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CNN Live Sunday
Black Hawk Helicopter Crashes in Iraq; Judge Alito Begins Hearings Tomorrow; Baby Noor's Surgery Set for Monday; McCloy Back in West Virginia
Aired January 08, 2006 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN HOST: It was a deadly day for U.S. troops in Iraq as a Black Hawk helicopter crashes and Marines come under fire in Fallujah.
Also ahead, the Senate hearings for Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito start tomorrow. We'll have a live report from the White House.
And Baby Noor's big day. Surgeons in Atlanta prepare to operate on the baby saved by U.S. troops in Iraq. We'll take a look ahead.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Gerri Willis. All that and more after this check of the headlines.
Here's what's happening. It's a race to become the next House majority leader. Ohio's John Boehner announced today he'll seek the job, which sets up a battle with the acting majority leader, Roy Blunt, and perhaps other Republicans who haven't emerged. Under indictment in Texas, the former majority leader, Tom DeLay, officially quit the post yesterday.
And hot, dry air and gusting winds raise alarms in Oklahoma for another grass fire surge. An official says an expected wind shift could endanger fire fighters if it catches them unaware. The fires in southern Colorado forced the evacuation of several hundred homes.
And Syrian President Bashir Assad flew to Egypt today for talks on Lebanon with Egypt President Hosni Mubarak. The trips follows the Syrian leader's reported refusal to speak with U.N. investigators about his government's alleged role in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese statesman.
First this hour, more American deaths in Iraq. The military says a dozen Americans died in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter near a rebel stronghold in northern Iraq. Hours later, three marines were killed in attacks in Fallujah, pushing the weekend total of U.S. deaths to at least 17. With the story from Baghdad, CNN's Michael Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twenty eight -- that's the four-day death toll for the U.S. military in Iraq after a series of incidents. The worst came early Sunday. Communications with a Black Hawk helicopter lost just west of Mosul in the northwest of the country. Twelve hours later, the crash site was found, four crew, eight passengers dead. The chopper was one of two flying between bases when it went down. But the military says it does not yet know what caused the crash. It was the worst accident of its kind since January last year when a transport helicopter crashed in western Iraq killing 30 Marines and one sailor. Also Sunday, three Marines were killed in the hot bed city of Fallujah west of the capital, all in separate incidents involving small arms fire. A local says he witnessed one of the killings
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The U.S. soldiers were walking here with a patrol. They went in this street and we were waiting in that cafeteria. We were trying to go home. When we look at them, we saw one of them was killed. Gunmen attacked them. They were carrying RPGs and different kinds of weapons.
HOLMES: Two Marines were killed Saturday in separate roadside bomb attacks and on a bloody Thursday, a U.S. soldier and a Marine died in one of two suicide bombings that killed more than 100 Iraqis. Two other Marines killed that day by gunfire in Fallujah and roadside bombs claimed the lives of seven soldiers. The loss of life made Thursday the deadliest single day in Iraq in nearly four months. Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Americans tomorrow will begin to take their measure of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito with the start of Senate confirmation hearings. It promises to be an exercise in partisan hard ball. CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House tonight with a preview. Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you Gerri. That's right. The stakes are certainly high for these confirmation hearings. The outcome will determine whether Federal judge Samuel Alito will occupy that key swing vote position on the high court.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): More than two months after President Bush nominated him as associate justice of the Supreme Court --
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congratulations on your nomination.
QUIJANO: Federal judge Samuel Alito will get his chance this week to convince the 18 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that he is the right person for the job. But abortion remains the issue that could possibly result in a Democratic-led filibuster to try to kill the nomination.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Judge Alito either abjectly refuses to answer questions or when he answers those questions proves to be so far out of the mainstream that he's going to impose his views on us and not follow the law, those would be some strikes against him that would make it more likely that we'd filibuster.
QUIJANO: But Republicans say Judge Alito shouldn't be required to answer specifics on how he might rule on an abortion case since one will likely come before the high court during his tenure. And Republicans maintain they'll fight back if Democrats push for a filibuster.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would consider that not only not an ordinary extraordinary circumstance, a threat to the independence of the judiciary and I would stop it in its tracks with my vote.
QUIJANO: Even the chairman and the ranking member of the committee both pro-choice, say talk of a filibuster may be premature.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not see any rationale basis for filibustering Judge Alito.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's find out if he answers. This is really up to Judge Alito.
QUIJANO: Alito's hearings come at a time when lawmakers from both parties have voiced concerns about President Bush's authorization of a secret government surveillance program. Republican Senator Arlen Specter plans to hold separate open hearings in early February on the matter, but says he'll raise the issue of presidential power with Judge Alito.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to hear what he'll have to say about the balance of authority between the president's wartime powers under Article II to conduct electronic surveillance with what appears to be a conflict with congressional intent on the foreign intelligence surveillance act.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: Now, President Bush is set to meet tomorrow morning with Judge Alito for breakfast before the judge heads to Capitol Hill for day one of the hearings. If all goes according to schedule, Senator Arlen Specter says there could be a vote by January 17th, but Gerri, Democrats are saying that date could be pushed back. Gerri.
WILLIS: Elaine Quijano, thank you for that.
In the Sago coal mine tragedy, sole survivor Randal McCloy is closer to home tonight. He was transferred last night from Pittsburgh's Allegheny General to the Ruby Memorial hospital at West Virginia University. CNN's Chris Huntington is there with a medical update on the miner's condition. Also, funerals were held today for several of the dozen miners who lost their lives in the mine. CNN's Gary Nurenberg will join us in just a few minutes with that part of the story. But first, let's begin with Chris Huntington in Morgantown, West Virginia. Chris?
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gerri, good afternoon. Doctors here at West Virginia University hospital just issued another statement, really not a whole lot of new news from what they told us this morning, except a couple of important details. They're telling us that Randal McCloy now is breathing on his own, although still hooked up to the ventilator in case there is need of assistance. The big development that they were looking for today and indeed they confirm in this statement that they have undertaken is they have stopped the sedative that was keeping him in a medically induced coma. And when that sedative, the effects finally wear off, which they tell us could take some time, they hope to be able to further measure Randal McCloy's cognitive status. What they tell us in the statement right now though is that his neurological status is unchanged from this morning. Although there has been consistent albeit incremental progress on that front, swelling that they were detecting in the brain has gone down, that they were seeing on certain scans.
Now you mentioned that Randy was brought back here last night by helicopter from Allegheny General in Pittsburgh. The whole reason he went to Pittsburgh was for some very specialized high pressure oxygen treatments. Folks who are been following this story are probably almost armchair experts in hyperbaric treatment. He got three of those treatments, 90 minutes per treatment. They believe this could, could help him in his long-term brain function recovery. And the doctors here at West Virginia had high praise for their colleagues in Pittsburgh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. LARRY ROBERTS, W. VA. UNIV MEDICAL CTR: They took fantastic care of Randy. They did exactly what was the intended plan, which was to give him three days of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We accomplished that. We brought him back to West Virginia and now we're providing his continued ongoing care, which was our treatment plan all along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: So Gerri, it's important to remember though that Randy McCloy is still in critical condition. He apparently is breathing on his own with ventilation assistance available immediately if need be. He has stopped the sedative. The doctors are hoping that he will show signs of wakefulness sometime in the next couple of days. Gerri?
WILLIS: Thank you for that, Chris. Let's go now to CNN's Gary Nurenberg in Tallmansville, West Virginia. He's been covering the first of the miners' funerals.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Gerri. Many of the families have asked rather that the funerals be kept private and CNN is honoring that request. But this is a very religious area and the miners were clearly in the thoughts of other congregations that met earlier today. This is a community that in times of trouble turns to prayer. This is St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in Phillippi (ph), West Virginia. The bishop made a special trip here today to remember the friends and families of the miners to encourage them and ask them to pray for both those who are gone and those who remain. The bishop made a special trip to conduct the service.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BISHOP MICHAEL J. BRANSFIELD, DIOCESE OF WHEELING-CHARLESTON: Our sincere prayers are for those who have gone to the lord and yet also, for those left behind who have so much suffering still at hand for them.
NURENBERG: St. Elizabeth's is normally presided over by Father Andy Kranyc (ph) who was at the Sago Baptist Church earlier in the week when the good news and then the bad news came. He said that that is a night he will never forget.
FATHER ANDY KRANYC, ST. ELIZABETH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH: There were four or five people around me that passed out. There was one elderly lady. I don't know if she had a heart attack or she went into serious shock or something. There was a fireman next to me who just collapsed right in the mud. And I helped him to sit up. And he just sat there staring with a blank look on his face for about half an hour, just completely out of it and there were several people around that night that were like that, just in complete shock. There were state troopers who fell to their knees and were sobbing like babies.
NURENBERG: There was a little girl running away you were worried about?
KRANYC: That was one young girl. I don't know who she was, but that was shouting that she -- I guess she was a relative maybe of one of the miners, but she was shouting that she was going to go and take her life so she could go be with grandpa and they had to try and get her and get her calmed down and everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG: There was some genuine concern there because that girl had a knife and was threatening to kill herself with that knife before they were able to calm her down. One parishioner left a service today and talked to a CNN crew. We asked if there was any lessons. He said this, if you've got something wrong with anybody, get it fixed he said because you never know, Gerri, when the Lord is going to call you home.
WILLIS: Gary Nurenberg, thank you for that report. Our hearts are with those miners families.
He's still in critical condition, but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shows some signs of improvement. We'll have a report straight ahead from Jerusalem and more fires in Oklahoma and Texas. Monica McNeal at the CNN weather center will have an update.
MONICA McNEAL, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And with those fires Gerri, we have now encompassed parts of Arkansas. So we have Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma all under the threat of fires. I'll give you all the information about that area coming up.
WILLIS: Thank you Monica. Also, the baby girl saved by U.S. troops in Iraq will undergo surgery tomorrow. We'll look ahead to the baby Noor's treatment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WILLIS: Doctors treating Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon say his condition remains criminal, but stable. The medical team in Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital plans to meet again tomorrow before they start to bring Sharon out of the drug induced coma. CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is standing by at the hospital with more on Sharon's condition. Fionnuala?
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Gerri. Ariel Sharon lying in critical, but stable condition overnight. It's just after midnight here and it's thought that about 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning, doctors will take Ariel Sharon for yet another brain scan. And if the results of that are satisfactory, they will then begin the slow and delicate process of weaning him off that anesthetic which has kept him in a very deep coma now for four days.
And it will be during that process which they believe will last a number of hours that they'll be able to determine any extent of brain damage to the prime minister is believed to have suffered. Meanwhile, it is business as usual as far as the Israeli government certainly is giving the impression. Today, Ehud Olmert (ph), the acting prime minister held his first cabinet meeting of the week, sitting in beside the empty chair that Ariel Sharon would normally hold. And while nobody is saying anything officially about the campaign that lies just two and a half months now before the election on March 28th, Shimon Peres, one of the key players and a former prime minister is saying that the premiership is not on his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIMON PERES, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: My real interest is not the post of minister or not even a member of the government. All my life, I fought for peace and I'm looking for the right opportunity to solve (ph) peace further, in spite of all the pessimistic views about what's taking place in the Palestinian camp, about the problems inside Israel, I remain a believer in the continuation of peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWEENEY: Another key player here, of course, is the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now leader of the Likud party, the party of which Ariel Sharon was head until he left to found his own Kadima (ph) party just seven weeks ago. Benjamin Netanyahu publicly saying today that now is not the time to be talking politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to discuss politics. They're some months, almost three months left until the elections. I'm sure we'll have a lot of time to address these questions and a lot of time to see the shifting tide of public opinion. I would prefer at this point to tell you that there is unity in the country in the hopes that this particular man who is now battling for his life, Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, wins that battle.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SWEENEY: There is almost you could say here a sense of suspended reality, but that will probably only be temporary, but as long as Ariel Sharon is laying in intensive care on the seventh floor, the focus of this country and indeed the region will be on the Hadassah medical center. It should be pointed out that tomorrow cannot be under estimated Gerri. It is a very crucial day for Ariel Sharon and for Israeli politics.
WILLIS: And speaking of that Fionnuala, have the doctors given you any idea how long it will take the anesthetic and the drugs to wear off?
SWEENEY: Well, first of all, they have to determine if the time is right to actually take him off that and anesthesia. So they're going to take him into a brain scan and that will give them some idea first. That is expected to happen around 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning local time. And it will be thereafter that they will start the process if they deem it the right thing to do.
We're expecting a news conference at 2:00 p.m. local time. That is 7:00 p.m. or rather 7:00 a.m. Eastern time in the United States. And then, if the process is underway, they will begin to get some indication of how he is. Because they think that as the anesthesia begins to wear off, he will be able to react to pain, to stimuli. They're going to carry out all kinds of tests. If there is a reaction that is a good sign, if not, obviously not good news. Gerri.
WILLIS: Well, Fionnuala, we'll be watching that. Thank you for your report.
Other headlines making news across America, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is being asked to testify in the Senate hearings into the Bush administration's telephone surveillance. At the time the program was launched, Gonzalez was White House counsel. The hearings are scheduled for early February.
And a group from Louisiana is traveling tomorrow to the Netherlands to see if flood ravaged New Orleans could benefit from Holland's water diversion tactics. The Dutch have just completed a 50-year project to bolster their system of sea walls and dams.
And jury selection begins tomorrow in Boston in the prison slaying of pedophile priest John Geoghan (ph). Attorneys for Joseph Druce (ph) are expected to enter an insanity defense for the convicted killer accused of strangling Geoghan in his cell.
The governor is asking Oklahomans to pray for rain today as fire crews monitor potential new grass fires. Oklahoma and parts of Texas are suffering from a severe drought. Is there any relief in sight? Monica McNeal is standing by in the CNN weather center. Monica?
McNEAL: Gerri, no, there doesn't look like relief in sight. Unfortunately looking at that video, they're having a really hard time. I do want to point out to you that this time yesterday, the fire danger threat was farther west. Now it has shifted more toward the east into parts of Arkansas back down into parts of Louisiana. At this point and generally, they're dealing with some very, very gusty winds, very strong winds. There's a lake wind advisory. There are high wind warnings for these areas. So the danger has shifted more toward the east, but it still is a big problem for just about everyone.
Take a look at some of these wind speeds right now. In Pine Bluff, Arkansas, winds are out of the southwest at 21 miles per hour, but they're gusting up to 36 miles per hour. The good news is, there is a weak frontal boundary, very dry frontal boundary that has moved through. As you notice into Oklahoma City, the winds have died down a little bit. They're out of the north and west right now at about seven miles per hour. So across parts of Oklahoma, especially northern Oklahoma, the winds have started to die down just a little bit. So that certainly should help the firemen as they continue to work very hard.
Across most of the southeast, you can certainly see things are relatively dry and will remain that way. Tomorrow, we are expecting an upper level low to swing through parts of the panhandle of Texas. By Monday night, going into Tuesday, there could be a very slim chance of some rain across the panhandle of Texas, but certainly not enough rainfall, Gerri, to make any difference.
WILLIS: Monica McNeal, thank you for that.
A three--month-old Iraqi infant will soon undergo a life saving surgery thanks to a group of U.S. soldiers. Coming up on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, baby Noor and the long road ahead.
And then did the U.S. miss its chance to catch Osama bin Laden? CNN's David Ensor talks to one man who says yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: The little three-month old Iraqi girl known as baby Noor is scheduled for surgery tomorrow in Atlanta. CNN's David Mattingly has more on baby Noor's condition and the challenges facing her doctors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESONDENT (voice-over): Her name is the Arabic word for light and even her doctors say they have been touched by the bright eyes and beaming smiles of tiny baby Noor, but they are now counting on that energy to bring the three-month-old Iraqi through a series of surgeries needed to save her life. A severe type of the birth detect spina bifida left a portion of the child's spinal cord curled outward and exposed in a fluid-filled sac protruding from her back. Doctors will have to drain the fluid, cut a circular opening to reposition the spinal cord and then close the hole in her lower back.
DR. ROGER HUDGINS, CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA: Once we take that sac off, we're going to be left with a relatively large hole in the skin. We're going to close that with the help of a pediatric plastic surgeon. MATTINGLY: Neurosurgeon Roger Hudgins says baby Noor's condition is more complicated than most. The growth on her back is almost twice as large as he usually sees and a layer of skin has grown over it. That skin has helped protect her from life-threatening infection but it also makes surgery more difficult.
HUDGINS: First, from a technical standpoint, the first thing that we do in a surgery like this is find the spinal cord. Usually that's very easy because it's right there on the surface and you know where you can and you can't go. In this situation, in looking at her large sac, I don't see the spinal cord, again, because it's covered with skin that's grown in.
MATTINGLY: At the time she was discovered in her Iraqi home by members of the Georgia national guard, doctors there had given baby Noor a month and a half to live. The remarkable humanitarian effort to bring her to Atlanta for treatment is expected to save her life. But the life she will have will be far from normal. Will she ever be able to walk?
HUDGINS: I don't think so at this point.
MATTINGLY: A lack of response in her legs suggests permanent damage. Doctors also worry about a buildup of fluid on her brain, seen here in the dark areas of a CAT scan. A tube will likely be permanently inserted into her brain to siphon off the excess fluid. Other surgeries may also be necessary to address drainage problems with her bladder. Recovery will probably take months. But specialized medical care could be needed for a lifetime. And doctors want to make sure that level of care is available once baby Noor returns to her Iraqi home. David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Well have more on the baby Noor story coming up next hour here on CNN. Harold Pope will be here to talk about baby Noor's condition. He's the president of the Spina Bifida Foundation.
President Bush's latest Supreme Court nominee can expect a tough grilling. Still ahead, we'll take a look at what Samuel Alito can expect tomorrow at his confirmation hearings.
And then 38,000 people are dying in war-ravaged Congo every month, that's right, every single month and most of them die from easily treatable diseases. So is anything being done to help these people? I'll talk with CNN's Jeff Koinange ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: A quick check of the stories making news right now.
A U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter has crashed in northern Iraq. All 12 people on board were killed. A search and rescue operation is at the scene and an investigation into the cause of the crash is under way. Firefighters and volunteers are battling new wildfires in several states. Gusty dry conditions are fanning the flames in Oklahoma, Texas and southern Colorado. The entire region is plagued by drought conditions and high winds make it tough to get fires under control.
And in Washington, it looks like a two-man race to lead House Republicans. Ohio Congressman John Boehner says he's in the race to become House majority leader. Missouri's Roy Blunt is also expected to run for the job. Congressman Tom DeLay yesterday abandoned his plans to return to the leadership post.
And Samuel -- Judge Samuel Alito, rather, may have friends in high places, but he also has plenty of skeptics and critics. Confirmation hearings get under way tomorrow, and early indications are that senators will not pull any punches as they press on the judge about his judicial philosophy. But in a sense, the battle over the Supreme Court nominee was joined the moment the President Bush put Alito's name forward.
Here's CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): A Supreme Court confirmation fight is supposed to be an all-out war, but it's not clear that will happen with Samuel Alito. It did not happen with John Roberts. His solid qualifications disarmed his opponents.
It did not happen with Harriet Miers. Her lack of obvious qualifications, as well as her weak conservative credentials, disarmed her supporters. She withdrew.
Right now, the pro and anti-Alito forces are girding for battle. This anti-Alito ad attacks his credibility...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alito promised to disqualify himself from certain cases, but news reports revealed he broke his own commitment three times, even ruling in favor of a company he invested with.
SCHNEIDER: ... while this pro-Alito ad attacks his attackers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every day, desperate liberals make up a steady drip of attacks against Judge Samuel Alito.
SCHNEIDER: Now the anti-Alito forces have been handed a serious setback. A committee of the American Bar Association, a group President Bush has disdained in the past for not treating conservative nominees fairly, voted unanimously to give Judge Alito the ABA's highest rating for competence and integrity.
Alito has taken some controversial positions, but he has told senators he will not allow his personal views to influence his rulings.
The Senate rejected Robert Bork in 1987 because he came across as a zealot. Alito does not, at least so far. So his critics argue in a new ad that his moderation is just an act.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Samuel Alito's no moderate, but he plays one on TV.
SCHNEIDER: As of last month, the public tended to favor Alito's confirmation. Mildly.
(on camera): The country does not seem eager for an all-out war. Whether Alito's critics can gain traction depends more than anything else on how the nominee performs at his confirmation hearings this month.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Did the U.S. miss a perfect opportunity to catch Osama bin Laden? In another look at one of the best of CNN's stories this week, the CIA's field commander during much of the Afghan war makes the case to CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In late November of 2001, the CIA sent a four-man CIA military team to hunt Osama bin Laden in eastern Afghanistan. With donkeys and 10 Afghans for security, the team scaled a 14,000-foot peak overlooking Al Qaeda's mountain retreat at Tora Bora. From there, the men used lasers to call in massive fire power from the air.
GARY BERNTSEN, AUTHOR, "JAWBREAKER": And they rained death and destruction on al Qaeda up in those mountains, the first 56 hours alone.
ENSOR: One of the team's leaders radioed Gary Berntsen, their CIA boss in Kabul, the U.S. should send troops to make sure Bin Laden did not get away somehow.
Berntsen pleaded the case.
(on camera): How many times, and in what way did you ask for American forces?
BERNTSEN: I did it in writing, and I did it orally with the senior military commanders on the ground.
ENSOR (voice-over): But the troops to block the Pakistani border were not sent. General Tommy Franks, the regional commander of U.S. forces at the time, told Paula Zahn in 2004, he wasn't even sure bin Laden was there.
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, FMR. CENTCOM COMMANDER: But I'm not yet quite convinced that the issues around Tora Bora, as we've discussed them, are conclusive with respect to the notion that, well, we missed him.
BERNTSEN: He was there. Of course he was there.
ENSOR (on camera): How do you know?
BERNTSEN: Well, we picked up a radio off of a dead member of al Qaeda, and it was an open radio, unencrypted. And we were able to listen to bin Laden apologize to the people that were with him that had fallen back with him.
ENSOR: Did you ever hear Osama bin Laden's voice?
BERNTSEN: I didn't listen to it. But my linguist was listening to him on the radio on that unencrypted radio, and the linguist I had had listened to bin Laden for four years straight. Any time we wanted someone to translate something, it was him.
ENSOR: So he knew for sure.
BERNTSEN: He knew for sure. He knew for sure.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe if you went back and had to do it all over again, you would have immediately sealed the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan?
FRANKS: I might have done that.
ZAHN: Why didn't we do that?
FRANKS: Because I think not so well reported the fact that Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, had put at our request 100,000 men on that border.
BERNTSEN: Musharraf sent a lot of people along the border. I think the number may have been closer to 4,000.
ENSOR (voice-over): Not enough. Osama bin Laden and his men got through.
BERNTSEN: It's a tough area. It's a big, isolated large area. It doesn't have a lot of roads.
This is not an easy thing to cover. And it's unfortunate. We had an opportunity. It would have required a bit more acceptance of risk in that case.
ENSOR: General Franks later wrote in a newspaper commentary that quote, "We did not outsource military action." "We did," he said, "rely heavily on Afghans because they knew Tora Bora.
BERNTSEN: And some of the people that we were working alongside had been on bin Laden's payroll or side months earlier. It was very difficult, very complicated. We didn't have time to vet everybody.
ENSOR: Which is why you wanted American forces out there in Tora Bora?
BERNTSEN: Exactly right. ENSOR: Why couldn't you convince the U.S. military?
BERNTSEN: It all happened very, very fast. It all happened very, very fast. And they just wanted to rely on air power. Air power had proven effective up to that point.
ENSOR (voice-over): Though he supports President Bush and is proud of the CIA and the military. Berntsen wants to tell the story, warts and all. He submitted his manuscript, as all CIA employees must, then went ahead and published. The censored parts clearly marked. Berntsen vividly remembers the pit in his stomach when this picture was taken, as he left Afghanistan.
BERNTSEN: It was bittersweet. I didn't want to leave.
ENSOR (on camera): You wanted to get bin Laden?
BERNTSEN: I wanted to end it. I wanted to end it. But unfortunately, it's didn't work out that way.
ENSOR: Berntsen says bin Laden remains dangerous. He hopes the CIA can get him soon.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Afghanistan's president sends an invitation he doesn't think will be answered. During an interview with The Associated Press, Hamid Karzai invited Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, to reconcile with the government. But he believes Omar will remain in hiding and that suicide attacks in Afghanistan will continue. Karzai calls on all Afghans, Taliban or non-Taliban, to help rebuild the country.
As the Afghan people rebuild, American troops continue to patrol the rugged countryside day and night. Our Becky Diamond rode along with the members of the 82nd Airborne as they worked to track down insurgents in the Kandahar province.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bandit to Zero, this is Silver Six. Prepare to receive...
BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A night combat patrol in the area around Kandahar in Afghanistan.
LT. JAMES SMITH, 82ND AIRBORNE, U.S. ARMY: The Taliban network all over this area sees us doing these patrols, and the villagers can see that, too. And it makes everybody more aware of our presence.
DIAMOND: Insurgents have been firing rockets from this area at the U.S. and coalition base. This is Operation Counter-Strike. Twenty-five-year-old Lieutenant James Smith is leading the mission.
SMITH: We're taking a short haul, they're probably doing a map check right now. We're waiting for the rear vehicle to catch up.
DIAMOND: This 82nd Airborne soldier locates possible enemy positions...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zero-three-zero -- over.
DIAMOND: ... and calls in a illumination rounds to flood the area with light.
This is the view through his night vision goggles as he and his platoon search for insurgents. No enemy tonight. The mission considered a success.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lights in the sky and -- scare off the bad guys basically.
DIAMOND: The battalion commander says missions like this one are part of an offensive campaign to take the fight to the insurgents in Kandahar province.
Becky Diamond, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Silver Six. Good copy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Millions of Muslims gather in Mecca. That tops our "World Wrap" tonight.
They're going to Islam's holiest city for Hajj. That's the annual six-day pilgrimage to the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed. The Saudi government is providing heavy security for the pilgrims.
And in Iran, the government plans to begin operations at some of its nuclear facilities. Tehran says inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency will remove seals from nuclear sites no later than tomorrow so nuclear fuel research can resume.
And in Greece, which was hit by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that was felt across parts of the Mediterranean, only slight damage and three minor injuries were reported. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was centered 23 miles beneath the sea floor, about 120 miles south of Athens.
And now the world's deadliest crisis. A newly published report says the worst mass suffering of the past 60 years is occurring today in the democratic republic of Congo. Now, the study published in a British medical journal concludes that more than a thousand Congolese are dying each day of malnutrition and disease.
Joining us live from South Africa, our Africa correspondent, CNN's Jeff Koinange.
Jeff, more than a thousand deaths each and every day. How can that be?
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Unbelievable, Gerri. And here's the deal: these are diseases that can be preventable.
We're talking about everything from diarrhea, from malnutrition, from malaria, diseases that everywhere else can be cured. But in the Congo, a country that is as ungovernable as it is violent, decades of cleptocracy, corruption, mismanagement, a combination of factors that has led this country and the whole world basically to turn its back on the Congo, this is a country, Gerri, that basically pound for pound is no doubt one of the richest on the continent, has every precious mineral known to man from diamond to iron ore, of gold, even coltan, which is used in every cell phone on the planet.
All these are found in the Congo, yet it remains so poor, so ungovernable, so mismanaged. It is a country that I visited several times. And the last time I was there, even getting from the capital, Kinshasa, to the countryside, you either have to take a plane or go by boat. And when you go to village after village, there are some places where aid agencies have never been and will not go simply because there is no law and order.
And by the way, there are 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers on the ground. Aid agencies still will not go there because it is simply ungovernable -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Well, Jeff Koinange, I wish we had time for a further discussion. It's a terrible tragedy there. Thank you so much for reporting on it.
It's been a year since a devastating mudslide tore apart a California town. Ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, why they're still waiting for their town to be rebuilt and the answer they're getting from the government.
And it was either a happy accident or one really smart cat. Did the cat really know it was calling for help when its owner collapsed?
Stay with us.
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WILLIS: Very sad anniversary this week in La Conchita, California. A year ago this Tuesday, days of heavy rain cause a mudslide that crashed into the small seaside town. Ten people died in the disaster, 13 homes were destroyed. But many residents are determined to stay, even though government officials insist the area is still not safe.
CNN's Peter Viles has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They came with flowers, with photos and with heavy hearts.
PEDRO NAVA (D), CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY: A year ago on Tuesday, we lost 10 of our neighbors and our friends. The loss was sudden and terrible. And for their families and friends, the grief is heavy. VILES: Looming above that ceremony, what's left of the mountain that buried 10 people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Run!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, look out!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of here! Get out!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I am not. It's coming down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, I want to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey! Hey!
VILES: Parents scooped up children, rescue workers dug in vain. And then there was Jimmy Wallett (ph). He went out for ice cream that day, and when he came home, his wife and three daughters were gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michelle Wallett (ph), Hannah Wallett (ph), Raven Wallett (ph), Paloma Wallett (ph).
VILES: In the aftermath, the governor came and promised help.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I would say that I'm going to help them so they can come back here, and that we do everything we can to make it a safe area. And -- because I totally understand there's no one that wants to be chased out of their neighborhood.
VILES: But a year later, there is no rebuilding, no defense if the hill slides again. The county doesn't believe it can prevent future landslides.
STEVE BENNETT, VENTURA COUNTY SUPERVISOR: If you try and you're not successful, you've exposed the taxpayers of Ventura County to 100 percent of all the damages that happen. You just can't make that decision.
VILES: So it is a standoff. The county says La Conchita is not safe. Those who live here do so at their own risk. With that constant threat, some are trying to sell their homes, but many are staying and still lobbying for government help.
ROBLEEN GETSIC, LA CONCHITA RESIDENT: The fact is, is that that the hill can be fixed and can be stabilized. And this community can be preserved.
VILES: Ted Jennings says he simply can't afford to leave.
TED JENNINGS, LA CONCHITA RESIDENT: And I don't really have an option. I can't afford to move anywhere else and stay here. I mean, I keep my mortgage payments up. So what else can I do?
VILES: The dirt that killed 10 people was never moved. It's now a makeshift shrine. Teenagers climbed on top of it Saturday to look down on their wounded little town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of the beautiful souls that lost their lives here, they love La Conchita. So do we. We love La Conchita. This is home.
VILES: Peter Viles, for CNN, La Conchita, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Fredricka Whitfield is here with a preview of what's ahead.
OK, Fred. What you got on tap?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you.
All right. Well, at 6:00, the 3-month-old baby, Baby Noor from Iraq, we all know that the surgery is scheduled for tomorrow to correct a Spina Bifida defect. Well, I talked to a neurosurgeon, one of the neurosurgeons involved in the procedure who will say it has a whole lot of complications. This is not going to be easy.
And then at 7:00, the shock jock of all shock jocks. Howard Stern, everyone knows the name, and everyone has been able to enjoy -- those who do enjoy him -- to listen to him for free. Well, now you've got to pay for it.
What does this say about perhaps the future of mainstream media? Will we all be digging deeper in order to hear what we're accustomed to hearing for free now?
WILLIS: Great question. And the Baby Noor story, I love that story.
WHITFIELD: A beautiful baby.
WILLIS: That baby is so adorable.
WHITFIELD: I know. Really adorable.
WILLIS: Looking forward to that.
WHITFIELD: And hopefully everything turns out OK. But it's going to be a touch-and-go surgery.
WILLIS: Absolutely. Yes, it's very difficult.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
WILLIS: Thank you so much, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you, Gerri. WILLIS: Still ahead, today's stories generating the heaviest online traffic. They're the most popular stories at cnn.com. And this is, paws down, the story of the day. Our own Jeanne Moos found a tabby named Tommy who knew exactly how to come to the rescue of its owner.
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WILLIS: More western wildfires leading to hundreds of evacuations. You're seeing brand-new video just in to CNN.
It's a wildfire just west of Aguilar in south central Colorado. It scorched 6,000 acres, torched two homes and is threatening hundreds of others. Several hundred other homes have been evacuated.
Winds are gusting there from 40 to 50 miles per hour, and that's keeping airplanes from being used to fight the fires. Fortunately, there are no injuries reported.
On a totally different topic, fate is a funny thing. Sometimes it even uses a litter box.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos with the unlikely story of the heroic feline.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sounds like a pretty remote possibility: a cat calling 911?
GARY ROSHEISEN, TOMMY THE CAT'S OWNER: It's unexplainable.
MOOS: When it comes to rescuing, we expect dogs to save the day. But 10 minutes after this Columbus, Ohio, man fell out of his wheelchair and couldn't get up, a police officer showed up at his door.
ROSHEISEN: He goes, "Is there a problem here?" And I go, "Yes, I'm on the floor, but how did you know about it?" He said, "We got a 911 call from this apartment."
MOOS: And Tommy the cat was the only other one there. The phone sits on the floor. They say Tommy hit the speaker button, then the speed dial button which was programmed for 911. The cat then hung up, but dispatchers sent an officer to the apartment anyway.
Reminds us of the time a dog called 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911. This is Jenny. Please state your emergency. 911. Hello?
MOOS: That was Faith, a service dog trained to help her wheelchair- bound owner who passed out, fell out of the wheelchair and had a seizure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911. Good girl. MOOS: Faith went and got the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make a call.
MOOS: Then went back to the base and hit speed dial for 911. When owner Leanna Beasley (ph) heard the 911 recording...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just got chills.
MOOS: But no one expects cats to perform such feats. You're lucky if you can get a cat potty trained.
BEN STILLER, ACTOR: Oh, sorry.
MOOS: True, Scarlet the cat won fame for going back into a burning building to rescue her five kittens, but just try teaching a cat to dial 911 by applying food to the proper keys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Big mound of it on the nine.
MOOS: Another on the one.
But licking 911 doesn't get you an emergency operator, it gets you a yucky phone.
Next thing you know, cats will be changing TV channels.
(on camera): Put on CNN, Othello.
(voice-over): Othello prefers Animal Planet. And once he's mastered the remote, he'll be surfing the Web for the "Cat in the Hat."
(on camera): Othello, let's try the iPod next.
(voice-over): Who needs a cat in a hat when you've got a cat on an iPod.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Great story.
There's still much more ahead on CNN. Fredricka Whitfield is here with the day's headlines.
Plus, a look at super foods. Can they really help you live longer?
More of CNN LIVE SUNDAY after this.
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