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Challenges in Iraq, War on Terror at Forefront of Bush's Thoughts in Speech Today

Aired June 16, 2004 - 14:30   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The challenges in Iraq and the war on terror are at the forefront of President Bush's thoughts today. He spoke with U.S. troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, telling them they're helping the rise of democracy in the world. Our Elaine Quijano live at the White House now with more on the president's day -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Miles. President Bush, as you said, traveled to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to rally U.S. troops there in a speech that was shown all over the world to U.S. military personnel.

He sounded two themes, gratitude to the troops and a determination to carry out the mission in Iraq. The president talked to a crowd of thousands at MacDill, which is headquarters of U.S. Central Command which oversees military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. His remarks were fed via satellite to U.S. forces in those regions.

Now the president expressed his thanks to the troops. He acknowledged that their work is not easy. And at a time when his administration has been criticized for extending the deployments of some U.S. troops, he says he greatly appreciates their sacrifices.

The president also repeated his previous warnings about the possibility of increasing violence in the days ahead. And with just two weeks to go until the Iraq transfer of sovereignty, President Bush said emphatically he and other leaders remain committed to the Iraq mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can expect more attacks in the coming few weeks. More car bombs, more suiciders, more attempts on the lives of Iraqi officials. But our coalition is standing firm. New Iraq's leaders are now intimidated. I will not yield, and neither will the leaders of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, before leaving for Washington and away from the cameras, the president met with the families of 11 troops killed in action overseas. He was also briefed by U.S. commanders.

Now delivering his message today in Florida, the backdrop certainly significant with this being an election year. Although today was an official visit, not a campaign stop, the Sunshine State, of course, is a key battleground state, the site of that election year controversy back in 2000 when just 537 votes separated the president and Al Gore. This time, of course, the president pushing hard to win Florida once again. President Bush has made a total of 22 visits to the Sunshine State since taking office -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks very much -- Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well as we've been reporting, the back story is front and center for the 9/11 Commission in Washington today. The details and money trails, setbacks and strategies that date back long before Mohammad Atta and 18 comrades boarded four commercial airliners and changed the course of history.

Investigators say Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, now in U.S. custody, pitched the idea that became 9/11 to Osama bin Laden back in 1996. The plot then called for ten hijacked planes on both costs. Over the year, prospective hijackers were schooled in such necessary skills as English, navigating telephone directories and airline schedules, making airline reservations, using the Internet and coding their own communications.

Our coverage continues with more tidbits and insights from CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergan. Peter, thanks for being with us.

PETER BERGAN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well we did learn a lot about Osama bin Laden and the money. Let's talk specifically -- there were -- actually, there was a lot of talk about Osama bin Laden, whether he was using his family inheritance or not. We found out he was bringing in $1 million a year.

How was the money allocated to al Qaeda and the Taliban? The Taliban, of course, supported by millions of dollars a year also.

BERGAN: I think what the 9/11 inquiry today showed is that the reports of bin Laden's family fortune being $300 million were wildly overblown. It turned out to be something like $25 million, or $1 million a year, as you point out. That wasn't enough to fund al Qaeda, which was costing, they calculate, some $30 million a year to run, in terms of running the training camps, funding salaries, et cetera.

The terrorist attacks didn't cost them -- didn't cost a lot of money. But they did need money, they did to raise money to run the training camps and also to give money to the Taliban. And they were raising that not from bin Laden's family fortune, but largely from charitable donations from places like Saudi Arabia.

PHILLIPS: Now, we're talking a lot about the money trail. A lot of numbers have been revealed. But didn't learn a lot of information with regard to command and control. BERGAN: Well, one thing that one of the witnesses today said is -- he was asked a question, what do you know about the capabilities of al Qaeda inside the United States? And they said, we know quite a lot about the funding. But we're not very sure about the capabilities, the command and control capabilities inside the United States.

That same witness also said -- or one of the other witnesses also said they expected some kind of attack within the next several months, which is similar to statements that general -- Attorney General Ashcroft has made in the past.

Clearly, there's a lot of concern in the run-up to the November elections. And also, with the Republican and Democratic Primaries in New York and Boston, respectively. When I say primaries, I mean conventions, I'm sorry.

PHILLIPS: I didn't want to say anything. You can put those two together, can't you? But different context.

BERGAN: Sorry.

PHILLIPS: That's all right. Let's talk about Iran, Peter. The connection made of course between al Qaeda and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Now that this has been brought up in the commission hearings, will we see more of a focus on Iran as this evil empire now or threat to the United States?

BERGAN: Well, first of all, the 9/11 inquiries made the point that there was no links between Iraq and al Qaeda in terms of actual terrorist attacks. And the kind of links that have happened were in the past in the mid-'90s in Sudan.

However there are a lot of links to Iran, both historic and present. Right now, we have three important al Qaeda leaders who were in Iran, Saif Al Adel, the military commander. Also, a top aide to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 in al Qaeda. Also, Suleiman Abu Ghaith who's a spokesman for al Qaeda. They're all in Iran today.

Now, they're under some sort of form of house arrest. The Iranians claim that they have senior leaders in custody, but it's not really clear what the status of these people are. Are they able to get into communication with other members of al Qaeda?

So I think the focus is appropriately on Iran now. You know, what that means in the future, I have no idea. But the fact is you can make a reasonably good case that Iran has been involved in al Qaeda's activities for many years now.

PHILLIPS: And let's talk a little more about Iran. It sort of parlays into what we learned about these terror camps and other plots that were being talked about among al Qaeda members. Specifically, these were mentioned: commandeering a Russian nuke and firing that at the U.S., cyanide gas attacks on Jewish areas in Iran, spreading poison in air conditioning systems.

Let's go to the cyanide gas attacks on Jewish areas in Iran and talk about this relationship -- well, this -- I guess this tension, with the Middle East and the Jewish communities and the fact that attacks were even talked about in Iran.

BERGAN: Well I think that those -- I mean, those kinds of attacks I kind of took to be slightly in the area of campfire sort of speculation. You know, the idea of actually hijacking a Russian nuclear missile and targeting the United States is pretty improbable. Attacking Jewish and Israeli targets, certainly, since 9/11, we've seen a lot of that.

It is interesting that they were talking about possibly attacks in Iran. We have known in the past they were experimenting with introducing cyanide into the -- into the air intake of U.S. government buildings. We know that from testimony of an al Qaeda guy in the United States.

But -- so these were -- they were trying to dream up ideas. You know, they obviously were trying to be quite creative about the different ideas that they could come up with.

PHILLIPS: Finally, Peter, anything surprise you today?

BERGAN: Well, I think some of the dissension at the top levels of al Qaeda. There was a lot of disagreement between Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, for instance, about attacking the United States. Also, you know, strong personality clashes like you'd find in any organization. We think of al Qaeda sort of being monolith. Instead it turns out that there were lots of personality clashes.

And also disagreements about how to do things, whether it was to attack the White House rather than the Capitol, or whether to attack the United States at all, as that disagreement happened between Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden.

PHILLIPS: CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergman. Thanks, Peter.

BERGAN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Father's Day is almost here. And as we salute dear old dad, well we have to ask, is he happier than other guys? That answer in biz.

And New Yorkers never thought they'd forget but most of them did. A look back at the biggest tragedy the city had known before the 9/11 attacks when LIVE FROM... continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN from the Associated Press. Dateline is Columbus, Ohio. A federal magistrate there has ordered the man charged with plotting to blow up a Columbus, Ohio shopping mall to be transferred to a federal psychiatric facility where it will be determined if he is mentally competent to proceed any further in the legal system there, stand trial or whatever.

The evidence against -- the magistrate, Mark Abel, said the evidence used to determine why Nuradin Abdi should be sent to the facility has been sealed, however.

Thirty-two-year-old Abdi was accused of plotting to blow up a mall, as yet unnamed, and allegedly admitted to be an al Qaeda member. And trained as well in Afghanistan. He is a Somali native. We're tracking that story for you.

PHILLIPS: Something else that we're tracking. We're just getting pictures in of a nightmare at sea situation. The weekend sinking of an overloaded homemade boat trying desperately to reach Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic.

This is a U.S. -- this is footage, rather, from the U.S. Coast Guard of 94 would-be immigrants going down with the Jolla (ph), as the 40-foot vessel is called, some 25 miles from their intended destination.

Three Dominicans died in the three to four-foot seas, we are told. The others scrambled into rafts, life jackets and happened to survive. They've all been taken back to the Dominican Republic.

O'BRIEN: Until the stunning events of September 11, New York City's worst loss of life occurred as the result of a little remembered steam boat accident.

PHILLIPS: One hundred years ago, more than 1,000 people lost their lives aboard General Slocum. CNN's Beth Nissan recounts the story of a pleasure cruise turned deadly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wednesday morning June 15, 1904. To the sounds of a German band, more than 1,000 members of Saint Mark's Lutheran parish, most all of them German immigrant families, board the steamboat General Slocum in Lower Manhattan for a church outing up the East River. Disaster strikes just minutes after castoff.

EDWARD O'DONNELL, AUTHOR, "SHIP ABLAZE": It's about 10 minutes into the trip up the East River that a little boy runs up to one of the deck hands and says, Mister, there's smoke coming up a stairwell.

NISSEN: Survivors' accounts of what happened next were used to recreate the scene in a 1934 film, "Manhattan Melodrama." A fire had started -- no one knows how -- in a storage room below decks. As smoke and panic rose, deck hands, who had never done fire drills, tried to contain the flames, which quickly roared through the wooden steamboat.

O'DONNELL: They formed a rough fire brigade, having never done it before, pulled down some musty old hoses from a rack, attached them to a stand pip, turned on the water and the hoses burst. They were completely rotten.

NISSEN: As investigators later found, so were the on board life preservers, which dated back to 1891. O'DONNELL: Thirteen years of son and salt had eroded them. And the cork blocks inside of them had essentially become dust. So people found these life preservers, dutifully put them on, jumped over the railings and sank like stones because the life preservers were essentially bags of dirt.

NISSEN: There are no photographs of the General Slocum aflame before the captain finally beached it. But drawings done by witnesses ashore are remarkably similar.

O'DONNELL: They all show huge flames shooting out of the side and up over the top of the ship and people falling, cascading over the sides.

NISSEN: Some were saved from the churning river water by rescuers, but not many. Scores of the dead were pulled in from the water, some burned, some trampled, most drowned. The first extras published that afternoon estimated the dead at about 300.

O'DONNELL: When the tide turned in the middle of the afternoon, more and more bodies began to come up. By about 4:00 or 5:00, the extras are now saying, the Slocum total may exceed 1,000.

NISSEN: It did. Of the 1,300 who boarded the General Slocum, 1,021 died, almost 800 of them women and children. It was the worst tragedy in New York City history until September 11.

O'DONNELL: Funerals began as early as the day after the fire. The big day was Saturday, June 18, 1904, black Saturday. Thousands of New Yorkers came and lined the sidewalks and just watched hearse after hearse after hearse.

NISSEN: Some 600 were buried at the All Faiths Lutheran Cemetery in Queens, including the bodies of the 61 unknowns interred under a memorial to the Slocum dead.

O'DONNELL: They were just too badly burned or disfigured by the fire. They were discovered in the water weeks later.

NISSEN: There were speedy hearings, federal investigation, trials, focusing on the corner-cutting owner of the steamboat Slocum and the inspector who had vouched for the Slocum's safety equipment just five weeks before the tragedy. In the end, only the captain was convicted of negligence and manslaughter and sent to prison. The Slocum was soon forgotten.

O'DONNELL: If you had asked anyone in the days after the fire, would anybody ever forget this, nobody would have thought it possible that something so enormous could be forgotten. Yet, you find, within a decade, it's already slipping away.

NISSEN: After World War I, sympathy for anyone German plummeted. Other tragedies, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, the sinking of the Titanic, overshadowed the Slocum. Life and New Yorkers moved on.

O'DONNELL: New York is a city that has only one gear. And that's forward, and only one mind-set, which is on the future.

NISSEN: Not without reminder on the losses of a century past.

Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News around the world now. A panda named Wame (ph) may have naughty panda pictures to thank for her current condition. Chinese veterinarians worried she that didn't know enough about sex, so they showed her video of pandas mating. Seemed to have worked. They say she's pregnant.

A 23-year-old Indian man thought he could beat the record eating of 94 earthworms in 30 second. He did, eating 200 worms in half a minute to get him to "The Guinness Book World Records." Guess what? He's got other skills. He can pass snakes into his nose and pull 'em right out of his mouth.

Here's more of the freaky people file...

O'BRIEN: His mother must be so proud.

PHILLIPS: He's bile!

It's day two of three for six people trying to set a world record for ferris wheel riding. They've got nothing better to do, I guess. So they're on the Colossus Wheel at Six Flags in St. Louis. Since they don't stop spinning they've got portable toilets and privacy curtains up there, too.

Wouldn't it still, like, fly around?

O'BRIEN: Oh, jeez, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Little sprinkler. Little ferris wheel sprinkler.

O'BRIEN: There's a thread which goes through all those. I'm not sure what it is. But we're working on it.

All right, you're busted. The word is out. Most of us are spending a little less on good old dad this year for father's day. And I'm here to tell you that's a bad idea.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: You need to remind him and tell him what a great guy he is.

PHILLIPS: How much you love him.

O'BRIEN: And thank him for what a good job he does.

PHILLIPS: That's OK he grounded you and took all your allowance when you were really bad.

O'BRIEN: I was thinking about me actually. But anyway, all right, Rhonda, explain this one.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT: Miles, Kyra, maybe if you gave the kids more in the way of an allowance, dad would get a more expensive gift.

O'BRIEN: Oh, man, man! It's brutal. That's extortion, isn't it?

PHILLIPS: There you go. bribery.

(MARKET UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: What happened when police first started searching for Laci Peterson?

PHILLIPS: Just ahead on LIVE FROM... we're going to take you live to California courthouse where Scott Peterson is on trial for murder.

O'BRIEN: And a tearful plea from the family of an American kidnapped in Saudi Arabia and now held hostage by a terror group threatening to take his life. All that and more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 16, 2004 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The challenges in Iraq and the war on terror are at the forefront of President Bush's thoughts today. He spoke with U.S. troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, telling them they're helping the rise of democracy in the world. Our Elaine Quijano live at the White House now with more on the president's day -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Miles. President Bush, as you said, traveled to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to rally U.S. troops there in a speech that was shown all over the world to U.S. military personnel.

He sounded two themes, gratitude to the troops and a determination to carry out the mission in Iraq. The president talked to a crowd of thousands at MacDill, which is headquarters of U.S. Central Command which oversees military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. His remarks were fed via satellite to U.S. forces in those regions.

Now the president expressed his thanks to the troops. He acknowledged that their work is not easy. And at a time when his administration has been criticized for extending the deployments of some U.S. troops, he says he greatly appreciates their sacrifices.

The president also repeated his previous warnings about the possibility of increasing violence in the days ahead. And with just two weeks to go until the Iraq transfer of sovereignty, President Bush said emphatically he and other leaders remain committed to the Iraq mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can expect more attacks in the coming few weeks. More car bombs, more suiciders, more attempts on the lives of Iraqi officials. But our coalition is standing firm. New Iraq's leaders are now intimidated. I will not yield, and neither will the leaders of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, before leaving for Washington and away from the cameras, the president met with the families of 11 troops killed in action overseas. He was also briefed by U.S. commanders.

Now delivering his message today in Florida, the backdrop certainly significant with this being an election year. Although today was an official visit, not a campaign stop, the Sunshine State, of course, is a key battleground state, the site of that election year controversy back in 2000 when just 537 votes separated the president and Al Gore. This time, of course, the president pushing hard to win Florida once again. President Bush has made a total of 22 visits to the Sunshine State since taking office -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks very much -- Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well as we've been reporting, the back story is front and center for the 9/11 Commission in Washington today. The details and money trails, setbacks and strategies that date back long before Mohammad Atta and 18 comrades boarded four commercial airliners and changed the course of history.

Investigators say Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, now in U.S. custody, pitched the idea that became 9/11 to Osama bin Laden back in 1996. The plot then called for ten hijacked planes on both costs. Over the year, prospective hijackers were schooled in such necessary skills as English, navigating telephone directories and airline schedules, making airline reservations, using the Internet and coding their own communications.

Our coverage continues with more tidbits and insights from CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergan. Peter, thanks for being with us.

PETER BERGAN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well we did learn a lot about Osama bin Laden and the money. Let's talk specifically -- there were -- actually, there was a lot of talk about Osama bin Laden, whether he was using his family inheritance or not. We found out he was bringing in $1 million a year.

How was the money allocated to al Qaeda and the Taliban? The Taliban, of course, supported by millions of dollars a year also.

BERGAN: I think what the 9/11 inquiry today showed is that the reports of bin Laden's family fortune being $300 million were wildly overblown. It turned out to be something like $25 million, or $1 million a year, as you point out. That wasn't enough to fund al Qaeda, which was costing, they calculate, some $30 million a year to run, in terms of running the training camps, funding salaries, et cetera.

The terrorist attacks didn't cost them -- didn't cost a lot of money. But they did need money, they did to raise money to run the training camps and also to give money to the Taliban. And they were raising that not from bin Laden's family fortune, but largely from charitable donations from places like Saudi Arabia.

PHILLIPS: Now, we're talking a lot about the money trail. A lot of numbers have been revealed. But didn't learn a lot of information with regard to command and control. BERGAN: Well, one thing that one of the witnesses today said is -- he was asked a question, what do you know about the capabilities of al Qaeda inside the United States? And they said, we know quite a lot about the funding. But we're not very sure about the capabilities, the command and control capabilities inside the United States.

That same witness also said -- or one of the other witnesses also said they expected some kind of attack within the next several months, which is similar to statements that general -- Attorney General Ashcroft has made in the past.

Clearly, there's a lot of concern in the run-up to the November elections. And also, with the Republican and Democratic Primaries in New York and Boston, respectively. When I say primaries, I mean conventions, I'm sorry.

PHILLIPS: I didn't want to say anything. You can put those two together, can't you? But different context.

BERGAN: Sorry.

PHILLIPS: That's all right. Let's talk about Iran, Peter. The connection made of course between al Qaeda and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Now that this has been brought up in the commission hearings, will we see more of a focus on Iran as this evil empire now or threat to the United States?

BERGAN: Well, first of all, the 9/11 inquiries made the point that there was no links between Iraq and al Qaeda in terms of actual terrorist attacks. And the kind of links that have happened were in the past in the mid-'90s in Sudan.

However there are a lot of links to Iran, both historic and present. Right now, we have three important al Qaeda leaders who were in Iran, Saif Al Adel, the military commander. Also, a top aide to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 in al Qaeda. Also, Suleiman Abu Ghaith who's a spokesman for al Qaeda. They're all in Iran today.

Now, they're under some sort of form of house arrest. The Iranians claim that they have senior leaders in custody, but it's not really clear what the status of these people are. Are they able to get into communication with other members of al Qaeda?

So I think the focus is appropriately on Iran now. You know, what that means in the future, I have no idea. But the fact is you can make a reasonably good case that Iran has been involved in al Qaeda's activities for many years now.

PHILLIPS: And let's talk a little more about Iran. It sort of parlays into what we learned about these terror camps and other plots that were being talked about among al Qaeda members. Specifically, these were mentioned: commandeering a Russian nuke and firing that at the U.S., cyanide gas attacks on Jewish areas in Iran, spreading poison in air conditioning systems.

Let's go to the cyanide gas attacks on Jewish areas in Iran and talk about this relationship -- well, this -- I guess this tension, with the Middle East and the Jewish communities and the fact that attacks were even talked about in Iran.

BERGAN: Well I think that those -- I mean, those kinds of attacks I kind of took to be slightly in the area of campfire sort of speculation. You know, the idea of actually hijacking a Russian nuclear missile and targeting the United States is pretty improbable. Attacking Jewish and Israeli targets, certainly, since 9/11, we've seen a lot of that.

It is interesting that they were talking about possibly attacks in Iran. We have known in the past they were experimenting with introducing cyanide into the -- into the air intake of U.S. government buildings. We know that from testimony of an al Qaeda guy in the United States.

But -- so these were -- they were trying to dream up ideas. You know, they obviously were trying to be quite creative about the different ideas that they could come up with.

PHILLIPS: Finally, Peter, anything surprise you today?

BERGAN: Well, I think some of the dissension at the top levels of al Qaeda. There was a lot of disagreement between Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, for instance, about attacking the United States. Also, you know, strong personality clashes like you'd find in any organization. We think of al Qaeda sort of being monolith. Instead it turns out that there were lots of personality clashes.

And also disagreements about how to do things, whether it was to attack the White House rather than the Capitol, or whether to attack the United States at all, as that disagreement happened between Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden.

PHILLIPS: CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergman. Thanks, Peter.

BERGAN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Father's Day is almost here. And as we salute dear old dad, well we have to ask, is he happier than other guys? That answer in biz.

And New Yorkers never thought they'd forget but most of them did. A look back at the biggest tragedy the city had known before the 9/11 attacks when LIVE FROM... continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: This just in to CNN from the Associated Press. Dateline is Columbus, Ohio. A federal magistrate there has ordered the man charged with plotting to blow up a Columbus, Ohio shopping mall to be transferred to a federal psychiatric facility where it will be determined if he is mentally competent to proceed any further in the legal system there, stand trial or whatever.

The evidence against -- the magistrate, Mark Abel, said the evidence used to determine why Nuradin Abdi should be sent to the facility has been sealed, however.

Thirty-two-year-old Abdi was accused of plotting to blow up a mall, as yet unnamed, and allegedly admitted to be an al Qaeda member. And trained as well in Afghanistan. He is a Somali native. We're tracking that story for you.

PHILLIPS: Something else that we're tracking. We're just getting pictures in of a nightmare at sea situation. The weekend sinking of an overloaded homemade boat trying desperately to reach Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic.

This is a U.S. -- this is footage, rather, from the U.S. Coast Guard of 94 would-be immigrants going down with the Jolla (ph), as the 40-foot vessel is called, some 25 miles from their intended destination.

Three Dominicans died in the three to four-foot seas, we are told. The others scrambled into rafts, life jackets and happened to survive. They've all been taken back to the Dominican Republic.

O'BRIEN: Until the stunning events of September 11, New York City's worst loss of life occurred as the result of a little remembered steam boat accident.

PHILLIPS: One hundred years ago, more than 1,000 people lost their lives aboard General Slocum. CNN's Beth Nissan recounts the story of a pleasure cruise turned deadly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wednesday morning June 15, 1904. To the sounds of a German band, more than 1,000 members of Saint Mark's Lutheran parish, most all of them German immigrant families, board the steamboat General Slocum in Lower Manhattan for a church outing up the East River. Disaster strikes just minutes after castoff.

EDWARD O'DONNELL, AUTHOR, "SHIP ABLAZE": It's about 10 minutes into the trip up the East River that a little boy runs up to one of the deck hands and says, Mister, there's smoke coming up a stairwell.

NISSEN: Survivors' accounts of what happened next were used to recreate the scene in a 1934 film, "Manhattan Melodrama." A fire had started -- no one knows how -- in a storage room below decks. As smoke and panic rose, deck hands, who had never done fire drills, tried to contain the flames, which quickly roared through the wooden steamboat.

O'DONNELL: They formed a rough fire brigade, having never done it before, pulled down some musty old hoses from a rack, attached them to a stand pip, turned on the water and the hoses burst. They were completely rotten.

NISSEN: As investigators later found, so were the on board life preservers, which dated back to 1891. O'DONNELL: Thirteen years of son and salt had eroded them. And the cork blocks inside of them had essentially become dust. So people found these life preservers, dutifully put them on, jumped over the railings and sank like stones because the life preservers were essentially bags of dirt.

NISSEN: There are no photographs of the General Slocum aflame before the captain finally beached it. But drawings done by witnesses ashore are remarkably similar.

O'DONNELL: They all show huge flames shooting out of the side and up over the top of the ship and people falling, cascading over the sides.

NISSEN: Some were saved from the churning river water by rescuers, but not many. Scores of the dead were pulled in from the water, some burned, some trampled, most drowned. The first extras published that afternoon estimated the dead at about 300.

O'DONNELL: When the tide turned in the middle of the afternoon, more and more bodies began to come up. By about 4:00 or 5:00, the extras are now saying, the Slocum total may exceed 1,000.

NISSEN: It did. Of the 1,300 who boarded the General Slocum, 1,021 died, almost 800 of them women and children. It was the worst tragedy in New York City history until September 11.

O'DONNELL: Funerals began as early as the day after the fire. The big day was Saturday, June 18, 1904, black Saturday. Thousands of New Yorkers came and lined the sidewalks and just watched hearse after hearse after hearse.

NISSEN: Some 600 were buried at the All Faiths Lutheran Cemetery in Queens, including the bodies of the 61 unknowns interred under a memorial to the Slocum dead.

O'DONNELL: They were just too badly burned or disfigured by the fire. They were discovered in the water weeks later.

NISSEN: There were speedy hearings, federal investigation, trials, focusing on the corner-cutting owner of the steamboat Slocum and the inspector who had vouched for the Slocum's safety equipment just five weeks before the tragedy. In the end, only the captain was convicted of negligence and manslaughter and sent to prison. The Slocum was soon forgotten.

O'DONNELL: If you had asked anyone in the days after the fire, would anybody ever forget this, nobody would have thought it possible that something so enormous could be forgotten. Yet, you find, within a decade, it's already slipping away.

NISSEN: After World War I, sympathy for anyone German plummeted. Other tragedies, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, the sinking of the Titanic, overshadowed the Slocum. Life and New Yorkers moved on.

O'DONNELL: New York is a city that has only one gear. And that's forward, and only one mind-set, which is on the future.

NISSEN: Not without reminder on the losses of a century past.

Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News around the world now. A panda named Wame (ph) may have naughty panda pictures to thank for her current condition. Chinese veterinarians worried she that didn't know enough about sex, so they showed her video of pandas mating. Seemed to have worked. They say she's pregnant.

A 23-year-old Indian man thought he could beat the record eating of 94 earthworms in 30 second. He did, eating 200 worms in half a minute to get him to "The Guinness Book World Records." Guess what? He's got other skills. He can pass snakes into his nose and pull 'em right out of his mouth.

Here's more of the freaky people file...

O'BRIEN: His mother must be so proud.

PHILLIPS: He's bile!

It's day two of three for six people trying to set a world record for ferris wheel riding. They've got nothing better to do, I guess. So they're on the Colossus Wheel at Six Flags in St. Louis. Since they don't stop spinning they've got portable toilets and privacy curtains up there, too.

Wouldn't it still, like, fly around?

O'BRIEN: Oh, jeez, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Little sprinkler. Little ferris wheel sprinkler.

O'BRIEN: There's a thread which goes through all those. I'm not sure what it is. But we're working on it.

All right, you're busted. The word is out. Most of us are spending a little less on good old dad this year for father's day. And I'm here to tell you that's a bad idea.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: You need to remind him and tell him what a great guy he is.

PHILLIPS: How much you love him.

O'BRIEN: And thank him for what a good job he does.

PHILLIPS: That's OK he grounded you and took all your allowance when you were really bad.

O'BRIEN: I was thinking about me actually. But anyway, all right, Rhonda, explain this one.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT: Miles, Kyra, maybe if you gave the kids more in the way of an allowance, dad would get a more expensive gift.

O'BRIEN: Oh, man, man! It's brutal. That's extortion, isn't it?

PHILLIPS: There you go. bribery.

(MARKET UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: What happened when police first started searching for Laci Peterson?

PHILLIPS: Just ahead on LIVE FROM... we're going to take you live to California courthouse where Scott Peterson is on trial for murder.

O'BRIEN: And a tearful plea from the family of an American kidnapped in Saudi Arabia and now held hostage by a terror group threatening to take his life. All that and more straight ahead.

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