliard, they have these things called the rehearsal rooms, and in the rehearsal rooms, you're supposed to be doing -- that's what you're supposed to be doing. And I was going, earth angel, earth angel.

NOVAK: You've been asked this question in 2000, and I'll ask it in 2001. If there is a Deep Throat...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know there is.

NOVAK: ... if he isn't a composite...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know there is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I dedicate my life totally to the singing of opera and conducting opera. And now some days I do some concerts with them, and some concerts alone, but my real passion is stage and the pit (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're extremely excited to jump with you. I hope you're excited to jump with us also.

Main parachute we're going to be using today is a 395 or 370- square foot E.Z. (ph). It's top of the line equipment, unlike everything else in the military, which we get from the lowest bidder. This is top-line equipment.

It's a semi-elliptical, high porosity. All you got to know, Mr. Novak, is that it will take a suspended weight of both you and I. OK? That's all you really got to know about it, OK?

NOVAK: When I was only 10 years old, in 1941, our family drove from Illinois to Colorado to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park, the first national park I ever visited.

I was in the high school band. I played the clarinet, not that well, but I enjoyed it.

I never did this. Closest I came was a close combat course and infiltration course, but I was always on the ground. I was a ground soldier.

What did you, just roam the floor after they adjourned and pick up stuff they leave, what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's one way that you could do it, but what we're really looking for are three things. We're looking for material, of course, but -- that represents the social part of the convention, the political part, the message part, and then the overall media spectacle that we're a part of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I've served five presidents. They disagreed on everything, but not when it came to chocolate chip cookies. See? If you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it a little bit, and you know, oil (ph) it a little bit.

BEN STEIN, AUTHOR: Fight back against your children's teacher. Fight back if you're a college student, against the uniform, monolithic left wing standing of the teachers, and stand up for America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you have the cue for -- we'll do it slowly one time. No, see, it's (SINGING).

Violins. You play together here, 114. Longer. You play that mixed with the piano on the fourth 16. No earlier. 177, everybody. Go. That's it. We can start at the beginning in tempo. That's it. Good.

NOVAK: Have you ever seen any substantial steroid use in the major leagues?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't seen it, and I think that it's been overblown. I don't think that -- you know, I'm sure that there's guys that are doing it, because I'm sure in every sport, there's players who want to get the edge, but I think that it's been blown over -- overly -- way more than -- than guys who are using it in our game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And look at these, voila.

NOVAK: Voila.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, look at these. This is the best. You see, look how chewy they are? Look at this. Look. You see? The inside is nice and chewy and loaded with chocolate. This is what you want when you do a chocolate chip cookie.

OK, let me get another try, broken hip and all.

We jumped out of an airplane. That is really scary, man. You're out in the middle of nowhere, you're free-falling. I mean, that is a scary situation.

And now, the big question.

And now, the big question.

And now, the big question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been waiting all week to ask you the big question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's do it again, Bob.

NOVAK: No.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Tourists frolicking on the beach, riding jet skies, posing for pictures. These are scenes you might expect in any number of tropical resorts, but believe it or not, this is the scene in Phuket, Thailand, just six days after it was swamped by a deadly tsunami. As CNN's Aneesh Raman reports from Phuket, it's a boost to an economy that desperately needs it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): On Phuket Island, the contrast is surreal. Almost incredible. What was once a pristine vision must be painstakingly restored from among the debris left here in moments last Sunday.

NINA ZEN, HOTEL OWNER: And that is what remains of my office.

RAMAN: That's the huge task for hotel owners like Nina Zen. But she says that because some resorts were left standing, the island can recoverer. And it must.

ZEN: We really have to go on, and we owe it to the people around us, the people who have worked very hard to develop this destination, both the agents, the operators, the people, the local people.

RAMAN: Livelihoods are at stake. Thailand's tourism industry brings in $10 billion annually. And Nina's employees rely on three peak months to sustain them for the rest of the year. It is that thought that keeps her going.

ZEN: The negative part of your brain says, I want to put down my papers and just pack my bags and go. But then when you see staff looking at you, what are you going to do?

RAMAN: Phuket is all that remains here. Other tourist areas like Phi Phi Island, to the coastal shores of Khao Lak, are devastated. Rebuilding them will take months, if not years. Nina realizes she is more fortunate than most and working helps numb the reality.

ZEN: Getting it up and running is a part of reliving the trauma, because if you just sit down and do nothing, it creeps in you and in the end you don't do anything. But it's just that initial push to get up, walk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN: And, Tony, despite those images, early indications, not so good for this island. Some 70 percent of reservations from here on have been canceled. But the Thai tourism minister says he wants everything up and running with a month. The hope is that they can try and rebuild and try and salvage something for this economy -- Tony.

HARRIS: Let's hope they can soon. Aneesh Raman in Thailand for us. Thank you.

KAYE: All morning, we've brought you quotes from those affected by the enormity of this tragedy. Now, one from a man whose sister was killed in this disaster. "She was spectacular and brilliant. She has everything except 40 more years." That from Mike Anderson, referring to his sister, Kristi, who was vacationing in Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck.

And on the sheer scale of devastation, there is this: "I've not experienced anything like this in my 30 years in the relief and emergency business." That from Scott Faiia, the director of CARE in Sri Lanka.

HARRIS: The tsunami tragedy is dominating the headlines this week, but right now, we're going to rewind to take a look at some of the other stories in the news from the past five days.

Tuesday, actor Jerry Orbach died of prostate cancer, at the age of 69. The award-winning actor was perhaps best known for his role as detective Lenny Briscoe on the NBC crime drama "Law & Order."

Wednesday, a government official told CNN that over the course of four days, six commercial jets had their cockpits lit up by laser beams as they made their descent for landing. None of the flights were affected. A New Jersey man has been questioned about possible involvement in similar incidents, but he hasn't been charged.

And Thursday, at least 175 people were killed in a fire during a rock concert in a crowded night club in Buenos Aires. Officials say stampeding crowds were trapped inside by locked doors. Hundreds were injured. The club owner has been detained for questioning.

And tomorrow, we'll fast forward to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the headlines.

KAYE: And straight ahead, animal expert and Rose Parade participant, Jack Hanna joins us to explain why he makes it a point -- there he is -- good morning, Jack.

HARRIS: Good morning, Jack.

KAYE: Why he makes it a point to participate ever year. We'll hear from him, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Be sure to stay with CNN for all the new developments in the fight to get help to the people of South Asia. In the next hour, we'll go live to Sri Lanka and Hugh Riminton for an hour-long look at the tsunami disaster. And at 11:00 a.m., a CNN special report with live updates and new developments from the region, with Tony Harris and me.

HARRIS: The tsunami disaster tops our coverage this New Year's Day. Here's the latest. U.S. military helicopters are bringing aid to Indonesia's Sumatra island, near the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered the deadly tsunamis. Aid workers face some big hurdles, including a lack of coordination, a fuel shortage, rough weather and washed out roads.

Other nations are also making big offers of aid. Japan's prime minister has pledged up to $500 million for tsunami-ravaged areas. That makes Japan the biggest single donor nation so far.

And police in Argentina have detained the owner of a Buenos Aires night club. Investigators say locked doors contributed to the deaths of 175 people after fire broke out at the club. Many of the escape doors were locked or tied shut with wires.

KAYE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Rose's Parade is today in Pasadena, California. It's been an annual New Year's Day tradition for generations, and a festive prelude to the Rose Bowl game. This animal-themed float by the Rain Bird Corporation will carry famed naturalist Jack Hanna along the parade route, marking his sixth appearance in that event. Jack Hanna is with us live right now from Pasadena with a preview. Good morning, Jack.

JACK HANNA: Good morning.

KAYE: Tell us about the float that you're going to be participating with today.

HANNA: Well, you won't believe it. The Rain Bird float, Playful Pandemonium, just won first place in sweepstakes award for six out of eight years. Isn't that something?

KAYE: That is something.

HANNA: We're all really excited right now. It really is. We're all excited right now. Of course, Walter Crawford is here with his American bald eagle, which is absolutely gorgeous. We felt with the year the way it is, and our troops overseas, that the bald eagle would be just real fitting for the parade this year, and obviously Walt is here with it, and has to go down the whole three or four hours holding that bird, but it is beautiful. Of course, that really fits in with the theme of the float too, the Playful Pandemonium, because the pandas are one of the most endangered animals of the world, and so we're real excited about that.

KAYE: Now, how involved are you with the -- with the decorating of the float?

HANNA: Well, as far as involved, I've put a few flowers on here. You got to remember, there's 30,000 roses, 10,000...

KAYE: A few flowers?

HANNA: Yeah, 30,000 roses, 10,000 volunteer hours. About 35,000 carnations. All the little seeds you see on the panda there are onion seeds that are put on by hand. Everything on that float -- and I know you know this -- has to be living. Even the chairs we sit in have to be living. Seven waterfalls, 1,500 gallons of water. Rain Bird being the largest irrigation company in the world. Obviously, they're very much concerned about the conservation of water, so this whole theme without water, we don't have bald eagles, and we sure don't have pandas or any other animal on the Earth.

KAYE: Yeah, sure. Now, Jack, I know it's early out there, but have you had a chance to maybe size up your competition a little bit and see how it's looking and maybe...

HANNA: Oh, yeah, I've been sizing it up since yesterday, with pouring rain yesterday, so we sized it up. And all these floats down -- you know, as I said, they're all absolutely magnificent. Rain Bird really just puts 100 percent effort, 10 months of preparation, as I said before, and of course when you see, though, you've seen the float, it's just magnificent. With all those waterfalls, the music and the pandas moving, you know, it's an emotional thing for me. I've been all over the world filming my series, and this is one of the highlights I do anything during the year.

KAYE: If we could just to get off topic just a little bit here, as long as we have you, I wanted to ask you about what's going on in Southern Asia, with the tsunamis.

HANNA: Right.

KAYE: There has been a lot of talk recently about whether or not the animals were able to sense it coming. Do you think that they were able, that they knew that the tsunami was coming and that the earthquake had occurred?

HANNA: Yeah, there is no doubt about it. I've done several interviews and told people that what my belief is that animals have a sense -- it's a sixth sense, yes, but they also have a compass in their brain -- some birds, some dolphins -- that let them know about changes in electromagnetic fields, especially in the ocean, when the fish and the dolphins really felt that quake -- they obviously knew about it right away, even before it happened. And so they start moving in a different direction. Then the birds, which feed off of fish, they say, something is wrong here. So what does an animal do? They go back to where their nesting places are. Now, when you start seeing animals do that, like in Yawa (ph) national park in Sri Lanka, 200 some people were killed but not one animal. Those elephants, they went up high right away along with all the other animals. So animals warn each other. Predator and prey at that point don't become enemies. They warn each other on where to go, and that's exactly what happened, is my feeling, in that part of the world.

Now, as far as loss of animal life. There's going to be tremendous loss of some of the greatest sea turtle nesting grounds the world over. I just got back from Phuket last year, filming in Thailand. So we're definitely going to lose those, and in a year or two from now, we'll know how bad it is going to be with a lot of the sea creatures. It's going to be pretty bad, I'm afraid.

KAYE: And just how far away can an animal sense it coming, or feel the vibration come?

HANNA: Well, when we were in Africa, filming out in Africa in the Serengeti, the elephants can actually hear us three or four miles away. Their hearing is beyond comprehension, but it's the feel of their feet. A lion, for example, feels us coming from several miles away, because they can feel the earth. And so what they do there is warn other animals. When they jump up, then the other animals tend to do the same thing. So you know, we used to have the same warning system in us, back when we -- when you're by a camp fire in Montana, I listen to when the squirrels start chirping, I know there's something around there, you know. But we have lost all that, because we don't have to have it anymore.

KAYE: Right. All right, Jack Hanna, joining us this morning from the parade route in Pasadena. Good luck today with your float and happy new year.

HANNA: Oh, it's going to be a beautiful float. I'll wave to you.

KAYE: OK, I'll wave back. Thank you.

HANNA: All right.

HARRIS: Well, the floats are ready, but how is the weather going to be in Los Angeles?

KAYE: We will have your complete weather forecast in about two minutes. CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Good morning, Santa Monica, and hello to those preparing to attend the annual New Year's Day Rose Parade in Pasadena. Brad Huffines has your forecast in just one minute.

HARRIS: As we peer now into the left of the picture, that's probably the 3rd Street Promenade...

KAYE: It's your old stomping ground there.

HARRIS: My old stomping grounds.

Well, you guys have been great this morning in sending us along your e-mails, and the question this morning is: What made 2004 memorable for you?

And here is how Barb answers that question. "A new job the last week of December after a three-year long search." That's what made it special for Barb.

KAYE: And we also got an e-mail from Judy. She writes: "There is no doubt it was the horror of the tsunami. The incredible suffering on that side of the planet overtakes any event in my 60 years of life. I hope and pray food and water gets to each of the survivors before it is too late, and I pray they know that the non- well-to-do people in America have not forgotten them." She writes: "We are the real America, and we have kind hearts."

HARRIS: Someone was talking about the Red Sox, and I guess they're a Red Sox fan. The year the Red Sox had in winning the World Series made it special for that particular person.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And thank you for joining us this morning. We will see you in one hour for our special coverage of the tsunami disaster, new developments from the region, and amazing stories of survival. I'm Tony Harris.

KAYE: And I'm Randi Kaye, in for Betty Nguyen. Now, a special simulcast live from Sri Lanka, with our sister network, CNN International.

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