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American Morning

Massive Fire Breaks Out at Airport in Istanbul, Turkey; Immigration Battle; New Terror Tape

Aired May 24, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Back now with more on that raging fire at the Istanbul airport right now, happening in the cargo section of the Ataturk Airport. Firefighters doing the best they can to douse the blaze that is, as you can clearly see here, appears to be fueled by some kind of accelerant, perhaps some kind of aviation fuel.
No word on what the cause is on it. There are reports there were people inside this cargo facility at the time of the explosion and fire. Panic reported inside the airport, as passengers tried to get away from what you can see would be a horrifying scene.

Joining us now on the line with some more information is Kaya Heyse, one of our producers in that part of the world.

Kaya, what can you tell us?

KAYA HEYSE, CNN TURK PRODUCER: Well, we still don't know the cause of the fire. And from miles away, you can see the fumes of smoke, hundreds of meters high up in the air. And also, the traffic around the airport is coming to a standstill and (INAUDIBLE). What people are telling us who are coming from the airport, really, is that those panicked within the terminal, the cargo terminal where the fire broke out, and hundreds of firefighters, including (INAUDIBLE), are trying to extinguish the fire and trying to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the airport.

So a couple of hundred meters away from the cargo (INAUDIBLE) airport hotel, which also could come under threat of the flames. People that we talked to from the area (INAUDIBLE) an explosion, or a plane crash, or something like that. We think mostly it's an accident that (INAUDIBLE) is under investigation. Nobody knows now (INAUDIBLE) to keep the fire under control and prevent (INAUDIBLE).

M. O'BRIEN: Kaya, a question for you. Do you happen to know if this is anywhere -- this cargo facility is anywhere near a fuel depot or a fuel line that might have been ruptured one way or another and is feeding that blaze?

HEYSE: (INAUDIBLE) terminal of the Ataturk Airport, and the fire broke out in a huge -- in a big area. Again, it might be some fuel. That's what the first report says.

(INAUDIBLE) for this. And I also, at this point, cannot say exactly whether there was (INAUDIBLE). But the flames are breaking out, and (INAUDIBLE) is to extinguish the fire. People are saying there might be some kind of fuel tanks there, but some people said they heard explosions. Some people said they didn't hear explosions.

Really, at this point, it's to early to tell, because it's a very (INAUDIBLE) huge area that the fire broke out. And firefighters are desperately trying to keep the fire from spreading to other parts of the airport.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you know, Kaya -- have the authorities, one way or the other, said whether all airplanes in the air have been accounted for? Was there a possibility that this is the result of an airplane crash?

HEYSE: Well, of course, there are many, many theories, many things are being said. But (INAUDIBLE) is that fire broke out within the terminal. It was some kind of accident. Some people heard some kind of explosion.

We really at this point do not have any -- any exact reason for the cause. But now I'm approaching the airport. I see planes -- I see planes starting to (INAUDIBLE). It's very huge. Traffic has come to a standstill, and you can't see actually your hand in front of your nose.

There's so much smoke here, and also panic in the region. People are running away from the scene, and some people are watching the fire from a distance, and -- and the firefighters are still trying really hard to try to get the flames under control.

M. O'BRIEN: Kaya, do you know -- has there -- we talked about passengers obviously concerned and some degree of panic there. Is it -- has it officially -- the airport been officially evacuated in its entirety? As we look at one of those tankers trying to douse the blaze, has the airport been fully evacuated? In other words, is everybody out of harm's way that can be taken out of harm's way?

HEYSE: The operation is still going on. I'm now seeing hundreds of cars, taxis, minivans, private cars, buses, hundreds of cars that are just leaving the vicinity of the airport vicinity. Police have now blocked the traffic in order to make way for these hundreds of cars which are, in a way, escaping the airport and trying to -- trying to be in a safe place.

So there is still evacuation going on. And at the scene right there in front of the terminal now, police have blocked all entrances and trying to keep them away from the scene, and also from the passenger terminals. People are now trying to get away. Hundreds of cars, buses, minivans, leaving (INAUDIBLE).

So, Miles, we want -- we want to -- we want to enter the area. There's (INAUDIBLE) breaking up, and I see a couple of (INAUDIBLE) trucks now coming to help (INAUDIBLE). Tons of ambulances in the vicinity (INAUDIBLE), and they are now trying -- they are now trying to check if there are any wounded people.

I personally have not received any reports of wounded people or fatalities. (INAUDIBLE) it's still actually (INAUDIBLE). But because the fire broke out, seemed to break out (INAUDIBLE) terminal, there doesn't seem to be any fatalities -- I don't have any reports. (INAUDIBLE) hundreds of people watching from distance, the fire, and police trying to keep all the people away. (INAUDIBLE)...

M. O'BRIEN: Kaya...

HEYSE: ... over the fire, and still big plumes of smoke are (INAUDIBLE) hundreds of meters (INAUDIBLE). Hundreds of people are desperately trying to extinguish the fire, trying to prevent any spread to other parts of the airport.

M. O'BRIEN: Kaya Heyse, on the scene for us there.

We're going to let you go, let you get to work and continue on your efforts in reporting there, gathering some information for us.

Once again, we don't know the cause. We do no the result. Thick, black smoke, hundreds and hundreds of feet into the air in Istanbul, Turkey, after some sort of explosion and fire in the cargo area of the Ataturk Airport.

Was it a plane crash? Was it an accident? Was it a bomb that went off in the cargo facility?

All open questions right now. We're working on it. We have people on the scene there, like no other news organization can, and we're going to get you the information as soon as we can get it -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Another breaking story we want to tell you about happening in the Middle East. A violent clash this morning between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Ramallah in the West Bank. Palestinian security sources tell CNN that at least two Palestinians were killed, more than a dozen injured.

The Israeli military says its soldiers surrounded a house to arrest militants when violence broke out. Gunfire was exchanged and stones were thrown, they say, at Israeli military vehicles.

The Senate is already at work this morning. The issue, of course, immigration. Majority Leader Bill Frist is going to conduct a test vote on the immigration bill that now includes an amendment calling for stiff fines against employers of illegal immigrants, as much as $20,000 per immigrant.

Let's get right to AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken. He's at the White House for us.

Hey, Bob. Good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

There is a hope, Soledad, on the part of the Senate leadership that whatever passes the Senate, passes this week. There's some hope of a test vote today, then a final vote tomorrow. But that's really just the first step, the first step in a long, contentious battle that's expected, with a much more hard line approach that the leaders of the House of Representatives say they are going to stick to. And it leaves a dilemma for President Bush.

The president has really put his prestige on the line. When he's talking about this, he's been very visible in trying to come up with some sort of consensus legislation which can demonstrate, number one, that he, his administration, and the Republicans in Congress are on top of issues like that. And secondly, some legislation that would not hurt his base.

The president, as I said, has been very visible. On Monday, of course, we saw him trying to thread the needle on the issue in the special trip that he made to the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can't secure our border with thousands trying to sneak in. And therefore, this country needs a temporary worker program that will allow foreign workers to enter our country legally on a temporary basis to meet the needs of our economy and take the pressure off our border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: And there are those on the other side, of course, who say that what the president is talking about as supporting, the derisive term they use is "amnesty". The president says, no, this is just realism.

This is a battle that is being fought in the Senate right now, but it's a battle that has a long way to go -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's right. Senator Frist saying it was just -- it's a tough one.

Bob Franken for us this morning.

Bob, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A CNN "Security Watch" for you now.

A new audiotape believed to be from Osama bin Laden. In it, he says al Qaeda follower Zacarias Moussaoui was not part of the 9/11 plot, and he says that most of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for that matter, also not part of 9/11.

CNN's Kelli Arena joining us with more -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Miles, a U.S. intelligence official just told CNN that based on technical analysis, the assessment is that the voice on the tape does indeed belong to Osama bin Laden.

Now, what bin Laden had to say was hardly shocking. There's never been any evidence to suggest that Zacarias Moussaoui was supposed to the part of the September 11th plot. Even his own lawyers called him a wannabe. But analysts say that the tape is important because it proves that bin Laden is still alive and that he's trying to remain relevant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA (voice over): The latest audio message is simple, without the usual poetry associated with communications from Osama bin Laden. Clearly, conscious of Zacarias Moussaoui's recent terrorism trial in the U.S., bin Laden says Moussaoui had absolutely no role in the September 11th attacks.

OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): I am certain of what I say, because I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers -- Allah, have mercy upon them -- with those raids, and I did not assign brother Zacarias to be with them on that mission.

ARENA: During his trial, Moussaoui claimed he was supposed to fly a fifth plane into the White House, and the captured shoe bomber, Richard Reid, was going to be on his hijacking team. After being sentenced to life in prison, Moussaoui changed his story and said in a court filing that he lied on the stand.

Bin Laden mentions the testimony in an effort, U.S. officials believe, to seem up to date.

FORIA YOUNIS, FMR. FBI AGENT: He clearly is showing that he's still out there. He wants to be in the news. He wants to comment on the Moussaoui investigation.

ARENA: Bin Laden also spoke about the 500 or so detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He claims none of them have any connection to 9/11 either.

BIN LADEN (through translator): And even stranger is that many of them have no connection with al Qaeda in the first place. And even more amazing is that some of them oppose al Qaeda's methodology of calling for war with America.

ARENA: Officials believe at least one person being held in Guantanamo, Mohammed al-Katani (ph), was connected to 9/11. The U.S. government and the 9/11 Commission concluded he was meant to be the 20th hijacker, but couldn't get in to the United States.

Bin Laden hasn't been seen on video since October of 2004. This message, like other recent ones that have been released, was audio only.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: Now, this message makes no specific threat, but it is still a cause for concern. Terrorist analysts point out that the volume of messages from al Qaeda is at the highest point since the group's inception. And that sometimes could signal they're up to something -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Kelli Arena in Washington. Thank you very much.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's take you back to Turkey now. We're showing some of these pictures of this airport, Ataturk Airport.

As you can see, a massive fire there. It's taking place at the cargo terminal of the airport. It's not a giant airport, and the cargo terminal is directly connected to other passenger terminals as well. We had reports of people running in fear, because, of course, the flames, a hundred feet high, had been reported.

Let's get right to CNNI editor Gokhan Guvenc joining us by phone.

Gokhan, where are you right now and what are you seeing?

GOKHAN GUVENC, CNNI EDITOR: In Istanbul, and we are getting information from various sources. And the latest, a couple of minutes ago, (INAUDIBLE) and I told you that the (INAUDIBLE). Now we are getting announcements from (INAUDIBLE) saying that they're now using the reserve tarmac for commercial airplanes to land and take off.

So now this international traffic is drawing (ph) from the reserves area rather than the regular tarmac which is being used (INAUDIBLE). Now they are using the reserve area.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. That's quite a step forward. I mean, if they are actually landing planes. When you look at these picture, they're pretty overwhelming.

Describe for me a little better this airport. From the maps that I've seen, the cargo terminal is then directly connected sort of in a horseshoe shape with the other passenger terminals. How close would people potentially be to this massive fire?

GUVENC: The international department (INAUDIBLE) is far from this area. So there's no threat from the (INAUDIBLE) fire to the international department, where (INAUDIBLE) are using.

So (INAUDIBLE) each other (INAUDIBLE). But what we haven't learned so far is whether people, some people were trapped inside the (INAUDIBLE) or not. (INAUDIBLE) make it clear for us whether people are inside or not.

But tons of people were evacuated from the area, from the cargo (INAUDIBLE). You can see the ambulances at the area. You can see the fire department working on it. And you can see the (INAUDIBLE) trying to extinguish the fire, which is still not under control.

But we haven't so far heard whether some people are inside or not. And nearby areas, the hotels are being evacuated, which are under sort of (INAUDIBLE), and because of the smoke coming from the cargo department of the area, where people are staying in hotels. They are being evacuated for security reasons. So the latest I can say is, (INAUDIBLE) because of a short- circuit, not a terrorist attack. Because of a short-circuit which started the fire. This is so far the information we have from the area. Plus, also the people were...

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Gokhan, let me interrupt you there for a second. Let me just interrupt you and get you to repeat that part.

You're saying that they believe it's a short-circuit? There's that kind of an accident in the cargo terminal? Is that what you're saying now?

GUVENC: There's still a -- I can hardly hear you. Could you please repeat?

S. O'BRIEN: Sure, I'm sorry. I could -- we're having a little difficulty, too. I just want to be clear as to what they believe, at least at this early point, is the cause.

Are you saying a short-circuit looks like it might be the cause of this fire?

GUVENC: That's right. That's what the authorities, not officially, announced. But the authorities at the airport told people, the media, that the fire started because of a short-circuit.

S. O'BRIEN: Through a short-circuit. All right.

Gokhan, we have a map that we want to share with our viewers. I'm going to ask you to stay on the phone if you could for just a moment while I hand this over to Miles and a map of the terminal -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, along with what Gokhan was just saying about a short-circuit, let's -- if we could lose the banner there, please. Can you get rid of that banner for me? Thank you.

This is kind of a schematic diagram. These -- these long strips there are representations of the runways. I guess that's fairly evident. But just want to make that clear to you.

Here is the control tower, which you've seen popping up through some of the pictures. And over here is the cargo terminal, which appears to be ablaze.

There are reports there were upwards of 250 people inside, but they were able to evacuate before the flames became as -- before it became fully engulfed. So that would jive with what we just heard about perhaps a short-circuit triggering a blaze.

The question I would really have is, where is there a fuel farm out in this area here? Was there an aircraft nearby fully loaded with fuel that perhaps became involved? Was there some kind of accident which triggered a smaller blaze, which ultimately erupted a much larger blaze because of the fuel?

So, what is very interesting, while the international terminal is farther away, there's a terminal here, a passenger terminal here, and then one right beside the cargo terminal that you see burning there. So you can understand why there was some panic inside some of those terminals as this all unfolded.

So, clearly, what happened, it appears, happened with a fair amount of time involved.

Gokhan, just to be clear on this, have you heard one way or another from the authorities as to whether any plane might have crashed there?

Is he still with us?

GUVENC: Hello?

M. O'BRIEN: Apparently we've lost him.

Gokhan, are you there? Can you say one way or another...

GUVENC: I'm with you. I'm sorry during the broadcast, because we are at the headquarters, which is such a mess. Sometimes there's a communication problem.

M. O'BRIEN: No, no, no. We understand. We understand.

GUVENC: There's no -- there's no crash occurred at the airport. And let's make it clear that the authorities, officials announced that the area is open for international flights.

M. O'BRIEN: Still open for international flights?

GUVENC: The latest information is that the international airplanes are landing and taking off from the airport. So international flights. Let's make it clear.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. So we can say, relatively definitively, Gokhan, that this was not a plane crash? We can take that off the list?

GUVENC: That's right. Let's take that off the list. The only announcement we heard so far is there is no crash, which is 100 percent true. So take it form your list. What we've got on the list, on the top of the list, is the short-circuit...

M. O'BRIEN: OK. So...

GUVENC: ... caused the fire.

M. O'BRIEN: A plane crash has been ruled out. A short-circuit is considered the cause.

If there had been an explosion, that would not imply time for 250 people to evacuate prior to the flames becoming as engulfed as they were, necessarily. So as we go down the list of possibilities here, I think we're starting to narrow in a little bit on a cause.

Gokhan Guvenc is with our office there in Istanbul.

Thank you very much. We'll let you get back to work.

We're going to take a break. We'll get you more...

GUVENC: And let me say...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes?

GUVENC: ... if you can hear me...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

GUVENC: ... that the ministry announced that the fire is under control.

M. O'BRIEN: The fire is officially under control. And as we've been watching, we clearly have seen that between the ground personnel, the firefighters on the ground, as well as those tankers, they've done a pretty good job making an effort on this. Of course, the fuel that might be the source of this may have burned out as well.

All right. Thank you very much, Gokhan Guvenc. We'll get back with you.

And we'll be back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: President Bush stopping short of a commitment, but signaling that it might be time to start pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq. The president says the new government in Iraq might make troop reductions feasible and said -- although that said, there are no talks that are currently under way between the Iraqi government and the U.S. military.

And there's a new U.N. report that says some of the more than 2,400 Iraqis who died in just March and April were killed by men in police uniforms. "Washington Post" reporter Ellen Knickmeyer was on patrol with Iraqi police and their American trainers last week in Baghdad. She joins us from our Baghdad bureau.

Ellen, nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

ELLEN KNICKMEYER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Yes, thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Often we hear reports about violence against Iraqi citizens, and we hear that some of the perpetrators are wearing police uniforms. We think, well, they are actually either Iraqi police, or these are some kind of insurgents who somehow have stolen Iraqi police uniforms.

What's your experience been? KNICKMEYER: There's a separate category, who might be wearing the uniforms. It's Shia militias who are affiliated with the religious parties that run the police forces. And one common complaint that Iraqis have is they can't tell who's who.

Everybody's wearing -- there's lots of armed men are wearing police uniforms, and when they get stopped at a checkpoint or when someone comes to their door in a police uniform, they don't know if it's police on a legitimate errand, they don't know if it's the Shia militia coming to take their men away, and they don't know if it's armed gangs. And the government says the men doing the crimes are impostors in police uniforms, but lots of Iraqis have doubts, and Americans say at times they've found police actually carrying out some of these crimes and committing killings.

S. O'BRIEN: So the police are widely perceived as corrupt. What does your average Iraqi do, then, when there is some kind of situation that, at least here in the U.S. we would say, oh, call the police?

KNICKMEYER: You know, I think for Iraqis, right now, because it's such a difficult situation, they trust the American troops most of all. They say that they see them as a neutral party. And after that, their second choice for trouble would be the Iraqi army, who's been trained for more than a year now and is seen as a little bit more heterogeneous as far as being Sunni and Shia and Kurdish.

And as far as police, the Iraqis I talked to say that, you know, if their house is robbed or their car is stolen, they don't call the police. I mean, partly because, you know, they don't think the police would do anything, and partly because they don't trust them very much.

S. O'BRIEN: How hard is it to become a police officer in Iraq?

KNICKMEYER: It depends on what branch you -- you're looking to work with. If you want to get in some of the police forces, all you have to do is show up to your political party and they'll give you a job and put you in a police uniform. And for other police, it takes training, that the U.S. is overseeing. But the thing is, Iraqis can tell who are just the political party appointees in the police uniforms and who are the trained police.

S. O'BRIEN: And that's a huge problem, because at the end of the day, that could very much complicate U.S. troops' ability to eventually get out of Iraq. Right?

KNICKMEYER: That's right. I mean, Baghdad is a concentration now for the U.S. and Iraq wanting to improve security any Baghdad. And eventually security in Baghdad is going to be turned over to the Iraqi police. And they have to be able to manage that, and they're not there yet.

S. O'BRIEN: So with that list of problems, then, that we've been discussing for the last couple of minutes, what are the prospects for getting a legitimate police force anytime soon?

KNICKMEYER: One of the key problems is that the way that the police force was set up was it was heavily dominated by the Shia religious parties. And they're perceived as having put their militia members in there. So, no matter how trained, how well trained by the U.S. these police are, until Iraq and Iraqis are certain that their loyalties are to all of Iraq instead of just these Shia religious parties, there's going to be a lot of doubt about these police.

S. O'BRIEN: It's quite a mess, isn't it?

All right. Ellen Knickmeyer joining us. She's in our Baghdad bureau this morning.

Ellen, thanks. Really interesting insight from someone who has been following it very closely. Appreciate it -- Miles.

KNICKMEYER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, we'll keep an eye on the breaking news out of Turkey we've been telling you about. There's another tanker is in the air over Istanbul airport. That fire now considered under control as those black clouds of smoke turn a little lighter. That's a good sign.

We'll bring you the latest on what caused that fire. The leading indications are it's a short-circuit, perhaps, that triggered some kind of fuel blaze.

We'll have that and more for you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

We're watching that wild scene in Istanbul Turkey at Ataturk Airport. As we look at pictures right now of that fire at the cargo facility at the airport there, leading indications are right now that there was some kind of accident, a short-circuit of some kind, which sparked a blaze, and we can only conjecture at this point that there was some fuel or other hazardous material being stored in that cargo facility, which has caused these tremendous billowing flames and thick black smoke, which is hovering over the city. They have authorities there have ruled out the possibility of a plane crash. And given the fact that 250 people inside the cargo facility were able to evacuate subsequent to the beginning of this fire, perhaps that would put, you know, a terrorist bomb much lower on the list.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. We're going to continue to watch this story.

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: We're a week away from hurricane season, sorry to tell you. In New Orleans, they're getting ready, running through a second day of evacuation drills. And on Capitol Hill, a confirmation hearing for the acting director of FEMA. Our homeland security correspondent is Jeanne Meserve, and she joins us with an update.

Hello, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

David Paulison is appearing before a committee that recommended his agency be abolished, after an exhaustive study of the response to Hurricane Katrina. He is sure to be asked if FEMA and the rest of the government is better prepared for the approaching hurricane season.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID PAULISON, ACTING FEMA DIR.: We are working together as a team.

MESERVE (voice-over): Civilian and military officials insist there will not be another debacle like Katrina. The federal government raked over the coals for its sluggish response, put on a full-court press to try to convince critics they will do a better job next time.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY.: We're on a much more solid footing this year, and much more prepared as a nation than we've ever been to confront a major hurricane.

MESERVE: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says enough ice, water and MREs are now stockpiled to sustain a million people for a week. The National Guard has invested $800 million in new communications gear, and officials claim that matters of coordination and command are clarified.

LT. GEN. STEVE BLUM, NATL. GUARD: Our job is save lives, not waste time arguing who's in charge.

MESERVE: The National Guard says it has 367,000 soldiers and airmen ready and available to respond to the next disaster.

And the Department of Defense insists that despite deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, it can do its part.

PAUL MCHALE, ASST. SECY. OF DEFENSE: The response to Hurricane Katrina was the largest, fastest civil support mission in the history of the United States military. And if we have to, we can replicate or exceed that capability this year without impairing our war-fighting ability.

MESERVE: But there are still skeptics, including the ranking Democrat on the committee Paulison will face today.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Bit we're not as strong as we should be, so I worry about the hurricane season, and I say a prayer every night that it go better than I fear it will.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Paulison's nomination is expected to sail through, but expect Lieberman and others to voice their very strong opinions on what is wrong with FEMA.

Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: Jeanne, tell us what exercises are actually going on to see if we're ready to handle a big hurricane?

MESERVE: Well, there's one in New Orleans today, and officials tell me there's one virtually every day somewhere at the local, state or regional level. And today, there's a great big one here in Washington, a federal exercise. Officials tell me 14 cabinet settle and numerous other high-ranking officials are taking part. The idea, of course, to find gaps in the planning, and if there's time, fill them before the big storm hits -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, it's worth reminding folks, they did a lot of pre-testing and dry runs in advance of Katrina. A lot of good that did, huh?

MESERVE: You're absolutely right. And many people have pointed that out. Hurricane Pam, of course, went on. It pointed out many of the things that were wrong in New Orleans. Those thing was not corrected.

But people say, if anything, the federal government is leaning very far forward, perhaps too far forward, this time around. Someone said to me, hey, they might as well fly a cargo plane over the affected area and push money out the back, because they'll be so anxious not to have a repeat of what happened down in New Orleans.

S. O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve in Washington,thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Tonight on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," a story of a 12-year- old girl who outsmarted her abductors. A terrible story. Janette Tamayo attacked and raped in her own home. The man then put her in a box and then put that box in the back of his car.

Kareen Wynter picks up the story from there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With Janette in his car, the attacker fled. He took her to a home that turned out to be just a few blocks away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he grabs me, he takes me upstairs to a room, where you have to have a key in order to get in and out of.

OPERATOR: Emergency, what are you reporting?

CALLER: Can you please help? Send the cops over here, because something happened to my neighbor's daughter.

WYNTER: Over the next two days, her abductor sometimes let Janette watch television. That's how she found out there was an intense police search under way. She saw her own missing poster on the news, and heard her mother's pleas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I saw my brother and my mom, I said, they're OK, I can get out of here. And I know who it is, so I have some hope.

WYNTER (on camera): Hope, but he didn't let you go right away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

WYNTER: There's a lot of work that you had to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: You can hear the rest of Janette's terrifying ordeal. That's tonight on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," airing at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Coming up next, Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business." Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

We're going to check on that struggling stock market, plus a hot telephone, Internet IPO, and is it the best ice cream supermarket cone ever -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm intrigued. I don't know.

SERWER: Well, you should be. You're supposed to be.

M. O'BRIEN: Did you bring samples?

SERWER: I did.

S. O'BRIEN: All right! You rock, Andy.

M. O'BRIEN: We're very pleased.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

Also ahead this morning, we'll get a preview of tonight's big "American Idol" finale. Will the soul patroller, Taylor Hicks, end up on top or, will McPhee-ver please the nation and make Katherine McPhee the big champ?

S. O'BRIEN: Andy's got McPhee-ver, big time.

SERWER: I really do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: With nearly 200 voices in the U.N. General Assembly, it's hard for a really small country to make itself heard.

U.N. correspondent Richard Roth tells us how the tiny nation of Palau is turning up the volume a bit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The islands of Palau in the Pacific Ocean, tranquility and beauty. So who best to represent them at the United Nations than -- a blunt talking New Yorker? Meet Ambassador Stuart Beck, honorary citizen of Palau.

STUART BECK, PALAU AMB. TO U.N.: This was an opportunity that was really too good to miss.

This is the history of Palau.

I would say the people of Palau.

This office should have an experienced U.N. bureaucrat.

ROTH (on camera): Do many people ask what's an American doing representing a country such as Palau, thousands of miles away in the Middle of the ocean here in New York, at the General Assembly?

BECK: Yes.

ROTH: And what do you tell them?

BECK: I tell them that I already live here, So I don't have to bay house.

ROTH (voice-over): A criminal lawyer in the '70s, Beck was asked to help negotiate Palau's independence from U.S. administration, which provided his first U.N. experience. Beck eventually married a Palaun woman.

And two years ago, the president of Palau asked him to be the country's first U.N. ambassador.

PRES. TOMMY REMENGESAU JR., PALAU: ... signifies tranquility, brightness, romanticism, fertility.

ROTH: Tranquility. But despite its charms, Palau is also anxious. Sea levels are rising. Salt is damaging farmland.

BECK: Palau asks for very little, but now its asks for help, and that help should be forthcoming.

ROTH: The ambassador feels small island states don't get enough attention as environmental concerns grow.

BECK: I find kind of ironic and wrong since these are new countries trying to do their best to be members of the world community.

ROTH: That's where his urban experience helps.

BECK: I'm a New Yorker and I'm not shy. So I think that's the skill that I can bring to this. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never heard of Palau.

BECK: OK, well you will. You will.

ROTH: The American representing Palau gets only yes votes from regional colleagues.

MARLENE MOSES, NAURU, AMB. TO U.N.: You need the New York skills to be a good diplomat here.

BECK: I'm 58 years old now. It's probably the last career change I'm going to make, and this is just right for me at this time of my life. Give back a little bit.

ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting story.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm from Palau. Forget about it, all right.

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KAGAN: As long as you guys are keeping it light and fluffy, I'll do the same thing. There is lots of "American Idol" chat this morning. And LIVE TODAY is looking at reality TV Mideast style as well.

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KAGAN: A woman competes for the title of best fashion designer. Her own fashion statement, basic black, head to toe. At home, music icon Bob Dylan mark a milestone. A youthful voice of the '60s, get this, becomes a senior citizen today. Bob Dylan is 65. Happy birthday, Bob. And this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Neighbors hate him; supporters want to save him. Lewis (ph) the crazy cat gets his day in court. Is he guilty of those ambush attacks. All that and of course the top stories at the top of the hour right here on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

For now, back to you guys. S. O'BRIEN: I think Lewis is guilty. I don't know that there's any big debate over that. It's what's going to happen to that poor kitty cat.

KAGAN: Lewis is crazy.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, Lewis is crazy. All right, Daryn, thanks.

We're also talking about "American Idol" ahead this morning. Who's got the best shot at wining? The man on the left -- the lady on left, the man on the right, or the two right there. Who's going to pull it out? What do you think, Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Like I said, I think Taylor will win. I think Katherine has a better career ahead of her. That's my take.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll see. That story's ahead. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. We got to listen to Taylor a little bit. He's coming up. What is with the purple coat, Taylor? Come on! Geez, purple velvet? Where'd you get that? OK, America. You've heard them, and do you have the McPhee-ver? Or are you on the soul patrol? The votes are in. We're about twelve hours away from hearing exactly who is the next "American Idol." Who's going to win? Who's more bankable? All those questions on our mind this morning.

Jenny Eliscu is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and she joins us to weigh in. First of all, what did you think of the show?

JENNY ELISCU, "ROLLING STONE": I thought it was kind of a sedate finale. You know, normally, there seems to be a little bit more of a sense of advent to it. It kind of felt like just any other episode of "American Idol." But that said, I thought that it went the way I expected it would go, which is that Taylor seemed to clean up and Katherine seemed to have some problems.

M. O'BRIEN: Inconsistent. That second song she did...

ELISCU: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: ... "Over the Rainbow," was, really, I thought, quite excellent. And what I liked about it was she wasn't trying to knock off Judy Garland. She just did her own thing, it was very emotional and well done.

ELISCU: Yes, I mean, there's a lot of subtleties to this kind of thing. I mean, she think she lost in doing that just because she did that song just the previous week. And Taylor was smart, because he did his two other songs -- he did songs from earlier in the season that you had forgotten about. She picked two songs from very recently. So it's -- it was a little -- you know, as Randy Jackson said, a little anti-climactic because, you know, it wowed you, but you had just been wowed by it last week.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. There's a little bit of strategy there that maybe Taylor, being a little older and wiser...

ELISCU: Perhaps.

M. O'BRIEN: ... may be employing in all this.

ELISCU: Perhaps.

M. O'BRIEN: So your general take is, you know, if it were purely on there their singing ability, Taylor would win?

ELISCU: Well, no. If it were purely on singing ability in general, I think Katherine would win because she is the better singer. But in terms of last night's performance, she kind of butchered the last number, the original song, "My Destiny." And I think it's pretty much going to be a landslide victory for Taylor, in my opinion.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

ELISCU: Yes, I think so.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, there's a fair amount of popularity contest involved in all this. Is he well-received, well-liked?

ELISCU: Well, he's very well-loved and he's obviously the underdog. And, you know, America loves an underdog. But I think that, you know, yes, she doesn't have that kind of, like, massive love coming for her that he has. But he is weird, unconventional "American Idol" contestant. So it's a strange situation here.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's go to the tote board of previous winners and how they've done. And in one case, a runner-up. Of course, Kelly Clarkson, giant, top of the list, $7.7 million sold. Ruben Studdard with $2.3 million. Fantasia with $1.7 million, Carrie Underwood with $2.8. We didn't -- do we have -- what's his name?

ELISCU: Clay.

M. O'BRIEN: Clay. Clay should be on there.

ELISCU: Well, I'm pretty sure that...

M. O'BRIEN: I know he wasn't a winner. That's point I'm trying to make. I've got a couple people here saying, he wasn't a winner. Because Clay did very well.

ELISCU: Clay did very well.

M. O'BRIEN: You don't have to win to do well, right?

ELISCU: Well, yes. I mean, the interesting thing is that the year that Clay and Ruben were the two finalists, "Rolling Stone" put them on our cover. The Clay Aiken cover was not, if not the best- selling cover of the year, it was one of the best. The Ruben Studdard cover was the worst-selling of the year.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. Interesting.

ELISCU: And he was the winner and Clay was the runner up.

M. O'BRIEN: There's something about Clay that something happened..

ELISCU: There's just something about that Clay!

M. O'BRIEN: Because that would be a fluke. You wouldn't necessarily say that if, you know, if Katherine was number two that she would have...

ELISCU: No. It really -- I mean, you talk to people associated with the show and who work at the BMG, which is, you know, the label that puts these records out. And everyone seems to be in agreement that it really does come down to the quality of the songs on the album and how broad an appeal the artist has. Someone like Fantasia or Ruben is naturally going to sell fewer albums because it's more genre- specific to the R&B or hip-hop world, where as someone like Kelly Clarkson, or a Katherine McPhee, or even a Taylor Hicks, stands to sell a lot more.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, so your prediction?

ELISCU: Taylor.

M. O'BRIEN: Definitely Taylor. All right, Jenny Eliscu, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone." Thanks for being with us.

ELISCU: Thanks for having me.

M. O'BRIEN: And we're back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: That's it. We're out of time.

M. O'BRIEN: Daryn, take it away.

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