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CNN Sunday Morning
Lebanese Protesters Angered Over Cartoons of Mohammed; Gay Bar Assault Suspect Wounded in Police Shootout; Security Increased for Super Bowl
Aired February 05, 2006 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: A scene of violence in the streets of Beirut this morning. Look at this. With Muslim protesters still furious over cartoons they say are blasphemous to the Prophet Mohammed.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: A manhunt ends in a hail of gunfire for the suspect in a Massachusetts gay bar attack.
NGUYEN: And a scene of chaos and destruction after thousands of inmates riot in a California jail.
It is Sunday, February 5. Good morning, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen.
SANCHEZ: Super Bowl Sunday.
NGUYEN: Super Bowl Sunday. Big game. We've got Rick on tap for that.
SANCHEZ: Filling in for Tony Harris. Glad to be here. Always nice to be here with you.
NGUYEN: Nice to see you.
SANCHEZ: And thanks for starting the day off with us. We're going to have a lot more on all those top stories in just a moment. But first, we're going to check some of the headlines for you. Let's do that.
Mixed signals out of Iran today following their referral to the U.N. Security Council for nuclear activities. Iran now saying it will continue diplomatic channels to resolve the issue. But yesterday Iran ended its voluntarily cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
NGUYEN: Investigators want to know whether the captain of the sunken Egyptian ferry ignored a fire alarm. A crew member has come forward, saying the alarm sounded, but the captain continued on. Around 1,400 people were aboard that ferry when it sank in the Red Sea on Friday. Four hundred people were thrown into the water. The others are presumed dead.
SANCHEZ: Alabama Governor Bob Riley hopes a $10,000 award helps flush out whoever is responsible for setting five churches on fire. Officials are not labeling the fires arson just yet, but they say they certainly do appear to be linked. Meanwhile, resilient parish owners say that they will hold their services today and are planning to rebuild.
NGUYEN: An estimated 40,000 people paid their respects to the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. yesterday. Be sure to stick with CNN for our continuing coverage, as President Bush is expected to speak at Mrs. King's funeral, set for Tuesday in an Atlanta suburb.
SANCHEZ: Betty Friedan has died. She is a feminist icon. The author of the groundbreaking book, "The Feminine Mystique" died yesterday in her Washington home on her 85th birthday. Friedan, who co-founded the National Organization for Women, is considered a pioneer of the modern feminist movement.
NGUYEN: Muslim outrage spreads to Lebanon today. Thousands of Muslims packed the streets of Beirut, protesting what they consider offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
The protesters set fire to a building that houses the Danish consulate and clashed with security troops there. And there are reports that at least 18 people were injured.
Caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed were first published in a Danish newspaper, then reprinted across Europe. It's said that Islamic law prohibits depictions of the prophet.
Well, the Danish paper says it was practicing free speech, but some tough questions remain. Let's get more insight on this heated controversy.
Joining me now is Rami Khouri. He is the editor-at-large of the "Daily Star" newspaper in Beirut.
We appreciate you being with us.
RAMI KHOURI, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "DAILY STAR": My pleasure.
NGUYEN: My first question to you is that you have seen these protests. Just Muslims protesting, or are there people of other faiths protesting as well?
KHOURI: Well, it's -- mostly the people who are protesting are Muslims in this case, because the rioting was -- was generated by people going around the city saying that we should protest, and this is a duty for all Muslims. And it -- while it is true that these cartoons that are deeply offensive to Christians and Muslims in the Arab world and, I think, in many other countries, it was predominantly Muslims who were out on the streets, protesting.
NGUYEN: Not only were the protests targeted at the Danish consulate there. We're looking at some pictures of that a little bit earlier today. But they spilled over into Christian areas. Tell me about that.
KHOURI: Well, the area where the problem (ph) is a predominantly Christian area in Beirut. It's just a couple of blocks from my office. And some of the demonstrators, small numbers of them, probably just a few dozen here and there, went off and broke -- broke windows in a church and broke windows in cars.
And there's a strong sense in Lebanon among the people I've talked to that these are people who are just to trying to provoke sectarian strife, that this is not representative of the majority of people who are out in the streets protesting these cartoons, and there is a tradition here in Lebanon, unfortunately, as in many other Arab countries of people trying to set minorities off against majorities and to foment sectarian strife. And Lebanon is prone to this, unfortunately.
NGUYEN: yes, I want to ask you about that, because in learning what has happened today, we also know that there are Christians, too, who are upset with these cartoons. Yet, some of them are being targeted with these protests. Is that surprising to you?
KHOURI: Well, there's -- I would say most Christians in the Middle East, including myself, are very upset with these cartoons, because they're deeply offensive. And me as a journalist, particularly, I would urge my colleagues in Europe and all over the world to draw a very reasonable and fair line between the right of free speech and the -- and actions that deeply offend the most sacred boundaries of another religion.
So I think that line has been breached in Europe, and many people in the Middle East are interpreting this as part of a western onslaught against Muslims and against Islam and a war -- clash of civilizations. And people are giving it the worst interpretations, partly because of the way the Danish government has -- and the Danish newspapers and others have interpreted this thing, saying we're going to do this, it's our right, and Muslims have to be more aware of our free speech. It's very ungrateful (ph), very insulting, and I think very unnecessary.
NGUYEN: Yes. There are two sides of this: the free speech issue and the other one that says basically this is insulting to a religion. So do you think that protests like this are just adding fuel to the fire on both sides of this issue?
KHOURI: Yes. I think we're into sort of a cycle of ongoing extremism. The protests, the peaceful protests, and what's absolutely normal. And the few people that have been involved in violent acts today were responded to and controlled by Muslim clerics, Muslim religious leaders, as well as the police, who were out there in the streets. And Christian leaders were asking for restraint for -- on all sides.
But you do have a problem now with people in the west coming from the western countries and people in the Arab Islamic countries getting more and more emotional about these issues. I think what we need is more sort of rational, thoughtful minds to prevail rather than this extremist kind of sentiment on both sides.
And I think the origin of this cartoon in the Danish newspaper was designed partly, it seems, to provoke anti-Islamic sentiments for upcoming elections in Denmark. So I think the origin of this kind of action, the people behind it, has to be looked at, as well. I don't think it's really an issue of free speech. I think there's a more sinister political motive behind it.
NGUYEN: Rami Khouri, editor-at-large of the "Daily Star" in Beirut. We appreciate your time today. Thank you.
KHOURI: Thanks for having me.
NGUYEN: And coming up in just a few minutes, we will get another perspective on the cartoon controversy from editorial cartoonist Mike Mikula.
SANCHEZ: CNN is learning that just moments ago the mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole bombing had escaped from a Yemen prisoner (sic).
You'll recall on October 12, 2000, the USS Cole came to harbor of Aden, Yemen, for what was supposed to be a routine fuel stop. Instead, a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer and left that hole you're looking at right there on top of the banner in the center of the screen. Seventeen sailors were killed; 39 others were injured in this blast. The attack was organized by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist organization.
Now, again, we're learning that the mastermind of that attack has escaped from a Yemeni jail. It is certainly a story that we will continue to follow for you.
Betty, over to you.
NGUYEN: Want to talk about the hunt for the suspect in a Massachusetts gay bar attack. It has ended violently, and some 1,500 miles away in Arkansas.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Jacob Robida is in critical condition, we understand now, after getting wounded in a shootout with police.
CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where the story began. He's been following this thing now for quite some time.
I suppose there was BOLO out yesterday, so people all over the country were looking for this guy. Arkansas is where he turned up?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And it was a three- day national manhunt, Rick. A tragic ending to that manhunt now.
After the attack here at a gay bar in New Bedford, apparently Jacob Robida headed down to West Virginia. Police say there he picked up an acquaintance by the name of Jennifer Bailey at her home in Charleston, and then they headed to Arkansas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHERNOFF (voice-over): Eighteen-year-old Jacob Robida began his violent rampage at Puzzles Lounge, a gay bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he allegedly assaulted three men with a hatchet and a handgun. Robida fled, and for three days police around the nation were alerted to be on the lookout.
Yesterday afternoon police got their first sighting of Robida. In Gassville, Arkansas, a 63-year-old police officer pulled over his car for a traffic violation.
PAUL WALSH, BRISTOL COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: An officer approached the car. He was shot twice and killed. Mr. Robida then attempted to flee.
CHERNOFF: About 10 minutes later in Mountain Home, Arkansas, police officers began chasing Robida. The chase extended for 16 miles into North Fork, Arkansas.
WALSH: Finally, he was stopped. His car ended up wrecking on the side of the road, turning around 180 degrees. He was being pursued by state troopers at that point. At that point our best information is that he shot and killed the woman who was seated next to him in the car that he had taken from New Bedford.
At that point police officers opened fire, striking him, we believe, again, twice in the head. He's in critical condition, and it doesn't look very good right now.
CHERNOFF: The bartender at Puzzles Lounge says he's disappointed with the outcome.
PHILIP, PUZZLES BARTENDER: I just wish he was hit somewhere else other than a fatal area, because I want him to live every day to remember this and to think about what he did and to realize the pain and heartache that he caused on everybody in this bar. Not just the victims, but everybody in the bar and everybody in the community.
WALSH: One of Robida's three alleged victims in New Bedford is out of the hospital.
ROBERT PERRY, VICTIM: I'm feeling very lucky to be alive. I should be dead or I should be paralyzed. I had a bullet went between my skin and my spine, somehow entered over under my right side and came out under my left shoulder, and -- and I'm just so thankful to be alive, because I should be paralyzed or I should be dead.
CHERNOFF: New Bedford officials say they, too, are grateful for authorities in Arkansas.
MAYOR SCOTT LANG, NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS: I want to tell everyone in Arkansas that New Bedford has a tremendous, tremendous debt and sympathy for everything that's gone on down there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Arkansas law calls for the death penalty for anyone convicted of killing a police officer, so the district attorney here says even if Robida were to recover from his wounds, he would not be returning to Massachusetts to face charges for the assault at the gay bar. And two of those victims of the attack remain hospitalized, one in critical condition -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Allan.
This Super Bowl Sunday in Detroit is not just any Super Bowl Sunday. Oh, no. It's just hours until game time. The Motor City game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks is the very first international Super Bowl.
Detroit's Ford Field is just one mile from the Canadian border. That means security is going to be tighter than ever before. Pre-game security tests have been going on for weeks now, and it looks like Big Brother is going to be watching this Super Bowl closely.
CNN's Brian Todd, he's in Detroit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From divers in the water to air patrols, police everywhere, and dog teams on the prowl, Detroit seems like a city in lockdown.
But along with cops and canines, cameras are also on virtually every corner. We had federal agents tail me from a command post with one of their so-called pan, tilt, and zoom cams.
(on camera) There are hundreds of surveillance cameras in Detroit just for this event, and this is a typical sequence that someone will go through being surveiled on a Detroit city street. I walked a couple of hundred yards from one surveillance camera shot, just picked up by a second surveillance camera, and I'm walking down Michigan Avenue. This is a typical sequence. I'm about to turn a corner onto Cass Street. A third surveillance camera is picking me up.
(voice-over) Cameras are also in the air. And people in and around the stadium will be watched not just by stationary cameras.
CHIEF ELLA BULLY-CUMMINGS, DETROIT POLICE: There will be members of law enforcement that have the capability to video feed real-time information that is being picked up through cameras.
SANCHEZ: Detroit's police chief is talking about undercover plains-clothes agents, federal and local, wearing hidden cameras. They can second images of suspect back to command centers, where profiles can be matched.
Also, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has its own surveillance teams.
VALERIE GODDARD, ATF SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: We could capture somebody actually in the act of committing some type of crime, whether it's leaving a package, whether it's perhaps being involved in a shooting. TODD: The technologies will do more than try to preempt attacks. One top law enforcement official tells CNN they have devices, which they can't give much detail about, that can detect any abnormalities in air quality. If something goes off, if the normal air quality has been tampered with, security officials will get signals that will tell them if they need to respond.
Brian Todd, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
NGUYEN: We are keeping a close eye on the situation in Beirut and across much of the Muslim world, for that matter. Protesters are, again, taking to the streets, outraged over newspaper cartoons they believed insult the Prophet Mohammed.
SANCHEZ: Up next we're going to talk to an editorial cartoonist about his reaction. Did those cartoons possibly go too far? Is this a first amendment issue? Should the newspaper editors have anticipated the reaction? Lots of questions. Nice smile.
CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues in just a moment.
NGUYEN: Good morning, Mike Mikula. We'll be talking to him soon.
And we're going to be talking about this, too, throughout the day. The USS Cole attack, well, we have learned, CNN has confirmed, that the mastermind behind that attack has escaped from a Yemeni jail. We'll tell you more on that as soon as we get it in. Stay with us.
You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Same pictures, different city, you might say. Just different day. Many in the Muslim world are still violently protesting newspaper cartoons, editorial cartoons, depicting Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
This is Beirut today. This is pictures we've been monitoring since we first came into work here. Will riots over the editorial cartoons threaten to reignite old Muslim-Christian wounds that destroyed the city in the 1980s?
Let's show you these pictures now. This is Damascus, Syria. Doesn't look very different, does it? This is 24 hours ago. If you were watching this yesterday when we were bringing you these, angry mobs torched two embassies and damaged two others.
What is now several days of furious protest began Thursday. This is Gaza, where the Danish flag was burned. Riots have been documented across the Middle East, Europe and parts of Asia, as well. Now, here's a censored view of what has started all of this. This is one of the 12 editorial cartoons that have angered people in the Muslim world. In all 12, first published in October in a Danish newspaper, they showed the Prophet Mohammed, usually in what is being subscribed as a demeaning fashion.
Mike Mikula is a renowned editorial cartoonist whose work appeared in "Roll Call," in "The Atlanta Business Chronicle." And he's joining us now from Washington to give us some perspective.
This -- let me start with this, Mike. Is there a line where you, a cartoonist, try not to cross?
MIKE MIKULA, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST: Well, I think it's -- it all depends on the circumstances. And certainly, if you're living and working in Europe and given recent history, you might want to be a little thoughtful about what you're doing, particularly involving Islam. The Muslims over there have proven to be quite sensitive.
SANCHEZ: Have you ever dealt with religion in one of your cartoons?
MIKULA: I've had an -- in any religion, in fact, you're going to get mail from people. It's clear that lately Muslim people are getting much more offended, and this is a much bigger story than anything that's happened with cartoon over here.
SANCHEZ: But hold on. You know what, let's be fair here. If this were Jesus Christ, wouldn't we be offended?
MIKULA: Well, you know, in the United States there are a lot of things, not just in cartoons, but there is plenty of artwork that has done graphic, disgusting things to some iconography, Christian iconography.
SANCHEZ: Yes, and...
MIKULA: It happens in this country (ph). But people do get upset, but they don't riot.
SANCHEZ: Our competitor built a network out of it. I guess can you say that there's been some people who are upset about it, right?
MIKULA: Absolutely. But I think, look, if you're working in the Middle East or your cartoons are being published in the Middle East or even in Europe, you've got to -- there's a certain degree of self- censorship.
And in this issue, this was a provocation. You know, the editors decided to publish -- Fleming Rose over in Denmark decided to publish some stuff and sort of see what would happen, and the other editors. And it's their right to do it, and I think, you know, that there's a certain degree of bravery and foolishness, because this is the reaction they knew they were going to get.
SANCHEZ: You know, people like you and I, who profess to be journalists and sometimes better at it than at other times, albeit, can argue from a pure standpoint that anything we want to say is fair game, right?
MIKULA: Well, sure, but, look, you know, I wouldn't want to be the next Theo Van Gogh if I was over there, you know? I've got a good looking wife, a new baby and an interesting dog, and I don't want to die early. And they are calling for cutting off cartoonists' hands and executing them.
SANCHEZ: Yes, but forget about cutting off cartoonists' hands. Should we not do it sometimes, simply because we know that certain thing simply shouldn't be done? I mean, why would we do it? Just to titillate.
MIKULA: Exactly. This was a provocation. I mean, these -- everybody understands, or you should by now, that there's an Islamic prohibition against iconography. So anytime you're drawing -- if you're going to draw the Prophet Mohammed, you're going to irk a large group of people.
And I would also add, as a cartoonist, a big problem I have with this is it's a flawed metaphor. Mohammed has been off the scene for 1,500 years. He hasn't had anything to do with any of the terrorism or any of the misery in the Islamic world.
In the past couple of years in the Catholic Church, we've had a pedophilia scandal, and myself and my colleagues have drawn hundreds of editorial cartoons about priests and the...
SANCHEZ: But it's different because, you know, talking about a priest is not the same as talking about Jesus Christ.
MIKULA: Well, my point exactly. I didn't and I don't know...
SANCHEZ: That's what it seems these cartoons have done.
MIKULA: Well, I wouldn't draw Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ didn't have anything to do with the pedophilia scandal.
SANCHEZ: But that's what Mohammed is to them. And certainly, you understand, as the rest of our viewers sure understand why they're so upset, right?
MIKULA: Sure. But I draw -- if I draw a cartoon about an Islamic issue, a terrorism issue, there are plenty of figures (ph). There's Zarqawi; there's bin Laden.
SANCHEZ: Let me stop you for a minute, because you did dry a cartoon that, according to our researchers you got a lot of flack on, and it had to do on with terrorism. This is it, Saddam Hussein. Describe it for us. This is your argument.
MIKULA: Well, this is -- actually was for CNN for the web site CNN.com, for the Cartoon Clicks feature I do every week. And this was when Saddam was skipping out on his -- on his trial. Well, when he first started skipping out on his trial. I got mail from people, because I had drawn Saddam in his underwear, but if you look closely at the cartoon, he's got a girlie calendar in the background, and what I drew was a woman in a burka as sort of his prison girlie calendar.
SANCHEZ: And that's what you got the flack about?
MIKULA: Oh, yes. Yes. It was disrespectful for -- people accused me of being disrespectful to their religion, to women.
SANCHEZ: And it had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein. As a matter of fact, you wonder are they BVDs or Haines or -- Mike Mikula, we thank you for being with us.
MIKULA: They're dirty.
SANCHEZ: We'll be back.
MIKULA: Have a super Sunday.
SANCHEZ: You too.
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Here's what's happening right now in the news.
We are following breaking news this morning of a global security alert. Listen to this, Interpol says 23 people escaped Friday from a Yemeni prison. Among them is considered the mastermind of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in a Yemeni court.
SANCHEZ: Lebanese security forces are trying to restore order in Beirut after protesters burned the Danish consulate, earlier today. Like-minded demonstrators toward the Norwegian and Danish embassies in Syria, yesterday. This is in response to an editorial cartoon that depicts the Islamic prophet, Mohammed, in a demeaning fashion.
NGUYEN: Eighteen-year old Jacob Robida is in critical condition after a shootout who took him into custody last night. One officer was killed as well as Robida's female companion. Robida is suspected in violent attacks on three men at a gay bar in Massachusetts Wednesday night.
SANCHEZ: In California jail officials are segregating prisoners by ethnicity following a massive riot at the North County Correctional Facility near Los Angeles. One inmate was killed, more than 100 others were injured. The sheriff says the riot began as a turf war between rival gangs.
NGUYEN: All right in Arkansas an apparent crime of passion is caught on tape at a wal-Mart. Check out this video, look at it very closely. Police say a man saw his estranged wife and her boyfriend in the store. Right there, you see that? He grabbed an aluminum bat from the aisle and started hitting them on the head. The victim's injuries are minor, though. The suspect is free on bond.
SANCHEZ: Utility crews in Washington State are working against the clock to try and get power restored across western Washington, today. Yesterday high winds, downed trees, and power lines cutting electricity to some 160,000 people, and that is a big concern because fans don't want to miss today's Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Imagine that.
NGUYEN: Those fierce winds forced Seattle to shut down its floating bridge for the first time in nearly seven years. The bridge takes passengers across Lake Washington. Winds gusted up to, get this Rick, 75 miles-an-hour.
SANCHEZ: We do welcome you back, to have you here. I'm Rick Sanchez. I'm sitting in for Tony this morning.
NGUYEN: Glad to have you. You stuck around another day, huh?
SANCHEZ: I decided only because to company was so wonderful.
NGUYEN: Right. Right. Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thank you much for joining us. Got a lot to tell you about today, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be in the hot seat on Capitol Hill tomorrow. He is set to testify before a Senate committee looking into the Bush administration's domestic spying program. Gonzales is expected to defend the program, which involves eavesdropping without a court warrant. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us live with more on this.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. Well as you know, the president, as well as the White House as been involved in this very aggressive campaign to try to defend the domestic spying program, or what the White House calls a "terrorist surveillance program." Tomorrow we will hear from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He, of course, will be in the hot seat, and he's going to make the case arguing that the program is necessary as well as lawful. He will also call it an essential element of our military campaign against Al Qaeda.
Now, in a prepared statement that CNN has obtained his opening remarks, Gonzales will give the most detailed defenses as to why it was the president did not go to that special court, the FISA court to get a warrant for wiretapping, since the law does allow for emergency situations for the government to engage in spying to seek permission 72 hours later.
Gonzales lays out the point here saying that there are certain steps that are required to get that emergency authorization, including intelligence officers getting the sign-off from NSA lawyers. Also, justice lawyers making sure that that emergency authorization requirements are met, and then, finally, that the attorney general has to make sure that those FISA requirements are met, as well, so all of that is an involved process. He goes on to explain the FISA process saying, essentially, that even under the very best of circumstances, this process consumes valuable resources and results in significant delay.
He goes on to talk about "the terrorist surveillance program operated by NSA requires the maximum in speed and agility, since even a very short delay may make the difference between success and failure in preventing the next attack."
So Betty, that is what we expect for him. Of course, the case he will make. It is the White House's case as well. This is something that they say, while FISA, the court, is useful. They say also they need that speed and agility that is why they went around that process -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yeah, there's a lot to go through, and we will be watching. Suzanne Malveaux. Thank you, Suzanne.
SANCHEZ: Let's fast forward now to check on some of the other stories that are you're going to see on CNN News this coming week. First, jury selection begins tomorrow in Virginia to decide punishment for Zacarias Moussaoui. He pleaded guilty to conspiring with the September 11 hijackers, but claimed not to know their plans.
Also, the 48th annual Grammy Awards are on the air Wednesday night. Will this be the coordination of an outstanding comeback for Mariah Carey, or will Grammy voters go West, as in Kanye West.
Friday, it's the ceremony for the 20th Winter Olympic games and this year after a $2 billion makeover, Torino, Italy, not Torrin as some have said in the past, hopes to latch on to Olympic glory. We'll have it for you.
We have some breaking news out of Yemen, a prison escape. An urgent security alert. Officials are frantically searching for a terrorist mastermind mastermind.
NGUYEN: Yes, they are and we have more on this with Danielle Elias on the international desk.
Danielle, what do you know?
DANIELLE ELIAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Betty.
Now, as you said, we're following this developing story. Interpol has issued an urgent global security alert after Friday's escape of 23 dangerous individuals from a Yemeni prison. Interpol says one of the escapees is the mastermind of the bomb attack on the USS Cole six years ago. The other prisoners are convicted Al Qaeda terrorists.
Now, protesters in Lebanon have taken to the streets angry over cartoons published in a Danish newspaper featuring the prophet Mohammed. Demonstrators have set fire to the Danish consulate building in Beirut and caused a great deal of damage in the capitol. Lebanese leaders have sense asked for order.
And Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says he will no longer allow snap inspections of his country's nuclear facilities. And he's ordered Iran to resume its uranium enrichment activity. But Iran officials say they're still willing to talk with the international community about its nuclear program. For more on this we're joined by senior international correspondent Matthew Chance from Vienna.
Matthew, what do you have?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Danielle, thank you. That's right. President Ahmadinejad of Iran saying that the country will follow through on its threat to end all voluntarily cooperation with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. What that actually means is that it will no longer allow U.N. inspectors to conduct snap inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities.
I think it's important to emphasize there still will be U.N. inspectors on the ground there overseeing, monitoring Iran's very controversial nuclear program. That move, of course, coming after the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog board of governors meeting in an emergency session here in the Austrian capital of Vienna over the past three days, passed the resolution that would report Iran to the United Nations Security Council where it could, of course, eventually face punitive action.
The resolution, though, called on the Security Council not to talk and not to consider what action to take until at least a month from now, providing what diplomats are calling a window of opportunity for Iran to come into compliance with the resolution's terms.
ELIAS: So, Matthew, you're saying Iran has essentially said no to the IAEA for snap inspections, but now they're saying yes to Russia for possible nuclear enrichment, or at least uranium enrichment?
CHANCE: Yeah, I mean, there's a number of possibilities that could get us out of this problem. The main diplomatic initiative that's on the table is either Russian initiative to enrich uranium for Iran on Russian soil and that would provide some international oversight of the uranium nuclear program. It would also deny Iranian scientists that very sensitive enrichment technology because the big concern, of course, is that Iran might divert that technology to be used in a suspected nuclear weapons program. Iran's Ahmadinejad says it is only trying to get this nuclear technology to generate nuclear electricity.
ELIAS: All right. Matthew Chance from Vienna. Thank you -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Danielle. Appreciate it.
Well, he's tough as steel, and not even a heart attack can stop him from cheering on his favorite football team. Steel, get it? NGUYEN: I got it. Heart attack, that's for real. We're going to check in with super fan Terry O'Neil who, unfortunately, was back in the hospital this week. But you know he's going to be watching the game. We'll find out why he went back in the hospital and how he's feeling when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Here's a look at this morning's top stories in cases you are just joining us, an urgent global security alert, breaking news, from overseas. The man considered to be the mastermind of the 2000 attack on the U.S. Cole has escaped from a Yemeni prison along with more than 20 other inmates. The men reportedly used a tunnel.
Also, Lebanese security forces are trying to diffuse angry protests over the cartoon depiction of the Islamic prophet Mohammed. There's new video coming in of those protests. Today in Beirut the Danish consulate was burned, much like yesterday's protest in neighboring Syria. The Danish newspaper first printed the cartoons followed by other European papers.
And back in the U.S. the 18-year-old accused in a vicious hatchet and gun attack in a Massachusetts gay bar is in critical condition this morning. Jacob Robida was shot twice in the head during a shootout with police in Arkansas. Police believe Robida earlier shot and killed a woman he was traveling with along with a police officer.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this now. On a three-shot, no less. We're a communal group here.
NGUYEN: Yes, we are. We're like family here.
SANCHEZ: Let's go to Bonnie and find out whether there's a possibility this game could be canceled. Just kidding.
NGUYEN: No, that is not going to happen.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, no, no.
SANCHEZ: You know, I was working with somebody once that did that. They didn't know it was a dome, and it was a baseball game, and they said, you know, is there a chance -- well, you know, everybody doesn't know which stadium has a roof and which doesn't.
SCHNEIDER: Not the Super Bowl. That one you have to make sure you know.
NGUYEN: I think they would think there's a roof just in case.
SANCHEZ: Well, what's going happen around the Silverdome?
NGUYEN: Tailgating.
SCHNEIDER: Well, it's -- yeah, tailgating, right. It's a good thing it's inside because it's going to get so blustery in Detroit today. We're looking at temperatures in the 20s. Let's look at what's going on here.
NGUYEN: But that's not going to stop them, Bonnie. Tailgaters will still be out there despite the weather.
SCHNEIDER: That's right, they won't be feeling the cold.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: It's going to be a winter wonderland.
SCHNEIDER: Yeah.
SANCHEZ: Could be fun.
NGUYEN: Hey, have you heard about this guy, Terry O'Neil, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Yeah, yeah. Talk about a super fan.
NGUYEN: He's a huge Steeler fan.
SANCHEZ: Had a heart attack.
NGUYEN: Watching a game, had a heart attack at a bar, but the next weekend he was back in that bar watching his Steelers, and today you know he is going to be watching them in the Super Bowl. We're going to talk to him right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Howard Kurtz is going to be joining us now in Washington to check on some of the things going with "Reliable Sources." Howard, did you get a chance to see the interview we did a little while ago on the editorial cartoon issue? Mean, this thing's getting pretty heated.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": And we'll touch on that as well. I did see it, Rick, thanks very much. Coming up on this program, there's new video of what happened just before ABC's Bob Woodruff was wounded in Iraq. We'll ask his colleagues and other journalists whether the tragic incident is getting too much media attention? And talk about his temporary replacement as Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson. Also, the ABC news man that has joined Al Jazeera. Why most pundits panned President Bush's the "State of the Union, and Tony Kornheiser, multimillionaire football commentator? Really? That's all next on "Reliable sources."
SANCHEZ: Thanks a lot, Howard. Appreciate it. We'll certainly look forward to it. Never miss, it as a matter of fact. Well, we're less than nine hours away to kickoff now for Super Bowl XL, and while a lot is made about whether Super Bowl Sunday and all its trappings, the commercials, the bets, the parties, the perditions, some of the things we've been talking about for you this morning, let's not forget this is really about a football game, of two football teams. The Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Super Bowl newcomers in this case, the Seattle Seahawks, although they've been around for a while.
But, with more on today's combatants now, let's talk to Larry Smith, from CNN Sports. He's live in Detroit with more.
You know, it's funny, this thing takes on a life of its own, and before you know it, everyone is talking about everything but the darn game. Huh, Larry?
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Rick. Every time it happens, I mean, Super Bowl week really is about all the parties and festivities and the fans coming in trying to hook up with friends, cell phones aren't working over the weekend. This year we've got the weather, the snowstorm that came in last night and dropped a couple of inches down, made the roads hazardous. I skipped the parties myself, early night to get up here and talk to you this morning before the game.
Super Bowl XL, you're right here in Detroit. Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks, let's talk about the Steelers first off and their star Jerome Bettis, a 13-year veteran. He's a 5th all-time leading rusher. This is his hometown, and there's some talk that maybe he may retire after this game. What a way to go out with the Super Bowl championship in your hometown and then to go out and retire and maybe a Hall of Fame induction after that.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, by the way, the first sixth seed to reach the title game. They've won three straight road games, and as a result they have chosen not to wear their home uniforms, which they had the right to, but their road uniforms. No wearing white tonight.
On the other side, the Seattle Seahawks and their league MVP Sean Alexander, what a year he has had behind the star quarterback Matt Hassellback. He's 30 years old, he is a pro bowler, and he has done so well under Mike Holgrem's system up there in Seattle. Keep in mind, Pittsburgh is favored in this game, but Seattle 13-3 during their regular season, that was tied for the best record, and they've got to get a great running back in Sean Alexander. This should be a great match up. Forget the fact that some of the people are saying, you know what, you don't have the marquee -- you know, the Cowboys aren't in it or the you know, the Eagles or Tom Brady and the Patriots. This is a really good football game between two really good football teams, and it should be an outstanding contest tonight. Let's go back to you.
SANCHEZ: You know, I should probably share with our viewers that Larry and I both live in the same neighborhood. And I got to tell this to Larry. Larry, I've never seen you quite duded up like that, at least not around the neighborhood. OK? It must be really cold there.
SMITH: It's been the joke. That's been the joke. Everyone calling me from Atlanta, like, I have never seen you in a hat. But it's very cold up here. You need a hat. It is cold (INAUDIBLE) me to put a hat on.
SANCHEZ: Good gosh. Boy, that must tell us what kind of mild weather winter we're having here. Hey Larry, thanks, appreciate it. Enjoy the game.
SMITH: OK, all right, thanks a lot.
NGUYEN: We got a lot more coming up. You want to stick around for more CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All morning we've been asking you who will win the Super Bowl and why? We've got a lot of responses. Everyone's got a team.
SANCHEZ: Got them here as a matter of fact.
NGUYEN: Hot off the press. What do you have there?
SANCHEZ: Hot off the press. Handed to me just moments ago. Darrell from New Finland, Canada. Boy, that's fun to say.
"I'm lying in a hospital watching you guys after undergoing my eighth surgery. I'm doing well and on the road to recovery. The Super Bowl's the highlight of my hospital stay, although my Patriots are out."
You know, I would have bet they would have been there this year, too.
"Tonight I will forget about the pain, the psychotherapy (SIC), and the sleeplessness for a few hours I will be in a state," wait a minute, I said psychotherapy, that would be a problem.
NGUYEN: Physiotherapy.
SANCHEZ: Physiotherapy. Sorry about that.
NGUYEN: There's difference.
SANCHEZ: It's a huge difference. "be in a state of sports hysteria." That's nice. Good for you. Good for you Darrell.
NGUYEN: Oh, look at this. Averill from Los Angeles taking a shot a me here. OK, this is what Averill says. "Let's admit it guys, we don't care who the winner of the Super Bowl is because my Jets won't be there for a while, Rick's Dolphins will never get back there," oh Rich, "and Betty's Cowboys are choke artists!" Now did you have to say that? Did you really? "Let's all watch "Larry King tonight."
SANCHEZ: "I do not care who wins the game as long as my tip board numbers hit. Go 7-7." That's Dennis. That's what we were talking about a while ago, people don't watch because of the game, they want to bet on, you know, what song will be sung first or who will but a (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: They will bet on almost anything. OK, and Greg writes, "Who cares about the Super Bowl? I want to win Betty's job. She get to sit next to Rick Sanchez." Oh and get this Rick, "He is unbelievably HOT."
I just don't know how I can control myself, though. I'll tell you, it's a hard job.
SANCHEZ: Who said that?
NGUYEN: Greg did. You got a fan out there.
SANCHEZ: Started drinking early. We thank you all for all your comments. It's always fun on Super Bowl Sunday. It's the one day when we get to talk about something that's a little bit more frivolous.
NGUYEN: Yeah, we want to talk to Terry O'Neil. I've even got his "terrible towel" here, because as you recall, Terry O'Neil is a guy who had a heart attack watching a playoff game with his Steelers when Jerome Bettis fumbled the ball. We had him back to talk about it, and, in fact, he is in the car headed to the studio. He's given our producer a heart attack because she can't get him in the studio in time, and we were hoping to talk to him today. Because he's a huge fan, and of course, he wants the Steelers to win. I think the Seahawks are going to do it.
SANCHEZ: It's going to be close. I know the media has been going with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That usually makes you want to go the other way.
NGUYEN: It's such a strong team, but you got to root for the underdog.
SANCHEZ: Media darlings. As were the Indianapolis Colts.
NGUYEN: And since my cowboys are choke artists, there, you know, no chance that's going to happen.
SANCHEZ: I'm right with you, though. By the way, let's talk about this, because this is always important, especially when it comes to Super Bowls. A terror attack on the Super Bowl is certainly a possibility. Given what happened in 9/11, it's something we all need to face up to and talk about. In 1977 it was a movie, remember? It was called "Black Sunday." It was actually the Orange Bowl that they used in that movie. Saw some of the taping. The threat is all too real, and security ahead of the Super Bowl Sunday 2006 is, in a word, extraordinary. This year it's a multi-national effort. CNN's Brian Todd reports from Detroit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): When's the last time you saw a helicopter try to steer away a plane in mid-flight? Or one speed boat nearly collide with another on the border of the U.S. and Canada? This is what awaits terrorists should they attempt to target Super Bowl XL in Detroit.
(on camera): This will give you an idea of the huge security concern for the Super Bowl. Look how close the field is to the Detroit River. The U.S. border of Canada runs up the middle of that river then hundreds of miles north to adjoining rivers lakes. (voice-over): We flew in joint air face along with commander Bob Makowski (ph) of the U.S. Coast Guard who explained his challenge heading off pilots who violate airspace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An unfamiliar pilot, we don't know what they're going to do. They don't really know what we're going to do.
TODD: This year, U.S. security officials have partners, coordinating like never before with their Canadian counterparts. Both countries are under the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, that will have fighter jets and helicopters enforcing a 30-mile flight restriction on Super Sunday. On the water just for this event heavily armed American boats can cross into Canadian waters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What channel are you guys on?
TODD: American officers can board Canadian vessels to chase suspects. The Canadians can do the same.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look for anything out of the usual, such as small vessels traveling at a high rate of speed that don't appear to be, you know, acknowledging that you have a zone in place.
TODD: With the sheer mileage of open border space on the water, we asked Coast Guard admiral Robert Papp, coordinator of all Homeland Security agencies for the Super Bowl, where the vulnerabilities are.
ADM. ROBERT PAPP, U.S. COAST GUARD: These are the places, though, that we have the biggest challenge, where you have virtually just a couple hundred yards. A boat can get across in five minutes.
TODD: That potential threat is why Homeland Security officials have set up a tight security zone along the Detroit waterfront. That doesn't cover the hundreds of miles of open border over the adjacent rivers and lakes, but right now officials tell CNN they have no specific credible threat to the Super Bowl.
Brian Todd, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for being with us, everybody, and enjoy the game.
NGUYEN: A big game today. We'll be watching. "Reliable Sources" is next.
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