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CNN Live Saturday
Snowstorm Hits Northeast and Midwest; Today Marks 32nd Anniversary Of Roe V. Wade
Aired January 22, 2005 - 16:00 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A young couple lost in a snowstorm and an urgent plea for help but 911 operators have no idea where to find them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DEWEY: I just put two people on that plane, and I was feeling horrible, you know. Here I was thinking that these guys were terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: He had a gut feeling these guys were bad, but didn't stop them. Michael Dewey gave boarding passes to two of the hijackers on the morning of September 11th. Here's how he's coping with his decision.
And going under the knife, what you should do beforehand to improve your chances for a healthy recovery.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at the headlines.
Snow, high winds and freezing temperatures are advancing across the Midwest and northeast today. Hundreds of flight have been canceled at Chicago's O'Hare international airport and more delays are likely as the dangerous winter storm moves east. People from Boston to New York are bracing for blizzard conditions.
A dragnet is out for 42-year-old Frederick Fretz (ph). The convicted sex offender is accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old Florida boy. The boy was found on the side of a Georgia highway last night, apparently unharmed. Fretz is now believed to be now on foot and in a wooded area somewhere in northern Georgia.
As a security precaution for next weekend's national elections in Iraq, Baghdad's international airport will be closing. The airport will not allow flights on January 29th and 30th. Iraq's borders will be closed during that time as well except to Iraqis returning from the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
A winter storm, a blizzard, a massive weather system, whatever you called it, the blast of frigid air accompanied by huge amounts of snow is causing extreme conditions and travel headaches in the northeast. Millions of people from Wisconsin and New England are bundling up, digging out and staying in. We have complete coverage of the storm for you. CNN's Chad Myers is in Philadelphia and meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center tracking the storm. Well, let's get started first with an overview. Before the storm moved into the northeast, it walloped the Midwest. Here's CNN's Denise Belgrave.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a winter wonderland for some and a tale of woe for others.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just trying to get uphill in this weather and the rear wheel just spin out.
BELGRAVE: A powerful winter storm swept across the Midwest, dumping as much as a foot of snow in some areas. Blizzard conditions and high winds left roads so treacherous in Minnesota that state troopers temporarily closed major highways and parts of the interstate. Don Fritz had to stop to repair a windshield wiper.
DON FRITZ: I tell you what, I just came down 100 heading north. I'm going to pick up my wife's grandmother; she's 97. I went three miles an hour. That was the max, you know. That was as fast as I was going.
BELGRAVE: In Ohio, both man and machine worked to keep walkways and roads salted, but in some cases, it just wasn't enough and there's no relief in sight. Freezing rain and strong winds are expected to move in overnight. Chicago residents are preparing for more snow. That's on top of the eight inches that fell in the past 24 hours. Minneapolis resident Leo Nielsen (ph) tried to see the brighter side of things.
LEO NIELSEN: You get good exercise doing this. It keeps you in shape.
BELGRAVE: Nielsen says he's prepared to share his exercise regime.
NIELSEN: So if any of your viewers want to come and shovel this sidewalk tomorrow morning, they're more than welcome.
BELGRAVE: And that's not an offer not too difficult to refuse. Denise Belgrave, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Let's take a closer look at the storm and see where it's headed next. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins us now from the weather center. Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the storm is starting to die down a bit across the Midwest, however still some lake-effect snow is going on. So what's happening now across the Chicago area, a little different than what you saw when you picked up your eight inches of snow. Let's take a look at a live picture out of Chicago right now. Temperatures very cold, 20 degrees on the thermometer, but you add in those gusty winds and it feels like four above. Those winds will be gusting around 40 miles per hour at times this evening and that's going to bring your wind chill factor down to about zero through the overnight. Additional snow accumulations though just mostly coming in off that lake, around 1 to 3 inches.
Now let's look at some of the snow that we're seeing across parts of the northeast at this time and I want to show you where that storm system is. You can kind of see the little comma curve here. This is where the area of low pressure is. That's bringing in the heavy snow across upstate New York, especially through parts of Jersey right now and heading on down into Washington, D.C. and this has been our focus with this storm so far. But things are going to be changing.
What I want you to notice on this map is take a look at these arrows. The arrows are the directions of the wind, which way the wind is coming from. From Atlantic City, we're looking at winds coming in from the northeast, then head on over here from Washington, D.C., winds are a little bit more northerly. You come into Richmond, northwesterly winds and look at Norfolk. Those are coming in from the southwest. This is what we call cyclo-genesis.
This is where a new area of low pressure is beginning to develop right now and this will be taking over the old storm, that old storm, that old storm kind of getting absorbed into this one and that will be riding on up the coast now and we will be watching now for our storm system to be heading into New England and start to begin to bring in - Gwen (ph), if you could switch that back over - start to bring in some of those heavier snowfall amounts.
We want to show you where the storm system is going to be headed next. It's going to be moving off the coast. It's going to be wrapping in all of this moisture from the Atlantic and we're going to be seeing a big difference in the pressure, so a tight pressure gradient we call it, with winds gusting around 50 miles per hour at times. That's why we're going to be seeing the blizzard whiteout conditions. Snowfall totals extremely impressive, mostly into the coastal areas and we're going to pick out a couple of specific cities here for you.
Travel not advised for today. Boston has already snowing now, so you have maybe an hour before things get a lot worse. You really want to stay home for tonight and into tomorrow morning, 18 to 24 inches there, ending by late day on Sunday. In New York city, 14 to 20, a couple inches on the ground already here and by noon tomorrow, Philadelphia, 10 to 15 inches there, Washington, D.C., 6 to 10 inches. These are the warnings that are in place across the northeast. In these white areas, getting down from Boston into Providence, over towards Hartford and into New York City, that's where the blizzard warnings and the worst of the weather will be. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Jacqui, thanks very much and we'll check back with you again in about 30 minutes or so. Well, it's a big sports weekend in Philadelphia, but the winter weather means both footballs and snowballs will be thrown in the city of brotherly love. CNN's Chad Myers joins us now from Philadelphia and already packing in those snowballs?
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, if you could actually pack the snow, there might be snowball fights, but take a look at this. This stuff is so light and fluffy, you couldn't make a snowman if you wanted to. We're about six to eight inches deep here but if you take a look up here into the dark spot, you get a better idea of how hard it's actually snowing. When it hits you in the face, it gets real stingy.
Then what's going to happen tomorrow is the winds are really going to pick up, looking at 30 to maybe 35 miles per hour here during the game. Can you imagine what that is going to do to that snow? At 35 miles per hour, we're going to have drifts inside the stadium. I- 95, very close to the stadium right here. It actually goes right by it, just on the southeast side, moving fairly well.
I arrived in Philadelphia about 11:30 this morning. The snow had just started, literally an inch on the ground. What should have been a 12-minute ride to the hotel took me well over 45 minutes, because the first couple of flakes Fred that hit the ground melted on the fairly warm ground and that caused a little layer of ice and now this snow is on top of that ice. Trying to get traction as we even drove here to the live shot was very difficult. When you start the car, if the road is crowned a little bit, your car actually slides off towards the crown or slides off toward whatever side it's actually angled to, down toward the ditch, so you have to be very, very careful.
We are looking at what's called a dry slot to the west. The snow is going to taper off for a while, but as Jacqui just told you, there's another storm developing. Cyclogenesis is not the word that the people here want to hear from Jacqui Jeras right now, because that means another low pressure system is going to pick up moisture from the ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, a very big body of water. You hear about lake effect snow all the time. This is going to be ocean-effect snow in some of these big cities in the northeast.
WHITFIELD: Not a pretty scene, but Chad, folks in the northeast are used to this. I mean it is winter after all. However, does it look like because of this storm and because of all the warnings coming from emergency, you know, groups, that folks are staying off the roads, at least where you are?
MYERS: No. Everybody's on the road. I think it's busier today than it would be on a normal Saturday. Just to go up Broad Street from here all the way up to the central part of town, literally it should take you even 15 minutes if you hit all the lights red, it's painfully slow. It's probably an hour drive now, because you just hit one light after another, after another. You can only go 5 miles an hour and the police are everywhere. They are towing everybody that's on the roads, those no parking roads.
WHITFIELD: The snow emergency routes. MYERS: You bet. They are out with their tow trucks now, so get them off the street if you got one.
WHITFIELD: All right. Good idea. Thanks a lot, Chad.
The storm is impacting air travel as well. Hundreds of flights have been canceled today at Chicago's O'Hare International airport alone. Helping us keep track of the situation is Travelocity air traffic specialist Rally Caparas. He joins us on the telephone. Rally, we know that this is really causing a pretty significant backup at least for a lot of planes originating and trying to get into Chicago, but what about the rest of the country, particularly in the northeast?
RALLY CAPARAS, AIR TRAFFIC SPECIALIST: Well, Fredricka, it is probably one of the nastiest days that we have seen in years as far as delays are concerned, cancellations, especially on a very or typically light weekend air traffic volume. Today already we've seen over 2,500 flights canceled into the major metropolitan airports along the east and great lakes regions.
Boston and the New York City metros alone have already had over 1,000 flight canceled today. It's going to get worse before it gets better. If you're not already in the sky today headed to Boston or New York City, that being Newark, La Guardia or JFK, you're more than likely going to be canceled if you haven't heard about it already. Tomorrow morning those same locations will see hundreds, if not thousands of cancellations.
We're seeing sporadic airport closures. Right now Philadelphia International where Chad is, presently closed due to the conditions. Zero visibility basically with the blowing snow already. They had about an eighth of a mile now it's down to 100 feet ceiling. You can't fly into or out of that stuff. The pilots don't have the equipment, technology won't allow for it, either. So expect Philadelphia to stay closed for at least for the next hour.
Possibly some flights could sneak in later this evening, but it's unlikely that they'll take that chance as there have already been some incidents. There's no accidents, but there have been incidences, forcing JFK for instance to shut down their runway for a while. An airport (sic) slipped off the runway or got slipped off a taxi way. It happens pretty commonly this time of the year or during these types of storms.
Baltimore, Washington, Washington Dulles, hundreds of flight canceled there, excuse me, snow, terrible visibility, more tomorrow morning. Expect flights early in the morning to be cancelled. Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Covington airports all have seen hundreds of canceled flights now. If you're flying into those locations more than likely the rest of the flights will be cancelled. For this evening, Chicago O'Hare and Midway, as you spoke, 350 flights have been canceled into those locations. Low clouds, snow, poor visibility and very strong gusting winds. They're already starting to see 35 and 40 knot winds in the great lakes region. Even in the south where the weather is kind of warm, considering what's going on in the northeast, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson has canceled over 100 flights. It's kind of the, if you don't mind me using the phrase, a snowball effect of things that are taking place in the northeast. It's going to affect places like Atlanta and Charlotte. The weather is marginal. However, hundreds of flights being cancelled. It's a complete and utter mess. Tomorrow morning it's going to get a little bit better for those points west of the east coastline, but not much better for the north or east coast. I'll be back later on this evening with the latest for you. Fredricka, back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Rally Caparas of Travelocity, thanks so much. Lots of cancellations, lots of delays, so travel with a lot of patience today.
Some areas around the nation's capital reporting whiteout conditions. Across Virginia, Washington and Maryland, at least 3,600 trucks are clearing and treating the roadways. Our Gary Nurenberg is in a very snowy Washington, where it looks like it's broken up a bit? A lot of snow on the ground, but no longer in the air and I'm glad to see you got a hat now Gary.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Washington, D.C. still has a winter storm warning until 7:00 tomorrow morning. And as Fredricka said, it's doing what the forecasters said it would do. It stopped briefly, with about four inches of snow on the ground, but they say it's going to resume later this evening with as much as 10 inches by tomorrow morning. The city of Washington, D.C. has declared a snow emergency. That means if you park in the wrong place, it's $250 and they tow your car. And to deal with all of this, the city now has 200 trucks on city streets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG (voice-over): Snowplow drivers got a break, because the snow fell on the weekend, cutting substantially the number of cars on D.C. road. But weather didn't deter tourists who made the snow part of their plan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We tried to do all our outside stuff yesterday, so we could do all the museums and inside today.
NURENBERG: They went alone. The National Air and Space museum was busy with tourists who couldn't see national landmarks like the Jefferson Memorial, unless they were standing nearly on top of them. The new World War II memorial drew picture takers to the unusual snowy vista. Kids from Florida made snow angels on the national mall. Your butt is now completely covered in snow. Was it worth it?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yeah. We can't do this in Florida.
NURENBERG: Ask if it's smart to leave Florida for this?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: It's as smart as the people that come down to Florida during hurricane season. NURENBERG: Imagine running in this stuff. She did, six miles in an hour. How come you're not slipping down and hurting yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no ice. It's good traction on the snow actually. It's very dry snow.
NURENBERG: For this visitor from Costa Rica.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my first time I see snow in my life, because I -- well because in Costa Rica we don't have snow.
NURENBERG: In Washington Saturday, we did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG: Oh, did we ever and breathing a huge sigh of relief, the planners of the inauguration festivities, 48 hours ago, right now on this spot, about 200,000 people lined up to see the inaugural parade. Boy, are they glad that this didn't happen then. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. It seemed like the inauguration was sandwiched right in between two snowy systems and that was perfect timing. All right. Gary Nurenberg, thanks so much.
Well, stay with CNN for in-depth live coverage of the looming east coast blizzard. We'll keep you all up to date tomorrow, beginning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern as well as throughout the evening tonight.
Taking a stand on both sides of the issue, straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, protesters mark the 32nd anniversary of Roe V. Wade, a decision which has an uncertain future.
Also a checkpoint tragedy. U.S. soldiers open fire on a car in Iraq with horrible results. Now six children are parentless.
Plus this,
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEMSEY: It's not nice, but I say, jeez, if this doesn't look like two Arab terrorists, I've never seen two Arab terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was your first reaction?
DEMSEY: That was my thought as I'm looking at them. I'm looking at their licenses and that thought ran through my mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: How one man thinks he might have changed history. The airline gate agent who came face-to-face with two of the 9/11 hijackers the morning of their deadly act.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: CNN Saturday, looking at a beautifully peaceful and snowy view of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation's capital, perhaps a little respite before the rest of this expected blizzard system makes another hit this evening and into tomorrow in most of the northeast.
Well, it was 32 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court made its landmark ruling legalizing abortion and decades later passions remain high on both sides of the issue. Antiabortion groups marked the anniversary with a prayer vigil outside Planned Parenthood in snow- covered Washington earlier today. The vigil was smaller than expected, something organizers blame on the frigid and snowy conditions. One Planned Parenthood executive says for the first time today she wore a bulletproof vest to work.
Well, this year's anniversary of Roe versus Wade is particularly significant with the prospect of President Bush filling a vacancy or two on the U.S. Supreme Court during his next four years. How might it affect abortion rights? Joining me to talk about it this from Miami is former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey. Good to see you Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY: Hey, good afternoon Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, do you think that Roe v. Wade is in jeopardy?
COFFEY: Well, it's going to take two different members among the six members of the court that have basically said that they adhere and endorse the cornerstone findings of Roe versus Wade. It could happen within the four years, but very difficult to know at this point.
WHITFIELD: And what would it do in terms of testing state constitutions if it were to come to that?
COFFEY: Well, one of the fascinating developments would be if the U.S. Supreme Court said that the U.S. Constitution no longer gives a right to abortion. It's very hard to say what would happen in 50 states, almost all of which have their own state constitutions and state privacy rights. For example, just to mention Florida, Fredricka, because that's where we are, this state's supreme court has actually gone farther than the U.S. Supreme Court in protecting rights of abortion. So if Roe versus Wade were overruled tomorrow, in Florida, there would still be a state constitutional protection based on a state supreme court decision assuring a right to abortion.
WHITFIELD: But apparently there are 19 other states that do ban abortion and that perhaps if Roe v. Wade were to be reversed, then perhaps this would only fuel more states to follow the 19 states' lead?
COFFEY: It would be one of the wildest political cross fires and legal cross fires imaginable because there would be this incredible flurry of action throughout the state legislatures, and at the same time, legal challenges mostly based on individual state constitutions. And hard to say. For example, to give you two states that you wouldn't think of as outrageously liberal, states like Kentucky, states like Arkansas, they have had state supreme court decisions going farther than the U.S. Supreme Court in terms of gay rights. So what would happen in some legislatures where they want to immediately outlaw abortions, but where you may have a state constitution or a state supreme court to be something that really gets into the melting pot and with things boiling over rapidly.
WHITFIELD: So how might this galvanize congressional action?
COFFEY: Well, one of the scenarios, and you make a very important point. The United States Congress itself could rush forward and basically take the position at they are going to outlaw abortions. Now, again there are a lot of subchapters to this. Does it mean outlaw abortions even if it violates a woman's right -- perhaps jeopardizes the health of the mother? Violates abortions say beyond let's say the first three months, a lot of different issues. But that could happen too. If the U.S. Congress were able to enact a bill, though, that would certainly trump and would override anything the state constitutions or state supreme courts could do.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder prior to any kind of appointment of one or even two justices, would we start to see perhaps in the next couple of months or even years that some state legislatures would start to put some kind of footwork in place, perhaps, you know, changing some privacy laws or making it more difficult, or easier for birth control dispensing, anything like that to kind of set the stage for what could come on on making abortion legal or not?
COFFEY: Great point, because it wouldn't happen overnight. It would really require a process again of perhaps two changes in memberships of the U.S. Supreme Court, and that means, you're right, the legislators and activists be locking and loading, ready to go once that case actually got to the U.S. Supreme Court with enough votes to overrule Roe v. Wade.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kendall Coffey, joining us from Miami. What a contrast, your backdrop compared to what we've been seeing in the northeast and the Midwest all day.
COFFEY: Eat your hearts out.
WHITFIELD: No kidding, well, enjoy the scenery there.
COFFEY: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot Kendall.
The checkpoint shooting that brought a quick apology from the U.S. military. That is straight ahead.
Also, a suicide bomber targets a wedding party in Iraq. At least a dozen people killed.
And lost in a snowstorm, a young couple had a cell phone to call for help but That wouldn't be enough for rescuers to find them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Taking the latest news from Iraq today, eight Chinese hostages have been released. A group called the Islamic Resistance Movement let them go after China issued a statement advising its citizens not to travel to Iraq. The speaker in a video showing the hostages says the men were unharmed and the Chinese government didn't pay any ransom for their release.
At least a dozen people are dead and dozens of others wounded after a suicide bomber crashed an explosives-laden ambulance into a wedding on Friday. The bomber drove into the wedding party and ignited the ambulance into a fireball.
Another Iraqi civilian was killed by a roadside bomb today. Three people were wounded in the explosion, including a U.S. soldier, who suffered minor injuries. The bomb exploded as a U.S. military patrol was passing along the al Dura Baghdad al jadida (ph) highway.
Our next report contains graphic images that may be disturbing, especially for children. Almost every day, the fighting in Iraq claims more lives. Often the victims are civilians and sometimes their deaths are the result of a misunderstanding. A photographer captured one recent tragedy involving an Iraqi family. The horror of it produced an unusually quick apology from the U.S. military. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just after 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, already getting dark, past curfew when U.S. troops fired shot at this car in the northern Iraqi town of Talafar (ph). The U.S. military says the soldiers on foot patrol were alert for suicide car bombs. The photographer who took these pictures watched as the tragedy unfolded.
CHRIS HONDROS, GETTY IMAGES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: We realized that some shots were going to get fired because I know -- I mean I knew that their car would have a hard time seeing these camouflaged soldiers, so I sort of scooted off to the side outside of anybody's line of fire and the car kept approaching. I could (INAUDIBLE)
STARR: In moments it was a nightmare on the street, an Iraqi man and his wife in the front seat killed by U.S. gunfire. Six terrified children emerged from the backseat. One slightly wounded, blood everywhere. A small boy bewildered at what he has just seen.
HONDROS: The soldiers when they realized what was going on, they very professionally and pathetically swept into action, get the kids up. Immediately the medics came over, immediately tried to assess what injuries the children had.
STARR: Soldiers upset as well as they tried to help the children. They took them to a nearby hospital. A U.S. military spokesman
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They took them to a nearby hospital. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad says there was no intention to harm innocent civilians. He says, while the pictures are heart wrenching, they also go to show in the moments immediately following, soldiers went from trying to protect their patrol, to rendering comfort and assistance to the children suffering a tragic loss.
The military spokesman says procedures were followed. There were hand signals to the driver, warning shots fired, and then shots to disable the vehicle and then shots that were fatal. No one may ever know if the Iraqi driver didn't see the soldiers, didn't understand the order to stop or if there was panic. But with five car bomb attacks in Iraq in the last three weeks against patrols and checkpoints, security concerns are at an all-time high. Still, the human tragedy.
CHRIS HONDROS, GETTY IMAGES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: I remember the captain was adamant about making sure the children were all in a room when the two bodies of the adults were brought in to the morgue, into the hospital. He specifically said that he didn't want the children to see anymore.
STARR: The orphaned children now in the custody of the oldest teenager. The military may compensate the family, but the faces of this war show their agony. One small Iraqi girl sits at the feet of U.S. soldiers waiting for someone to tell her what happens now. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This is exactly what most of the northeast is dealing with, a whole lot of snow and very poor visibility. You're looking at a very cloudy-looking picture there of the crews way in the backdrop trying to clean some of the runways at the Philadelphia airport. It's not an easy task. In fact, air travel is pretty messy today throughout the northeast. In Chicago, many of the flights have been canceled and that's exactly what's being experienced in Philadelphia and all the way up to New York and other parts of the northeast, as far as Boston as well. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras because it looks like it's just the beginning, isn't it?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, yeah. Philadelphia has been in this heavy band for a while, but believe it or, they're going to (INAUDIBLE) a little bit later and they're actually going to see some dry conditions before that next wave begins to push on through. But we had some reports of three inches in an hour in Philadelphia between the 2:00 and 3:00 hour and it looks like those rates are getting close to that. Very heavy at least right now, but we will watch for some improving conditions here once we get into this back side of this initial blast of the cold weather.
Now, Boston, you had a pretty good go of it throughout much of the morning, but now you can see, as of about 3:00, those are light snow showers and flurries began to move in, but head on down over towards Worcester, as you can see that the snow is a little bit heavier there, so watch for this to be picking up within the next hour to an hour and a half and then your visibility is really going to be dropping. So if you're still trying to do what you need to do and get out in Boston, you don't have much time. You're going to want to stay in later on for tonight. Washington, D.C., take a look at this, I want to show you a live picture right now into Washington, D.C. temperatures in the 20s. We can finally see the White House again after dumpling a good five-plus inches of snowfall there, 23 is our current temperature.
But we are expecting another wave of snow showers to be moving in later on for tonight, bringing the storm totals between about six and 10 inches overall. So don't be fooled by this break now, because more is coming later on for tonight.
Let's go back to the maps and show you a few more cities that you can expect to see the heavy, heavy amounts. New York City, 14 to 20 inches, Boston 18 to 24 and as you head out towards the cape, we could even be seeing maybe 24 to 30 inches of snowfall. Philadelphia, looking like 10 to 15 inches, 8 to 10 in Baltimore, about 8 to 10 into Washington, D.C. The good news is that this still is a fast-moving storm overall. This should be out of here by tomorrow night. Blustery conditions will move in back behind it and look at the wind chills right now in the single digits. We'll be seeing single digits below zero later on for tonight. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot Jacqui.
Well, autopsy reports confirm a Nebraska couple that got lost in a recent snowstorm, died of hypothermia. The couple made several desperate 911 phone calls trying to explain where they were, but police were unable to find them in time. CNN's Keith Oppenheim explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a subzero snow storm, Mike Wamsley and Janell Hornicle (ph), two 20-year olds, got lost driving to Omaha, Nebraska. They made repeated calls to 911.
911: Sarpy County, 911.
WAMSLEY: Yes, my girlfriend placed a call earlier out by - sandpit.
911: Out by where?
WAMSLEY: Out by a sandpit.
OPPENHEIM: Because Wamsley is using a cell phone, his signal is bouncing to other regions and dispatchers want to transfer him to where they think he is so he can get help faster.
WAMSLEY: No, no, please. I don't have a chance to. My phone is going to die. I need some help.
911: I understand but I can't help you because I'm in a different area.
OPPENHEIM: Wamsley and Hornicle are stuck near a gravel pit near the rural outskirts of Omaha slowly freezing to death.
WAMSLEY: Please, can you get over here now?
OPPENHEIM: But despite the anguish, dispatchers don't have the technology to pinpoint the call.
DAN PETERSON, SARPY COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS DIR: It was just not possible to locate where they were.
OPPENHEIM: Days of searching follows the phone calls. The bodies of Wamsley and Hornicle were found outside frozen. They left their vehicle not dressed for the weather.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both individuals were impaired at the time of death.
OPPENHEIM: An autopsy revealed both bodies had high traces of the drug methamphetamine or crystal meth, which may explain their confusion in the storm. And that may have made the calls even more challenging for 911 dispatchers. Still, the question is, was this a bad mix of drugs and inadequate technology, or were the calls transferred so often that time was wasted in the search for two people calling for help? Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us next. So what is on tap for us, doc? DR, BILL LLOYD, UC DAVIS MED CTR: Well, Fredricka, if you or a family member is contemplating surgery, you're going to want to stick around for "living well" because we're going to tell you how to protect yourself from preventable medical errors on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A little over an hour from now, CNN LIVE SATURDAY with Randi Kaye (ph). What's on tap?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up at 6:00, Fredricka, the Iraqi election just eight days away. Millions of Iraqi exiles very excited about the election, some are saying it's like being reborn. We'll talk with some of those who are voting. We will also speak with a woman who just returned from Iraq. She will be voting. We'll talk to her about whether or not the country is ready for the voting and what her hopes are for the results.
Also coming up tonight at 10:00, we're going to take a closer look at a book that is coming out next year. It is called "Al Qaeda Reader" published by Doubleday and this book includes the translation of original writings by Osama bin Laden and his deputy Iman al Zawari so quite a debate Fredricka about whether or not this book should be published, should Doubleday, who is the publisher, be profiting from it and what should happen to those funds? So plenty to discuss.
WHITFIELD: It will be an interesting dialogue. We'll be listening. Thanks Randi.
On to a little medical news now. Every year 40 million Americans are hospitalized and getting surgery. Most of those are not emergencies. Nearly 100,000 patients die each year due to hospital errors. There are precautions that you can take to improve your chances for a healthy recovery. Dr. Bill Lloyd is an experienced surgeon at the University of California Davis Medical Center and he joins us now from Sacramento. Good to see you.
LLOYD: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. So before entering surgery, there are things you as a patient should do to ensure your safe recovery.
LLOYD: Oh, certainly Fredricka. This is a number 10 scalpel. This is your big boy. We're not talking about the kinds of procedures where you come in the morning. They put a little scope in you and you're out in the parking lot by 3:00. We're talking about procedures where you'll be put to sleep. You'll wake up in a recovery room and you'll be in the hospital for a few days or maybe a few weeks, like a coronary procedure, a hip or a knee replacement. So I've got a list of important steps that you should take before you go in for scheduled surgery to make sure you can out of the hospital as soon as possible.
First, be sure you choose the proper hospital. Ask the doctor where will I get the best nursing care for my problem, my specific problem? Make sure you completely review all of your medications with your doctor. This includes prescription meds, over-the-counter meds and things like herbals and nutrients as well. Of course if you're aspirin or any blood thinners, you'll need to stop those before hand. This is the perfect time to stop smoking. Even 30 days will make a difference in wound healing and your ability to tolerate anesthesia.
Always ask questions. Don't stop asking questions. What precisely is going to happen to me? How long should I be there? The more you know, the better choices you can make about your own healthcare. And finally, be sure you have a home plan so you know you'll have somebody to look after you once you're discharged from the hospital.
WHITFIELD: And now, I wonder, are there certain days of the week that perhaps are better for surgery? Because some say, you know, it depends on the surgeon's schedule, et cetera and you need to know those things?
LLOYD: I think it's a good guideline Fredricka, that nursing staffs are pretty rich during the middle of the week and things go, pardon of pun, on a skeleton crew during the weekend. So if you have elective surgery scheduled ahead of time, think about having it early in the week, because it's the recovery from the surgery where you'll need the most intensive nursing care. And if you're on a ward where there's not enough nurses, they may be paying attention to somebody in the bed instead of your bed.
WHITFIELD: Whoa and sometimes there are some errors made after your surgery. What can you as a patient do to perhaps prevent those?
LLOYD: Well, the best thing you can do to keep yourself healthy when you're inside the hospital, is get another pair of eyes. Have someone join you while you're in the hospital at least during the daytime to make sure things like your medications are given to you on time and that they're the right medication. Make sure you have somebody with you so that maybe if you're groggy after surgery, there's somebody looking out to make sure that anybody who touches you always washes their hands before they come in contact to protect you from dangerous hospital infections, to check on what you're eating. In fact if you have a restriction or a low-salt diet, you get specifically what the doctor ordered. And also to make sure that many of the daily activities that will fill your day in the hospital -- lab work, x-rays, physical therapy, go off as scheduled and that the results get to the doctor.
WHITFIELD: And it's good to have an advocate when you're discharged as well, right because just because you're leaving the hospital doesn't mean that you are fully recovered.
LLOYD: You could have a wonderful result, a perfect surgical outcome and then sabotage it when you go home to an empty house. So once again have somebody there with you to make sure you can get home safely, to give you your medications, to look at the things like wound care and to get you back to the doctor for that important follow-up visit.
WHITFIELD: All right. All great things to keep in mind. It can be a lengthy process. All right. Thanks so much, Dr. Bill Lloyd LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.
WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL TUOHEY, FMR. U.S. AIR GATE ATTENDANT: I just put two people on that plane and I was feeling horrible. You know, here I was thinking that these guys are terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Moments after he heard about the 9/11 attack, airline employee Michael Tuohey thought his actions had led to the deaths of 2,000 innocent people. But it turned out his first instincts were correct. He had given boarding passes to two of the hijackers.
COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: For so many people it began as just another day at work. And so it was for Michael Tuohey who was working the U.S. Air counter in Portland, Maine on 9/11. Now Tuohey is a footnote in the history of that tragic day. Here's CNN's Drew Griffin with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 9/11 Commission would describe the dawning of September 11th as temperate and nearly cloudless. By 4:00 a.m., Michael Tuohey was already at work at the U.S. Air ticket counter at the airport in Portland, Maine.
MICHAEL TUOHEY, FMR. U.S. AIR GATE ATTENDANT: Crystal clear blue sky. It was just a fabulous day, you know, to go to work.
GRIFFIN: One hour and 43 minutes into Tuohey's day, two men approached his ticket counter rushing to catch the 6:00 flight to Boston.
TUOHEY: They had a tie and jacket on and as I'm looking at them, you know, they're holding their IDs up and I'm looking at them -- it's not nice, but I said, jeez, if this doesn't look like two Arab terrorists, I've never seen two Arab terrorists.
GRIFFIN: That was your first reaction.
TUOHEY: That was my thought as I'm looking at them. I'm looking at their licenses and that thought ran through my mind.
GRIFFIN: Where did that thought go?
TUOHEY: I don't know. Immediately I felt guilty about thinking something like that. I just said, this is awful. I've checked in thousands of Arabic people over the years, in doing the same job. Businessmen, these are just a couple Arab business guys. GRIFFIN: But something about these two men was different. Tuohey says the younger man, Abdul Aziz al-Amari (ph) could barely speak English. The other was Mohamed Ata. Tuohey says he had the eyes of a killer.
TUOHEY: He did. He had the deadest eyes I have ever seen.
GRIFFIN: Setting aside his gut reaction, Tuohey issued the boarding passes. The flight was leaving in 17 minutes and Ata and Amari still had to clear security but Ata told Tuohey he wanted not only the boarding passes for the U.S. Air flight to Boston, but also the passes for their connecting American Airlines flight to Los Angeles. Ata, the mastermind behind the 9/11 plan was facing the plan's first obstacle, a gate agent with an attitude.
TUOHEY: I just gave him the ticket, gave them the boarding cards for the Boston flight. He says, isn't this -- isn't there one-stop checking? And I said, no, you're connecting to American Airlines down in Boston.
GRIFFIN: Had Ata argued, he would have missed his flight. Tuohey says the two men turned in a huff and hurried to the gate. Less than three hours later, Tuohey was told by a co-worker that American flight 11 had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
TUOHEY: I said oh my God, I said, I put two people on that plane and I was feeling horrible, you know. Here I was thinking that these guys are terrorists, and I just had a flashback. I said now the poor bastards are dead. And then you get the word on the second plane and then it was like a punch in the stomach.
GRIFFIN: You knew then that those two guys were involved?
TUOHEY: As soon as I heard it -- the second I heard it, I said I was right, I was right. And it was just -- I don't know to describe it, how your stomach twists and turns. You get sick to your stomach. It still does, to this day. (INAUDIBLE) I felt ashamed that I did not react to my instincts.
GRIFFIN: His instinct to label the Arab men that morning as terrorists to slow down their check and to search their bags, to possibly make the ringleader miss his flight, all of that is post-9/11 thinking. On that September morning, hassling two men simply because they were Arabs would not have been politically correct Tuohey says. His job was to get them on the flight and he did. Once he and other employees realized what was happening, they called the FBI and within hours Tuohey found himself viewing this videotape of the two Arab men he had ticketed passing through security. He told the FBI who they were. He also told them that he observed something curious on the tape.
TUOHEY: And they said well, what do you mean? I says, well, these guys had on -- they were very business-looking. They had on ties and jackets. I says if you look at these guys they both have like open collar, they have like dress shirts with an open collar. I said, but that's them, I know it's them. GRIFFIN: Tuohey went home after that and watched the dreadful events unfold on television. His wife, a flight attendant, was grounded in another city. He was alone. The next day, the self- described tough kid from a Boston housing project broke into tears. He talked to the psychologist the airline referred him to. Then he called the one person he knew could help.
TUOHEY: I called my mother and she said, what are you crying for? I said, I feel bad about all them people that got killed. And she says, what did you have to do with it and I told her and she says, I'm coming up.
GRIFFIN: His 91-year-old mother told him it wasn't his fault, a judgment he believes the 9/11 Commission has now confirmed. Warnings had been conveyed to the highest levels of government but no one had instructed Mike Tuohey to be more vigilant. Had there been any kind of alert, Tuohey says he would have acted on his nonpolitically correct gut instinct. Instead, when he read this report, he learned he was far from the only one to allow the hijackers to carry out their mission.
TUOHEY: That helped. I have to admit that helped. After seeing all the information that was available, I was saying jeez, why am I blaming myself? If they all knew this stuff, by the time it got to me, it was already, you know a done thing.
GRIFFIN: Could it happen again? Tuohey, who has now retired to rural Maine, says probably not. He also agrees with the 9/11 Commission that another terrorist plot most likely won't involve airplanes. Tuohey says he just hopes that the next person chosen by chance to make that first contact with evil, whoever becomes the first footnote of the next attack, does what he did not and reacts when his gut tells him to.
TUOHEY: I had the devil standing right in front of me, you know, and I ignored it.
GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Scarborough, Maine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And join us tomorrow for a three-hour CNN security watch special report, defending America. CNN correspondents coast to coast report on the security of the nation's airports, seaports and rail stations. Are we safer now than on 9/11? That's tomorrow beginning at 5:00 Eastern on CNN. Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. And that's going to do it for us for this hour. PEOPLE IN THE NEWS is straight ahead. Today's profiles, First Lady Laura Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
And coming up at 6:00 Eastern, Randi Kaye, more on the winter wallop across the northeast. CNN has reporters on the ground all along the east coast and we'll bring you updates throughout the evening. Thanks for joining us. Back with the headlines right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello, again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. PEOPLE IN THE NEWS is coming up next. But first here's what's happening. A major snow storm is blasting parts of the Midwest and northeast today. Blizzard warnings are in effect in New York and New England where forecasts expect between one and two feet of snow by tomorrow. The powerful storm system hit the Midwest
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 January 22, 2005 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A young couple lost in a snowstorm and an urgent plea for help but 911 operators have no idea where to find them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DEWEY: I just put two people on that plane, and I was feeling horrible, you know. Here I was thinking that these guys were terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: He had a gut feeling these guys were bad, but didn't stop them. Michael Dewey gave boarding passes to two of the hijackers on the morning of September 11th. Here's how he's coping with his decision.
And going under the knife, what you should do beforehand to improve your chances for a healthy recovery.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at the headlines.
Snow, high winds and freezing temperatures are advancing across the Midwest and northeast today. Hundreds of flight have been canceled at Chicago's O'Hare international airport and more delays are likely as the dangerous winter storm moves east. People from Boston to New York are bracing for blizzard conditions.
A dragnet is out for 42-year-old Frederick Fretz (ph). The convicted sex offender is accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old Florida boy. The boy was found on the side of a Georgia highway last night, apparently unharmed. Fretz is now believed to be now on foot and in a wooded area somewhere in northern Georgia.
As a security precaution for next weekend's national elections in Iraq, Baghdad's international airport will be closing. The airport will not allow flights on January 29th and 30th. Iraq's borders will be closed during that time as well except to Iraqis returning from the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
A winter storm, a blizzard, a massive weather system, whatever you called it, the blast of frigid air accompanied by huge amounts of snow is causing extreme conditions and travel headaches in the northeast. Millions of people from Wisconsin and New England are bundling up, digging out and staying in. We have complete coverage of the storm for you. CNN's Chad Myers is in Philadelphia and meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center tracking the storm. Well, let's get started first with an overview. Before the storm moved into the northeast, it walloped the Midwest. Here's CNN's Denise Belgrave.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a winter wonderland for some and a tale of woe for others.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just trying to get uphill in this weather and the rear wheel just spin out.
BELGRAVE: A powerful winter storm swept across the Midwest, dumping as much as a foot of snow in some areas. Blizzard conditions and high winds left roads so treacherous in Minnesota that state troopers temporarily closed major highways and parts of the interstate. Don Fritz had to stop to repair a windshield wiper.
DON FRITZ: I tell you what, I just came down 100 heading north. I'm going to pick up my wife's grandmother; she's 97. I went three miles an hour. That was the max, you know. That was as fast as I was going.
BELGRAVE: In Ohio, both man and machine worked to keep walkways and roads salted, but in some cases, it just wasn't enough and there's no relief in sight. Freezing rain and strong winds are expected to move in overnight. Chicago residents are preparing for more snow. That's on top of the eight inches that fell in the past 24 hours. Minneapolis resident Leo Nielsen (ph) tried to see the brighter side of things.
LEO NIELSEN: You get good exercise doing this. It keeps you in shape.
BELGRAVE: Nielsen says he's prepared to share his exercise regime.
NIELSEN: So if any of your viewers want to come and shovel this sidewalk tomorrow morning, they're more than welcome.
BELGRAVE: And that's not an offer not too difficult to refuse. Denise Belgrave, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Let's take a closer look at the storm and see where it's headed next. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins us now from the weather center. Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the storm is starting to die down a bit across the Midwest, however still some lake-effect snow is going on. So what's happening now across the Chicago area, a little different than what you saw when you picked up your eight inches of snow. Let's take a look at a live picture out of Chicago right now. Temperatures very cold, 20 degrees on the thermometer, but you add in those gusty winds and it feels like four above. Those winds will be gusting around 40 miles per hour at times this evening and that's going to bring your wind chill factor down to about zero through the overnight. Additional snow accumulations though just mostly coming in off that lake, around 1 to 3 inches.
Now let's look at some of the snow that we're seeing across parts of the northeast at this time and I want to show you where that storm system is. You can kind of see the little comma curve here. This is where the area of low pressure is. That's bringing in the heavy snow across upstate New York, especially through parts of Jersey right now and heading on down into Washington, D.C. and this has been our focus with this storm so far. But things are going to be changing.
What I want you to notice on this map is take a look at these arrows. The arrows are the directions of the wind, which way the wind is coming from. From Atlantic City, we're looking at winds coming in from the northeast, then head on over here from Washington, D.C., winds are a little bit more northerly. You come into Richmond, northwesterly winds and look at Norfolk. Those are coming in from the southwest. This is what we call cyclo-genesis.
This is where a new area of low pressure is beginning to develop right now and this will be taking over the old storm, that old storm, that old storm kind of getting absorbed into this one and that will be riding on up the coast now and we will be watching now for our storm system to be heading into New England and start to begin to bring in - Gwen (ph), if you could switch that back over - start to bring in some of those heavier snowfall amounts.
We want to show you where the storm system is going to be headed next. It's going to be moving off the coast. It's going to be wrapping in all of this moisture from the Atlantic and we're going to be seeing a big difference in the pressure, so a tight pressure gradient we call it, with winds gusting around 50 miles per hour at times. That's why we're going to be seeing the blizzard whiteout conditions. Snowfall totals extremely impressive, mostly into the coastal areas and we're going to pick out a couple of specific cities here for you.
Travel not advised for today. Boston has already snowing now, so you have maybe an hour before things get a lot worse. You really want to stay home for tonight and into tomorrow morning, 18 to 24 inches there, ending by late day on Sunday. In New York city, 14 to 20, a couple inches on the ground already here and by noon tomorrow, Philadelphia, 10 to 15 inches there, Washington, D.C., 6 to 10 inches. These are the warnings that are in place across the northeast. In these white areas, getting down from Boston into Providence, over towards Hartford and into New York City, that's where the blizzard warnings and the worst of the weather will be. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Jacqui, thanks very much and we'll check back with you again in about 30 minutes or so. Well, it's a big sports weekend in Philadelphia, but the winter weather means both footballs and snowballs will be thrown in the city of brotherly love. CNN's Chad Myers joins us now from Philadelphia and already packing in those snowballs?
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, if you could actually pack the snow, there might be snowball fights, but take a look at this. This stuff is so light and fluffy, you couldn't make a snowman if you wanted to. We're about six to eight inches deep here but if you take a look up here into the dark spot, you get a better idea of how hard it's actually snowing. When it hits you in the face, it gets real stingy.
Then what's going to happen tomorrow is the winds are really going to pick up, looking at 30 to maybe 35 miles per hour here during the game. Can you imagine what that is going to do to that snow? At 35 miles per hour, we're going to have drifts inside the stadium. I- 95, very close to the stadium right here. It actually goes right by it, just on the southeast side, moving fairly well.
I arrived in Philadelphia about 11:30 this morning. The snow had just started, literally an inch on the ground. What should have been a 12-minute ride to the hotel took me well over 45 minutes, because the first couple of flakes Fred that hit the ground melted on the fairly warm ground and that caused a little layer of ice and now this snow is on top of that ice. Trying to get traction as we even drove here to the live shot was very difficult. When you start the car, if the road is crowned a little bit, your car actually slides off towards the crown or slides off toward whatever side it's actually angled to, down toward the ditch, so you have to be very, very careful.
We are looking at what's called a dry slot to the west. The snow is going to taper off for a while, but as Jacqui just told you, there's another storm developing. Cyclogenesis is not the word that the people here want to hear from Jacqui Jeras right now, because that means another low pressure system is going to pick up moisture from the ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, a very big body of water. You hear about lake effect snow all the time. This is going to be ocean-effect snow in some of these big cities in the northeast.
WHITFIELD: Not a pretty scene, but Chad, folks in the northeast are used to this. I mean it is winter after all. However, does it look like because of this storm and because of all the warnings coming from emergency, you know, groups, that folks are staying off the roads, at least where you are?
MYERS: No. Everybody's on the road. I think it's busier today than it would be on a normal Saturday. Just to go up Broad Street from here all the way up to the central part of town, literally it should take you even 15 minutes if you hit all the lights red, it's painfully slow. It's probably an hour drive now, because you just hit one light after another, after another. You can only go 5 miles an hour and the police are everywhere. They are towing everybody that's on the roads, those no parking roads.
WHITFIELD: The snow emergency routes. MYERS: You bet. They are out with their tow trucks now, so get them off the street if you got one.
WHITFIELD: All right. Good idea. Thanks a lot, Chad.
The storm is impacting air travel as well. Hundreds of flights have been canceled today at Chicago's O'Hare International airport alone. Helping us keep track of the situation is Travelocity air traffic specialist Rally Caparas. He joins us on the telephone. Rally, we know that this is really causing a pretty significant backup at least for a lot of planes originating and trying to get into Chicago, but what about the rest of the country, particularly in the northeast?
RALLY CAPARAS, AIR TRAFFIC SPECIALIST: Well, Fredricka, it is probably one of the nastiest days that we have seen in years as far as delays are concerned, cancellations, especially on a very or typically light weekend air traffic volume. Today already we've seen over 2,500 flights canceled into the major metropolitan airports along the east and great lakes regions.
Boston and the New York City metros alone have already had over 1,000 flight canceled today. It's going to get worse before it gets better. If you're not already in the sky today headed to Boston or New York City, that being Newark, La Guardia or JFK, you're more than likely going to be canceled if you haven't heard about it already. Tomorrow morning those same locations will see hundreds, if not thousands of cancellations.
We're seeing sporadic airport closures. Right now Philadelphia International where Chad is, presently closed due to the conditions. Zero visibility basically with the blowing snow already. They had about an eighth of a mile now it's down to 100 feet ceiling. You can't fly into or out of that stuff. The pilots don't have the equipment, technology won't allow for it, either. So expect Philadelphia to stay closed for at least for the next hour.
Possibly some flights could sneak in later this evening, but it's unlikely that they'll take that chance as there have already been some incidents. There's no accidents, but there have been incidences, forcing JFK for instance to shut down their runway for a while. An airport (sic) slipped off the runway or got slipped off a taxi way. It happens pretty commonly this time of the year or during these types of storms.
Baltimore, Washington, Washington Dulles, hundreds of flight canceled there, excuse me, snow, terrible visibility, more tomorrow morning. Expect flights early in the morning to be cancelled. Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Covington airports all have seen hundreds of canceled flights now. If you're flying into those locations more than likely the rest of the flights will be cancelled. For this evening, Chicago O'Hare and Midway, as you spoke, 350 flights have been canceled into those locations. Low clouds, snow, poor visibility and very strong gusting winds. They're already starting to see 35 and 40 knot winds in the great lakes region. Even in the south where the weather is kind of warm, considering what's going on in the northeast, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson has canceled over 100 flights. It's kind of the, if you don't mind me using the phrase, a snowball effect of things that are taking place in the northeast. It's going to affect places like Atlanta and Charlotte. The weather is marginal. However, hundreds of flights being cancelled. It's a complete and utter mess. Tomorrow morning it's going to get a little bit better for those points west of the east coastline, but not much better for the north or east coast. I'll be back later on this evening with the latest for you. Fredricka, back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Rally Caparas of Travelocity, thanks so much. Lots of cancellations, lots of delays, so travel with a lot of patience today.
Some areas around the nation's capital reporting whiteout conditions. Across Virginia, Washington and Maryland, at least 3,600 trucks are clearing and treating the roadways. Our Gary Nurenberg is in a very snowy Washington, where it looks like it's broken up a bit? A lot of snow on the ground, but no longer in the air and I'm glad to see you got a hat now Gary.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Washington, D.C. still has a winter storm warning until 7:00 tomorrow morning. And as Fredricka said, it's doing what the forecasters said it would do. It stopped briefly, with about four inches of snow on the ground, but they say it's going to resume later this evening with as much as 10 inches by tomorrow morning. The city of Washington, D.C. has declared a snow emergency. That means if you park in the wrong place, it's $250 and they tow your car. And to deal with all of this, the city now has 200 trucks on city streets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG (voice-over): Snowplow drivers got a break, because the snow fell on the weekend, cutting substantially the number of cars on D.C. road. But weather didn't deter tourists who made the snow part of their plan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We tried to do all our outside stuff yesterday, so we could do all the museums and inside today.
NURENBERG: They went alone. The National Air and Space museum was busy with tourists who couldn't see national landmarks like the Jefferson Memorial, unless they were standing nearly on top of them. The new World War II memorial drew picture takers to the unusual snowy vista. Kids from Florida made snow angels on the national mall. Your butt is now completely covered in snow. Was it worth it?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yeah. We can't do this in Florida.
NURENBERG: Ask if it's smart to leave Florida for this?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: It's as smart as the people that come down to Florida during hurricane season. NURENBERG: Imagine running in this stuff. She did, six miles in an hour. How come you're not slipping down and hurting yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no ice. It's good traction on the snow actually. It's very dry snow.
NURENBERG: For this visitor from Costa Rica.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my first time I see snow in my life, because I -- well because in Costa Rica we don't have snow.
NURENBERG: In Washington Saturday, we did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG: Oh, did we ever and breathing a huge sigh of relief, the planners of the inauguration festivities, 48 hours ago, right now on this spot, about 200,000 people lined up to see the inaugural parade. Boy, are they glad that this didn't happen then. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. It seemed like the inauguration was sandwiched right in between two snowy systems and that was perfect timing. All right. Gary Nurenberg, thanks so much.
Well, stay with CNN for in-depth live coverage of the looming east coast blizzard. We'll keep you all up to date tomorrow, beginning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern as well as throughout the evening tonight.
Taking a stand on both sides of the issue, straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, protesters mark the 32nd anniversary of Roe V. Wade, a decision which has an uncertain future.
Also a checkpoint tragedy. U.S. soldiers open fire on a car in Iraq with horrible results. Now six children are parentless.
Plus this,
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEMSEY: It's not nice, but I say, jeez, if this doesn't look like two Arab terrorists, I've never seen two Arab terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was your first reaction?
DEMSEY: That was my thought as I'm looking at them. I'm looking at their licenses and that thought ran through my mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: How one man thinks he might have changed history. The airline gate agent who came face-to-face with two of the 9/11 hijackers the morning of their deadly act.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: CNN Saturday, looking at a beautifully peaceful and snowy view of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation's capital, perhaps a little respite before the rest of this expected blizzard system makes another hit this evening and into tomorrow in most of the northeast.
Well, it was 32 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court made its landmark ruling legalizing abortion and decades later passions remain high on both sides of the issue. Antiabortion groups marked the anniversary with a prayer vigil outside Planned Parenthood in snow- covered Washington earlier today. The vigil was smaller than expected, something organizers blame on the frigid and snowy conditions. One Planned Parenthood executive says for the first time today she wore a bulletproof vest to work.
Well, this year's anniversary of Roe versus Wade is particularly significant with the prospect of President Bush filling a vacancy or two on the U.S. Supreme Court during his next four years. How might it affect abortion rights? Joining me to talk about it this from Miami is former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey. Good to see you Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY: Hey, good afternoon Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, do you think that Roe v. Wade is in jeopardy?
COFFEY: Well, it's going to take two different members among the six members of the court that have basically said that they adhere and endorse the cornerstone findings of Roe versus Wade. It could happen within the four years, but very difficult to know at this point.
WHITFIELD: And what would it do in terms of testing state constitutions if it were to come to that?
COFFEY: Well, one of the fascinating developments would be if the U.S. Supreme Court said that the U.S. Constitution no longer gives a right to abortion. It's very hard to say what would happen in 50 states, almost all of which have their own state constitutions and state privacy rights. For example, just to mention Florida, Fredricka, because that's where we are, this state's supreme court has actually gone farther than the U.S. Supreme Court in protecting rights of abortion. So if Roe versus Wade were overruled tomorrow, in Florida, there would still be a state constitutional protection based on a state supreme court decision assuring a right to abortion.
WHITFIELD: But apparently there are 19 other states that do ban abortion and that perhaps if Roe v. Wade were to be reversed, then perhaps this would only fuel more states to follow the 19 states' lead?
COFFEY: It would be one of the wildest political cross fires and legal cross fires imaginable because there would be this incredible flurry of action throughout the state legislatures, and at the same time, legal challenges mostly based on individual state constitutions. And hard to say. For example, to give you two states that you wouldn't think of as outrageously liberal, states like Kentucky, states like Arkansas, they have had state supreme court decisions going farther than the U.S. Supreme Court in terms of gay rights. So what would happen in some legislatures where they want to immediately outlaw abortions, but where you may have a state constitution or a state supreme court to be something that really gets into the melting pot and with things boiling over rapidly.
WHITFIELD: So how might this galvanize congressional action?
COFFEY: Well, one of the scenarios, and you make a very important point. The United States Congress itself could rush forward and basically take the position at they are going to outlaw abortions. Now, again there are a lot of subchapters to this. Does it mean outlaw abortions even if it violates a woman's right -- perhaps jeopardizes the health of the mother? Violates abortions say beyond let's say the first three months, a lot of different issues. But that could happen too. If the U.S. Congress were able to enact a bill, though, that would certainly trump and would override anything the state constitutions or state supreme courts could do.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder prior to any kind of appointment of one or even two justices, would we start to see perhaps in the next couple of months or even years that some state legislatures would start to put some kind of footwork in place, perhaps, you know, changing some privacy laws or making it more difficult, or easier for birth control dispensing, anything like that to kind of set the stage for what could come on on making abortion legal or not?
COFFEY: Great point, because it wouldn't happen overnight. It would really require a process again of perhaps two changes in memberships of the U.S. Supreme Court, and that means, you're right, the legislators and activists be locking and loading, ready to go once that case actually got to the U.S. Supreme Court with enough votes to overrule Roe v. Wade.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kendall Coffey, joining us from Miami. What a contrast, your backdrop compared to what we've been seeing in the northeast and the Midwest all day.
COFFEY: Eat your hearts out.
WHITFIELD: No kidding, well, enjoy the scenery there.
COFFEY: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot Kendall.
The checkpoint shooting that brought a quick apology from the U.S. military. That is straight ahead.
Also, a suicide bomber targets a wedding party in Iraq. At least a dozen people killed.
And lost in a snowstorm, a young couple had a cell phone to call for help but That wouldn't be enough for rescuers to find them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Taking the latest news from Iraq today, eight Chinese hostages have been released. A group called the Islamic Resistance Movement let them go after China issued a statement advising its citizens not to travel to Iraq. The speaker in a video showing the hostages says the men were unharmed and the Chinese government didn't pay any ransom for their release.
At least a dozen people are dead and dozens of others wounded after a suicide bomber crashed an explosives-laden ambulance into a wedding on Friday. The bomber drove into the wedding party and ignited the ambulance into a fireball.
Another Iraqi civilian was killed by a roadside bomb today. Three people were wounded in the explosion, including a U.S. soldier, who suffered minor injuries. The bomb exploded as a U.S. military patrol was passing along the al Dura Baghdad al jadida (ph) highway.
Our next report contains graphic images that may be disturbing, especially for children. Almost every day, the fighting in Iraq claims more lives. Often the victims are civilians and sometimes their deaths are the result of a misunderstanding. A photographer captured one recent tragedy involving an Iraqi family. The horror of it produced an unusually quick apology from the U.S. military. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just after 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, already getting dark, past curfew when U.S. troops fired shot at this car in the northern Iraqi town of Talafar (ph). The U.S. military says the soldiers on foot patrol were alert for suicide car bombs. The photographer who took these pictures watched as the tragedy unfolded.
CHRIS HONDROS, GETTY IMAGES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: We realized that some shots were going to get fired because I know -- I mean I knew that their car would have a hard time seeing these camouflaged soldiers, so I sort of scooted off to the side outside of anybody's line of fire and the car kept approaching. I could (INAUDIBLE)
STARR: In moments it was a nightmare on the street, an Iraqi man and his wife in the front seat killed by U.S. gunfire. Six terrified children emerged from the backseat. One slightly wounded, blood everywhere. A small boy bewildered at what he has just seen.
HONDROS: The soldiers when they realized what was going on, they very professionally and pathetically swept into action, get the kids up. Immediately the medics came over, immediately tried to assess what injuries the children had.
STARR: Soldiers upset as well as they tried to help the children. They took them to a nearby hospital. A U.S. military spokesman
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They took them to a nearby hospital. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad says there was no intention to harm innocent civilians. He says, while the pictures are heart wrenching, they also go to show in the moments immediately following, soldiers went from trying to protect their patrol, to rendering comfort and assistance to the children suffering a tragic loss.
The military spokesman says procedures were followed. There were hand signals to the driver, warning shots fired, and then shots to disable the vehicle and then shots that were fatal. No one may ever know if the Iraqi driver didn't see the soldiers, didn't understand the order to stop or if there was panic. But with five car bomb attacks in Iraq in the last three weeks against patrols and checkpoints, security concerns are at an all-time high. Still, the human tragedy.
CHRIS HONDROS, GETTY IMAGES, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: I remember the captain was adamant about making sure the children were all in a room when the two bodies of the adults were brought in to the morgue, into the hospital. He specifically said that he didn't want the children to see anymore.
STARR: The orphaned children now in the custody of the oldest teenager. The military may compensate the family, but the faces of this war show their agony. One small Iraqi girl sits at the feet of U.S. soldiers waiting for someone to tell her what happens now. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This is exactly what most of the northeast is dealing with, a whole lot of snow and very poor visibility. You're looking at a very cloudy-looking picture there of the crews way in the backdrop trying to clean some of the runways at the Philadelphia airport. It's not an easy task. In fact, air travel is pretty messy today throughout the northeast. In Chicago, many of the flights have been canceled and that's exactly what's being experienced in Philadelphia and all the way up to New York and other parts of the northeast, as far as Boston as well. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras because it looks like it's just the beginning, isn't it?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, yeah. Philadelphia has been in this heavy band for a while, but believe it or, they're going to (INAUDIBLE) a little bit later and they're actually going to see some dry conditions before that next wave begins to push on through. But we had some reports of three inches in an hour in Philadelphia between the 2:00 and 3:00 hour and it looks like those rates are getting close to that. Very heavy at least right now, but we will watch for some improving conditions here once we get into this back side of this initial blast of the cold weather.
Now, Boston, you had a pretty good go of it throughout much of the morning, but now you can see, as of about 3:00, those are light snow showers and flurries began to move in, but head on down over towards Worcester, as you can see that the snow is a little bit heavier there, so watch for this to be picking up within the next hour to an hour and a half and then your visibility is really going to be dropping. So if you're still trying to do what you need to do and get out in Boston, you don't have much time. You're going to want to stay in later on for tonight. Washington, D.C., take a look at this, I want to show you a live picture right now into Washington, D.C. temperatures in the 20s. We can finally see the White House again after dumpling a good five-plus inches of snowfall there, 23 is our current temperature.
But we are expecting another wave of snow showers to be moving in later on for tonight, bringing the storm totals between about six and 10 inches overall. So don't be fooled by this break now, because more is coming later on for tonight.
Let's go back to the maps and show you a few more cities that you can expect to see the heavy, heavy amounts. New York City, 14 to 20 inches, Boston 18 to 24 and as you head out towards the cape, we could even be seeing maybe 24 to 30 inches of snowfall. Philadelphia, looking like 10 to 15 inches, 8 to 10 in Baltimore, about 8 to 10 into Washington, D.C. The good news is that this still is a fast-moving storm overall. This should be out of here by tomorrow night. Blustery conditions will move in back behind it and look at the wind chills right now in the single digits. We'll be seeing single digits below zero later on for tonight. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot Jacqui.
Well, autopsy reports confirm a Nebraska couple that got lost in a recent snowstorm, died of hypothermia. The couple made several desperate 911 phone calls trying to explain where they were, but police were unable to find them in time. CNN's Keith Oppenheim explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a subzero snow storm, Mike Wamsley and Janell Hornicle (ph), two 20-year olds, got lost driving to Omaha, Nebraska. They made repeated calls to 911.
911: Sarpy County, 911.
WAMSLEY: Yes, my girlfriend placed a call earlier out by - sandpit.
911: Out by where?
WAMSLEY: Out by a sandpit.
OPPENHEIM: Because Wamsley is using a cell phone, his signal is bouncing to other regions and dispatchers want to transfer him to where they think he is so he can get help faster.
WAMSLEY: No, no, please. I don't have a chance to. My phone is going to die. I need some help.
911: I understand but I can't help you because I'm in a different area.
OPPENHEIM: Wamsley and Hornicle are stuck near a gravel pit near the rural outskirts of Omaha slowly freezing to death.
WAMSLEY: Please, can you get over here now?
OPPENHEIM: But despite the anguish, dispatchers don't have the technology to pinpoint the call.
DAN PETERSON, SARPY COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS DIR: It was just not possible to locate where they were.
OPPENHEIM: Days of searching follows the phone calls. The bodies of Wamsley and Hornicle were found outside frozen. They left their vehicle not dressed for the weather.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both individuals were impaired at the time of death.
OPPENHEIM: An autopsy revealed both bodies had high traces of the drug methamphetamine or crystal meth, which may explain their confusion in the storm. And that may have made the calls even more challenging for 911 dispatchers. Still, the question is, was this a bad mix of drugs and inadequate technology, or were the calls transferred so often that time was wasted in the search for two people calling for help? Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us next. So what is on tap for us, doc? DR, BILL LLOYD, UC DAVIS MED CTR: Well, Fredricka, if you or a family member is contemplating surgery, you're going to want to stick around for "living well" because we're going to tell you how to protect yourself from preventable medical errors on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A little over an hour from now, CNN LIVE SATURDAY with Randi Kaye (ph). What's on tap?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up at 6:00, Fredricka, the Iraqi election just eight days away. Millions of Iraqi exiles very excited about the election, some are saying it's like being reborn. We'll talk with some of those who are voting. We will also speak with a woman who just returned from Iraq. She will be voting. We'll talk to her about whether or not the country is ready for the voting and what her hopes are for the results.
Also coming up tonight at 10:00, we're going to take a closer look at a book that is coming out next year. It is called "Al Qaeda Reader" published by Doubleday and this book includes the translation of original writings by Osama bin Laden and his deputy Iman al Zawari so quite a debate Fredricka about whether or not this book should be published, should Doubleday, who is the publisher, be profiting from it and what should happen to those funds? So plenty to discuss.
WHITFIELD: It will be an interesting dialogue. We'll be listening. Thanks Randi.
On to a little medical news now. Every year 40 million Americans are hospitalized and getting surgery. Most of those are not emergencies. Nearly 100,000 patients die each year due to hospital errors. There are precautions that you can take to improve your chances for a healthy recovery. Dr. Bill Lloyd is an experienced surgeon at the University of California Davis Medical Center and he joins us now from Sacramento. Good to see you.
LLOYD: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. So before entering surgery, there are things you as a patient should do to ensure your safe recovery.
LLOYD: Oh, certainly Fredricka. This is a number 10 scalpel. This is your big boy. We're not talking about the kinds of procedures where you come in the morning. They put a little scope in you and you're out in the parking lot by 3:00. We're talking about procedures where you'll be put to sleep. You'll wake up in a recovery room and you'll be in the hospital for a few days or maybe a few weeks, like a coronary procedure, a hip or a knee replacement. So I've got a list of important steps that you should take before you go in for scheduled surgery to make sure you can out of the hospital as soon as possible.
First, be sure you choose the proper hospital. Ask the doctor where will I get the best nursing care for my problem, my specific problem? Make sure you completely review all of your medications with your doctor. This includes prescription meds, over-the-counter meds and things like herbals and nutrients as well. Of course if you're aspirin or any blood thinners, you'll need to stop those before hand. This is the perfect time to stop smoking. Even 30 days will make a difference in wound healing and your ability to tolerate anesthesia.
Always ask questions. Don't stop asking questions. What precisely is going to happen to me? How long should I be there? The more you know, the better choices you can make about your own healthcare. And finally, be sure you have a home plan so you know you'll have somebody to look after you once you're discharged from the hospital.
WHITFIELD: And now, I wonder, are there certain days of the week that perhaps are better for surgery? Because some say, you know, it depends on the surgeon's schedule, et cetera and you need to know those things?
LLOYD: I think it's a good guideline Fredricka, that nursing staffs are pretty rich during the middle of the week and things go, pardon of pun, on a skeleton crew during the weekend. So if you have elective surgery scheduled ahead of time, think about having it early in the week, because it's the recovery from the surgery where you'll need the most intensive nursing care. And if you're on a ward where there's not enough nurses, they may be paying attention to somebody in the bed instead of your bed.
WHITFIELD: Whoa and sometimes there are some errors made after your surgery. What can you as a patient do to perhaps prevent those?
LLOYD: Well, the best thing you can do to keep yourself healthy when you're inside the hospital, is get another pair of eyes. Have someone join you while you're in the hospital at least during the daytime to make sure things like your medications are given to you on time and that they're the right medication. Make sure you have somebody with you so that maybe if you're groggy after surgery, there's somebody looking out to make sure that anybody who touches you always washes their hands before they come in contact to protect you from dangerous hospital infections, to check on what you're eating. In fact if you have a restriction or a low-salt diet, you get specifically what the doctor ordered. And also to make sure that many of the daily activities that will fill your day in the hospital -- lab work, x-rays, physical therapy, go off as scheduled and that the results get to the doctor.
WHITFIELD: And it's good to have an advocate when you're discharged as well, right because just because you're leaving the hospital doesn't mean that you are fully recovered.
LLOYD: You could have a wonderful result, a perfect surgical outcome and then sabotage it when you go home to an empty house. So once again have somebody there with you to make sure you can get home safely, to give you your medications, to look at the things like wound care and to get you back to the doctor for that important follow-up visit.
WHITFIELD: All right. All great things to keep in mind. It can be a lengthy process. All right. Thanks so much, Dr. Bill Lloyd LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.
WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL TUOHEY, FMR. U.S. AIR GATE ATTENDANT: I just put two people on that plane and I was feeling horrible. You know, here I was thinking that these guys are terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Moments after he heard about the 9/11 attack, airline employee Michael Tuohey thought his actions had led to the deaths of 2,000 innocent people. But it turned out his first instincts were correct. He had given boarding passes to two of the hijackers.
COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: For so many people it began as just another day at work. And so it was for Michael Tuohey who was working the U.S. Air counter in Portland, Maine on 9/11. Now Tuohey is a footnote in the history of that tragic day. Here's CNN's Drew Griffin with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 9/11 Commission would describe the dawning of September 11th as temperate and nearly cloudless. By 4:00 a.m., Michael Tuohey was already at work at the U.S. Air ticket counter at the airport in Portland, Maine.
MICHAEL TUOHEY, FMR. U.S. AIR GATE ATTENDANT: Crystal clear blue sky. It was just a fabulous day, you know, to go to work.
GRIFFIN: One hour and 43 minutes into Tuohey's day, two men approached his ticket counter rushing to catch the 6:00 flight to Boston.
TUOHEY: They had a tie and jacket on and as I'm looking at them, you know, they're holding their IDs up and I'm looking at them -- it's not nice, but I said, jeez, if this doesn't look like two Arab terrorists, I've never seen two Arab terrorists.
GRIFFIN: That was your first reaction.
TUOHEY: That was my thought as I'm looking at them. I'm looking at their licenses and that thought ran through my mind.
GRIFFIN: Where did that thought go?
TUOHEY: I don't know. Immediately I felt guilty about thinking something like that. I just said, this is awful. I've checked in thousands of Arabic people over the years, in doing the same job. Businessmen, these are just a couple Arab business guys. GRIFFIN: But something about these two men was different. Tuohey says the younger man, Abdul Aziz al-Amari (ph) could barely speak English. The other was Mohamed Ata. Tuohey says he had the eyes of a killer.
TUOHEY: He did. He had the deadest eyes I have ever seen.
GRIFFIN: Setting aside his gut reaction, Tuohey issued the boarding passes. The flight was leaving in 17 minutes and Ata and Amari still had to clear security but Ata told Tuohey he wanted not only the boarding passes for the U.S. Air flight to Boston, but also the passes for their connecting American Airlines flight to Los Angeles. Ata, the mastermind behind the 9/11 plan was facing the plan's first obstacle, a gate agent with an attitude.
TUOHEY: I just gave him the ticket, gave them the boarding cards for the Boston flight. He says, isn't this -- isn't there one-stop checking? And I said, no, you're connecting to American Airlines down in Boston.
GRIFFIN: Had Ata argued, he would have missed his flight. Tuohey says the two men turned in a huff and hurried to the gate. Less than three hours later, Tuohey was told by a co-worker that American flight 11 had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
TUOHEY: I said oh my God, I said, I put two people on that plane and I was feeling horrible, you know. Here I was thinking that these guys are terrorists, and I just had a flashback. I said now the poor bastards are dead. And then you get the word on the second plane and then it was like a punch in the stomach.
GRIFFIN: You knew then that those two guys were involved?
TUOHEY: As soon as I heard it -- the second I heard it, I said I was right, I was right. And it was just -- I don't know to describe it, how your stomach twists and turns. You get sick to your stomach. It still does, to this day. (INAUDIBLE) I felt ashamed that I did not react to my instincts.
GRIFFIN: His instinct to label the Arab men that morning as terrorists to slow down their check and to search their bags, to possibly make the ringleader miss his flight, all of that is post-9/11 thinking. On that September morning, hassling two men simply because they were Arabs would not have been politically correct Tuohey says. His job was to get them on the flight and he did. Once he and other employees realized what was happening, they called the FBI and within hours Tuohey found himself viewing this videotape of the two Arab men he had ticketed passing through security. He told the FBI who they were. He also told them that he observed something curious on the tape.
TUOHEY: And they said well, what do you mean? I says, well, these guys had on -- they were very business-looking. They had on ties and jackets. I says if you look at these guys they both have like open collar, they have like dress shirts with an open collar. I said, but that's them, I know it's them. GRIFFIN: Tuohey went home after that and watched the dreadful events unfold on television. His wife, a flight attendant, was grounded in another city. He was alone. The next day, the self- described tough kid from a Boston housing project broke into tears. He talked to the psychologist the airline referred him to. Then he called the one person he knew could help.
TUOHEY: I called my mother and she said, what are you crying for? I said, I feel bad about all them people that got killed. And she says, what did you have to do with it and I told her and she says, I'm coming up.
GRIFFIN: His 91-year-old mother told him it wasn't his fault, a judgment he believes the 9/11 Commission has now confirmed. Warnings had been conveyed to the highest levels of government but no one had instructed Mike Tuohey to be more vigilant. Had there been any kind of alert, Tuohey says he would have acted on his nonpolitically correct gut instinct. Instead, when he read this report, he learned he was far from the only one to allow the hijackers to carry out their mission.
TUOHEY: That helped. I have to admit that helped. After seeing all the information that was available, I was saying jeez, why am I blaming myself? If they all knew this stuff, by the time it got to me, it was already, you know a done thing.
GRIFFIN: Could it happen again? Tuohey, who has now retired to rural Maine, says probably not. He also agrees with the 9/11 Commission that another terrorist plot most likely won't involve airplanes. Tuohey says he just hopes that the next person chosen by chance to make that first contact with evil, whoever becomes the first footnote of the next attack, does what he did not and reacts when his gut tells him to.
TUOHEY: I had the devil standing right in front of me, you know, and I ignored it.
GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Scarborough, Maine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And join us tomorrow for a three-hour CNN security watch special report, defending America. CNN correspondents coast to coast report on the security of the nation's airports, seaports and rail stations. Are we safer now than on 9/11? That's tomorrow beginning at 5:00 Eastern on CNN. Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. And that's going to do it for us for this hour. PEOPLE IN THE NEWS is straight ahead. Today's profiles, First Lady Laura Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
And coming up at 6:00 Eastern, Randi Kaye, more on the winter wallop across the northeast. CNN has reporters on the ground all along the east coast and we'll bring you updates throughout the evening. Thanks for joining us. Back with the headlines right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello, again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. PEOPLE IN THE NEWS is coming up next. But first here's what's happening. A major snow storm is blasting parts of the Midwest and northeast today. Blizzard warnings are in effect in New York and New England where forecasts expect between one and two feet of snow by tomorrow. The powerful storm system hit the Midwest
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