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CNN Live Saturday

Human Error Blamed For Mid-Air Close Calls Over LAX; Powell Warns Iran Obtains Possible Nuclear Delivery System

Aired November 20, 2004 - 18:00   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: Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY and here's what's happening right now in the news. President Bush addressed the APEC Summit today in Santiago, Chile. Mr. Bush also met with leaders of China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. He wants North Korea's neighbors to speak with a common voice in urging the country to end its nuclear ambitions.
And House lawmakers were unable to reach a compromise on 9/11 intelligence reform. Although the bill is being tabled for now, Congress won't officially adjourn. If a deal is reached before January, lawmakers will return for a vote. More on the impasse in just a second.

In the meantime, after last night's fracas, the NBA suspends four players involved in the basket brawl while it investigates. The Indiana Pacers lose three players for an indefinite period of time and the Pistons are down one. One NBA official called the events inexcusable and humiliating.

I'm Carol Lin and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Twice in two months planes have nearly crashed at LAX and that is not the only airport with problems. So I'm going to be talking with the former chief of the federal agency that investigates close calls on the ground and in the skies.

Also, imagine if you could not feel any pain. That sounds pretty good but consider that there's nothing to warn this little girl when she's in danger. She and her family are trying to find a cure for a very rare life-threatening condition.

But up first, the question of nuclear proliferation and how much muscle the U.S. is willing to flex to stop it. Whether it's slipping China top secret research on North Korea's nuclear activities or vetting information on Iran's nuclear capabilities, President Bush is working every international contact he can right now at the APEC Summit in Chile. He warned that Iran's suspected weapons program is a very serious matter. CNN White House correspondent John King is traveling with Mr. Bush and he joins us now from Santiago.

Did the president have much luck in convincing these countries that there is a big problem on the horizon, John?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, difficult diplomacy for the president, on this his first international trip since winning re-election. But the White House is quite optimistic tonight, especially on the issue of North Korea. Remember in the election campaign, Senator Kerry said if he won the White House, he was open to direct bilateral negotiations with North Korea. That is something Mr. Bush has ruled out for the four years of his administration and a point he wanted to reinforce today, not only with words but pictures as well. The six party talks have been the president's preferred avenue of diplomacy so far. Those are conversations involving North Korea, but also China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea. Mr. Bush met this morning with all four of those leaders: the president of China, the president of South Korea, the prime minister of Japan, and the president of Russia. The unmistakable message to North Korea, you will not get direct negotiations with the United States. The U.S. election campaign is settled. You can either come back to the table for these negotiations designed to end the North Korean nuclear weapons program or face further international isolation. Now, after those meetings this morning, Mr. Bush delivered a speech to some corporate executives who are here in Santiago for the Asian-Pacific Summit. Mr. Bush was quite upbeat saying that he believes after the diplomacy today, the message to the North Korean leader will be crystal clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I can report to you today having visited with the other nations involved in that collaborative effort, that the will is strong, that the effort is united, and the message is clear to Mr. Kim Jong-Il: get rid of your nuclear weapons programs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So upbeat there from the president on North Korea. So upbeat in fact that U.S. officials say that in the meeting with China's president, he said that he has had emissaries talking to the North Korean leadership in recent weeks since the U.S. election, that he is optimistic, the Chinese president, Hu Jinatao, is that North Korea will soon agree to come back to those six party talks. So the White House is upbeat about that.

A more difficult issue for the president here today, his meeting with the Russian president Vladimir Putin. The White House believes progress on North Korea in that meeting. But this is a tough time for Mr. Bush. He has repeatedly called Vladimir Putin his friend, said that he believes his friend is committed to a stronger democracy in Russia and to other political reforms as well. And yet, in recent weeks and months, we have seen Mr. Putin take much stronger authoritarian control of his country. We're told in their private luncheon, Mr. Bush repeatedly asked Mr. Putin to square his recent authoritarian steps in the view of the White House with his promise to democracy. And White House officials conceding Mr. Bush did not get the answers he wanted.

And Carol, you also mentioned Iran's nuclear program. The president was asked today if he trusted essentially U.S. intelligence about Iran's nuclear weapons. That, of course, a question asked in the hangover of the disputed and the proved to be not so good U.S. intelligence about Iraq. And Mr. Bush said he was convinced that the international community was united in trying to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But more difficult diplomacy ahead there as well -- Carol.

LIN: John, difficult on both fronts, North Korea, Iran, but basically the same question, nuclear proliferation and what the United States would be willing to do about it. Has anybody within the administration right now asking the big what if question, what if North Korea doesn't back down? What if these claims are proven that Iran is accelerating what it can in developing nuclear missiles? What is the -- how far is the United States willing to go to stop those two countries?

KING: Well, that is the interesting question and the U.S. has repeatedly said it will not take the military option off the table but that the leading option right now, both when it comes to Iran and North Korea, is to go ahead with diplomacy. And what the White House is hoping most of all is this, that progress on these issues in the view of the Bush White House was stalled for months because governments in both countries wanted to see who won the election. Now that Mr. Bush has been re-elected, now that he has given shape to his new foreign policy team for the second term, the White House is hoping that the leadership in North Korea and leadership in Iran will come to the realization that like it or not, they have Mr. Bush to deal with for the next four years. And the White House is hoping that brings some concessions if those concessions don't come. Mr. Bush faces some very difficult decisions, Carol.

LIN: You bet. All right, thanks very much. John King reporting live in Santiago, Chile.

Back here in the United States, well, it's a matter of politics; one bill on hold, another already passed by the House. That is the score card today on Capitol Hill where lawmakers are meeting in a rare Saturday session because so much is at stake. CNN Congressional correspondent Joe Johns brings us now with more details.

Joe, do you want to start with the progress on the 9/11 Commission Reform and the possibility of reform?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, as you know this was to have been the last day of the 108th Congress, but because of the sudden, stunning breakdown on the Intelligence Reform Bill, the speaker of the house has said he will not adjourn, keep the Congress in session and hopes that lawmakers can come to some type of agreement during the month of December. However, both sides agree at this stage the prospect and the outlook for that bill is dim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): The rare Saturday session of Congress started with hope for the long-stalled intelligence reform legislation but fell short at the end. A tentative agreement on the bill fiercely promoted by President Bush himself and House Speaker Dennis Hastert collapsed in a rebellion by conservative House Republicans.

REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: But this doesn't do the job. It is far short of what needs to be done. It's shallow in terms of the depth of change necessary to deal with the threats of terrorists and those individuals that want to harm our society.

JOHNS: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter led the objections, arguing that on-the-ground intelligence should be under the control of the Pentagon and not a new director of national intelligence. REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Duncan was concerned that the proposed reform could endanger our troops in the field who use real time intelligence to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

JOHNS: But the bipartisan group that negotiated the bill suggested Hunter is simply trying to protect his committee and the Pentagon's turf.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINED: I think what you're seeing here is the forces in favor of the status quo protecting their turf whether it's in Congress or in the bureaucracy.

JOHNS: The second killer objection came from House Judiciary Committee Chair James Sensenbrenner who insisted that the bill bar illegal immigrants from holding driver's licenses. The bill supporters said it goes a long way to strengthening border security and that the driver's license issue should be taken up separately.

REP. JANE HARMON (D), CALIFORNIA: It is really a tragedy today that a small group in the Republican caucus of the House have prevented the American people from a reform that they sorely need now that we are at higher risk.

JOHNS: Backers of the bill called on Speaker Hastert and the president to redouble their efforts to persuade Sensenbrenner and Hunter and House conservatives to back down or if needed, simply override them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Now, on that $388 billion spending bill that passed the House and in the Senate, there are a number of lawmakers outraged as they've discovered that there is language in that bill that would allow any member of Congress and staff to look at tax returns of any individual. A number of Republicans and Democrats very upset about that language. They say they'd like to see it out, but right now we're told there's no way to get it out at least not tonight.

Carol, back to you.

LIN: Not tonight. All right, thanks very much. Joe Johns live on Capitol Hill.

We want to move now from the political battles to a scuffle of a very different sort. Have you seen the videotape? Police are investigating a violent fight that broke out during a basketball game last night in suburban Detroit. The NBA has already suspended four players in the aftermath, three of them are Indiana Pacers, one is a Detroit Piston. CNN's Matt Morrison is here with the details and the stunning videotape. Just in case you have been out, when I came in this afternoon, I was just, you know, time out for bad behavior. Why isn't there a criminal investigation? Unbelievable!

MATT MORRISON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a criminal investigation going on and this is something that we're going to be hearing a lot about here for the next several months if not longer than that. Police and NBA officials are examining that video from last night's Pistons-Pacers game and you can bet the fallout will include much more than just the four suspensions you already know about.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORRISON (voice-over): The intensity of competition turned nasty when Ben Wallace retaliated to a late foul by Ron Artest. The incident escalated when Artest was hit by a drink cup thrown from the stands. Artest snapped. He went after a fan and was followed closely by teammate Steven Jackson. What started as a dispute among players escalated into an out of control event encompassing nearly everyone in the arena.

TOM WILSON, CEO, DETROIT PISTONS: When the player goes into the stands, you know, you crossed the line. We're paid a lot of money not to do that because nothing good can happen when you leave the court. And when you start swinging, you're going to hit innocent people. And then in an emotional situation, things get crazy. And so everything that happened, everything that followed from that was precipitated by that. Not defending anybody, throwing a cup of ice and hitting somebody, but, you know, you still have to know when to walk away.

MORRISON: After reviewing tapes, the NBA suspended four players indefinitely. Out of action for the foreseeable future are Pacers' stars Ron Artest, Steven Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal, along with the Pistons center Ben Wallace. Commissioner David Stern called the event -- quote -- "shocking, repulsive and inexcusable -- a humiliation for everyone associated with the NBA." So far the players involved have refused to comment publicly.

A police investigation continues as officials review videotapes. Criminal charges are a possibility and civil action is more than likely. As for the NBA, it'll take some time to heal from this episode that's shaken players, coaches and fans.

LARRY BROWN, DETROIT PISTONS COUCH: It is a terrible night, you know, for our game, and, you know, seeing young kids in the stands and trying to explain it to your family what happened is -- I've never seen anything like it and it's not the way it should be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MORRISON: Probably the worst incident of fan and player violence that I've experienced in professional sports, at least on this side of the Atlantic. The game was called with 45 seconds remaining on the clock. The Pacers took the victory, are credited with the win, but I don't think anybody wants to claim any victory after that incident last night. LIN: and another game tonight, right?

MORRISON: The Pacers play tonight. The next time Detroit and Indiana play is Christmas Day.

LIN: And we heard that security was really beefed up for tonight's game.

MORRISON: Yes, because of, you know, the situation as it stood last night. The officials on the scene said that they felt they had enough security in place. And indeed when you watch the videotape, you see a lot of blue shirts, which are the arena security officials involved.

LIN: But they're the guys who tell you where to find your seats.

MORRISON: Exactly.

LIN: They're not the guys who are going to stop a 300 pound athlete from jumping on a fan.

MORRISON: Precisely and that's what will be beefed up. There will be more police with armed presence felt at the game.

LIN: The message clear to both players and fans. Tonight, we are going to be debating whether players do have the right to defend themselves because the fans were pelting them...

MORRISON: Legally, one of the police officers did talk about how there were players that were endangering -- were defending themselves, but clearly going into the stands to begin with, that was where the line was crossed.

LIN: Right, right. Well, my gosh, all right, thanks very much.

MORRISON: All right, Carol.

LIN: Probably not the last time we're going to hearing from this story.

MORRISON: I'm sure about it.

LIN: Well, in the meantime, it was the largest offensive in Iraq since the end of major combat was declared. So did the fight in Falluja pay off for U.S. forces? Well, new evidence leads to some key arrests.

Plus, the aftermath of war and its impact right here at home. Three soldiers killed in battle, all for one small high school.

And protected from pain, the story of this little girl, her rare life-threatening disorder and her family's fight to find a cure, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: The sounds of death and danger resonated across Baghdad today. Nine people were killed in separate attacks in the capital where rebels targeted a U.S. patrol and an Iraqi police station. One soldier was killed, nine others were wounded. Four government employees, three Iraqi troops and one Iraqi police officer were killed. A suicide car bomber struck in the heart of the city killing one civilian. And witnesses say the car exploded shortly after a U.S. convoy passed.

Now, in the northern town of Mosul, U.S. forces made a grizzly discovery. The bodies of nine Iraqi soldiers all shot in the back of the head, execution style. Originally, the U.S. military said seven of the nine had been decapitated. They were not.

And a polish woman taken hostage by militants last month in Iraq has been freed and is now in Poland. They will not reveal what happened in terms of what the government was able to do to free her. In the meantime, the insurgency remains potent in Iraq, but a paper trail is helping U.S. forces. Documents seized in Falluja are leading to arrests elsewhere even as U.S. Marines and soldiers still battle pockets of resistance. Our Jane Arraf brings us the very latest from Falluja.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Iraqi and U.S. military officials say that they are making arrests in Baghdad and in other cities based on information collected in Falluja where soldiers and Marines have been going house to house, street by street finding documents, weapons depots and other discoveries that they say will help them crack down on the insurgency. Civilians seem to be just starting to emerge from their homes, seeking help after almost two weeks locked up. But the majority of the population according to Marine officials had indeed left, perhaps less than five percent of Falluja's population is still in the city. Of those there, some of them are now beginning to seek help. But Marine officials say the problem as well is that insurgents still in the city are mingled with the civilian population. The Marines say that an incident involving a man with a white flag, the sign of surrender, the sign of peace, threw down that flag and opened fire on Marines. They will not talk about casualties. So clearly, there are insurgents.

The Army is winding down its operations there. Task Force 22 of the 1st Infantry Division has been from the northeast to the southeast and has made some very interesting discoveries.

LT. COL. PETE NEWELL, U.S. ARMY: The area that we went into, that we saw, the civilians have been booted out, kicked out of their homes, insurgents took over, planted mines in the yards, bombs next to the buildings, put rockets on top of the roofs. They dug trenches next to the houses, moved into the industrial area and built bomb factories and vehicle-born I.D. factories. What we were finding is not dissimilar to any of the other units. There are similar things all over Falluja.

ARRAF: The southeast apparently was a stronghold particularly of foreign fighters. According to the task force commander, there are no insurgents left in that sector.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Falluja.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, they are just a few of the many casualties of combat. But the loss of these three soldiers is devastating for one small New York town. Remembering the fatalities on the front lines, that is next.

And later, averted disaster, two close calls, too many, frankly, at LAX. What went wrong and can it happen again?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: On the front lines tonight, the hardest lessons of war. Too often when we mention the casualties in Iraq, we speak in numbers not names. But there is a face and a story for every soldier, sailor, Marine and air man killed. At a Long Island high school, they're remembered on a wall of heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have lost three students in the war, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. One African-American, one Latino and one Caucasian. That's who we are. They are a slice of Brentwood.

BETTY BROWN GREENE, BRENTWOOD H.S. DEAN: A very big loss in Brentwood. We are a family and when something happens, we come together as a community. And you feel it, whether it was Rahin Hider (ph), Michael Esposito (ph) or Ramon Matteau (ph). It's like losing one of your children, so it's very painful. Rahin was ahead of his time. He was bright. He was intelligent. He was head strong. Rahin (ph) was a go-getter.

SGT. ARTHUR BURGESS, BRENTWOOD H.S. ROTC: Michael was a -- I'd say a 110-pound kid soaking wet. He was very close to me. Occasionally, when I step out in the hall, I can still see little thin kid dressed in his camouflage, BDUs standing in the hallway saying, "Hey, Serge." So he was one of the good ones.

LINDA PAPPERT, BRENTWOOD H.S. ASST. PRINCIPAL: And Ramon was the kind that he had had this energy, he had this wonderful charisma but he needed to know how to focus it. And he knew he needed the military to kind of grab it together for him and he went. And when he came back, he knew it. You could see he was happy. He was just very proud of himself. And there he was in his uniform, looking handsome.

THOMAS O'BRIEN, BRENTWOOD H.S. PRINCIPAL: In each of these cases, we had an evening event here at the high school and presented a memorial plaque on behalf of the Brentwood school district that's hung in our lobby. There are two there now. The parents of Ramon still have his. We give them to them for a couple of weeks and they bring them back and we mount them on our wall on our wall of honor outside.

It's a very working class community where about 62 percent of our families live below the federal poverty line or a -- either a two year or four year college experience. Many look to other avenues to finance that, one being, you know, veterans' benefits.

CHRIS CHAMBERLIN, BRENTWOOD H.S. ENGLISH TEACHER: Since I was in the Marine Corps for four years, which helped me go to college, I'm one of the people they come to to discuss, you know, that as an avenue for their future.

He is someone alive from Brentwood serving in this war. In a great irony, the publicity that all this has received, I have even more students now that want to join.

ROBERT SMITH, BRENTWOOD H.S. JUNIOR: To see them just in their uniforms proud, it affects me. It gives me this feeling that they died doing something great for us.

RYAN RAMIKISSOON, BRENTWOOD H.S. SENIOR: The military has always been a dream for me, just to defend my nation. If I die, well, I'll be remembered as a soldier, as a patriot.

CHAMBERLIN: All these kids feel immortal. I think that's any kid when they're 18. I'm an educator. I educate them as much as possible about the war, about politics, through literature. If anything was to happen to them, would it kill me, yes, absolutely. Yes, it's going to crush me.

PAPPERT: What I thought coming out of that assembly the other night, thinking, we're going to add another picture to that wall. And I was thinking, oh God, I hope that never becomes full.

O'BRIEN: I feel very proud of the fact that they chose to put their lives at risk for what they believed was right and what they believed was good. And in fact, to put their lives on the line so that others didn't have to, I hope that their sacrifice reaches the goals for which it was intended.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back, I'm Carol Lin and here's a quick look at what's happening now in the news. President Bush addresses the APEC Summit in Chile and meets with leaders of China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. He wants them to urge North Korea to give up its goal of having nuclear weapons.

Secretary of state Colin Powell will head from that summit in Chile to the Middle East tomorrow. The aim of his trip, to ensure a smooth election for a new Palestinian leader. A January election is scheduled to replace Yasser Arafat.

An American soldier and eight Iraqis were killed in three attacks across Iraq's capital today. Among those who died, a civilian killed in a car bombing and three Iraqi National Guardsmen who were killed by a roadside bomb. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice left the hospital today, a day after undergoing uterine surgery. The secretary of state nominee is expected to return to work Monday.

Now, we want to move on back to the APEC Summit. Everything from trade to nuclear threats is on the agenda. President Bush is among the leaders of 21 nations attending. He met with several of them earlier today. Mr. Bush also highlighted the efforts of five APEC members to convince North Korea to stop pursuing nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: And I can report to you today, having visited with the other nations involved in that collaborative effort, that the will is strong, that the effort is united, and the message is clear to Mr. Kim Jong-il, get rid of your nuclear weapons programs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well, Mr. Bush also said Iran's suspected weapons program is a very serious matter. The U.S. is defending its charges that Iran is working to fit a missile with a nuclear warhead. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor reports on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Knowledgeable sources tell CNN there are questions about the reliability of the intelligence on Iran's nuclear program that Secretary of state Powell spoke of. But at the State Department, there is no backing down.

ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The secretary did not misspeak. The secretary knows exactly what he was talking about.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: And I've seen some information and the dissidents have put out more information that suggest that the Iranians are also working on the designs one would have to have for putting such a warhead into a missile.

ENSOR: The likely missile in question, a Shaab (ph) 3, tested in October by Iran. U.S. officials are angered by a "Washington Post" article saying Powell's information came from an unvetted single source, a walk-in with more than a 1,000 pages of Iranian drawings and technical documents including a warhead design and modifications to enable Iranian ballistic missiles to deliver an atomic strike.

KENNETH POLLACK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: It makes collecting against Iran, it makes protecting this source and it makes recruiting other sources infinitely harder. And this is a hard enough topic as it is.

ENSOR: The questions about Powell's comments on intelligence evoked memories of his testimony on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq at the U.N. before the war, weapons that have not been found. The questions came after an Iranian opposition group, whose supporters demonstrated in Washington Friday, offered evidence it said that Iran is working on nuclear weapons at a newly discovered site, something Tehran hotly denies.

Critics of the European-Iranian Agreement, an exchange of trade incentives for suspension of uranium enrichment, are putting their cards on the table in the run-up to next week's meeting on Iran of the International Atomic Energy Board in Vienna.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY: Well, I do think there's a lot of rock throwing at this agreement right now and I think we have to look at that information very carefully and remember what happened in Iraq when we do that.

ENSOR (on camera): But Iran, too, is not helping matters. Western diplomats in Vienna Friday said Iran is rushing to convert some yellow cake into Uranium hexafluoride, which is used in both making nuclear power and nuclear bombs prior to Monday, the day Iran has promised to suspend enrichment activities.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: In news across America now, it's National Adoption Day, a happy day for thousands of new families as courts across the country finalize adoptions for many children who've been in foster care. But adoption advocates say it's is more important to note that more than 100,000 other children are still waiting for their forever family. Minorities and older kids have the hardest time moving from the foster system to permanent homes.

In Dewitt, New York, a man believed to be the world's oldest has died less than two weeks ahead of his 114th birthday. Born in 1890, Fred Hails Sr. leaves behind 11 great-great-grandchildren and a personal history that includes boogie boarding in Hawaii at the age of 95. He was also one of a few Boston Red Sox fans who could actually claim to have lived long enough to witness the team's last two World Series wins.

And in Washington, thousands turned out for the 17th Annual Help the Homeless Walk-a-Thon. Sponsors expected to raise more than $6 million. Baseball great, Cal Ripken Jr. was one of many going to bat for the homeless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAL RIPKIN JR., FORMER BALTIMORE ORIOLES PLAYER: For me, personally, I can't imagine someone not having a home. The importance of a home in one's life is critical to your -- to your self-confidence and who you are in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: In the meantime, outrage over security at Los Angeles International Airport after a hidden camera expose. City leaders were calling for a full investigation into allegations that airport police abandoned their posts, ignored emergency radio calls, and even picked up their kids in patrol cars. Several airport police were caught on tape hanging out at fast food restaurants instead of patrolling the facility. The head of the airport police says a probe is now under way.

In the meantime, federal aviation officials say better warning systems are needed at the nation's airports after three recent close calls involving commercial jets. The most serious happened August 19th at LAX. A jetliner from South Korea came within 12 seconds of crashing into a Southwest Airlines jet. The controller canceled the Southwest jet's clearance only after the South Korean pilot had aborted the landing. Bob Francis, former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, joins me now Washington to talk more about this.

Bob, the two allegations actually at LAX alone, one that 747 that -- fortunately, the pilot was present enough and the weather was good enough that he could see the Southwest jet on the runway, but in addition to that one, most recently, an airplane was told to land on the wrong runway, just as two other planes were being told to taxi and take off. How can something like this happen?

BOB FRANCIS, FORMER VICE CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Well, I guess it happens because human beings make errors and the system is geared so that they won't lead to accidents. Incidents are something that are teaching tools for us. And I'm sure that the FAA at this point is looking at all three of these incidents.

LIN: Yes.

FRANCIS: But certainly the one in August -- well, it took place after a change of staff and that's a time in safety...

LIN: Shift change, when somebody's leaving and somebody's coming on and you're debriefing each other.

FRANCIS: Yes, exactly. And that's a perilous time for both controllers and in maintenance also.

LIN: I mean if you're saying that it's human error -- and, you know, I'm all for teaching tools, but frankly, if I'm on an airplane and I'm landing, I don't want another jet underneath my plane as its landing and that there's human error going on when I'm just trying to get home.

FRANCIS: Well, I certainly agree with that and no one does. But I'd also say it's an incredibly safe system that we've got out there. The last major accident was in 1991. And...

LIN: At LAX. U.S. Airways jet landed on top of a commuter plane. Thirty-four people died.

FRANCIS: That's exactly right, but we've gone 11 years. And when you consider that there are 34,000 operations a day in our system, there are going to be close calls. There won't be accidents.

LIN: You're right because we, the media, don't report on planes taking off and landing safely, of course. We do focus on the more dramatic times. You're right. At the same time, there is an argument being made that there should be more automation out in the field like LAX where it's an old airport that was expanded over time. And pilots have routinely complained that there are corners that they can't see around the bends so much so. You know it's not like you can hang a giant mirror out on the runway so you can see what's around the corner. And they can't -- if they can't depend on a human being 110 percent of the time, why not have sensors and warning lights and computers that can do these things for the pilots?

FRANCIS: Well, there are some already there and there are others that are being developed. And I think one of the most encouraging in terms of getting information to the cockpit -- and that's a tough problem -- is something that Honeywell is working on now, which would use GPS to give data from an airplane that's on the runway to the pilot in the cockpit of another airplane that was coming in to land.

LIN: Now, is this where, for example, the unions might get involved and say, we're not for automation because our guys in the control tower can handle that and we want those jobs secure.

FRANCIS: Well, I think that, you know, that's up to the FAA as the regulatory authority and the air traffic manager and provider to decide the best and safest way to facilitate the safe operation of the system.

LIN: All right, Bob Francis, thank you very much, former vice chairman of the NTSB. I do feel safer. And you're right; more planes take off and land safely than get into trouble. We can be thankful for that.

And in other medical news coming up, it's hard to imagine that this little girl cannot feel heat or cold nor can she feel bumps or bruises. She cannot feel any pain of any kind. It's one of the rarest disorders in the world but it could put this little girl in danger. Her story coming up.

And a swift sendoff into space, NASA launches a new rocket to help solve some of the galaxy's many mysteries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, we want to start off our medical news right now with some health headlines. The Food and Drug Administration is defending its testing of the drug Vioxx. And Merck, the maker of Vioxx, says it withdrew the drug immediately after an increased risk of heart attacks was found. Now, both were called on the carpet this week by the Senate Finance Committee.

A new study says many American women who show no indication of difficult vaginal births are opting for c-sections. The report says a group accounts for a quarter of the increase in cesarean births in the U.S. over the past six years. And military doctors say an unusually large number of U.S. troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan have tested positive to a rare blood infection. A total of 102 troops have been found to be infected with the hard to treat bacteria. It's commonly found in water and soil and is resistant to many types of antibiotics.

Well, for a 5-year-old girl in Georgia, every day is a challenge. She suffers from a rare genetic disorder that makes her unable to feel pain, so even the most innocent childhood activities could have devastating consequences. CNN's Sarah Dorsey has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ashlynn Blocker (ph) is getting ready for school.

TARA BLOCKER, MOTHER: You got a kiss for me? Love you, be good.

DORSEY: The 5-year-old is off to kindergarten. It's not her first day, but her parents still worry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, have a good day. I love you guys. See you later, Ashlynn (ph), be careful.

DORSEY: That's a warning she gets a lot.

(on camera): Ashlynn (ph), can you tell me why we're here today to talk to you?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Because I can't feel my boo boos.

DORSEY (voice-over): In fact, Ashlynn (ph) can't feel pain at all. At 6 months old, an ongoing problem with her eye led to a rare diagnosis, congenital insensitivity to pain or SIPA.

T. BLOCKER: They put the dye in her eye and it revealed a massive corneal abrasion. And everybody was like well, what in the world? Why isn't she feeling this? And that is essentially where our journey began.

DORSEY: And Ashlynn's (ph) journey has been a bumpy one. She's already knocked out eight teeth.

T. BLOCKER: In a way, her knocking her teeth out was truly, you know, somewhat of a blessing because her hands have scars, her fingers have scars where she would just literally put her hand and her finger in the mouth and just rip the skin off.

DORSEY (on camera): One of most dangerous types of the day for Ashlynn (ph) is during recess. Her teachers say because she can't feel pain, she's nearly fearless. Because of that, they've had to implement new rules to help try to keep her safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She can't play on the -- well, like the monkey bars. Miss Patty has had to hold her and help her. She can't play on that little igloo thing over there. DORSEY (voice-over): After recess, a rigorous inspection from her feet...

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: My feet and my eyes.

DORSEY: ...to her eyes. Her mom calls it her little NASCAR pit stop. But what worries her the most is the road ahead.

T. BLOCKER: We're worried about her joints. We have been told that joint destruction can occur at an early age.

DORSEY: Ashlynn's (ph) parents are saving for a pool, hoping that will help take the pressure off her little joints. But the enormous pressures of safeguarding their daughter remain.

Sara Dorsey, CNN, Patterson, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So as you can tell, SIPA can be an extremely dangerous disorder. People with it are incapable of sensing extreme temperatures, which means they're at risk of frostbite or burns. The disorder is untreatable and it's extremely rare. One data base lists only 17 people in the whole United States afflicted with this disorder.

Well, think of it as a black hole hunter. NASA today launches its newest rocket to the try to uncover some of space's unknowns.

And it's the biggest collection of contemporary art in the world, Manhattan's newest museum. Will it be a big boost for the Big Apple?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, we have ignition and we have liftoff of NASA's Swift spacecraft on a mission to study and understand gamma ray verse throughout...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: NASA's latest mission has its eye on the brightest lights in the universe. The Swift Observer was launched early today. And it was designed to study bursts of gamma rays and their afterglow. The bursts are brief flashes of light that burn as brightly as a billion, billion suns. Scientists are hoping the two year mission will show how the bursts are linked to black holes and when the first stars were actually formed. Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions the universe has seen since the Big Bang.

We've got some news from around the world now. In the West Bank, registration begins for an election to replace Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Candidates have 12 days to register to run in the January 9 contest. The election takes place 60 days after Arafat died. Meanwhile, Suha Arafat has picked up her late husband's medical records from the Paris hospital where he died. Doctors, following French law, won't release those records to anyone but family and have never given an official diagnosis. The lack of disclosure has spawned many rumors about what actually caused Arafat to die.

And a somber anniversary in Istanbul, diplomats and survivors honored victims killed one year ago in two suicide attacks. Sixty people died when the British consulate and a bank were bombed. A top suspect in the case recently testified that he and others carried out the attack for al Qaeda.

Well, it covers an entire city block right in downtown Manhattan and it houses the biggest contemporary art collection ever. Up next, a sneak peek at the new Museum of Modern Art, but first, here's Mark Shields to tell us what's ahead on "THE CAPITAL GANG."

Hi there, Mark.

MARK SHIELDS, CO-HOST, "THE CAPITAL GANG": Hello, Carol. Carol, "THE CAPITAL GANG" looks at the Bush cabinet shake-up, the controversy surrounding Arlen Specter and Tom Delay and the opening of the Clinton library. Republican Mel Martinez previews for us what he will do as a newly elected U.S. senator from Florida. All this and much more right here next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Thousands of people in New York are getting the first look at the new Museum of Modern Art. It reopened to the public today following a multi-million dollar renovation. As Alina Cho reports, officials are hoping the museum is a big boost for tourism in the Big Apple.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the gardens to the galleries, to the building itself, the newly constructed Museum of Modern Art or MOMA as it's called, is getting rave reviews.

(on camera): Your first impressions?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Spectacular.

CHO (voice-over): Visitors will appreciate the Warchols, Van Goghs, and Picassos. Less noticeable, subtle architecture that doesn't compete with the art, oak floors that are easy on the feet and floating walls that don't touch either the floor or the ceiling, a trick that puts the focus on the paintings, masterpieces like this Monet mural.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this is a show stopping piece and it should be showcased and it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's beautiful. It really has been shown lit up like this and I thought, well, let's really see it. CHO: Curator John Elderfield says the new MOMA is the new authority on contemporary art.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It actually has the same function with regard to modern art that the Louvre in Paris has regard to the art of the past. This is the place where people come to learn about this tradition.

CHO: The museum's director is Glen Lowrie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After September 11th, there was a real fear about whether or not we could complete the building because suddenly there was a very different climate. That the building was built as beautifully and well as it was, for us, has been nothing short of miraculous.

CHO: New York needs the new MOMA. City officials say post 9/11 international tourism is still down 20 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we're hoping from the new MOMA is it will yield many more tourists, especially those from overseas.

CHO: Like these women from Venice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, it's incredible. It's so beautiful.

CHO: If the early reviews are any guide, the MOMA will be good for New York, good for tourism, and even better for those who love art.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That's all the time we have for this hour, but coming up next, "THE CAPITAL GANG." And then at 8:00 Eastern on "CNN PRESENTS," a fight over faith. At 9:00 "LARRY KING" and Larry's guest tonight is the legendary Tony Bennett. And I'm going to be back at 10:00 tonight. The basketball brawl that's the talk of the nation, I'm going to be joined by former NBA star Kenny Smith.

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


Aired November 20, 2004 - 18:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY and here's what's happening right now in the news. President Bush addressed the APEC Summit today in Santiago, Chile. Mr. Bush also met with leaders of China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. He wants North Korea's neighbors to speak with a common voice in urging the country to end its nuclear ambitions.
And House lawmakers were unable to reach a compromise on 9/11 intelligence reform. Although the bill is being tabled for now, Congress won't officially adjourn. If a deal is reached before January, lawmakers will return for a vote. More on the impasse in just a second.

In the meantime, after last night's fracas, the NBA suspends four players involved in the basket brawl while it investigates. The Indiana Pacers lose three players for an indefinite period of time and the Pistons are down one. One NBA official called the events inexcusable and humiliating.

I'm Carol Lin and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Twice in two months planes have nearly crashed at LAX and that is not the only airport with problems. So I'm going to be talking with the former chief of the federal agency that investigates close calls on the ground and in the skies.

Also, imagine if you could not feel any pain. That sounds pretty good but consider that there's nothing to warn this little girl when she's in danger. She and her family are trying to find a cure for a very rare life-threatening condition.

But up first, the question of nuclear proliferation and how much muscle the U.S. is willing to flex to stop it. Whether it's slipping China top secret research on North Korea's nuclear activities or vetting information on Iran's nuclear capabilities, President Bush is working every international contact he can right now at the APEC Summit in Chile. He warned that Iran's suspected weapons program is a very serious matter. CNN White House correspondent John King is traveling with Mr. Bush and he joins us now from Santiago.

Did the president have much luck in convincing these countries that there is a big problem on the horizon, John?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, difficult diplomacy for the president, on this his first international trip since winning re-election. But the White House is quite optimistic tonight, especially on the issue of North Korea. Remember in the election campaign, Senator Kerry said if he won the White House, he was open to direct bilateral negotiations with North Korea. That is something Mr. Bush has ruled out for the four years of his administration and a point he wanted to reinforce today, not only with words but pictures as well. The six party talks have been the president's preferred avenue of diplomacy so far. Those are conversations involving North Korea, but also China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea. Mr. Bush met this morning with all four of those leaders: the president of China, the president of South Korea, the prime minister of Japan, and the president of Russia. The unmistakable message to North Korea, you will not get direct negotiations with the United States. The U.S. election campaign is settled. You can either come back to the table for these negotiations designed to end the North Korean nuclear weapons program or face further international isolation. Now, after those meetings this morning, Mr. Bush delivered a speech to some corporate executives who are here in Santiago for the Asian-Pacific Summit. Mr. Bush was quite upbeat saying that he believes after the diplomacy today, the message to the North Korean leader will be crystal clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I can report to you today having visited with the other nations involved in that collaborative effort, that the will is strong, that the effort is united, and the message is clear to Mr. Kim Jong-Il: get rid of your nuclear weapons programs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So upbeat there from the president on North Korea. So upbeat in fact that U.S. officials say that in the meeting with China's president, he said that he has had emissaries talking to the North Korean leadership in recent weeks since the U.S. election, that he is optimistic, the Chinese president, Hu Jinatao, is that North Korea will soon agree to come back to those six party talks. So the White House is upbeat about that.

A more difficult issue for the president here today, his meeting with the Russian president Vladimir Putin. The White House believes progress on North Korea in that meeting. But this is a tough time for Mr. Bush. He has repeatedly called Vladimir Putin his friend, said that he believes his friend is committed to a stronger democracy in Russia and to other political reforms as well. And yet, in recent weeks and months, we have seen Mr. Putin take much stronger authoritarian control of his country. We're told in their private luncheon, Mr. Bush repeatedly asked Mr. Putin to square his recent authoritarian steps in the view of the White House with his promise to democracy. And White House officials conceding Mr. Bush did not get the answers he wanted.

And Carol, you also mentioned Iran's nuclear program. The president was asked today if he trusted essentially U.S. intelligence about Iran's nuclear weapons. That, of course, a question asked in the hangover of the disputed and the proved to be not so good U.S. intelligence about Iraq. And Mr. Bush said he was convinced that the international community was united in trying to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But more difficult diplomacy ahead there as well -- Carol.

LIN: John, difficult on both fronts, North Korea, Iran, but basically the same question, nuclear proliferation and what the United States would be willing to do about it. Has anybody within the administration right now asking the big what if question, what if North Korea doesn't back down? What if these claims are proven that Iran is accelerating what it can in developing nuclear missiles? What is the -- how far is the United States willing to go to stop those two countries?

KING: Well, that is the interesting question and the U.S. has repeatedly said it will not take the military option off the table but that the leading option right now, both when it comes to Iran and North Korea, is to go ahead with diplomacy. And what the White House is hoping most of all is this, that progress on these issues in the view of the Bush White House was stalled for months because governments in both countries wanted to see who won the election. Now that Mr. Bush has been re-elected, now that he has given shape to his new foreign policy team for the second term, the White House is hoping that the leadership in North Korea and leadership in Iran will come to the realization that like it or not, they have Mr. Bush to deal with for the next four years. And the White House is hoping that brings some concessions if those concessions don't come. Mr. Bush faces some very difficult decisions, Carol.

LIN: You bet. All right, thanks very much. John King reporting live in Santiago, Chile.

Back here in the United States, well, it's a matter of politics; one bill on hold, another already passed by the House. That is the score card today on Capitol Hill where lawmakers are meeting in a rare Saturday session because so much is at stake. CNN Congressional correspondent Joe Johns brings us now with more details.

Joe, do you want to start with the progress on the 9/11 Commission Reform and the possibility of reform?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, as you know this was to have been the last day of the 108th Congress, but because of the sudden, stunning breakdown on the Intelligence Reform Bill, the speaker of the house has said he will not adjourn, keep the Congress in session and hopes that lawmakers can come to some type of agreement during the month of December. However, both sides agree at this stage the prospect and the outlook for that bill is dim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): The rare Saturday session of Congress started with hope for the long-stalled intelligence reform legislation but fell short at the end. A tentative agreement on the bill fiercely promoted by President Bush himself and House Speaker Dennis Hastert collapsed in a rebellion by conservative House Republicans.

REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: But this doesn't do the job. It is far short of what needs to be done. It's shallow in terms of the depth of change necessary to deal with the threats of terrorists and those individuals that want to harm our society.

JOHNS: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter led the objections, arguing that on-the-ground intelligence should be under the control of the Pentagon and not a new director of national intelligence. REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Duncan was concerned that the proposed reform could endanger our troops in the field who use real time intelligence to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

JOHNS: But the bipartisan group that negotiated the bill suggested Hunter is simply trying to protect his committee and the Pentagon's turf.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINED: I think what you're seeing here is the forces in favor of the status quo protecting their turf whether it's in Congress or in the bureaucracy.

JOHNS: The second killer objection came from House Judiciary Committee Chair James Sensenbrenner who insisted that the bill bar illegal immigrants from holding driver's licenses. The bill supporters said it goes a long way to strengthening border security and that the driver's license issue should be taken up separately.

REP. JANE HARMON (D), CALIFORNIA: It is really a tragedy today that a small group in the Republican caucus of the House have prevented the American people from a reform that they sorely need now that we are at higher risk.

JOHNS: Backers of the bill called on Speaker Hastert and the president to redouble their efforts to persuade Sensenbrenner and Hunter and House conservatives to back down or if needed, simply override them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Now, on that $388 billion spending bill that passed the House and in the Senate, there are a number of lawmakers outraged as they've discovered that there is language in that bill that would allow any member of Congress and staff to look at tax returns of any individual. A number of Republicans and Democrats very upset about that language. They say they'd like to see it out, but right now we're told there's no way to get it out at least not tonight.

Carol, back to you.

LIN: Not tonight. All right, thanks very much. Joe Johns live on Capitol Hill.

We want to move now from the political battles to a scuffle of a very different sort. Have you seen the videotape? Police are investigating a violent fight that broke out during a basketball game last night in suburban Detroit. The NBA has already suspended four players in the aftermath, three of them are Indiana Pacers, one is a Detroit Piston. CNN's Matt Morrison is here with the details and the stunning videotape. Just in case you have been out, when I came in this afternoon, I was just, you know, time out for bad behavior. Why isn't there a criminal investigation? Unbelievable!

MATT MORRISON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a criminal investigation going on and this is something that we're going to be hearing a lot about here for the next several months if not longer than that. Police and NBA officials are examining that video from last night's Pistons-Pacers game and you can bet the fallout will include much more than just the four suspensions you already know about.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORRISON (voice-over): The intensity of competition turned nasty when Ben Wallace retaliated to a late foul by Ron Artest. The incident escalated when Artest was hit by a drink cup thrown from the stands. Artest snapped. He went after a fan and was followed closely by teammate Steven Jackson. What started as a dispute among players escalated into an out of control event encompassing nearly everyone in the arena.

TOM WILSON, CEO, DETROIT PISTONS: When the player goes into the stands, you know, you crossed the line. We're paid a lot of money not to do that because nothing good can happen when you leave the court. And when you start swinging, you're going to hit innocent people. And then in an emotional situation, things get crazy. And so everything that happened, everything that followed from that was precipitated by that. Not defending anybody, throwing a cup of ice and hitting somebody, but, you know, you still have to know when to walk away.

MORRISON: After reviewing tapes, the NBA suspended four players indefinitely. Out of action for the foreseeable future are Pacers' stars Ron Artest, Steven Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal, along with the Pistons center Ben Wallace. Commissioner David Stern called the event -- quote -- "shocking, repulsive and inexcusable -- a humiliation for everyone associated with the NBA." So far the players involved have refused to comment publicly.

A police investigation continues as officials review videotapes. Criminal charges are a possibility and civil action is more than likely. As for the NBA, it'll take some time to heal from this episode that's shaken players, coaches and fans.

LARRY BROWN, DETROIT PISTONS COUCH: It is a terrible night, you know, for our game, and, you know, seeing young kids in the stands and trying to explain it to your family what happened is -- I've never seen anything like it and it's not the way it should be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MORRISON: Probably the worst incident of fan and player violence that I've experienced in professional sports, at least on this side of the Atlantic. The game was called with 45 seconds remaining on the clock. The Pacers took the victory, are credited with the win, but I don't think anybody wants to claim any victory after that incident last night. LIN: and another game tonight, right?

MORRISON: The Pacers play tonight. The next time Detroit and Indiana play is Christmas Day.

LIN: And we heard that security was really beefed up for tonight's game.

MORRISON: Yes, because of, you know, the situation as it stood last night. The officials on the scene said that they felt they had enough security in place. And indeed when you watch the videotape, you see a lot of blue shirts, which are the arena security officials involved.

LIN: But they're the guys who tell you where to find your seats.

MORRISON: Exactly.

LIN: They're not the guys who are going to stop a 300 pound athlete from jumping on a fan.

MORRISON: Precisely and that's what will be beefed up. There will be more police with armed presence felt at the game.

LIN: The message clear to both players and fans. Tonight, we are going to be debating whether players do have the right to defend themselves because the fans were pelting them...

MORRISON: Legally, one of the police officers did talk about how there were players that were endangering -- were defending themselves, but clearly going into the stands to begin with, that was where the line was crossed.

LIN: Right, right. Well, my gosh, all right, thanks very much.

MORRISON: All right, Carol.

LIN: Probably not the last time we're going to hearing from this story.

MORRISON: I'm sure about it.

LIN: Well, in the meantime, it was the largest offensive in Iraq since the end of major combat was declared. So did the fight in Falluja pay off for U.S. forces? Well, new evidence leads to some key arrests.

Plus, the aftermath of war and its impact right here at home. Three soldiers killed in battle, all for one small high school.

And protected from pain, the story of this little girl, her rare life-threatening disorder and her family's fight to find a cure, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: The sounds of death and danger resonated across Baghdad today. Nine people were killed in separate attacks in the capital where rebels targeted a U.S. patrol and an Iraqi police station. One soldier was killed, nine others were wounded. Four government employees, three Iraqi troops and one Iraqi police officer were killed. A suicide car bomber struck in the heart of the city killing one civilian. And witnesses say the car exploded shortly after a U.S. convoy passed.

Now, in the northern town of Mosul, U.S. forces made a grizzly discovery. The bodies of nine Iraqi soldiers all shot in the back of the head, execution style. Originally, the U.S. military said seven of the nine had been decapitated. They were not.

And a polish woman taken hostage by militants last month in Iraq has been freed and is now in Poland. They will not reveal what happened in terms of what the government was able to do to free her. In the meantime, the insurgency remains potent in Iraq, but a paper trail is helping U.S. forces. Documents seized in Falluja are leading to arrests elsewhere even as U.S. Marines and soldiers still battle pockets of resistance. Our Jane Arraf brings us the very latest from Falluja.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Iraqi and U.S. military officials say that they are making arrests in Baghdad and in other cities based on information collected in Falluja where soldiers and Marines have been going house to house, street by street finding documents, weapons depots and other discoveries that they say will help them crack down on the insurgency. Civilians seem to be just starting to emerge from their homes, seeking help after almost two weeks locked up. But the majority of the population according to Marine officials had indeed left, perhaps less than five percent of Falluja's population is still in the city. Of those there, some of them are now beginning to seek help. But Marine officials say the problem as well is that insurgents still in the city are mingled with the civilian population. The Marines say that an incident involving a man with a white flag, the sign of surrender, the sign of peace, threw down that flag and opened fire on Marines. They will not talk about casualties. So clearly, there are insurgents.

The Army is winding down its operations there. Task Force 22 of the 1st Infantry Division has been from the northeast to the southeast and has made some very interesting discoveries.

LT. COL. PETE NEWELL, U.S. ARMY: The area that we went into, that we saw, the civilians have been booted out, kicked out of their homes, insurgents took over, planted mines in the yards, bombs next to the buildings, put rockets on top of the roofs. They dug trenches next to the houses, moved into the industrial area and built bomb factories and vehicle-born I.D. factories. What we were finding is not dissimilar to any of the other units. There are similar things all over Falluja.

ARRAF: The southeast apparently was a stronghold particularly of foreign fighters. According to the task force commander, there are no insurgents left in that sector.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Falluja.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, they are just a few of the many casualties of combat. But the loss of these three soldiers is devastating for one small New York town. Remembering the fatalities on the front lines, that is next.

And later, averted disaster, two close calls, too many, frankly, at LAX. What went wrong and can it happen again?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: On the front lines tonight, the hardest lessons of war. Too often when we mention the casualties in Iraq, we speak in numbers not names. But there is a face and a story for every soldier, sailor, Marine and air man killed. At a Long Island high school, they're remembered on a wall of heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have lost three students in the war, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. One African-American, one Latino and one Caucasian. That's who we are. They are a slice of Brentwood.

BETTY BROWN GREENE, BRENTWOOD H.S. DEAN: A very big loss in Brentwood. We are a family and when something happens, we come together as a community. And you feel it, whether it was Rahin Hider (ph), Michael Esposito (ph) or Ramon Matteau (ph). It's like losing one of your children, so it's very painful. Rahin was ahead of his time. He was bright. He was intelligent. He was head strong. Rahin (ph) was a go-getter.

SGT. ARTHUR BURGESS, BRENTWOOD H.S. ROTC: Michael was a -- I'd say a 110-pound kid soaking wet. He was very close to me. Occasionally, when I step out in the hall, I can still see little thin kid dressed in his camouflage, BDUs standing in the hallway saying, "Hey, Serge." So he was one of the good ones.

LINDA PAPPERT, BRENTWOOD H.S. ASST. PRINCIPAL: And Ramon was the kind that he had had this energy, he had this wonderful charisma but he needed to know how to focus it. And he knew he needed the military to kind of grab it together for him and he went. And when he came back, he knew it. You could see he was happy. He was just very proud of himself. And there he was in his uniform, looking handsome.

THOMAS O'BRIEN, BRENTWOOD H.S. PRINCIPAL: In each of these cases, we had an evening event here at the high school and presented a memorial plaque on behalf of the Brentwood school district that's hung in our lobby. There are two there now. The parents of Ramon still have his. We give them to them for a couple of weeks and they bring them back and we mount them on our wall on our wall of honor outside.

It's a very working class community where about 62 percent of our families live below the federal poverty line or a -- either a two year or four year college experience. Many look to other avenues to finance that, one being, you know, veterans' benefits.

CHRIS CHAMBERLIN, BRENTWOOD H.S. ENGLISH TEACHER: Since I was in the Marine Corps for four years, which helped me go to college, I'm one of the people they come to to discuss, you know, that as an avenue for their future.

He is someone alive from Brentwood serving in this war. In a great irony, the publicity that all this has received, I have even more students now that want to join.

ROBERT SMITH, BRENTWOOD H.S. JUNIOR: To see them just in their uniforms proud, it affects me. It gives me this feeling that they died doing something great for us.

RYAN RAMIKISSOON, BRENTWOOD H.S. SENIOR: The military has always been a dream for me, just to defend my nation. If I die, well, I'll be remembered as a soldier, as a patriot.

CHAMBERLIN: All these kids feel immortal. I think that's any kid when they're 18. I'm an educator. I educate them as much as possible about the war, about politics, through literature. If anything was to happen to them, would it kill me, yes, absolutely. Yes, it's going to crush me.

PAPPERT: What I thought coming out of that assembly the other night, thinking, we're going to add another picture to that wall. And I was thinking, oh God, I hope that never becomes full.

O'BRIEN: I feel very proud of the fact that they chose to put their lives at risk for what they believed was right and what they believed was good. And in fact, to put their lives on the line so that others didn't have to, I hope that their sacrifice reaches the goals for which it was intended.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back, I'm Carol Lin and here's a quick look at what's happening now in the news. President Bush addresses the APEC Summit in Chile and meets with leaders of China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. He wants them to urge North Korea to give up its goal of having nuclear weapons.

Secretary of state Colin Powell will head from that summit in Chile to the Middle East tomorrow. The aim of his trip, to ensure a smooth election for a new Palestinian leader. A January election is scheduled to replace Yasser Arafat.

An American soldier and eight Iraqis were killed in three attacks across Iraq's capital today. Among those who died, a civilian killed in a car bombing and three Iraqi National Guardsmen who were killed by a roadside bomb. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice left the hospital today, a day after undergoing uterine surgery. The secretary of state nominee is expected to return to work Monday.

Now, we want to move on back to the APEC Summit. Everything from trade to nuclear threats is on the agenda. President Bush is among the leaders of 21 nations attending. He met with several of them earlier today. Mr. Bush also highlighted the efforts of five APEC members to convince North Korea to stop pursuing nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: And I can report to you today, having visited with the other nations involved in that collaborative effort, that the will is strong, that the effort is united, and the message is clear to Mr. Kim Jong-il, get rid of your nuclear weapons programs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Well, Mr. Bush also said Iran's suspected weapons program is a very serious matter. The U.S. is defending its charges that Iran is working to fit a missile with a nuclear warhead. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor reports on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Knowledgeable sources tell CNN there are questions about the reliability of the intelligence on Iran's nuclear program that Secretary of state Powell spoke of. But at the State Department, there is no backing down.

ADAM ERELI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The secretary did not misspeak. The secretary knows exactly what he was talking about.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: And I've seen some information and the dissidents have put out more information that suggest that the Iranians are also working on the designs one would have to have for putting such a warhead into a missile.

ENSOR: The likely missile in question, a Shaab (ph) 3, tested in October by Iran. U.S. officials are angered by a "Washington Post" article saying Powell's information came from an unvetted single source, a walk-in with more than a 1,000 pages of Iranian drawings and technical documents including a warhead design and modifications to enable Iranian ballistic missiles to deliver an atomic strike.

KENNETH POLLACK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: It makes collecting against Iran, it makes protecting this source and it makes recruiting other sources infinitely harder. And this is a hard enough topic as it is.

ENSOR: The questions about Powell's comments on intelligence evoked memories of his testimony on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq at the U.N. before the war, weapons that have not been found. The questions came after an Iranian opposition group, whose supporters demonstrated in Washington Friday, offered evidence it said that Iran is working on nuclear weapons at a newly discovered site, something Tehran hotly denies.

Critics of the European-Iranian Agreement, an exchange of trade incentives for suspension of uranium enrichment, are putting their cards on the table in the run-up to next week's meeting on Iran of the International Atomic Energy Board in Vienna.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY: Well, I do think there's a lot of rock throwing at this agreement right now and I think we have to look at that information very carefully and remember what happened in Iraq when we do that.

ENSOR (on camera): But Iran, too, is not helping matters. Western diplomats in Vienna Friday said Iran is rushing to convert some yellow cake into Uranium hexafluoride, which is used in both making nuclear power and nuclear bombs prior to Monday, the day Iran has promised to suspend enrichment activities.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: In news across America now, it's National Adoption Day, a happy day for thousands of new families as courts across the country finalize adoptions for many children who've been in foster care. But adoption advocates say it's is more important to note that more than 100,000 other children are still waiting for their forever family. Minorities and older kids have the hardest time moving from the foster system to permanent homes.

In Dewitt, New York, a man believed to be the world's oldest has died less than two weeks ahead of his 114th birthday. Born in 1890, Fred Hails Sr. leaves behind 11 great-great-grandchildren and a personal history that includes boogie boarding in Hawaii at the age of 95. He was also one of a few Boston Red Sox fans who could actually claim to have lived long enough to witness the team's last two World Series wins.

And in Washington, thousands turned out for the 17th Annual Help the Homeless Walk-a-Thon. Sponsors expected to raise more than $6 million. Baseball great, Cal Ripken Jr. was one of many going to bat for the homeless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAL RIPKIN JR., FORMER BALTIMORE ORIOLES PLAYER: For me, personally, I can't imagine someone not having a home. The importance of a home in one's life is critical to your -- to your self-confidence and who you are in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: In the meantime, outrage over security at Los Angeles International Airport after a hidden camera expose. City leaders were calling for a full investigation into allegations that airport police abandoned their posts, ignored emergency radio calls, and even picked up their kids in patrol cars. Several airport police were caught on tape hanging out at fast food restaurants instead of patrolling the facility. The head of the airport police says a probe is now under way.

In the meantime, federal aviation officials say better warning systems are needed at the nation's airports after three recent close calls involving commercial jets. The most serious happened August 19th at LAX. A jetliner from South Korea came within 12 seconds of crashing into a Southwest Airlines jet. The controller canceled the Southwest jet's clearance only after the South Korean pilot had aborted the landing. Bob Francis, former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, joins me now Washington to talk more about this.

Bob, the two allegations actually at LAX alone, one that 747 that -- fortunately, the pilot was present enough and the weather was good enough that he could see the Southwest jet on the runway, but in addition to that one, most recently, an airplane was told to land on the wrong runway, just as two other planes were being told to taxi and take off. How can something like this happen?

BOB FRANCIS, FORMER VICE CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Well, I guess it happens because human beings make errors and the system is geared so that they won't lead to accidents. Incidents are something that are teaching tools for us. And I'm sure that the FAA at this point is looking at all three of these incidents.

LIN: Yes.

FRANCIS: But certainly the one in August -- well, it took place after a change of staff and that's a time in safety...

LIN: Shift change, when somebody's leaving and somebody's coming on and you're debriefing each other.

FRANCIS: Yes, exactly. And that's a perilous time for both controllers and in maintenance also.

LIN: I mean if you're saying that it's human error -- and, you know, I'm all for teaching tools, but frankly, if I'm on an airplane and I'm landing, I don't want another jet underneath my plane as its landing and that there's human error going on when I'm just trying to get home.

FRANCIS: Well, I certainly agree with that and no one does. But I'd also say it's an incredibly safe system that we've got out there. The last major accident was in 1991. And...

LIN: At LAX. U.S. Airways jet landed on top of a commuter plane. Thirty-four people died.

FRANCIS: That's exactly right, but we've gone 11 years. And when you consider that there are 34,000 operations a day in our system, there are going to be close calls. There won't be accidents.

LIN: You're right because we, the media, don't report on planes taking off and landing safely, of course. We do focus on the more dramatic times. You're right. At the same time, there is an argument being made that there should be more automation out in the field like LAX where it's an old airport that was expanded over time. And pilots have routinely complained that there are corners that they can't see around the bends so much so. You know it's not like you can hang a giant mirror out on the runway so you can see what's around the corner. And they can't -- if they can't depend on a human being 110 percent of the time, why not have sensors and warning lights and computers that can do these things for the pilots?

FRANCIS: Well, there are some already there and there are others that are being developed. And I think one of the most encouraging in terms of getting information to the cockpit -- and that's a tough problem -- is something that Honeywell is working on now, which would use GPS to give data from an airplane that's on the runway to the pilot in the cockpit of another airplane that was coming in to land.

LIN: Now, is this where, for example, the unions might get involved and say, we're not for automation because our guys in the control tower can handle that and we want those jobs secure.

FRANCIS: Well, I think that, you know, that's up to the FAA as the regulatory authority and the air traffic manager and provider to decide the best and safest way to facilitate the safe operation of the system.

LIN: All right, Bob Francis, thank you very much, former vice chairman of the NTSB. I do feel safer. And you're right; more planes take off and land safely than get into trouble. We can be thankful for that.

And in other medical news coming up, it's hard to imagine that this little girl cannot feel heat or cold nor can she feel bumps or bruises. She cannot feel any pain of any kind. It's one of the rarest disorders in the world but it could put this little girl in danger. Her story coming up.

And a swift sendoff into space, NASA launches a new rocket to help solve some of the galaxy's many mysteries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, we want to start off our medical news right now with some health headlines. The Food and Drug Administration is defending its testing of the drug Vioxx. And Merck, the maker of Vioxx, says it withdrew the drug immediately after an increased risk of heart attacks was found. Now, both were called on the carpet this week by the Senate Finance Committee.

A new study says many American women who show no indication of difficult vaginal births are opting for c-sections. The report says a group accounts for a quarter of the increase in cesarean births in the U.S. over the past six years. And military doctors say an unusually large number of U.S. troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan have tested positive to a rare blood infection. A total of 102 troops have been found to be infected with the hard to treat bacteria. It's commonly found in water and soil and is resistant to many types of antibiotics.

Well, for a 5-year-old girl in Georgia, every day is a challenge. She suffers from a rare genetic disorder that makes her unable to feel pain, so even the most innocent childhood activities could have devastating consequences. CNN's Sarah Dorsey has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ashlynn Blocker (ph) is getting ready for school.

TARA BLOCKER, MOTHER: You got a kiss for me? Love you, be good.

DORSEY: The 5-year-old is off to kindergarten. It's not her first day, but her parents still worry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, have a good day. I love you guys. See you later, Ashlynn (ph), be careful.

DORSEY: That's a warning she gets a lot.

(on camera): Ashlynn (ph), can you tell me why we're here today to talk to you?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Because I can't feel my boo boos.

DORSEY (voice-over): In fact, Ashlynn (ph) can't feel pain at all. At 6 months old, an ongoing problem with her eye led to a rare diagnosis, congenital insensitivity to pain or SIPA.

T. BLOCKER: They put the dye in her eye and it revealed a massive corneal abrasion. And everybody was like well, what in the world? Why isn't she feeling this? And that is essentially where our journey began.

DORSEY: And Ashlynn's (ph) journey has been a bumpy one. She's already knocked out eight teeth.

T. BLOCKER: In a way, her knocking her teeth out was truly, you know, somewhat of a blessing because her hands have scars, her fingers have scars where she would just literally put her hand and her finger in the mouth and just rip the skin off.

DORSEY (on camera): One of most dangerous types of the day for Ashlynn (ph) is during recess. Her teachers say because she can't feel pain, she's nearly fearless. Because of that, they've had to implement new rules to help try to keep her safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She can't play on the -- well, like the monkey bars. Miss Patty has had to hold her and help her. She can't play on that little igloo thing over there. DORSEY (voice-over): After recess, a rigorous inspection from her feet...

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: My feet and my eyes.

DORSEY: ...to her eyes. Her mom calls it her little NASCAR pit stop. But what worries her the most is the road ahead.

T. BLOCKER: We're worried about her joints. We have been told that joint destruction can occur at an early age.

DORSEY: Ashlynn's (ph) parents are saving for a pool, hoping that will help take the pressure off her little joints. But the enormous pressures of safeguarding their daughter remain.

Sara Dorsey, CNN, Patterson, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So as you can tell, SIPA can be an extremely dangerous disorder. People with it are incapable of sensing extreme temperatures, which means they're at risk of frostbite or burns. The disorder is untreatable and it's extremely rare. One data base lists only 17 people in the whole United States afflicted with this disorder.

Well, think of it as a black hole hunter. NASA today launches its newest rocket to the try to uncover some of space's unknowns.

And it's the biggest collection of contemporary art in the world, Manhattan's newest museum. Will it be a big boost for the Big Apple?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, we have ignition and we have liftoff of NASA's Swift spacecraft on a mission to study and understand gamma ray verse throughout...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: NASA's latest mission has its eye on the brightest lights in the universe. The Swift Observer was launched early today. And it was designed to study bursts of gamma rays and their afterglow. The bursts are brief flashes of light that burn as brightly as a billion, billion suns. Scientists are hoping the two year mission will show how the bursts are linked to black holes and when the first stars were actually formed. Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions the universe has seen since the Big Bang.

We've got some news from around the world now. In the West Bank, registration begins for an election to replace Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Candidates have 12 days to register to run in the January 9 contest. The election takes place 60 days after Arafat died. Meanwhile, Suha Arafat has picked up her late husband's medical records from the Paris hospital where he died. Doctors, following French law, won't release those records to anyone but family and have never given an official diagnosis. The lack of disclosure has spawned many rumors about what actually caused Arafat to die.

And a somber anniversary in Istanbul, diplomats and survivors honored victims killed one year ago in two suicide attacks. Sixty people died when the British consulate and a bank were bombed. A top suspect in the case recently testified that he and others carried out the attack for al Qaeda.

Well, it covers an entire city block right in downtown Manhattan and it houses the biggest contemporary art collection ever. Up next, a sneak peek at the new Museum of Modern Art, but first, here's Mark Shields to tell us what's ahead on "THE CAPITAL GANG."

Hi there, Mark.

MARK SHIELDS, CO-HOST, "THE CAPITAL GANG": Hello, Carol. Carol, "THE CAPITAL GANG" looks at the Bush cabinet shake-up, the controversy surrounding Arlen Specter and Tom Delay and the opening of the Clinton library. Republican Mel Martinez previews for us what he will do as a newly elected U.S. senator from Florida. All this and much more right here next on CNN.

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LIN: Thousands of people in New York are getting the first look at the new Museum of Modern Art. It reopened to the public today following a multi-million dollar renovation. As Alina Cho reports, officials are hoping the museum is a big boost for tourism in the Big Apple.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the gardens to the galleries, to the building itself, the newly constructed Museum of Modern Art or MOMA as it's called, is getting rave reviews.

(on camera): Your first impressions?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Spectacular.

CHO (voice-over): Visitors will appreciate the Warchols, Van Goghs, and Picassos. Less noticeable, subtle architecture that doesn't compete with the art, oak floors that are easy on the feet and floating walls that don't touch either the floor or the ceiling, a trick that puts the focus on the paintings, masterpieces like this Monet mural.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this is a show stopping piece and it should be showcased and it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's beautiful. It really has been shown lit up like this and I thought, well, let's really see it. CHO: Curator John Elderfield says the new MOMA is the new authority on contemporary art.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It actually has the same function with regard to modern art that the Louvre in Paris has regard to the art of the past. This is the place where people come to learn about this tradition.

CHO: The museum's director is Glen Lowrie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After September 11th, there was a real fear about whether or not we could complete the building because suddenly there was a very different climate. That the building was built as beautifully and well as it was, for us, has been nothing short of miraculous.

CHO: New York needs the new MOMA. City officials say post 9/11 international tourism is still down 20 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we're hoping from the new MOMA is it will yield many more tourists, especially those from overseas.

CHO: Like these women from Venice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, it's incredible. It's so beautiful.

CHO: If the early reviews are any guide, the MOMA will be good for New York, good for tourism, and even better for those who love art.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That's all the time we have for this hour, but coming up next, "THE CAPITAL GANG." And then at 8:00 Eastern on "CNN PRESENTS," a fight over faith. At 9:00 "LARRY KING" and Larry's guest tonight is the legendary Tony Bennett. And I'm going to be back at 10:00 tonight. The basketball brawl that's the talk of the nation, I'm going to be joined by former NBA star Kenny Smith.

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