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Talk with Mayor of Iraq's Diyala Province; Haiti's Misery

Aired September 23, 2004 - 13:30   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.


DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Alleged wife killer Mark Hacking in court today, in Salt Lake City. Hacking wearing a bulletproof vest, as he waved his right to a preliminary hearing. Hacking is accused of killing wife, Lori, dumping her body in a garbage bin, then reported her missing. Trial date could be set, October 29th is the date.
And Ivan back with a vengeance. The one-time hurricane that wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, reformed now as a tropical storm. Warnings in effect for Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sergeant, Texas.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Once again, we continue to follow word of a large explosion in Baghdad. We're working those details. We'll pass them on as soon as we get them.

In the meantime, we get realtime in-country insights now from the governor of Iraq's Diyala province. That's just northeast of Baghdad. That includes a portion of the so-called Sunni Triangle, and the sometimes restive city of Baqubah.

Abdulla Rasheed El Juburi is a dentist by trade, now politician by choice. He joins us via videophone from Baqubah. A little bit of a delay.

Can you hear me okay, governor?

ABDULLA RASHEED EL JUBURI: I can hear you.

PHILLIPS: Very good.

Governor Abdullah, please begin by telling our viewers -- we know you lived and worked under Saddam Hussein before you became governor. Briefly tell us what it was like life under Saddam Hussein for you.

EL JUBURI: Can you repeat that again, please? I don't really hear you properly.

PHILLIPS: Real quickly, life under Saddam Hussein. You worked under Saddam Hussein in the military hospital. What was life like for you?

EL JUBURI: Well, that was about '87, '86, '87 until '90. It was not comparison at all now and before. I'm looking at it as a good liberation in Iraq. You see people happy, a lot happier. We're working hard to get it back to normal after the liberation.

PHILLIPS: When you were working as a dentist in the military hospital under Saddam's regime, were you ever asked to do anything that you did not agree with?

EL JUBURI: Not really. I mean, it was all between Iraq and Iran. So (INAUDIBLE). There was a lot of tragedy through that time. I don't really remember it.

PHILLIPS: Well, now you are governor of part of the Sunni Triangle, of Baqubah, a number of other areas. You talk about your area being successful, that there's a lot of rebuilding going on. What is it that you think you're doing right to keep terrorism out of your area?

EL JUBURI: The people are good people here in Diyala. They work together with the governor and they work with the coalition forces, which is we did our best to get rid of all the terrorists within the province, and now it's nice and quiet. We do ask the companies and NGOs to come and work in Diyala.

PHILLIPS: Do you have advice for any of the leaders in other parts of Iraq that are dealing with the instability, the beheadings and the violence that's happening on a regular basis outside of your area?

EL JUBURI: I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. I didn't hear that, sorry.

PHILLIPS: I apologize, governor. We're having a hard time being connected with you. We'll try to establish a better interview not on a videophone. I apologize, sir. Governor Abdullah Rasheed El Juburi, governor of the Diyala province. It was rare to get to talk to you. We thank you for your time, sir.

And as Iraq struggles for identity and stability in the post- Saddam era, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi comes to seek the continued support of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: I stand here today as the prime minister of a country emerging finally from the dark ages of violence, aggression, corruption and greed. Like almost every Iraqi, I have many friends who were murdered, tortured or raped by the regime of Saddam Hussein. We -- well over a million Iraqis were murdered or are missing. We estimate at least 300,000 in mass graves, which stands as monuments to the inhumanity of Saddam's regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, with ongoing casualties among U.S. troops and civilian contractors vulnerable to being kidnapped and killed, where does this partnership between Iraq and America stand now?

Retired Brigadier General David Grange joins us from Chicago to talk about that and a number of other points, of course, about this partnership and why it's so vital to Iraq right now.

General, great to have you. I want to ask you, quickly, what did you think of the prime minister speaking before a joint meeting of Congress? Did this surprise you, especially the timing before an election here, the election in Iraq?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, I believe he owed it to talk to the United States of America since this country provides the majority of the support to the new interim government. And part of his presentation was to give thanks for the sacrifices that the United States and other coalition members have made to the effort.

PHILLIPS: Allawi actually really did get down to business and pointed out a few specifics. I want to ask you about those specifics. He talked about military strategy. He said, yes, I want to run this country. We need to run this country on our own, yet we do need the military here right now. He pointed out now there are 50,000 Iraqi troops, but by 2005 he expects to have 250,000 troops. Do you think that can happen? Is that a reality?

GRANGE: Well, 250,000 troops is a tall number.

The key thing here, though, is not really the number of troops. I would rather have 50,000 well-trained, well-led, well-equipped Iraqi soldiers than 250,000, 150,000. And so that's the effort right now being conducted by the U.S. and some of the other allies, is training a quality force, and that takes a little bit of time. But until that happens, the United States is going to have to fill a lot of the void until they're trained up and ready to go on their own.

PHILLIPS: What do you think about presidential candidate John Kerry coming forward and saying the president has it all wrong. We've got to take these Iraqis, take them out of this country, which is just being bombarded by insurgents and train them elsewhere? What do you think about that? Can that work?

GRANGE: Well, it's kind of tough to do that 100 percent. I can see where some do leave the country -- in fact, some are -- do leave the country and get other types of training, especially in certain technical specialties. But the majority have to be trained on-site. It's a logistics matter, if nothing else.

And besides, I think the people need to see their soldiers, their military, going through this process. Because the military doesn't do anything over there by itself. It's working closely with police, closely with local leaders, and that package has to be on the ground, working under the eyes of the Iraqi people.

PHILLIPS: Allawi also saying that intelligence is getting a lot better, that his men and women are understanding how to work sources and get good intelligence and isolate the terrorists. Do you agree with that?

GRANGE: I do, because that type of intelligence takes a while to understand and grow to use, especially foreigners, like Americans, and the British and others. This is urban, this is low intensity-type intelligence, it's human driven -- humint. It's not technology driven. And so it takes a while to adapt to that. It's like neighborhood watch. And how do you build those contacts to share and share and pass that information rapidly that's accurate? That's tough to do. And that's exactly what's going on right now. And I'm sure they've been getting better as the days go on.

PHILLIPS: You say neighborhood watch. What about border watch? Now this talk about the new mission along the Syria-Iraq border. More troops, a larger version. Will it work? Is that a good idea? What are the advantages?

GRANGE: Well, you know, from Syria, we have insurgents coming in. Some foreign fighters. From Iran, you have those that support the Shiite side that are the insurgents, because both -- all the factions have their own insurgents. They have to do something with the border. Syria is supposedly supporting that effort. Let's hope so, because, you know, the bottom line is Syria's part of the problem. And so it just depends how much you can trust Syria in doing that effort.

PHILLIPS: The elections -- Allawi says they're happening in January no matter what. Do you believe him?

GRANGE: Well, I think he almost has to do that. You can move, you know, 5 January to 10 January, whatever, around a little bit. But Sistani and some of the other clerics also want that. And they have to get on with it. And are conditions going to be perfect with security? No, they're not. They're not perfect in Afghanistan right now. But they're going ahead it, and they're driving on. And I think that has to happen, because the people really need to see who's elected and who's running the government, and that's who's giving the orders. I think they need to push for that very hard.

PHILLIPS: Retired Brigadier General David Grange.

Will you be going over there anytime soon?

GRANGE: I don't know. In some of those type operations, I would love to.

PHILLIPS: All right, I hope you'll check in with us.

Thanks, general.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Well, getting a head start against the flu season. We're going to find out why doctors are taking a proactive stance on fighting the flu before an outbreak.

Also first, "The Apprentice," then "The Benefactor." Will Martha Stewart be the next multimillionaire with her own reality show? We're not kidding.

What's gotten under Elton John's skin? We've got all the drama from the singer's recent visit to Taiwan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN: Already horrible, it's going to get worse in Haiti. Floodwaters from Tropical Storm Jeanne receding, revealing a whole host of problems. There are nearly 1,100 people dead, and now disease, undrinkable water, and unavailable medical attention threatening hundreds of thousands more.

The latest from Haiti now, CNN's Karl Penhaul. Karl, the pictures you're sending back are just horrific. What is the situation there?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly some horrific scenes we've seen since we arrived here, Drew. Behind me here might not look like a lot, might not look like some of those dramatic pictures we've seen over the last two days, but this is probably one of the most dramatic scenes. This is one of the common graves where those hundreds of bodies are being buried.

What's happened yesterday and what's due to happen later on this afternoon is that a dumper truck will come with the corpses in body bags, pull up to the side of this hole, and just dump the bodies in. Many of these bodies haven't been identified. None of them have been put in coffins -- very few of them, at least.

And this morning, grave diggers have been telling us that animals have also been thrown -- decomposing animals have also been thrown in the same mass graves where human bodies are now being buried. That's just adding -- you know, taking away all dignity from this situation, according to the residents here. That's their view, that's what they're saying.

Now, further down into town, the floodwater is receding. And what that's showing now to residents is the extent of the damage to their homes. Already desperately poor people have been left with absolutely nothing now.

One woman today, she was taking refuge in a church. When I asked her what she was left with, she just pulled at the clothes and herself and of her two-year-old child saying this is all we have left in the world. When we asked her about the level of food aid that had been handed out, she said that in the last three days, she hadn't eaten anything and was only taking mouthfuls of water because that was all that was available.

The U.N., nevertheless, is on the scene, along with non- governmental organizations, trying to organize aid effort. But we have seen a very chaotic scene so far, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Karl, where is the aid? We're seeing these people banging on the gates of the presidential palace trying to get just water. The rest of the pictures that you're showing us, there doesn't seem to be anybody helping in the cleanup. Is aid getting to these people?

PENHAUL: There is aid coming through. We've talked to United Nations officials. They've sent tanker trucks full of water. They've also sent food trucks. And in fact, when we flew in aboard a United Nations helicopter, there was some basic medical supplies aboard that helicopter. But it seems to be in the distribution that there seems to be hiccups.

Yesterday -- yesterday evening, when we were in the main downtown area of Gonaives, an independent aid distributor pulled up and tried to hand out drinks -- soft drinks and water. That almost sparked a riot, almost started fighting between the needy people who were looking for something to drink because they are so desperate.

They feel that they've been left alone now for four or five days since Tropical Storm Jeanne. And they really do think at this stage that it's survival for the fittest. They have to fight for what little they can lay their hands on, Drew. there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason about the way that aid is being handed out at the moment.

GRIFFIN: Just unreal. Thank you, Karl Penhaul, reporting live from Haiti.

We'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Blowing them down like a candle in the wind. Well, that's all we can air of Sir Elton John's Taiwan tirade, on this family show anyway. Elton melting down over the press of paparazzi who greeted him at the airport in Taiwan when he arrived for a concert. One snapper, as you heard, said, "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?" Well, Elton stayed, and later told his concert audience the local press were the rudest people he'd ever meant, and he meant every word, expletives undeleted.

PHILLIPS: Well, after taking her legal medicine, could Martha Stewart be ready for a dose of reality, as in her own reality show? Well, yesterday her company announced it had struck a deal with Mark Burnett, who's already given us "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." The official word is that Burnett will work with Martha and her minions on new programming opportunities starting in 2005. Burnett has already said that he's mulling a show in which Stewart helps others get their lives in order, although we'd love to see extreme Martha, dropping the domestic diva into perilous situations, armed only with her wits and a butane creme brulee torch.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

GRIFFIN: Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, a survivor's tale you won't believe. We've got the incredible story of two people who managed to walk away from a plane crash. Details when LIVE FROM's second hour begins, after this.

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 September 23, 2004 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Alleged wife killer Mark Hacking in court today, in Salt Lake City. Hacking wearing a bulletproof vest, as he waved his right to a preliminary hearing. Hacking is accused of killing wife, Lori, dumping her body in a garbage bin, then reported her missing. Trial date could be set, October 29th is the date.
And Ivan back with a vengeance. The one-time hurricane that wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, reformed now as a tropical storm. Warnings in effect for Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sergeant, Texas.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Once again, we continue to follow word of a large explosion in Baghdad. We're working those details. We'll pass them on as soon as we get them.

In the meantime, we get realtime in-country insights now from the governor of Iraq's Diyala province. That's just northeast of Baghdad. That includes a portion of the so-called Sunni Triangle, and the sometimes restive city of Baqubah.

Abdulla Rasheed El Juburi is a dentist by trade, now politician by choice. He joins us via videophone from Baqubah. A little bit of a delay.

Can you hear me okay, governor?

ABDULLA RASHEED EL JUBURI: I can hear you.

PHILLIPS: Very good.

Governor Abdullah, please begin by telling our viewers -- we know you lived and worked under Saddam Hussein before you became governor. Briefly tell us what it was like life under Saddam Hussein for you.

EL JUBURI: Can you repeat that again, please? I don't really hear you properly.

PHILLIPS: Real quickly, life under Saddam Hussein. You worked under Saddam Hussein in the military hospital. What was life like for you?

EL JUBURI: Well, that was about '87, '86, '87 until '90. It was not comparison at all now and before. I'm looking at it as a good liberation in Iraq. You see people happy, a lot happier. We're working hard to get it back to normal after the liberation.

PHILLIPS: When you were working as a dentist in the military hospital under Saddam's regime, were you ever asked to do anything that you did not agree with?

EL JUBURI: Not really. I mean, it was all between Iraq and Iran. So (INAUDIBLE). There was a lot of tragedy through that time. I don't really remember it.

PHILLIPS: Well, now you are governor of part of the Sunni Triangle, of Baqubah, a number of other areas. You talk about your area being successful, that there's a lot of rebuilding going on. What is it that you think you're doing right to keep terrorism out of your area?

EL JUBURI: The people are good people here in Diyala. They work together with the governor and they work with the coalition forces, which is we did our best to get rid of all the terrorists within the province, and now it's nice and quiet. We do ask the companies and NGOs to come and work in Diyala.

PHILLIPS: Do you have advice for any of the leaders in other parts of Iraq that are dealing with the instability, the beheadings and the violence that's happening on a regular basis outside of your area?

EL JUBURI: I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. I didn't hear that, sorry.

PHILLIPS: I apologize, governor. We're having a hard time being connected with you. We'll try to establish a better interview not on a videophone. I apologize, sir. Governor Abdullah Rasheed El Juburi, governor of the Diyala province. It was rare to get to talk to you. We thank you for your time, sir.

And as Iraq struggles for identity and stability in the post- Saddam era, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi comes to seek the continued support of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: I stand here today as the prime minister of a country emerging finally from the dark ages of violence, aggression, corruption and greed. Like almost every Iraqi, I have many friends who were murdered, tortured or raped by the regime of Saddam Hussein. We -- well over a million Iraqis were murdered or are missing. We estimate at least 300,000 in mass graves, which stands as monuments to the inhumanity of Saddam's regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, with ongoing casualties among U.S. troops and civilian contractors vulnerable to being kidnapped and killed, where does this partnership between Iraq and America stand now?

Retired Brigadier General David Grange joins us from Chicago to talk about that and a number of other points, of course, about this partnership and why it's so vital to Iraq right now.

General, great to have you. I want to ask you, quickly, what did you think of the prime minister speaking before a joint meeting of Congress? Did this surprise you, especially the timing before an election here, the election in Iraq?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, I believe he owed it to talk to the United States of America since this country provides the majority of the support to the new interim government. And part of his presentation was to give thanks for the sacrifices that the United States and other coalition members have made to the effort.

PHILLIPS: Allawi actually really did get down to business and pointed out a few specifics. I want to ask you about those specifics. He talked about military strategy. He said, yes, I want to run this country. We need to run this country on our own, yet we do need the military here right now. He pointed out now there are 50,000 Iraqi troops, but by 2005 he expects to have 250,000 troops. Do you think that can happen? Is that a reality?

GRANGE: Well, 250,000 troops is a tall number.

The key thing here, though, is not really the number of troops. I would rather have 50,000 well-trained, well-led, well-equipped Iraqi soldiers than 250,000, 150,000. And so that's the effort right now being conducted by the U.S. and some of the other allies, is training a quality force, and that takes a little bit of time. But until that happens, the United States is going to have to fill a lot of the void until they're trained up and ready to go on their own.

PHILLIPS: What do you think about presidential candidate John Kerry coming forward and saying the president has it all wrong. We've got to take these Iraqis, take them out of this country, which is just being bombarded by insurgents and train them elsewhere? What do you think about that? Can that work?

GRANGE: Well, it's kind of tough to do that 100 percent. I can see where some do leave the country -- in fact, some are -- do leave the country and get other types of training, especially in certain technical specialties. But the majority have to be trained on-site. It's a logistics matter, if nothing else.

And besides, I think the people need to see their soldiers, their military, going through this process. Because the military doesn't do anything over there by itself. It's working closely with police, closely with local leaders, and that package has to be on the ground, working under the eyes of the Iraqi people.

PHILLIPS: Allawi also saying that intelligence is getting a lot better, that his men and women are understanding how to work sources and get good intelligence and isolate the terrorists. Do you agree with that?

GRANGE: I do, because that type of intelligence takes a while to understand and grow to use, especially foreigners, like Americans, and the British and others. This is urban, this is low intensity-type intelligence, it's human driven -- humint. It's not technology driven. And so it takes a while to adapt to that. It's like neighborhood watch. And how do you build those contacts to share and share and pass that information rapidly that's accurate? That's tough to do. And that's exactly what's going on right now. And I'm sure they've been getting better as the days go on.

PHILLIPS: You say neighborhood watch. What about border watch? Now this talk about the new mission along the Syria-Iraq border. More troops, a larger version. Will it work? Is that a good idea? What are the advantages?

GRANGE: Well, you know, from Syria, we have insurgents coming in. Some foreign fighters. From Iran, you have those that support the Shiite side that are the insurgents, because both -- all the factions have their own insurgents. They have to do something with the border. Syria is supposedly supporting that effort. Let's hope so, because, you know, the bottom line is Syria's part of the problem. And so it just depends how much you can trust Syria in doing that effort.

PHILLIPS: The elections -- Allawi says they're happening in January no matter what. Do you believe him?

GRANGE: Well, I think he almost has to do that. You can move, you know, 5 January to 10 January, whatever, around a little bit. But Sistani and some of the other clerics also want that. And they have to get on with it. And are conditions going to be perfect with security? No, they're not. They're not perfect in Afghanistan right now. But they're going ahead it, and they're driving on. And I think that has to happen, because the people really need to see who's elected and who's running the government, and that's who's giving the orders. I think they need to push for that very hard.

PHILLIPS: Retired Brigadier General David Grange.

Will you be going over there anytime soon?

GRANGE: I don't know. In some of those type operations, I would love to.

PHILLIPS: All right, I hope you'll check in with us.

Thanks, general.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Well, getting a head start against the flu season. We're going to find out why doctors are taking a proactive stance on fighting the flu before an outbreak.

Also first, "The Apprentice," then "The Benefactor." Will Martha Stewart be the next multimillionaire with her own reality show? We're not kidding.

What's gotten under Elton John's skin? We've got all the drama from the singer's recent visit to Taiwan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN: Already horrible, it's going to get worse in Haiti. Floodwaters from Tropical Storm Jeanne receding, revealing a whole host of problems. There are nearly 1,100 people dead, and now disease, undrinkable water, and unavailable medical attention threatening hundreds of thousands more.

The latest from Haiti now, CNN's Karl Penhaul. Karl, the pictures you're sending back are just horrific. What is the situation there?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly some horrific scenes we've seen since we arrived here, Drew. Behind me here might not look like a lot, might not look like some of those dramatic pictures we've seen over the last two days, but this is probably one of the most dramatic scenes. This is one of the common graves where those hundreds of bodies are being buried.

What's happened yesterday and what's due to happen later on this afternoon is that a dumper truck will come with the corpses in body bags, pull up to the side of this hole, and just dump the bodies in. Many of these bodies haven't been identified. None of them have been put in coffins -- very few of them, at least.

And this morning, grave diggers have been telling us that animals have also been thrown -- decomposing animals have also been thrown in the same mass graves where human bodies are now being buried. That's just adding -- you know, taking away all dignity from this situation, according to the residents here. That's their view, that's what they're saying.

Now, further down into town, the floodwater is receding. And what that's showing now to residents is the extent of the damage to their homes. Already desperately poor people have been left with absolutely nothing now.

One woman today, she was taking refuge in a church. When I asked her what she was left with, she just pulled at the clothes and herself and of her two-year-old child saying this is all we have left in the world. When we asked her about the level of food aid that had been handed out, she said that in the last three days, she hadn't eaten anything and was only taking mouthfuls of water because that was all that was available.

The U.N., nevertheless, is on the scene, along with non- governmental organizations, trying to organize aid effort. But we have seen a very chaotic scene so far, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Karl, where is the aid? We're seeing these people banging on the gates of the presidential palace trying to get just water. The rest of the pictures that you're showing us, there doesn't seem to be anybody helping in the cleanup. Is aid getting to these people?

PENHAUL: There is aid coming through. We've talked to United Nations officials. They've sent tanker trucks full of water. They've also sent food trucks. And in fact, when we flew in aboard a United Nations helicopter, there was some basic medical supplies aboard that helicopter. But it seems to be in the distribution that there seems to be hiccups.

Yesterday -- yesterday evening, when we were in the main downtown area of Gonaives, an independent aid distributor pulled up and tried to hand out drinks -- soft drinks and water. That almost sparked a riot, almost started fighting between the needy people who were looking for something to drink because they are so desperate.

They feel that they've been left alone now for four or five days since Tropical Storm Jeanne. And they really do think at this stage that it's survival for the fittest. They have to fight for what little they can lay their hands on, Drew. there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason about the way that aid is being handed out at the moment.

GRIFFIN: Just unreal. Thank you, Karl Penhaul, reporting live from Haiti.

We'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Blowing them down like a candle in the wind. Well, that's all we can air of Sir Elton John's Taiwan tirade, on this family show anyway. Elton melting down over the press of paparazzi who greeted him at the airport in Taiwan when he arrived for a concert. One snapper, as you heard, said, "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?" Well, Elton stayed, and later told his concert audience the local press were the rudest people he'd ever meant, and he meant every word, expletives undeleted.

PHILLIPS: Well, after taking her legal medicine, could Martha Stewart be ready for a dose of reality, as in her own reality show? Well, yesterday her company announced it had struck a deal with Mark Burnett, who's already given us "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." The official word is that Burnett will work with Martha and her minions on new programming opportunities starting in 2005. Burnett has already said that he's mulling a show in which Stewart helps others get their lives in order, although we'd love to see extreme Martha, dropping the domestic diva into perilous situations, armed only with her wits and a butane creme brulee torch.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

GRIFFIN: Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, a survivor's tale you won't believe. We've got the incredible story of two people who managed to walk away from a plane crash. Details when LIVE FROM's second hour begins, after this.

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