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The Situation Room

Balloon Mishap in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; Bombings in Iraq

Aired November 24, 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: Well, it's 5:00 p.m. in Washington, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information from around the world arrive at one place at the same time.
Happening now, it's 5:00 p.m. in New York, where an accident has marred a holiday tradition once again. Two people hurt at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We're going to show you what happened.

It's 1:00 a.m. Friday in Iraq, where a hospital was the target of a suicide car bomb as U.S. troops marked another holiday away from home.

And it's 5:00 p.m. in Colombia, where a slumbering giant has roared to life. A 14,000-foot volcano spewing spoke and ash high in the sky. We'll get an update.

I'm Ali Velshi, in for Wolf Blitzer. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

At the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the main attractions were the colorful floats and comical clowns, but that is until the accident happened, a balloon mishap that broke up the fun with some misfortune.

Let's get the details from CNN's Mary Snow -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, hospital officials here in New York say two sisters have been treated and released from the hospital. And the mayor of New York is saying the city is thankful that no one else was seriously hurt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hit that light post.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What, this balloon?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hit that light post.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody got hit.

SNOW (voice over): This video shot by a spectator is now something the city plans to examine to find out why a rope from the 500-pound M&M balloon got caught on a lamppost. The top part of the lamppost toppled on two sisters visiting from Albany. One is 26 and uses a wheelchair. Officials say she received six stitches after being hit on the head, and that her 11-year-old sister suffered minor abrasions.

CINDY SCHREIBMAN, PARADE EYEWITNESS: You could hear, "Oh, my goodness. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe it. It happened again. It happened again." So there was a lot of commotion along the parade route.

SNOW: The accident was reminiscent of one in 1997, when a balloon toppled a lamppost and injured four people, including a woman who was left permanently brain damaged. The following year, the city and Macy's, which organizes the parade, came up with new safety guidelines. Part of them included lampposts redesigned so that this kind of accident won't happen.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK: You take a look at most light poles, they go out into the street. This was designed to run parallel to the street so nothing would catch on it. And we'll have to take a look and see whether in retrospect that was the right decision that was made back then.

SNOW: Macy's says there were 62 people handling the M&M balloon and that all but four worked in previous parades. Only team leaders are required to go through training before the day of the parade. Handlers do not. But Macy's says that didn't play a part.

ROBYN HALL, EXEC. PRODUCER, MACY'S: The experience definitely didn't play a part. Weather played a part. We have to analyze it before we can say.

SNOW: Winds, say officials, were also within the range of what is considered safe for these parade balloons to fly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: And the mayor says that the city will be taking a look not only at those videotapes, but also still photographs to investigate and see if anything needs to be changed for next year's parade -- Ali.

VELSHI: I recently read a book, Mary, about all the things you don't think about, particularly in New York City, about how things are designed. And then we heard Mayor Bloomberg talking about the lampposts.

Any speculation about now? Do they think about changing the lampposts? Over your left shoulder, for instance, I think people can see there's a traffic signal light that goes way out into the middle of the street. That's the kind of thing they were trying to avoid.

Some talk about changing the lampposts again?

SNOW: Well, the mayor said that the city will look to see if any of these procedures, including those lampposts, need to be changed. And those lampposts were specifically designed so that this would not happen, that a rope wouldn't get caught on that.

There are a number of guidelines that came out in 1998, after that last accident. Everyone had been worried about weather today. But weather, while there were some wind gusts here, weather did not seem to be the main culprit. That lamppost is what they're focusing in on.

VELSHI: All right. Mary, good to see you. Thanks so much.

Mary Snow in New York.

Well, my next guest actually shot that video of the balloon accident that Mary had in her story at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Andrew Pakula joins me on the phone now. He's back across the river in Paramus, New Jersey.

Andrew, are you with us?

ANDREW PAKULA, SHOT VIDEO OF PARADE MISHAP: Yes, I am.

VELSHI: All right. Where were you -- where were you taking that video from? You were somewhere right around Times Square, obviously. Around 43rd Street?

It was 1500 Broadway, in my wife's offices. She works for "Essence Magazine," which is a Time Inc. company.

VELSHI: Yes.

PAKULA: And I was just filming the parade. And we were right in front of the lamppost, about six floors up. And we saw the balloon kind of move towards the west side of the street. And obviously we were a little bit blocked by the action, but we saw a lot of the police officers and emergency officers run over to that area.

And as the balloon cleared, we then were able to actually see through the video camera that the lamppost had fallen.

VELSHI: What was your reaction, then? Because I heard on the video -- it may have been -- it may have been your wife saying something happened again, or it happened again?

PAKULA: Yes. I mean, we were -- at first, we couldn't see what happened because we were blocked by the balloon itself. And, you know, when we saw all the police rushing over, we heard some screaming, we had no idea that it would be that. We thought it may have been something else.

And as the balloon careered, we noticed that the lamp was not on the lamppost and saw that it was on the ground. And immediately figured out that the balloon, obviously, was blown into the lamppost. And somehow that lamp fell.

VELSHI: Andrew, Mary Snow just reported that the two people who were hit, were injured, have been released from the hospital, which is actually kind of fascinating when we see your video of the size of the lamp and the thing that has fallen into the street.

When you saw that, did you get some sense that this could have been very serious? PAKULA: Oh, absolutely. I mean, when you took it -- you know, we focused in on the lamp itself, and it was pretty big. I mean, it was like the size of a beer keg.

And we were just, you know, hoping that no one was really seriously hurt. But we couldn't tell. When we were able to zoom in, we did notice that the woman who was laying on the ground, her eyes were open. So that was a good sign.

But, yes, I mean, we were expecting the worst out of that.

VELSHI: Andrew, one of the things that's interesting is, in the time that it took for the balloon to clear, there were already emergency workers on the scene. It was pretty fast.

What was the crowd like? Did anybody seem to be getting into a panic? Or were they on it pretty quickly?

PAKULA: You know, you've got to realize that we were six floors up. So we had a bird's eye view of this. And when you're on the ground level, I'm sure you really can't see a lot of what is happening.

But what we really noticed was, as soon as it happened, I guess there were a lot of police and emergency personnel in the area. They just rushed over.

There had to have been at least 10 or 20 uniformed officers that ran over, which is what made us suspicious at first that something was going on. And from what we were -- what we were able to gather is, a lot of people really did know what was going on.

And you can tell by the crowd. And it wasn't only until they started moving people away from that area that we were noticing that the rest of the crowd was noticing that something was going on.

VELSHI: Andrew, good to talk to you. Thank you for joining us.

Andrew Pakula, who shot that video that you're looking at now, joining us on the phone.

Now, what role might weather have played in the accident at the parade? Let's go back to CNN Center. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider, who has been watching elsewhere around the country this Thanksgiving -- Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Now to Iraq. A hospital near Baghdad the target of the latest insurgent attacks. U.S. military and Iraqi police say that a suicide car bomber killed as many as 30 people and injured dozens more.

Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson has the latest for us from the Iraqi capital.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that attack in Mahmoudiya coming just before lunchtime, just when a small U.S. patrol, a Civil Affairs unit, had gone to the hospital to make assessments on what the hospital need. According to the U.S. military, four soldiers injured in that blast.

What happened, a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives up to the security perimeter of the hospital, wasn't able to get past that, detonated the explosives. Thirty people killed, 23 injured. Most of them, according to Iraqi police, were civilians

Not clear what the target was. But it does seem to have been timed to coincide with that small U.S. military patrol arriving at the hospital.

Another attack occurring a little further south in the town of Hilla, much later in the day. This attack in a crowded marketplace. A car bomb went off. Three killed, 13 wounded.

Again, not clear the target. But that bombing very, very close to the police station in that town. And in Baghdad today, four targeted assassinations, shoot to kill of policemen and Iraqi army officers.

Back to you, Ali.

VELSHI: Nic Robertson in Baghdad.

While Americans give pause to give thanks, U.S. troops in Iraq find themselves on the job and far from home on this holiday, but they are celebrating as best they can.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is embedded with troops in central Iraq. We have been asked not to disclose their exact location, but Aneesh joins us now -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, good afternoon.

We're just south of the capital in the northern part of Babil province. And it is Thanksgiving Day back at home, but as Nic reported, throughout Iraq the fight continues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (voice over): In a war, when you can't get home for the holidays, the holidays come to you. Which means for Thanksgiving Day, there's plenty of turkey in Iraq, all part of keeping up morale, at a time when U.S. troops miss home the most.

1ST LT. ASHLEY JOHNSON, U.S. ARMY: It is under difficult circumstances. But my platoon here is my family right now. And we're doing things here to keep us upbeat and motivated.

RAMAN: For 1st Lieutenant Johnson, it's the first Thanksgiving away from home. For others, it's the second.

For Staff Sergeant James Singleton, it's number six. STAFF SGT. JAMES SINGLETON, U.S. ARMY: You just don't think about it day to day. You keep your mind on what you're doing. And you keep in contact with your family members as much as you can back home.

RAMAN (on camera): The biggest part of Thanksgiving of course is the meal. And here they tried to make it as authentic as possible: 1,250 pounds of turkey, 2,500 pounds of prime rib, all to serve some 8,000 meals.

(voice over): But Thanksgiving is no day off. It's just another Thursday with its routine of patrols, screening vehicles, questioning civilians. And for those out working...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of guys can't come in for Thanksgiving, so we're going to bring Thanksgiving to them.

RAMAN: Out here in combat fatigues, a gun in hand, it's difficult to feel the Thanksgiving spirit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just can't -- you know the same feeling that you -- you can't replicate it out here. I don't know. I was just thinking about it. You know, the smell of everything cooking.

RAMAN: It's all too easy, though, to remember what you miss the most.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being home with my wife, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watching the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With my family, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of the family.

RAMAN: And out here, there's no such thing as down time. On the radio, a call about a car bomb. In combat, holidays can last mere moments.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN: And Ali, we've been talking to soldiers here all day. And you get the sense, especially for those who are spending their first Thanksgiving, their first holidays away from home in a combat situation, that this is incredibly difficult for them to go through. And it remains, as we've said all along, an incredibly difficult fight in this part of Iraq.

And these are some of the greatest people you'll meet. And whatever the debate is back home, for them this is a job, and a job that they will continue until they're told to stop.

So just another day. A Thanksgiving pause during the day, but another day in this fight in Iraq -- Ali. VELSHI: Aneesh, we hear back here sometimes that the debate is demoralizing to the troops. Do you hear that? Does that ever come out that, you know, we just wish people would let us do the job? Or do they think it's healthy or helpful that the debate goes on?

RAMAN: Well, you hear a little bit of both. Some we spoke to said it's fine for people back home to talk about what's happening here.

The predominant thought is whatever's happening back home has really little impact on them on a daily basis. They go out there every day despite what the rhetoric might be back in Washington, if not throughout the U.S., to do that job. And they have to remain committed to it.

Their lives are on the line. So they block it out. Many of them try not to follow the political debate because it doesn't influence their job on a daily basis.

But they do voice some frustration that those who are in that debate back home have the luxury of being behind desks, being at press conferences. They are out on the front lines seeing what it is really like to be in war.

So for them, they just continue. And they have to continue. And as best as they can with what they have to get this fight over with -- Ali.

VELSHI: Aneesh, thanks for joining us. And stay safe out there.

Aneesh Raman in Iraq.

Up ahead, what will President Bush be doing this Thanksgiving? What has he done so far? We'll bring you up to date from Crawford, Texas.

And in this river, something has spoiled the water. A chemical blast, a toxic spill? We'll tell you why many in China and in Russia are worried.

Plus, fire in the mountain. A long-smoldering volcano is again stirring to life in South America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Zain Verjee joins us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a closer look at some of the stories that we're following.

Zain, good to see you again.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Ali.

A changing of the guard in Jordan. King Abdullah has appointed his national security chief as prime minister. The king is urging Marouf al-Bakhit to fight an all-out war on Islamic militants. The former ambassador to Israel is expected to name a new cabinet soon. The changes come two weeks after suicide bombers struck three hotels in Amman, killing 57 people.

A top Iraqi official is urging Syria to arrest insurgents caught slipping across the border from Iraq. He says insurgent attacks are challenging Iraq's ability to impose security. Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kuba (ph) is also urging Damascus to hand over the insurgents to Iraq. He expects insurgent attacks to increase before Iraq's parliamentary elections on the 15th of December.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new political party has a name. Party officials formerly registered today under the name of Kadima, which means "forward" in Hebrew. On Monday, Sharon sent shock waves through Israel when he announced he was stepping down from his ruling Likud party which he helped found more than three decades ago.

Polls show that his new centrist party would win the elections if they were held now. The elections are set for March the 28th.

And did the Thanksgiving rush play a role in yesterday's horrific commuter train crash near Chicago? The NTSB's acting chairman says the accident may have happened because drivers were hurrying to get out of town for the holiday.

At least 10 people were hurt when the packed commuter train slammed into cars stopped at a railway crossing. Officials say the train's engineer hit the emergency brake but could only slow the train down to 65 miles an hour -- Ali.

VELSHI: Zain, back to Jordan for a second, it's not a country that's always on our radar, particularly as a country with friendly relations in the Middle East, with the United States. We don't even think of it as needing the kind of reforms that King Abdullah's suggesting.

VERJEE: Absolutely. And those are absolutely critical. There are many Western-based analysts that say if you want to reduce and minimize terror attacks and the feeding of extremists off of public dissatisfaction, you have to implement reforms, political reform, economic reform, social and cultural reform.

The old prime minister was kicked out, Abdullah says, because he didn't implement those reforms. And he expects the new prime minister to do that, particularly to get the support of the conservative establishment that really gives King Abdullah and the monarchy its backbone.

And they're worried that their power will be eroded if reforms are implemented. So that's one of the things that the new prime minister needs to do.

VELSHI: Zain, you're on with me every few minutes here.

VERJEE: I know.

VELSHI: Have you had a bite to eat, or do you have a...

VERJEE: Sorry about that. I do, actually. Every now and then, I run down and get some tea and a blueberry muffin. And I've been eating bits of turkey throughout the day. So I'm actually -- I'm actually ready -- I'm actually ready for a nap, frankly.

VELSHI: Yes, exactly. Stay awake for a little longer.

VERJEE: Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: Zain Verjee in Atlanta.

Now, he was held as an enemy combatant for three years, accused by the U.S. government of plotting to explode a so-called dirty or radioactive bomb. But when he was finally indicted this week, that charge was missing from the case against Jose Padilla.

Our national security correspondent, David Ensor, joins us now to explain that.

This is kind of peculiar -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, it's not that U.S. officials say they don't believe that Padilla was involved in a plot to use a dirty bomb. It's that they are concerned about what would come up in court if that's what they charged him with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice over): One reason they did not charge Jose Padilla with plotting a dirty bomb or apartment bombings, law enforcement officials have acknowledged, is that the government is unwilling to allow testimony from senior members of al Qaeda now in the hands of the CIA.

ROSCOE HOWARD, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY: The government wants to bring an indictment that they want to be sure is clean and that they can win. They want to make sure that there are charges that won't present any problems. There could be witness problems. There are classified information problems.

ENSOR: U.S. officials have previously said Abu Zubaydah and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed were the original sources on the information on Padilla and the dirty bomb and apartment plots. Since al Qaeda prisoners have reportedly been subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, including one that simulates drowning, Padilla's lawyers would be sure to say they're evidence was produced using torture.

DONNA NEWMAN, PADILLA'S ATTORNEY: God knows what kind of torture they were exposed to. And they don't want that to come out in the litigation.

ENSOR: CIA officials refuse all comment. But former officials say tough interrogation techniques used on al Qaeda prisoners have saved American lives and need to be kept secret. Not discussed in open court.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I think it's important that we not be highly specific about what it is we will do and not do in dealing with detainees. If we are, that's going to go right into the al Qaeda counter-interrogation manual and come right back at us in what is still a war.

ENSOR: Also, while in military hands, Padilla has spoken about the dirty bomb and apartment plots. But he was denied access to a lawyer during that time. So that evidence could not be used in civilian court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: So, while the government has settled on lesser charges of supporting terrorism, officials say they are preparing to move Jose Padilla to the regular prison system as early as next week -- Ali.

VELSHI: David Ensor. Thanks so much.

Well, coming up, a difficult war based on weapons of mass destruction. But the weapons were never found. So why was the prewar intelligence so wrong? Our expert weighs in.

Plus, the ground is smoking, the sky is dark. We'll show you a spectacular surprise. A volcano eruption.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Outdated and uncorroborated, that's how a former officer described the intelligence that the United States was relying on leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

Our pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joins us now with details of that -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, we now know of course there was no WMD in Iraq. But at the time, were there clues that should have gotten more attention?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The only priority was the intelligence priority...

STARR (voice over): When Major General James Spider Marks in 2002 first looked at the intelligence on 946 suspected weapons of mass destruction sites in Iraq, he was taken aback. As the chief intelligence officer for ground troops, he wanted the latest information. It wasn't there.

Now a CNN analyst, Marks looks back and says he was worried.

MARKS: Two things struck me. Number one is a lot of that intelligence that supported each one of those sites was dated. It could have been more current. The second thing that struck me, Barbara, is that there was a dearth of human intelligence.

STARR: That wasn't a surprise. The CIA had been out of Iraq for years. It all was unsettling. WMD intelligence was supposed to be a top priority.

MARKS: Clearly, my understanding as the new guy on the team is that this is the primary reason we're going to war.

STARR: By the time the war started in March 2003, intelligence was updated on fewer than 100 of the 946 sites. Marks believes Saddam got rid of weapons stockpiles.

MARKS: Did they go across the border into Syria? Were they buried in country? Were they clearly dismantled and kind of dissipated in the country?

STARR: But the debate rages on about the quality of the prewar intelligence.

MARKS: Don't think I haven't thought about this every day since we got into Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: And Ali, General Marks says before the war, he tried to solve the problem of getting fresh intelligence. Now, his lesson learned, military intelligence professionals need to question more, he says, and as he says, poke holes in conventional thinking early in the game -- Ali.

VELSHI: Hey, Barbara, you know, it does seem to be a trend, though, between what Spider Marks said and what you're hearing at the Pentagon. It does seem that as the pressure on the administration continues and grows, there does appear to be a freer atmosphere about poking holes and asking questions at the Pentagon. Or does that -- is that just an impression we have?

STARR: Well, you know, the military has a culture of looking back and trying to learn lessons from what they've done. But what a lot of guys are saying now is they need to be on that much quicker, red-team it, if you will, poke holes in it, ask questions. A lot are now saying they wish they asked a lot more questions sooner.

VELSHI: All right, Barbara. Thanks very much.

Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent.

Well, American planes and secretive CIA programs were a hot topic in the Spanish parliament today. At issue, the alleged transfer of terror suspects.

Our Madrid bureau chief, Al Goodman, joins us now on the phone.

Al, are you there? AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Ali.

Well, Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos spent three hours at the parliament's foreign affairs committee this Thursday. And he came out and said that he's convinced that the Spanish government has no evidence that these numerous stopovers in Spain by these planes used by the CIA were actually out -- were not in accord with the Spanish (INAUDIBLE).

The Spanish government has asked for and gotten assurances from the United States a friend (INAUDIBLE). He said that there was not a violation of Spanish law with these flights.

Now, of course the allegations are is that these planes coming through islands of Spain, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, more than 12 flights in the past (INAUDIBLE) that in fact were involved in this. The question being, did they actually have any prisoners aboard? There doesn't seem to be any evidence on that.

But a lot of allegations that they were part of this program transiting through Spanish airports to go on and do their jobs. The foreign minister says it isn't so -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Al. Thanks very much.

I'm sorry, our Madrid bureau chief, Al Goodman joining us on that story.

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