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The Situation Room
Pakistan Aftershocks; More IEDs in Iraq; Miers Nomination Opposition; Flooding in New England
Aired October 12, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: It's 5:00 p.m. in Washington. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where we just received news of a strong aftershock in Pakistan.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Also happening right now, it's 5:00 p.m. across the Northeastern U.S., where deadly flooding has claimed at least 10 lives. More rain is hampering efforts to find the missing.
VELSHI: It's 2:00 a.m. Thursday in the South Asia earthquake zone, where we're seeing more amazing rescues, but time is running out for those who are still trapped.
PHILLIPS: And it's 4:00 p.m. in New Orleans, where some suspect conspiracies may be behind the flooding in some of the poorest parts of the city. Director Spike Lee weighs in on the controversy. We'll show you what he has to say.
I'm Kyra Phillips.
VELSHI: And I'm Ali Velshi. Wolf Blitzer is off today. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
PHILLIPS: We'll have more on that earthquake and the aftershocks in just a moment, but first...
VELSHI: A foot of rain in some areas, with more in the forecast. This is the worst flooding in recent memory in parts of the Northeastern United States.
PHILLIPS: The death toll now double-digits, with some victims still missing. CNN's Brian Todd here with the latest. Brian?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Ali, the National Weather Service now attributes at least 10 fatalities in the Northeastern U.S. to flooding, a disaster spawned from nearly unprecedented storms over the past five days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): National Weather Service officials say they haven't seen a one-two punch like this in the Northeastern U.S. in a long time. Two huge storm systems, last weekend and now in midweek, that have dumped at least four inches of rain on most of the region from northern New Jersey to southwestern New Hampshire, with some places getting up to a foot. RON HORWOOD, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: Well, the flooding was extreme in portions of southwestern New Hampshire and bad, as well, on the border of Massachusetts and New York State, in the Berkshires, also southern Vermont, where we had small streams and creeks experience major flash flooding during the past weekend. And that encompassed everything from road closures to actually bridges being washed out.
TODD: New Hampshire emergency management officials say all the major roads in the southwestern portion of that state sustained some damage. One small town in that area was especially hard hit.
MARLENE WADE, FLOOD VICTIM: This was the entrance to our front porch which was all glassed in. And then our house ran to the right of it.
TODD: Marlene Wade talks about the house in Alstead, New Hampshire, that she's lived in for nearly 50 years, much of it swept away in the floodwaters running over from the Cold River. Some houses in Alstead were washed as far as two and a half miles downstream from their foundations.
In northern Massachusetts, the swollen Green River destroyed a trailer park, leaving many people homeless.
In Hackensack, New Jersey, motorists try a maneuver that weather service officials say is especially dangerous. They tell CNN most of the fatalities from these storms occurred when people tried to drive down flooded roads.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Now, weather service officials say the region is not going to get a break. They say the rain has hit again this afternoon and most of that area will continue to get moderate to heavy rainfall until at least Sunday.
Kyra, Ali?
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Brian.
VELSHI: Brian Todd.
Let's go back to Islamabad, Pakistan. Eli Flournoy is on the phone right now, reporting on this aftershock that's been felt in the region that's been so devastated by the earthquakes. Eli?
ELI FLOURNOY, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. Just moments ago, we felt a strong aftershock. We don't know the size of it yet. But it was strong enough here in Islamabad to send people scampering out of the apartment complexes.
I am standing just across from the demolished apartment block, where a rescue effort is still continuing. People in this area, in particular, are already nervous. They came streaming out of the apartments adjacent to that demolished building. And fortunately, there doesn't appear to be any damage here right now, but there is concern about up the north, closer to the epicenter of the original quake. We haven't heard reports from Satinder Bindra, who is up there in the northwest province -- and he felt the aftershock, as well -- we're still waiting for reports of damage.
Ali?
VELSHI: Eli, thanks very much. Eli Flournoy is in Islamabad right now where the aftershocks have been felt.
PHILLIPS: Tom Foreman here with us. More on the aftershock. You've been tracking this, of course.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We can show you exactly where this one is in relation to all the other ones you've seen before. This is a big map of the world, obviously, over in that area. Let's zoom right in to take a look at the area where this just hit.
That's the big fault line we've been talking about. You see all the other yellow ones are all the other ones that hit before, right on the edge of it. That's where this one just hit a short while ago, so you know it's pounding right into that area that's had a lot of problems.
A lot of natural events going on in the world right now. A moment ago, we were talking about flooding over in New Hampshire. I want to jump back over there and show you a little bit about what's going on over there. We're going to fly all the way around the Earth on this part.
The flooding in New Hampshire has really been very unexpected, coming at a terrible time up there. Right now, this is an area where they count on tourists. They have a lot of people coming up to see the fall foliage. It's been very nice up in the White Mountains.
A little bit south, they're just coming into it, and that's where the problem is. Look at what's happening currently. This is the rainfall that's hitting that area right now. So you get an idea of what they're dealing with.
But more importantly, as we move in to get a little tighter look of the area we're talking about, which is southwestern New Hampshire, this is the area that has been pounded by rain. And this was the forecast this morning for what was going to happen over 48 hours.
Look at this. This area over here -- it's a little bit mushy looking here -- but you can see how much rain we're talking about, more than three inches here, where it's white. Up here, still an awful lot of rain, pounding into the areas we're talking about.
Alstead is one of the towns that has been really, really hammered by this.
VELSHI: We were just talking to Chris Huntington who's there right now. FOREMAN: Way station going under the water there.
PHILLIPS: How big? How big is Alstead?
FOREMAN: Not terribly. It's one of those small towns. There's nothing that big in New Hampshire, frankly.
VELSHI: That area is a little spread out, and it's rural.
FOREMAN: A lot of people spread out in that area. And part of what makes the difference through all of this is just up the way, as it always is in flooding. Look at this, the White Mountains up here. You've got terrain with a lot of things feeding into these little rivers, moves down the way, hits these little towns really hard.
VELSHI: All right, Tom, thanks very much. It's unbelievable. Every corner of the world you're looking in right now, there's some pretty amazing images of that flooding that's been posted on the web.
Abbi Tatton is following the story online, our Internet reporter. Abbi, what have you got?
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Ali, back to southwestern New Hampshire, where the flooding really has been quite remarkable. The pictures here from the Valley News, that's a local paper there, but we're finding through this site, the Newseum.org, you can actually scroll all over the country and find what the front-pages are saying all over from different newspapers. That one, again, the Valley News in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Also on Flickr.com, this is a site where individuals can take their own photos and upload them to the Internet and report on what they're seeing. Incredible pictures here from Witkims Mill Road (ph) in Keene in southwestern New Hampshire, where the person blogging here and posting is saying that 12 inches of rain fell in 36 hours. That is what's left of Witkims Mill Road (ph) there.
Elsewhere, the Connecticut River, you can see has suffered intensive flooding there. You see that there's a horse actually going through that. And also the truck in the back with a couple of feet of flooding there. Many, many pictures here at Flickr.com, these from (INAUDIBLE) people using boats as alternative means of transportation in that region of New Hampshire.
Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Abbi, thanks very much. It's unbelievable, those pictures.
We are going back and forth from that and then this other story that we're following in Washington here, religion taking center stage. Of course, this is a flap over Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court.
PHILLIPS: And the White House has been talking up Miers' faith, hoping to make converts out of skeptical conservatives. VELSHI: Now the president is openly talking about that strategy. Here's our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're actually pulling back the curtain of a quiet campaign the White House is fully engaged in, that, of course, pushing forward Harriet Miers, and it also involves highlighting her faith.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Bush defended his administration's campaign to highlight Harriet Miers' religious beliefs to win support from conservatives for his nominee.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers. They want to know Harriet Miers' background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. And part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion.
MALVEAUX: But Mr. Bush insisted Miers' faith was not being used as a litmus test to indicate how she might vote on hot-button social issues, like abortion, gay marriage, and the role of religion.
BUSH: Our outreach program has been just to explain the facts to people.
MALVEAUX: As part of that outreach program, two days before Mr. Bush nominated Miers, his top political adviser, Karl Rove, was quietly lobbying Christian conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, to get his support for Mr. Bush's pick.
Last week, Dobson created a stir when he suggested he had inside information about Miers that led him to back her. In an effort to clear up the mess, Dobson, on his latest radio broadcast, said Rove never discussed Miers' positions on Roe v. Wade or other pending Supreme Court issues.
Instead, he told him...
JAMES DOBSON, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: What we all know now, that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian, that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life.
MALVEAUX: Language some Democrats say sounds a lot like a code to reassure conservatives Miers will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said, "We don't confirm justices of the Supreme Court on a wink and a nod. And a litmus test is no less a litmus test by using whispers and signals."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, the administration's focus on Miers' faith, as well to her qualifications, really underscores the White House concern that Miers' nomination may, in fact, be in trouble.
Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.
Time now for the "Cafferty File." Jack Cafferty in New York with the question for this hour. Jack?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: If she's confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, I'll eat this Time Warner Center one brick at a time. Ain't going to happen.
(LAUGHTER)
Here's some rotten news, if you have to heat your home for the winter. I guess if you're in the Deep South, this won't bother you. But heating your home is going to cost a lot more.
Heating bills for users of natural gas jumped 50 percent this year. To use oil, the tab will be about 30 percent higher. Add to that expectations for a colder-than-normal winter here in the Northeast, and for some low-income families, it could come down to a choice between heat and food.
So the question this hour is this: What won't you be spending your money on so that you can heat your home this winter? CaffertyFile@CNN.com. Drop us a note and let us know what you're going to cut out of the weekly budget in order to stay warm.
PHILLIPS: What are you going to cut out of your budget?
CAFFERTY: I haven't thought about it yet.
VELSHI: Seriously good information, though. Save those e-mails, because this is the biggest question we get when we cover those things, is what do people cut out? And it's hard to know. When it gets this serious, people do have to make choices.
CAFFERTY: Yes, you know what? Actually, in my house, when it comes down to it, I have no votes on these matters. The decisions will be made by a higher power. So whatever is...
PHILLIPS: AKA his wife.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Whatever Mrs. Cafferty -- that's exactly right. So whatever's cut out, I'll report back to you when I'm told what it will be. Probably my shirts or something.
PHILLIPS: All right, soldier. Thanks, Jack.
VELSHI: Much more ahead in THE SITUATION ROOM.
PHILLIPS: Coming up, distrust after Hurricane Katrina. Film director Spike Lee and other African-Americans now sound more skeptical about the future and about their government.
VELSHI: And a top gun in al Qaeda appears to be questioning the tactics of Iraqi insurgents. What might that mean for Iraq and the U.S. mission there?
PHILLIPS: And Syria's president is urging the U.S. to reevaluate the war in Iraq. Next, Christiane Amanpour and her exclusive interview with Bashar Al-Assad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Turning now to a CNN exclusive. Syria's president denies any role in this year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. And he tells the United States to rethink the war in Iraq, saying it's gaining nothing there.
VELSHI: President Bashar Al-Assad spoke exclusively and in English with our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. She joins us now live from Damascus. Christiane?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, it was extraordinary timing, really, for this interview. It's the first major one that he's given in the five years since he came to power. He's made a specific effort to speak in English, because he wanted to reach the American people when he talked.
And he also talked to us just before it was announced that one of the top Syrian officials here, the interior minister, Ghazi Kanaan, had apparently committed suicide, apparently shot himself in the mouth today and was taken to hospital, but he died at the hospital.
Now, Ghazi Kanaan had been questioned by the U.N. special investigators investigating the death of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
During our interview, we had talked to President Bashar Al-Assad about that, and that the report is coming out October 25. Informed sources saying that Syria will probably be implicated.
Bashar Al-Assad was very strongly denying any Syrian link, but did say that if there were any Syrians implicated with any substantial evidence, then they would be considered traitors and that they would have to be dealt with harshly. Either, he said, he would turn them over to an international tribunal for trial or, indeed, they would be punished here in Syria.
He also, obviously, was speaking about the United States, given that this is an extremely tense point between the U.S. and Syria, a tense point in time because the United States blames Syria for not doing enough to stop Iraqi insurgents going across the Syrian border into Iraq.
We asked him why he couldn't stop that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA: I wouldn't say this is true. It's completely wrong. You have many aspects of the problem.
The first aspect is no country can control his border completely. An example is the border between the United States and Mexico. And many Americans officials told me we cannot control our border with Mexico, but in the end, what they end up saying, you should control your border with Iraq.
This is impossible. And I told Mr. Powell that from the first time we met after the war. I told him, it's impossible to control the border. And we asked for some technical support.
But we did many steps to control our border, as I said, not completely, but we did many steps. And we would like to invite any delegation from the world or from the United States to come and see our borders to see the steps that we took and to look at the other side to see nothing. There's nobody on the other side, American or Iraqi.
AMANPOUR: And yet, everybody I talk to, even commanders on the ground in Iraq, say that the bulk of the foreign insurgents, or the Iraqi insurgents, are coming from Syria. Why can't your forces go house to house? Why can't you actively stop this, close it down?
ASSAD: As I said, it's impossible for any country to stop it. But many officials said the number is between 1,000 and 3,000 insurgents, as they call them, or terrorists. The terrorists in Iraq is the reason, not the border.
We should be very frank about this. The problem is political, not the border with Syria. When you have chaos, it's a tide pool for terrorists. This is the problem.
AMANPOUR: Do you agree that it's a bad thing? Would you like to see the insurgency stopped?
ASSAD: Regardless what the United States wants, our interest as Syria is to have stable Iraq. And when you have the insurgency or terrorism or anything like this, you will have more chaos. When you have more chaos, you will have fragmented Iraq. That means affecting Syria directly. This is contagious.
So, from our point of view, we should help the Iraqis being stable. But they must be -- we should differentiate between insurgency and the Iraqis who fight against the American and British troops.
This is something different. I'm talking about the people who killed the Iraqis, those who -- we call them terrorists. We are against them completely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Syria says that it stopped its intelligence cooperation with the United States some months ago because the United States, it says, keeps bashing President Assad. But when we asked would they start again, President Assad said yes, in fact, they tried through a third party, he said, but so far those efforts have been met with silence from the United States.
Back to you. VELSHI: Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour with that exclusive English-language interview with Syria's president, Bashar Al-Assad. Christiane, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Now, coming up, back to New Orleans. Residents return to the city's hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward. But they're under orders to look and leave. The homecomings and the hardship, straight ahead.
VELSHI: And rescued from the rubble of the Asia earthquake. Each survivor's story is unique. And luckily, there is another one to tell of the little girl in the red dress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): The latest trend these days is to find your own trend and share it on the Web.
JEREMY CAPLAN, REPORTER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: TrendWatching.com has assembled a network of 7,000 trend spotters. These are people in Dubai, in Turkey, in South Africa, South Korea, who are monitoring what's cool in their area and their neighborhood.
PHILLIPS: It's called cool-hunting, a worldwide trendsetting effort that's exploding on-line, made possible by everything from blogs to BlackBerries.
CAPLAN: One company created a product called a pizza in a cone which allows them to serve pizza on the run even faster than traditional pizza. And they've taken that from a European concept and made it into an American concept.
PHILLIPS: Caplan says people ages 17 to 70 are out there spotting trends and following them, too.
CAPLAN: People want to know what's new and what's next. They want to know what people are wearing, what people are talking about, what's hot around them, and what's hot elsewhere in the world.
PHILLIPS: But even if you're not surfing the Web to find out what's hip...
CAPLAN: You're going to find new flavors of Coke in your store. You're going to find new types of sneakers. You're going to find new types of music, showing off -- based on what's cool around the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, last weekend's videotaped police beating of a 64- year-old New Orleans man is boiling down to he said-they said. An attorney for the three suspended officers today defended their actions. Meanwhile, the man they subpoenaed had a court appearance.
CNN's Lisa Sylvester is in New Orleans with the latest. Lisa? LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. Now, the officers say Robert Davis that evening was quite intoxicated, that he was stumbling around, screaming profanities at the officers, and that the cameras caught only one side of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK DESALVO, OFFICERS' ATTORNEY: What are they supposed to do when somebody resists arrest tomorrow? Just say, OK, you can go? What happens when somebody doesn't want to cuffed? Do they say, OK, you can go?
I mean, this leaves them in the burden of not knowing what to do or how to do it, because there might be some cameras around that will catch a snapshot of what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SYLVESTER: And Davis appeared in court today. He denies that he was drinking that evening. As a matter of fact, he says that he gave up drinking 25 years ago.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Lisa Sylvester, live from New Orleans. We'll stay on the case, follow up with you. Thank you so much.
Meanwhile, from New Orleans to Alabama, efforts to bring the battered Gulf Coast back to life are taking shape.
Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen has been a guiding force in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina and, later, Hurricane Rita. He joins us now live from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to talk about the progress of rebuilding efforts and his public service announcement designed to spur them along. Sir, great to see you.
VICE ADM. THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD: Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's not waste any time. Let's roll the PSA and talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: I'm Vice Admiral Thad Allen. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have devastated our Gulf Coast. In many areas, like the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where I am today, the areas will be uninhabitable for many years.
If you have been displaced by hurricanes and are living in a shelter, there are better temporary housing options available to you and your family. Here's what to do.
ANNOUNCER: If you are already registered with FEMA, call the help line at 1-800-621-FEMA and tell them you need temporary housing. Or you can visit any FEMA disaster recovery center for assistance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Sir, I can't remember any military leader like yourself doing something like this. It's unprecedented. But so is what we've see happen in the United States. Why did you do this?
ALLEN: Well, Kyra, we've gotten to a point where we have a lot of people that were disbursed over a very large area after they evacuated from New Orleans that maybe don't know what the condition of their neighborhood is and what the final solution for their housing is going to be.
And there's a limit to how long you can ask people to stay in emergency evacuation shelters or hotel rooms. And we've decided to go out and try and locate these people based on the demographic information we have and give them the choices they have for housing and try and make sure we can get them out of the evacuation shelters and out of hotel rooms.
PHILLIPS: Well, and I know you speak straight from the heart, and that these individuals have made quite an impact from you. And I'm guessing that's why the PSA and also why you spend so much time at various shelters.
I want to talk about the Cornerstone Shelter in Zachary, Louisiana. You've gone there a number of times. Tell me why you were so touched by the people at this shelter?
ALLEN: Kyra, the Cornerstone Church is an extraordinary example of how a faith-based organization can really add value in a time when families are really being stressed.
These folks, Brother Charlie Watts, and Rocky, and Jodi, the set that are running the church, literally opened the doors to a church that was under construction -- they hadn't even finished it -- and converted it into a dormitory.
They brought families in. They got the kids in schools. They found jobs for the adults. They established living conditions that would be as close to being a family as you can in a dormitory setting. And it just was an extraordinary, extraordinary operation. I was blessed to be able to visit it.
PHILLIPS: Well, and just seeing the way the kids responded to you -- I'm curious what this little girl was whispering in your ear, Admiral.
ALLEN: They were whispering lots of things. Actually, they were happy to see me once the candy came out.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I noticed you passed out the Tootsie Rolls. Well, sir...
ALLEN: I got them wired on sugar and then we left.
(LAUGHTER) PHILLIPS: I bet the parents were real happy about that. In addition to getting everyone out of the shelters -- we're talking 273,000 people that were in shelters. Now it's just under 23,000.
Do you think you're going to make the deadline that the president has set for you? I believe it's October 15, not far away.
ALLEN: Well, the president mentioned the middle of October. The real goal here is to get the folks out of shelters and get them into a transition housing situation that will allow them to be able to plan their future and where they ultimately want to be. And I think we're going to get there fairly quickly. And I'm confident of that, given the fact that we've been able to reduce this population by 90 percent since the 8th of September.
PHILLIPS: Well, we have witnessed what you've done within the Coast Guard. We've also witnesses what has come out of U.S. Northern Command and Admiral Keating running that operation there.
Now, Northern Command talking about this proposal to organize a specially trained and equipped active duty force for quick response. Do you think that's a good idea?
ALLEN: Well, I think there's no doubt about it that the DOD forces, especially after Hurricane Rita when they went into southwest Louisiana, were able to create a permissive environment for first responders to operate in and for FEMA to come in and provide the services they do quicker than could have been done if they had not been there.
DOD comes in with command and control capability. In this case, they brought in high-water vehicles General Honore forward-deployed to Lafayette and into Lake Charles and down to Cameron. And that would be an extraordinary operation for anybody but the military to do, so it adds immense value.
PHILLIPS: Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, it's always a pleasure and an honor to talk to you, sir. I admire what you're doing.
ALLEN: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, coming up, in an al Qaeda appeal. Is Osama bin Laden's terror network finally figuring out that beheadings are bad P.R.? Well, a letter between leaders says al Qaeda's battle must also be fought in the media.
And U.S. troops face deadlier devices in Iraq. We'll tell you how technology is making those roadside bombs much more lethal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: This just in to CNN, an explosion at a meat-packing plant in Missouri. Let's go straight to CNN's Zain Verjee in Atlanta. Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're getting some information, Ali. It happened at a meat-packing plant called Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, Missouri. One person airlifted out. Local affiliates are reporting that there may be as many as 25 injuries. The facility itself is about 60,000 square feet. There, you can see people standing there and -- and signs of -- of destruction, because of the explosion.
We don't know what the cause of this explosion could be. We are, though, looking at this building. It's not quite clear what it is. But ordinarily, most meat-packing plants will have slaughterhouses, ice houses, outbuildings and, most likely, will operate with things like meat-cutting and processing of -- of beef, and pork, and other meat processing, in their operations.
Again, an explosion at this meat-packing plant in St. Joseph, Missouri.
VELSHI: All right, Zain, thanks. We will keep an eye on that, Zain Verjee in Atlanta.
On to a different story. Al Qaeda might be looking for a little more mass appeal. U.S. officials have released a letter which they say was sent from the terror network's number two man to its leader in Iraq.
PHILLIPS: Now, that letter suggests that the savage actions of Iraqi insurgents will not win al Qaeda many friends.
Let's turn to our national security correspondent, David Ensor, for more. David?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And, Kyra, the letter also reveals a growing division among al Qaeda leaders over tactics and media strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): "We are in a battle," says Ayman al-Zawahri in his letter to al Qaeda's commander in Iraq. "More than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media."
"We're not winning that media battle," Zawahri suggests to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "because you are horrifying ordinary Muslims by beheading hostages on camera and by attacking Shiite Muslims, even outside their mosques."
Many analysts agree.
MURHAF JOUEJATI, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Clearly, Zarqawi is the man in control. And, so, it remains to be seen whether he will take that counsel from Zawahri into consideration or whether he will continue being foolhardy.
ENSOR (on camera): That's what it is, you think?
JOUEJATI: I think so, because, again, if we are to place ourselves into the position of al Qaeda and its supporters, it would not make sense to divide Islamic ranks and, certainly, to divide, fragment -- force a fragmentation of Iraq along sectarian lines. ENSOR (voice-over): Writing about car bombs killing innocent Shiites, Zawahri says: "My opinion is that this matter won't be acceptable to the Muslim populace, however much you have tried to explain it. And this aversion will continue."
"Attacking Shiites is not helping," he says, "in the race for Muslim hearts and minds."
ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: This isn't a question of hearts and minds. It's a question of -- of -- of -- of bodies and gore, quite frankly, meaning that this is a network and this is a -- a confederacy of evil that will stop at nothing to advance its radical agenda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: Except that al Qaeda, it appears, is now a network divided over tactics and media tragedy. U.S. intelligence officials are looking for ways to capitalize on that division.
Kyra, Ali.
PHILLIPS: David, what's this announcement concerning CIA Director Porter Goss?
ENSOR: We're hearing from our sources, Kyra, that tomorrow, it will be announced that Porter Goss is being made national HUMINT manager. That puts him in charge of how human intelligence is gathered by everyone in the U.S. government. That includes the Pentagon, not just the CIA. And there will be a national clandestine service set up within the CIA -- so, changes in intelligence tomorrow, we are told.
PHILLIPS: All right. We will follow it. David, thanks.
Well, you can check out that letter from Ayman al-Zawahri yourself on the Web.
VELSHI: Our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner, is checking the situation online. Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys. Yes, you can find that letter in its entirety from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That's at DNI.gov. This was a position that was created at the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. And the first director is John Negroponte, who was sworn in on April 21 of this year. This is what the Web site looks like right now. It's not very fancy and there's not much on it. Again, this is a new position.
But you can see the letter and you can download that. It's actually a PDF file. And it's -- it has not been edited in any way. You can get it in Arabic or in English.
Guys.
VELSHI: All right, Jacki. Thanks so much, Jacki Schechner. Well, the military calls them improvised explosive devices. Now new technology is making those roadside bombs a lot more lethal for U.S. forces in Iraq.
PHILLIPS: Let's turn to Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr for more on the dangerous threat. Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, it's a new, deadly sign that the insurgency in Iraq is far from over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Military sources tell CNN that coalition forces in Iraq have found a new type of improvised explosive device, an IED that for the first time, combines two deadly technologies aimed at maximum destruction, a disturbing advance in the bombs that have killed hundreds of U.S. troops.
Military sources confirmed to CNN, the unexploded bomb had an armor-penetrating capability and an infrared laser detonator. The bomb had a metal cap charge specifically designed to penetrate armored vehicles. The infrared detonator was much like the electronic eye on a garage door system. The first object that breaks the beam, the bomb explodes A senior U.S. military commander tells CNN that infrared, or I.R., detonators now are the toughest type of roadside bomb for coalition troops to find.
BRIGADIER GENERAL CARTER HAM, UNITED STATES ARMY: We are seeing greater degrees of sophistication, different techniques, different -- different technological approaches. And -- and that's a great challenge for us.
STARR: And U.S. officials believe, Iranian-backed terrorist groups are behind this development.
Insurgent capabilities clearly have grown from the initial months when IEDs mainly consisted of old Iraqi army ordnance.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN VINES, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL CORPS IRAQ: Their tactics have become more sophisticated, in some cases, to be sure. And so, that is -- that is, again, terrorism, enabled by some limited military capacity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: So, improvised explosive devices may no longer be all that improvised.
Kyra, Ali.
VELSHI: Barbara, thanks very much. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
PHILLIPS: Well, Lou Dobbs getting ready for his show at the top of the hour. Hey, Lou, what are you working on?
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra, thank you very much. Ali. At 6:00 p.m. Eastern tonight here on CNN, torrential rain and floods soaking the Northeast. Ten people have died. The storms are far from over. We will have the latest for you.
Also, how dirty hospitals in this country actually could help spread the deadly avian flu, should it arrive. We will have that shocking report at 6:00.
And "The West Wing" takes on some of the most important issues facing this country, such as our escalating immigrant crisis and unfair trade, issues that the real people in Washington often lack the courage to tackle. "The West Wing"'s executive producer is our special guest tonight.
Please join us for all of that and more at the top of the hour. Now back to you.
VELSHI: All right. Still to come, is everyone welcome to return to New Orleans? When the levees opened, wounds were opened among some African-American residents of the city. And even outsiders like filmmaker Spike Lee are signing on to a conspiracy theory.
PHILLIPS: And rescued from the rubble. A little girl's story of survival brings a measure of hope to Pakistanis surrounded by death and destruction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Continuing to follow a number of developing stories.
From overseas at the...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: The aftershocks.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
VELSHI: We are following New Hampshire. And we are following this explosion in Missouri.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Let's go...
PHILLIPS: Zain.
VELSHI: ... back to...
PHILLIPS: Zain -- Zain working it.
VELSHI: ... Zain.
PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee.
(CROSSTALK) PHILLIPS: I know. It's happening at the last minute. You got the notes. There, you got...
VERJEE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: I know. You have got the latest AP wire there.
VERJEE: Yes. Yes. Yes. I do. You know, it's been days since the powerful earthquake that rocked South Asia. And really, what we want to do right now is focus on one little girl who is a survivor. She survived such an ordeal that no adult should even endure, let alone a 5-year-old, trapped in the rubble of her collapsed home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (voice-over): Safe in her uncle's arms and wearing a pretty new red dress, it's hard to believe that, just hours ago, 5- year-old Zarabe Shah was entombed, trapped in the stairwell of her family's collapsed home in hard-hit Muzzafarabad in Pakistani- controlled Kashmir.
She spent about 100 hours there alone, frightened and presumed dead. On Tuesday, neighbors recovered the bodies of her father and her two sisters. Her distraught mother gave up hope for Shah and left their devastated town.
Then, today, a Russian team, using high-tech gear, detected the girl. And after a tense and intensive effort, she was pulled from the rubble. Now she's in this squalid camp, with other survivors. She says she doesn't remember much about her ordeal, only that she was scared and unable to sleep. She has not been told what became of the rest of her family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Zarabe's ordeal is harrowing, but it's not unheard of. Experts say that people trapped in similar conditions can actually live up to seven days. And that's adding to the sense of urgency, as crews from the around the world continue to search for survivors.
Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And we have seen a lot of those people survive, too -- Becky Anderson bringing us some...
VELSHI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... pretty amazing stories.
VELSHI: Yes. Zain, good to see you. Thank you.
Just ahead, huge heating bills. The government has warned that it's going to cost you a bundle to keep your home warm. So, we are asking what you won't be spending money on this winter. We will read your e-mail when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Jack Cafferty has been going through your e- mail on the question of the hour.
PHILLIPS: He joins us once again, live from New York. Jack.
CAFFERTY: How you doing? I can't see you guys. I'm looking at the HEADLINE NEWS monitor. But I will assume that we're there.
Heating bills for users of natural gas will likely jump about 50 percent this winter. For those who use oil, the tab will jump 30 percent.
So, the question is, what won't you be spending your money on, so you can heat your home this coming winter?
D. in Crooksville, Ohio: "Our jobs are not paying anywhere near what we need to get by. The price of everything is skyrocketing. And I'm betting I'm not the only one who hasn't seen a substantial raise in a long time. But we will keep getting by like we always do, with the rallying cry of the middle and lower class: Charge it. Who needs to cut back on spending? I just have a budget deficit."
Stan in Champaign, Illinois: "Vacations, fast food, movies, toys. Hell, Jack, I'm not buying anything but the essentials, food, shelter and bills. I will be -- it will be a great capitalist utopia here in the States, when all we can afford is health care and a warm box to live in."
Matt in Amherst, New Hampshire: "Looks like I won't be able to swing those regular donations to the Republican Party anymore."
Victor in Las Vegas: "I'm fortunate enough to live in a location that doesn't get bitterly cold in the winter. But I plan on putting my thermostat on 50 degrees at night and getting closer to my wife, while, at the same time, not ending up with any additional children."
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: And C. writes...
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Settle down, Kyra.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: C. writes...
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: I have got one more. C. writes: "It might be my cable service if the questions don't get any better."
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Those are cute.
PHILLIPS: Oh.
CAFFERTY: I don't know who the guy on HEADLINE NEWS is, but he looks good here in New York City.
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: That's what I'm looking at.
PHILLIPS: Sorry about that, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I -- someone -- someone was messing with the -- kind of like your Web site. They were messing with your monitors. We apologize.
CAFFERTY: All right. Talk to you later.
VELSHI: All right.
PHILLIPS: Bye-bye.
VELSHI: Cable. Boy, we don't want people giving that up...
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: ... for their heating bills.
PHILLIPS: Well, up next -- it's OK to cuddle up next to, you know, your spouse.
VELSHI: That was the best...
PHILLIPS: You know?
VELSHI: ... answer we have had to a question in a long time.
CNN is helping hurricane victims rebuild their lives by getting new jobs. Wait until you hear about the responses we have been getting.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: With the style of a warrior queen, Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister in 1979. The "Iron Lady" restored Britain's clout in the world with her own brand of popular capitalism, termed Thatcherism, and some powerful trends.
Thatcher went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands and won. And she broke the power of Britain's trades unions. She won three elections, but was ousted by her party in 1990, but didn't go quietly.
BARONESS MARGARET THATCHER, FMR. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: When the right honorable gentleman's windy rhetoric has blown away...
(LAUGHTER)
THATCHER: I'm enjoying this.
(LAUGHTER)
ANNOUNCER: Thatcher retired from Parliament in 1992 and was given the title baroness. But politics remained her passion.
She retired from public speaking in 2002. Her life took a sad turn. Her husband, Denis, died in 2003. And her son Mark has faced court proceedings in South Africa over his alleged part in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea.
Thatcher turns 80 years old this year, and still has the spirit of a battling politician, whose style of negotiation made hand-bagging a verb.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Now, there is a growing feeling among African-Americans from New Orleans that they're not being welcomed back. Conspiracy theories abound, including one that some areas were flooded intentionally to drive out blacks.
VELSHI: Now, there's no evidence to support this. But it is an example of the deep distrust of the government among black Americans. That includes director Spike Lee.
Mary Snow is in New York. She has got more on this. Hey, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali. Well, Spike Lee is adding his voice to those who are raising questions about the role of race and class in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, it's being called look and leave. Some in this community, though, are questioning whether there is an attempt to force them to leave for good. Those who have been displaced from New Orleans believe there is a sinister attempt to get rid of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody knows the Ninth Ward is one of the poorest parts of the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just poor black people they want to get rid of.
SNOW: Director Spike Lee says the mistrust grew with the government's slow response to hurricane victims. And he believes race played a part.
SPIKE LEE, MOVIE DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: If you live in Harlem and you live on Park Avenue and you dial 911, which address are the cops going to come to first?
SNOW: Like his films in the past which dealt with racial tensions, Lee plans to address them once again in a documentary he's working on called "When the Levee Broke."
One of the topics he plans to explore is the Industrial Canal Levee. When it failed during Hurricane Katrina, it devoured the Ninth Ward. Some believe the floods were the result of sabotage. While there is no evidence to support that, Lee believes the New Orleanians who think the levee was purposely breached.
LEE: They believe that, in order to save some other neighborhoods, they had to open up the levee in this ward. I believe that.
SNOW (on camera): You believe that?
LEE: Yes. I believe that.
SNOW (voice-over): Do you think it's farfetched, I ask?
LEE: I believe that. I don't think it's farfetched.
SNOW: And when I asked who is behind it...
LEE: It doesn't matter who did it, but it's being done.
SNOW: To that charge of deliberately causing floods, the Army Corps of Engineers, in charge of the levee, says -- quote -- "Absolutely not, unequivocally, absolutely not."
Engineers point out that a total of three levees in New Orleans failed and flooded other parts of the city besides the Ninth Ward. Asked about efforts documented by historian to deliberately damage a New Orleans levee in 1927, at the time of the Great Mississippi Flood, the Army Corps of Engineers says: "This may have happened back then. But there is no way we would do something like that today."
But what has been exposed is a level of mistrust among blacks, even documented in the national comic strip "Boondocks."
The Reverend Jesse Jackson does not believe the theory of the levee being deliberately sabotaged, but he says he can understand the feeling of distrust among blacks.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, FOUNDER, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: There is some basis -- some basis for distrust. SNOW: He points out that similar suspicions were triggered by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. And he says Katrina's devastation has reopened deep wounds.
JACKSON: There is a lot of evidence that the impact of -- of racial discrimination has very violent -- violent and devastating effects upon black people. And I think that's what happened when Katrina kind of washed away the facade.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Now, we spoke with one councilwoman from the Lower Ninth Ward who does not believe the levee that flooded in her district was intentional. But she says, beyond the physical damage, one of the biggest challenges lying ahead is going to be dealing with the disconnect that prompted people to be suspicious -- suspicious of the government in the first place.
Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Mary, thanks very much. Mary Snow in New York.
Now, whatever the -- whatever the cause of it, one thing we know for sure is that many hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast still need so much. Chief among the things that they need are jobs.
CNN is trying to help.
Paula Zahn joins us now from New York with an update on her new series this week called "My New Life."
Hello, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Ali. Hi, Kyra.
And, Ali, as you know, because you have been a part of this series, it's just been overwhelming to see what kind of response we have gotten from all of you out there to this week's series, "My New Life."
We're actually doing an experiment. And what we are trying to do is match people who lost their jobs because of the hurricanes with members of our viewing audience out there who have job openings.
And here's just one example of the response.
Ricky Liggins, the musician we met last night, has actually gotten a phone call asking if he would be interested in singing the national anthem before one of the New Orleans Saints football games. And he and three others we featured have gotten calls and e-mails from around the country, people who want to talk to them seriously about jobs. It's great.
VELSHI: Paula, tonight's job seekers, you're going to have another couple of them on?
ZAHN: Yes. And -- and different kind of experiences than the folks we have profiled over the last couple nights.
Tonight, we are going to meet a woman with almost -- has 20 years of experience in marketing. Her job at a New Orleans ad agency simply went away, because, after Hurricane Katrina, the city's businesses weren't even open, let alone doing any advertising at all.
And then I am going to introduce you to a 56-year-old welder who lost his daughter, tragically, to breast cancer earlier this year. He and his wife are in the process of raising her three young children. Then, after Katrina, they lost their home and he lost his job.
And I'm hoping that someone out there that hears either one of these stories tonight can help out. Every single night, we seem to have been able to match up the job seeker with many, many employers.
VELSHI: Nice work. I will see you on your show tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
ZAHN: I will be there.
VELSHI: Paula Zahn in New York.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks, you two.
PHILLIPS: We can't get enough of that panda-cam, can we?
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: No, I love it.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: I love it. We have got a camera on...
PHILLIPS: Perfect way...
VELSHI: ... this panda.
PHILLIPS: ... to wrap up the hour.
VELSHI: Jacki.
SCHECHNER: So girlie on this one, but how cute is this? This is the panda-cam from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. You can get this yourself online at nationalzoo.si.edu.
Now, the panda is sleeping right now. But I have to say, we have been watching it eat for the past hour or so. And we are guessing it's now in a food coma, because it really just laid down, put its paw over its eyes and started to nap.
But you can check this online: nationalzoo.si.edu.
PHILLIPS: Thanks... (CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Jacki.
PHILLIPS: ... Jacki.
VELSHI: We are in THE SITUATION ROOM every weekday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
I'm Ali Velshi.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips.
LOU DOBBS starts right now.
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