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Former NFL Player KIA in Afghanistan; North Korea Asks China for Aid in Explosion Disaster

Aired April 23, 2004 - 12:58   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: He willingly left the NFL to fight in the war on terror, now Pat Tillman has paid the ultimate price for his country.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: balancing family's privacy with the public's right to know, debating those newly released photos and the true cost of war.

PHILLIPS: Plus, why an appeals court ruling could eventually cost Zacarias Moussaoui his life.

O'BRIEN: And on the lighter side of things, what really is to blame for your beer gut, a major beer manufacturer takes on the science behind the South Beach Diet. Doh!

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. It's Friday, April 23, CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.

O'BRIEN: Our top story, an NFL player turned Army Ranger, killed in the war on terror. Pat Tillman was killed yesterday in a mission in southeastern Afghanistan. The former safety for the Arizona Cardinals joined the Army shortly after the 9/11 attacks. I'm joined now from Washington by Sean Callebs with details on this tragic story -- Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, indeed, tragic. And here is what we know about Pat Tillman. He was killed serving in Special Forces in the southeastern area of Afghanistan. He was with the 75th Ranger Regiment, that's a light infantry unit out of Fort Benning, Georgia. The Pentagon is saying Tillman died during a firefight.

And let's remember, the military has been in that area, trying to root out al Qaeda operatives and those in the region sympathetic to the Taliban since right after September 11. And by all accounts, Tillman was an outstanding young man. But what sometimes gets lost in all of this, the fact that Tillman joined the Rangers with his brother Kevin, and the two were serving in the same battalion in Afghanistan.

Now, Tillman, offered a chance to go into the Army as an officer, but he and his brother Kevin turned it down. They went in as specialists. A great deal made about the fact that Tillman turned down a multimillion-dollar contract, a three-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals. In fact, when went in as a Ranger he was making at most $18,000.

Now, a bit more about this young man, he announced the decision to join the Army after he returned from his honeymoon, and it's a decision he made without consulting his agent. It is clear the events of 9/11 had a great impact on Pat Tillman. Those closest to him say he wanted to make a difference after the attacks but the precise reason, he didn't share that.

He shunned the media. No interviews. As you can imagine, a number of interview requests from the national media came in once he went to Fort Benning to begin going through Ranger school there with his brother.

Now, of all the folks that try to go through Ranger school, about one in three actually make it through. By all accounts an impressive young man who handled the swamps, the brush, the hills of South Georgia to make it through that school -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: He earns the admiration of so many people, and yet he kind of shirked the limelight. And I noted with great interest that the senator from Arizona, John McCain, used his story as a distinct example of bravery, didn't he?

CALLEBS: Yes, he really did. He was without question an inspiration, not only to Senator McCain, so many people in Arizona, throughout the United States, but those in the world of professional sports as well, especially those in the Phoenix area. Members of the Diamondbacks baseball team, the Coyotes hockey franchise marveled at the courage that Tillman showed. And you talked about Senator McCain.

Here is what John McCain, Republican from Arizona, had to say about Tillman, saying he's heartbroken. And he says: "While Tillman's death will seem like a heavy blow to this nation's morale, and surely for the 27-year-old's family, sadly it is a sacrifice that scores of military families are coping with."

McCain saying there is in Pat Tillman's example: "in his unexpected choice of duty to his country over the riches and other comforts of celebrity and in his humility, such and inspiration to all of us to reclaim the essential public-spiritedness of Americans that many of us, in low moments, had worried was no longer our common distinguishing trait."

And McCain went on to say: "We celebrate the courageous life and mourn the heroic death of this most honorable American." It's also interesting, Miles, when Tillman went to college, his coach wanted to redshirt him his freshman year, try to get five years out of him. Tillman said, do whatever you want, in 3 1/2 years I'm out of here, I have a life to lead. And he graduated from college in 3 1/2 years with a 3.84 grade point average.

O'BRIEN: An amazing American. Sean Callebs, thank you very much. Let's take a closer look at the life of Pat Tillman. And for that we turn it over to Steve Overmyer of CNN Sports and Gary Belsky, the senior editor of "ESPN" the magazine in New York. Steve, I want to begin with you. I can't help as I sit here and listen to all these wonderful statements made about this remarkable man, a man you knew, I can't help but think that if he had something to say about it he'd prefer we not single him out.

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN SPORTS: There's no doubt about it. He was a guy who shied away from the limelight. When the cameras were around him in the locker room, I covered him for five years at Arizona State and with the Arizona Cardinals, he was a guy who would run away from the cameras. He was not someone who wanted to be singled out, especially as such a courageous story as it was for him to be such a low draft pick and to make the team as a starter for the Arizona Cardinals. He was such an incredible player and an incredible personality. Everybody loved him on the team. And it was really such a surprise when he made this decision, or I should say, it probably wasn't much of a surprise to the guys.

In fact, Dave McGinnis, his coach at the time, said this is exactly Pat Tillman. Pat Tillman told some of his friends that he felt that he had led such a comfortable life that he needed to do something for his country. And that's why he joined the Army Rangers.

: Gary Belsky, there are so many things about Pat Tillman that defy the typical caricature of a professional sports athlete. He was a very deep thinker, a person who defied a lot of odds, a hard worker. What else can you add to that?

GARY BELSKY, "ESPN" THE MAGAZINE: Yes, I'm not sure -- everybody's talking about how rare it is that an NFL player would volunteer for the Army. I'm not sure there are that many marketing degree holders who have a 3.8 average who are volunteering for the Army, either.

This was a guy of great physical courage and great commitment. You know, when he was a kid growing up, he used to play in the trees around San Jose. He would sort of hold on to branches during wind storms just so he could swing with them. And he would go through the forest near his house in the treetops, again, sort of operating without a safety net.

And by the way, remember, when this guy -- when Pat Tillman and his brother Kenny, who was a minor league ball player, when they decided to enlist, they left phoenix and drove to Denver in the hope that they would not have to face such public scrutiny. There was no way they were going to avoid that. But they were consistent in not wanting to be treated any differently than soldiers.

His commitment -- my favorite story about Pat Tillman's commitment or sort of giving it his all was when he was at Leland High School (ph) in San Jose, they were crushing a team in a high school game, and Tillman -- the coach sat all the starters in the second half because they didn't want to sort of run up the score. And Tillman snuck himself in during a kickoff and returned it for a touchdown. And nobody tells that story to show that he was a bad winner but rather just that he couldn't bear to sort of sit and not give everything. O'BRIEN: Steve, final thought. I know you got to know him on a very personal level. How will you remember him?

BELSKY: Well, I'm going to remember him as a guy who marched to the beat of a different drummer, as a guy who, you know, when you'd look in the parking lot of the Arizona Cardinals complex and you saw all the Rage Rovers and Escalades chromed out with 24s, here's a guy who rolled up on a 1950s bicycle. And he's going to be a guy who -- he definitely will be someone that I think America should remember as a hero.

O'BRIEN: One of hundreds of great Americans we have lost in the war on terror, we should point out. Steve Overmyer and Gary Belsky, thank you very much for taking a few moments to remember one of them - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: From Afghanistan to Iraq, in the early months of the Iraq war U.S. troops worked around the clock to root out Baathists, Iraqis loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime. Turns out now some of them may be welcomed back. U.S. Administrator Paul Bremer announced that thousands of Baath Party members will get their jobs back. Most are teachers and senior military officers. With more from Iraq now, CNN's Jim Clancy in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqi officials say a suspect arrested near the scene of one of the suicide bombings in Basra was from the besieged city of Fallujah. In the view of some it is evidence the suicide bombings that killed 20 school children along with more than 50 other Iraqis were not the work of al Qaeda or foreign fighters but Iraqis outraged by the U.S. military's Fallujah campaign that has killed hundreds of Iraqis, including many civilians.

But it also raises questions about who may be directing the suicide attacks from inside the city. U.S. Marines in Fallujah are still exchanging fire with anti-coalition fighter as a nominal cease- fire continues. Coalition commanders asserted that hundreds of foreign fighters may be among them. The surrender of those foreign elements along with the insurgents' arsenal of weapons is being demanded as a condition of any permanent truce.

Thus far coalition military sources say the weapons handover has been disappointing, with old rusted arms or dummy rockets being handed in. When coalition forces surrounded and cut off Fallujah earlier this month, it was noted that feared bomb attacks in the south failed to materialize during Shia Muslim religious commemorations. That was in stark contrast to similar events that were marked by hundreds of casualties in Baghdad and Karbala.

The coalition blamed those attacks on al Qaeda or Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant with similar aims. While stressing no group has been tied to the Basra attacks, some believe the tactics are familiar.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: If you take a look at the manner in which it was carried out, the technique that was used, the tactics that were used in the attack, it clearly points to a network, a terrorist network, a coordinated terrorist network such as the Zarqawi network.

CLANCY (on camera): Al-Zarqawi is believed trying to foment civil war between Iraq's Shia and Sunni communities as the best way of destroying U.S. plans here. Friday coalition spokesmen said they had no more information about what the suspect may be telling investigators. If he is indeed tied to the Basra carnage, those investigators are going to want answers that go far beyond Basra.

Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now, funeral services will be held tomorrow for Dru Sjodin. The body of the missing North Dakota college student was found last Saturday. Murder charges are expected against the man accused of kidnapping her.

A grand jury has indicted hockey player Mike Danton and a friend in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. The two are accused of trying to hire someone to kill a man Danton knows. Danton reportedly was caught on tape trying to hire a hit man. Court papers show his friend has given a written confession.

PHILLIPS: And "The Orlando Sentinel" reports that Michael Jackson has gone into seclusion in Florida. The newspaper says Jackson is staying in a 12-bedroom mansion with his children and entourage. The singer has been indicted by a California grand jury investigating the child molestation case against him.

O'BRIEN: A little farther south in Florida, President Bush is back raising money and defending his environmental record a day after Earth Day. White House correspondent Dana Bash with the president. She joins us now from Naples, Florida.

Hello, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. And the president is going to spend the rest of his day raising some money for the Republican Party. But as you mentioned, this morning his event was what the White House is calling day two of his Earth Day push to talk up the environment, specifically his new plan that he announced yesterday in Maine to expand wetlands. Now, he came here to the Rookery Bay Research Reserve (ph), it's on the edge of the Everglades along with his brother, the governor, Jeb Bush, to get a tour and get a photo op, pulling some of the non-native plants here that they say is hurting the habitat here.

Also, he's really been talking up the environment over the past two days even though it is, according to pollsters not even barely in the top 10 items that voters say they care most about. However, it is important to some key swing voters, and here in Florida the issue of the Everglades is very important, especially in key areas. That is why the president talked it up today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order to make sure enough fresh water would go to the Everglades, the federal government and the state agreed to install large pumps and build canals and large freshwater storage areas. In other words, my administration recognized the importance of the Everglades not only to the state of Florida but to our country, and we will continue to work with Jeb and state to make sure the Everglades is vibrant, alive, and available for future generations of Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, the president has tried to defend his record on the environment even as his probable Democratic opponent, John Kerry, spent the week touring through the south including here in Florida, hitting the president on his environmental record, saying that he has the worst record essentially in history on it. That is one of the reasons why the president has been talking it up.

And of course, Florida, no one will forget the importance of Florida because of that 36-day recount in 2000. And it is going to be neck and neck, at least it is at this point. Take a look at the latest poll between the president and John Kerry. The president at 46 percent, John Kerry at 45 percent, and Ralph Nader, is he is here on the ballot, 3 percent. That is the latest from the American Research Group. That is why the president is here today, Miles, for his twenty-first time since he's been in office -- Miles.

CNN's Dana Bash in Naples, Florida. Thank you very much.

The governor of Illinois is scheduled to tour storm-damaged parts of his state today. The visit comes as people continue sifting through debris in five counties damaged by Tuesday night's tornados. Especially hard hit, the small town of Utica, where funerals are expected to start tomorrow for eight people killed in a downtown tavern.

PHILLIPS: Oklahoma's also recovering from this week's violent weather. A special order has been signed allowing out state insurance adjusters to come in and help tally the damage. Jerry Giordano with affiliate KTUL gives us a glimpse of some of the damage they'll see.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounded kind of like jet airplanes. Yes, it's pretty mean sounding.

JERRY GIORDANO, KTUL REPORTER (voice-over): Eighty-five-year-old Jim Graham (ph) believes he's lucky to be alive because when he saw this overhead he took quick action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We was all out here and heard a big noise a- coming, tornado, and we got in the cellar, just a little bit, it's gone.

GIORDANO: And look no further than Graham's back field for proof of severe damage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About where we're standing.

GIORDANO: Tommy Dotson (ph) takes us by four-wheel drive, and we see these amazing sights, 50-foot trees snapped in two, floating in plenty of water. Brittany Edwards (ph) saw it all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it was really windy. It was like, I don't know, I've never seen one like that before.

GIORDANO: Area crews are hard at work, but some jobs are tougher than others. Like getting around, this truck did make it through.

(on camera): But other drivers were taking no chances, deciding these rushing waters could be too much for their vehicles.

(voice-over): Driver Jerry Ensley (ph) decides on the spot he's retreating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looked too deep and too swift, so I'm going to turn around and go a different way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: To get an update on the Midwest storms, we turn to now CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano.

Rob, what's the latest?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, same set-up today only a little bit farther to the west. Yesterday there were 10 tornados that touched down, mostly in eastern Oklahoma, around the Tulsa area. The set-up pretty much remains the same. We've had the stationary front separating the cold and the warm air, and it's been here all week long. It'll be here through tomorrow as well.

For today, though, the shift does happen west of Dallas. This is the greatest threat later on this afternoon and evening where we could see some severe weather break out. The other flip-side of this storm, that cold air in the Colorado Rockies, heavy snow today. Denver, Colorado already with about four inches. You go south and west into the mountains just north of the New Mexico border in Cochara (ph), 32 inches of snow. Now most of the ski resorts are already closed but they could certainly use some of that snowfall because this area is seeing some drought and it's still snowing in Denver as we speak, Miles.

We'll keep an eye on the severe weather potential later on in the afternoon and this evening. Meanwhile, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Rob, appreciate it. We're going to take a break. We are expecting very shortly a live news conference from representatives of the Arizona Cardinals. As we told you at the top of the show, Pat Tillman, former safety for the Arizona Cardinals, killed in a firefight in southeastern Afghanistan. We'll bring that to you live as it happens. Also, there's this. A national tragedy forces a communist country out of its self-imposed seclusion. As the death toll climbs, we'll tell you what's being done in the aftermath of a North Korean train explosion.

Plus, what a difference a day makes. Why the government's case against Zacarias Moussaoui just got stronger.

Also ahead, why some want Germany to lift its ban on Hitler's personal manifesto of hate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: In secretive North Korea, the picture is becoming clearer as details from yesterday's devastating train explosion slowly begin to emerge. For the first time ever North Korea is asking for help from international aid workers. CNN's Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz has more now from the border down of Dandong (ph), China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): North Koreans on the banks of the Yalu (ph) River finding time to repair fishing boats and unload commodities. But not far from their homes along the China-North Korea border, was a scene of carnage. A huge explosion at a train station rocked the town of Rumchen (ph), killing scores and injuring more than 1000.

JOHN SPARROW, RED CROSS SPOKESMAN: Obviously, a lot of people are at this moment without a roof over their heads. A lot of people are injured. And we expect those casualty figures to rise. But it's a scene certainly around that station, one of mass destruction.

FLORCRUZ: It's a disaster North Korea could hardly afford. The isolated communist state already suffers from chronic shortages of food and energy. And it's locked in a confrontation with the U.S. over its nuclear weapons program.

(on camera): The city behind me, Sinuju (ph), is the place where many of the injured are believed to be receiving treatment. But many fear that Sinuju's backward medical facilities may not be enough to cope with the emergency.

(voice-over): In this industrial city of half a million people, patients usually get only basic care in crowded hospitals. And there's still no official word on what caused the blast. It occurred nine hours after North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, passed the town on his way back to Pyongyang from China. But the explosion appeared to be an accident.

PAUL BEIJER, SWEDISH AMB. TO NORTH KOREA: It was not two trains colliding, but work in a freight yard in this little town. They were shifting a couple of freight cars full of explosives, high explosives, and these freight cars came into contact with a live power cable, and the resulting spark ignited the explosives. FLORCRUZ: Whatever the cause, international aid workers and Chinese hospitals here say they are ready to offer any help that Pyongyang and asks for.

Jaime FlorCruz, CNN, Dandong, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, recently there's been a steady stream of warnings about the possibility of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. The weapons of choice could involve chemical plants and freight trains. That warning comes from several lawmakers. Earlier today CNN's Bill Hemmer spoke with Miami's police chief and asked him about sleeper cell activity within the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI POLICE DEPT.: I can guarantee you from the information that I have that clearly the sleeper cells throughout the United States, but also the FBI and the joint terrorist task force is in much better shape now regards to these ongoing investigations.

And they better be, because, you know, the lesson I think the terrorists learned from 9/11 is that they can effect our daily lives and how we move about, particularly in the major cities, I think, the lessons of Madrid is that they also think they can impact or have an effect on an election which is a real problem for us in the upcoming election, the two conventions, the G8 summit in Georgia in June, we got a tough year ahead of us, including the Olympics in Greece.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We take you right now to Phoenix, Arizona, a live news conference with Arizona Cardinals representative Mike Bidwell on the death of one of their players, Pat Tillman.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

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Aired April 23, 2004 - 12:58   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: He willingly left the NFL to fight in the war on terror, now Pat Tillman has paid the ultimate price for his country.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: balancing family's privacy with the public's right to know, debating those newly released photos and the true cost of war.

PHILLIPS: Plus, why an appeals court ruling could eventually cost Zacarias Moussaoui his life.

O'BRIEN: And on the lighter side of things, what really is to blame for your beer gut, a major beer manufacturer takes on the science behind the South Beach Diet. Doh!

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. It's Friday, April 23, CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.

O'BRIEN: Our top story, an NFL player turned Army Ranger, killed in the war on terror. Pat Tillman was killed yesterday in a mission in southeastern Afghanistan. The former safety for the Arizona Cardinals joined the Army shortly after the 9/11 attacks. I'm joined now from Washington by Sean Callebs with details on this tragic story -- Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, indeed, tragic. And here is what we know about Pat Tillman. He was killed serving in Special Forces in the southeastern area of Afghanistan. He was with the 75th Ranger Regiment, that's a light infantry unit out of Fort Benning, Georgia. The Pentagon is saying Tillman died during a firefight.

And let's remember, the military has been in that area, trying to root out al Qaeda operatives and those in the region sympathetic to the Taliban since right after September 11. And by all accounts, Tillman was an outstanding young man. But what sometimes gets lost in all of this, the fact that Tillman joined the Rangers with his brother Kevin, and the two were serving in the same battalion in Afghanistan.

Now, Tillman, offered a chance to go into the Army as an officer, but he and his brother Kevin turned it down. They went in as specialists. A great deal made about the fact that Tillman turned down a multimillion-dollar contract, a three-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals. In fact, when went in as a Ranger he was making at most $18,000.

Now, a bit more about this young man, he announced the decision to join the Army after he returned from his honeymoon, and it's a decision he made without consulting his agent. It is clear the events of 9/11 had a great impact on Pat Tillman. Those closest to him say he wanted to make a difference after the attacks but the precise reason, he didn't share that.

He shunned the media. No interviews. As you can imagine, a number of interview requests from the national media came in once he went to Fort Benning to begin going through Ranger school there with his brother.

Now, of all the folks that try to go through Ranger school, about one in three actually make it through. By all accounts an impressive young man who handled the swamps, the brush, the hills of South Georgia to make it through that school -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: He earns the admiration of so many people, and yet he kind of shirked the limelight. And I noted with great interest that the senator from Arizona, John McCain, used his story as a distinct example of bravery, didn't he?

CALLEBS: Yes, he really did. He was without question an inspiration, not only to Senator McCain, so many people in Arizona, throughout the United States, but those in the world of professional sports as well, especially those in the Phoenix area. Members of the Diamondbacks baseball team, the Coyotes hockey franchise marveled at the courage that Tillman showed. And you talked about Senator McCain.

Here is what John McCain, Republican from Arizona, had to say about Tillman, saying he's heartbroken. And he says: "While Tillman's death will seem like a heavy blow to this nation's morale, and surely for the 27-year-old's family, sadly it is a sacrifice that scores of military families are coping with."

McCain saying there is in Pat Tillman's example: "in his unexpected choice of duty to his country over the riches and other comforts of celebrity and in his humility, such and inspiration to all of us to reclaim the essential public-spiritedness of Americans that many of us, in low moments, had worried was no longer our common distinguishing trait."

And McCain went on to say: "We celebrate the courageous life and mourn the heroic death of this most honorable American." It's also interesting, Miles, when Tillman went to college, his coach wanted to redshirt him his freshman year, try to get five years out of him. Tillman said, do whatever you want, in 3 1/2 years I'm out of here, I have a life to lead. And he graduated from college in 3 1/2 years with a 3.84 grade point average.

O'BRIEN: An amazing American. Sean Callebs, thank you very much. Let's take a closer look at the life of Pat Tillman. And for that we turn it over to Steve Overmyer of CNN Sports and Gary Belsky, the senior editor of "ESPN" the magazine in New York. Steve, I want to begin with you. I can't help as I sit here and listen to all these wonderful statements made about this remarkable man, a man you knew, I can't help but think that if he had something to say about it he'd prefer we not single him out.

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN SPORTS: There's no doubt about it. He was a guy who shied away from the limelight. When the cameras were around him in the locker room, I covered him for five years at Arizona State and with the Arizona Cardinals, he was a guy who would run away from the cameras. He was not someone who wanted to be singled out, especially as such a courageous story as it was for him to be such a low draft pick and to make the team as a starter for the Arizona Cardinals. He was such an incredible player and an incredible personality. Everybody loved him on the team. And it was really such a surprise when he made this decision, or I should say, it probably wasn't much of a surprise to the guys.

In fact, Dave McGinnis, his coach at the time, said this is exactly Pat Tillman. Pat Tillman told some of his friends that he felt that he had led such a comfortable life that he needed to do something for his country. And that's why he joined the Army Rangers.

: Gary Belsky, there are so many things about Pat Tillman that defy the typical caricature of a professional sports athlete. He was a very deep thinker, a person who defied a lot of odds, a hard worker. What else can you add to that?

GARY BELSKY, "ESPN" THE MAGAZINE: Yes, I'm not sure -- everybody's talking about how rare it is that an NFL player would volunteer for the Army. I'm not sure there are that many marketing degree holders who have a 3.8 average who are volunteering for the Army, either.

This was a guy of great physical courage and great commitment. You know, when he was a kid growing up, he used to play in the trees around San Jose. He would sort of hold on to branches during wind storms just so he could swing with them. And he would go through the forest near his house in the treetops, again, sort of operating without a safety net.

And by the way, remember, when this guy -- when Pat Tillman and his brother Kenny, who was a minor league ball player, when they decided to enlist, they left phoenix and drove to Denver in the hope that they would not have to face such public scrutiny. There was no way they were going to avoid that. But they were consistent in not wanting to be treated any differently than soldiers.

His commitment -- my favorite story about Pat Tillman's commitment or sort of giving it his all was when he was at Leland High School (ph) in San Jose, they were crushing a team in a high school game, and Tillman -- the coach sat all the starters in the second half because they didn't want to sort of run up the score. And Tillman snuck himself in during a kickoff and returned it for a touchdown. And nobody tells that story to show that he was a bad winner but rather just that he couldn't bear to sort of sit and not give everything. O'BRIEN: Steve, final thought. I know you got to know him on a very personal level. How will you remember him?

BELSKY: Well, I'm going to remember him as a guy who marched to the beat of a different drummer, as a guy who, you know, when you'd look in the parking lot of the Arizona Cardinals complex and you saw all the Rage Rovers and Escalades chromed out with 24s, here's a guy who rolled up on a 1950s bicycle. And he's going to be a guy who -- he definitely will be someone that I think America should remember as a hero.

O'BRIEN: One of hundreds of great Americans we have lost in the war on terror, we should point out. Steve Overmyer and Gary Belsky, thank you very much for taking a few moments to remember one of them - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: From Afghanistan to Iraq, in the early months of the Iraq war U.S. troops worked around the clock to root out Baathists, Iraqis loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime. Turns out now some of them may be welcomed back. U.S. Administrator Paul Bremer announced that thousands of Baath Party members will get their jobs back. Most are teachers and senior military officers. With more from Iraq now, CNN's Jim Clancy in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqi officials say a suspect arrested near the scene of one of the suicide bombings in Basra was from the besieged city of Fallujah. In the view of some it is evidence the suicide bombings that killed 20 school children along with more than 50 other Iraqis were not the work of al Qaeda or foreign fighters but Iraqis outraged by the U.S. military's Fallujah campaign that has killed hundreds of Iraqis, including many civilians.

But it also raises questions about who may be directing the suicide attacks from inside the city. U.S. Marines in Fallujah are still exchanging fire with anti-coalition fighter as a nominal cease- fire continues. Coalition commanders asserted that hundreds of foreign fighters may be among them. The surrender of those foreign elements along with the insurgents' arsenal of weapons is being demanded as a condition of any permanent truce.

Thus far coalition military sources say the weapons handover has been disappointing, with old rusted arms or dummy rockets being handed in. When coalition forces surrounded and cut off Fallujah earlier this month, it was noted that feared bomb attacks in the south failed to materialize during Shia Muslim religious commemorations. That was in stark contrast to similar events that were marked by hundreds of casualties in Baghdad and Karbala.

The coalition blamed those attacks on al Qaeda or Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant with similar aims. While stressing no group has been tied to the Basra attacks, some believe the tactics are familiar.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: If you take a look at the manner in which it was carried out, the technique that was used, the tactics that were used in the attack, it clearly points to a network, a terrorist network, a coordinated terrorist network such as the Zarqawi network.

CLANCY (on camera): Al-Zarqawi is believed trying to foment civil war between Iraq's Shia and Sunni communities as the best way of destroying U.S. plans here. Friday coalition spokesmen said they had no more information about what the suspect may be telling investigators. If he is indeed tied to the Basra carnage, those investigators are going to want answers that go far beyond Basra.

Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Other news across America now, funeral services will be held tomorrow for Dru Sjodin. The body of the missing North Dakota college student was found last Saturday. Murder charges are expected against the man accused of kidnapping her.

A grand jury has indicted hockey player Mike Danton and a friend in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. The two are accused of trying to hire someone to kill a man Danton knows. Danton reportedly was caught on tape trying to hire a hit man. Court papers show his friend has given a written confession.

PHILLIPS: And "The Orlando Sentinel" reports that Michael Jackson has gone into seclusion in Florida. The newspaper says Jackson is staying in a 12-bedroom mansion with his children and entourage. The singer has been indicted by a California grand jury investigating the child molestation case against him.

O'BRIEN: A little farther south in Florida, President Bush is back raising money and defending his environmental record a day after Earth Day. White House correspondent Dana Bash with the president. She joins us now from Naples, Florida.

Hello, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. And the president is going to spend the rest of his day raising some money for the Republican Party. But as you mentioned, this morning his event was what the White House is calling day two of his Earth Day push to talk up the environment, specifically his new plan that he announced yesterday in Maine to expand wetlands. Now, he came here to the Rookery Bay Research Reserve (ph), it's on the edge of the Everglades along with his brother, the governor, Jeb Bush, to get a tour and get a photo op, pulling some of the non-native plants here that they say is hurting the habitat here.

Also, he's really been talking up the environment over the past two days even though it is, according to pollsters not even barely in the top 10 items that voters say they care most about. However, it is important to some key swing voters, and here in Florida the issue of the Everglades is very important, especially in key areas. That is why the president talked it up today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order to make sure enough fresh water would go to the Everglades, the federal government and the state agreed to install large pumps and build canals and large freshwater storage areas. In other words, my administration recognized the importance of the Everglades not only to the state of Florida but to our country, and we will continue to work with Jeb and state to make sure the Everglades is vibrant, alive, and available for future generations of Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, the president has tried to defend his record on the environment even as his probable Democratic opponent, John Kerry, spent the week touring through the south including here in Florida, hitting the president on his environmental record, saying that he has the worst record essentially in history on it. That is one of the reasons why the president has been talking it up.

And of course, Florida, no one will forget the importance of Florida because of that 36-day recount in 2000. And it is going to be neck and neck, at least it is at this point. Take a look at the latest poll between the president and John Kerry. The president at 46 percent, John Kerry at 45 percent, and Ralph Nader, is he is here on the ballot, 3 percent. That is the latest from the American Research Group. That is why the president is here today, Miles, for his twenty-first time since he's been in office -- Miles.

CNN's Dana Bash in Naples, Florida. Thank you very much.

The governor of Illinois is scheduled to tour storm-damaged parts of his state today. The visit comes as people continue sifting through debris in five counties damaged by Tuesday night's tornados. Especially hard hit, the small town of Utica, where funerals are expected to start tomorrow for eight people killed in a downtown tavern.

PHILLIPS: Oklahoma's also recovering from this week's violent weather. A special order has been signed allowing out state insurance adjusters to come in and help tally the damage. Jerry Giordano with affiliate KTUL gives us a glimpse of some of the damage they'll see.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounded kind of like jet airplanes. Yes, it's pretty mean sounding.

JERRY GIORDANO, KTUL REPORTER (voice-over): Eighty-five-year-old Jim Graham (ph) believes he's lucky to be alive because when he saw this overhead he took quick action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We was all out here and heard a big noise a- coming, tornado, and we got in the cellar, just a little bit, it's gone.

GIORDANO: And look no further than Graham's back field for proof of severe damage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About where we're standing.

GIORDANO: Tommy Dotson (ph) takes us by four-wheel drive, and we see these amazing sights, 50-foot trees snapped in two, floating in plenty of water. Brittany Edwards (ph) saw it all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it was really windy. It was like, I don't know, I've never seen one like that before.

GIORDANO: Area crews are hard at work, but some jobs are tougher than others. Like getting around, this truck did make it through.

(on camera): But other drivers were taking no chances, deciding these rushing waters could be too much for their vehicles.

(voice-over): Driver Jerry Ensley (ph) decides on the spot he's retreating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looked too deep and too swift, so I'm going to turn around and go a different way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: To get an update on the Midwest storms, we turn to now CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano.

Rob, what's the latest?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, same set-up today only a little bit farther to the west. Yesterday there were 10 tornados that touched down, mostly in eastern Oklahoma, around the Tulsa area. The set-up pretty much remains the same. We've had the stationary front separating the cold and the warm air, and it's been here all week long. It'll be here through tomorrow as well.

For today, though, the shift does happen west of Dallas. This is the greatest threat later on this afternoon and evening where we could see some severe weather break out. The other flip-side of this storm, that cold air in the Colorado Rockies, heavy snow today. Denver, Colorado already with about four inches. You go south and west into the mountains just north of the New Mexico border in Cochara (ph), 32 inches of snow. Now most of the ski resorts are already closed but they could certainly use some of that snowfall because this area is seeing some drought and it's still snowing in Denver as we speak, Miles.

We'll keep an eye on the severe weather potential later on in the afternoon and this evening. Meanwhile, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Rob, appreciate it. We're going to take a break. We are expecting very shortly a live news conference from representatives of the Arizona Cardinals. As we told you at the top of the show, Pat Tillman, former safety for the Arizona Cardinals, killed in a firefight in southeastern Afghanistan. We'll bring that to you live as it happens. Also, there's this. A national tragedy forces a communist country out of its self-imposed seclusion. As the death toll climbs, we'll tell you what's being done in the aftermath of a North Korean train explosion.

Plus, what a difference a day makes. Why the government's case against Zacarias Moussaoui just got stronger.

Also ahead, why some want Germany to lift its ban on Hitler's personal manifesto of hate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: In secretive North Korea, the picture is becoming clearer as details from yesterday's devastating train explosion slowly begin to emerge. For the first time ever North Korea is asking for help from international aid workers. CNN's Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz has more now from the border down of Dandong (ph), China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): North Koreans on the banks of the Yalu (ph) River finding time to repair fishing boats and unload commodities. But not far from their homes along the China-North Korea border, was a scene of carnage. A huge explosion at a train station rocked the town of Rumchen (ph), killing scores and injuring more than 1000.

JOHN SPARROW, RED CROSS SPOKESMAN: Obviously, a lot of people are at this moment without a roof over their heads. A lot of people are injured. And we expect those casualty figures to rise. But it's a scene certainly around that station, one of mass destruction.

FLORCRUZ: It's a disaster North Korea could hardly afford. The isolated communist state already suffers from chronic shortages of food and energy. And it's locked in a confrontation with the U.S. over its nuclear weapons program.

(on camera): The city behind me, Sinuju (ph), is the place where many of the injured are believed to be receiving treatment. But many fear that Sinuju's backward medical facilities may not be enough to cope with the emergency.

(voice-over): In this industrial city of half a million people, patients usually get only basic care in crowded hospitals. And there's still no official word on what caused the blast. It occurred nine hours after North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, passed the town on his way back to Pyongyang from China. But the explosion appeared to be an accident.

PAUL BEIJER, SWEDISH AMB. TO NORTH KOREA: It was not two trains colliding, but work in a freight yard in this little town. They were shifting a couple of freight cars full of explosives, high explosives, and these freight cars came into contact with a live power cable, and the resulting spark ignited the explosives. FLORCRUZ: Whatever the cause, international aid workers and Chinese hospitals here say they are ready to offer any help that Pyongyang and asks for.

Jaime FlorCruz, CNN, Dandong, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, recently there's been a steady stream of warnings about the possibility of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. The weapons of choice could involve chemical plants and freight trains. That warning comes from several lawmakers. Earlier today CNN's Bill Hemmer spoke with Miami's police chief and asked him about sleeper cell activity within the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI POLICE DEPT.: I can guarantee you from the information that I have that clearly the sleeper cells throughout the United States, but also the FBI and the joint terrorist task force is in much better shape now regards to these ongoing investigations.

And they better be, because, you know, the lesson I think the terrorists learned from 9/11 is that they can effect our daily lives and how we move about, particularly in the major cities, I think, the lessons of Madrid is that they also think they can impact or have an effect on an election which is a real problem for us in the upcoming election, the two conventions, the G8 summit in Georgia in June, we got a tough year ahead of us, including the Olympics in Greece.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We take you right now to Phoenix, Arizona, a live news conference with Arizona Cardinals representative Mike Bidwell on the death of one of their players, Pat Tillman.

(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)

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