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Army Preps for Abu Ghraib Courts Martial Tomorrow; Pope Turns 84
Aired May 18, 2004 - 13:58 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were the experts. No one could have done a better job. Did they know everything they would have liked to know? Not at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Responding to a terror attack. New York's emergency officials testify about what went right and wrong on September 11.
Are America's other cities prepared for a possible future attack? Miami's police chief speaks for his community.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Sean Callebs in Washington. Once again, top Pentagon officials say those guilty of abuses at a prison in Baghdad will be punished, and swiftly.
NGUYEN: And remembering a man who made America laugh. Actor Tony Randall dies in a New York hospital.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen. Miles O'Brien and Kyra Phillips are off today. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
Up first this hour, courage and confusion under fire. The independent panel investigating September 11 is setting its sights on ground zero itself and the often chaotic attempt to save lives. Day one of a two-day hearing, now in a lunch break, comes as New York City make the next to last cut to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. Jeanne Meserve is watching from the sidelines .
Hi, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the big question being asked here today, is the country and is this city better prepared now for a terrorist attack than it was on 9/11. The answer, of course, is yes, it's better prepared. But it is evident from the testimony today that there are still gaps in preparedness here.
One of the big issues that they've been looking at is command and control and whether on 9/11 the longstanding rivalry between the police department and the fire department impeded response to that event. One commissioner member, John Lehman, made it perfectly clear what he thought of the emergency plan for command and control that was in place that day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LEHMAN (R), COMMISSION MEMBER: I think that the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll ask the audience -- just taking time away from the hearing when you do that. So please do not.
LEHMAN: It is not worthy of the boy scouts, let alone this great city. Is it a scandal that you as the emergency preparedness manager did not have line authority to select, find the best technologies of radios and dictate what would be procured to solve these problems, instead of being kind of an auxiliary advisory service.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Now, the former fire commissioner, Tom Von Essen, responded to that. He said it was ridiculous that Lehman would say such a thing. The former police commissioner also spoke, saying that he felt that the bad relations between the departments had been overblown and, in fact, they were cooperating and worked well together.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg did announce some new steps last Friday, attempting to address this issue of command and control. It would give command of various incidents to either police or fire depending on the expertise that was necessary to respond. Today commission member Jamie Gorelick called that a jump ball sort of situation.
Communications another key thing that's being examined here. There were significant breakdowns on 9/11. The question is have they been addressed? New equipment has been requested but we heard one panel member here today plead with the commission for help, saying, we need more radio spectrum, we need frequencies so we can have more emergency channels so we can talk better to one another. That is something that's still has not been answered well enough.
And we heard also from the former police commissioner, some commentary about the state of technology at the present time. He said, you go to the great manufacturers like Motorola and you ask them if they have a radio that can go through cement, that can go through metal, that can go through dust and debris and operate well. He said, their answer is there simply is not one that exists at this time.
It has been quite an emotional session here today. They used videotape this morning that is still shocking of those World Trade Centers being hit by the planes, and then the centers coming down. There are family members here today. Some of them have been quite emotional. And some have expressed some shock that some of the situations which were highlighted on 9/11 still have not been addressed.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: That is shocking. All right, CNN's Jeanne Meserve in New York, thank you.
Well, the scene is set in Baghdad for the first court-martial in the prisoner abuse scandal. Specialist Jeremy Sivits will answer tomorrow to a military judge flown in from Germany to two counts of mistreatment, one count of conspiracy and one of dereliction of duty. Also tomorrow, three American soldiers facing harsher charges than Sivits are expected to be arraigned a day early.
With more on that Scandal, Sean Callebs now in Washington.
Hi, Sean.
CALLEBS: Hi, Betty.
Indeed, the U.S. Army isn't saying why it moved the arraignment of those three soldiers up one day. All are members of the 372nd Military Police Company. The soldiers are accused of abusing and humiliating detainees at Abu Ghraib as well as dereliction of duty.
35-year-old specialist Charles Graner will plead innocent according to his attorney. 37-year-old Ivan "Chip" Frederick will seek to defer proceedings. 26-year-old Javal Davis is asking the military to postpone the trial so his legal team can better prepare its defense.
Also on Wednesday, special court-martial proceedings are scheduled against Jeremy Sivits. Sivits, one of seven troops facing courts martial, is expected to plead guilty. He has been cooperating with investigators, some of the detainees allegedly abused at the notorious prison in Baghdad are coming forward. Saddam Saleh says he was abused for 18 days at Abu Ghraib.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADDAM SALEH, FORMER PRISONER (though translator): The torture went on until 4:00 when I collapsed. They removed the hood from my head and I was able to see their faces, but I was too weak to move. They started to laugh at me and take pictures. And one of the soldiers urinated on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Top officials of the Bush administration used public appearances Tuesday to deny media stories that said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of clandestine troops to squeeze intelligence information from detainees. U.S. officials have been expressing their shock and dismay at the abuse Iraqi prisoners endured. And officials say those convicted of wrongdoing will be punished and there is no cover-up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY SECY. OF DEFENSE: Most of all, we're sending the message that in democracies abuses are not tolerated or covered up, but revealed and punished. That is a very important message for the Iraqi people and a lesson as well as they seek to build a government that would be the first of its kind in the Arab world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: On another matter with the gristly images of the suicide attack that killed the president of the U.S.-backed governing council. Fresh on the minds of lawmakers, questions continue to dog administration officials on Capitol Hill who have yet to elaborate on an exit strategy or account for the allegations of abuse and waste being leveled -- Betty.
NGUYEN: A lot of questions still out there. All right. Sean Callebs in Washington, thank you.
Paying tribute to a fallen leader in Baghdad, U.S. civilian administrator Paul Bremer promised during Izzedine Salim's funeral today that his death will not alter the course of democracy in Iraq. Salim, this month's president of the Iraqi Governing Council, was killed in Monday's car bombing. Coalition officials now say forensic evidence leads them to suspect Musab al-Zarqawi may not be responsible for that bombing. Al-Zarqawi has been tied to a number of other attacks in Iraq.
More tests on an artillery shell used in a homemade bomb in Iraq, believed loaded with sarin gas. Coalition says initial field tests indicate contained chemicals that could create that nerve agent. U.S. soldiers who found it have been treated for possible contamination. The Pentagon says field tests can often be incorrect. Officials are awaiting more definitive lab tests.
NGUYEN: Tony Randall, the Emmy-winning actor who played the fastidious Felix Unger in "The Odd Couple" has died. His career included the stage, television and movies.
Adaora Udoji remembers Randall's multi-faceted career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tony Randall made people laugh. He was an artist molding his craft across six decades. The man audiences came to love was born Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He leapt from there onto the stage and never looked back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: As a friend, my only hope one day you find a girl like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: He appeared in dozens of productions, even late into his life. On film, Randall's irrepressible character stood with the 1950s American darling Doris Day, among so many others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE ODD COUPLE")
RANDALL: Warn me the next time you open a beer!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: But it was television that sparked arguably his most memorable character in 1970: the fastidious, uptight, often hilarious, Felix Unger on "The Odd Couple." A frequent guest on CNN's "LARRY KING," he talks about his early doubts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE")
LARRY KING, HOST: You liked it right away, let's do it?
RANDALL: No, I had to be talked into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: It paid off. During its five-year run, he won a prestigious Emmy. A widower in the 1990s, Randall remarried and became a father very late in life. It brought him great joy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KIND LIVE")
KING: You're 81.
RANDALL: Yes. Nothing in life is the equal of it. And it's as if this is what I was waiting for all my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: A family spokesman says he died in his sleep on Monday from complications of a prolonged illness. He leaves behind two young children, Julia, 7, and Jefferson, 5. Tony Randall was 84 years old.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: As Adaora mentioned, millions of fans will always remember Randall as "The Odd Couple"'s Felix Unger. Here is more of Larry King's interview with Randall and Jack Klugman about working together on the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE")
KING: Was it as fun doing it, Tony, as it appeared there?
RANDALL: Yes. Especially working with Jack. It sounds like I'm saying the right thing, but it was true. But acting has always been fun for me. I'd rather act than do almost anything else.
KING: Did you -- Jack, was this a natural simpatico between the two of you? Did this just happen? JACK KLUGMAN, ACTOR: It happened so beautifully. Like we had maybe five pages would remain from Monday, we'd read the script, five pages would remain by Friday, by the time we did it. And for instance, yes, he had to teach me manners. It would be, Tony teaches Jack manners, and there would be four blank pages. And then we'd improvise. And he's the best improviser in the world. He taught me how to improvise. People want to improvise, they talk, talk, talk, try to fill time.
He would provoke -- like I have to teach him football, right? He knows. He watches sports all the time. Now, instead of -- I said, all right, now get down. So he came next to me. So I said, we're not the Rockettes. Come over here. And then he put his face right here. I said, I don't want to dance with you. So he would provoke you into saying something funny. That's true improvisation. It was wonderful. I had a great time. I learned a lot.
KING: Was it natural for you two, you and him?
RANDALL: It just clicked. That doesn't always happen. It doesn't even happen always with good actors.
KING: You can take two good actors and put them together, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work, right.
RANDALL: That's right, that's right, it's hard.
KING: So it has to be a natural chemistry.
RANDALL: Yes, and you can't explain it, you can't predict it.
KLUGMAN: But you also -- if I may say, you have both got to want the same thing, which is the best show you can put on. See, I mean, we were not interested in billing or in stardom. We wanted it to be the best show we could. And we never had any of that -- oh, I should get more, he should get more. We never ever had that kind of argument ever. We may have discussed what's funny to him, what's funny to me and we'd work it out. It was wonderful that way. There was no jealousy.
RANDALL: Nothing personal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Actress Doris Day, who worked in a number of films with Randall, issued this statement: "Tony was so brilliant, funny, sweet and dear that it was as if God had given him everything. He was the funniest man in movies and on television and nothing was as much fun as working with him. I'm so glad that his last few years with his wife and children were so happy. I loved him very much and miss him already."
Larry King will bring you more about the entertaining life and career of Tony Randall at 9 p.m. Eastern. He'll have an exclusive interview with Heather Randall, Tony Randall's wife, and Jack Klugman.
It's a case of art imitating life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is really scary. My first reaction was, oh, my God, why would somebody do that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A thought-provoking sign of the times in Seattle.
And lost and found. A new twist in the disappearing act of a priceless musical instrument.
Plus, low-carb versus low fat. Good carbs versus bad carbs. The battle of which diets are best, coming to terms with carb confusion later on LIVE FROM...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: News across America begins in Colorado. Investigators looking into the weekend bridge accident near Denver are questioning a motorist. The motorist called 911 before a girder fell Saturday, warning that something was wrong. An hour later, the steel beam fell on a sport utility vehicle, killing three people inside.
Terminating the bobbleheads. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing an Ohio company for manufacturing the bobbleheads in his image. The former actor turned politician says he never gave permission for the project. The doll-maker says it didn't need it and contents politicians are fair game for political satire.
We want to update you on the case of the stolen Stradivarius. The priceless cello that was taken from a musician's home in Los Angeles has been recovered. No arrests have been made. And police are releasing few detail details. But a news conference is scheduled for later this afternoon.
The treatment of Iraqi prisoners is evoking strong and conflicting reactions among Americans. Pat McReynolds of CNN affiliate KING in Seattle tells what happened the other day after an artist brought the issue home to the streets of that city.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAT MCREYNOLDS, KING REPORTER (voice-over): What would evoke such emotion that grown men would scuffle in the streets of Seattle? Only the disturbing snapshot viewed around the world re-created in Fremont. It started with an anonymous artist voicing silent protest, placing black hoods on the statues known as "Waiting for the Interurban," even placed an electric chair hooked to a car battery in front.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is headline news right here in Fremont
MCREYNOLDS: Passers by couldn't help but be moved by the image.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is really scary. My first reaction was, oh my God, why would somebody do that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first I thought it looked like the five guys behind the guy they just beheaded last week.
MCREYNOLDS: But suddenly this man charged the display, snatching the hoods and tearing off down the street before ditching the cloth in the waters of Lake Union (ph).
TRIP ALLEN, GAVE CHASE: Ii asked him if it was his art piece, his statement? And he said, it is mine now.
MCREYNOLDS: Trip Allen gave chase.
ALLEN: I wanted to get those bags back. I felt like the statement -- that art, it is someone's statement that they made. And he's violating that free speech. I wanted the bags back.
MCREYNOLDS: So did Tom Maotta (ph) who fished them out of the lake to bring back to the statues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's venues for everyone's opinion. And I think if you decide to do something constructive to voice your own opinion, that's fine. But to actually destroy someone else's opinion, I think that's a tragedy. And I don't think it belongs in this country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slip knot, tie them tight.
MCREYNOLDS: In the end, these strangers felt compelled to re- create the shocking display. Not necessarily because they agree with it, but because no voice should be tossed aside.
: I don't know how long it will last like this but for a little while longer it will be great.
MCREYNOLDS: The artist remains anonymous. But if their intention was to get people to think, they more than succeeded.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Pat Reynolds of CNN affiliate KING in Seattle. We do want to note that the hoods were gone from the sculpture by nightfall.
Forget tea and crumpets, they're lighting up the hot doughnuts now sign in London. Will the Brits go for the sprinkles or the glaze in a new drive-thru, we're investigating it ahead on LIVE FROM...
And when you care enough to send the very biggest. A soldier's heartfelt message of love finally makes it home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A U.S. Army officer home from the war in Iraq has finally seen his king-sized valentine that caused a stir in Connecticut. Captain Michael Englis (ph) hired an outdoor communications company to paint a billboard company telling his wife, Evelyn (ph), "I love you the mostest." When he visited the billboard company studio yesterday, they surprised him by unveiling his entire 14- by 48-foot love message. Hallmark, eat your heart out.
News around the world now. Five cities are in the running to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. The IOC executive board has narrowed the field to New York, London, Paris, Madrid and Moscow. A final decision won't come until July 2005.
The apparent shoo-in as the next prime minister of India doesn't want the job after all. Sonia Gandhi says personal attacks on her Italian heritage and Catholic religion have convinced her someone else in her party would be more successful. Gandhi said her decision is irreversible.
It has been a special day at the Vatican. Pope John Paul II is celebrating his 84th birthday. While congratulatory greetings have been flooding the Vatican, Alessio Vinci reports the pontiff's birthday is a relatively low-key event.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The pope's birthday is never a big deal at the Vatican. In fact, there are no public events planned to mark the occasion. For the Catholic Church, the anniversary that really matters is another one, the date of the pope's election.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: The Vatican takes the position that from the moment of his election as supreme pontiff, it's the pope and not the man who counts. So they actually celebrate the anniversary of his election, which is in October, rather than his birthday which is in May.
VINCI: Last October, cardinals and church officials the world over traveled to Rome to celebrate John Paul II's 25th anniversary as a successor of Peter. Today in that same St. Peter's Square, few tourists are aware of this special day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Didn't have a clue. Did not know it was the pope's birthday or anything.
VINCI: At now 84, the most-traveled pope in history shows no signs of giving up. He has planned for next month another of his landmark trips, this time to Switzerland for a meeting of Catholic youth. Twenty-four hours before his departure he will meet for the third time with U.S. President George W. Bush. Vatican officials recently expressed shock and outrage at images of U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners.
ALLEN: We had the foreign minister at the Vatican, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, gave an interview to one of the leading Italian dailies in which he said that this was a more serious blow to the United States than September 11. And in this case it was a self- inflicted wound. And I think that's indicative of the kind of magnitude and seriousness with which people inside the Vatican are taking this. VINCI: It will be a meeting, some Vatican officials say, during which the pope is expected to tell President Bush, the U.S. is too isolated in its Middle East policies and must do something to get more international support.
Alessio Vinci, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back from CNN Center in Atlanta. This is LIVE FROM...
I'm Betty Nguyen.
Here's a look at what's happening this half hour. Emergency officials across the country hoping to learn lessons from New York's 9/11 experience. We'll talk with Miami's police chief about what he thinks of America's preparedness for another possible terror attack.
But first, the stories we're following for you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 18, 2004 - 13:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were the experts. No one could have done a better job. Did they know everything they would have liked to know? Not at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Responding to a terror attack. New York's emergency officials testify about what went right and wrong on September 11.
Are America's other cities prepared for a possible future attack? Miami's police chief speaks for his community.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Sean Callebs in Washington. Once again, top Pentagon officials say those guilty of abuses at a prison in Baghdad will be punished, and swiftly.
NGUYEN: And remembering a man who made America laugh. Actor Tony Randall dies in a New York hospital.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen. Miles O'Brien and Kyra Phillips are off today. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
Up first this hour, courage and confusion under fire. The independent panel investigating September 11 is setting its sights on ground zero itself and the often chaotic attempt to save lives. Day one of a two-day hearing, now in a lunch break, comes as New York City make the next to last cut to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. Jeanne Meserve is watching from the sidelines .
Hi, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the big question being asked here today, is the country and is this city better prepared now for a terrorist attack than it was on 9/11. The answer, of course, is yes, it's better prepared. But it is evident from the testimony today that there are still gaps in preparedness here.
One of the big issues that they've been looking at is command and control and whether on 9/11 the longstanding rivalry between the police department and the fire department impeded response to that event. One commissioner member, John Lehman, made it perfectly clear what he thought of the emergency plan for command and control that was in place that day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LEHMAN (R), COMMISSION MEMBER: I think that the command and control and communications of this city's public service is a scandal.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll ask the audience -- just taking time away from the hearing when you do that. So please do not.
LEHMAN: It is not worthy of the boy scouts, let alone this great city. Is it a scandal that you as the emergency preparedness manager did not have line authority to select, find the best technologies of radios and dictate what would be procured to solve these problems, instead of being kind of an auxiliary advisory service.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Now, the former fire commissioner, Tom Von Essen, responded to that. He said it was ridiculous that Lehman would say such a thing. The former police commissioner also spoke, saying that he felt that the bad relations between the departments had been overblown and, in fact, they were cooperating and worked well together.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg did announce some new steps last Friday, attempting to address this issue of command and control. It would give command of various incidents to either police or fire depending on the expertise that was necessary to respond. Today commission member Jamie Gorelick called that a jump ball sort of situation.
Communications another key thing that's being examined here. There were significant breakdowns on 9/11. The question is have they been addressed? New equipment has been requested but we heard one panel member here today plead with the commission for help, saying, we need more radio spectrum, we need frequencies so we can have more emergency channels so we can talk better to one another. That is something that's still has not been answered well enough.
And we heard also from the former police commissioner, some commentary about the state of technology at the present time. He said, you go to the great manufacturers like Motorola and you ask them if they have a radio that can go through cement, that can go through metal, that can go through dust and debris and operate well. He said, their answer is there simply is not one that exists at this time.
It has been quite an emotional session here today. They used videotape this morning that is still shocking of those World Trade Centers being hit by the planes, and then the centers coming down. There are family members here today. Some of them have been quite emotional. And some have expressed some shock that some of the situations which were highlighted on 9/11 still have not been addressed.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: That is shocking. All right, CNN's Jeanne Meserve in New York, thank you.
Well, the scene is set in Baghdad for the first court-martial in the prisoner abuse scandal. Specialist Jeremy Sivits will answer tomorrow to a military judge flown in from Germany to two counts of mistreatment, one count of conspiracy and one of dereliction of duty. Also tomorrow, three American soldiers facing harsher charges than Sivits are expected to be arraigned a day early.
With more on that Scandal, Sean Callebs now in Washington.
Hi, Sean.
CALLEBS: Hi, Betty.
Indeed, the U.S. Army isn't saying why it moved the arraignment of those three soldiers up one day. All are members of the 372nd Military Police Company. The soldiers are accused of abusing and humiliating detainees at Abu Ghraib as well as dereliction of duty.
35-year-old specialist Charles Graner will plead innocent according to his attorney. 37-year-old Ivan "Chip" Frederick will seek to defer proceedings. 26-year-old Javal Davis is asking the military to postpone the trial so his legal team can better prepare its defense.
Also on Wednesday, special court-martial proceedings are scheduled against Jeremy Sivits. Sivits, one of seven troops facing courts martial, is expected to plead guilty. He has been cooperating with investigators, some of the detainees allegedly abused at the notorious prison in Baghdad are coming forward. Saddam Saleh says he was abused for 18 days at Abu Ghraib.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADDAM SALEH, FORMER PRISONER (though translator): The torture went on until 4:00 when I collapsed. They removed the hood from my head and I was able to see their faces, but I was too weak to move. They started to laugh at me and take pictures. And one of the soldiers urinated on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Top officials of the Bush administration used public appearances Tuesday to deny media stories that said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of clandestine troops to squeeze intelligence information from detainees. U.S. officials have been expressing their shock and dismay at the abuse Iraqi prisoners endured. And officials say those convicted of wrongdoing will be punished and there is no cover-up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY SECY. OF DEFENSE: Most of all, we're sending the message that in democracies abuses are not tolerated or covered up, but revealed and punished. That is a very important message for the Iraqi people and a lesson as well as they seek to build a government that would be the first of its kind in the Arab world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: On another matter with the gristly images of the suicide attack that killed the president of the U.S.-backed governing council. Fresh on the minds of lawmakers, questions continue to dog administration officials on Capitol Hill who have yet to elaborate on an exit strategy or account for the allegations of abuse and waste being leveled -- Betty.
NGUYEN: A lot of questions still out there. All right. Sean Callebs in Washington, thank you.
Paying tribute to a fallen leader in Baghdad, U.S. civilian administrator Paul Bremer promised during Izzedine Salim's funeral today that his death will not alter the course of democracy in Iraq. Salim, this month's president of the Iraqi Governing Council, was killed in Monday's car bombing. Coalition officials now say forensic evidence leads them to suspect Musab al-Zarqawi may not be responsible for that bombing. Al-Zarqawi has been tied to a number of other attacks in Iraq.
More tests on an artillery shell used in a homemade bomb in Iraq, believed loaded with sarin gas. Coalition says initial field tests indicate contained chemicals that could create that nerve agent. U.S. soldiers who found it have been treated for possible contamination. The Pentagon says field tests can often be incorrect. Officials are awaiting more definitive lab tests.
NGUYEN: Tony Randall, the Emmy-winning actor who played the fastidious Felix Unger in "The Odd Couple" has died. His career included the stage, television and movies.
Adaora Udoji remembers Randall's multi-faceted career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tony Randall made people laugh. He was an artist molding his craft across six decades. The man audiences came to love was born Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He leapt from there onto the stage and never looked back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: As a friend, my only hope one day you find a girl like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: He appeared in dozens of productions, even late into his life. On film, Randall's irrepressible character stood with the 1950s American darling Doris Day, among so many others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE ODD COUPLE")
RANDALL: Warn me the next time you open a beer!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: But it was television that sparked arguably his most memorable character in 1970: the fastidious, uptight, often hilarious, Felix Unger on "The Odd Couple." A frequent guest on CNN's "LARRY KING," he talks about his early doubts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE")
LARRY KING, HOST: You liked it right away, let's do it?
RANDALL: No, I had to be talked into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: It paid off. During its five-year run, he won a prestigious Emmy. A widower in the 1990s, Randall remarried and became a father very late in life. It brought him great joy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KIND LIVE")
KING: You're 81.
RANDALL: Yes. Nothing in life is the equal of it. And it's as if this is what I was waiting for all my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: A family spokesman says he died in his sleep on Monday from complications of a prolonged illness. He leaves behind two young children, Julia, 7, and Jefferson, 5. Tony Randall was 84 years old.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: As Adaora mentioned, millions of fans will always remember Randall as "The Odd Couple"'s Felix Unger. Here is more of Larry King's interview with Randall and Jack Klugman about working together on the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE")
KING: Was it as fun doing it, Tony, as it appeared there?
RANDALL: Yes. Especially working with Jack. It sounds like I'm saying the right thing, but it was true. But acting has always been fun for me. I'd rather act than do almost anything else.
KING: Did you -- Jack, was this a natural simpatico between the two of you? Did this just happen? JACK KLUGMAN, ACTOR: It happened so beautifully. Like we had maybe five pages would remain from Monday, we'd read the script, five pages would remain by Friday, by the time we did it. And for instance, yes, he had to teach me manners. It would be, Tony teaches Jack manners, and there would be four blank pages. And then we'd improvise. And he's the best improviser in the world. He taught me how to improvise. People want to improvise, they talk, talk, talk, try to fill time.
He would provoke -- like I have to teach him football, right? He knows. He watches sports all the time. Now, instead of -- I said, all right, now get down. So he came next to me. So I said, we're not the Rockettes. Come over here. And then he put his face right here. I said, I don't want to dance with you. So he would provoke you into saying something funny. That's true improvisation. It was wonderful. I had a great time. I learned a lot.
KING: Was it natural for you two, you and him?
RANDALL: It just clicked. That doesn't always happen. It doesn't even happen always with good actors.
KING: You can take two good actors and put them together, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work, right.
RANDALL: That's right, that's right, it's hard.
KING: So it has to be a natural chemistry.
RANDALL: Yes, and you can't explain it, you can't predict it.
KLUGMAN: But you also -- if I may say, you have both got to want the same thing, which is the best show you can put on. See, I mean, we were not interested in billing or in stardom. We wanted it to be the best show we could. And we never had any of that -- oh, I should get more, he should get more. We never ever had that kind of argument ever. We may have discussed what's funny to him, what's funny to me and we'd work it out. It was wonderful that way. There was no jealousy.
RANDALL: Nothing personal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Actress Doris Day, who worked in a number of films with Randall, issued this statement: "Tony was so brilliant, funny, sweet and dear that it was as if God had given him everything. He was the funniest man in movies and on television and nothing was as much fun as working with him. I'm so glad that his last few years with his wife and children were so happy. I loved him very much and miss him already."
Larry King will bring you more about the entertaining life and career of Tony Randall at 9 p.m. Eastern. He'll have an exclusive interview with Heather Randall, Tony Randall's wife, and Jack Klugman.
It's a case of art imitating life.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is really scary. My first reaction was, oh, my God, why would somebody do that?
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NGUYEN: A thought-provoking sign of the times in Seattle.
And lost and found. A new twist in the disappearing act of a priceless musical instrument.
Plus, low-carb versus low fat. Good carbs versus bad carbs. The battle of which diets are best, coming to terms with carb confusion later on LIVE FROM...
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NGUYEN: News across America begins in Colorado. Investigators looking into the weekend bridge accident near Denver are questioning a motorist. The motorist called 911 before a girder fell Saturday, warning that something was wrong. An hour later, the steel beam fell on a sport utility vehicle, killing three people inside.
Terminating the bobbleheads. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing an Ohio company for manufacturing the bobbleheads in his image. The former actor turned politician says he never gave permission for the project. The doll-maker says it didn't need it and contents politicians are fair game for political satire.
We want to update you on the case of the stolen Stradivarius. The priceless cello that was taken from a musician's home in Los Angeles has been recovered. No arrests have been made. And police are releasing few detail details. But a news conference is scheduled for later this afternoon.
The treatment of Iraqi prisoners is evoking strong and conflicting reactions among Americans. Pat McReynolds of CNN affiliate KING in Seattle tells what happened the other day after an artist brought the issue home to the streets of that city.
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PAT MCREYNOLDS, KING REPORTER (voice-over): What would evoke such emotion that grown men would scuffle in the streets of Seattle? Only the disturbing snapshot viewed around the world re-created in Fremont. It started with an anonymous artist voicing silent protest, placing black hoods on the statues known as "Waiting for the Interurban," even placed an electric chair hooked to a car battery in front.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is headline news right here in Fremont
MCREYNOLDS: Passers by couldn't help but be moved by the image.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is really scary. My first reaction was, oh my God, why would somebody do that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first I thought it looked like the five guys behind the guy they just beheaded last week.
MCREYNOLDS: But suddenly this man charged the display, snatching the hoods and tearing off down the street before ditching the cloth in the waters of Lake Union (ph).
TRIP ALLEN, GAVE CHASE: Ii asked him if it was his art piece, his statement? And he said, it is mine now.
MCREYNOLDS: Trip Allen gave chase.
ALLEN: I wanted to get those bags back. I felt like the statement -- that art, it is someone's statement that they made. And he's violating that free speech. I wanted the bags back.
MCREYNOLDS: So did Tom Maotta (ph) who fished them out of the lake to bring back to the statues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's venues for everyone's opinion. And I think if you decide to do something constructive to voice your own opinion, that's fine. But to actually destroy someone else's opinion, I think that's a tragedy. And I don't think it belongs in this country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slip knot, tie them tight.
MCREYNOLDS: In the end, these strangers felt compelled to re- create the shocking display. Not necessarily because they agree with it, but because no voice should be tossed aside.
: I don't know how long it will last like this but for a little while longer it will be great.
MCREYNOLDS: The artist remains anonymous. But if their intention was to get people to think, they more than succeeded.
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NGUYEN: Pat Reynolds of CNN affiliate KING in Seattle. We do want to note that the hoods were gone from the sculpture by nightfall.
Forget tea and crumpets, they're lighting up the hot doughnuts now sign in London. Will the Brits go for the sprinkles or the glaze in a new drive-thru, we're investigating it ahead on LIVE FROM...
And when you care enough to send the very biggest. A soldier's heartfelt message of love finally makes it home.
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NGUYEN: A U.S. Army officer home from the war in Iraq has finally seen his king-sized valentine that caused a stir in Connecticut. Captain Michael Englis (ph) hired an outdoor communications company to paint a billboard company telling his wife, Evelyn (ph), "I love you the mostest." When he visited the billboard company studio yesterday, they surprised him by unveiling his entire 14- by 48-foot love message. Hallmark, eat your heart out.
News around the world now. Five cities are in the running to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. The IOC executive board has narrowed the field to New York, London, Paris, Madrid and Moscow. A final decision won't come until July 2005.
The apparent shoo-in as the next prime minister of India doesn't want the job after all. Sonia Gandhi says personal attacks on her Italian heritage and Catholic religion have convinced her someone else in her party would be more successful. Gandhi said her decision is irreversible.
It has been a special day at the Vatican. Pope John Paul II is celebrating his 84th birthday. While congratulatory greetings have been flooding the Vatican, Alessio Vinci reports the pontiff's birthday is a relatively low-key event.
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ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The pope's birthday is never a big deal at the Vatican. In fact, there are no public events planned to mark the occasion. For the Catholic Church, the anniversary that really matters is another one, the date of the pope's election.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: The Vatican takes the position that from the moment of his election as supreme pontiff, it's the pope and not the man who counts. So they actually celebrate the anniversary of his election, which is in October, rather than his birthday which is in May.
VINCI: Last October, cardinals and church officials the world over traveled to Rome to celebrate John Paul II's 25th anniversary as a successor of Peter. Today in that same St. Peter's Square, few tourists are aware of this special day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Didn't have a clue. Did not know it was the pope's birthday or anything.
VINCI: At now 84, the most-traveled pope in history shows no signs of giving up. He has planned for next month another of his landmark trips, this time to Switzerland for a meeting of Catholic youth. Twenty-four hours before his departure he will meet for the third time with U.S. President George W. Bush. Vatican officials recently expressed shock and outrage at images of U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners.
ALLEN: We had the foreign minister at the Vatican, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, gave an interview to one of the leading Italian dailies in which he said that this was a more serious blow to the United States than September 11. And in this case it was a self- inflicted wound. And I think that's indicative of the kind of magnitude and seriousness with which people inside the Vatican are taking this. VINCI: It will be a meeting, some Vatican officials say, during which the pope is expected to tell President Bush, the U.S. is too isolated in its Middle East policies and must do something to get more international support.
Alessio Vinci, CNN.
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NGUYEN: Welcome back from CNN Center in Atlanta. This is LIVE FROM...
I'm Betty Nguyen.
Here's a look at what's happening this half hour. Emergency officials across the country hoping to learn lessons from New York's 9/11 experience. We'll talk with Miami's police chief about what he thinks of America's preparedness for another possible terror attack.
But first, the stories we're following for you.
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