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Signs of Coalition Success in Iraq; The Party's Over

Aired October 17, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Wilma has become the 21st named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. The tropical storm formed in the Caribbean and forecasters say it could strengthen into a hurricane and move into the Gulf of Mexico later this week. The threat of additional damage to refineries there is sending crude oil prices higher.
Grief counselors are on hand at Chippewa Falls High School in Wisconsin. The school's director of the marching band, his wife and his granddaughter were among the five people killed when their chartered bus slammed into a jackknifed trail on the interstate. Thirty other people were injured.

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers returns to Capitol Hill today in hopes of winning Senate support. Today she's scheduled to meet with Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer, who both voted against confirming Chief Justice John Roberts.

In Iraq, early results suggest passage of a constitutional draft backed by the White House. Elections workers are slowly tallying some 10 million ballots, and official results could be days away. President Bush has hailed Saturday's election as a major step toward democracy.

Taking on the insurgents by going after them, and those who aid them. A new strategy in Iraq for U.S. forces that's worked better than planned. That straight ahead. A deal announced just this morning is good news for General Motors. Kathleen Hays has the details of what it means for the world's largest automaker and today's business headlines, straight ahead.

Also, turn out the lights. The party is over long before it even starts. The prom is cancelled? For one high school, why the principal compared the party to an orgy.

And a vacation that was out of this world. A man who went to outer space just because he wanted to. We talk to him straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: This just in to CNN. Want to show you a successful rescue just moments ago of a Tampa worker who was apparently stuck in a tank -- we don't know what kind of tank -- at the port there in Tampa. And this is just moments ago. The worker was rescued by firefighters in Tampa. There was a lot of presence on the scene here, as you take a look at some of the surrounding area there and the ships there in port. But we don't know the circumstances under which this worker found himself stuck in this tank.

But we can tell you as the picture moves all over the place here that the worker has been successfully rescued from that tank. And just moments ago, we saw the worker put on the stretcher and being taken probably to a waiting ambulance so that EMS workers can get to work on him and get them to a hospital. But good news out of Tampa. A worker who was stuck is now unstuck from a tank there at the port.

While Iraq's election commission was counting the votes from Saturday's election, U.S. and Iraqi forces were out hunting the insurgency. The U.S. military says an estimated 70 insurgents were killed in airstrikes near the town of Ramadi yesterday. But an Iraqi doctor claims 20 people were killed in one strike, and all were civilians, including six children. Twenty-five more were wounded. The U.S. military says it has no reports of any civilian deaths.

America's fight against Iraqi insurgents comes at considerable human cost. Almost 2,000 U.S. troops killed so far. But as CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports, the Iraqi town of Buhriz may be a case study of future coalition success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAPT. BOB TOON, U.S. ARMY: For awhile we never would even drive down this road because every day we had an IED. We had an IED strike our vehicle.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INT'L CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Captain Bob Toon is on his way to Buhriz, 35 miles north of Baghdad, mostly Sunni and until recently, nothing but trouble for him and his men.

TOON: This is where we've had a lot of major attacks. The helicopter got shot down right over here behind these buildings. We've been engaged with a lot of direct fire.

ROBERTSON: Insurgents were roaming the streets almost freely. No one in the town appeared willing or able to stop them. Then came one attack too many on Captain Toon and his men.

TOON: When it all came together was on the 17th of June when I had a platoon down here that was attacked and I lost some soldiers.

ROBERTSON: It was to be a tipping point, not just for the town, but for Toon, as well.

TOON: When you're getting shot at and your soldiers are dying in these very streets, it will make you waiver from your commitment to the people. And maybe six months ago, I was pretty much at the end of my rope.

ROBERTSON (on camera): At the worst of times, Captain Toon and his men sustained serious attacks on 11 consecutive nights. Now, they say, they haven't had a serious attack in almost two months.

TOON: There is a lot of insurgent activity out here. This is their safe haven, their base of operations. ROBERTSON (voice-over): It was to be here Toon's commanders would strike back, shelling Buhriz's fertile date palm groves, hitting where it really hurts, the town's pocketbook. The farmers quickly got the message.

TOON: Finally, they had had enough, and instead of coming against us and fighting us harder, they realized the culprit of the person -- the people that were causing their families heartache and turmoil were the insurgency that were in this village, and they ran them out.

ROBERTSON: In a town center tea shop, residents, many of whom who have been detained by Toon and his men, are still bitter about the tactics.

"They shelled my date farms," this farmer complains, "and I've had no compensation."

But no one questions the result, that the insurgents have been driven from the town.

"We had had enough," he says. "We wanted a quiet life."

But the battle wasn't just won on the military front. Mayor Hassan, a new police chief and counsel, replaced men tainted by association with insurgents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, I want to say congratulations for such a successful elections yesterday. It was very good.

ROBERTS: Although the mayor wants to talk more about the contents of the constitution than the vote, he readily admits Toon's tactics have changed attitudes, rocketing voter turnout from almost zero in parliamentary elections in January to 85 percent over the weekend.

MAYOR HASSAN ALWAN, BUHRIZ, IRAQ (through translator): The political and religious parties encouraged people to participate, and that resulted in widespread turnout.

ROBERTSON: Toon says he was given a hundred thousand dollars to help put Buhriz back on its feet and, so far, he says, he's spent two million. The kids love him. But the verdict is still out with many adults.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Buhriz, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well now, well now. Claims of prom night debauchery at one high school of sex, drugs, booze, you name it. Some students apparently doing some extreme celebrating. Now the principal has found a way to put an end to the adult activity.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: For generations of American high school students, prom night has been a rite of passage. Some critics say that over the years that right has turned wrong. Now one high school in Uniondale, New York is dumping the tradition, and Jay Burkett (ph) of CNN affiliate WABC has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY BURKETT (ph), WABC REPORTER (voice-over): Barely three weeks into their senior year, students at Kellenberg Memorial High School have already been told there will be no senior prom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it's fair at all. I don't think that we shouldn't be punished for something that we didn't have any part in. Our class had nothing to do with anything that happened last year.

BURKETT: But the school's principal says the prom has gotten out of control, telling parents in a letter, quote, "KMHS is willing to sponsor a prom, but not an orgy. Over the years parents have become more active in creating the prom experience, from personally signing for houses for a three-day drug, sex, alcohol bash to mothers making motel reservations for their sons and daughters for after-prom get- togethers to fathers signing the contract for a booze cruise for an after-prom adventure."

Some have expressed the view that it is better to lose one's virginity and get drunk before going college so that parents are around to help," end quote.

KENNETH HOAGLAND, PRINCIPAL: We're not naive, we're not putting our head in the sand. We're quite aware of the Pandora's Box being open. Our letter simply is saying we're not sponsoring the event that allows all of this to happen.

BURKETT: Kellenberg is a private catholic School with roughly 2,000 students, where a typical senior spend more than $1,000 at prom time.

JACLYN MORRISSEY, SENIOR: Even if it was $1,000, it's not their money; it's our money, and now we're not having a prom because of it. Some parents are already organizing their own prom.

Rob Lawson's dad is one of them.

ROB LAWSON, STUDENT: Once we leave the prom, with all due respect, it's none of their responsibility where we go. Once we leave the prom, where they're chaperoning us, it's our responsibility, it's our parent's responsibility.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, that was M.J. Burkett of CNN affiliate WABC reporting. A successful businessman with money to burn deserved to take a vacation, but Greg Olson took the idea of a trip around the world to the extreme. He went to outerspace. He tells us about his astronaut adventures next.

And you know him as a senator, now hear why Ted Kennedy is getting high praise for what he did along the Massachusetts coast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, they're back. China state television reports that the country's second manned space mission ended successfully. A spacecraft carrying a two-member crew touched down today in the Gobi Desert after five days in orbit around the Earth.

The next goal for China's space program: a space walk by 2007.

Listen to this, space exploration is an expensive business.

In recent years, Russia has been trying to recover some of the costs associated with its space program by taking on paying passengers. American millionaire Gregory Olsen recently became the third such passenger, taking a trip to the International Space Station and back.

And he joins us this morning from New York.

Greg, good to talk to you. Welcome back.

GREGORY OLSEN, SPACE PASSENGER: Oh, thank you. I feel great.

HARRIS: Well, I was going to ask you, did you have a nice flight?

OLSEN: Yes. It was the experience of a lifetime to be able to float around in space and look out at the Earth. I just can't describe how awe inspiring it really is.

HARRIS: No, I need you to describe it. You can't tell me you can't describe it.

Tell me about it. I want to know more.

OLSEN: Well, I'll tell you, when that rocket launched I was the most peaceful, happiest person you can imagine. I had no fears.

My only fear was maybe that I wouldn't get to go, and once I knew I was going, I was happy.

HARRIS: Where did that fear come from that you might not be able to go?

OLSEN: Well, you know, a year ago I had a small medical disqualification. The Russians had very strict medical standards, so, you know, it was kind of a devastating blow to me. And I always had that in the back of my head that maybe something would come up, but I was always very healthy and, you know, I did get approval from the medical boards. My own doctors approved and, you know, I was fit and I was able to do it.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: How tough was the training?

How tough was the training for this?

OLSEN: At least six months. And it was like being back in college again -- classes, physical training.

But I loved it. It was like 30 years ago.

HARRIS: Give us a couple of -- maybe the big and maybe a couple of the small takeaways of this trip for you.

OLSEN: OK.

The big one was that I was able to achieve my goal of getting into space, and the highlight was just floating in air and looking out. Nothing can beat that.

Some of the small things -- when I came back to Earth, I brought my space gloves with me.

HARRIS: What do you have there? Are those the gloves you actually wore?

OLSEN: These are the gloves I actually wore. And yesterday I was with my grandchildren, Justin (ph), Carter (ph) and Danielle (ph), and they were playing with the gloves and that just made me feel great.

HARRIS: Did you get an opportunity to walk around on the International Space Station?

OLSEN: Yes, I did.

You know, it's roughly the width of a tractor trailer and about, you know, four car lengths long, so I would practice just zooming from one end to the other, which was quite a trip in itself.

HARRIS: That's odd. We think of it as being -- I guess from the pictures and everything, we think of it as being bigger than that.

OLSEN: No, no. That's it.

Now, some parts remain to be built, of course. That's why we have the shuttle.

HARRIS: I have to ask you -- when you were making the connection with the students back here on Earth -- I understand you had the capability. I know there was one hook up with the students at Princeton. What were they most interested in learning about your trip?

OLSEN: What it's like to eat, to sleep and the restroom facilities. Those were the big questions.

HARRIS: So what was it like to eat?

OLSEN: Good. It's like a camping trip -- packaged goods.

Sleeping was either the ceiling or the wall -- you take a choice.

And the restrooms were a vacuum hose.

HARRIS: Vacuum hose.

I understand your company makes -- is it cameras and highly sensitive film? Tell us about some of the...

OLSEN: Yes, my company Sensors Unlimited makes a near-infrared camera that can see in the dark. You know, we can see the health of crops by the water content.

But night vision is a big application for the camera.

HARRIS: So were there actually experiments tied to the work that your company does?

OLSEN: Yes.

I had planned to take the Sensors' camera up and unfortunately, we couldn't get approval to do that so I did take a model of the camera up.

HARRIS: So what do you do with this experience now? Do you talk about it to anyone who wants to hear about it?

OLSEN: That's exactly right.

I want to focus on youngsters. I want to talk to as many school groups as I can, especially in inner cities, my home state of New Jersey and New York City. And wherever else they'll listen to me, I'll be there.

HARRIS: Changed your life, didn't it?

OLSEN: It sure is.

HARRIS: Greg Olsen, good to talk to you.

Welcome back.

OLSEN: Thank you. All right.

HARRIS: All right. Thanks.

It is 10:54 here on the East Coast, where residents of New England are hoping the floodwaters will go away, and 7:54 on the West Coast, where the morning commute is getting into gear.

Stay with us. We'll be right back with a quick check of your morning forecast.

Plus, the power of the panda is playing out in Washington, D.C. -- find out what name panda fans have chosen for the National Zoo's new cub.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: After hundreds of thousands of votes and 100 days of waiting, the National Zoo's panda cub finally has a name.

This morning, zoo director John Berry in Vanna White style unveiled the chosen name Tai Shan, which means "peaceful mountain" in Chinese. The 100-day wait to name the panda cubs is Chinese custom. Tai Shan missed the festivities. He stays under the watchful eye of mom and the zoo's closed-circuit cameras. His first public showing could be December at the earliest.

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