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Two FOX News Employees Apparently Abducted in Gaza; British Terror Threat; U.S.-Canadian Border Has Gaps That Can be Exploited; Rough Waters?

Aired August 14, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's the top of the hour.
We'll get straight to Betty Nguyen, who is working details on a developing story we just got wind of about five minutes ago.

Betty, what's the latest on those two FOX employees?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we still have very little information, but here is what we know so far.

CNN has learned from FOX News' Jerusalem bureau that two crewmembers of FOX News have been kidnapped today, apparently kidnapped in Gaza. Now, there's no further information on their identities. We don't know any names or anything like that. And there's no one claiming responsibility at this point.

All we know is that FOX News, its Jerusalem bureau, reports that two of its crewmembers have apparently been kidnapped in Gaza. So we're continuing to follow this, and as soon as we get more, Kyra, we're going to bring it to you.

PHILLIPS: Back to code orange. Homeland security lowers that threat level for airline flights from Britain to the U.S. The risk of attacks is now considered high, rather than severe, but authorities say domestic and international flights will stay under heightened security.

The British also lowered their threat level, yet more flights are canceled. Twenty-three terror suspects remain in custody as British agents eye other possible plots.

CNN's Robin Oakley is on the case in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When police swooped last week to round up suspects over the plot to bomb airliners en route from Britain to the United States, intelligence chiefs feared an instant terrorist response. They hoisted the security alert level to critical, implying an immediate attack.

Come Monday, that was loosened a notch.

JOHN REID, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: Just after midnight, the Joint Terrorism and Analysis Centre, known as JTAC, changed the United Kingdom's threat level from international terrorism, from critical to severe. This means that the terrorist attack is still highly likely, but the intelligence assessment suggests that such an attack is no longer imminent.

OAKLEY: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security simultaneously downgraded the U.S. threat level from the maximum, red, to orange for flights from the U.K. But U.K. intelligence sources are still watching upwards of a thousand potential terrorists. Dr. Reid said there were at least two dozen other plots being investigated.

REID: I want to stress, therefore, that the change in the threat level doesn't mean that the threat has gone away. The public needs to know that there may be other people out there who may be planning to attack against the United Kingdom.

OAKLEY: The 23 suspects still being held are Muslims aged from 17 to 35, which has increased alarm among their community. Some British Muslims complain of unfair targeting, and a number of their leaders, including three of the four Muslim members of the House of Commons, have signed a protest warning that Tony Blair's foreign policy over Iraq and Lebanon was playing into the hands of extremists. Communities minister Ruth Kelly met Muslims on Monday to hear their concerns.

(on camera): The lessened state of alert reflects police confidence that the main suspects over the planned attacks on transatlantic airliners are in custody. But ministers were shocked by the scale of the plans, and with at least two other dozens plots being investigated, there will be no letup in public vigilance.

Robin Oakley, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, shampoo in a carry-on is all it takes to keep you from boarding a plane to or in the U.S., but there' not much stopping anyone determined to slip into the country on foot, by boat or by car from Canada.

CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken is in Ogdensburg, New York, near the U.S.-Canadian border.

And Bob, it's interesting. A lot of us, even in the morning meeting this morning, talking about crossing that border. Everyone seems to have a personal story.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's -- I have my own personal story now. You can see that the border across the St. Lawrence River is less than a mile away from here in Morristown, New York, and there's been a long tradition here of people just going back and forth. Almost like living in one community.

Well, that tradition now is one that was based on an honor system. And, of course, there are any number of people who have dishonorable intentions now toward the United States.

We took a boat ride from the Canadian side to the U.S. yesterday and found out just how easy it is to slip in unnoticed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice over): Our captain, Ken Befield, has been running charters and personal trips to and from Canada since he was a kid. Even after all the focus on border security, he shares a widely held opinion here, that just about any boater can slip in between official points of entry.

KEN BEFIELD, CHARTER CAPTAIN: It's pretty wide open. It's more based on the honor system, but it's pretty easy.

FRANKEN: That honor system governs registration at both ends of the trip here across the mile-wide St. Lawrence River.

(on camera): This time of year, people go back and forth on their boats by the hundreds, as we are. And they can do so very easily, without anyone knowing who they really are or what they are really doing.

(voice over): Many literally swim across. And in winter up here, the water freezes enough to walk.

BEFIELD: It makes you really stop and think how easy people can -- people that want to hurt the Americans can come over and do what they want to do.

FRANKEN: It has made many in government focus on a 4,000-mile U.S.-Canadian border that has gaps that can be exploited.

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: We've had hearings, we've done field trips, field visits, and it's something that I have a concern about.

FRANKEN: As for the seemingly lax system here, Customs and Border Patrol officials insist, "Changes are continuously being made." But at the moment, any boater can simply ignore the regulations that our captain follows.

BEFIELD: Yes, I like to report back in the United States.

FRANKEN: He reports on a special videophone and identifies all on board.

(on camera): Franken, F-R-A-N-K-E-N.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: And if that didn't set off alarms, Kyra, just about nothing would. But we did not encounter any sort of further inspection. Officials do say that they are working very much to try to improve security on the northern border that has gotten a lot less attention than the nation' southern border -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Bob, you talk about the honor system, and your piece showed a lot of people going back and forth a lot. Why is that? FRANKEN: Because the people here have just always done it. There's always been this tradition of one community, in effect. And a lot of people just say, "I'm not going to bother with that." They almost consider it an intrusion.

PHILLIPS: Bob Franken -- thanks.

Well, cargo containers that contain the stuff we use every day, stuff from other countries that Americans couldn't do without, they also contain vulnerabilities, potential opportunities for terrorists.

Here's the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): At least 10 million cargo containers enter U.S. ports every year. And since 9/11, the government has taken steps to prevent containers from being used as a terrorist weapon.

A dirty nuclear bomb or chemical or biological weapon hidden inside a container could kill thousands, maybe hundred hundreds of thousands of Americans. Federal officials say to prevent that requires checking containers identified as possible threats before they enter the U.S. Those containers, about five percent of the total, are subject to visual or x-ray inspections in the U.S. or before leaving foreign ports.

The Bush administration says it's invested $9 billion in port security since 9/11. The Department of Homeland Security says that by October, radiation monitors will screen about 70 percent of incoming containers.

It's also carrying out background checks on some 400,000 port workers in the U.S. But Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff dismisses Democratic calls for the inspection of all containers before they leave foreign ports as impractical.

Critics argue that the new inspection system is still inadequate. They say radiation monitors may not pick up a key radioactive ingredient in a nuclear bomb. And auditors visiting dozens of foreign ports discovered that some containers identified as high risk sometimes were sent on to the U.S. before they could be located.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Every day it seems there is a suicide bombing overseas. Today in Sri Lanka, the convoy of a Pakistani diplomat was targeted. And while the diplomat escaped unharmed, three of his bodyguards were killed. Experts say it may just be a matter of time before a terrorist tried the same thing here.

Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is this something that is nonstop for you?

URI MENDELBERG, INTL. SECURITY AND DEFENSE SYSTEMS: Yes. For me, if it is a profession, we have to think about that all the time.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Uri Mendelberg, a former Israeli soldier, is consumed with preventing a suicide bomber from striking on U.S. soil. His knowledge comes from experience up close.

MENDELBERG: Instinct that has been developed over living in Israel for 25 or 30 years, and looking what happens.

LOTHIAN: Now, the Israeli security and defense company Mendelberg directs is bringing the issue into focus on America's radar, educating a country to the unspeakable.

JEAN SAFRA, INTL. SECURITY AND DEFENSE SYSTEMS: Used to call it a suicide bomber.

LOTHIAN: With his colleague Jean Safra, he's training private and government security officers to, among other things, identify and potentially neutralize suicide bombers.

SAFRA: People come and say, OK, give us your experience. Give us your knowledge. We need it. We need it now.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Is this training on target? Is there a real thread of suicide bombers plotting to attack a crowded mall in New Jersey or a sold-out concert in California? Before 9/11, there would have been a lot of doubters, but since then, there's been growing demand for this specialized training, from law enforcement to private security firms. For many, it's a real concern.

(voice-over): That's where the training is so intense, so real. In this exercise, a suicide bomber is charging forward to set off his explosive belt, but is quickly confronted. One potential target, he says, could be a mall packed with shoppers.

MENDELBERG: Could be an easy target, a soft target, because nobody is guarding these malls.

LOTHIAN: But that's changing. Malls across the country are sending their security guards to his classes and other programs to be trained in spotting a suicide bomber long before a cord is pulled.

MENDELBERG: Is he looking for the guy who's wearing a long coat or not in the summer or carrying a suitcase? What is the indication that something is wrong, the guy is out of place?

LOTHIAN: Fighting this threat begins with law enforcement, but doesn't end there.

SAFRA: In my country, we do a lot of public awareness, a lot of security awareness, about suicide bombing.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Everybody is looking out for everything, then? SAFRA: Yes, everybody is looking around.

MENDELBERG: You've got to teach people a certain awareness of potential dangers, because you don't know when it's going to come.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Princeton, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up, what lies beneath? Screeners check what you take into an airplane's passenger cabin, but what about the luggage that's under it?

A frightening report straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: There's no letup at the gas pump. It now costs more than ever to fill your tank.

Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange with hopefully some details, in addition to what we're going to be facing next.

Meanwhile, we want to take you to Harris Whitbeck, who's been talking a lot about the signs -- actually, no signs of slowing down. If anything, violence in Baghdad seems to grow worse with each passing hour.

Let's take a look at his piece out of Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A series of car bombs in Baghdad on Monday left three people dead and six wounded, just the latest in a series of attacks blamed on sectarian violence. Meanwhile, rescuers sifted through the rubble of several buildings that were destroyed Sunday afternoon in the Baghdad neighborhood of Zafraniyah. Explosions there caused several building and a bridge to collapse, killing at least 57 people and wounding 150.

The Iraqi government says the explosions were caused by rockets and car bombs fired from a nearby Sunni neighborhood that has been targeted by U.S. and Iraqi forces as part of Operation Together Forward, or phase two of their plan to improve the security situation in the Iraqi capital. But the U.S. military said today that its ordnance expert visited to the site of those blasts and that they believe those explosions were caused by a gas leak in a nearby building.

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: Based on the information they have at this point, they are coming back saying that it was an internal gas explosion that created the first significant explosion occurring on the first floor of that building, which I think most people have probably seen at this point. WHITBECK: Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, insists the attacks were caused by terrorists who are bent on inciting more sectarian violence, particularly in the Iraqi capital.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Middle East crisis, the war in Iraq, we know who is on the front lines. But who is behind the scenes?

The U.S. and Israel have accused Iran of inflaming both conflicts by funneling weapons and money. So what does Tehran have to say?

Let's get right to the source. CNN's Aneesh Raman is the only U.S. network reporter in Iran right now. He joins me on the phone with more -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, good afternoon.

A short time ago I conducted an exclusive interview with the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Dr. Ali Larijani. He's also the country's chief nuclear negotiator. I asked him about the sustained allegations and evidence that has been put forth by Israel that Iran has and continues to arm Hezbollah.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI LARIJANI, SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (through translator): Hezbollah does not need Iranian weapons. You can find anything on the market. The type of weapons Hezbollah uses are not that hard to find. And, by the way, the Americans haven't admitted that they're supplying Israel with weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN: And that happened to virtually every question I asked in the interview. When I asked about Iran's actions, it quickly turned to allegations made against the U.S. I asked about the comments made by the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, that Iran is festering civil unrest in Iraq. Dr. Larijani said it is the U.S. that is actively seeking civil war there, and that he has information that Khalilzad has met with Sunni insurgents and told them to turn their arms on Iran.

You get this sense that there is growing confidence here in a government that has a relationship with Hezbollah. There is a sense today that Hezbollah has won this war. But Iran is aware it is on a collision course with the West at the U.N., facing a deadline at the end of the month to suspend its Iranian enrichment. Larijani said the country has no intention to do that. He also said that America must respect Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LARIJANI (through translator): I think the Americans are wise enough not to entangle themselves with Iran. They're still struggling in Iraq. What did they gain in Lebanon? Can anyone claim that Israel has won in Lebanon?

Why should the U.S. act unwisely? We're prepared for all eventualities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMAN: And so, Iran is emerging amid this current war that seems to have now reached a cease-fire as a, if not the, rising power in this part of the world. It has a huge allegiance both here, but especially in the broader Muslim world, as it stands firm against the U.S. -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The Gulf Coast a major source of America's lifeblood and filled with potential targets. Hundreds of oil rigs and tankers all open to attack.

Our Sean Callebs is near an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He joins us now via broadband -- Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we're actually about a mile and a half up the coast of Port Fourchon, and that is a critically important port. Perhaps you have never heard about it. When you think about port security, you think of Miami, Los Angeles, the New York area. Well, that is where one one-fifth, one-fifth of all the crude oil that comes into the United States comes in.

Behind me, you see a production platform. This is one of about 4,000 facilities that are out in the Gulf of Mexico. This one has been drilled some time ago and capped. There's a pipeline right now taking oil and natural gas somewhere in toward Port Fourchon area.

Now, the big concern for the people who work in and around that area, the possibility of a terrorist threat and what it could mean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS, (voice over): Locals along Louisiana's coast call it the end of the road, but Port Fourchon is also the first stop for much of the crude oil used daily in the United States.

TED FALGOUT, PORT FOURCHON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: We play some key role in somewhere between 16 to 18 percent of the entire nation's oil supply. That's domestic and foreign.

CALLEBS: Nearly one-fifth of the oil used in the U.S. is pumped through pipelines from offshore rigs to the Port Fourchon. The port commission knows this would be an attractive target for terrorists. Since 9/11, federal grants have paid for improvements in security here, like these 16 cameras designed to peer into every nook and cranny on this sprawling 700-acre port.

FALGOUT: Much of the ability to discourage anything is by just visually seeing what's happening and you pick up something that's not normal.

CALLEBS (on camera): What about terror? Is that something that's always in the back of your mind?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always. Always.

CALLEBS: It's Sergeant Troy Defrene's (ph) job to track down things that are not normal. But with only one patrol boat and a handful of officers to monitor up to three miles offshore, it's tough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We normally have three people on duty at a time. And with the waterways, the land and everything else that comes in, we can't keep up.

CALLEBS (voice over): Three hundred ships move through here each day, chiefly supplying offshore rigs that employ some 12,000 people. Port Fourchon would like to receive some of the millions of dollars the Department of Homeland Security doles out each year for security upgrades, but...

FALGOUT: The last several years, because of a criteria change, we are not even eligible to compete for port security funding, and go figure that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Yes, it's very frustrating for the people at the port. And to give you an idea, about 50 percent of the oil that comes in domestically from the Gulf of Mexico comes through Port Fourchon.

There's one other aspect. It's a little more complex, Kyra. It's called the LOOP, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port.

Now, what happens, giant tankers from overseas come in 18 miles off of the coast here, they dock there and unload the oil. Then it's pumped in.

Now, the big concern, what happens if one of those -- one of those super tankers was hijacked at some point? It could cause a huge environmental disaster, as well as a severe economic impact to the U.S.

And quickly, I know you can hear that noise in the background. I want to show you what it is.

We are actually basically tied up to another one of these oil platforms here, and that is a fog horn. It goes off, I timed it, every 15 seconds, just to make sure bad weather boats don't get too close to something like this -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Sean, pretty amazing inside perspective there via broadband. And I'm curious, you know, a lot of people when they think of domestic oil production and distribution, they think about Alaska. We've been talking so much about BP and the pipeline that's corroded and the effect that's having on that economy in Alaska and elsewhere.

How does Port Fourchon compare to the Alaskan pipelines?

CALLEBS: That's a good question. Now, right now the pipeline in Alaska is pumping about 400,000 barrels a day. Well, at least 1.5 million barrels a day comes in through here.

So you get an idea of just how important this area is. And, frankly, you probably never heard of Port Fourchon before today. A lot of people around the country haven't. It's a double-edged sword for people there.

One, they like being under the radar because it doesn't really make them a target people talk about all the time. But, secondly, they want dearly to get back on that list for DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, and qualify for these security grants so then can get more money for more officers to patrol, get more boats to patrol this area. Because just like the pipeline, people talked about it corroding over years and years, and look what finally happened. Well, people here for years and years have been talking about the possibility of some kind of attack or disaster, and they certainly don't want that to come to any kind of fruition.

PHILLIPS: Well, as part of our special coverage today, LIVE FROM wants you to hit "send" and e-mail us your thoughts. Where do you think the U.S. is most vulnerable? Do you see a solution?

The address is livefrom@cnn.com. We'll read you responses straight ahead.

Earlier on LIVE FROM, we asked you to hit "send" and respond to this question: Where do you think the U.S. is most vulnerable?

Once again, send us your comments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, there's no letup at the gas pump. It now costs more than ever to fill up your tank.

Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange with the details, hopefully has looked into that crystal ball to give us some sort of sense on when things might change -- Susan.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, from bad to worse. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been in a coma since January. Today doctors say his health has deteriorated.

Our Wolf Blitzer has the latest on the developing story. He's in Jerusalem, covering the Middle East conflict. Let's begin with what we know about his health, Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's amazing to think that as bad as the situation is, he's been in a coma since early January, Kyra, when he had that stroke and only a few weeks ago it really deteriorated. Now his hospital says it's deteriorated even more. They point out, for example, there's a worsening cerebral condition, that he's getting pneumonia in his lungs.

He's going on steroids, antibiotics. He's clearly clinging on to life right now. But the situation for him has deteriorated by all accounts. The doctors at his hospital say that it's gone not from bad to worse but it's going from worse it even worse.

PHILLIPS: Do I even ask about a potential funeral? I am assuming that is something that's being talked about.

BLITZER: I'm sure that the government of Israel has plans. Normally under these circumstances a former prime minister would get a full state funeral. There would be leaders that would come in from around the world to attend. I assume his body would lie in state in Jerusalem and then eventually, by all accounts, he would be buried at his ranch down in the Negev Desert. But those plans have not been announced by any means. I'm sure that people are think thinking about that right now.

PHILLIPS: Wolf, you've sat down and interviewed Ariel Sharon at least a dozen times going all the way back to the '80s. Just going back a month, do you think this is a man that would have gone out on an all-out war and had this type of attack on Hezbollah?

BLITZER: A lot of people don't think that would have been the case and I suspect that, I don't think it would have been necessarily the case either. Given his history in Lebanon, a lot of our viewers, Kyra, will remember the early '80s and 1982. He was the defense minister of Israel. Menachem Begin was the Prime Minister and they launched an invasion of Lebanon, went all the way up to Beirut, occupied Beirut, tried to destroy the PLO in Lebanon at the time.

In fact, Yasser Arafat was evicted, when all was said and done, from Lebanon, moved his headquarters to Tripoli, excuse me to Tunisia, to Tunis in Tunisia, but it became a very bitter experience for him because of the Sabra and Chatila massacre that occurred. The commission of inquiry formed here in the Israeli government said he should have done more to prevent Lebanese Christian Maronites, under Basheer Jamile (ph), from going ahead and killing all those Palestinians in those two refugee camps and, eventually, Israel was stuck in Lebanon for years and years, didn't withdraw until the year 2000.

It left a horrible experience, a lot of Israelis thought it was a quagmire and he eventually was not the prime minister when Israel withdrew, it was Ehud Barak in the year 2000. But it lot of people thought that in the years that he was prime minister, since then, there had been at least a dozen incidents along the border involving Hezbollah and Israel and he reacted in a very measured, quiet way, in part because of that torturous history he, himself had in Lebanon. And a lot of the best analysts here in Israel think if he had been prime minister on July 12th, when those two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped, he would not necessarily have launched a major war against Hezbollah, which, of course, his successor, Ehud Olmert, did do. PHILLIPS: Wolf Blitzer, live from Jerusalem. Wolf, thanks so much. Don't forget Wolf's show "SITUATION ROOM" fires up at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Well for two weeks the people of Cuba have lived with uncertainty after long-time leader Fidel Castro fell sick enough to hand over power to his brother. But over the weekend the local newspaper showed an apparently recovering Castro and quoted him saying that he's feeling great. CNN's Morgan Neill has more from Havana on the power of image in this secretive nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Early Sunday a message from ailing president Fidel Castro to his country.

I feel very happy, read the headline in the state-run newspaper. More importantly, the paper featured photos of the president, the first since he ceded power two weeks ago, following surgery to stop intestinal bleeding.

The next surprise, a public appearance from acting president Raul Castro.

Cuban television broadcast these images of Fidel's 75-year-old brother greeting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at Havana's airport. It's the first time Raul Castro has appeared in public since taking over from his brother. The newspaper pictures Fidel Castro, dressed in a track suit rather than his usual olive fatigues, is shown holding up Saturday's newspaper as if to prove when the photo was taken. In others he's seen talking on the phone.

(voice-over): The message, his condition has improved. The recovery will be long and filled with risk. No word on when or even if he will resume his duties as president. Nevertheless, here on the streets of the capital, a sense of relief.

(voice-over): This book seller says it's good the pictures came out so that Cubans know he's recovering, as well as the Americans, who said that he was dead and had been secretly buried.

This retired woman says she's both happy and relieved to see that the president is out of danger.

I hope he lives another 80 years, says this man.

Outside Havana, media were invited to witness this show of support by sugar workers. While Fidel Castro has asked Cubans to postpone celebration of his birthday until December, he and his brother are taking advantage of the day to let Cubans know they're still in charge. Morgan Neill, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, we at CNN have lost a dear friend, our colleague Dan Young. Not so long ago Dan was diagnosed with Leukemia. He thought he had beat it and knowing Dan as we did we thought so, too. But Dan died suddenly yesterday. He was 47 years old. Dan Young was one of the people who made CNN work. He spent years out in the field chasing the story and hauling it in. When another set of talents led Dan upstairs, well, he never forgot his friends. He just kept making new ones. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan's wife Marty, and his young son Jake.

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