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New Fighting Overnight in Iraq; Florida Bad Weather May be to Blame for Crash of Goodyear Blimp

Aired June 17, 2005 - 07:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer.
New fighting overnight in Iraq. U.S. troops there trying to retake parts of the country's most dangerous cities. A live report from Iraq on the latest offensive today.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Florida bad weather may be to blame for the crash of a Goodyear blimp. Two people inside trapped. Details of their rescue also ahead.

HEMMER: And stop the presses. That whirlwind romance between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, taken up a notch. In Paris, he proposed, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

HEMMER: Good morning. 7:00 on a Friday. True love from Paris. Tom and Katie are headed for the alter.

O'BRIEN: How romantic to get engaged in Paris, and how coincidental that that is where his new movie is opening.

HEMMER: Time to see the new film. We will get to more on that relationship in a moment here.

First a story that's breaking for the West Coast. Let's start in California this morning. Residents there on shaky ground again today. Two more earthquakes in the past 24 hours, one overnight. There have been four since Sunday, and this rare cluster could be a foreshadowing of a larger one to come.

With the latest, an overnight aftershock measured 6.6, centered about 300 miles northwest of San Francisco.

Ted Rowlands is live at the Cal Tech Seismology Lab in Pasadena.

Ted, good morning out there.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Seismologists believe that this latest quake, the 6.6, is actually an aftershock of a 7.2 quake centered off the coast of northern California on Tuesday. There was a tsunami warning on the seventh, too. That wasn't the case this time around, saying that this quake was too small for a tsunami warning. Meanwhile, there were also two major quakes around five points down here in Southern California. The latest one was yesterday. And that one really shook Los Angeles.

We are in the midst of an earthquake here in Southern California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was felt at the racetrack and in just about every living room in the Los Angeles area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in my power lounger and it started shaking. My wife was in the kitchen by the refrigerator. She had to grab the wall and the refrigerator.

ROWLANDS: Yesterday's earthquake was the third in California in less than a week, leaving people to think there must be a connection. Seismologist say that's possible, but I think it's more likely that Mother Nature is just sending a reminder.

DR. LUCY JONES, USGS: This is not an unusual level of earthquake activity. We live in earthquake country, and we should remember it.

ROWLANDS: Yesterday's 4.9 earthquake was centered just north of the city of Duicapa (ph), some people living near the epicenter recorded minor damage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It did all the damage to the porch, and the eaves and everything, and to the chimney on the fireplace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty scary. It was pretty, like, wavy it felt like. A lot of things -- some stuff fell down.

ROWLANDS: Two earthquakes hit the state earlier in the week, a 5.6 near the city of Anza (ph) Sunday, and a 7.2, 90 miles off the coast of northern California on Monday.

The northern quake set off a tsunami warning that turned out to be false alarm. Also a 7.9 quake killed at least 11 people in Chile on Monday, and a 6.8 hit the Aleutian Islands off Alaska on Tuesday. Seismologists say they plan to study an possible relation between the earthquakes, but don't anticipate proving any sort of link.

Meanwhile, until the next one, life goes on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: A lot of people hoping there won't be anymore shakers here. The big question, is this activity the end of it, or is there a precursor to possibly the big one? People are waiting and seeing.

HEMMER: Great call at the track yesterday. Thank you, Ted.

Coming up in a few moments, we'll talk about whether or not the big one is still to come or not. We'll talk with a seismologists about the significance of this week's quakes. O'BRIEN: In Iraq now, an American soldier charged with killing two of his commanding officers. Army Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez of Troy, New York is being held in Kuwait. Meanwhile, a funeral was held on Wednesday for Captain Phillip Esposito, and a funeral was held on Thursday for First Lieutenant Louis Allen. It was first believed that Esposito and Allen were killed by a mortar round, fired by insurgents near Tikrit, but the military now believes they were fatally injured by another explosive twice, possibly a grenade. This is the first case in Iraq of an American soldier being accused of killing his superiors.

U.S. forces have launched a major new offensive against Iraqi insurgents today.

Jennifer Eccleston live for us in Baghdad this morning.

Jennifer, good morning to you.

What do we know about Operation Spear so far?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Before I get to operation spear, I want to update you on something that happened just a short while ago? We're hearing from Iraqi police that there's been a car bomb explosion in eastern Baghdad. It happened adjacent to a Shiite mosque, although police sources are telling us that it's unclear whether the mosque was the actual target, as there was a police convoy that was in the area.

So right now, we know that the car bomb exploded. It was in eastern Baghdad, not far from Sadr City, outside of a Shiite mosque, not known right now just how many people have died or been wounded, but we are expecting casualties.

Back to the operation we were talking about. U.S. and Iraqi launched a major offensive in northwest Iraq called Operation Spear. It started in the predawn hours of today. American officials say about 1,000 U.S. Marines and Iraqi soldiers are in Anbar province, hunting militants in and around the town of Karabila, and also in the violent town of Ramadi.

Now the Marines report at least three suspected insurgents have been killed so far. They also encountered several car bombs, which were destroyed in controlled explosions. Now the military believes around 100 foreign fighters are seeking shelter in Karabila. That town is east of the Syrian border, seen to U.S. airstrikes last weekend, where the militants say they killed 40 armed insurgents. Now a U.S. general calls that 380-mile-long Syrian border Iraq's worst problem in terms of keeping out foreign fighters bent on causing destruction. And as you know, Marines have lost 11 members and two sailors in incidents around Anbar province -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer Eccleston is in Baghdad for us this morning. Jennifer, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Also from overseas in Iran, an important election is under way. Voters heading to the polls to choose a president. This is certainly an election that could affect U.S./Iranian relations. And it's already drawing criticism from the White House.

Suzanne Malvaeux was there this morning. I imagine they're watching this quite closely -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, Absolutely. They're watching it very closely, and they're putting the Iranian leaders on notice. President Bush releasing a statement yesterday expressing a great deal of criticism about the Iranian elections, even the legitimacy of this, saying that he believes the elections, Democratic elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Palestinian authorities are, in fact, legitimate, but here he says that the Iranian government denied more than 1,000 people who sought to run as candidates. He went on to say, "The Iranian people deserve a genuinely Democratic system in which elections are honest and in which their leaders answer to them instead of the other way around."

President Bush continues to emphasize that the U.S. is with the Iranian people, not the theocracy, in the hopes that these reformers will actually prevail, and in the hopes that this will become a nuclear-free country -- Bill.

HEMMER: Suzanne Malveaux from the White House this morning. We'll get a live update from Tehran in a moment. Here our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour if there on the scene. We'll talk to Christiane a bit later this hour.

O'BRIEN: Well, it only just got started, but the murder trial of Edgar Ray Killen has been put on hold. The 80-year-old part-time preacher was wheeled from the courtroom on Thursday on a stretcher. Killen is hospitalized this morning with high blood pressure. The judge is expected to talk to Killen's doctors in about 90 minutes to get an update on his condition. The former Ku Klux Klansmen is on trial in Philadelphia, Mississippi, which is just about 100 miles northeast of Jackson.

And that is where Ed Lavandera is live for us this morning.

Ed, good morning to you.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, this puts a big hitch on the trial. It came as an extreme shock to everyone who was in the courtroom. It happened just as testimony was beginning, but there are some who are a little suspicious of what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The public will know the facts of this case.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Just as the first witness was about to testify, Edgar Ray Killen started complaining of chest pains and a headache. Less than an hour later, paramedics wheeled him out of the courthouse on a stretcher.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you feeling, Edgar? LAVANDERA: Doctors say Killen was suffering from high blood pressure, which has been a problem for him since he broke both legs in a tree-cutting accident three months ago. Doctors say Killen is alert and in good condition.

Stress can do this, but also you have to consider his age and consider the injuries that he has had in the past that can actually make you have fluctuations in your blood pressure, which can contribute to his symptoms.

LAVANDERA: A relative of James Chaney, one of the three civil right workers murdered here in 1964, was skeptical of Killen's sudden departure from the courtroom, which came just as the widow of another victim was about to testify.

QUESTION: Do you think it's a ploy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want me to really say? Do you honestly want me to say?

QUESTION: Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

QUESTION: You think it's a ploy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

QUESTION: Why do you think that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure the man is ill, but I think he's playing on his illness.

LAVANDERA: Killen's attorney says that's not true. He says his client is a frail, aging man who is battling to make it through the trial.

JAMES MCINTYRE, KILLEN'S ATTY.: The first question is, is he going to be up there? I don't know.

LAVANDERA: To help keep Killen comfortable, there's a separate room in the courthouse with a hospital bed and A nurse. The judge even plans to take breaks every two hours so Killen can stretch his legs. Prosecutors are eager to get the trial back on track. They want people to remember the words of witnesses like Rita Bender, who talked of what it was like to lose her husband, Michael Schwerner.

JAMES HOOD, MISS. ATTY. GEN.: Unfortunately all of the talk about the Klan and other issues in this case really boils down to a family member who has lost her husband, and those memories don't fade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: You know, what we've been talking a lot about over the last couple days, Mr. Killen's health has been a major issue leading up to this trial. One of the interesting details to how things work inside the courtroom, any time Mr. Killen is taken in or out of the courtroom, the judge has made it clear that that has to happen outside the presence of the jury. He's wheeled in and out of the courtroom in a wheelchair, and prosecutors do not want the jury to see that and worry that it might sway them in some way -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Ed Lavandera for us this morning. Ed, thanks a lot for that update.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Now for the love affair in Paris. News broke what, two hours ago I think it was? About two hours ago that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting married. Cruise took Holmes to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and popped the question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: The premiere we wanted here in France because it's beautiful and it's romantic. And yes, I did proposed to Kate last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Isn't that sweet, Soledad?

O'BRIEN: It is so sweet.

HEMMER: Don't you think that's special and wonderful? She's 26. He's 42. He's got a movie coming out.

O'BRIEN: She does, too.

HEMMER: She just had a movie come out.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are getting married. And I know three people in the house today that have got very strong opinions on this, Amy, Sara and B.J. and they're coming up a bit later this hour.

O'BRIEN: We wish the happy couple all of the best, of course.

HEMMER: We do.

O'BRIEN: Much more on our top story still to come this morning. Two quakes in California in just nine hours. Is this a sign of bigger things to come? We're going to check in with the earthquake lady, up next.

Also, a crash landing for a Goodyear blimp in Florida. Inside this dramatic rescue and how they're going to get that thing cleaned up today.

Back in a moment on a Friday morning of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: From South Florida, investigators are looking into whether or not a thunderstorm played any part in the crash of this Goodyear blimp. The airship came down in the powerlines before landing on top of a self-storage facility in Coral Springs. That's about 35 miles northwest of Miami. It happened Thursday night. Two pilots briefly trapped in that wreckage. This morning, Mike Moser is a spokesperson for the Coral Springs Fire Department.

Mike, good morning to you.

MIKE MOSER, CORAL SPRINGS FIRE DEPT.: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: You're quoted as saying that the pilots may have intentionally brought down this blimp. Do you have anything more you can add on that this morning?

MOSER: Again the NTSB is going to be out here investigating exactly why this aircraft came down, and weather may have played a part in that, because we were having severe storms in that area at that time and some fairly moderate winds. But again, the NTSB is going be investigating exactly why that happened.

HEMMER: Oftentimes you have these storms late afternoon this time of year. Was this anymore severe than in the past?

MOSER: This is one of the most severe rainstorms we've had this year, but we're looking forward to a wet summer so far.

HEMMER: Well, listen, it looks like the two pilots were trapped there for a while. How did you get them out, Mike?

MOSER: Actually they came out on their own free will. At first there were power lines that may have been encroaching on them and they weren't able to get out. But they did come out on their own free power. And fortunately enough, there were no injuries to those pilots or anyone on the ground either.

HEMMER: Over your left-hand shoulder, explain to our viewers what we can see, the remnants of that blimp behind you.

MOSER: As you can see the blimp is behind me. It's partially deflated. There is going to be crews out here from Goodyear who are going to try to take this thing out of here today. It has been here since a little bit before 6:00 yesterday afternoon when it went down.

And this aircraft has been a fixture in South Florida for so many years and the entire East Coast, and it's pretty sad to see it in such condition here on the ground, but those crews will get that out of here today, and as I said, fortunately enough, there were no injuries to either ground personnel or the pilots.

HEMMER: Hey, Mike, do you got any idea how you dispose of a blimp like that? How do you get it out of there?

MOSER: We don't know. There's crane here. We assume that they're going to be helping out with the power line restoration, and they might also be using that piece of equipment to get that out of here. HEMMER: You mentioned power lines. Was there danger of explosion yesterday with this blimp getting on the ground?

MOSER: Well, fortunately, the gas that's used in today's blimps are not like those in the past, and chemicals that are used inside to inflate the aircraft and actually allow it to float are not flammable. However, power lines with any type of electrical equipment or components inside of an aircraft are definitely dangerous, but fortunately enough, that didn't happen.

HEMMER: All right, Mike, good luck today. Quite a sight in Coral Springs from yesterday.

MOSER: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Mike Mosley down there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's get back to our top story this morning. A 6.6 magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern California. It is the fourth one since Sunday, and it happened around 11:20 p.m. Pacific Time. It hit about 300 miles northwest of San Francisco, 125 miles west of Eureka. Just hours earlier, a 4.9 magnitude quake shook Los Angeles. It was centered in the town of Duicapa. On Wednesday, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit off the northern coast, and then on Sunday, there was a 5.6 quake in Southern California, near the town of Anza.

With all of these quakes so close together, the question is, is there something bigger on the horizon?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Kate Hutton is known as the "earthquake lady." She's a seismologist with the California Institute of Technology, and she's in Pasadena this morning.

Kate, nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

KATE HUTTON, SEISMOLOGIST: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: You know four quakes in a week sounds like a really big number to me. Is it a surprise? Is it shocking to you?

HUTTON: Well, it's definitely not shocking. It does happen from time to time. I think in 1980 and in 1986 both California experienced a week that was quite active and had several decent-sized earthquakes, so we've seen it happen before. But it is a little bit off on the statistics. I mean, it's unusual; it doesn't happen all that often.

O'BRIEN: I'm not telling you anything you don't know when I say that people where you are very rattled by all of this activity. Does it signify that there's something bigger to come, when you see this amount of activity?

HUTTON: Well, any time we have any individual earthquake, there's a small chance that it could be a foreshock to something larger. I don't know that we know what to make of quakes popping off in different locations, except that we have seen this happen in the past, and it didn't lead to any extremely large earthquakes. So we're hoping that it's not going to do it this time either.

O'BRIEN: Can one earthquake trigger another? The magnitude of these earthquakes have been, you know, pretty significant.

HUTTON: Well, a large earthquake sends out seismic waves which pass through the surrounding area and can disturb faults, which are about ready to break anyway. And so that would make earthquakes appear to be clumped together in time. In this case, the Anza earthquake and the quakes off northern California seem a bit far geographically from each other to fit that scenario, but this is a question that we have to look into. We have barely had time to look into the data yet, in fact.

O'BRIEN: We've talked about the four earthquakes in California, but there were other ones, as well, one in the Aleutian Islands, one on Monday in Chile, which killed 11 people. Is there any chance that some of the earthquakes that have been happening in California triggered those earthquakes or vice versa?

HUTTON: I think that's something we have to look into. I have to say we don't know the answer to that at this point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, history in Iraq. The first time that since WWII that a female American soldier is given one of the military's highest honors. She's our guest just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

The price of gas may have dipped some in recent weeks, but the cost of crude oil just keeps rising. With that story and a preview of the day's action on Wall Street, Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer. She's had the week off. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Good to see you.

You know, we thought we were out of the woods with oil prices. It's just not the case, rising higher today again to a high close to the high, some $57 a barrel; the all-time high 58. This is the highest in 10 weeks. And the national unleaded average for gas, because you know, eventually this does affect...

O'BRIEN: It catches up to us.

WILLIS: Yes, $2.14 a gallon. Last year this time, $1.96. So you can see prices could be getting stronger. I heard recently that there's an expectation that by certainly the Labor Day weekend, we'll be seeing some higher prices.

O'BRIEN: That is some bad news.

How about the market? What happened yesterday.

WILLIS: Well, yesterday we were up. The market kind of struggling here. It's slow. It's summertime. But you can see we made some gains here, managed to eke out some gains despite some tepid news from the housing industry. Futures are pointing to a higher open today. We'll be following it.

O'BRIEN: All right, we'll take a look. Thanks, Gerri -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, break here in a moment. More to come on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop": First comes love, then comes marriage. After lots of rumors, Tom and Katie get engaged. How Cruise proposed in a moment.

And the runaway bride cashes in. Does crime really pay? That's a bit later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 17, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer.
New fighting overnight in Iraq. U.S. troops there trying to retake parts of the country's most dangerous cities. A live report from Iraq on the latest offensive today.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Florida bad weather may be to blame for the crash of a Goodyear blimp. Two people inside trapped. Details of their rescue also ahead.

HEMMER: And stop the presses. That whirlwind romance between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, taken up a notch. In Paris, he proposed, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

HEMMER: Good morning. 7:00 on a Friday. True love from Paris. Tom and Katie are headed for the alter.

O'BRIEN: How romantic to get engaged in Paris, and how coincidental that that is where his new movie is opening.

HEMMER: Time to see the new film. We will get to more on that relationship in a moment here.

First a story that's breaking for the West Coast. Let's start in California this morning. Residents there on shaky ground again today. Two more earthquakes in the past 24 hours, one overnight. There have been four since Sunday, and this rare cluster could be a foreshadowing of a larger one to come.

With the latest, an overnight aftershock measured 6.6, centered about 300 miles northwest of San Francisco.

Ted Rowlands is live at the Cal Tech Seismology Lab in Pasadena.

Ted, good morning out there.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Seismologists believe that this latest quake, the 6.6, is actually an aftershock of a 7.2 quake centered off the coast of northern California on Tuesday. There was a tsunami warning on the seventh, too. That wasn't the case this time around, saying that this quake was too small for a tsunami warning. Meanwhile, there were also two major quakes around five points down here in Southern California. The latest one was yesterday. And that one really shook Los Angeles.

We are in the midst of an earthquake here in Southern California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was felt at the racetrack and in just about every living room in the Los Angeles area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in my power lounger and it started shaking. My wife was in the kitchen by the refrigerator. She had to grab the wall and the refrigerator.

ROWLANDS: Yesterday's earthquake was the third in California in less than a week, leaving people to think there must be a connection. Seismologist say that's possible, but I think it's more likely that Mother Nature is just sending a reminder.

DR. LUCY JONES, USGS: This is not an unusual level of earthquake activity. We live in earthquake country, and we should remember it.

ROWLANDS: Yesterday's 4.9 earthquake was centered just north of the city of Duicapa (ph), some people living near the epicenter recorded minor damage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It did all the damage to the porch, and the eaves and everything, and to the chimney on the fireplace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty scary. It was pretty, like, wavy it felt like. A lot of things -- some stuff fell down.

ROWLANDS: Two earthquakes hit the state earlier in the week, a 5.6 near the city of Anza (ph) Sunday, and a 7.2, 90 miles off the coast of northern California on Monday.

The northern quake set off a tsunami warning that turned out to be false alarm. Also a 7.9 quake killed at least 11 people in Chile on Monday, and a 6.8 hit the Aleutian Islands off Alaska on Tuesday. Seismologists say they plan to study an possible relation between the earthquakes, but don't anticipate proving any sort of link.

Meanwhile, until the next one, life goes on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: A lot of people hoping there won't be anymore shakers here. The big question, is this activity the end of it, or is there a precursor to possibly the big one? People are waiting and seeing.

HEMMER: Great call at the track yesterday. Thank you, Ted.

Coming up in a few moments, we'll talk about whether or not the big one is still to come or not. We'll talk with a seismologists about the significance of this week's quakes. O'BRIEN: In Iraq now, an American soldier charged with killing two of his commanding officers. Army Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez of Troy, New York is being held in Kuwait. Meanwhile, a funeral was held on Wednesday for Captain Phillip Esposito, and a funeral was held on Thursday for First Lieutenant Louis Allen. It was first believed that Esposito and Allen were killed by a mortar round, fired by insurgents near Tikrit, but the military now believes they were fatally injured by another explosive twice, possibly a grenade. This is the first case in Iraq of an American soldier being accused of killing his superiors.

U.S. forces have launched a major new offensive against Iraqi insurgents today.

Jennifer Eccleston live for us in Baghdad this morning.

Jennifer, good morning to you.

What do we know about Operation Spear so far?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Before I get to operation spear, I want to update you on something that happened just a short while ago? We're hearing from Iraqi police that there's been a car bomb explosion in eastern Baghdad. It happened adjacent to a Shiite mosque, although police sources are telling us that it's unclear whether the mosque was the actual target, as there was a police convoy that was in the area.

So right now, we know that the car bomb exploded. It was in eastern Baghdad, not far from Sadr City, outside of a Shiite mosque, not known right now just how many people have died or been wounded, but we are expecting casualties.

Back to the operation we were talking about. U.S. and Iraqi launched a major offensive in northwest Iraq called Operation Spear. It started in the predawn hours of today. American officials say about 1,000 U.S. Marines and Iraqi soldiers are in Anbar province, hunting militants in and around the town of Karabila, and also in the violent town of Ramadi.

Now the Marines report at least three suspected insurgents have been killed so far. They also encountered several car bombs, which were destroyed in controlled explosions. Now the military believes around 100 foreign fighters are seeking shelter in Karabila. That town is east of the Syrian border, seen to U.S. airstrikes last weekend, where the militants say they killed 40 armed insurgents. Now a U.S. general calls that 380-mile-long Syrian border Iraq's worst problem in terms of keeping out foreign fighters bent on causing destruction. And as you know, Marines have lost 11 members and two sailors in incidents around Anbar province -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer Eccleston is in Baghdad for us this morning. Jennifer, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Also from overseas in Iran, an important election is under way. Voters heading to the polls to choose a president. This is certainly an election that could affect U.S./Iranian relations. And it's already drawing criticism from the White House.

Suzanne Malvaeux was there this morning. I imagine they're watching this quite closely -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, Absolutely. They're watching it very closely, and they're putting the Iranian leaders on notice. President Bush releasing a statement yesterday expressing a great deal of criticism about the Iranian elections, even the legitimacy of this, saying that he believes the elections, Democratic elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Palestinian authorities are, in fact, legitimate, but here he says that the Iranian government denied more than 1,000 people who sought to run as candidates. He went on to say, "The Iranian people deserve a genuinely Democratic system in which elections are honest and in which their leaders answer to them instead of the other way around."

President Bush continues to emphasize that the U.S. is with the Iranian people, not the theocracy, in the hopes that these reformers will actually prevail, and in the hopes that this will become a nuclear-free country -- Bill.

HEMMER: Suzanne Malveaux from the White House this morning. We'll get a live update from Tehran in a moment. Here our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour if there on the scene. We'll talk to Christiane a bit later this hour.

O'BRIEN: Well, it only just got started, but the murder trial of Edgar Ray Killen has been put on hold. The 80-year-old part-time preacher was wheeled from the courtroom on Thursday on a stretcher. Killen is hospitalized this morning with high blood pressure. The judge is expected to talk to Killen's doctors in about 90 minutes to get an update on his condition. The former Ku Klux Klansmen is on trial in Philadelphia, Mississippi, which is just about 100 miles northeast of Jackson.

And that is where Ed Lavandera is live for us this morning.

Ed, good morning to you.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, this puts a big hitch on the trial. It came as an extreme shock to everyone who was in the courtroom. It happened just as testimony was beginning, but there are some who are a little suspicious of what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The public will know the facts of this case.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Just as the first witness was about to testify, Edgar Ray Killen started complaining of chest pains and a headache. Less than an hour later, paramedics wheeled him out of the courthouse on a stretcher.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you feeling, Edgar? LAVANDERA: Doctors say Killen was suffering from high blood pressure, which has been a problem for him since he broke both legs in a tree-cutting accident three months ago. Doctors say Killen is alert and in good condition.

Stress can do this, but also you have to consider his age and consider the injuries that he has had in the past that can actually make you have fluctuations in your blood pressure, which can contribute to his symptoms.

LAVANDERA: A relative of James Chaney, one of the three civil right workers murdered here in 1964, was skeptical of Killen's sudden departure from the courtroom, which came just as the widow of another victim was about to testify.

QUESTION: Do you think it's a ploy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want me to really say? Do you honestly want me to say?

QUESTION: Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

QUESTION: You think it's a ploy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

QUESTION: Why do you think that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure the man is ill, but I think he's playing on his illness.

LAVANDERA: Killen's attorney says that's not true. He says his client is a frail, aging man who is battling to make it through the trial.

JAMES MCINTYRE, KILLEN'S ATTY.: The first question is, is he going to be up there? I don't know.

LAVANDERA: To help keep Killen comfortable, there's a separate room in the courthouse with a hospital bed and A nurse. The judge even plans to take breaks every two hours so Killen can stretch his legs. Prosecutors are eager to get the trial back on track. They want people to remember the words of witnesses like Rita Bender, who talked of what it was like to lose her husband, Michael Schwerner.

JAMES HOOD, MISS. ATTY. GEN.: Unfortunately all of the talk about the Klan and other issues in this case really boils down to a family member who has lost her husband, and those memories don't fade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: You know, what we've been talking a lot about over the last couple days, Mr. Killen's health has been a major issue leading up to this trial. One of the interesting details to how things work inside the courtroom, any time Mr. Killen is taken in or out of the courtroom, the judge has made it clear that that has to happen outside the presence of the jury. He's wheeled in and out of the courtroom in a wheelchair, and prosecutors do not want the jury to see that and worry that it might sway them in some way -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Ed Lavandera for us this morning. Ed, thanks a lot for that update.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Now for the love affair in Paris. News broke what, two hours ago I think it was? About two hours ago that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting married. Cruise took Holmes to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and popped the question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: The premiere we wanted here in France because it's beautiful and it's romantic. And yes, I did proposed to Kate last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Isn't that sweet, Soledad?

O'BRIEN: It is so sweet.

HEMMER: Don't you think that's special and wonderful? She's 26. He's 42. He's got a movie coming out.

O'BRIEN: She does, too.

HEMMER: She just had a movie come out.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are getting married. And I know three people in the house today that have got very strong opinions on this, Amy, Sara and B.J. and they're coming up a bit later this hour.

O'BRIEN: We wish the happy couple all of the best, of course.

HEMMER: We do.

O'BRIEN: Much more on our top story still to come this morning. Two quakes in California in just nine hours. Is this a sign of bigger things to come? We're going to check in with the earthquake lady, up next.

Also, a crash landing for a Goodyear blimp in Florida. Inside this dramatic rescue and how they're going to get that thing cleaned up today.

Back in a moment on a Friday morning of AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: From South Florida, investigators are looking into whether or not a thunderstorm played any part in the crash of this Goodyear blimp. The airship came down in the powerlines before landing on top of a self-storage facility in Coral Springs. That's about 35 miles northwest of Miami. It happened Thursday night. Two pilots briefly trapped in that wreckage. This morning, Mike Moser is a spokesperson for the Coral Springs Fire Department.

Mike, good morning to you.

MIKE MOSER, CORAL SPRINGS FIRE DEPT.: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: You're quoted as saying that the pilots may have intentionally brought down this blimp. Do you have anything more you can add on that this morning?

MOSER: Again the NTSB is going to be out here investigating exactly why this aircraft came down, and weather may have played a part in that, because we were having severe storms in that area at that time and some fairly moderate winds. But again, the NTSB is going be investigating exactly why that happened.

HEMMER: Oftentimes you have these storms late afternoon this time of year. Was this anymore severe than in the past?

MOSER: This is one of the most severe rainstorms we've had this year, but we're looking forward to a wet summer so far.

HEMMER: Well, listen, it looks like the two pilots were trapped there for a while. How did you get them out, Mike?

MOSER: Actually they came out on their own free will. At first there were power lines that may have been encroaching on them and they weren't able to get out. But they did come out on their own free power. And fortunately enough, there were no injuries to those pilots or anyone on the ground either.

HEMMER: Over your left-hand shoulder, explain to our viewers what we can see, the remnants of that blimp behind you.

MOSER: As you can see the blimp is behind me. It's partially deflated. There is going to be crews out here from Goodyear who are going to try to take this thing out of here today. It has been here since a little bit before 6:00 yesterday afternoon when it went down.

And this aircraft has been a fixture in South Florida for so many years and the entire East Coast, and it's pretty sad to see it in such condition here on the ground, but those crews will get that out of here today, and as I said, fortunately enough, there were no injuries to either ground personnel or the pilots.

HEMMER: Hey, Mike, do you got any idea how you dispose of a blimp like that? How do you get it out of there?

MOSER: We don't know. There's crane here. We assume that they're going to be helping out with the power line restoration, and they might also be using that piece of equipment to get that out of here. HEMMER: You mentioned power lines. Was there danger of explosion yesterday with this blimp getting on the ground?

MOSER: Well, fortunately, the gas that's used in today's blimps are not like those in the past, and chemicals that are used inside to inflate the aircraft and actually allow it to float are not flammable. However, power lines with any type of electrical equipment or components inside of an aircraft are definitely dangerous, but fortunately enough, that didn't happen.

HEMMER: All right, Mike, good luck today. Quite a sight in Coral Springs from yesterday.

MOSER: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Mike Mosley down there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's get back to our top story this morning. A 6.6 magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern California. It is the fourth one since Sunday, and it happened around 11:20 p.m. Pacific Time. It hit about 300 miles northwest of San Francisco, 125 miles west of Eureka. Just hours earlier, a 4.9 magnitude quake shook Los Angeles. It was centered in the town of Duicapa. On Wednesday, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit off the northern coast, and then on Sunday, there was a 5.6 quake in Southern California, near the town of Anza.

With all of these quakes so close together, the question is, is there something bigger on the horizon?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Kate Hutton is known as the "earthquake lady." She's a seismologist with the California Institute of Technology, and she's in Pasadena this morning.

Kate, nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

KATE HUTTON, SEISMOLOGIST: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: You know four quakes in a week sounds like a really big number to me. Is it a surprise? Is it shocking to you?

HUTTON: Well, it's definitely not shocking. It does happen from time to time. I think in 1980 and in 1986 both California experienced a week that was quite active and had several decent-sized earthquakes, so we've seen it happen before. But it is a little bit off on the statistics. I mean, it's unusual; it doesn't happen all that often.

O'BRIEN: I'm not telling you anything you don't know when I say that people where you are very rattled by all of this activity. Does it signify that there's something bigger to come, when you see this amount of activity?

HUTTON: Well, any time we have any individual earthquake, there's a small chance that it could be a foreshock to something larger. I don't know that we know what to make of quakes popping off in different locations, except that we have seen this happen in the past, and it didn't lead to any extremely large earthquakes. So we're hoping that it's not going to do it this time either.

O'BRIEN: Can one earthquake trigger another? The magnitude of these earthquakes have been, you know, pretty significant.

HUTTON: Well, a large earthquake sends out seismic waves which pass through the surrounding area and can disturb faults, which are about ready to break anyway. And so that would make earthquakes appear to be clumped together in time. In this case, the Anza earthquake and the quakes off northern California seem a bit far geographically from each other to fit that scenario, but this is a question that we have to look into. We have barely had time to look into the data yet, in fact.

O'BRIEN: We've talked about the four earthquakes in California, but there were other ones, as well, one in the Aleutian Islands, one on Monday in Chile, which killed 11 people. Is there any chance that some of the earthquakes that have been happening in California triggered those earthquakes or vice versa?

HUTTON: I think that's something we have to look into. I have to say we don't know the answer to that at this point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, history in Iraq. The first time that since WWII that a female American soldier is given one of the military's highest honors. She's our guest just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

The price of gas may have dipped some in recent weeks, but the cost of crude oil just keeps rising. With that story and a preview of the day's action on Wall Street, Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer. She's had the week off. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Good to see you.

You know, we thought we were out of the woods with oil prices. It's just not the case, rising higher today again to a high close to the high, some $57 a barrel; the all-time high 58. This is the highest in 10 weeks. And the national unleaded average for gas, because you know, eventually this does affect...

O'BRIEN: It catches up to us.

WILLIS: Yes, $2.14 a gallon. Last year this time, $1.96. So you can see prices could be getting stronger. I heard recently that there's an expectation that by certainly the Labor Day weekend, we'll be seeing some higher prices.

O'BRIEN: That is some bad news.

How about the market? What happened yesterday.

WILLIS: Well, yesterday we were up. The market kind of struggling here. It's slow. It's summertime. But you can see we made some gains here, managed to eke out some gains despite some tepid news from the housing industry. Futures are pointing to a higher open today. We'll be following it.

O'BRIEN: All right, we'll take a look. Thanks, Gerri -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, break here in a moment. More to come on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop": First comes love, then comes marriage. After lots of rumors, Tom and Katie get engaged. How Cruise proposed in a moment.

And the runaway bride cashes in. Does crime really pay? That's a bit later on AMERICAN MORNING.

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