Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Three College Students Rescued From Cave; One of Worst Rush Hours in Nation About to Get Even Longer
Aired October 14, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Three college students in a tiny space only big enough to crawl. Tonight, they've been found, but what were they doing in there in the first place?
Plus, a deadly chain reaction wreck, a blazing inferno, and come tomorrow morning, a traffic nightmare. One of the worst rush hours in the nation is about to get even longer.
Mexico's former president unleashing his true feelings about President Bush. He says his Spanish is awful and he's no real cowboy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICENTE FOX, FORMER PRESIDENT, MEXICO: I noted that he drives the pickup very well, but he would not ride a horse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And we thought they were friends.
Plus, she wears her head scarf everywhere she goes, a symbol of her faith. But one referee says not on his soccer field. Who's breaking the rules in this game?
What would you give up to get back your lost pet? $500 wouldn't get her Fido back, but she knew what would. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Starting tonight with something a little different, some good news. And it is breaking news. Look. It's the pictures we have been waiting for all day, just in to CNN. One guy, two ladies, walking out of Airmen's Cave in the middle of Austin, Texas. A rescue team had to go get them. That's after they didn't come out more than 24 hours after they went exploring. We don't know yet what happened in that cave, if the lights went out or they got lost. But they have their friends to thank, friends who called 911. Rescue teams mobilized and into that cave. They went. And tonight, those rookie explorers are out and back, back I say, in fresh air. Jessica Vess is on the scene for us tonight. She is with our Austin affiliate KBUE. Jessica, good to see you.
JESSICA VESS, KBUE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you, Tony.
HARRIS: This story could have ended very, very badly, but take your time. You get to share the good news with us tonight. VESS: And it is good news. We are out here just -- this passage you can see behind me is actually a passageway that goes to Airmen's Cave. That's considered one of the more difficult caves in the Austin area. There are really about two to three hundred caves here in Austin.
This particular one is rather difficult. It's mostly for experienced cavers. We're told these three UTC students not so experienced. Though, they are out. They are safe. They've actually just left the scene. Medically checked out, everything is OK.
Many happy smiles on the faces out here, but it was a little tense earlier today as you would imagine. They were actually stuck in Airmen's Cave for roughly around 35 hours. They went in around noon on Saturday. Went through. It's about a cave that's 12,000 feet long. So to make it all the way to the back and back to the entrance, it should take about 12 hours for an experienced caver.
However, around midnight on Saturday or Sunday morning, they never showed up. So around 5:00, a friend called into 911 explaining the situation. Immediately, crews came out here and began organizing a rescue team looking for these cavers.
Now if you get inside Airmen's Cave, it's really very narrow. You have to mostly crawl on your hands and knees, we're told. Sometimes you have to even actually lay down on your stomach. So a situation where one at a time has to go through.
So this rescue effort to search -- go into the cave and search for these three UTC students, as you mentioned, one -- two females, one male, a pretty intense organization though crews were actually in the cave themselves about 24 hours when they made the call over the radio line, saying they found all three. All three were OK. Very nice to see all that happening.
HARRIS: Yes.
VESS: Everyone's doing all right.
HARRIS: Hey, Jessica, do we have any idea of how far inside that cave they were before they were sort of -- before they were rescued?
VESS: Yes, they came out, they talked to us. They said they actually did make it all the way back to the 12,000 feet. HARRIS: Wow.
VESS: They were actually making their way back to the entrance when they got lost in an area of the cave called Sherwood Forest. Now rescue crews found them in another area called Carrent (ph) Crawl. That's about halfway into the cave. So once they were found, it took another three hours just to get them back to the entrance part.
HARRIS: Yes. All right, Jessica, appreciate it.
VESS: Long journey.
HARRIS: Yes, long journey.
VESS: Thank you.
HARRIS: Good to see you. Good news story tonight to begin the newscast.
And before you think we're exaggerating about just how much of a tight fit this cave is, take a look at these pictures. Airmen's Cave is an underground maze of tunnels, low head room and tiny crawl spaces. In some place, you have to actually, as Jessica mentioned, scoot along on your belly to get through. Experienced explorers say hiking to the very end of the cave can take anywhere from 12 to 14 hours. And our thanks to Robert Hollingsworth, who sent us these photos of Airmen's Cave. Again, that's in central Austin.
Joining me now on the line from Austin, someone who knows that maze-like cave complex better than any of us, D.J. Walker of the Austin fire department. D.J., good to talk to you.
D.J. WALKER, CAVE RESCUE: Good to hear from you.
HARRIS: Hey, D.J., how difficult really an undertaking are we talking about here to get from one end of that cave to the other?
WALKER: Well, if they were to pick a cave in Austin, it would be probably the most difficult for us to have a rescue in. This would probably be it. The small passage, the low ceiling space, the crawling on your hands and knees and your belly for the majority of the cave just really compounds the rescue effort.
HARRIS: And D.J., how popular a pursuit is this for -- and how experienced a caver should you be if you're going to attempt this?
WALKER: Well, if you're going to go caving, I would highly suggest that you go with somebody that has been caving before and has caving experience. You can get with local cave groups. And they can get you set up with appropriate equipment and get you with experienced cavers to take you to local caves in your area.
HARRIS: So you get the call. You get the 911 call and now you have to effect this rescue. Tell us how you go about it. Give us some details of the rescue. What was the approach?
WALKER: Well, the first thing we did is we wanted to confirm that they were actually in the cave. So the first thing we did is we dropped a rescuer in the hole. They shimmied in. Once we got inside the hole, we found some personal effects, a cell phone, some discarded bottles of water just really indicating that there were cavers that were still inside the cave.
Shortly after that, we located their vehicle that was in the parking area. Then we started our search patterns.
HARRIS: Yes.
WALKER: We called in local cavers from the local caving community, utilized them as an asset, pushed them forward to act as our search teams because nobody knows this cave better than the local cavers.
HARRIS: Oh.
WALKER: There was a really good working relationship between the rescue community and the caving community.
HARRIS: Hey, D.J., any idea? Jessica mentioned a moment ago that she had an opportunity to talk to the cavers. Any idea of what actually happened?
WALKER: Well, these guys did a great job of doing everything that a person should do to get ready for a trip and then their trip planning. They called somebody and let them know where they were going. And they packed plenty of food and water. They marked their trail in. They really did a textbook job of planning their trip.
But just things happen. They got a little turned around. And they got off their normal trail that they had been marking with leaves. So once they got disoriented, they spent quite a bit of time there in the Sherwood Forest area, which is a very mazy section of the cave and spent many hours trying to find the route that led to the entrance.
HARRIS: I see. OK, D.J. Walker of the Austin fire department. D.J., thanks for your time tonight. Good to see you.
WALKER: OK, guys, have a good evening.
HARRIS: OK, you, too.
In other news now, it is one of the nation's busiest freeways. And while parts of it will remain closed tomorrow, some southbound lanes of I-5 near Los Angeles' northern suburbs will reopen in time for the morning rush hour traffic. Just 48 hours ago, more than two dozen big rigs collided in a deadly chain reaction inside the tunnel. The fire that followed was so intense, it reached 1400 degrees at times.
CNN's Peter Viles talked to one driver who saw it all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All that is left of 18 wheelers caught in a deadly fire that turned an interstate highway tunnel into a raging inferno, where temperatures reached an estimated 1400 degrees. Three people were trapped and killed, including an infant, but twenty people managed to make it out alive.
TONY BRAZIL, TRUCK DRIVER: (INAUDIBLE). I come to a stop. And then they started hitting me one right after another. Turned me around in there. And I could just keep - I could hear trucks hitting back, back further, just bang, bang, bang. And I got out. These two -- this one over here was on fire by that side. And a couple of drivers come over the top of the truck and said let's get out of here, let's get out of here. So I got my wallet and my phone. And I was able to squeeze between that truck there and the wall.
VILES: Fire officials say it is miraculous that so many escaped.
JOHN TRIPP, DEP. CHIEF, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: There were 20 people that were in that tunnel with a raging fire going, as we were trying to get to them. And they were able to assist each other. And I think that's very commendable to how all those people were able to help each other without the first responders able to get there and assist them.
VILES: All of this began late Friday, a chain reaction pileup that led to a huge vehicle fire that burned all night and most of Saturday
(on camera): And just to give you an idea of how hot this fire burned and the damage it did to these vehicles, this is the remains behind me of the big rigs that were stuck in that fire. Almost two dozen vehicles were burned. And they are burned beyond recognition. Almost nothing about this wreckage that even looks like it used to be a truck.
Because of the damage to the tunnel, highway officials have closed the portion of Interstate 5 that runs above the tunnel, causing massive traffic problems in the region. Crews are working around the clock to shore up the tunnel. But officials say most of interstate 5 in that area will remain closed when rush hour begins Monday morning.
Peter Viles for CNN, Santa Clarita, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK, Oklahoma City in the final hour of a severe weather watch. And it is not alone. To CNN's Bonnie Schneider now in the severe weather center.
Bonnie, good to see you this evening.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Still to come, a shootout in an Iraqi square. Civilians dead, but who's to blame?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The company said they were attacked by mortars. Then they said it was a car bomb. Then they came back and said no, it was gunfire. They changed their story three times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Witnesses say Blackwater is covering up murder. We will hear from them, plus your reaction from Blackwater's CEO. That's coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Mexico's former president unleashing his true feelings about President Bush. He says his Spanish is awful and he's no real cowboy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FOHARRIS: I noted that he drives the pickup very well, but he would not ride a horse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And we thought they were friends.
Plus, she wears her head scarf everywhere she goes, a symbol of her faith, but one referee says not on his soccer field. Who's breaking the rules in this game?
What would you give up to get back your lost pet? $500 wouldn't get her Fido back, but she knew what would. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Blackwater and that deadly street incident last month in Baghdad, what really happened? We may never know since accounts of that day vary so wildly. The FBI is there. And thanks to several people who say they saw the event, they now have more leads for their investigation. CNN's Jim Clancy is in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ollie Mohamed is missed more than ever, almost a month after he was shot and killed in a Baghdad square. His family is in pain, but as his father was questioned here by the FBI, he says he had questions of his own.
MOHAMMED ABDUL RAZZAQ, EYEWITNESS & VICTIM'S FATHER (through translator): I was always asking them, will you have the courage to get to, to expose the truth despite the fact that you may be under a lot of political pressure. And they always answered me saying shallah (ph), god willing. Even the Americans knew how we say it in Arabic.
CLANCY: As he looked over his Iraqi police report, Abdul Razzaq said that FBI agents wanted to know whether he could pick out any of the Blackwater guards he might have seen shooting that day if they showed him photographs. He says he'll try.
RAZZAQ: There are more than 200 witnesses who can have their testimonies checked. The company clearly wasn't under fire or a mortar attack or a car bomb. And let's be realistic. The company said they were attacked by mortars. Then they said it was a car bomb. Then they came back and said no, it was gunfire. They changed their story three times.
HARRIS: Blackwater's Eric Prince says his men were under attack.
ERIK PRINCE, FOUNDER, BLACKWATER USA: At least three of our armored vehicles were hit by small arms fire, incoming. And one of them was damaged, which actually delayed their departure from the traffic circle while they tried to rig a tow.
HARRIS: Sunday, Nassur (ph) Square was quiet. A single policeman, a light flow of traffic. But the shootings here that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded another 27 have sent shudders through Iraq and its relationship with the United States.
Everyone in the country has heard accounts from police, victims and witnesses. And there is an overwhelming belief the shootings were unprovoked. The crime at Nassur (ph) Square, as the local media calls it, has even political rivals abandoning their differences and coming together to demand justice. Moreover, Abdul Razzaq warns Americans must understand how most people in the country see this case. American justice is about to be put on trial.
RAZZAQ: I tell the American people the same thing I told the FBI investigators. We condemn the killing of American soldiers. We consider them victims and regret the American people's loss. But we demand they condemn these acts and demand American justice be fair and unbiased in trying these terrorists in Blackwater.
CLANCY: Abdul Razzaq will be watching. Hazy cell phone videos of a 9-year-old Ollie Mohamed are about all he had left. The dreams now he says are nightmares of bullets coming at his family from everywhere.
(on camera): Abdul Razzaq says he hasn't been offered any money, nor has he asked for any. Compensation from Blackwater, he says, will not bring back his son. What he wants is justice for what happened at Nassur (ph) Square, a place that he says he will forever call the square of lost souls.
Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Now that's the rapidly growing case against Blackwater. Witnesses accusing the company of killing civilians and covering it up, but we don't need to remind you that's just one side of the story. What more is the company saying?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE: Small arms fire from insurgents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Blackwater's CEO sat down with CNN today. We will show you more in 60 seconds. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And tonight, new comments from the founder of the private security firm Blackwater. He is answering accusations that his employees shot and killed 17 innocent Iraqis last month. Erik Prince insists his guards were definitely shot at. Earlier he spoke with our Wolf Blitzer. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRINCE: And our vehicles were hit by small arms fire. One of them was damaged. I guarantee our guys weren't shooting at each other. So something damaged those armored vehicles. And again, the FBI's doing the investigation. And I hope this completes soon.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And the individuals, the contractors from Blackwater who were involved in this incident, I take it they're all still in Iraq. Are they cooperating and they're talking to the FBI as part of this investigation?
PRINCE: They are fully cooperating with the FBI, as are we as a company. We support accountability. I mean, again, we send professionals over there to do a job. We do -- dictated by the U.S. government, by the State Department who hires us. We recruit, vet, equip, train, and deploy them. And then we turn them over to the operational control to the U.S. government. We don't, you know, it's not they dictate the missions. They dictate the vehicles. They provide the weapons. They tell us where to go and what to do. The men work for them.
BLITZER: How many private security contractors does Blackwater have in Iraq right now, protecting U.S. officials?
PRINCE: Approximately 1,000.
BLITZER: Approximately 1,000. All right, this is what the Iraqi government spokesman Ali al Debag (ph) said on October 7th. He said, "This is a deliberate crime against civilians. It should be tried in court and the victims should be compensated."
In fact, there has been a lawsuit filed against Blackwater, among other things, alleging Blackwater created and fostered a culture of lawlessness amongst its employees, encouraging them to act in the company's financial interests at the expense of innocent human life. You want to comment on this lawsuit and what the Iraqi spokesman said?
PRINCE: Well, sure. First to the lawsuit. The lawyers - the trial lawyers that filed this lawsuit are the same guys that defended the World Trade Center bombings in 1993, the blind sheik and defended a bunch of killers of FBI agents and other cops. So this is very much a politically motivated lawsuit for media attention.
As to the statement, you know, there was no deliberate murder, deliberate violence on -- by our guys. They've done 16,500 personal security detail type missions just like this one on September 16. 16,500 since 2005. Less than 1 percent resulted in any discharge of a firearm by our people.
We have very clear dictates for any incident report. Any time a weapon is fired, it has to be reported. There's an immediate after action. Investigation follow-up by the regional security office, by the State Department who we work for. So in Baghdad, the most dangerous city in the world, to say that it was a callous, rampant, evil action, you know, when the guys get it right 99 out of 100 times and don't have to use any force or any violence at all, I think you're doing very well.
BLITZER: But as you know, everybody -- every organization's capable of making mistakes. And human beings are human beings. Is it possible that in this particular incident, someone screwed up?
PRINCE: Certainly it's possible. But again, we were directed. And we do -- we put proven professionals that have good judgment - that exhibited great judgment in their military and law enforcement careers, put them out there again with very clear rules of engagement. Every morning before they go outside the wire, they get a mission brief. What they're doing, who they're protecting, where they're going. Intel, who to be on the lookout for. And the last thing, they go over again and again every day before they go out is the rules of engagement that use the force continuum, when they're allowed to use force.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: You know, the Iraqis want to kick out Blackwater within six months. Washington and Baghdad are negotiating.
His approval ratings at a historic low. Now President Bush suffers a new and more personal slight. You see him at his ranch, but now an amigo says he's a windshield cowboy. And I tell you that is no compliment. Details are 90 seconds away in dogbone politics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Careful now. Let's kick off tonight's "dogbone politics" with the newest member of the Idaho Hall of Fame. That's right. They have one. And they inducted Senator Larry Craig, the same senator who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after his arrest last June in an airport sex sting. Craig was chosen for the honor a few months before his arrest. He told the audience last night that his recent notoriety reminds him of a line from Brad Pitt, who once called fame the "b" word.
NASCAR fans no doubt face their share of stereotypes, but this is a new one. This is from a recent congressional committee memo. It urges staffers going to this weekend's NASCAR race in North Carolina to make sure they've been immunized. Yes, the memo specifically mentioned diseases like hepatitis, diphtheria, and tetanus.
No House staffer is owning up to the memo. The head of Lowes Motor Speedway says the only outbreak he has ever heard of from a race was "maybe a morning hangover."
And the great lapel pin debate appears to have ended in a draw. Barack Obama caught some heat recently when he said he is no longer going to wear his American flag lapel pin, calling its use by some a substitute for true patriotism.
We happened to get a close-up look at the Republican hopefuls at their latest debate last week. And guess what we found? Only two. Yes, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani were wearing flags on their lapels. Vicente FOX, former president of Mexico, is taking jabs at his political friend, but with friends like these, well, you know the rest. FOX says President Bush may look like a swaggering tough guy, but it is all just an act. Ouch!
CNN's Ed Henry has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For President Bush, so proud of his Texas ranch where he clears brush and rides his bike, it was a nasty charge from a friend.
LARRY KING: You refer to him as a windshield cowboy.
HENRY: In a new book, former Mexican President Vicente FOX claims that unlike say Ronald Reagan, Mr. Bush is better suited for riding a pickup truck than a horse based on their time together in Mexico.
VICENTE FOX, FORMER PRESIDENT OF MEXICO: You can notice when somebody gets near and he's hand, and the way he touches the horse, you immediately know that he's not a cowboy.
HENRY: And their summit at Mr. Bush's Crawford ranch.
FOHARRIS: He drives very well. He rides very horses very well.
HENRY (on camera): I'm not a real cowboy. Maybe I'm playing one on TV, but I've never even ridden a horse until now. I'm in Crawford, Texas. I needed to get the scoop somehow. White House officials say they don't do book reviews. So they're not reacting to Vicente Fox's comments. So we decided to go to a rodeo event near the president's ranch and talk to some genuine cowboys.
JACK SHOAF, COWBOY: Oh, you know, cowboys shooting from the hip, riding wild.
HENRY (voice-over): Jack Shoaf reckons the media likes to play the stereotypes, but says there's no shame in riding trucks instead of horses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why a lot of cowboys, a lot of ranchers use trucks to travel around and check their pastures. It's more economical. It's a sign of the times.
HENRY: Besides, said Lee Percivill, the commander in chief is doggone busy.
LEE PERCIVILL, COWBOY: These horses have to be exercised every day, and I don't believe the president has a lot of time for that right now. Now, later on in his life, he probably will have.
HENRY: And for the record, nobody goes calling this gentleman a windshield cowboy.
PERCIVILL: I might have to assume they don't know what they're talking about.
HENRY: Ed Henry, CNN, Crawford Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's the question. Are Jews flawed? Ann Coulter seems to think so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN COULTER, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: We just want the Jews to be perfected, as they say.
DONNY DEUTSCH, TELEVISION SHOW HOST: Wow. You didn't really say that, did you?
COULTER: Yeah. No, that's what Christianity is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Ann Coulter in hot water again. We will heat things up even more with our political bloggers. That is coming up next.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Oh, this should be good. Before the break, we rolled out some of the more unusual political stories, but let me tell you we didn't get to them all. Ann Coulter and Al Gore are front and center as we turn to the left and to the right for our blog buzz. On the left, Dana Goldstein with American Prospect.
Good to see you, Dana.
And from the right, Mary Katharine Ham with townhall.com.
Mary Katharine, good to see you.
MARY KATHARINE HAM, TOWNHALL.COM: Good to see you.
HARRIS: See you everywhere these days.
You know, it feels like the shouting over Ann Coulter's "perfected Jews" comments, at least the shouting, has died down. We'll see how it goes in this segment.
Here's the comment, and then let's talk about it a bit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEUTSCH: So we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: We should be -- all be Christian?
COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?
DEUTSCH: So you said I should not -- we should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians then or...
COULTER: Yeah.
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Well, it's a lot easier. It's kind of a fast track. We just want the Jews to be perfected, as they say.
DEUTSCH: Wow. You didn't really say that, did you?
COULTER: Yeah. No, that's what Christianity is. You believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws.
DEUTSCH: In my old...
COULTER: We know we're all sinners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK, OK, OK. Mary Katharine, your reaction when you heard the comment initially, and what do you feel about it a couple of days removed?
HAM: Well, my first reaction was, "Oh, what did Ann say again?" I'm not a reflective Ann defender when it comes to some of the things she's said in the past. In this case, I think that she and Diane Deutsch had what appears to be a very clumsy, indelicate and sort of Coulteresque discussion of religious doctrine that between a normal American Jew and a normal American Christian could have gone fine, but in this case, it's Coulter and it's a guy who's interviewing her who's waiting to be offended and everybody -- it turns into a big political storm.
HARRIS: Yes.
HAM: Between normal Americans, I don't think the same thing would have happened because we have a certain amount of sensitivity that the political arena doesn't allow for, but...
HARRIS: Hey, Dana, do you want to jump in here?
DANA GOLDSTEIN, AMERICAN PROSPECT: Yes, sure. You know, when I first heard the Ann Coulter comments, I thought, "It's no surprise she's not happy with we Jews the way we are. After all, about 80 percent of us do vote for Democrats."
And, you know, a couple days later, all I can really think is that she's sort of the it of the conservative movement. I kind of disagree with Mary Katharine. I think Ann Coulter says things that a lot of conservatives, especially on the far right, really agree with, but they wouldn't be caught dead articulating publicly.
HAM: Well, this is what kills me about the American left, is there's -- when American -- when Ann Coulter goes off and says something that's perceived as anti-Semitic, everybody's all over it. When an Iranian dictator with possible nuclear weapons comes to Colombia, who's also a Holocaust denier, you don't hear much about it, so...
GOLDSTEIN: Oh, I really have to jump in there. I mean, I think it's really different to support free speech than to support the words that are coming out of the mouth of someone like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As an American Jew and a liberal, I highly condemn his view on the Holocaust, but I think that, you know, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Let him come here and say it, and we can debate that.
HAM: Well...
HARRIS: Mary Katharine, one last comment. Then we're going to turn to Al Gore.
HAM: Oh, I was just going to say, you know, a lot of liberals have called for Ann Coulter being banned from TV. So I think it's an equivalent sort of free speech situation there.
GOLDSTEIN: No, no. I love Ann. I love her to come out because I think, you know, she gives us a view of what conservatives think.
HAM: OK. Fair enough.
HARRIS: OK. All right. Well, let's change topics here.
Former Vice President Al Gore gets the Nobel Peace Prize, and I'm wondering, Dana, what do you think? Is this going to stoke the fires here with...
GOLDSTEIN: No.
HARRIS: Oh, you don't think so?
GOLDSTEIN: You know, I don't think there's any way that Al Gore is going to run for president. He understands that the Democrats, unlike the Republicans, are really happy with their primary choices for 2008, and, you know, he just knows that he's a better advocate for the fight against global warming outside the White House where he doesn't have to make political compromises.
HARRIS: Mary Katharine, what do you think?
HAM: I'm actually going to agree with Dana. I think that the Democrats are fairly happy with their slate of candidates. I think Gore knows not to take on the Clinton machine, and I also think that he's getting the, you know, unadulterated fawning affection of the international left, which is what American Democratic presidents love anyway.
HARRIS: And certainly not getting it from the right. All right. Way to queue it up. Here we go. Senator John McCain in reaction to Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I congratulate Mr. Gore. I congratulate him for his success, and I think it will help in bringing publicity to the issue of climate change. Because I thought that Buddhist monks who are dying were deserving of the award in no way, in my view, diminishes the accomplishments that he has made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Grudge, grudgingly, grudgingly. He couldn't find -- Mary Katharine, what do you think?
HAM: You know, I mean, we've got to go after Gore. We've got to take our shots. You know, he's going to be the star at every cocktail party, and McCain and the rest of us on the right are going to take our shots where we can. So...
GOLDSTEIN: That was just...
HARRIS: And, Dana, you get the last word on this.
GOLDSTEIN: That was just not gracious there from McCain, and, you know, the Buddhist monks deserve it, too, and maybe it will be their time another year.
HAM: Well, there are a lot of people who were deserving of it, but didn't get it because Gore did.
GOLDSTEIN: Yes, yes, there are.
HARRIS: All right, ladies. Appreciate it. Good Sunday evening to you. Good to see you both.
HAM: Thank you.
GOLDSTEIN: Thank you, Tony.
HAM: Thank you.
HARRIS: OK. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's crippling and it affects tens of thousands of schoolchildren. Put simply, they're not equipped to learn. That's the education gap, and your child could be stuck in it. We are digging deep in our nation's schools to give you some solutions. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
Tonight, we dig in to the education gap as Congress considers a second run at the No Child Left Behind Act and faces calls by many Americans to scrap the law. I asked the superintendent of schools for the State of Maryland what she thinks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. NANCY GRASMICK, MARYLAND STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS: Well, it's disappointing that the law had very little to say about early childhood education, and it is the very best investment that can be made.
In Maryland, we actually began a program where we asked the question at 5 years of age when children enter kindergarten, "Is this child ready to come to school and to be able to complete?" and when we ask that question and actually look at many different skills that we evaluated in our children -- actually, 57,000 children -- what we began to see was that almost half -- or more than half of our population actually -- in 2001 were not able to answer that question affirmatively, that these children could actually come to school and really be competitive.
We have since drilled down with childcare providers, with Head Start, with private nursery skills, and now we're up to 70 percent of our children coming to school ready to do that learning.
HARRIS: Nancy, but what we are -- what are some of the skills that we're talking about? I mean, reading has to be at the top of the list. I can't imagine how you get through school, how you make it from day one to graduation day if you don't get the basics in reading early on that get you through the grades?
GRASMICK: Well, you're absolutely right, Tony, but there are prerequisites to learning to read, and that is can the child understand language, can the child speak in coherent sentences using a large vocabulary, and that's -- they are the skills that the child takes to the written work and so in terms of reading, we need to establish those kinds of skills.
Then children come in ready to do those letter identifications. Understanding vocabulary and what it means and taking that to the written word. So all of that...
HARRIS: So, Nancy, let me stop you right there. Yeah, let me stop you right there. So what is -- so we need to start early on with kids? When do we start reading to these kids? When do we start working with them on the kinds of tools necessary for them to begin to be readers?
GRASMICK: Well, I think parents should begin this communication process literally at birth, and that builds in terms of the repertoire of the child, and so when they begin to look at books at 2 and 3 years of age, they really begin to identify, well, this picture represents this word, and sooner or later, they begin to associate the letters of the words with the images. So I think all of that begins in a more informal way early on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A couple of changes President Bush says he'd like to make to the program. A, he wants to increase access to tutoring programs and, B, reward teachers who improve student achievement in low-income schools.
You know, it seems rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated. Cuban President Fidel Castro gets back in the spotlight with a little help from his friends. That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.
Tonight, Vladimir Putin is warned of a possible assassination attempt against him during a planned trip to Iran. The news reported on Russian TV today. Putin was scheduled to travel to Iran this week. That's all we know so far. No further details were given.
Cuban citizens were glued to their TV sets today. For the first time in over a year, they saw video of their leader, Fidel Castro. They also got to hear his voice on the radio live and unedited, compliments of the Hugo Chavez Show.
CNN's Morgan Neill reports from Havana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sounding a bit like an evening news presenter, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez teased today's main attraction.
"Stay close to your television," he said.
And soon enough, he delivered: a live phone call from Fidel Castro. The first time Cubans have heard their leader live in more than a year.
"I think everyone is electrified listening to you," said Chavez.
The Venezuelan leader broadcast his weekly show, Alo Presidente, from Santa Clara, Cuba, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the death of Ernesto Che Guevara. Guevara was executed in Bolivia while leading an armed insurgency.
Chavez' conversation with Castro lasted more than an hour and was notable as much for what it showed about their close informal friendship as for anything the two leaders said.
"You're the big devil," said Chavez. "You're Lucifer himself."
"We're from the axis of evil," replied Castro.
Earlier, this edited video was broadcast simultaneously on Venezuelan and Cuban television. It showed the two reportedly meeting Saturday in Havana.
"You are the father of the revolutionaries of this earth," beamed Chavez.
"I don't think that way about myself," said Castro."
Noticeably absent from the broadcast, Cuba's official acting president, Raul Castro.
While Fidel Castro's appearance will quell rumors of his death, he himself reminded viewers of his ongoing recuperation just before signing off.
"OK," he said, "I think I've got to go take some pills or something."
(on camera) And that seems a fitting close to the day's broadcast. While Fidel Castro once again reminded the world of his presence, he also made it clear he's no longer the man he was before his illness.
Morgan Neill, CNN, Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: You know, we all love our pets, but just how much exactly? What would you give to retrieve your four-legged friend? Fifty bucks? One hundred? Your car? Coming up, a tale of puppy love that will make you say, "You've got to be kidding." That's next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: How not to avoid a divorce? Here's a tip. If someone asks you to test a noose, better say no. Tonight, we're saying, "You've got to be kidding."
Spokane, Washington, now, a woman says her husband called her into the garage and said he was building a haunted house. He supposedly asked her to climb a ladder and test the noose he wants to use for a skeleton. Well, police say he had something else in mind and the bruises around her neck to prove it. She escaped after promising she'd never tell anyone.
A stolen car, an all-out search, a mom now charged with filing a false report. To Dallas now where authorities say, actually she claimed her car stolen and that her baby had been taken with it. Undercover officers were diverted from regular assignments. A helicopter took to the skies.
Well, they found the Kia Spectra. The baby, though? Police say that was a ploy to get them to find her car faster.
A 15-year-old soccer player sidelined for a uniform offense. The ref didn't like a Muslim teen's head scarf, told her to remove it or sit out. She went to the bench. However, it looks like he's the one off sides. The league states players must wear standard uniforms, but it sent out a memo five years ago stating religious head coverings are OK. Fido may be home, but something else is missing. That would be this dog lover's convertible. That's what she gave up to get her pooch back. Initially, she offered a cash reward when Pork Chop went MIA. She got nothing. Next up, she offered her Ford Mustang. Well, guess what? The pony turned up the pooch. And now she says she will simply ride the bus.
And coming up next...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY JUSTICE: You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You're supposed to enforce the law, not break the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A confrontation with a New York City cop. All in a day's work for a man called Jimmy Justice. Be careful where you park that cruiser. The full story in one minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, if you've ever felt the frustration of getting a parking ticket, this story is for you. One New York City man has decided to turn the tables on the traffic enforcement cops, catching them in the act of parking illegally, and he's got it all on tape.
Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at a New York City traffic enforcement cruiser apparently parked illegally in front of a fire hydrant as fire trucks respond to an emergency. The officer who is just picking up her lunch then comes face to face...
JIMMY JUSTICE: You're a traffic enforcement agent, and you parked your official vehicle blocking a fire pump, and there's a fire outside?
ACOSTA: ... with Jimmy Justice.
JIMMY JUSTICE: You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You're supposed to enforce the law, not break the law.
ACOSTA: The man behind the camera goes by the name Jimmy Justice, he says, to avoid any retaliation from city officials. He claims he started posting his clips on YouTube to right what he considers ticket-writing wrongs.
JIMMY JUSTICE: What's unfair is that the same agents that write parking summonses to civilians go out and commit the exact same violations.
ACOSTA (on camera): Is this your way of getting back at the city?
JIMMY JUSTICE: Well, you could consider that. Yes. Why not?
ACOSTA (voice-over): But Jimmy Justice can get carried away.
JIMMY JUSTICE: Ms. Dooley (ph), you broke the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, sir.
JIMMY JUSTICE: You broke the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
JIMMY JUSTICE: What are you going to do, bite me with your gold tooth?
ACOSTA: That's when you want to call him Jimmy Just Stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to call?
JIMMY JUSTICE: Let me see your badge number, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
JIMMY JUSTICE: You're a boob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to call them?
JIMMY JUSTICE: You're a boob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to call them?
JIMMY JUSTICE: I am Jimmy Justice!
ACOSTA (on camera): Now do you think that there are times when you're a little over the top with these officers.
JIMMY JUSTICE: Yes, there have been times that I've crossed the line, if I've used foul language in public or if I've yelled and screamed, but now, I'm on my best behavior.
ACOSTA (voice-over): As for their reaction, police officials did not return our calls. But a former city transportation commissioner says the shame on YouTube might actually do some good.
SAM SCHWARTZ, FORMER CITY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION: City workers have got to get used to it. It's the public's right to challenge a government worker and challenge them even on the job.
ACOSTA (on camera): This is a little nutty what you're doing, isn't it?
JIMMY JUSTICE: Yes, but this is basically a reaction to the unfair system here in New York City. So, if you want to call it nutty, yes. We live in a nutty place, and it takes nuts like me to straighten out the bad apples in city hall. ACOSTA (voice-over): And Jimmy Justice says he's nowhere near running out of tape.
Jimmy Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, Jimmy Justice, J.J. Dynamite!
I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for joining me in the CNN NEWSROOM.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
