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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Earthquake Devastates Iran; Five U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq; Interview With Tom Ridge

Aired December 26, 2003 - 22:00   ET

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

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


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. I'm Carol Lin in for Aaron Brown.
The national terror alert level remains at orange and authorities say they do not believe the threat window has closed but two grim reminders tonight that many of life's dangers are not manmade.

An international rescue effort is underway in southeastern Iran where a tremendous earthquake has devastated the ancient city of Bam. Tens of thousands of people are feared dead.

And, in California where they've seen enough trouble already this year and this week several mudslides have killed at least seven people. Nine others are missing.

We'll get to the earthquake in Iran at the top of the program.

But the whip begins in California with CNN's Charles Feldman, Charles a headline please.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a Christmas disaster. Heavy rains followed by mudslides and now at least seven dead, as many as nine missing and most of them may be children -- Carol.

LIN: Next the orange alert and an exclusive interview with Tom Ridge, the Secretary of Homeland Security, CNN's Jeanne Meserve a headline please.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those Air France flights may not be the last to be canceled. The secretary of homeland security says other international flights could be canceled or landing rights denied if threat information warrants it.

LIN: Thank you, Jeanne.

And, finally to Baghdad and a challenging 24 hours in Iraq, CNN's Satinder Bindra with the watch tonight and a headline -- Satinder.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, holiday season or not the violence and killings here continue. In the past 36 hours five U.S. soldiers and four Iraqis have been killed. In the meantime here in the Baghdad area U.S. Operation Iron Grip against insurgents continues.

LIN: Back with all of you shortly.

Also on this program tonight the mad cow investigation widens and so does the impact on the cattle and dairy industry, two reports on that.

A new sentence today for the young man who had been serving life without parole for a crime he committed when he was just 12 years old.

And the words that stuck with us all year, the top ten words of 2003, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin tonight with an earthquake about the same size as the one earlier this week on the California coast. Then barely a handful of people died but with earthquakes location is everything and this one in southeastern Iran couldn't have happened on deadlier ground.

Here's CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is fast becoming one of the worst catastrophes that Iran has seen. Reports from the remote town of Bam in the southeast of the country say the bodies of thousands of people have already been pulled from the rubble. As local rescue workers scramble to dig out survivors the Iranian authorities have appealed for donations of blood and international assistance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Priorities in terms of help that we need at the moment are the experts who can actually identify the people who are trapped in the rubble, also the medical facilities and also other facilities and other equipment and items such as tents and clothes that can provide some immediate accommodation and (unintelligible).

CHANCE: The earthquake struck in the early hours of Friday morning as most residents were still sleeping. The U.S. Geological Survey says the shockwave registered as a powerful 6.7 in magnitude. Eyewitnesses say more than 60 percent of buildings have been destroyed, including an historic 2,000-year-old Citadel.

Iran, which straddles geological fault lines, has long been prone to tremors some with devastating consequences. Thirty-five thousand people were killed in 1990 in an earthquake that left more than half a million Iranians homeless. The human cost of this latest disaster has yet to be reckoned.

Matthew Chance, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Rescue workers in Bam, home to some 80,000 people face a daunting task tonight. Joining us now from Tehran is Shirzad Bozorgmehr, an Iranian journalist. Shirzad, I know you are familiar obviously with the area. Without electricity, without any food, without much help at all at the moment and so much devastation how is it that these people are going to survive?

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, IRANIAN JOURNALIST: With a great degree of difficulty. One of the most difficult things they've faced already is the cold desert night which could go well below zero even though this is -- people do not expect the deserts to be cold at night but it is and this is a well known fact.

So, they must have had a really hard time last night and all our hearts go out to them in Iran and we're just praying that they will survive until enough help gets over there to relieve them all from their misery.

LIN: Shirzad, so what is going on right now in terms of trying to find any survivors? What tools do they have at hand? What sort of things could they do for themselves?

BOZORGMEHR: They're rudimentary tools so far because of the situation because it is very dangerous to disturb a building that's been through an earthquake because you don't know where they're going to fall down.

So, they're doing it very meticulously and very slowly with rudimentary tools but they are hoping that very soon, if not already, international help would arrive with specialist sniffer dogs and with special equipment that is in real short supply right now in the city of Bam and, hopefully, they could manage to save enough survivors to make the whole effort at least worthwhile for people involved.

LIN: Now, American President Bush is offering help to Iran. I'm wondering will there be any political considerations as to whether Iran says yes or possibly no?

BOZORGMEHR: It's hard to say. I would have said a few months ago that yes there would be political considerations but now after Iran has been cooperating with Europe and the IAEA and the political situation between Iran and the United States has eased somewhat maybe there won't be any but I doubt if Iran is going to accept it unless they really, really, really need it.

LIN: You're saying they would not accept American help?

BOZORGMEHR: Unless it is some kind of a help that is unique that could be only provided by the United States. This is my guess and it's by no means, you know, something to go by but this is my feeling.

LIN: Perhaps it is my assumption that the United States would have the most advanced technology in order to be able to dig through a site like that and find survivors. If it meant a matter of life and death wouldn't Iran accept at least that technical help?

BOZORGMEHR: Yes, of course they would but that's exactly what I'm saying. If there is the same kind of help is forthcoming from Europe and others, European countries and other countries naturally I would assume that Iran would go with that. But if there is -- the help that the United States is going to offer is unique then there is no other choice but to go with it, yes. LIN: Shirzad, we're hearing reports just of utter chaos and such depths of sadness, 1,000 people showing up at a local cemetery where actually 500 bodies are piled up and a bulldozer is at work to dig a mass grave. What is going to be next for these people in terms of the potential for disease and to control the situation there on the ground?

BOZORGMEHR: Well, Iran's interior minister said earlier the devastation is on such a massive scale that even Iran, which is usually reluctant to ask for help from abroad had to request international help. So, the scene is going to be chaotic for a while.

They're hoping to control any possible spread of disease. This is why they have asked for disinfectants as well as other things because exactly in order to prevent any spread of epidemics and diseases.

It is going to be very difficult even though Iran has been through this many, many times as well as other neighboring countries because this is an earthquake prone area but still this is nothing that you can get used to, nothing that you can really prepare yourself. You can try and prepare yourself but you can never measure or predict the size of such a catastrophe.

So, however prepared you are you still will get caught, you know, by surprise and this is one of those times. Nobody expected an earthquake naturally but they were at the back of their minds that in this area there is a possibility always but nobody expected it to be so massive.

So, the task before the rescuers and before the government of Iran is really monumental and the international help is really welcome at this stage and throughout this period of hardship for the Iranian nation.

LIN: All right, thank you very much Shirzad Bozorgmehr, editor of "Iranian News" reporting out of Tehran.

Well next to Southern California already charred by a season of wildfires it is now being swamped with rain, so much rain that in parts of the San Bernardino Mountains the soil just can't hold anymore. It is sliding down hillsides in avalanches of mud. Seven people have died already with as many as nine more still missing a lot of rescuers looking for them tonight.

Here again is CNN's Charles Feldman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FELDMAN (voice-over): They search on foot and by air through these rain-soaked foothills for missing children and adults after heavy rains Christmas Day triggered mudslides.

CHIP PATTERSON, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We have about six or more dogs involved and 65 to 75 search and rescue people on the ground. FELDMAN: The missing kids, including one believed to be as young as six months, are from the St. Sophia Youth Camp in Waterman Canyon. The caretaker had apparently invited over a large group for the holiday. This woman's sister is among the missing.

The Los Angeles based Greek Orthodox Church that owns the campsite says it was aware that the area because of the recent fires was prone to mudslides after heavy rainfall and no one was supposed to be at the site except the caretaker who is missing and his family.

FATHER JOHN BAKAS, ST. SOPHIA CATHEDRAL: There was no sanctioned program. The only one authorized to be on the property was the live- in caretaker, his wife and to our knowledge two children, possibly three, and they were the only ones there. Anyone who was there was there without our knowledge or permission and that's the -- that's all that we know at this point.

FELDMAN: Besides the devastation at the campsite, some homes in the area were also destroyed by the mudslide.

We survived the fire. We were one of seven that survived the fire and then ours were the very first structures threatened in the fire but we didn't survive the flood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FELDMAN: Now rescue workers here are trying to remain optimistic. They're still calling this a search and rescue mission. They are going to be working throughout the night and they've lucked out on two fronts, Carol.

One, as you can tell, the rain has stopped and the second bit of good luck is originally there was some more rain in the forecast over the weekend but the last forecast I saw indicates the nearest chance of rain now is later in the week so they may have a few days for this earth to dry out and that's going to help them in their rescue effort -- Carol.

LIN: A badly needed break. Thank you very much Charles Feldman reporting live from San Bernardino County.

A bit later in the program we are going to take a closer look at what's involved in the rescue effort. We'll be joined by someone familiar to many of our viewers who remember his work during the wildfires earlier this year. Peter Brierty, the fire marshal of San Bernardino County joins us conditions permitting in about 20 minutes from now.

But right now we move on to Iraq where U.S. forces are continuing their raids to root out Iraqi insurgents and where attacks against Americans continue as well. Eleven U.S. troops have been killed since Monday, five in the last two days alone.

CNN's Satinder Bindra joins us now from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BINDRA: That's right, Carol, challenging times for U.S. forces here. Five U.S. soldiers, as you said, killed in the past 36 hours. Now most of these attacks have been centered in a place called Baquba. Baquba is just north of Baghdad.

Now one U.S. soldier was killed Friday as he attempted to diffuse a handmade bomb. Other U.S. soldiers have been attacked by mortars and there's also been several roadside explosions.

Now just here in Baghdad on Friday another bomb going off. This was a car bomb. Two Iraqis inside the car were killed and it has been suggested that these two could have been suicide bombers and their bomb went off prematurely.

Also just north of Baghdad in a place called Basra, which is about four hours' drive from here, an Iraqi sheikh and his son were killed. This Iraqi sheikh was appointed on the local governing council -- Carol, back to you.

LIN: I'm wondering, Satinder, for the U.S. troops there was there any holiday at all, celebrations, any entertainment, any sense of home during so much violence there?

BINDRA: Yes there was. I attended at least two functions, one in which U.S. troops got together. They formed a band and they went out trying to entertain other troops, trying to lift their morale.

Also here in Baghdad attended a function where there were several hundred troops with the U.S. 1st Armored Division. They got served a traditional Christmas lunch.

There was roast turkey. There was roast beef and there was a lot of spirit of being together. Most people had been spending their first Christmas away from home but they said for the time being at least the army was their family -- Carol.

LIN: And more deployments heading that way. Thank you very much Satinder Bindra reporting live in Baghdad.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the man in charge of homeland security for the United States, Tom Ridge, an exclusive interview next.

And later, cattlemen in Nebraska feel the pressure, the latest on mad cow disease coming up a little later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Christmas has come and gone without a terrorist attack in this country and although the orange alert led to some flight cancellations from Paris to Los Angeles those flights have resumed but with extra precautions.

Government officials say they still believe there is a real possibility of some type of terror attack against the United States. International flights remain a big concern and now there are worries about Mexico too. In an exclusive interview today, CNN's Jeanne Meserve talked to the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge about all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: We got past Christmas, nothing happened. Are you relieved?

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Yes, relieved, grateful, credit much of it to a continuing effort by this country at all levels to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to deter a terrorist attack. I'm relieved every day.

MESERVE: Coming up New Year's Eve, large gatherings in a number of different cities. How worried are you about that?

RIDGE: Every year around the holiday season when it does seem to be that there's a spike in the threats we worry about public events and every year in a more robust and comprehensive way every year additional, preventative, and security measures take place.

For example, you can well imagine in New York and Washington and Los Angeles and Las Vegas and there's just literally probably dozens of cities that have huge outdoor events but, again, that's the extraordinary underpinning of the whole notion of homeland security.

It's just not the federal government being there but it's your state government, your local government and everybody else providing the kind of security that's appropriate under the circumstances that do a marvelous job.

MESERVE: Would you anticipate that more flights might be canceled from France or from other countries?

RIDGE: The world community generally is interested in protecting civilian aviation and I suspect in time and from time to time we may see this occurring.

MESERVE: What was the nature of the information? What was the nature of the threat in France?

RIDGE: Well, I just can't share with you that information but we did share it with the people that could act upon it and those were the officials in France. There was great collaboration. They did the investigation.

They interviewed people that were there and they identified, obviously identifying for us who was there, who didn't show up for the flight and they're sharing all that information with us and where appropriate we then can use it as well.

MESERVE: Is there credible information about a threat from aviation in Mexico?

RIDGE: There is certainly credible information that al Qaeda would use, continue to use aircraft. It seems to be one of their preferred means of attack. You know there's always discussion about weapons of mass destruction but there's a continued threat reporting stream with regard to aviation.

And whenever we get a threat, a report of a threat regardless of where it is in the world we will share that information appropriately with people who can act on it, whether it's in Mexico, whether it's in France, whether it's in Great Britain. I mean the world again is coming closer and closer and I just won't comment on who we share specific information with. I don't think it's appropriate.

MESERVE: What do we know about al Qaeda's current dirty bomb capabilities?

RIDGE: We know that al Qaeda if they could get a hold of a chemical or biological or radiological or nuclear weapon, if they could acquire it, build it or steal it they would probably use it and we know that, you know, the science of some of these weapons is not unique and some of it is not difficult.

But so we, again, as we prepare the country, not just in response to elevating the threat to orange but as we build a response capability and a prevention capability within the country we focus on weapons of mass destruction all of the time.

MESERVE: How worried are you about the current threat level right now?

RIDGE: I have one of the most unique positions in all of government and I see the threat and then I also see how America responds to the threat and we've never been this well prepared. We've never really ramped up this quickly and as effectively.

MESERVE: Are you losing sleep over this one?

RIDGE: No. I don't know whether that's disappointing to you or not but I don't lose sleep because I know literally hundreds of thousands of people are going to work every day probably -- actually to aggregate it, it may be in the millions, who they have a role somewhere in their job description to provide an element, a piece of homeland security and they're doing a good job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That was CNN's Jeanne Meserve, an exclusive interview with Tom Ridge earlier today.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, mad cow disease and a little backtracking, the USDA tries to figure out where the infected cow has been. That's next on NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: President Bush is at the ranch in Crawford, Texas, where beef is still what's for dinner, his spokesman saying the president has eaten beef since the mad cow story broke and will continue to do so. Elsewhere, especially overseas the answer is very different. More than a dozen countries now have closed the freezer door on American beef as investigators scramble to assess the scope of the mad cow problem, two reports tonight starting with CNN's Holly Firfer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the infected cow had three calves. One died shortly after birth. One was sold to a feeding operation in Sunnyside, Washington.

That facility has been quarantined, and the third a yearling heifer was found on the same farm as the final home of the infected Holstein, the Sunny Dean Ranch in Mabton, Washington. That farm's two locations have also been quarantined.

Although there's no evidence that mad cow disease can be passed from the mother to calves the USDA is not taking any chances. According to the paper trail, the infected cow was purchased from one of two locations. Finding out which one may help identify the source of the disease.

RON DE HAVEN, CHIEF VETERINARY OFFICER, USDA: Indeed. Consumption of contaminated feed is most likely, if not the sole source of spreading the disease from one animal to another. Hence, our focus on finding that herd of birth and then from there tracing what feed might have been consumed.

FIRFER: But tracing the source could take weeks, even months, and could expand to other states or even Canada. Close to 15 countries have banned imports of U.S. beef and that's cost over $1 billion in sales so far. A U.S. delegation will travel to Japan, the biggest buyer of U.S. beef, to try to get that ban lifted.

CHANDLER KEYS, NATIONAL CATTLEMAN'S ASSOCIATION: The key factor is to watch in this export market and if we can start picking off countries and start building back our export market the more rapidly we do that the better off we're going to be of course.

FIRFER: Meat from the infected cow was sent to several wholesalers. Four grocery chains have now pulled meat from their shelves that came from one of those wholesalers.

KEYS: The only profit that we get in the business is selling beef. We don't get any help from the government. We need the consumer more than anything else on our production. We need that consumer.

FIRFER: And the battle is on to persuade the American public there's no risk in eating beef.

Holly Firfer, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LIN: Cattle ranching is a $27 billion industry, a very big business dominated by some very large companies but it is also a family affair and tonight in cattle country families are concerned, the report from CNN's Kris Osborn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Omaha cattleman Bill Rhea's farm has no record of mad cow disease but his business is already feeling the pressure.

BILL RHEA, CATTLEMAN: Ten percent of our production is export business so as of yesterday all our trading partners said no we don't want any product from the U.S.

OSBORN: Those trading partners include a host of countries which moved to ban U.S. beef imports shortly after the British laboratory confirmed that the case in Washington State was indeed mad cow. They include Japan, China, Mexico, Australia and Taiwan.

RHEA: Well, it's our livelihood so you look at it that way.

OSBORN: Les Leech's meat processing business sells 95 percent of its product to Japan, one of the countries now banning U.S. beef. Les is worried about the survival of the company and its roughly 150 employees. But it's not just about dollars and cents. For Les it is personal.

LES LEECH, FREMONT BEEF COMPANY: We're not a big company. We're small and so they're family. This kind of situation is a disaster anytime.

OSBORN: Fremont Beef's fate now hangs in the balance of the investigation.

LEECH: The whole issue is how long can we survive until this gets resolved. I think it will get resolved eventually but we just don't know how long it will take.

OSBORN: And, as the cattle makes its way to the slaughterhouse, farmers here hope their businesses won't follow them down the chute.

Kris Osborn, CNN, Omaha, Nebraska.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Trouble in the stockyards triggered a stampede in the stock market on Wednesday, with beef-related companies leading the way. One trading day later, shares of McDonald's managed to regain some lost ground, along with a number of steak house chains. But Tyson Foods, a leading beef processor, remained down on the farm.

On the busiest returning and bargain-hunting day of the year, some mixed returns for retailers. High-end stores such as Bloomingdale's did better than most by holding off on discounts as long possible. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, expects to see growth over the last year, but nothing spectacular.

And on one of the shortest trading days of the year, markets more or less went nowhere. Volume was extremely low. And nobody expects that to change until after New Year's.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: the California mudslides and one of the men helping San Bernardino County clean up. We're going to talk with the fire marshal.

And then: presidential hopeful Howard Dean and some thoughts on Osama bin Laden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Now back to Southern California.

As we heard earlier in the program, rescue workers are still searching for as many as nine people missing in those deadly mudslides. It is difficult and dangerous work.

Peter Brierty, the fire marshal of San Bernardino County, joins us now near the scene.

Chief Brierty, I'm just wondering, how do you go about the process of actually finding people in this mess?

PETER BRIERTY, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL: Well, in this situation, because the road, Old Waterman Canyon has been so damaged by the flood, the boulders, the trees, we've actually had to initiate a foot program, where search-and-rescue folks, the sheriff's office, and San Bernardino firefighters are hiking in and going house to house, creek bed to creek bed, working in a very methodical fashion.

We've broken the road into three distinct sections. And that's how we separate it and that's how we control the work and make sure that we're checking every place and not wasting time.

LIN: Given that some of these people may be buried alive, what are the clues that you're looking for as you literally walk that line into where people might have been?

BRIERTY: It's very, very difficult, because the mud coats everything. So people have to keep a sharp eye out.

One of the things that we're able to employ today because the weather was so good is that we were able to get the sheriff's aviation unit in. The helicopter helped us out and also got us -- was able to drop folks into places that they hadn't been able to get into before. But it takes a sharp eye. It takes some very, very talented folks that are well trained in this to get that job done.

LIN: So are they literally looking for movement in the mud? Are they listening for voices that could be muffled by the water?

BRIERTY: Any telltale, even bits of clothing, cloth that might lead them to a victim. But today, the reality is setting in. It's been two days now. Last night, we had freezing temperatures. It's getting more and more to the phase where it's getting serious in terms of our ability to think that there's going to be more survivors.

LIN: How did people get caught in this landslide to begin with?

BRIERTY: Well, the situation that we have here, this camp has been here for over 50 years. And it has been burned around and near many times.

But what we've had is this, to use the phrase, the perfect storm. We've got incredibly steep, narrow canyons. We had a very, very heavy rainstorm. But, in this case, because the fire burned all the way around the canyon, there is absolutely no vegetation to hold that rain, to slow that rain down. And so it picks up speed and then it picks up the soil, the rocks, the boulders. And it comes down with an incredible force.

It actually knocked out a concrete bridge. And it's -- people are used to going into our mountains. It's the most popular forest in the nation. It's the most visited forest in the nation. We've had rain events. And we need to get people to understand their surroundings, to look around them as they're going into the mountains, and don't treat a rain event as a pleasant thing that happens, but to treat it as a situation that may end in catastrophe, particularly with the burned areas that we have.

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: Yes.

Chief, a personal observation from you. What has been the most difficult aspect of this rescue operation for you?

BRIERTY: Well, today, the information that at least nine of the 14 missing people were children struck home to a lot of -- to almost every firefighter, sheriff and rescue person out here.

You might not see it in their face, but they're going to take it home with them in their heart tonight. But, tomorrow, they'll come back with a stronger resolve, because these are kids, to do a better job, to do the best job we possibly can, to help these families get through this tragedy.

LIN: Chief Peter Brierty, we're taking heart and hope that you're still calling this a rescue operation, not just a recovery operation.

BRIERTY: Absolutely.

LIN: Their hope is still alive.

(CROSSTALK)

BRIERTY: We're staying with rescue. And we thank you for all the help and all the prayers that are with the families to get through this very, very difficult time. And we thank you very much.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Chief Peter Brierty of San Bernardino County.

Well, the elements haven't been kind tonight. Near Sundance, Utah, crews are looking for as many as six snowboarders caught in an avalanche. It happened around 5:00 p.m. local time during a storm that dumped as much as two feet of snow on parts of Utah.

And politics now, starting with damage control. In an interview today in "The Concord Monitor," Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean said, he is not going to pronounce Osama bin Laden guilty before the al Qaeda leader is tried before a jury. Later, Dr. Dean released a statement, saying he shares the outrage of all Americans concerning Osama bin Laden. And he added -- quote -- "This is exactly the kind of case that the death penalty is meant for."

Joe Lieberman also released a statement today, refuting a report by another New Hampshire newspaper, "The Manchester Union Leader." The article published on its Web site said Mr. Lieberman believes abortion law should be reexamined because of medical advances.

And former Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson said today he will run for the Ohio Senate next year. Mr. Anderson, now 56, was kidnapped in Lebanon in 1985 and held hostage for nearly seven years. He is a Democrat and will seek the seat held by Republican Jim Carnes, who is leaving for another job.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: the top 10 words of 2003.

But first, a new development for a boy who once faced life in prison without parole.

From Atlanta, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Lionel Tate first came to national attention after killing a 6-year-old playmate. He was 12 at the time. That he killed her was never in dispute, though other facts were.

Two years ago, the Florida boy was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. A national outcry followed. Well, earlier this month, an appeals court ruled that Lionel Tate, now 16, should be retried. That's where things stood until today and a new development in the case.

Here's CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors are offering the same plea deal rejected by Lionel Tate's mother before his trial for killing 16-year-old Tiffany Eunick. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Tate's new lawyer says he's pleased. RICHARD ROSENBAUM, ATTORNEY FOR LIONEL TATE: Nothing I can say will diminish the fact that Tiffany is dead. And we grieve with her family over this. But there's no reason to throw a 12-year-old's life away for the rest of his life, where he could sit in jail for 60, 70, 80 years.

CANDIOTTI: The offer, three years in juvenile prison, one year of house arrest, followed by 10 years of probation and community service.

But Tate's mother, says her attorney, is not happy her son is likely to plea to second-degree murder. She insists, Tiffany Eunick's death was accidental. Tate was 12 when he killed neighbor Tiffany Eunick, thrashing her about like a rag doll, prosecutors argued. At trial, the defense insisted Lionel he was play-wrestling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you show me how she hit, as best as you can remember?

LIONEL TATE, DEFENDANT: It was like -- she hit like this.

CANDIOTTI: Prosecutors painted a more sinister picture. And the trial judge agreed.

JUDGE JOEL LAZARUS, BROWARD COUNTY: The acts of Lionel Tate were not the acts born out of immaturity. The acts of Lionel Tate were cold, callous and indescribably cruel.

CANDIOTTI: A new defense attorney has won a new trial by convincing an appeals court Tate should have been given a competency exam. An appeals court found, Tate's low I.Q. and immaturity obvious signals he should have been tested. In a case that has come full circle, Tate's former prosecutor is now representing the victim's mother.

KEN PADOWITZ, FORMER PROSECUTOR: He now has to stand up and take responsibility. If he wants to accept this plea deal, he has to plead guilty.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): If Tate, now 16, takes the deal, the state predicts, he could be out of prison in about three months, adding -- quote -- "it was the right thing to do before the trial. It's the right thing to do now."

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Before we go to break, a few more items from around the world, starting in China, where doctors believe they've got a case of SARS on their hands. The patient is in a hospital in Guangzhou. A sample of his blood has been sent to Beijing for confirmation he does in fact have the disease.

And on to Pakistan, where suicide bombers tried again to blow up Pervez Musharraf, the country's president. Two trucks exploded, one in front of his convoy, the other behind. At least 15 people died. Dozens were wounded, but not Mr. Musharraf. This was the second attempt on his life this month.

The West Bank and Gaza remained locked down tight after yesterday's suicide bombing in Israel. Four people died in the attack, which came shortly after Israeli forces killed a terrorist leader and five others in Gaza.

And two days of trying, but still no word from Beagle 2. The European Mars lander should have touched down Wednesday night, and might have, but attempts to make radio contact have failed. Experts say, it might have landed with the antenna pointed in the wrong direction, the cold might have zapped its electricians, or, of course, Martians might have mistaken it for the new Xbox and taken it home.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: what President Bush has to do with the top 10 words of 2003.

Anyway you say it, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: You'd have to practice a certain weird kind of celibacy where the English language is concerned not to be fascinated with the sheer variety of them. Travel from here to Middangeard and you will run across words and phrases that enter the lexicon and stick.

Try to recall the first time you heard or read one and you knew it. It was the perfect word to use. Or perhaps out of the allision between what was and what is, a new word was born. Either way, for as long as it's been going on, there has always been someone around making a list of them, words like Bushism. Never misunderestimate a president's power to shape the language.

Taikonaut, which is what the Chinese call their space voyagers, or old words like spam, now updated for the computer age, or common words that come together, as in SARS, to make something different and scary. They're spoken, written about, even blogged to within an inch of their lives, until, hey, what do you know, they're embedded in the language, at least for now, which keeps our next guest in the job.

Paul Payack is president of yourDictionary.com, which, in case you hadn't guessed by now, has come out with its list of the top 10 words of 2003.

Hi there, Paul.

PAUL J.J. PAYACK, PRESIDENT, YOURDICTIONARY.COM: Hi. How you doing? Good to be here.

LIN: I'm doing fine.

I think our writer did a pretty good job of incorporating some of the top 10 words.

PAYACK: I was quite impressed. I think you did the whole list. I can go home now.

(LAUGHTER)

LIN: Yes.

Allision, allision, we used, No. 7 on your list. The National Transportation and Safety Board investigating the Staten Island ferry had something to do with this?

PAYACK: Yes.

Actually, what happened is, it's an old nautical legal term. And you know a collision is between two moving objects. But an allision is between a stationary object and a moving object, in this case, the ferry with the wharf. It was a terrible tragedy, but it highlighted a different word that was interesting.

LIN: And it is interesting, because, actually, you draw upon feedback from around the world, because, obviously, you're on the Internet and you hear from different sources and different countries.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYACK: Yes, yourDictionary.com is the leading global language portal. We have over 230 languages on the site. We have a million or more visitors a month. We have a global network of professional wordsmiths. We have 100,000 subscribers to our word of the day. And then we have this thing called an agora, which is a literary meeting place for people that exchange ideas about words and language.

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: But it seems like it's very American-driven, though. You take a look at your top word, embedded, and that came from the American Pentagon.

PAYACK: Right, it came from -- actually, global English is what we're looking at. And around the world -- well, more than English, but people know the word embedded. Everyone was polarized by -- or galvanized by the Iraq war. And everybody in the world that's media savvy had some opinion. And these American words did make a large impact.

We chose embedded as the top word of the year because we thought that it, specifically, in eight simple letters, quantified the extraordinary events of an extraordinary year. And it's difficult to do something like that, because there's a lot of things you have to work with. You don't want to be too political, but you want to find a perfect word that has that balance.

And so, like, with everything else in the Iraq war -- or concerning Iraq at all -- embedded polarized people, thinking some people thought that it meant that the reporters were now in bed with the Pentagon and, hence, the administration, while others thought it was going back to the heyday of World War II, where the reporters would be in a foxhole with the reporters (sic). LIN: And not only did you come up with just words, but also top phrases.

PAYACK: Oh, yes.

LIN: Again, Shock and Awe being one of them.

But one that really struck me, tire pressure. Where did that come from?

PAYACK: Oh, tire pressure is an interesting one.

I noticed that, when the shuttle was destroyed late last winter, when it disintegrated, that one of the first messages that came to CapCom was "tire pressure." The next day, I'm reading "The New York Times" and they had an article that said, evidently, tire pressure is some type of code word that says that some type of catastrophic event might have occurred. And they didn't want the viewing audience to understand.

It turned out that it was exactly the pressure -- the tire pressure was the problem. And the superheated fluid got into the wheel well. It destroyed the tire. Hence, there was no tire pressure. So it really was the harbinger of the whole disintegration.

LIN: Right, long line of logic.

PAYACK: Terrible.

LIN: OK. So this is where I'm supposed to say to you, shut up!

PAYACK: Shut up. Right.

(LAUGHTER)

LIN: That being the youth phrase, one of the things that you -- which is supposed to mean, "Really?" Right?

PAYACK: Right. Right.

How it works nowadays is, rather than saying "Really?" you say "Shut up" at each other. And it's kind of interesting to watch youthful people...

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: And for youthful people, it's not only the words, but how you say them. You can't just say, oh, shut up. You have got to say it with style.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYACK: Yes. It's like, "What's up?" Like, "What's up?" has been around for 15, 20 years. And it's evolved now to "What up?" And you just -- you listen to young people and it's just like "What up?" and "What up?" And it's just interesting to see how it evolves from year to year.

LIN: All right, well, thanks so much for sharing.

PAYACK: OK.

LIN: Obviously, you're a real SNAG, huh? A nice, sensitive guy.

(LAUGHTER)

LIN: Very smart, too.

PAYACK: Thanks a lot. OK.

LIN: All right, thanks so much, Peter, for joining us.

PAYACK: OK.

LIN: Actually, Paul, for joining us, Paul Payack of yourDictionary.com.

Up next, the latest on the mudslides in California and the earthquake in Iran.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Before we go, a recap of our top stories, a pair of natural disasters here and overseas.

In southeastern Iran tonight, thousands of people have died in a powerful earthquake. It leveled the city of Bam, destroying houses, buildings and laying waste to a giant medieval fortress made of mud and stone. Iran's president today appealed for international help. President Bush has promised, the United States, it will lend a hand.

In Southern California, it is rain and mudslides, a search continuing tonight in the canyons of San Bernardino County for nine people missing in the rubble since yesterday. Seven people have died. Elsewhere, campgrounds have been washed away and trailer homes destroyed.

Monday night on the program, a more hopeful lead, we hope, and also a look back at the year in editorial cartoons. Every picture tells a story. Most have a point to make. And some even make you laugh.

I'm Carol Lin, in for Aaron Brown. This is NEWSNIGHT. And we all need a laugh these days.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Iraq; Interview With Tom Ridge>


Aired December 26, 2003 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening everyone. I'm Carol Lin in for Aaron Brown.
The national terror alert level remains at orange and authorities say they do not believe the threat window has closed but two grim reminders tonight that many of life's dangers are not manmade.

An international rescue effort is underway in southeastern Iran where a tremendous earthquake has devastated the ancient city of Bam. Tens of thousands of people are feared dead.

And, in California where they've seen enough trouble already this year and this week several mudslides have killed at least seven people. Nine others are missing.

We'll get to the earthquake in Iran at the top of the program.

But the whip begins in California with CNN's Charles Feldman, Charles a headline please.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a Christmas disaster. Heavy rains followed by mudslides and now at least seven dead, as many as nine missing and most of them may be children -- Carol.

LIN: Next the orange alert and an exclusive interview with Tom Ridge, the Secretary of Homeland Security, CNN's Jeanne Meserve a headline please.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those Air France flights may not be the last to be canceled. The secretary of homeland security says other international flights could be canceled or landing rights denied if threat information warrants it.

LIN: Thank you, Jeanne.

And, finally to Baghdad and a challenging 24 hours in Iraq, CNN's Satinder Bindra with the watch tonight and a headline -- Satinder.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, holiday season or not the violence and killings here continue. In the past 36 hours five U.S. soldiers and four Iraqis have been killed. In the meantime here in the Baghdad area U.S. Operation Iron Grip against insurgents continues.

LIN: Back with all of you shortly.

Also on this program tonight the mad cow investigation widens and so does the impact on the cattle and dairy industry, two reports on that.

A new sentence today for the young man who had been serving life without parole for a crime he committed when he was just 12 years old.

And the words that stuck with us all year, the top ten words of 2003, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin tonight with an earthquake about the same size as the one earlier this week on the California coast. Then barely a handful of people died but with earthquakes location is everything and this one in southeastern Iran couldn't have happened on deadlier ground.

Here's CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is fast becoming one of the worst catastrophes that Iran has seen. Reports from the remote town of Bam in the southeast of the country say the bodies of thousands of people have already been pulled from the rubble. As local rescue workers scramble to dig out survivors the Iranian authorities have appealed for donations of blood and international assistance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Priorities in terms of help that we need at the moment are the experts who can actually identify the people who are trapped in the rubble, also the medical facilities and also other facilities and other equipment and items such as tents and clothes that can provide some immediate accommodation and (unintelligible).

CHANCE: The earthquake struck in the early hours of Friday morning as most residents were still sleeping. The U.S. Geological Survey says the shockwave registered as a powerful 6.7 in magnitude. Eyewitnesses say more than 60 percent of buildings have been destroyed, including an historic 2,000-year-old Citadel.

Iran, which straddles geological fault lines, has long been prone to tremors some with devastating consequences. Thirty-five thousand people were killed in 1990 in an earthquake that left more than half a million Iranians homeless. The human cost of this latest disaster has yet to be reckoned.

Matthew Chance, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Rescue workers in Bam, home to some 80,000 people face a daunting task tonight. Joining us now from Tehran is Shirzad Bozorgmehr, an Iranian journalist. Shirzad, I know you are familiar obviously with the area. Without electricity, without any food, without much help at all at the moment and so much devastation how is it that these people are going to survive?

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, IRANIAN JOURNALIST: With a great degree of difficulty. One of the most difficult things they've faced already is the cold desert night which could go well below zero even though this is -- people do not expect the deserts to be cold at night but it is and this is a well known fact.

So, they must have had a really hard time last night and all our hearts go out to them in Iran and we're just praying that they will survive until enough help gets over there to relieve them all from their misery.

LIN: Shirzad, so what is going on right now in terms of trying to find any survivors? What tools do they have at hand? What sort of things could they do for themselves?

BOZORGMEHR: They're rudimentary tools so far because of the situation because it is very dangerous to disturb a building that's been through an earthquake because you don't know where they're going to fall down.

So, they're doing it very meticulously and very slowly with rudimentary tools but they are hoping that very soon, if not already, international help would arrive with specialist sniffer dogs and with special equipment that is in real short supply right now in the city of Bam and, hopefully, they could manage to save enough survivors to make the whole effort at least worthwhile for people involved.

LIN: Now, American President Bush is offering help to Iran. I'm wondering will there be any political considerations as to whether Iran says yes or possibly no?

BOZORGMEHR: It's hard to say. I would have said a few months ago that yes there would be political considerations but now after Iran has been cooperating with Europe and the IAEA and the political situation between Iran and the United States has eased somewhat maybe there won't be any but I doubt if Iran is going to accept it unless they really, really, really need it.

LIN: You're saying they would not accept American help?

BOZORGMEHR: Unless it is some kind of a help that is unique that could be only provided by the United States. This is my guess and it's by no means, you know, something to go by but this is my feeling.

LIN: Perhaps it is my assumption that the United States would have the most advanced technology in order to be able to dig through a site like that and find survivors. If it meant a matter of life and death wouldn't Iran accept at least that technical help?

BOZORGMEHR: Yes, of course they would but that's exactly what I'm saying. If there is the same kind of help is forthcoming from Europe and others, European countries and other countries naturally I would assume that Iran would go with that. But if there is -- the help that the United States is going to offer is unique then there is no other choice but to go with it, yes. LIN: Shirzad, we're hearing reports just of utter chaos and such depths of sadness, 1,000 people showing up at a local cemetery where actually 500 bodies are piled up and a bulldozer is at work to dig a mass grave. What is going to be next for these people in terms of the potential for disease and to control the situation there on the ground?

BOZORGMEHR: Well, Iran's interior minister said earlier the devastation is on such a massive scale that even Iran, which is usually reluctant to ask for help from abroad had to request international help. So, the scene is going to be chaotic for a while.

They're hoping to control any possible spread of disease. This is why they have asked for disinfectants as well as other things because exactly in order to prevent any spread of epidemics and diseases.

It is going to be very difficult even though Iran has been through this many, many times as well as other neighboring countries because this is an earthquake prone area but still this is nothing that you can get used to, nothing that you can really prepare yourself. You can try and prepare yourself but you can never measure or predict the size of such a catastrophe.

So, however prepared you are you still will get caught, you know, by surprise and this is one of those times. Nobody expected an earthquake naturally but they were at the back of their minds that in this area there is a possibility always but nobody expected it to be so massive.

So, the task before the rescuers and before the government of Iran is really monumental and the international help is really welcome at this stage and throughout this period of hardship for the Iranian nation.

LIN: All right, thank you very much Shirzad Bozorgmehr, editor of "Iranian News" reporting out of Tehran.

Well next to Southern California already charred by a season of wildfires it is now being swamped with rain, so much rain that in parts of the San Bernardino Mountains the soil just can't hold anymore. It is sliding down hillsides in avalanches of mud. Seven people have died already with as many as nine more still missing a lot of rescuers looking for them tonight.

Here again is CNN's Charles Feldman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FELDMAN (voice-over): They search on foot and by air through these rain-soaked foothills for missing children and adults after heavy rains Christmas Day triggered mudslides.

CHIP PATTERSON, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We have about six or more dogs involved and 65 to 75 search and rescue people on the ground. FELDMAN: The missing kids, including one believed to be as young as six months, are from the St. Sophia Youth Camp in Waterman Canyon. The caretaker had apparently invited over a large group for the holiday. This woman's sister is among the missing.

The Los Angeles based Greek Orthodox Church that owns the campsite says it was aware that the area because of the recent fires was prone to mudslides after heavy rainfall and no one was supposed to be at the site except the caretaker who is missing and his family.

FATHER JOHN BAKAS, ST. SOPHIA CATHEDRAL: There was no sanctioned program. The only one authorized to be on the property was the live- in caretaker, his wife and to our knowledge two children, possibly three, and they were the only ones there. Anyone who was there was there without our knowledge or permission and that's the -- that's all that we know at this point.

FELDMAN: Besides the devastation at the campsite, some homes in the area were also destroyed by the mudslide.

We survived the fire. We were one of seven that survived the fire and then ours were the very first structures threatened in the fire but we didn't survive the flood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FELDMAN: Now rescue workers here are trying to remain optimistic. They're still calling this a search and rescue mission. They are going to be working throughout the night and they've lucked out on two fronts, Carol.

One, as you can tell, the rain has stopped and the second bit of good luck is originally there was some more rain in the forecast over the weekend but the last forecast I saw indicates the nearest chance of rain now is later in the week so they may have a few days for this earth to dry out and that's going to help them in their rescue effort -- Carol.

LIN: A badly needed break. Thank you very much Charles Feldman reporting live from San Bernardino County.

A bit later in the program we are going to take a closer look at what's involved in the rescue effort. We'll be joined by someone familiar to many of our viewers who remember his work during the wildfires earlier this year. Peter Brierty, the fire marshal of San Bernardino County joins us conditions permitting in about 20 minutes from now.

But right now we move on to Iraq where U.S. forces are continuing their raids to root out Iraqi insurgents and where attacks against Americans continue as well. Eleven U.S. troops have been killed since Monday, five in the last two days alone.

CNN's Satinder Bindra joins us now from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BINDRA: That's right, Carol, challenging times for U.S. forces here. Five U.S. soldiers, as you said, killed in the past 36 hours. Now most of these attacks have been centered in a place called Baquba. Baquba is just north of Baghdad.

Now one U.S. soldier was killed Friday as he attempted to diffuse a handmade bomb. Other U.S. soldiers have been attacked by mortars and there's also been several roadside explosions.

Now just here in Baghdad on Friday another bomb going off. This was a car bomb. Two Iraqis inside the car were killed and it has been suggested that these two could have been suicide bombers and their bomb went off prematurely.

Also just north of Baghdad in a place called Basra, which is about four hours' drive from here, an Iraqi sheikh and his son were killed. This Iraqi sheikh was appointed on the local governing council -- Carol, back to you.

LIN: I'm wondering, Satinder, for the U.S. troops there was there any holiday at all, celebrations, any entertainment, any sense of home during so much violence there?

BINDRA: Yes there was. I attended at least two functions, one in which U.S. troops got together. They formed a band and they went out trying to entertain other troops, trying to lift their morale.

Also here in Baghdad attended a function where there were several hundred troops with the U.S. 1st Armored Division. They got served a traditional Christmas lunch.

There was roast turkey. There was roast beef and there was a lot of spirit of being together. Most people had been spending their first Christmas away from home but they said for the time being at least the army was their family -- Carol.

LIN: And more deployments heading that way. Thank you very much Satinder Bindra reporting live in Baghdad.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the man in charge of homeland security for the United States, Tom Ridge, an exclusive interview next.

And later, cattlemen in Nebraska feel the pressure, the latest on mad cow disease coming up a little later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Christmas has come and gone without a terrorist attack in this country and although the orange alert led to some flight cancellations from Paris to Los Angeles those flights have resumed but with extra precautions.

Government officials say they still believe there is a real possibility of some type of terror attack against the United States. International flights remain a big concern and now there are worries about Mexico too. In an exclusive interview today, CNN's Jeanne Meserve talked to the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge about all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: We got past Christmas, nothing happened. Are you relieved?

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Yes, relieved, grateful, credit much of it to a continuing effort by this country at all levels to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to deter a terrorist attack. I'm relieved every day.

MESERVE: Coming up New Year's Eve, large gatherings in a number of different cities. How worried are you about that?

RIDGE: Every year around the holiday season when it does seem to be that there's a spike in the threats we worry about public events and every year in a more robust and comprehensive way every year additional, preventative, and security measures take place.

For example, you can well imagine in New York and Washington and Los Angeles and Las Vegas and there's just literally probably dozens of cities that have huge outdoor events but, again, that's the extraordinary underpinning of the whole notion of homeland security.

It's just not the federal government being there but it's your state government, your local government and everybody else providing the kind of security that's appropriate under the circumstances that do a marvelous job.

MESERVE: Would you anticipate that more flights might be canceled from France or from other countries?

RIDGE: The world community generally is interested in protecting civilian aviation and I suspect in time and from time to time we may see this occurring.

MESERVE: What was the nature of the information? What was the nature of the threat in France?

RIDGE: Well, I just can't share with you that information but we did share it with the people that could act upon it and those were the officials in France. There was great collaboration. They did the investigation.

They interviewed people that were there and they identified, obviously identifying for us who was there, who didn't show up for the flight and they're sharing all that information with us and where appropriate we then can use it as well.

MESERVE: Is there credible information about a threat from aviation in Mexico?

RIDGE: There is certainly credible information that al Qaeda would use, continue to use aircraft. It seems to be one of their preferred means of attack. You know there's always discussion about weapons of mass destruction but there's a continued threat reporting stream with regard to aviation.

And whenever we get a threat, a report of a threat regardless of where it is in the world we will share that information appropriately with people who can act on it, whether it's in Mexico, whether it's in France, whether it's in Great Britain. I mean the world again is coming closer and closer and I just won't comment on who we share specific information with. I don't think it's appropriate.

MESERVE: What do we know about al Qaeda's current dirty bomb capabilities?

RIDGE: We know that al Qaeda if they could get a hold of a chemical or biological or radiological or nuclear weapon, if they could acquire it, build it or steal it they would probably use it and we know that, you know, the science of some of these weapons is not unique and some of it is not difficult.

But so we, again, as we prepare the country, not just in response to elevating the threat to orange but as we build a response capability and a prevention capability within the country we focus on weapons of mass destruction all of the time.

MESERVE: How worried are you about the current threat level right now?

RIDGE: I have one of the most unique positions in all of government and I see the threat and then I also see how America responds to the threat and we've never been this well prepared. We've never really ramped up this quickly and as effectively.

MESERVE: Are you losing sleep over this one?

RIDGE: No. I don't know whether that's disappointing to you or not but I don't lose sleep because I know literally hundreds of thousands of people are going to work every day probably -- actually to aggregate it, it may be in the millions, who they have a role somewhere in their job description to provide an element, a piece of homeland security and they're doing a good job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That was CNN's Jeanne Meserve, an exclusive interview with Tom Ridge earlier today.

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT, mad cow disease and a little backtracking, the USDA tries to figure out where the infected cow has been. That's next on NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: President Bush is at the ranch in Crawford, Texas, where beef is still what's for dinner, his spokesman saying the president has eaten beef since the mad cow story broke and will continue to do so. Elsewhere, especially overseas the answer is very different. More than a dozen countries now have closed the freezer door on American beef as investigators scramble to assess the scope of the mad cow problem, two reports tonight starting with CNN's Holly Firfer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the infected cow had three calves. One died shortly after birth. One was sold to a feeding operation in Sunnyside, Washington.

That facility has been quarantined, and the third a yearling heifer was found on the same farm as the final home of the infected Holstein, the Sunny Dean Ranch in Mabton, Washington. That farm's two locations have also been quarantined.

Although there's no evidence that mad cow disease can be passed from the mother to calves the USDA is not taking any chances. According to the paper trail, the infected cow was purchased from one of two locations. Finding out which one may help identify the source of the disease.

RON DE HAVEN, CHIEF VETERINARY OFFICER, USDA: Indeed. Consumption of contaminated feed is most likely, if not the sole source of spreading the disease from one animal to another. Hence, our focus on finding that herd of birth and then from there tracing what feed might have been consumed.

FIRFER: But tracing the source could take weeks, even months, and could expand to other states or even Canada. Close to 15 countries have banned imports of U.S. beef and that's cost over $1 billion in sales so far. A U.S. delegation will travel to Japan, the biggest buyer of U.S. beef, to try to get that ban lifted.

CHANDLER KEYS, NATIONAL CATTLEMAN'S ASSOCIATION: The key factor is to watch in this export market and if we can start picking off countries and start building back our export market the more rapidly we do that the better off we're going to be of course.

FIRFER: Meat from the infected cow was sent to several wholesalers. Four grocery chains have now pulled meat from their shelves that came from one of those wholesalers.

KEYS: The only profit that we get in the business is selling beef. We don't get any help from the government. We need the consumer more than anything else on our production. We need that consumer.

FIRFER: And the battle is on to persuade the American public there's no risk in eating beef.

Holly Firfer, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LIN: Cattle ranching is a $27 billion industry, a very big business dominated by some very large companies but it is also a family affair and tonight in cattle country families are concerned, the report from CNN's Kris Osborn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Omaha cattleman Bill Rhea's farm has no record of mad cow disease but his business is already feeling the pressure.

BILL RHEA, CATTLEMAN: Ten percent of our production is export business so as of yesterday all our trading partners said no we don't want any product from the U.S.

OSBORN: Those trading partners include a host of countries which moved to ban U.S. beef imports shortly after the British laboratory confirmed that the case in Washington State was indeed mad cow. They include Japan, China, Mexico, Australia and Taiwan.

RHEA: Well, it's our livelihood so you look at it that way.

OSBORN: Les Leech's meat processing business sells 95 percent of its product to Japan, one of the countries now banning U.S. beef. Les is worried about the survival of the company and its roughly 150 employees. But it's not just about dollars and cents. For Les it is personal.

LES LEECH, FREMONT BEEF COMPANY: We're not a big company. We're small and so they're family. This kind of situation is a disaster anytime.

OSBORN: Fremont Beef's fate now hangs in the balance of the investigation.

LEECH: The whole issue is how long can we survive until this gets resolved. I think it will get resolved eventually but we just don't know how long it will take.

OSBORN: And, as the cattle makes its way to the slaughterhouse, farmers here hope their businesses won't follow them down the chute.

Kris Osborn, CNN, Omaha, Nebraska.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Trouble in the stockyards triggered a stampede in the stock market on Wednesday, with beef-related companies leading the way. One trading day later, shares of McDonald's managed to regain some lost ground, along with a number of steak house chains. But Tyson Foods, a leading beef processor, remained down on the farm.

On the busiest returning and bargain-hunting day of the year, some mixed returns for retailers. High-end stores such as Bloomingdale's did better than most by holding off on discounts as long possible. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, expects to see growth over the last year, but nothing spectacular.

And on one of the shortest trading days of the year, markets more or less went nowhere. Volume was extremely low. And nobody expects that to change until after New Year's.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT: the California mudslides and one of the men helping San Bernardino County clean up. We're going to talk with the fire marshal.

And then: presidential hopeful Howard Dean and some thoughts on Osama bin Laden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Now back to Southern California.

As we heard earlier in the program, rescue workers are still searching for as many as nine people missing in those deadly mudslides. It is difficult and dangerous work.

Peter Brierty, the fire marshal of San Bernardino County, joins us now near the scene.

Chief Brierty, I'm just wondering, how do you go about the process of actually finding people in this mess?

PETER BRIERTY, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL: Well, in this situation, because the road, Old Waterman Canyon has been so damaged by the flood, the boulders, the trees, we've actually had to initiate a foot program, where search-and-rescue folks, the sheriff's office, and San Bernardino firefighters are hiking in and going house to house, creek bed to creek bed, working in a very methodical fashion.

We've broken the road into three distinct sections. And that's how we separate it and that's how we control the work and make sure that we're checking every place and not wasting time.

LIN: Given that some of these people may be buried alive, what are the clues that you're looking for as you literally walk that line into where people might have been?

BRIERTY: It's very, very difficult, because the mud coats everything. So people have to keep a sharp eye out.

One of the things that we're able to employ today because the weather was so good is that we were able to get the sheriff's aviation unit in. The helicopter helped us out and also got us -- was able to drop folks into places that they hadn't been able to get into before. But it takes a sharp eye. It takes some very, very talented folks that are well trained in this to get that job done.

LIN: So are they literally looking for movement in the mud? Are they listening for voices that could be muffled by the water?

BRIERTY: Any telltale, even bits of clothing, cloth that might lead them to a victim. But today, the reality is setting in. It's been two days now. Last night, we had freezing temperatures. It's getting more and more to the phase where it's getting serious in terms of our ability to think that there's going to be more survivors.

LIN: How did people get caught in this landslide to begin with?

BRIERTY: Well, the situation that we have here, this camp has been here for over 50 years. And it has been burned around and near many times.

But what we've had is this, to use the phrase, the perfect storm. We've got incredibly steep, narrow canyons. We had a very, very heavy rainstorm. But, in this case, because the fire burned all the way around the canyon, there is absolutely no vegetation to hold that rain, to slow that rain down. And so it picks up speed and then it picks up the soil, the rocks, the boulders. And it comes down with an incredible force.

It actually knocked out a concrete bridge. And it's -- people are used to going into our mountains. It's the most popular forest in the nation. It's the most visited forest in the nation. We've had rain events. And we need to get people to understand their surroundings, to look around them as they're going into the mountains, and don't treat a rain event as a pleasant thing that happens, but to treat it as a situation that may end in catastrophe, particularly with the burned areas that we have.

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: Yes.

Chief, a personal observation from you. What has been the most difficult aspect of this rescue operation for you?

BRIERTY: Well, today, the information that at least nine of the 14 missing people were children struck home to a lot of -- to almost every firefighter, sheriff and rescue person out here.

You might not see it in their face, but they're going to take it home with them in their heart tonight. But, tomorrow, they'll come back with a stronger resolve, because these are kids, to do a better job, to do the best job we possibly can, to help these families get through this tragedy.

LIN: Chief Peter Brierty, we're taking heart and hope that you're still calling this a rescue operation, not just a recovery operation.

BRIERTY: Absolutely.

LIN: Their hope is still alive.

(CROSSTALK)

BRIERTY: We're staying with rescue. And we thank you for all the help and all the prayers that are with the families to get through this very, very difficult time. And we thank you very much.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Chief Peter Brierty of San Bernardino County.

Well, the elements haven't been kind tonight. Near Sundance, Utah, crews are looking for as many as six snowboarders caught in an avalanche. It happened around 5:00 p.m. local time during a storm that dumped as much as two feet of snow on parts of Utah.

And politics now, starting with damage control. In an interview today in "The Concord Monitor," Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean said, he is not going to pronounce Osama bin Laden guilty before the al Qaeda leader is tried before a jury. Later, Dr. Dean released a statement, saying he shares the outrage of all Americans concerning Osama bin Laden. And he added -- quote -- "This is exactly the kind of case that the death penalty is meant for."

Joe Lieberman also released a statement today, refuting a report by another New Hampshire newspaper, "The Manchester Union Leader." The article published on its Web site said Mr. Lieberman believes abortion law should be reexamined because of medical advances.

And former Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson said today he will run for the Ohio Senate next year. Mr. Anderson, now 56, was kidnapped in Lebanon in 1985 and held hostage for nearly seven years. He is a Democrat and will seek the seat held by Republican Jim Carnes, who is leaving for another job.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT: the top 10 words of 2003.

But first, a new development for a boy who once faced life in prison without parole.

From Atlanta, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Lionel Tate first came to national attention after killing a 6-year-old playmate. He was 12 at the time. That he killed her was never in dispute, though other facts were.

Two years ago, the Florida boy was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. A national outcry followed. Well, earlier this month, an appeals court ruled that Lionel Tate, now 16, should be retried. That's where things stood until today and a new development in the case.

Here's CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors are offering the same plea deal rejected by Lionel Tate's mother before his trial for killing 16-year-old Tiffany Eunick. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Tate's new lawyer says he's pleased. RICHARD ROSENBAUM, ATTORNEY FOR LIONEL TATE: Nothing I can say will diminish the fact that Tiffany is dead. And we grieve with her family over this. But there's no reason to throw a 12-year-old's life away for the rest of his life, where he could sit in jail for 60, 70, 80 years.

CANDIOTTI: The offer, three years in juvenile prison, one year of house arrest, followed by 10 years of probation and community service.

But Tate's mother, says her attorney, is not happy her son is likely to plea to second-degree murder. She insists, Tiffany Eunick's death was accidental. Tate was 12 when he killed neighbor Tiffany Eunick, thrashing her about like a rag doll, prosecutors argued. At trial, the defense insisted Lionel he was play-wrestling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you show me how she hit, as best as you can remember?

LIONEL TATE, DEFENDANT: It was like -- she hit like this.

CANDIOTTI: Prosecutors painted a more sinister picture. And the trial judge agreed.

JUDGE JOEL LAZARUS, BROWARD COUNTY: The acts of Lionel Tate were not the acts born out of immaturity. The acts of Lionel Tate were cold, callous and indescribably cruel.

CANDIOTTI: A new defense attorney has won a new trial by convincing an appeals court Tate should have been given a competency exam. An appeals court found, Tate's low I.Q. and immaturity obvious signals he should have been tested. In a case that has come full circle, Tate's former prosecutor is now representing the victim's mother.

KEN PADOWITZ, FORMER PROSECUTOR: He now has to stand up and take responsibility. If he wants to accept this plea deal, he has to plead guilty.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): If Tate, now 16, takes the deal, the state predicts, he could be out of prison in about three months, adding -- quote -- "it was the right thing to do before the trial. It's the right thing to do now."

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Before we go to break, a few more items from around the world, starting in China, where doctors believe they've got a case of SARS on their hands. The patient is in a hospital in Guangzhou. A sample of his blood has been sent to Beijing for confirmation he does in fact have the disease.

And on to Pakistan, where suicide bombers tried again to blow up Pervez Musharraf, the country's president. Two trucks exploded, one in front of his convoy, the other behind. At least 15 people died. Dozens were wounded, but not Mr. Musharraf. This was the second attempt on his life this month.

The West Bank and Gaza remained locked down tight after yesterday's suicide bombing in Israel. Four people died in the attack, which came shortly after Israeli forces killed a terrorist leader and five others in Gaza.

And two days of trying, but still no word from Beagle 2. The European Mars lander should have touched down Wednesday night, and might have, but attempts to make radio contact have failed. Experts say, it might have landed with the antenna pointed in the wrong direction, the cold might have zapped its electricians, or, of course, Martians might have mistaken it for the new Xbox and taken it home.

Still ahead on NEWSNIGHT: what President Bush has to do with the top 10 words of 2003.

Anyway you say it, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: You'd have to practice a certain weird kind of celibacy where the English language is concerned not to be fascinated with the sheer variety of them. Travel from here to Middangeard and you will run across words and phrases that enter the lexicon and stick.

Try to recall the first time you heard or read one and you knew it. It was the perfect word to use. Or perhaps out of the allision between what was and what is, a new word was born. Either way, for as long as it's been going on, there has always been someone around making a list of them, words like Bushism. Never misunderestimate a president's power to shape the language.

Taikonaut, which is what the Chinese call their space voyagers, or old words like spam, now updated for the computer age, or common words that come together, as in SARS, to make something different and scary. They're spoken, written about, even blogged to within an inch of their lives, until, hey, what do you know, they're embedded in the language, at least for now, which keeps our next guest in the job.

Paul Payack is president of yourDictionary.com, which, in case you hadn't guessed by now, has come out with its list of the top 10 words of 2003.

Hi there, Paul.

PAUL J.J. PAYACK, PRESIDENT, YOURDICTIONARY.COM: Hi. How you doing? Good to be here.

LIN: I'm doing fine.

I think our writer did a pretty good job of incorporating some of the top 10 words.

PAYACK: I was quite impressed. I think you did the whole list. I can go home now.

(LAUGHTER)

LIN: Yes.

Allision, allision, we used, No. 7 on your list. The National Transportation and Safety Board investigating the Staten Island ferry had something to do with this?

PAYACK: Yes.

Actually, what happened is, it's an old nautical legal term. And you know a collision is between two moving objects. But an allision is between a stationary object and a moving object, in this case, the ferry with the wharf. It was a terrible tragedy, but it highlighted a different word that was interesting.

LIN: And it is interesting, because, actually, you draw upon feedback from around the world, because, obviously, you're on the Internet and you hear from different sources and different countries.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYACK: Yes, yourDictionary.com is the leading global language portal. We have over 230 languages on the site. We have a million or more visitors a month. We have a global network of professional wordsmiths. We have 100,000 subscribers to our word of the day. And then we have this thing called an agora, which is a literary meeting place for people that exchange ideas about words and language.

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: But it seems like it's very American-driven, though. You take a look at your top word, embedded, and that came from the American Pentagon.

PAYACK: Right, it came from -- actually, global English is what we're looking at. And around the world -- well, more than English, but people know the word embedded. Everyone was polarized by -- or galvanized by the Iraq war. And everybody in the world that's media savvy had some opinion. And these American words did make a large impact.

We chose embedded as the top word of the year because we thought that it, specifically, in eight simple letters, quantified the extraordinary events of an extraordinary year. And it's difficult to do something like that, because there's a lot of things you have to work with. You don't want to be too political, but you want to find a perfect word that has that balance.

And so, like, with everything else in the Iraq war -- or concerning Iraq at all -- embedded polarized people, thinking some people thought that it meant that the reporters were now in bed with the Pentagon and, hence, the administration, while others thought it was going back to the heyday of World War II, where the reporters would be in a foxhole with the reporters (sic). LIN: And not only did you come up with just words, but also top phrases.

PAYACK: Oh, yes.

LIN: Again, Shock and Awe being one of them.

But one that really struck me, tire pressure. Where did that come from?

PAYACK: Oh, tire pressure is an interesting one.

I noticed that, when the shuttle was destroyed late last winter, when it disintegrated, that one of the first messages that came to CapCom was "tire pressure." The next day, I'm reading "The New York Times" and they had an article that said, evidently, tire pressure is some type of code word that says that some type of catastrophic event might have occurred. And they didn't want the viewing audience to understand.

It turned out that it was exactly the pressure -- the tire pressure was the problem. And the superheated fluid got into the wheel well. It destroyed the tire. Hence, there was no tire pressure. So it really was the harbinger of the whole disintegration.

LIN: Right, long line of logic.

PAYACK: Terrible.

LIN: OK. So this is where I'm supposed to say to you, shut up!

PAYACK: Shut up. Right.

(LAUGHTER)

LIN: That being the youth phrase, one of the things that you -- which is supposed to mean, "Really?" Right?

PAYACK: Right. Right.

How it works nowadays is, rather than saying "Really?" you say "Shut up" at each other. And it's kind of interesting to watch youthful people...

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: And for youthful people, it's not only the words, but how you say them. You can't just say, oh, shut up. You have got to say it with style.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYACK: Yes. It's like, "What's up?" Like, "What's up?" has been around for 15, 20 years. And it's evolved now to "What up?" And you just -- you listen to young people and it's just like "What up?" and "What up?" And it's just interesting to see how it evolves from year to year.

LIN: All right, well, thanks so much for sharing.

PAYACK: OK.

LIN: Obviously, you're a real SNAG, huh? A nice, sensitive guy.

(LAUGHTER)

LIN: Very smart, too.

PAYACK: Thanks a lot. OK.

LIN: All right, thanks so much, Peter, for joining us.

PAYACK: OK.

LIN: Actually, Paul, for joining us, Paul Payack of yourDictionary.com.

Up next, the latest on the mudslides in California and the earthquake in Iran.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Before we go, a recap of our top stories, a pair of natural disasters here and overseas.

In southeastern Iran tonight, thousands of people have died in a powerful earthquake. It leveled the city of Bam, destroying houses, buildings and laying waste to a giant medieval fortress made of mud and stone. Iran's president today appealed for international help. President Bush has promised, the United States, it will lend a hand.

In Southern California, it is rain and mudslides, a search continuing tonight in the canyons of San Bernardino County for nine people missing in the rubble since yesterday. Seven people have died. Elsewhere, campgrounds have been washed away and trailer homes destroyed.

Monday night on the program, a more hopeful lead, we hope, and also a look back at the year in editorial cartoons. Every picture tells a story. Most have a point to make. And some even make you laugh.

I'm Carol Lin, in for Aaron Brown. This is NEWSNIGHT. And we all need a laugh these days.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Iraq; Interview With Tom Ridge>