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CNN Live Saturday

Iran's President Reacts to U.N. Action; Inside the Minds of Suicide Bombers; Coretta Scott King Laid to Rest

Aired February 04, 2006 - 17:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: In this hour of CNN LIVE SATURDAY, Iran's president takes the dispute about the country's nuclear ambitions to another level. How will the U.S. react?
Also, we'll take you live to Georgia's state capital in Atlanta, where mourners pay their respects to Coretta Scott King.

Plus, they blow themselves up because they say they're on a mission to kill. We'll take you inside the minds of Hamas suicide bombers.

Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

I'm Randi Kaye.

All that and much more after this check of the headlines.

Torched -- the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria go up in flames. Protesters torch the buildings amid growing outrage over a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad. More on the controversy is ahead.

New details surface of the last chaotic moments aboard a sunken Egyptian ferry. Survivors talk of chaos and fire. More reaction from them and the relatives of hundreds of people still missing are ahead.

Face-to-face -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Hamas leaders for the first time since last week's surprise election victory for Hamas. Still unclear is whether both parties will agree to form a coalition government once Hamas takes power.

Two significant passings today. One is actor Al Lewis, best known for his role as Grandpa Munster in the classic television comedy, "The Munsters." Lewis died after years of failing health. He was 83 years old.

And feminist Betty Friedan has died. Friedan's book, "The Feminine Mystique," helped inspire the modern feminist movement. Friedan died of congestive heart failure at the age of 85. We'll have much more on her life and her legacy ahead.

We begin with a resolution with muscle. The International Atomic Energy Agency voted today to turn Iran's nuclear dossier over to the U.N. Security Council. Many see the move as a critical one. It could mean possible economic sanctions.

At a gathering of top security officials in Germany, both hawks and doves weighed in.

Here's our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Munich Conference On Security Policy, an annual gathering of top defense officials from around the world, the denunciations began with a strong statement from Germany's new chancellor, who compared Iran's nuclear ambitions to the threat posed by Germany's Nazi regime in its early days.

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Iran has blatantly crossed the red line and I have to add that the absolutely unnecessary provocations of Iran's president make it necessary for us to react.

MCINTYRE: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld labeled Iran "the world's leading state-sponsor of terrorism" and said its uranium enrichment program must be stopped.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The world does not want and must work together to avoid a nuclear Iran.

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld and Merkel stressed diplomatic solutions, but Senator John McCain insisted the military option must not be taken off the table, even if it's a last resort.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: There's only one thing worse than military action and that is a nuclear armed Iran.

MCINTYRE: The U.S. and its European allies largely welcomed the vote of the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program. But the Iranian representative to the Munich conference argued the move would simply tie his government's hands and make a negotiated settlement harder.

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: The case is sent to the Security Council. You have to be very explicit. We have, as you know, a law I our parliament that we should stop all voluntarily activities. And that means the line of, you know, it -- escalation of the dispute.

MCINTYRE: Experts here scoffed at Iran's argument that it's only seeking nuclear technology to produce energy. Former CIA Director James Woolsey, for one, said Iran's actions are inconsistent with a peaceful nuclear program.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Munich, Germany.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KAYE: President Bush has been watching the situation closely. He, like many others, has seen how the actions of Iranian president, Mahmood Ahmadinejad, have increased his international profile and he remains an unpredictable factor. Our Bob Franken is in Crawford, Texas, where Mr. Bush is spending the weekend -- good evening, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening.

And one government official said that the United States and the other nations are going to "ratchet up the pressure step by step."

We're expecting a statement from the president out here at Crawford before the day is through. We've already heard from the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, put out a statement earlier today, very strongly worded: "We hope that the Iranian regime will heed this clear message. The world will not stand by if Iran continues on the path to a nuclear weapons capability."

And to provide emphasis to that, she sent out Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who went on to say that as far as the so-called preposterous statements, to use his words, that Iran has been putting out in the last several weeks, Iran is very much isolated, he went on, by today's action. Iran has miscalculated. And he continued: "I cannot say that we are filled with hope that Iran is going to do the right thing."

But to give the people in Tehran the chance to do that, there is going to be what amounts to a 30 day period where nothing is going to happen. Any action that is taken by the Security Council will wait for that full 30 days. Nothing definitive, we're told. Nothing public, anyway, is going to occur.

And as we've seen the initial reaction by Iran has been an escalation, also.

So right now there is a pushing and a shoving match going on, at least what we're seeing in public. But the art of diplomacy is oftentimes conducted in private with the just the hints of what's going on in the public statements like those that we've seen today. And what we've seen today is a true escalation -- Randi.

KAYE: All right, our Bob Franken live for us in Crawford, Texas.

Thank you.

We'll delve more into the challenges presented by Iran's controversial nuclear program about five minutes from now. We'll hear from former U.N. weapons inspector David Albright.

Two Western embassies went up in flames today in the growing rage in the Muslim world over cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad. There were several incidents today, the worst in Damascus, Syria, where thousands of demonstrators first set fire to the embassy of Denmark, the country where the images were first published. Flames shot from the building before firefighters could put the blaze out.

The mob then made its way to the embassy of Norway and set that building ablaze after breaking through a line of police. Among other incidents, dozens of Palestinians tried to storm the office of the European Union in Gaza. And a number of cities saw peaceful protests, including London and the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Here in Atlanta, there's a steady stream of mourners paying tribute to Coretta Scott King today. They're passing by her body lying in state at the Georgia state capital. She's the first woman and the first African-American to be so honored in Georgia. The civil rights icon died at an alternative medicine clinic in Mexico. Doctors say she was battling advanced ovarian cancer.

Tomorrow, King's casket will be moved to Ebenezer Baptist Church. Her late husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached there before his death.

Many credit Mrs. King for carrying out the work he started.

President Bush and the first lady are expected to attend her funeral Tuesday. The president is expected to make some remarks.

CNN will have live coverage of that funeral throughout the day and of the president's remarks.

One of the founders of the feminist movement, author and activist Betty Friedan, died today. She was 85. Her book, "The Feminine Mystique," became a best-seller back in the 1960s.

And joining us on the phone now to talk about the life and legacy of Friedan is her cousin, Emily Bazelon.

Emily, thanks so much for your time today.

We're so sorry for your family's loss.

EMILY BAZELON, COUSIN OF BETTY FRIEDAN: Thank you.

KAYE: If you would, talk about Betty a little bit.

Today was her 85th birthday.

What impressed you most about your cousin?

BAZELON: Betty was just an incredibly vibrant presence in the world. She always had something to say about the issue of the day, no matter what it was. And she really was someone for whom her feminist was a form of humanism. She cared about creating a more fulfilling life and making change for men and women. And that was just apparent in every conversation with her.

KAYE: She was so passionate.

Where would you say that passion came from?

BAZELON: I think that she -- that it came from her intellect. She was someone of just enormous intelligence and she carried that with her. And then I think that she had an experience as being a young wife and mother, feeling somewhat stifled and not having enough outlet for that intelligence. And that led her to ask questions about the life she was living and the life many other women like her were living and then to try and come up with solutions and to help women and families have more choices.

KAYE: Would you say that Betty's own mother influenced her at all?

BAZELON: I'm sure she did. I think that also her experience of having children influenced her. And when she -- when she realized she was dying this week, she asked one of her sons if she was dying. And he told her that she was. And she said that she wanted him to know that of all the good things she had done in her life, that nothing could compare to her children.

KAYE: Hmmm. That's very special to hear, I'm sure, for him.

What else would you say really stands out in her career? I mean she is credited with starting NOW, the National Organization of Women. It's tough to beat that.

BAZELON: Yes, that's true.

I think that her authorship of "The Feminine Mystique" is, you know, the kind of lifetime accomplishment that anyone would wish for. It's one of the most important books of the 20th century and she was an iconic figure because of it. And then she just was able to sort of dive in to the opportunities that were offered her because of that book, because she such an enormous presence.

And she had incredible timing. Just an amazing sense of public affairs and the media and how to get her message across.

KAYE: Betty Friedan's cousin, Emily Bazelon, thank you so much.

BAZELON: You're welcome.

KAYE: Appreciate your insights.

Straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, as the Iran nuclear dispute escalates, how concerned do you have to be? we'll talk to an international security expert.

Plus, what makes a person decide to become a suicide bomber? We'll take you inside the minds of would-be Hamas suicide bombers. That story is coming up.

And the mystery behind the killing of a mother and her nine month old baby in Massachusetts. Could it be solved in London?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Now more on our top story -- growing fears that Iran's nuclear program could be a front for more militant ambitions.

The U.N. Security Council is likely to study the IAEA's report for weeks. In the meantime, Iran is dramatically scaling back inspections by the IAEA.

My guest can help us understand just what that means.

David Albright is a former U.N. weapons inspector.

Good to see you, David.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, PRESIDENT, ISIS, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good to be here.

KAYE: First of all, why did it take the IAEA so long to pass this resolution?

ALBRIGHT: Well, the main reason is, is that people really wanted to give Iran a chance to come clean and to accept a pretty generous offer to give up certain dangerous nuclear activities in exchange for a very great amount of economic benefits. And I think the idea was, especially by the Europeans, that let's let this -- give Iran a chance and then build a consensus among nations.

And the United States has joined that effort. About a year ago now, Russia and China have joined the effort. And so the idea is to go slow and build a consensus so that Iran understands that what the IAEA is asking for is what the world wants.

KAYE: Sure.

Now, Iran is calling this nuclear activity peaceful, small scale lab activity and certainly saying that it will resume these nuclear activities.

What purpose could there possibly be for uranium enrichment other than weapons?

ALBRIGHT: Well, uranium is enriched to make fuel for nuclear power reactors. That's the main purpose of uranium enrichment in the world today. Iran probably does want to enriching uranium for civil purposes. But the suspicion -- and there's a lot of evidence to support this -- that Iran also wants to have the capability to make nuclear weapons in the future and is hiding that -- those activities or those ambitions from the International Atomic Energy Agency. And, also, there's concern that Iran has done a lot of secret activities. It's tried to mislead the International Atomic Energy Agency.

And so there is a great deal of suspicion about what Iran is trying to do and people want Iran to stop its enrichment activities while the IAEA figures out just exactly what has Iran done in the past in the nuclear area.

KAYE: Couldn't this have, though, the reverse effect, the reporting of Iran to the U.N. Security Council?

ALBRIGHT: Well, certainly Iran is expected to react. And if it does reduce its cooperation with the agency, that will escalate the crisis further. I want to point out, it hasn't done that yet. And we'll see over the next couple of days if it actually does it. I mean Iran is great for lots of threats and bluster, and it often backs down. I think that's partly why some people still have hope and want to continue to go slow and allow Iran to be able to back down.

KAYE: Iran is also saying that it will no longer allow these advanced inspections.

What exactly does that mean?

ALBRIGHT: Well, one concrete example is the IAEA wants to know does Iran have a nuclear weapons program? There was a document that Iran turned over that suggests that they are learning the where -- or the means to make nuclear materials for nuclear weapons. The IAEA wants to talk to certain people. It wants to understand what kind of assistance Iran got from the notorious A.Q. Kahn network.

And so there's a lot of questions the IAEA wants to ask. And to get answers, it needs access to people, it needs documents. And these are the newer safeguards methods and go way beyond what was in traditional safeguards.

And so if Iran does stop cooperating on these advanced methods, the inspection process will just grind to a halt and the IAEA will not be able to make any progress toward figuring out what Iran has done in the past.

KAYE: All right, David Albright, as always, good to see you and thanks for your insight today.

ALBRIGHT: Thank you.

KAYE: Now, inside the mind of a terrorist.

In Gaza, where the militant group Hamas is taking steps toward forming a government, alleged Hamas extremists spoke from prison with a French-Israeli filmmaker. What they told him is chilling.

CNN's Mary Snow reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What looks like carefree play is actually the confines of a Gaza prison. The French documentarian who filmed this also holds an Israeli passport. He had to get permission from both the Israeli government and the Islamic group Hamas to gain access to alleged extremists being held in prison.

"Our aim is that anybody who fights Islam is an enemy of Islam," she says. "and therefore it is only right to kill them."

The documentary "Suicide Killers" shows how women can be just as committed as men. "I wanted to die as a martyr," she says.

Pierre Rehov, who made the documentary, says this woman is named Kohira (ph), a 29-year-old mother of four. She was charged with leading a suicide bomber to an attack in Jerusalem in 2002 that killed three people and injured dozens of others.

(on camera): When you looked at her in the eye, did you feel I'm staring at hate?

PIERRE REHOV, FILMMAKER: Yes. In her case, yes. It was, among all of the people, she was the only one which was very scary to me.

SNOW (voice-over): Rehov found these women are willing to die for their cause, some in an apparent effort to prove that they can be equal to men. Others to hope for the afterlife.

This woman says, "As you know, God has announced that he would place 72 virgins in paradise. And I would be the prettiest of them all."

A father who says his two sons died as martyrs explained their view of what happens when men die as suicide bombers.

He says: "They know marriage in paradise is better than on earth. Allah has promised them 72 virgins who will be waiting for them."

The filmmaker found these beliefs of eternal beauty or rewards drive extremists. After his year-long project, he thinks their goal is to destroy modern life, for fear it may prove their beliefs wrong. And he says he walked away with little hope.

REHOV: I had the feeling that I was like their prisoner in some way, because they were catching me to tell me what they thought and they wanted to convince me. And it's -- it brought me to a very deep hole of despair.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: They are willing to blow themselves up and to kill, and they say it's all in the name of Allah. Take a look inside the minds of Hamas suicide bombers, ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Plus, who's responsible for the fires in five churches in Alabama? We'll have the latest on the ongoing police investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: This week, CNN begins a year long look into the future. If you've ever been to a hospital emergency room, you already know how much paperwork there is to fill out before you even see a doctor. Well, what if you could take the wait out of the waiting room?

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DENISE ALKIES: My name is Denise Alkies (ph). I'm 52 years old. I was in the back of what we call a gypsy cab. I remember headlights coming towards me and in five seconds my whole life changed.

Before my accident, I traveled, I shopped, I had a glorious life. I don't travel as much as I used to. I'm pretty much homebound.

This is my pouch. This is my little lifeline. In case I have a seizure, everything I need is in here. The problem is there needs to be something more than this, because not everyone would know to look inside of this packet for my information.

What would help me is if there was some way that wherever I went in the world, that whatever medical facility I went to, a doctor could access my medical records and know how to treat me in case of a crisis.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Like two million other Americans, Denise is an epileptic. When a seizure strikes suddenly, the doctors in the E.R. need answers -- and fast.

Now, imagine a device that could tell them all they need to know about any medical condition you have in a matter of minutes at any hospital anywhere in the world. Sound farfetched? It's closer than you think.

DR. JOSEPH FELDMAN, HACKENSACK UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: On a typical day, patients come in with heart attacks, strokes, major trauma, cancer patients in septic shock. You name it, we have it.

M. O'BRIEN: What might improve the odds for some of those patients at New Jersey's Hackensack University Medical Center is this -- that tiny chip Dr. Joseph Feldman, head of the hospital's trauma unit, holds in his hand. It's a radio frequency identification, or RFID, tag, the same technology used to tag animals to help reunite a pet with its owner. RFID has now won Food and Drug Administration approval for use in humans.

FELDMAN: RFID technology is very attractive to emergency departments. It enables people to quickly identify not only who the person is, but what their medical history is. And what would normally take hours sometimes can take a matter of minutes.

M. O'BRIEN: How does it work? With a wave of a wand, the doctor reads a unique I.D. number, then logs on to a central database to quickly access your medical history, surgical history, any medications you take, your allergies and blood type, even an emergency contact.

So far, fewer than 100 patients are wearing an RFID medical chip in the U.S. and its $200 cost is not covered by insurance -- yet. But 65 American hospitals have agreed to implement the technology, and the company that makes the chip expects that number to grow to 200 by the end of the year.

ALKIES: If I had the chip, I could travel all over the world. That would give me the freedom of living a live without bounds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Rewards totaling $10,000 now are being offered for clues in a series of church fires in Alabama. Five churches erupted in flames late Thursday and Friday by suspected arsonists and now investigators believe there may have been a sixth target.

CNN's David Mattingly reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Five Baptist churches in the same county, all set on fire in a three hour period after midnight. And that is the only link between the fires investigators are willing to discuss.

ED PAULK, ASSISTANT ALABAMA STATE FIRE MARSHALL: The investigation is going to have to progress through its natural stages. And, as such, there's a lot of information that cannot be released and made public because it will be necessary for use in any prosecution that is warranted.

MATTINGLY: All of the Bibb County, Alabama fires occurred in a 20-mile radius off two rural roads. Two, possibly three, churches are a total loss. Two others were not as badly damaged, suggesting they may have been burned last. A sixth fire in a neighboring county is also being investigated for a possible link. That church burned Thursday afternoon.

DAVID HYCHE, ATF: It's very unusual to have this many close together in this time proximity. It's very unusual. So I haven't investigated anything like this, this number, in that short of time.

MATTINGLY: Of the churches burned only one had a predominantly black congregation. But teams of federal investigators are not ruling out the possibility of a hate crime.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KAYE: Other headlines making "News Across America."

An all out search presses on for a Massachusetts teenager wanted in a bloody attack at a gay bar. Police say 18-year-old Jacob Robida attacked three people at a New Bedford lounge Thursday night. His weapons of choice? A gun and a hatchet.

Ten people remain in the hospital after a harrowing bus crash. A tour bus bound for Atlantic City slid down an embankment yesterday in New Jersey. Fifty-three passengers were on board. More than three dozen of them were injured. Investigators probing the cause are leaning toward mechanical failure.

An unbelievable scene in South Los Angeles. A driver collided with another car and crashed into a health clinic full with patients yesterday. Thirteen people were injured, six critically. One person lost a foot. The driver denies he was drag racing with the other vehicle. Police are still investigating.

A British man being called a person of interest in the murder of his wife and his baby is back with his parents in England. U.S. police say Neil Entwistle is one of several people they want to question in the killing of Rachel Entwistle and their nine month old daughter. Both were found dead inside the couple's Massachusetts home last month.

Paula Newton has more from London.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Neil Entwistle returned to his childhood home with his parents late Friday. He had been out of sight for three days, but still on the minds of a lot of people and the media.

And he hasn't escaped the attention of police on both sides of the Atlantic. British authorities are still keeping tabs on him. The 27-year-old computer expert hasn't been charged with anything, and he hasn't said anything either. No matter how strange his departure from his home near Boston, no matter how unthinkable his not showing up for the funeral of his wife and baby, no one can force Entwistle to tell what, if anything, he might know of the murders.

When police officers tried to question him, he pleaded the British equivalent of the Fifth Amendment.

ALAN JONES, EXTRADITION LAWYER: He then says, "I claim the privilege against self-incrimination." Then you can't force him to speak, whether it is in this country or in the United States.

NEWTON (on camera): And even if a British citizen is charged with a crime in the United States, a landmark ruling expected soon from Britain's high court could make it much more difficult to extradite them to the United States.

(voice-over): That ruling may make it easier for suspects in such cases to be tried in Britain, with a British jury.

JONES: Sentencing in this country, and, indeed, almost all other countries in the Western world, is far less severe and draconian than it is in the United States of America.

NEWTON: The legal process is now on Entwistle's side. He has nothing to gain by speaking right now. Still, people here in his native Britain are stunned that he can remain so detached from the murders and the mourning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: it's weird to me. She, the wife and the baby is, you know, dead, and what is -- what is -- where was he, then, when it happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, the media glare and everything is not easy for anyone at any time, especially if, like, your wife and kid is dead.

NEWTON: The "Sun" newspaper here in Britain reported that Entwistle called his father-in-law, apparently distraught about the murders, and adding, he was confused, didn't know how he had even managed to make it to England.

There is no independent confirmation that that took place. In every other respect, Neil Entwistle is maintaining his silence.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Here are some of the latest developments "Now in the News."

In Syria, thousands of protesters set fire to the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. Demonstrators are upset over a series of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in Denmark.

Iran's president has ordered resumption of uranium enrichment at the country's nuclear facilities. He also ended snap U.N. inspections of the plant. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, voted earlier today to report Tehran to the security council for its nuclear program.

Mourners are paying respects today to Coretta Scott King in Atlanta. She is the first African-American and first woman to lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol. President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush will attend King's funeral. That is Tuesday in Atlanta.

The Olympic torch arrived in Italy today and is now making its way to Torino. Opening ceremonies for the winter Olympic games are set for Friday. The games will run for 17 days.

One of the founders of the feminist movement, author and activist Betty Friedan died today of congestive heart failure. Her books, "The Feminine Mystique," became a best seller in the 1960s. Friedan died at her home in Washington. She was 85.

What drives a person to become a suicide bomber? Meet a filmmaker who had the chance to interview both male and female would-be suicide bombers. That's straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

And very latest on the sunken Egyptian ferry and a thousand people feared lost at sea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are teaching the children that suicide bombs is the only thing that make the (INAUDIBLE) people very frightful. Furthermore, we are teaching that that we have the right to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: That is a clip from an upcoming film called "Suicide Killers" by French Israeli filmmaker Pierre Rehov. He spoke with extremists from the Palestinian group Hamas, which is moving toward forming a government in the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas militants have carried out attacks, including suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis. The last was a deadly attack at the Israeli-Gaza border in January of 2005.

Let's talk now with filmmaker Pierre Rehov. He joins us from New York.

Good to see you.

PIERRE REHOV, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Nice it see you. Nice to be here.

KAYE: I guess I find what you've done here fascinating. I want to know what inspired you to speak with these would-be suicide bombers.

REHOV: It's a process. I started making a film about the victims of those suicide bombers, the victims of terror attacks inside Israel. And the more I was getting involved in the film, the more I was getting interested in not only the victims but also the people who had actually tried to do it or actually (ph) had done it. And step by step I first started to interview the family of two martyrs, and then I got the authorization to go inside the Israeli jails and I met with a lot of these people. And I ended up getting a lot are very different analysis. Very different point of views from all of these candidates through suicide bombings.

KAYE: I'm sure. Did everyone you interviewed belong to Hamas?

REHOV: Oh, most of them. Most of them. It was either Hamas or Islamic jihad.

KAYE: I want to show one clip here that we have. This is a clip of a would-be female suicide bomber. And she's saying in this clip, our goal is to kill the enemies of Islam. Killing them all is a holy act. Tell me about this woman.

REHOV: Oh she's about 26 years old. She has one dream. She had one dream which was to blew herself up at the (INAUDIBLE) area. If you remember if 2001, this area was blown up by a terrorists and about 14 children died and plus some mothers. A lot of families were completely destroyed. And the martyr -- the guy who said -- who did that was Azadean (ph). And it looks like this Soara (ph), the woman we are talking about right now, was admiring this as I have the impression that she wanted to be among the 72 virgins (INAUDIBLE) again. That's the reason why she was going to do the same thing again, which is to blow the (INAUDIBLE) area.

KAYE: And what is the reason that most of these would-be bombers do try and do this? What do they tell you?

REHOV: Well, they tell -- they tell -- first of all, they come with their usual propaganda because they start saying it's a result of Israeli occupation. And when you hear them talk about Israeli occupation, they think Tel Aviv is Israeli occupation, not Gaza or the West Bank. So we talk about Israeli occupation and the army, et cetera. And most of the time you understand that they have never been in touch or in connection with the army whatsoever. They never had a personal (INAUDIBLE) problem but they are the result of a nonstop propaganda inside the Palestinians territories, of the nonstop brainwashing.

KAYE: I know that at least one the women scared you, but did you find yourself feeling any sympathy for any of them?

REHOV: For most of them, I have to say. There were two categories of people that I interviewed. Some were candidates of suicide bombers and most of them were very sympathetic, and I had a lot of -- I was very feeling sorry for them. The other category where the people who were organizing terror attacks and most of those (INAUDIBLE) would never do it themselves. They are cynical organizers of terrorist attacks with a political end (ph) and a religious end (ph) which has nothing to do with the main reasons why the guys who do it actually do it.

KAYE: This really is a fascinating look inside the mind of would-be suicide bombers. Pierre Rehov with the new film "Suicide Killers." Thanks so much for your time today.

REHOV: My pleasure.

KAYE: More details out now about the chaotic last moments for as many as 1,000 people aboard an Egyptian ferry that sank Friday. Egypt's transport minister says a truck aboard the ferry may have burst into flames setting off a sequence of events that led to the sinking. Almost 400 survivors have been pulled from the water, but hundred more are missing and feared dead. While Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is promising survivors and relatives emergency compensation, as Ben Wedeman reports, what they really want is answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Grief erupts into anger. Riot police under a hail of stones and bottles responding in kind. After a long night waiting for news, the relatives of passengers from these Salaam Boccaccio 98 have lost patience. Many of the passengers were laborers from upper Egypt returning from jobs in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf to what should have been a joyous welcome, but now a scene of chaos.

Thousands of people have flocked to this town's desperately seeking information of loved ones who were on the ill-fated ferry. The authorities are trying to maintain order here, but it's not an easy job.

Refat Sana (ph) scans a photocopy of a Cairo newspaper looking for mention of his sister and her two children. Like many, he claims the Egyptian government has left people in the dark.

Unfortunately, no one care, he tells me. Any other country would have done more.

Casualties from the riot at the port arrive at Safaga's main hospital where staff are already busy trying to cope with survivors from the ferry. Please, please, my father is inside, cries Mohammed (ph) from the walls of the hospital.

Alia (ph) and her older sister Halla (ph), still gripped by trauma, were separated from their father in the panic as the ship went down.

We were almost two days at sea, recalls their mother, Mona (ph). Her husband, she says, was picked up by a British ship.

Truck driver Mohammed grabbed a life vest, said a prayer, and jumped overboard.

The crew didn't tell anyone anything, he says. The captain didn't tell people to get ready. It was as if there was nothing wrong with the ship.

But there was something very wrong. And now temper, boiling over. People want answers and they want them now.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Safaga Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: The images are startling. Groups of Russian gangs attacking minorities, or anyone who simply isn't Russian. CNN's Ryan Chilcote talks with a gang leader next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Blatant violent racism. It's happening on the streets of a major Russian city. Gangs of skinhead attacking anyone of color, even children. CNN's Ryan Chilcote has the story. But we should warn you, you are about to see some very disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It's images like these that put a chill down the spine of non-Russians and Russian ethnic minorities alike. Gangs of skinheads, known by those who detest them as jackals, who prey on non-Russians, leaving behind the bodies of Africans, Vietnamese, Russian's own ethnic minorities, even children. Anyone whose's skin color is a little different.

You might call this a skinhead training center. A gym in the basement of a vocational school. The skinheads say the police contacted the school's administration when student's named surfaced in connection with racial attacks but none of them, they say, has ever been disciplined. They agreed to talk about their activities, but when I asked them to take off their mask, they refused. The leader, who went by the name Sergei, said they're afraid of being recognized.

SERGEI, LEADER, SKINHEAD GANG, (through translator): I don't want to show my face on camera because the people at the top that are interested in us would charge us. That's why we have to go underground.

CHILCOTE: Why do they launch these attacks?

SERGEI: We want the blacks and the migrants out of our country. They take our jobs and behave completely disrespectful towards Russians.

CHILCOTE: These hooded men told me they'd carried out 15 attacks. Most recent, in November. They claimed some in the group had even murdered.

I didn't have to videotape this gang doing its dirty work. The group's routinely videotape their own attacks. This tape was obtained by a local TV station from the police. As you watch the attacks on videotapes, it becomes clear the training skinheads exhibited for CNN has little in common with the attacks on the streets. In reality, their victims are never armed or given a chance at a fair fight.

SERGEI: Usually the strongest one of us will take the guy's legs out and the rest is a matter of technique. The attacks happen extremely fast and we disappear just as quickly.

CHILCOTE: Balajee Praore knows that firsthand. For Mali, he's lived more than half of his 41 years in Russia. He was attacked last year in the subway and he's got the neurological damage to prove it and he's not afraid to go on camera to show it.

BALAJEE PRAORE, SURVIVED SKINHEAD ATTACK, (through translator): They had beer and vodka with them. Some of them had knives. Then out of blue, they attacked. Hey, black face, chocolate man, bastard, you idiot. I didn't say a word. I didn't hit anyone. There were seven of them against me.

CHILCOTE: How many non-Russians have been attacked? These African students, recent arrival, don't know anyone who hasn't been targeted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was attacked three times. That was a strong one (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been attacked several times but the most dangerous one I think two times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several times but three times I can count the most dangerous one.

CHILCOTE: This December, after a student from Cameroon was murdered, the regional governor herself sized up the scale of the skinhead threat.

VALENTINA MATVIENKO, GOVERNOR, LENINGRAD REGION, (through translator): Xenophobia and racism are no lesser threats to society than terrorism. Groups of aggressively minded young people must not be allowed to walk freely or with impunity.

CHILCOTE: But the police, the African students say, have never helped. The only means of self-defense is to walk in groups. We wanted to ask the police about the skinheads and the allegations from those who have been beaten. But the police said they would not comment. And officers said they were embarrassed. Immigrants and ethnic groups have begun demonstrating to protest the danger on St. Petersburg Street. And many Russians, including this in punk band, joined the protest, but then they too were targeted. This guitar player, a prominent critic of the city's skinheads, was stabbed to death in November. Another activist was shot dead through a door.

I asked the skinhead leader how they can attack innocent, defenseless people with a clear conscience. He compared himself to an animal.

SERGEI: A street fight can be fair. These are animal fights.

CHILCOTE: And he promised the attacks would continue.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, St. Petersburg, Russia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: At their peek in 1929, Americans sent 200 million telegram a year. But last year we sent as measly 20,000. So Western Unions says it is getting rid of its telegram service. And as CNN's Jeanne Moos reports, it's the end of an era.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Western Union stops sending telegrams. Stop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, gee.

MOOS: The telegrams is now history. Stop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do feel like I missed out. I would have liked to have had a telegram.

MOOS: Better enjoy them in movies. Stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop being a sap. Stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lonesome for you all. Stop.

MOOS: By the way, stop was used because stop is easier to signal in Morris Code than periods are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Morticia in danger. Stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I can remember mom and dad, if they got a telegram and the man knocked on the door, somebody was dead.

MOOS: E-mail was the last nail in the telegram's coffin. Ironic that the news surfaced on Western Union's website.

Did you ever get a telegram?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. MOOS: Never.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never.

MOOS: Never.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never. No.

MOOS: Kind of depressing. Me neither.

Talk about depress. The very first telegraphed message, sent by Samuel Morris, was, what hath God wrought. But old-time performers like Evelyn Page remember getting nice telegrams.

EVELYN PAGE: No, it's good luck and good wishes and break a leg and all that sort of thing.

MOOS: How about this telegram George Burns sent to Bob Hope. I heard on the road that your 88, so I'm sending this wire. If you're not, send it back and I'll send it to you when you are.

Jazz singer Robbie Robinson still has the telegram a friend sent her.

ROBBIE ROBINSON: Unable to make your opening. Stop. Please forgive me. And it worked. I forgave her.

MOOS: Some major celebs . . .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paging Mr. Ellis.

MOOS: Have had roles delivering telegrams. From Harrison Ford to Madonna.

MADONNA: The deal is off. Stop.

ELTON JOHN, MUSICIAN: I got a telegram from George Harrison and I couldn't believe it saying, congratulations on a great album, love George Harrison. And you know how much that meant to me and that stayed with me forever and ever.

MOOS: Gone forever are the Western Union routers on roller skates. The company has also killed its sing telegrams.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am your singing telegram.

MOOS: This is the swansong for the telegram. Ask a kid these days how a telegram works.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A message comes on a horse or whatever.

MOOS: And, though they've never had a telegram.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've had Golden Grahams.

MOOS: What's a Golden Graham?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cereal, you know?

MOOS: Unlike Golden Grahams, the demise of the telegram is hard to digest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody's dead, I hope.

MOOS: Just a telegram. Stop.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: There is still much more ahead on CNN. More than five months after Hurricane Katrina and many people are still missing or unidentified. So what does it take to put a name to each face? We'll take a look at DNA testing inside a New Orleans' lab when CNN LIVE SATURDAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is 6:00 p.m. in Atlanta, Georgia, and 3:30 a.m. in Tehran, Iran. This is CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Randi Kaye in for Carol Lin.

Ahead this hour, nuclear uproar. The international community puts Iran on notice and Iran threatens back. The tense war of words ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm just so thankful to be alive because I should be paralyzed or I should be dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: He survived a hatchet attack at a gay bar in the northeast. His account of what happened and the search for the suspect.

And remembering Coretta Scott King. Thousands turn out to pay tribute to the civil rights icon.

But first, the hour's headlines. Muslim protesters set fire to the Danish embassy in Damascus, Syria today. They are angry over drawings of Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper. Violence has escalated in several countries when some European newspapers reprinted the cartoons recently as an expression of free speech.

About a thousand protesters marched on the National Mall and near the White House today. They had gathered in Washington to protest President Bush and his policies. Organizers blamed bad weather for a lower than expected turnout.

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