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Rare, Dangerous Tuberculosis Prompts Quarantine, Health Scare; President Bush Nominates Robert Zoellick as World Bank President; Search for Five Kidnapped British Men in Iraq

Aired May 30, 2007 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Heidi Collins today.

Developments, they keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on this Wednesday, May 30th.

Here's what's on the rundown today.

An airline passenger with a rare and often deadly strain of TB under quarantine. Now the search for travelers he may have infected.

HARRIS: A new boss for the World Bank. President Bush set to name Wall Street exec Robert Zoellick to that post minutes from now.

See it live.

NGUYEN: California's wrong way whales may finally get it right. We've been watching, and they are closing in on the Golden Gate Bridge...

HARRIS: OK.

NGUYEN: ... and the open Pacific, which they call home.

You're in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Quarantined and under armed guard. An Atlanta-area man infected with a rare form of tuberculosis. Now health experts are scrambling to find airline passengers he may have put in danger.

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is outside Grady Medical Hospital.

And Elizabeth, that man is getting treatment right now. Why isn't the CDC identifying exactly who he is right now?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are laws that prevent that. They can't -- the CDC can't just say this man's name is John Smith. I'm making that up, that's not his name -- this man's name is John Smith, anybody who's ever known him should come in and get a TB test.

First of all, not all those people would need a TB test. And second of all, it violates privacy laws to just let his name out.

All they can do right now at this point in time is work with the airlines to get those passenger manifests and to contact those passengers. And without using the man's name, the sick man's name, say, you were on a plane with this person, you ought to get yourself checked out for TB.

HARRIS: Elizabeth, this particular form of TB that we are talking about, extensively drug-resistant, is it more contagious?

COHEN: You know what? It's not. It's certainly more severe. It's a much more severe form of TB than just regular TB, but it's not more contagious.

He doesn't have any more chance of getting anyone else sick than if he had regular TB. It's -- the form of TB that he has doesn't make it more contagious.

HARRIS: OK. Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, for us.

Elizabeth, thank you.

NGUYEN: Want to take you live now to the Roosevelt Room, where President Bush is about to make his announcement now to nominate former deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick.

Let's take a listen.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Bob Zoellick has had a long and distinguished career in diplomacy and development economics. It has prepared him well for this new assignment.

He is a committed internationalist. He has earned the trust and support of leaders from every region of the world. He is deeply devoted to the mission of the World Bank.

He wants to help struggling nations defeat poverty, to grow their economies and offer their people the hope of a better life. Bob Zoellick is deeply committed to this cause.

Since the end of the Second World War, the advances of trade and technology has lifted hundreds of people out of poverty. Some call this globalization. I call it the triumph of human liberty stretching across national borders.

Every day the expansion of trade creates tremendous new opportunities for people. Unfortunately, too many people are shut out from these opportunities, especially the nearly one billion men, women and children who live on less than $1 a day. Bob Zoellick understands that there are about one billion men, women and children who live on less than $1 a day, and he is committed to doing something about it.

The United States has a moral and national interest in helping poor and struggling countries transform themselves into free and hopeful societies. The job of the World Bank is to help reduce poverty and raise living standards in the poorest nations.

The bank does this by helping these nations strengthen good government to develop sound financial markets, uphold property rights and combat corruption. The United States is the bank's largest donor, and the reason we are is because we believe that it's essential to help developing nations build growing economies that will provide jobs and opportunities for all their citizens.

Bob Zoellick brings a wealth of experience and energy to this task. Over the past three decades, he's held important posts in government, business and higher education. And in these posts he has worked on issues ranging from German unification to Latin American debt relief to the transition of post-Soviet economies.

The past six years -- or most of the past six years he has served as a member of my cabinet. As the United States trade representative, he helped bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization, launched the Doha round of trade talks at the WTO, and significantly increased the number of U.S. free trade agreements.

Bob has had a strong voice for Africa. He's helped implement the African Growth and Opportunity Act that has increased America's trade with that continent. He has served on the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an initiative designed to change the way we deliver foreign aid.

In 2005, I asked Bob to serve as the deputy secretary of state. In that role, he managed a global staff of 57,000 people. He played a leading role in our engagement with China, and he traveled frequently to Darfur and southern Sudan to help find a path for peace. Most recently, he has been vice chairman international at Goldman Sachs.

In short, it probably would be easier to list all the jobs Bob hasn't had. This man is eminently qualified. And when he takes his place at the World Bank, he will replace another able public servant, Paul Wolfowitz.

Paul is a man of character and integrity. Under his leadership, the World Bank increased its support for the world's poorest countries to a record $9.5 billion in 2006. Half this money goes to sub-Saharan Africa, home to some of the poorest folks.

As Paul has helped steer more resources to these countries, he has instituted reforms designed to make sure these resources are used wisely and achieve good results. Paul took control over the World Bank at a critical moment. He's taken many steps to ensure that the bank can meet the needs of developing nations in this new century.

These steps include the banks's role in combating malaria. These steps include establishing a rapid response in fragile states policy to respond more quickly to nations recovering from crisis or war. These steps include the clean energy investment framework, a bank initiative designed to help bring cleaner and more efficient technologies to developing countries. In these and many other ways, Paul Wolfowitz has made the World Bank a more effective partner for development. I thank him for his dedication to the poor and his devotion to the good work of the World Bank.

Bob Zoellick is the right man to succeed Paul in this vital work. He is a leader who motivates employees. He builds a constituent support and focuses on achieving goals. I am pleased that he has once again agreed to serve our country.

Congratulations.

ROBERT ZOELLICK, NOMINATED TO BE WORLD BANK PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President.

NGUYEN: There you have it. President Bush nominating former deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick to replace Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank. As you'll recall, Wolfowitz resigned earlier this month after weeks of controversy over handling the pay package for his girlfriend.

Now, we do want to let you know just very briefly that the World Bank will vote on Zoellick before Paul Wolfowitz's June 30th departure.

HARRIS: Want to get you to the severe weather center. We have some breaking news this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: In Iraq today, coalition and Iraq forces fanning out, rounding up dozens of suspected insurgents. And this comes against the backdrop of the search for five kidnapped British men.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from the Iraqi capital.

And first, Paula, we did hear that there was a surprise visitor to Baghdad today. Tell us about this person.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. This morning we accompanied Senator Lieberman to one of the joint security stations here in Baghdad, just inside east Baghdad.

Now, this is one of the stations where Iraqi soldiers and U.S. soldiers, with Iraqi police, work alongside. Now, this, of course, is at the heart of this Baghdad security plan that was announced and started in early February.

Now, Senator Lieberman said that he was confident this surge we are seeing at the moment will succeed to break this insurgency. He said inevitably it will take a little bit longer, and inevitably there will be more soldiers' deaths, which he regrets greatly.

He also went to see some of the U.S. soldiers at the forward operating base. It's not the first time he's been over here, but he said he likes to come over to try and boost morale of these soldiers. Now, meanwhile, we are hearing very little about these five British citizens that have been kidnapped. It was just before midday on Tuesday when gunmen dressed as Iraqi police and armed forces, went into the Iraqi Finance Ministry building, took these particular five men out, one computer expert and four of the security personnel.

And we understand from an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesperson that they were headed -- sorry -- they were headed east. It looked like it was Sadr City, and it does appear, according to certain sources, that the suspicion at this point is resting on the Sadr -- the Mehdi militia. This is the army that is loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric. But the one thing I spoke to a brigadier general about that he's very worried about is the fact that they were dressed as Iraqi policemen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, DEP. COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, BAGHDAD: It complicates our work, to be sure. And it complicates the relationship that the population has with their security forces, and I think they know that. That's why they choose to do things like wearing false uniforms or perpetrating those who are supposedly to be protecting them, which gives them access.

This is something that's just going to take time. And again, the point of this, it has to be the government of Iraq and the Iraqi people to eject and reject such behaviors if there's ever going to be a lasting success here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, both the British and the Iraqi foreign ministers have said that they are doing everything within their powers and working together to try and pinpoint where these five British citizens have been taken.

Now, overnight, there were some raids in Sadr City, just northeast of Baghdad. The U.S. military at this point says these are ongoing. They arrested what they called five militants, saying there was also one cell leader, one terrorist cell leader, as was described to us by the U.S. military source. But at this point, no word on where these British citizens might be -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Paula Hancocks in Baghdad for us.

Thanks, Paula.

HARRIS: And still to come this morning, New Orleans still down on its luck almost two years after Katrina. What do people want to hear in the mayor's state of the city address? We will check in with WWL Radio's news director -- there he is -- straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Well, we're also checking in with these two. Where are the whales? Those two lost, injured humpbacks, well, they're struggling to swim home. We have a progress report here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Heroes in Iraq. U.S. troops and Iraqi police filling the law and order void with deadly consequences.

That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: New Orleans, 21 months after Hurricane Katrina. Just hours from now, Mayor Ray Nagin delivers his first state of the city address since the storm. What will he say? What do residents want to hear?

WWL Radio news director Dave Cohen with us now from New Orleans.

Dave, as always, great to talk to you.

DAVID COHEN, WWL RADIO NEWS DIRECTOR: Thank you. Good morning.

HARRIS: Hey, I'm wondering, is this -- is this being viewed, this state of the city address, as a big deal in New Orleans?

COHEN: You know, it depends who you ask. A lot of people are very much looking forward to how the mayor will use this stage to present his first state of the city address since Hurricane Katrina.

We hear from him on a regular basis, so it's not as if, you know, people don't know what Ray Nagin has been up to. But this is an opportunity where he's going to have a platform to talk to the city of New Orleans. And what most people we're talking to are hoping for is a real honest analysis of how things are going. Nearly two years after Katrina, where are we in this recovery?

HARRIS: That honest analysis of where you stand, what would that sound like based on what you are hearing from your callers, the reporting that you are doing, what would that sound like?

COHEN: There are still massive challenges facing the city of New Orleans in the effort to get back on its feet and really anywhere near fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina. In sectors, things are going fantastically.

The tourism business is doing really well. There have been some great successes on local levels and business, things like that. And you see pockets of real optimism in some areas where things are really going well. But overall, nearly two years after the storm, there are a lot of major problems still facing the city of New Orleans and the region.

HARRIS: What is your report telling you about this home road program? Give me a bit of a reality check here.

I was watching a piece from our Susan Roesgen on the program last week, this federally funded program designed to help people rebuild their homes. And I was surprised to realize, and I don't know what I was thinking, but I was surprised to realize that people are still paying mortgage notes on essentially homes that aren't there, on empty lots.

COHEN: Correct. Nearly 140,000 people applied for the Road Home money, which is federal community development block grants given to the state to give to homeowners to rebuild. So far, only about 15 percent of those people have seen a dime from the program.

So the vast majority are still maintaining properties, paying mortgages in many cases, insurancing the property in many cases, when there's no way they can live there and no hope of them living there any time soon because they haven't gotten this money. And then we find out in the last couple of months that new statistics show there's going to be about a $3 billion shortfall in the amount of money in the Road Home program to provide to these owners, so many of the people who are trying so hard to get back on their feet and waiting for that cash still are shaking their heads and wondering if they'll ever even get it.

HARRIS: What is going on with the program? What have you been able to uncover, learn, discover in your reporting on it?

COHEN: Well, there were definite bureaucratic problems with the company selected to run the program. ICF International...

HARRIS: This is ICF. Yes.

COHEN: They admitted that they had problems early on. They said they got over those things.

Many of the other problems come from just the way the whole program was designed. Right after Katrina, so much fear that, based on the history of Louisiana and New Orleans, that corruption would enter the program. People who should not be getting the money should.

We saw what happened with FEMA handing out money after the storm, people spending it on things they definitely weren't supposed to be spending it on. And people who were not supposed to get the money getting it.

So they built in all of these safeguards with the program to make sure only the right people, legitimate homeowners who lost everything, got the money. And all of those safeguards and all of that bureaucracy has led to very, very extensive delays in handing out the cash.

HARRIS: And Dave, the ICF executives are making a lot of money in bonuses. We'll put up some of the pictures and the moneys that they are making here. A lot of money and bonuses, to be fair, based on the company's entire performance, just not based on the performance with the Road Home program.

But I have to ask you, are people wondering in your city if companies are making money off the government on the backs of people in New Orleans who are still struggling? COHEN: A majority of the people we've talked to over the recent months have said that the program never should have been put in the hands of an out-of-town private firm. That it could have been run by state government. And surprisingly, they think now it could have been done more effectively by the government than the private sector based on the track record.

HARRIS: Oh boy.

COHEN: ICF missed all kinds of deadlines and goals and didn't get as many things done as it wanted to in the time it wanted to. Things have been picking up recently, but yes, there's a lot of debate over whether or not this was the way to go. The governor has refused repeatedly though to fire ICF despite many calls to do so because she says at this point it would mean much larger delays to start over from scratch.

HARRIS: Unfortunately, still too much scenes like the ones we were showing just a moment ago in your city of New Orleans.

Dave Cohen, as always, great to see you. Thanks for your time this morning.

COHEN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Coming up, health experts tracking down international flyers. A passenger diagnosed with an extreme form of tuberculosis, it is the kind that can actually kill you. We have much more on this investigation here in the NEWSROOM.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Dan Simon at the Golden Gate Bridge, near San Francisco. We're keeping an eye on those two wayward whales as they near the Pacific Ocean.

We'll have an update ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Heading home. Once sick and lost, the two whales are now closer to the open sea.

CNN's Dan Simon is whale watching from the Golden Gate Bridge.

And Dan, this is a saga that began I believe on May 13th. Could these two whales actually find their way back to the Pacific Ocean today?

SIMON: There is a good chance, Tony. You know, that big bridge behind me, the infamous Golden Gate Bridge, that represents the finish line for these two whales.

It's believed that these whales are somewhere in the San Francisco Bay. There have been some unconfirmed sightings this morning. But the San Francisco Bay, this is where it meets the Pacific Ocean. So, there's a good chance these whales are finally going to get out to the ocean today. As you said, Tony, this really started a long time ago, but these whales really made a tremendous amount of progress yesterday. They traveled some 25 miles, going under three bridges. At times, you could see the mother whale breach out of the water. It was really an impressive sight.

It's really not understood why whales do that. Humpback whales, the behavior for humpback whales, is really not understood well by scientists.

Crews, you know, would like to be able to track these whales for a long period of time. That's why they wanted to put a GPS unit on the mother whale. They haven't been able to do so. It's not clear if they'll be able to do so today.

In any case, Tony, one official expressed why this mission is so important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD MCINNIS, NOAA SPOKESMAN: Because this is an endangered species. There are only about 1,200 whales in this -- in this Mexico- California population. And this is one of the proven breeders in that population.

And we also have a new addition to the population with the calf. So it's a significant benefit to the full population to get these two back in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: This is a pricey mission. Authorities have not put a price tag yet on what these operations cost, but just for perspective, back in 1985, with Humphrey the whale, it cost about $2 million for the operations to get Humphrey back to the Pacific Ocean.

HARRIS: Yes, in that neighborhood.

SIMON: So, the price could be costly, Tony, but, you know, you talk to folks here, talk to people who live in northern California, they say -- they say it's worth it.

HARRIS: Wow.

Hey, Dan, yesterday you voiced some concerns that the folks who were managing this effort had about barges around the area of the bridge there, the Golden Gate Bridge, possibly posing a danger to the whales. Is that still a concern today?

SIMON: It is still a concern. You know, there's a lot of commercial ship traffic into San Francisco Bay.

Authorities say they are going to be communicating with the ship captains as they enter the bay so there is no collision. At this point, though, they are still trying to track these whales and see where they are. There's also a lot of ferries in this water that shuttle people back and forth to various parts of the San Francisco Bay. But again, we are still waiting to see where these whales are -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. Wow. Can't wait. Whale watching.

There he is, Dan Simon, at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Dan, thank you.

NGUYEN: And this just into CNN. We are learning that an F-15 fighter jet has crashed near Evansville, Indiana. This coming from the FAA.

What we do know, as well, is that the pilot was able to eject safely before that crash. And he is OK, and there are no injuries on the ground. But again, the FAA says it has received reports that an F-15 fighter jet has crashed near Evansville, Indiana, but the pilot was able to eject. He is safe, and there are no injuries on the ground.

HARRIS: Bottom of the hour. Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. Good morning.

I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

Isolated under government order, a man infected with a rare, potentially deadly form of tuberculosis triggers a global health alert. He is under federal quarantine at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Officials are contacting passengers aboard two trans- Atlantic flights the man took to and from Europe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends those who sat within two rows of the man need to be tested for TB. Health officials say the infected man was advised not to fly, but he tells "the Atlanta-Journal Constitution" that he was never told that he could not travel.

All right, so once the man flew back to Atlanta, local health officials met him at the airport and whisked him straight to the hospital. Dr. Alex Isakov is the associate medical director at Grady's emergency medical services at the hospital there where the man is being kept in isolation at this hour. I know that you can talk to us just in generalities about what it's like to transport a patient like this, especially the fact that we know that he is under quarantine right now. When you take a man like that off a flight and take him to the hospital, what type of precautions are used and being taken by those involved?

DR. ALEX ISAKOV, GRADY EMS ASSOC. MEDICAL DIR: Thanks a lot, Betty. Grady emergency medical services as you know is a 911 ambulance provider in the city of Atlanta. Back in 2001 we considered development of a special program to transport patients just like this that have serious contagious disease. Diseases we started to think about over the course of a few years were transporting patients that have SARS, patients that might have bird flu, then next strain of pandemic influenza or in this case, extensively drug resistant TV. Biosafety transport as a system is a set of policies, special training and education for the paramedics involved.

NGUYEN: Let's talk specifics. What do they do? How do they protect themselves?

ISAKOV: Actually the bedrock of biosafety transport is infection control procedures. So many of these are very commonly acknowledged or known by medical professionals like paramedics, wearing the appropriate respiratory protection like a facemask, making sure to wear gloves, making sure to have good hand hygiene, making sure to have appropriate coveralls if the patient actually had, was spitting or vomiting and having in that vomit or spit the virus or the bacteria that's responsible for the illness. There are special precautions made in terms of the paramedics equipment that they wear. They also have special knowledge of the various types of diseases that they might be transporting and their mode of transmission or how contagious they are. So they are provided specific training and education regarding that.

The ambulance that they used to transport patients is actually specially prepared so that bacteria or viruses that the patient might cough up or spit or sneeze out don't get caught up in the ventilation system of the ambulance. The idea is that the ambulance then would be rendered safe for the next patient transport.

NGUYEN: So now is this the same ambulance that you would use on other calls? So did this take an ambulance out of the system should there be other emergencies?

ISAKOV: We actually, Grady EMS has a 24-7 availability of their biosafety transports. We have on call a special team and a special unit that's properly dressed out or prepared in the way I just described to do transport of a patient with a serious contagious disease like extensively drug resistant TV. Under those circumstances, that ambulances is out of service for other calls until the transport is completed. Then through a very prescribed manner, that ambulance is cleaned and decontaminated so there is no threat for anybody else coming in contact with that ambulance contracting the disease.

NGUYEN: I'm listening to all this and all the steps that are being taken to make sure that nothing is transmitted from the patient to the workers. Yet you have these folks on these trans-Atlantic planes that didn't have the special gear, weren't equipped like that. What kind of threat does that pose to them?

ISAKOV: Well, I know that the CDC Web site, as well as Dr. Gerberding has described the threat from patients that have tuberculosis to those that are around them. I know that there are special guidelines that are available from WHO that described an increased threat of contracting the disease if you are two rows in front or two rows in back of a passenger on a trans continental flight. The relative risk in this particular case as was described by Dr. Gerbereding is low but not zero for transmission. So is there a risk that this individual posed a risk to the patient, the individuals around him in the airline? There is a risk, but it's been described as small, but significant enough that CDC and public health are taking, being very proactive in trying to identify those passengers.

NGUYEN: They are trying to find out who they were sitting next to him and get them tested if they'll under go that. Dr. Alex Isakov, thanks for your information today. We appreciate it.

ISAKOV: You are very welcome. Thank you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Two big stories today we're covering, storms moving through Dallas-Ft. Worth and a brand-new tropical storm Barbara in the Pacific. We'll be headed to Acapulco by the weekend. Forecast coming up right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: So we're just a couple days from the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. We have some tropical activity. Chad Myers in the severe weather center. Chad good morning.

MYERS: And really good morning. You could almost have tropical systems in the Pacific, especially on the other side of the Pacific all year long. It almost never ends. It does end obviously in the east. This is what we call the eastern Pacific. There's Acapulco. That is a new tropical storm. We are kind of knocking them off. Yesterday we had Alvin, the A-storm. We joked that that's why the whales went up the river. But now this is actually tropical storm Barbara 40 miles per hour but forecast to be kind in a bad spot by Sunday into Monday, as a category one hurricane, 75 knots, about 85 miles per hour. Category one Sunday night, Monday morning and there is Acapulco very close to the shore. The water warm enough here in the Pacific, obviously farther to the south, warm enough there to cause that storm to intensify whereas Alvin was out in the middle of the Pacific and the water was cooler.

Feels like a tropical storm right now in Dallas and Ft. Worth. Here is a live shot from one of our affiliates. I'm not sure which one it is. It's still FAA (ph) The rain coming down in buckets across Dallas. Lightning strikes over 10,000 in the past hour all the way from about Sherman, Dennison right on down into Dallas and this rain is causing some street flooding and in some areas that have already had significant rain over the past five days. You talk about Richardson and all those places. Something like nine to 10 inches of rain just in the past couple of days, last five days, with these storms that have been coming through. Right over Dallas right now, we are watching the flight explorer for most of the morning. A lot of planes that were trying to get into Dallas were in fact diverted to other airports waiting on the tarmac for the storm to go by so they could take back off again and get to DFW. If you are on a plane that maybe is going to or coming to DFW, you are slow this morning.

NGUYEN: That's putting it nicely.

HARRIS: Betty so impressed by your knowledge of the greater Dallas area. MYERS: Almost took a job there. Maybe that's the only town I haven't worked.

HARRIS: All right, Chad. Thank you.

MYERS: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Let's talk now about heroes in Iraq. U.S. troops not alone on the dangerous frontlines in Iraq. Iraqi police also fighting and dying at the hands of insurgents. CNN's Hugh Rimington has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, U.S. troops know they can't do it alone. Only one U.S. battalion, less than 300 real combat troops manages 1.8 million people. The Iraqi police and army are building up and in many cases, being shot down.

LT. COL. MICHAEL BODEN, U.S. ARMY: For heroic actions and leadership during a terrorist attack.

RIMINGTON: Iraq has no medals of valor, so the Americans recognize courage as best they can.

BODEN: This certificate is posthumously presented to

RIMINGTON: Bassim Jihad (ph) al-Jabouri is receiving a martyr's payment of $2500 and an American certificate to honor his brother who died thwarting a suicide attack.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I'm sorry for your brother's sacrifice, but he is a hero.

RIMINGTON: Insurgents set seven car and truck bombs against the defenses of the city that day. The largest was a truck driven fast towards this jail apparently in an attempt to spring out hundreds of detainees. It was at this point that Musahim (ph) al-Jabouri, a police officer just four months in the job decided to respond. He raced out and fired into the cabin of the approaching truck bomb. He killed the driver, but the truck rolled on. Here is where it exploded, a huge crater now filled in, but you get some idea of the size of it. Look at this blast. It blew out the buildings over here. On the other side of the street, it did so much damage, people were killed inside this building. But because of that policeman's action, the real intention of the terrorists were thwarted. Musahim Al- Jabouri was killed instantly. He left a widow and two children, six months and three years old. Terrorists parade their suicide bombers as martyrs, but Bassim al Jabouri is having none of that.

BASSIM AL-JABOURI, BROTHER OF FALLEN POLICE OFFICER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I think my brother is a martyr, but the insurgents are not martyrs. They will go to hell. They are evil in this world.

RIMINGTON: Evil and tough to beat. SGT. MAJ. JAMES PIPPIN, U.S. ARMY: They are very determined. They are very resolved, fanatical, radical. Don't have a whole lot of respect for anybody's life, including their own, but they are definitely one thing. They are definitely dedicated to their cause whatever that is.

RIMINGTON: Command Sergeant Major James Pippin is an American hero, one of the most decorated men in the U.S. Army, the only serving American soldier to have made three combat jumps and one of the first to parachute into Afghanistan after 9/11. As is a professional soldier, a veteran what would you say about the performance of the police who were here?

PIPPIN: The Iraqi police did an outstanding job.

RIMINGTON: The next day Command Sergeant Major James Pippin was shot in these streets of Mosul. He was taken to the combat support hospital for emergency surgery and then evacuated to the United States. All wars produce heroes. Iraq asks a lot of them. Hugh Rimington, CNN, Mosul, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. When NEWSROOM returns, I'll tell you why the rewards of bumping yourself may not be worth it for airline travel this summer. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Very quickly, let's take you to Orlando, Florida now. Orange County, there an Orange County, Florida sheriff's deputy we understand has been injured while responding to a call at a resort complex east of Disney. Again, this is not a Disney resort. Not sure of the injuries, but the deputy was air-lifted to a local hospital. You see that activity going on here right now in video just into CNN. And we also understand that the search is on right now for two suspects. We'll keep an eye on this story for you.

NGUYEN: Rosemary Church is keeping an eye on what is happening on "Your World Today." In fact she's right here joining us with a preview. Hi.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you both. We've got some rather unusual health stories for you today. The first is tracing the trans-Atlantic path of one man carrying an extremely drug resistant strain of tuberculosis. He is under government quarantine in Atlanta now. But what are the implications for the passengers who shared his international flight? And what's going to happen to him? We'll find out.

Another story we are following, a New Zealand power company cuts off one woman's electricity for failing to pay her bill. Two hours later, she's dead. We'll find out why and who is responsible. And has reality television gone too far? Listen to this, one show in the Netherlands is going further than most. It's called "The Big Donor Show." What is the prize you ask? Here's a clue. The three contestants need a kidney. We'll have those stories and more coming up in "Your World Today" at the top of the hour. Do join us.

HARRIS: We'll be there. Rosemary, thank you.

NGUYEN: Thank you.

For air travelers, volunteering to be bumped to a later flight can sometimes pay off, earning you a voucher, even a free flight, but as Susan Lisovicz tells us, that once popular practice may not be worth all the hassle any more. I'm really disappointed, because one time I got bumped, got in only an hour later and got two free round trips.

HARRIS: It's good to be Betty.

NGUYEN: No more, huh?

LISOVICZ: It's changed, Betty. Forget about volunteering. More and more fliers are getting bumped against their will. According to the "New York Times," about 56,000 people will find themselves in that category this year, the highest number in a decade and that's just part of the problem. Whether you've chosen to be bumped or not, rebooking Betty is becoming more of a hassle. Airlines routinely overbook to avoid losing money because of empty sheets. But inevitably, the complex computer models that airlines use to predict no-shows gets wrong and more people arrive at the gate than there are seats on a plane. Betty, keep that in mind.

NGUYEN: All right. We all know airlines always overbook, but why is this more of a problem now?

LISOVICZ: OK, because airlines are running closer to capacity than ever before. Remember, they are trying to get themselves back to being much more profitable. Eighty five percent of flights are expected to be full this summer, which means if you are bumped from a flight, there are fewer seats to be bumped to and travelers could end up waiting days, not an hour, days for a seat on another flight. According to "The New York Times," airline passengers are starting to take notice and more people are refusing those vouchers. By the way, airline workers don't like bumping people either. "The Times" said some agents have even been known to create phantom reservations to avoid overbooking. One common phantom reservation is the name of the CEO of U.S. Airways, in other words to pad it a little bit so that it won't be so bad if it is overbooked.

Checking the markets, it's been a bumpy ride on Wall Street today but the bulls are trying to rally. Major averages started this morning on the down side following the biggest sell-off of the Chinese stock market since that February plunge when the Dow lost the biggest hit in 5 1/2 years. Checking the numbers right now, not so bad. The Dow is actually positive a few minutes ago, down right now four points. The Nasdaq is down three. So not bad at all. Betty and Tony, back to you.

NGUYEN: Better than what we were expecting which is good so hopefully it'll hold off. Thank you, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Smoke signals, Cuban cigars banned in the U.S. Now a new call for change fires up a new debate. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you a quick update on a story that we told you about just moments ago. Back to Orlando, Florida now where we understand two, two Orange County, Florida, sheriffs deputies have been shot while responding to a call at a resort complex east of Disney, again not a Disney resort. Deputies have what are described as non-life-threatening injuries and deputies have been taken to a local hospital. We also understand as you can see, maybe saw just a moment ago in pictures, the search continues right now for two suspects. Of course we will continue to update this story for you.

NGUYEN: A popular puff, Cuban cigar, still illegal in the U.S., but now a renewed call for a change, one that could light a bigger fire. CNN's Mary Snow takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are considered forbidden fruit and they carry a powerful aura. A former photographer writes in the current issue of "Cigar Aficionado" about smoking Cuban cigars in the Oval office with President Kennedy. The "New York Times" was reported that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger smoked Cuban cigars 20 feet outside his Sacramento office to comply with state law. For Cuban-born Enrique Martinez, there is no mystery about the appeal.

ENRIQUE MARTINEZ, CUBAN AMERICAN: The best cigar in the world comes from Cuba.

SNOW: But buying a Cuban cigar carries a penalty up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 for individuals and $1 million for corporations. "Cigar Aficionado" magazine is calling to end the ban and it's slamming the U.S. government for wasting resources in tracking down violators saying in an editorial, with the Castro era ending soon, the United States is in a position to influence the course of events in Cuba. Stop wasting our time and money chasing cigar smokers.

JOHN KAVULICH, U.S-CUBA TRADE & ECON COUNCIL: The Bush administration looks at it with a much wider spectrum. That is it's not only the money that Cuba is getting from having a Cuban cigar in the United States, it's the publicity.

SNOW: Critics of the U.S. embargo on Cuba question why cigars should be banned when U.S. companies have sold roughly 1.6 billion worth of food and agricultural products to Cuba since those exports were allowed beginning in 2001.

KAVULICH: Cuba now ranks anywhere from 30 to 45th amongst worldwide agriculture export markets for U.S. companies. So it's a remarkable change in the relationship.

SNOW: Sixty-nine-year-old Cuban exile Juan Perez says he is a former political prisoner and not impressed. He says he doesn't want to see any Cuban cigars or any other Cuban goods in the U.S. until Fidel Castro ends his regime.

JUAN J. PEREZ, CUBAN EXILE: When they start to have free elections for that country, then celebrate whatever we want to do and then we buy whatever you can buy from Cuba. From now, nothing, zero.

SNOW: To underscore the change in relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, a delegation of five members of Congress is in Cuba this week. They are there to explore agriculture trade opportunities. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: The CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.

HARRIS: "Your World Today" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

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