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American Morning
Wind-Driven Wildfire Burns Along Rio Grande; What's the Day-to- Day Reality for Iraqis?; Mass Translation; "Wordplay"
Aired June 16, 2006 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In New Mexico, a similar story: a wind-driven wildfire burning along the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque. Last night it shutdown an interstate and forced dozens from their homes.
Reporter Annie McCormick with our affiliate KRQE is on the scene this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNIE MCCORMICK, KRQE REPORTER: We're across the street from the command center just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This fire began at 6:30 last night and has blazed throughout the night. If you can take a look at some video from last night, you can see. Gives you an idea of the strength of this fire. So far it's burned about 150 acres.
That area is filled with six heavy brush that just becomes fuel to the fire as it spreads. Two other hurdles fire officials have is the state's drought. We've been under a drought for some time now, and that makes conditions very dry. Also heavy winds. In fact, although that they don't know the cause of this fire, they are blaming the spread of it on the heavy winds. They're saying right now fire officials can actually go in to fight the fire in (INAUDIBLE). If those winds do exceed 30 miles an hour.
Now, right now, people are returning. There are replenishing crews coming in to go in there and try to see if they can get into the (INAUDIBLE) to try to fight the fire. Evacuations happened last night. About four dozen homes. Those people will be let back into their homes sometimes this afternoon. Fire officials are saying everything pretty much depends on the wind conditions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: That was Annie McCormick with our affiliate KRQE in Albuquerque.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A new government and the death of al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, signs of progress. But what's the day-to-day reality for Iraqis? How do they feel about the future? Ahmad Al- Rikaby is the founder of Radio Dijla in Baghdad, Iraq's most successful talk station. He joins us now from Amman, Jordan.
Good morning.
AHMAD AL-RIKABY, RADIO DIJLA: Good morning. And it's Ahmad Al- Rikaby and it's Radio Dijla.
COSTELLO: Thank you for clarifying. I appreciate that.
So al-Zarqawi is dead, a new Iraqi government is in place. There's a big security crackdown right now in Iraq, in Baghdad in particular. What are your listeners saying about those things?
AL-RIKABY: Well, the majority of our listeners and I believe the majority of the Iraqi people are welcoming the new security measures. One of the things which the former government and the government before the previous government was criticized for is what people considered the lack of toughness. So this is really what people want to see, a tough attitude towards terrorism and toward the criminal gangs in the Iraqi societies. Very few believe that this is just going to cause inconvenience in their daily life, and it may lead to nothing. But the majority are welcoming the new security measures.
COSTELLO: There was more violence today. There was violence at a Baghdad mosque that's been attacked before. When something like that happens, do your listeners call in? And if they do, what do they say?
AL-RIKABY: Well, if you put it on an Iraqi scale, if you compare it to how the situation was a month ago, it's really nothing. Despite the fact that we are talking about a terrible issue and the death of many innocent people, despite this it is still a very good situation today in Baghdad, if you compare it to one week ago before the government started their new security measures last Wednesday. So it is a relatively peaceful day in Baghdad today.
COSTELLO: So President Bush said in light of all that's happened in the past few weeks, that it's time for the Iraqi people to seize the moment. There are many here in America who think the Iraqi people haven't seized the moment and aren't doing enough to help themselves. What would you say to them?
AL-RIKABY: Well, I believe that, unfortunately, the Iraqi people for the last three years were not given enough chance to make a decision over the security issue. And what many Iraqi officials are happy about today is that obviously it seems that there is an agreement with the U.S. administration about getting more freedom of deciding over the security issue. The Iraqis know very well who are the terrorists, where they are placed, and...
COSTELLO: So why aren't they turning more of those terrorists in?
AL-RIKABY: Why? Could you please repeat the question?
COSTELLO: Why aren't they turning over what they know about those terrorists to Iraqi security forces or American military forces? AL-RIKABY: Well, this is an issue for the security people. They could give you a very good answer about it. But we have heard in the media lots of complaint from Iraqi officials, Iraqi security officials, that they are not getting enough chance to make a decision over the security issue. But I believe that this situation is different today, and this is what many Iraqi officials said...
COSTELLO: Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt. Let me just stick with what you said for a moment. Do you believe then, do your listeners believe then, that U.S. forces should withdraw and get out of there, and leave the decision making as far as security goes up to Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government?
AL-RIKABY: Well, the Iraqi people are divided over this issue. There are those who believe that the U.S. forces, the multinational forces, should remain in Iraq until the Iraqi army is ready and could stand and do whatever should be done by themselves.
There are other people who believe that the multinational forces, the U.S. forces, should leave the country immediately. However, everybody,, every Iraqi, wants the foreign forces, including the U.S. Army, to leave the country at some point. And I believe this is very normal and a very natural attitude. But there is a division. There is a dispute over the timing and the date of leaving the country.
COSTELLO: Thank you very much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it. Ahmad Al-Rikaby, joining us live from Jordan.
AL-RIKABY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Well, the lord be with you and with your spirit. If you're a Catholic, the first line sounds familiar; the second one, not so. But you better get used to it. The U.S. Mass is a'changin' on Mass.
CNN's faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher joining us now with details on all this. Good morning, Delia.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
That's right, some big changes for Catholics. The bishops voted 173-29 in favor of changes to some of the wording of the Mass and other prayers that would bring them closer to the original Latin from which they were translated, and bring Catholics back to the drawing board to learn new responses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May the peace of the Lord be with you always.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Catholics have been saying the words every Sunday for years. But now, the Vatican says they've been saying it wrong. A new English translation of the words of the Mass has been debated for years in Catholic circles. The new translation would substitute traditional responses like "and also with you" to "and with your spirit."
BISHOP DONALD WUERL, DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH: It's time for us now to update our translation to make sure that what we're using in all of our churches in English is in conformity with and follows from the Latin, which is the basis, the foundational document.
GALLAGHER: The Vatican says the original translations from Latin, done after Vatican II in the 1960s, were never good in the first place. Back then, the bishops were following a directive from Pope Paul VI to produce not a literal translation, but one of dynamic equivalence. Now the Vatican wants to bring the true Latin meaning into the English language Mass.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GALLAGHER: These changes now go to Pope Benedict for formal approval. And it will probably be at least a year and a half before Catholics begin to use them in their churches.
O'BRIEN: So, here we are, 40-plus years after the Vatican II council, and now suddenly, they say, we didn't translate it just right. Why now? What's going on?
GALLAGHER: Well, you know, this has been a long debate since Vatican II. And, in fact, one of the people that was not happy in the beginning with these translations was a young Joseph Ratzinger, who is now pope. And this doesn't just go for the English translation, by the way. This goes for French and German translations. A lot of people after Vatican II weren't happy with the original translations.
And then in 1991, John Paul II said we've got to get these translations in line. So they've been going back and forth in committees and deciding how best to do it. And this is what we've seen the culmination of last night, the vote of the American bishops to say, OK, we accept these changes.
O'BRIEN: I've got an idea. Let's go back to Latin. That will make it easy.
GALLAGHER: A lot of people would be very happy about that, Miles.
O'BRIEN: There are some who would. Delia Gallagher, thanks for dropping by.
GALLAGHER: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL SHORTZ, CROSSWORD PUZZLE GURU: Well, welcome to the 28th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I get very nervous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always been intrigued by the letter Q, but -- and some letters are just boring. You know, N is a boring letter.
SHORTZ: Everyone ready? Go!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: All right, so what's a three letter word for AMERICAN MORNING's effort to keep you updated on what's going on in the world of culture?
COSTELLO: Pop!
O'BRIEN: It is.
SHORTZ: We have a documentary film out called "Wordplay," which I invite you to check out. It chronicles the fascination with crossword puzzles. You know, 50 million Americans do crosswords weekly. It's been going on since the teens, when they first became popular here in the United States. And since 1978, there's been a remarkable competition underway in Stamford, Connecticut, of all places, which brings together crossword fanatics, the best of the best, for an amazing contest. And this movie gets into that and talks to some rather notable crossword lovers.
Will Shortz is the man behind the "New York Times" crossword puzzle, the editor. He's now a movie star. So we have to talk to his people, henceforth. And he is -- is it true -- you're the only enigmatologist in the world with a degree?
SHORTZ: That's right.
O'BRIEN: That's correct. An enigmatologist. He actually created his own degree program. Will, let's -- first of all, let's give people a little more of a flavor of the movie, shall we? Let's roll a little bit of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, "DAILY SHOW" HOST: You know, I was going to do it in pencil, but it's Tuesday. Yes, that's right. What do you think of that? You know what, I'm so confident I'm going do it in glue stick.
SHORTZ: ICBM is the first answer and his -- it was "warhead weapon, briefly."
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Warhead weapon. Got to be an ICBM or a MIRV. Got to be ICBM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: OK. A couple of notable crossword lovers there. Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton, The Indigo Girls in there. Ken Burns, the filmmaker, as well. SHORTZ: Mike Mussina of the Yankees.
O'BRIEN: Yes, weaved together with these real world people who really are amazingly quick. They do these things in minutes time. What is it that brings -- what is the common denominator of all crossword puzzle lovers, do you know?
SHORTZ: They have flexible minds, I think, than anything. Of course, they love words, they love language. They love to stretch their brains. But I think crossword people have a good sense of humor and their minds are flexible. They can take a -- see a clue that can be interpreted multiple ways and figure out which is the way you need.
O'BRIEN: Now, generally, of course, Mike Mussina says that he and his team kind of do this as a group, which was kind of interesting. But generally, it's a solitary thing.
SHORTZ: Yes.
O'BRIEN: So when you bring together people, as you do every year since 1978 in Stamford, Connecticut, the Marriott there, for this contest, it's like suddenly people realize that there's other people out there. What's that like for you?
SHORTZ: Well, these are -- a lot of my friends are there. You know, these are my kind of people. Of course, you have this common denominator of crosswords. You talk a little about puzzle. But it's more a sharing of your personality. You know, witty people that are just fun to hang out with.
O'BRIEN: The interesting thing is, the people who are good at crossword puzzles, you would think, English professor. Not necessarily so.
SHORTZ: No, they tend to be more math and music oriented. Of course, there's the -- crosswords are a literary activity, so you get word people. But the people who are really good at crosswords tend to have mathematical type minds. And music ties into that. That's actually also a mathematical exercise.
O'BRIEN: Yes, one of the people that you focus on in the documentary is a wonderful pianist who can just sight read and instantly play a piece. And he's able to capture it. And that's the same thing -- the same skill, you think, for crosswords?
SHORTZ: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: What -- where do you think crosswords are headed? I mean, crossword puzzles have been going on now for, what is it, 80 years, right?
SHORTZ: Ninety years.
O'BRIEN: Ninety years, and they continue to sustain interest. I mean, do you see it trailing off at all? SHORTZ: No, I find that the audience for crosswords is broadening. If you go back 15, 20 years ago, they were mainly for old people. Nowadays they are for everybody. Crosswords have gotten almost completely rid of the obscure words and the language in crosswords is language that everyone knows. The clues are trickier, but the answers are words you know.
O'BRIEN: All right, and how do you know a good puzzle? Is it -- you just know it when you see it?
SHORTZ: I do. I look at the puzzle and can tell by looking, yes.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
All right, so now you know what connects the Indigo Girls, Bill Clinton and Jon Stewart. It is crosswords.
Let's try -- you're going to put me to the test here a little bit.
SHORTZ: Yes, this is a puzzle from the -- a corner of the puzzle from the tournament last year that's shown in the film. It's Prefix Fixation. And let's see if you can get one-down, Nixon for one.
O'BRIEN: Nixon for one.
SHORTZ: Blank-blank-blank-blank-K-E-R. I'll give you a hint. Think religiously.
O'BRIEN: Oh, oh, a quaker. That's a good one.
SHORTZ: Good, good, good.
O'BRIEN: That was easy.
SHORTZ: No. 2 is a coffee dispenser.
O'BRIEN: A coffee dispenser would be an urn.
SHORTZ: Oh, that's good.
O'BRIEN: We know because it's got to be a 'U' most likely. I'm doing terrible.
SHORTZ: You got it. Thirteen-down is plug of sorts.
O'BRIEN: Thirteen-down is plug of sorts. Would be -- I know that's an 'R' because it's frankophile, so a plug would be a...
SHORTZ: As in a horror movie or a TV show.
O'BRIEN: Oh, a promo.
SHORTZ: That kind of plug.
O'BRIEN: And that'd be frankophile.
SHORTZ: And your clue for that was a hot dog connoisseur is frankophile.
And your last clue, thirteen across, is an area around a cat that is officially her territory.
O'BRIEN: All right, well we know melon is for here, right?
SHORTZ: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Is that right?
SHORTZ: Yes, that's right.
O'BRIEN: So that's a...
SHORTZ: It's an area around the cat that is officially her territory. You have the answer. Just pronounce it. It's purrim...
O'BRIEN: Purrimeter!
SHORTZ: Purrimeter is right. Nice job.
O'BRIEN: I'm such a loser. It's late in the week, Will, but I did not do any studying, folks, unlike other television hosts we won't name here. All right, Will Shortz, a great -- I invite you to check out this movie. It's a lot of fun. I think it's going to be a big hit, and even for people who are clueless on purrimeter. And "Wordplay" opens today New York, and then it goes national next Friday.
Will Shortz, always a pleasure having you drop by. He's the editor of the "Times" crossword puzzle.
Andy "Minding Your Business" just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
COSTELLO: We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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