Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Yankee Fans Will Have to Wait Until Next Year; Emmy Awards Show Unique

Aired November 05, 2001 - 07:00   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Celebrating a first on Phoenix, in still another comeback victory that ends a thrilling World Series.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After leaving Cuba soaked, a weakened Hurricane Michelle turns its winds and rains northwest. We'll tell you where Michelle is this hour.

ZAHN: And from the front lines in Afghanistan, watching the bombs fall on Kabul and preparing for battle -- we're live this hour in northern Afghanistan.

And good morning. Thanks so much for joining us this morning as we welcome you to a brand new week. It is Monday, November 5. From New York, I'm Paula Zahn.

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Good to have you with us.

ZAHN: You're in a very good mood this morning, aren't you?

O'BRIEN: No, I'm not going to gloat.

ZAHN: Much to my dismay.

O'BRIEN: I think more than anything I'm a fan of good baseball and it was a great series.

ZAHN: It was a great series.

O'BRIEN: Yes. We'll leave it at that.

ZAHN: Even though I wanted a different outcome last night, but then there's always next year.

Here is where some of our correspondents are this morning. Jason Carroll is standing by in Times Square for more on last night's World Series game. Sherri Sylvester has the wrap up on television Emmys from Los Angeles last night, as well. And Eileen O'Connor joins us from Washington with the investigations into a weekend arrest at a Chicago airport and the anthrax scare. We'll be back to all of you in just a bit.

O'BRIEN: And some guests joining us this morning. The director of the National Hurricane Center, Max Mayfield, joins us from Miami in just a few minutes. And later in the hour, some behind the scenes moments from last night's World Series finale. ESPN Sports Radio host Scott Ferall (ph) with that.

But first, the headlines. We check in with Bill Hemmer in Atlanta for that -- hello, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning to you.

And there is a new champion in baseball today. The Arizona Diamondbacks pulled a page last night from the Yankees' comeback book. Just like the Dbacks last week, the Yankees two outs away from a victory when things turned around. The Diamondbacks Tony Womack tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI double and Luis Gonzalez came to the plate and hit this fluke shot, stunning the Yankees. 3-2 the final last night, winning their first World Series in only the fourth year of their existence in the American Southwest.

With an eye toward patriotism and awards for television's best work, the 53rd annual Emmys were handed out in Los Angeles last night. And for the second year in a row, "The West Wing" claimed the honor of top drama series. That show hosted by comedian Ellen Degeneres last evening. And CNN's Sherri Sylvester here in a few minutes with a complete wrap up of the night that finally unfolded last evening.

On the war front now, U.S. war planes roared over the front lines of the ruling Taliban, pounding various targets again today. Also, the Associated Press says that helicopter gunships are in action near Kabul, where Taliban gunfire is heard near the capital. The U.S.-led air strikes entered its fifth week bombing numerous sites around the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Anti-aircraft guns returned fire as the bombing runs continued.

CNN reporter Kamal Hyder reports the attacks concentrated there on military targets on the ground, the U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld saying the bombing campaign is more effective since more personnel are on the ground to help pick targets.

In New Delhi on a five nation tour to shore up support for the war on terrorism, Rumsfeld says the bombing campaign is more focused than most.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't think that there probably has ever been a bombing campaign that has been any more attentive and precise and focused solely on the military capabilities than this one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: En route to Pakistan and India, Rumsfeld flew briefly over Afghanistan and seeing the rough terrain below he said, "You would not want to march around there too long."

In about an hour's time in this country, the Longworth House Office Building scheduled to reopen today. It was closed after traces of anthrax were found in the offices of three congressmen. Environmental testing cleared the way for the reopening of most of the building on Capitol Hill, but the three offices where the bacteria was found still will remain closed. Over the past month there have been 17 confirmed anthrax infections and 10 cases of inhalation anthrax in which four people have died and seven people have been diagnosed with skin anthrax or the cutaneous form.

Key front line medical workers at the CDC now being vaccinated against smallpox. Officials say inoculations have been given to those who would respond first to any terrorist attack using smallpox. Health officials also negotiating with vaccine makers to speed up production of a vaccine to stockpile in the event that it is needed.

A lot more coming up at the bottom of the hour and there's a lot more to talk about as we begin another week on this Monday morning. But for now back to New York with more with Paula right now -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.

As you mentioned early on, there's not a whole lot of joy on Gotham this morning and it seems that Yankee fans will just have to wait till next year. But, what a World Series. The Arizona Diamondbacks pulled off a bottom of the ninth inning comeback last night to beat the Yankees 3-2 in the seventh game of one of the most exciting fall classics in memory.

CNN's Jason Carroll is on Times Square this morning with more reaction to the game -- Jason, good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Paula.

Did you have an opportunity to see the game last night? I actually...

ZAHN: I saw about six innings worth, yes.

CARROLL: More than what I saw. I fell asleep. I didn't get a chance to see much. But I want you to take a look at the "New York Post" here. Look, it says, "Say it ain't so." A lot of disappointment out here in New York City. A lot of folks obviously wanted to see the Yankees pull it off, win the World Series and bring it home.

Joining me right now is Pat. Step on in here, Pat. Pat is an accountant. He is from New Jersey. We stopped him this morning just to get his opinion. You saw a little bit more of the game last night, at least more than probably I did and Paula. What'd you think?

PAT: I thought it was a great game. It was a great series. I'm sure we're all a little disappointed that the guys didn't bring the trophy home, but I think we can be proud of them nevertheless. They gave every effort they could.

CARROLL: You know what I was thinking? I mean even though they didn't bring home the World Series, I mean what a great run for them and still it seemed to really lift the spirits of the city.

PAT: Oh, absolutely. They came into the police officers everybody thinking that they weren't going to beat Oakland, then it was going to be in Seattle and look, they got within two outs of winning the whole thing. CARROLL: And so remember in game four and game five, I think it was, the comeback at the end, did you have an opportunity to see those?

PAT: No, I didn't get to stay up that late. It's a little late for me. I'm here at six o'clock in the morning. But I get to read about it the next day anyway.

CARROLL: You know, also this weekend, as I was passing one of the sports bars I saw all the people crammed into the sports bars, you know, especially in lower Manhattan and downtown. So obviously a real good boost for the city in that way, too.

PAT: Oh, absolutely. I think it was, I guess the word is diversion, a great diversion. It got everybody's mind off of the attack and all the tragedy around it and it's something to rally around.

CARROLL: You know, I was reading through the paper here and it says that perhaps they're still going to have a parade for the Yankees. I think it's well deserved, don't you?

PAT: Yes. I think it's kind of tough. You know, before the parades were about winning the World Series. To have the parade about falling a little bit short, I think it's great for the city but, you know, I guess it's kind of hard to have.

CARROLL: And again, there's always next year, right?

PAT: Always next year.

CARROLL: All right, thanks very much Pat.

PAT: OK.

CARROLL: I really appreciate you stopping. I hope you're not too late for work.

So once again, Paula, a little bit of disappointment here in Times Square. But once again, you have to remember, they had a great run and even though that they didn't bring home the World Series, it was still an opportunity to really lift the spirits in a city where spirits really need to be lifted -- Paula.

PAT: And you know what? If there's a parade I'm showing up, Jason. They deserve the attention.

CARROLL: They do. Absolutely.

ZAHN: Thanks so much. OK.

See, Miles, the only beauty of going to bed, you know, during the sixth inning of the game or whatever time I went to bed at, they were winning. The Yankees were winning.

O'BRIEN: So in your mind they won the Series, right?

ZAHN: Because I got up this morning thinking they had won.

O'BRIEN: Yes, all right. Well, dream on.

While New Yorkers may be in mourning after the Yankees' loss, there's still a little something to celebrate. Two television series based here did pretty well at last night's Emmy Awards, "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City." Last night's twice delayed ceremony featured patriotic themes as it honored the best of television.

CNN's Sherri Sylvester, who's been up all night and looking no worse for the wear, I might add joins us from Los Angeles this morning.

ZAHN: That's a welcome to you.

O'BRIEN: Good morning to you, Sherri.

SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, the outcome was the same as last year, at least in the best drama category. But in other ways this was an Emmy Awards show unique in the history of the telecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER (voice-over): Its security was equivalent to a presidential visit, its theme patriotic and Emmy's big winner was a series about the White House. "The West Wing" took four trophies -- best drama series, best director, supporting actor Bradley Whitford and supporting actress Alison Janney.

ALLISON JANNEY, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA: How proud I am to be on a show that celebrates the process of freedom that makes this country great.

SYLVESTER: Many were uncertain what the tone would be for the twice postponed show. But host Ellen Degeneres lobbed a one-two comic [punch toward the Taliban.

ELLEN DEGENERES, EMMY HOST: What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?

SYLVESTER: The telecast included "America The Beautiful," the words of Walter Cronkite and a tribute to the USO. The New York-based drama "The Sopranos" was honored for its writing. James Gandolfini won best actor, Edie Falco best actress.

EDIE FALCO, BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA: To the New York Yankees, to the Yankees fans, equally inspirational.

SYLVESTER: Many of those Yankee fans were Emmy nominees.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We were there in Phoenix. We had tickets tonight.

ROB LOWE: That's a heartbreaker. I don't know how I'm going to get the scores.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I've got my transistor radio in my pocket and I'm going to be listening during the commercial.

SYLVESTER (on camera): Emmy organizers don't mind the competition. They say what better sign that America is getting back to normal than to have the World Series and the Emmys on the same night.

(voice-over): The city of New York scored a best comedy series win with "Sex and The City." Eric McCormack of "Will and Grace" was named best actor in a comedy.

ERIC MCCORMACK, BEST ACTOR, COMEDY: It's a dream. It doesn't seem to me, it's not that important in the scheme of things. But it's important to everybody here. This was our dream.

SYLVESTER: "Everybody Loves Raymond's" mom Doris Roberts took home a best supporting actress trophy on her birthday. Best actress winner Patricia Heaton thanked America's armed forces.

PATRICIA HEATON, BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY: And I just want to dedicate my performances this year to all those men and women and their families. God bless you. Thank you very much.

SYLVESTER: Barbra Streisand closed the 53rd Emmy Awards ceremony with "You'll Never Walk Alone."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And Barbra Streisand was a surprise addition to the telecast. She did win an Emmy, by the way, and back stage she kind of echoed the feelings of a lot of the folks there, which was it was more important to get the show on and actually carry it out this year than it really mattered who would win or who would lose -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Sherri, low key dress, lots of security, an entirely different tone, a very remarkable Emmy Awards. Were the people sort of upset at the way it went or did they did think it was appropriate in every way?

SYLVESTER: Well, you know, the red carpet area, which is usually really crazy and crowded, was a lot more intimate this year. They scaled back on the press. They didn't have the fan bleachers there. And so it was a lot more intimate that way. Now, security was very tight. It took a lot of stars an hour and a half, as long as an hour and a half to get in. Some hopped out of their limos and walked there. There were sharp shooters on the buildings surrounding the Emmys with binoculars, looking out to make sure everything was OK. So security was very high.

But once inside, everyone felt very comfortable. The mood was kind of all over the place. But as you can see, everyone kind of found their way together and it turned out find.

O'BRIEN: Sherri Sylvester after a very long night, nice work. Thank you very much -- Paula.

ZAHN: And in Washington, the Longworth House Office Building is due to reopen in the next hour. It was closed October 26 after traces of anthrax were found there. Also, word this morning that some security workers at Chicago's O'Hare Airport have been fired after a man was able to sneak through security with weapons.

CNN's Eileen O'Connor is in Washington tracking those developments and the rest of the investigation -- good morning, Eileen.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, it was seven security guards that were fired at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after a man was found with seven knives during random bag search as he was about to board a plane to Omaha. They'd already taken two knives off of him at an earlier screening checkpoint.

Now, CNN has learned the man gave an address that was once used by at least one person already in custody as a material witness for the investigation in the September 11 attacks. Now, that man was taken off a train in Texas two days after the September 11 attacks. He was found with box cutters like those used by the hijackers.

Now, the man arrested on Saturday said he was unemployed. He said he was from Nepal and that he was using the knives and some mace and a stun gun that was also found for personal protection.

Now, the security firm that hired the screeners at O'Hare had already admitted to the Justice Department in a settlement reached in October that they hired screeners without completing court ordered background checks. So a lot of trouble for that security firm and another boost to the Republicans -- the Democratic cause to hire -- have federal oversight over security screeners at the airports -- Paula.

ZAHN: Eileen, I specifically wanted to ask you about this interpretation of this latest Osama bin Laden statement. What are investigators telling you has captured their attention in that?

O'CONNOR: Well, they're always going to be looking at exactly who is, if there is anyone with him in these videotapes, the background. One of the things that they're trying to analyze is what exactly he's saying, if there's any messages hidden among the words. Again, the overall message of this was to, that anyone, any Muslim who was supporting the United States would be against the Muslim faith. He's trying, again, to make this war into a war between the United States and the entire Muslim world.

But in this case, having a backdrop or using some -- that's one of the things they're looking at is where he might be and also who might be with him. That's the kind of thing they look at in these videotapes. Also, some hand gestures. But that's really like reading tea leaves at this point. It's really mainly the words in the message and the background and who's with him -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Eileen O'Connor, thanks so much for that update.

We turn our attention now to Afghanistan. The Associated Press this morning is reporting that U.S. helicopter gunships were involved in attacks near Kabul today. If so, that would mark a new step in the war. On the Shamali Plains north of Kabul today, an impressive sight. Thousands of Northern Alliance forces assembled with their tanks and armed personnel carriers.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in northern Afghanistan with the forces opposed to the Taliban -- Matthew, what's the latest from there?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Paula.

Paula, a lot of developments here in northern Afghanistan, a lot of military activity. First of all, around the strategic northern city of Mazir-i-Sharif, where we're getting a lot of reports trickling down to us here of fierce fighting in that strategic northern town, on the outskirts of it, between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance forces. But as you mentioned, also a lot of activity here north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, with troops on parade before their military and political leaders.

It's certainly the biggest show of force that we've witnessed on the part of the Northern Alliance in the several weeks since we have been here. As I say, thousands of troops with their tanks and artillery pieces and anti-aircraft guns parading in front of their military and political leaders. General Mohammed Fahim (ph) is the military leader of the Northern Alliance and he told us that these troops were ready for a fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED FAHIM: This parade is intended to demonstrate the military power of the Islamic state of Afghanistan. If the order for an attack is given, we're confident these troops will achieve their mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Well, Paula, no indication, though, about when any advance on the Afghan capital, Kabul, may be ordered. There was a live fire exercise, though, staged for the benefit of those in command. So it at least gives us some kind of idea of the kind of rocket and tank firepower these troops have at their disposal. The big question, though, to what extent have the Taliban forces they oppose been weakened by the weeks of U.S.-led coalition air strikes and are these Northern Alliance forces, even though they look formidable here, are they strong enough to advance through the front lines and to take the Afghan capital without close U.S. air support -- Paula. ZAHN: Matthew Chance, we're going to leave it there right now and check back in with you a little bit later on this morning. Thanks so much.

Later on in this hour, we're going to talk more about the practice of cave busting from our own military analyst, retired Major General Donald Shepperd. He also has experience with tunnel warfare from Vietnam. Plus, former United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector Richard Butler will be joining us with his insight into the Afghan underground network.

O'BRIEN: Still to come on our program, Michelle menaces Cuba, now heads north. We'll update you on the storm's path. Also ahead, smoking them from their hideouts -- as we just mentioned, cave busters in Afghanistan -- how the U.S. is doing it. And a little later, Harry Potter makes a big splash across the pond. The makings of a buffo bonanza as CNN continues its wizardry.

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